COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 352
(By Senators Tomblin, Mr. President, Jackson, Manchin,
Love, Schoonover, Oliverio, Wagner, Yoder,
Blatnik and Wiedebusch)
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[Originating in the Committee on Education;
reported February 22, 1996.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact sections eight and eight-b, article
four, chapter eighteen-a of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to
the employment terms, class titles and seniority rights of
paraprofessionals, autism mentors and braille or sign
reading specialists.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections eight and eight-b, article four, chapter
eighteen-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read
as follows:
ARTICLE 4. SALARIES, WAGES AND OTHER BENEFITS.
§18A-4-8. Employment term and class titles of service personnel; definitions.
The purpose of this section is to establish an employment
term and class titles for service personnel. The employment term
for service personnel shall be no less than ten months, a month
being defined as twenty employment days: Provided, That the
county board of education may contract with all or part of these
personnel for a longer term. The beginning and closing dates of
the ten-month employment term shall not exceed forty-three weeks.
Service personnel employed on a yearly or twelve-month basis
may be employed by calendar months. Whenever there is a change
in job assignment during the school year, the minimum pay scale
and any county supplement shall be applicable.
Service personnel employed in the same classification for
more than the two hundred day minimum employment term shall be
paid for additional employment at a daily rate of not less than
the daily rate paid for the two hundred day minimum employment
term.
No service employee, without his agreement, shall be
required to report for work more than five days per week and no
part of any working day may be accumulated by the employer for
future work assignments, unless the employee agrees thereto.
Should an employee whose regular work week is scheduled from Monday through Friday agree to perform any work assignments on a
Saturday or Sunday, the employee shall be paid for at least
one-half day of work for each such day he reports for work, and
if the employee works more than three and one-half hours on any
Saturday or Sunday, he shall be paid for at least a full day of
work for each such day.
Custodians, aides, maintenance, office and school lunch
employees required to work a daily work schedule that is
interrupted, that is, who do not work a continuous period in one
day, shall be paid additional compensation which shall be equal
to at least one-eighth of their total salary as provided by their
state minimum salary and any county pay supplement, and payable
entirely from county funds: Provided, That when engaged in duties
of transporting students exclusively, aides shall not be regarded
as working an interrupted schedule.
Upon the change in classification or upon meeting the
requirements of an advanced classification of or by any employee,
his salary shall be made to comply with the requirements of this
article, and to any county salary schedule in excess of the
minimum requirements of this article, based upon his advanced
classification and allowable years of employment.
An employee's contract as provided in section five, article two of this chapter shall state the appropriate monthly salary
the employee is to be paid, based on the class title as provided
in this article and any county salary schedule in excess of the
minimum requirements of this article.
The column heads of the state minimum pay scale and class
titles, set forth in section eight-a of this article, are defined
as follows:
"Pay grade" means the monthly salary applicable to class
titles of service personnel.
"Years of employment" means the number of years which an
employee classified as service personnel has been employed by a
board of education in any position prior to or subsequent to the
effective date of this section and including service in the armed
forces of the United States if the employee were employed at the
time of his induction. For the purpose of section eight-a of
this article, years of employment shall be limited to the number
of years shown and allowed under the state minimum pay scale as
set forth in section eight-a of this article.
"Class title" means the name of the position or job held by
service personnel.
"Accountant I" means personnel employed to maintain payroll
records and reports and perform one or more operations relating to a phase of the total payroll.
"Accountant II" means personnel employed to maintain
accounting records and to be responsible for the accounting
process associated with billing, budgets, purchasing and related
operations.
"Accountant III" means personnel who are employed in the
county board of education office to manage and supervise accounts
payable and/or payroll procedures.
"Aide I" means those personnel selected and trained for
teacher-aide classifications such as monitor aide, clerical aide,
classroom aide or general aide.
"Aide II" means those personnel referred to in the "Aide I"
classification who have completed a training program approved by
the state board of education, or who hold a high school diploma
or have received a general educational development certificate.
Only personnel classified in an Aide II class title shall may be
employed as an aide in any special education program.
