Senate Bill No. 433
(By Senators Withers, Wagner, and Humphreys)
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[Introduced February 21, 1994; referred to the Committee
on Education.]
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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.