Senate Bill No. 96
(By Senators Helmick and Ross)
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[Introduced January 24, 1994; referred to the Committee
on Education.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section five, article five-a, chapter
eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to prohibiting
faculty senates from meeting during regular school hours.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section five, article five-a, chapter eighteen of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5A. LOCAL SCHOOL INVOLVEMENT.
§18-5A-5. Public school faculty senates established; election
of officers; powers and duties.
(a) There is established at every public school in this
state a faculty senate which shall be comprised of all permanent,
full-time professional educators employed at the school who shall
all be voting members. Professional educators as used in this
section means professional educators as defined in chapter
eighteen-a of this code. A quorum of more than one half of thevoting members of the faculty shall be present at any meeting of
the faculty senate at which official business is conducted.
Prior to the beginning of the instructional term each year, but
within the employment term, the principal shall convene a meeting
of the faculty senate to elect a chair, vice chair and secretary
and discuss matters relevant to the beginning of the school year.
The vice chair shall preside at meetings when the chair is
absent. Meetings of the faculty senate shall be held on a
regular basis as determined by a schedule approved by the faculty
senate and amended from time to time if needed. Faculty senate
meetings may not be held during regular school hours including
the hours between eight a.m. and three-thirty p.m. on weekdays,
but may be held in school facilities after or before regular
school hours, on weekends and on holidays. Emergency meetings
may be held at the call of the chair or a majority of the voting
members by petition submitted to the chair and vice chair. An
agenda of matters to be considered at a scheduled meeting of the
faculty senate shall be available to the members at least two
employment days prior to the meeting, and in the case of
emergency meetings, as soon as possible prior to the meeting.
The chair of the faculty senate may appoint such committees as
may be desirable to study and submit recommendations to the full
faculty senate, but the acts of the faculty senate shall be voted
upon by the full body.
(b) In addition to any other powers and duties conferred by
law, or authorized by policies adopted by the state or countyboard of education or bylaws which may be adopted by the faculty
senate not inconsistent with law, the powers and duties listed in
this subsection are specifically reserved for the faculty senate.
The intent of these provisions is neither to restrict nor to
require the activities of every faculty senate to the enumerated
items except as otherwise stated. Each faculty senate shall
organize its activities as it deems most effective and efficient
based on school size, departmental structure and other relevant
factors.
(1) Each faculty senate shall control funds allocated to the
school from legislative appropriations pursuant to section nine,
article nine-a of this chapter. From such funds, each classroom
teacher and librarian shall be allotted fifty dollars for
expenditure during the instructional year for academic materials,
supplies or equipment which in the judgment of the teacher or
librarian will assist him or her in providing instruction in his
or her assigned academic subjects, or shall be returned to the
faculty senate: Provided, That nothing contained herein shall
prohibit such funds from being used for programs and materials
that, in the opinion of the teacher, enhance student behavior,
increase academic achievement, improve self-esteem and address
the problems of students at-risk. The remainder of funds shall
be expended for academic materials, supplies or equipment in
accordance with a budget approved by the faculty senate.
Notwithstanding any other provisions of the law to the contrary,
funds not expended in one school year shall be available forexpenditure in the next school year: Provided, however, That the
amount of county funds budgeted in a fiscal year, shall not be
reduced throughout the year as a result of the faculty
appropriations in the same fiscal year for such materials,
supplies and equipment. Accounts shall be maintained of the
allocations and expenditures of such funds for the purpose of
financial audit. Academic materials, supplies or equipment shall
be interpreted broadly, but shall not include materials, supplies
or equipment which will be used in or connected with
interscholastic athletic events.
(2) A faculty senate may establish a process for faculty
members to interview new prospective professional educators and
paraprofessional employees at the school and submit
recommendations regarding employment to the principal, who may
also make independent recommendations, for submission to the
county superintendent: Provided, That such process must permit
the timely employment of persons to perform necessary duties.
(3) A faculty senate may nominate teachers for recognition
as outstanding teachers under state and local teacher recognition
programs and other personnel at the school, including parents,
for recognition under other appropriate recognition programs and
may establish such programs for operation at the school.
(4) A faculty senate may submit recommendations to the
principal regarding the assignment scheduling of secretaries,
clerks, aides and paraprofessionals at the school.
(5) A faculty senate may submit recommendations to theprincipal regarding establishment of the master curriculum
schedule for the next ensuing school year.
(6) A faculty senate may establish a process for the review
and comment on sabbatical leave requests submitted by employees
at the school pursuant to section eleven, article two of this
chapter.
(7) Each faculty senate shall elect three faculty
representatives to the local school improvement council
established pursuant to section two of this article.
(8) Each faculty senate may nominate a member for election
to the county staff development council pursuant to section
eight, article three, chapter eighteen-a of this code.
(9) Each faculty senate shall have an opportunity to make
recommendations on the selection of faculty to serve as mentors
for beginning teachers under beginning teacher internship
programs at the school.
(10) A faculty senate may solicit, accept and expend any
grants, gifts, bequests, donations and any other funds made
available to the faculty senate: Provided, That the faculty
senate shall select a member who shall have the duty of
maintaining a record of all funds received and expended by the
faculty senate, which record shall be kept in the school office
and shall be subject to normal auditing procedures.
(11) On or after the first day of January, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-two, any faculty senate may review the evaluation
procedure as conducted in their school to ascertain whether suchevaluations were conducted in accordance with the written system
required pursuant to section twelve, article two, chapter
eighteen-a of this code and the general intent of this
Legislature regarding meaningful performance evaluations of
school personnel. If a majority of members of the faculty senate
determine that such evaluations were not so conducted, they shall
submit a report in writing to the state board of education:
Provided, That nothing herein shall create any new right of
access to or review of any individual's evaluations.
(12) Each faculty senate shall be provided by its local
board of education at least a two-hour per month block of
noninstructional time within the school day: Provided, That any
such designated day shall constitute a full instructional day.
This time may be utilized and determined at the local school
level and shall include, but not be limited to, faculty senate
meetings.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to prohibit faculty
senates from meeting during regular school hours.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.