"Aide III" means those personnel referred to in the "Aide I"
classification who hold a high school diploma or a general
educational development certificate, and have completed six
semester hours of college credit at an institution of higher
education or are employed as an aide in a special education program and have one year's experience as an aide in special
education.
"Aide IV" means personnel referred to in the "Aide I"
classification who hold a high school diploma or a general
educational development certificate and who have completed
eighteen hours of state board-approved college credit at a
regionally accredited institution of higher education, or who
have completed fifteen hours of state board-approved college
credit at a regionally accredited institution of higher education
and successfully completed an in-service training program
determined by the state board to be the equivalent of three hours
of college credit.
"Audiovisual technician" means personnel employed to perform
minor maintenance on audiovisual equipment, films, supplies and
the filling of requests for equipment.
"Auditor" means personnel employed to examine and verify
accounts of individual schools and to assist schools and school
personnel in maintaining complete and accurate records of their
accounts.
"Autism mentor" means personnel who work with autistic
students and who meet standards and experience to be determined
by the state board: Provided, That the state board shall determine these standards and experience on or before the first
day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-two: Provided,
however, That if any employee has held or holds an aide title and
becomes employed as an autism mentor, the employee shall hold a
multiclassification status that includes aide and autism mentor
titles in accordance with section eight-b of this article:
"Braille or sign language specialist" means personnel
employed to provide braille and/or sign language assistance to
students: Provided, That if any employee has held or holds an
aide title and becomes employed as a braille or sign language
specialist, the employee shall hold a multiclassification status
that includes aide and braille or sign language specialist titles
in accordance with section eight-b of this article.
"Bus operator" means personnel employed to operate school
buses and other school transportation vehicles as provided by the
state board of education.
"Buyer" means personnel employed to review and write
specifications, negotiate purchase bids and recommend purchase
agreements for materials and services that meet predetermined
specifications at the lowest available costs.
"Cabinetmaker" means personnel employed to construct
cabinets, tables, bookcases and other furniture.
"Cafeteria manager" means personnel employed to direct the
operation of a food services program in a school, including
assigning duties to employees, approving requisitions for
supplies and repairs, keeping inventories, inspecting areas to
maintain high standards of sanitation, preparing financial
reports and keeping records pertinent to food services of a
school.
"Carpenter I" means personnel classified as a carpenter's
helper.
"Carpenter II" means personnel classified as a journeyman
carpenter.
"Chief mechanic" means personnel employed to be responsible
for directing activities which ensure that student transportation
or other board-owned vehicles are properly and safely maintained.
"Clerk I" means personnel employed to perform clerical
tasks.
"Clerk II" means personnel employed to perform general
clerical tasks, prepare reports and tabulations and operate
office machines.
"Computer operator" means qualified personnel employed to
operate computers.
"Cook I" means personnel employed as a cook's helper.
"Cook II" means personnel employed to interpret menus, to
prepare and serve meals in a food service program of a school and
shall include personnel who have been employed as a "Cook I" for
a period of four years, if such personnel have not been elevated
to this classification within that period of time.
"Cook III" means personnel employed to prepare and serve
meals, make reports, prepare requisitions for supplies, order
equipment and repairs for a food service program of a school
system.
"Crew leader" means personnel employed to organize the work
for a crew of maintenance employees to carry out assigned
projects.
"Custodian I" means personnel employed to keep buildings
clean and free of refuse.
"Custodian II" means personnel employed as a watchman or
groundsman.
"Custodian III" means personnel employed to keep buildings
clean and free of refuse, to operate the heating or cooling
systems and to make minor repairs.
"Custodian IV" means personnel employed as head custodians.
In addition to providing services as defined in "Custodian III,"
their duties may include supervising other custodian personnel.
