Senate Bill No. 358

(By Senators Boley and Dalton)

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[Introduced February 16, 1994; referred to the Committee
on Education; and then to the Committee on Finance.]

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A BILL to amend chapter eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding thereto a new article, designated article two-h, relating to education; public notice and participation in state-mandated educational reform; hearings; and method of notice.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That chapter eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new article, designated article two-h, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2H. PUBLIC NOTICE AND PARTICIPATION IN STATE-MANDATED EDUCATIONAL REFORM.

§18-2H-1. Legislative findings.

The Legislature hereby finds and declares that, while an educated and informed citizenry is essential to a democratic society, so also is the right, opportunity and guarantee that the citizenry have the right to notice and participation in anystate-mandated educational reform which changes, or is intended to change, statewide data systems, statewide curriculum or any major changes in educational policy and goals.
In order to ensure the right and opportunity of the citizenry to notice and participation in any proposed state-mandated educational reform, a procedure for notice to the citizenry and public hearings must be developed.
§18-2H-2. Comprehensive plan for any new plan for state-mandated education reform -- Notice and public hearing.

Prior to the adoption or implementation of any comprehensive plan for a state-mandated education reform, the state board of education shall give notice, as hereinafter in this section specified, and hold a public hearing, or public hearings, on the proposed education reform.
At least ninety days prior to the date set for hearing, the state board shall publish a notice of the date, time and place of the hearing as a Class I legal advertisement in compliance with the provisions of article three, chapter fifty-nine of this code, and the publication area for such publication shall be the municipality or county, as the case may be: Provided, That the publication shall be placed once a week prior to the hearing.
There shall be a period of one hundred eighty days following the public notice of hearing in which the state board shall receive public comment to the intended education reform. The state board shall hold not less than six public hearings, not less than thirty days apart, at various locations in the state,during which hearings the general public and affected citizenry shall have the opportunity to have questions and objections to the proposed education reform answered, by the state board, and to have their views made part of the public record.
If, after the public hearings, the state board makes any change in the proposed education reform, it shall make a public announcement of that change not less than thirty days prior to its vote on the reform. The affected citizenry shall be permitted to comment on any such changes. Any substantial change in a proposed educational reform by the state board shall require similar notice and public comment periods.
§18-2H-3. Procedures for hearings and public participation.

(a) Prior to implementation of any state-mandated educational reform adopted by the state board of education, the state board shall require the submission of plans of the proposed reform to public and private television and radio stations, publication of notice of plans in newspapers of general circulation and to the parents of students in all schools which might be affected, by sending notices home with the students, or by distribution to the parents in any other reasonable manner. The notice and plans shall be in such form and contain such information as the state board may require to fully inform the citizenry of the nature and scope of the educational reform.
(b) The state board shall provide timely written notice to all affected persons, and to any person who has asked the state board to place the person's name on a mailing list maintained bythe state board. Notification shall include the proposed educational reform, the period within which a public hearing or hearings will be conducted and the manner in which notification will be provided of the time and place of any public hearing. For the purposes of this subsection, the date of notification is the date on which the notice is sent or the date on which the notice appears in a newspaper of general circulation, whichever is later.
(c) Written notification to members of the public shall also be provided through newspapers of general circulation in the affected counties and municipalities in the state and public information channels; notification to all other affected persons may be by mail which may be as part of a newsletter.
(d) The state board shall maintain a verbatim record of the hearing.
(e) The state board may not impose fees or other charges for such a public hearing.
(f) The extent of additional information received by the state board from the general public and the affected citizenry, with respect to the impact on the proposed educational reform and additional information which is received by the state board from the general public and affected citizenry, may be cause for the state board to redetermine the proposed educational reform or change, alter, amend, implement or rescind the proposed educational reform.


NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to guarantee public notice, hearings and public participation in connection with any proposed state-mandated educational reforms.

This article is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.