H.
B.
4138
(By Delegates Ashcraft, Spencer, S. Williams, Brum,
Compton, Browning and Beach)
[Introduced January 26, 1994; referred to the
Committee on Education then Finance.]
A BILL to amend article twenty, chapter eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section one-c, relating to integrated classrooms; limiting class size based on the number of exceptional needs students in the classroom; and specifying the assistance, training and information to be provided to the affected classroom teacher.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article twenty, chapter eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section one-c, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 20. EDUCATION OF EXCEPTIONAL
NEEDS CHILDREN.
§
20-18-1c. Integrated classrooms serving students with
exceptional needs; criteria governing class size;
and requirements as to the assistance, training and
information to be provided to the affected classroom
teacher.
(a) In integrated classrooms in which one or more students with exceptional needs are being served in the regular class program and the individualized education plan for the exceptional needs student requires an adjustment in either curriculum or service and specifies the classroom teacher as the primary service provider, the following standards shall be observed:
(1) For grades kindergarten through six, the class size shall be reduced by two students for every student with exceptional needs to be served.
(2) For grades seven through twelve, the total number of students enrolled in the class shall not exceed twenty-five and the class size shall be reduced by two students for every additional exceptional needs student to be served after the first student with exceptional needs is placed in the class.
(b) Prior to placing a student with exceptional needs into an integrated classroom when his or her individualized education program requires an adjustment in either the curriculum or service to be provided by the regular classroom teacher, the regular classroom teacher shall be entitled to the following:
(1) Training regarding the student's exceptional needs and the adjustments in the curriculum or service necessary to meet those needs;
(2) A copy of the individualized education plan
for the special needs student and notice of, and participation in, all meetings regarding that plan;
(3) Authority to call a meeting of all persons involved in the development of a student's individualized education plan; and
(4) Assistance from persons trained or certified to deal with a student's exceptional needs whenever such assistance is necessary to ensure they can be met without significantly impairing the regular teacher's ability to serve the remaining students in the integrated classroom.
(c) Nothing in this section shall be construed to require any employee to perform specialized health procedures or to receive training in specialized health procedures except as specified at section twenty-two, article five, chapter eighteen of this code.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to limit the class size of an integrated classroom which serves students with exceptional needs when certain conditions exist. It also requires that the affected classroom teacher be involved in developing the individualized education plan for the exceptional needs student and be given such information, training and assistance as is needed to effectively serve such students without impairing instruction of other students in the classroom.
Section one-c is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.