"Director or coordinator of services" means personnel who
are assigned to direct a department or division. Nothing herein
shall may prohibit professional personnel or professional
educators as defined in section one, article one of this chapter,
from holding this class title, but professional personnel shall
may not be defined or classified as service personnel unless the
professional personnel held a service personnel title under this
section prior to holding class title of "director or coordinator
of services": Provided, That funding for professional personnel
in positions classified as directors or coordinators of services
who were assigned prior to the first day of May, one thousand
nine hundred ninety-four, shall may not be required to be
redirected from service personnel categories as a result of this
provision until the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-six. Thereafter, directors or coordinators of service
positions shall be classified as either a professional personnel
or service personnel position for state aid formula funding
purposes and funding for directors or coordinators of service
positions shall be based upon the employment status of the
director or coordinator either as a professional personnel or
service personnel.
"Draftsman" means personnel employed to plan, design and produce detailed architectural/engineering drawings.
"Electrician I" means personnel employed as an apprentice
electrician helper or who holds an electrician helper license
issued by the state fire marshal.
"Electrician II" means personnel employed as an electrician
journeyman or who holds a journeyman electrician license issued
by the state fire marshal.
"Electronic technician I" means personnel employed at the
apprentice level to repair and maintain electronic equipment.
"Electronic technician II" means personnel employed at the
journeyman level to repair and maintain electronic equipment.
"Executive secretary" means personnel employed as the county
school superintendent's secretary or as a secretary who is
assigned to a position characterized by significant
administrative duties.
"Food services supervisor" means qualified personnel not
defined as professional personnel or professional educators in
section one, article one of this chapter, employed to manage and
supervise a county school system's food service program. The
duties would include preparing in-service training programs for
cooks and food service employees, instructing personnel in the
areas of quantity cooking with economy and efficiency, and keeping aggregate records and reports.
"Foremen" means skilled persons employed for supervision of
personnel who work in the areas of repair and maintenance of
school property and equipment.
"General maintenance" means personnel employed as helpers to
skilled maintenance employees and to perform minor repairs to
equipment and buildings of a county school system.
"Glazier" means personnel employed to replace glass or other
materials in windows and doors and to do minor carpentry tasks.
"Graphic artist" means personnel employed to prepare graphic
illustrations.
"Groundsmen" means personnel employed to perform duties that
relate to the appearance, repair and general care of school
grounds in a county school system. Additional assignments may
include the operation of a small heating plant and routine
cleaning duties in buildings.
"Handyman" means personnel employed to perform routine
manual tasks in any operation of the county school system.
"Heating and air conditioning mechanic I" means personnel
employed at the apprentice level to install, repair and maintain
heating and air conditioning plants and related electrical
equipment.
"Heating and air conditioning mechanic II" means personnel
employed at the journeyman level to install, repair and maintain
heating and air conditioning plants and related electrical
equipment.
"Heavy equipment operator" means personnel employed to
operate heavy equipment.
"Inventory supervisor" means personnel who are employed to
supervise or maintain operations in the receipt, storage,
inventory and issuance of materials and supplies.
"Key punch operator" means qualified personnel employed to
operate key punch machines or verifying machines.
"Locksmith" means personnel employed to repair and maintain
locks and safes.
"Lubrication man" means personnel employed to lubricate and
service gasoline or diesel-powered equipment of a county school
system.
"Machinist" means personnel employed to perform machinist
tasks which include the ability to operate a lathe, planer,
shaper, threading machine and wheel press. Such personnel should
also have ability to work from blueprints and drawings.
"Mail clerk" means personnel employed to receive, sort,
dispatch, deliver or otherwise handle letters, parcels and other mail.
"Maintenance clerk" means personnel employed to maintain and
control a stocking facility to keep adequate tools and supplies
on hand for daily withdrawal for all school maintenance crafts.
"Mason" means personnel employed to perform tasks connected
with brick and block laying and carpentry tasks related to such
laying.
"Mechanic" means personnel employed who can independently
perform skilled duties in the maintenance and repair of
automobiles, school buses and other mechanical and mobile
equipment to use in a county school system.
"Mechanic assistant" means personnel employed as a mechanic
apprentice and helper.
"Multiclassification" means personnel employed to perform
tasks that involve the combination of two or more class titles in
this section. In such instances the minimum salary scale shall
be the higher pay grade of the class titles involved.
