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.