"Office equipment repairman I" means personnel employed as
an office equipment repairman apprentice or helper.
"Office equipment repairman II" means personnel responsible
for servicing and repairing all office machines and equipment.
Personnel shall be responsible for parts being purchased necessary for the proper operation of a program of continuous
maintenance and repair.
"Painter" means personnel employed to perform duties of
painting, finishing and decorating of wood, metal and concrete
surfaces of buildings, other structures, equipment, machinery and
furnishings of a county school system.
"Paraprofessional" means a person certified pursuant to
section two-a, article three of this chapter to perform duties in
a support capacity including, but not limited to, facilitating in
the instruction and direct or indirect supervision of pupils
under the direction of a principal, a teacher, or another
designated professional educator: Provided, That no person
employed on the effective date of this section in the position of
an aide may be reduced in force or transferred to create a
vacancy for the employment of a paraprofessional: Provided,
however, That if any employee has held or holds an aide title and
becomes employed as a paraprofessional, the employee shall hold
a multiclassification status that includes aide and
paraprofessional titles in accordance with section eight-b of
this article: Provided further, That once an employee who holds
an aide title becomes certified as a paraprofessional and is
required to perform duties that may not be performed by an aide without paraprofessional certification, he or she shall receive
the paraprofessional title pay grade.
"Plumber I" means personnel employed as an apprentice
plumber and helper.
"Plumber II" means personnel employed as a journeyman
plumber.
"Printing operator" means personnel employed to operate
duplication equipment, and as required, to cut, collate, staple,
bind and shelve materials.
"Printing supervisor" means personnel employed to supervise
the operation of a print shop.
"Programmer" means personnel employed to design and prepare
programs for computer operation.
"Roofing/sheet metal mechanic" means personnel employed to
install, repair, fabricate and maintain roofs, gutters, flashing
and duct work for heating and ventilation.
"Sanitation plant operator" means personnel employed to
operate and maintain a water or sewage treatment plant to ensure
the safety of the plant's effluent for human consumption or
environmental protection.
"School bus supervisor" means qualified personnel employed
to assist in selecting school bus operators and routing and scheduling of school buses, operate a bus when needed, relay
instructions to bus operators, plan emergency routing of buses
and promoting good relationships with parents, pupils, bus
operators and other employees.
"Secretary I" means personnel employed to transcribe from
notes or mechanical equipment, receive callers, perform clerical
tasks, prepare reports and operate office machines.
"Secretary II" means personnel employed in any elementary,
secondary, kindergarten, nursery, special education, vocational
or any other school as a secretary. The duties may include
performing general clerical tasks, transcribing from notes or
stenotype or mechanical equipment or a sound-producing machine,
preparing reports, receiving callers and referring them to proper
persons, operating office machines, keeping records and handling
routine correspondence. There is nothing implied herein that
would prevent such the employees from holding or being elevated
to a higher classification.
"Secretary III" means personnel assigned to the county board
of education office administrators in charge of various
instructional, maintenance, transportation, food services,
operations and health departments, federal programs or
departments with particular responsibilities of purchasing and financial control or any personnel who have served in a position
which meets the definition of "Secretary II" or "Secretary III"
herein for eight years.
"Supervisor of maintenance" means skilled personnel not
defined as professional personnel or professional educators as in
section one, article one of this chapter. The responsibilities
would include directing the upkeep of buildings and shops,
issuing instructions to subordinates relating to cleaning,
repairs and maintenance of all structures and mechanical and
electrical equipment of a board of education.
"Supervisor of transportation" means qualified personnel
employed to direct school transportation activities, properly and
safely, and to supervise the maintenance and repair of vehicles,
buses, and other mechanical and mobile equipment used by the
county school system.
"Switchboard operator-receptionist" means personnel employed
to refer incoming calls, to assume contact with the public, to
direct and to give instructions as necessary, to operate
switchboard equipment and to provide clerical assistance.
"Truck driver" means personnel employed to operate light or
heavy duty gasoline and diesel-powered vehicles.
"Warehouse clerk" means personnel employed to be responsible for receiving, storing, packing and shipping goods.
"Watchman" means personnel employed to protect school
property against damage or theft. Additional assignments may
include operation of a small heating plant and routine cleaning
duties.
"Welder" means personnel employed to provide acetylene or
electric welding services for a school system.
In addition to the compensation provided for in section
eight-a of this article, for service personnel, each service
employee shall, notwithstanding any provisions in this code to
the contrary, be entitled to all service personnel employee
rights, privileges and benefits provided under this or any other
chapter of this code without regard to such the employee's hours
of employment or the methods or sources of compensation.
Service personnel whose years of employment exceed the
number of years shown and provided for under the state minimum
pay scale set forth in section eight-a of this article may not be
paid less than the amount shown for the maximum years of
employment shown and provided for in the classification in which
he is employed.
The county boards shall review each service personnel
employee job classification annually and shall reclassify all service employees as required by such job classifications. The
state superintendent of schools is hereby authorized to withhold
state funds appropriated pursuant to this article for salaries
for service personnel who are improperly classified by such the
county boards. Further, he shall order county boards to correct
immediately any improper classification matter and with the
assistance of the attorney general shall take any legal action
necessary against any county board to enforce such order.
No service employee, without his written consent, may be
reclassified by class title, nor may a service employee, without
his written consent, be relegated to any condition of employment
which would result in a reduction of his salary, rate of pay,
compensation or benefits earned during the current fiscal year or
which would result in a reduction of his salary, rate of pay,
compensation or benefits for which he would qualify by continuing
in the same job position and classification held during said
fiscal year and subsequent years.
Any board failing to comply with the provisions of this
article may be compelled to do so by mandamus, and shall be
liable to any party prevailing against the board for court costs
and his reasonable attorney fee, as determined and established by
the court.
Notwithstanding any provisions in this code to the contrary,
service personnel who hold a continuing contract in a specific
job classification and are physically unable to perform the job's
duties as confirmed by a physician chosen by the employee shall
be given priority status over any employee not holding a
continuing contract in filling other service personnel job
vacancies if qualified as provided in section eight-e of this
article.
§18A-4-8b. Seniority rights for school service personnel.
A county board of education shall make decisions affecting
promotion and filling of any service personnel positions of
employment or jobs occurring throughout the school year that are
to be performed by service personnel as provided in section
eight, article four of this chapter, on the basis of seniority,
qualifications and evaluation of past service.
Qualifications shall mean that the applicant holds a
classification title in his category of employment as provided in
this section and must be given first opportunity for promotion
and filling vacancies. Other employees then must be considered
and shall qualify by meeting the definition of the job title as
defined in section eight, article four of this chapter, that
relates to the promotion or vacancy. If the employee so
requests, the board must show valid cause why an employee with the most seniority is not promoted or employed in the position
for which he applies. Applicants shall be considered in the
following order:
(1) Regularly employed service personnel;
(2) Service personnel whose employment has been discontinued
in accordance with this section;
(3) Professional personnel who held temporary service
personnel jobs or positions prior to the ninth day of June, one
thousand nine hundred eighty-two, and who apply only for such
temporary jobs or positions;
(4) Substitute service personnel; and
(5) New service personnel.
The county board of education may not prohibit a service
employee from retaining or continuing his employment in any
positions or jobs held prior to the effective date of this
section and thereafter.
A promotion shall be defined as any change in his employment
that the employee deems to improve his working circumstance
within his classification category of employment and shall
include a transfer to another classification category or place
of employment if the position is not filled by an employee who
holds a title within that classification category of employment. Each class title listed in section eight, article four of this
chapter shall be considered a separate classification category of
employment for service personnel, except for those class titles
having Roman numeral designations, which shall be considered a
single classification of employment. The cafeteria manager class
title shall be included in the same classification category as
cooks. The executive secretary class title shall be included in
the same classification category as secretaries.
Paraprofessional, autism mentor, and braille or sign language
specialist class titles shall be included in the same
classification category as aides.
For purposes of determining seniority under this section an
employee's seniority begins on the date that he enters into his
assigned duties.
Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter to the
contrary, decisions affecting such personnel with respect to
extra-duty assignments shall be made in the following manner:
An employee with the greatest length of service time in a
particular category of employment shall be given priority in
accepting such assignments, followed by other fellow employees
on a rotating basis according to the length of their service time
until all such employees have had an opportunity to perform similar assignments. The cycle then shall be repeated:
Provided, That an alternative procedure for making extra-duty
assignments within a particular classification category of
employment may be utilized if the alternative procedure is
approved both by the county board of education and by an
affirmative vote of two thirds of the employees within that
classification category of employment. For the purpose of this
section, extra-duty assignments are defined as irregular jobs
that occur periodically or occasionally such as, but not limited
to, field trips, athletic events, proms, banquets and band
festival trips.
Boards shall be required to post and date notices of all job
vacancies of established existing or newly created positions in
conspicuous working places for all school service employees to
observe for at least five working days. The notice of such job
vacancies shall include the job description, the period of
employment, the amount of pay and any benefits and other
information that is helpful to the employees to understand the
particulars of the job. After the five day minimum posting
period all vacancies shall be filled within twenty working days
from the posting date notice of any job vacancies of established
existing or newly created positions.
All decisions by county boards of education concerning
reduction in work force of service personnel shall be made on the
basis of seniority, as hereinafter provided.
The seniority of any such service personnel shall be
determined on the basis of the length of time the employee has
been employed by the county board of education within a
particular job classification. For the purpose of establishing
seniority for a preferred recall list as hereinafter provided,
when an employee has been employed in one or more
classifications, the seniority accrued in each previous
classification shall be retained by the employee.
Should a county board of education be required to reduce the
number of employees within a particular job classification, the
employee with the least amount of seniority within that
classification or grades of classification shall be properly
released and employed in a different grade of that classification
if there is a job vacancy: Provided, That if there is no job
vacancy for employment within such classification or grades of
classification, he shall be employed in any other job
classification which he previously held with the county board if
there is a vacancy and shall retain any seniority accrued in
such job classification or grade of classification.
If two or more employees accumulate identical seniority, the
priority shall be determined by a random selection system
established by the employees and approved by the county board.
All employees whose seniority with the county board is
insufficient to allow their retention by the county board during
a reduction in work force shall be placed upon a preferred recall
list and shall be recalled to employment by the county board on
the basis of seniority.
Employees placed upon the preferred list shall be recalled
to any position openings by the county board within the
classification(s), where they had previously been employed, or to
any lateral position for which the employee is qualified or to a
lateral area for which an employee has certification and/or
licensure.
Employees on the preferred recall list shall not forfeit
their right to recall by the county board if compelling reasons
require an employee to refuse an offer of reemployment by the
county board.
The county board shall be required to notify all employees
on the preferred recall list of all position openings that from
time to time exist. Such notice shall be sent by certified mail
to the last known address of the employee; it shall be the duty of each such employee to notify the county board of any change in
the address of such employee.
No position openings may be filled by the county board,
whether temporary or permanent, until all employees on the
preferred recall list have been properly notified of existing
vacancies and have been given an opportunity to accept
reemployment.
Any board failing to comply with the provisions of this
article may be compelled to do so by mandamus and shall be liable
to any party prevailing against the board for court costs and
his reasonable attorney fee, as determined and established by
the court. Further, employees denied promotion or employment in
violation of this section shall be awarded the job, pay and any
applicable benefits retroactively to the date of the violation
and payable entirely from local funds. Further, the board shall
be liable to any party prevailing against the board for any court
reporter costs including copies of transcripts.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to include the school service
personnel class title of paraprofessional, autism mentor, and
braille or sign language specialist within the same classification category as aides and to clarify when aides who
become certified as paraprofessionals receive the pay grade for
paraprofessional titles.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be
stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new
language that would be added.