ENROLLED
H. B. 2866
(By Delegates Williams, Manuel, Beach, Hubbard, Spencer and
Henderson)
[Passed April 12, 1997, in effect July 1, 1997.]
AN ACT to amend and reenact section five, article five-a, chapter
eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, relating to faculty senates; including
steps to be taken by both a faculty senate chair and a
principal in the event the principal rejects a recommendation
of the faculty senate; and providing for the use of faculty
senate days by school service personnel for staff development,
maintenance, work site needs, skills development and other
noneducational meetings as needed, required or developed by
the county board of education.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
§18-5A-5. Public school faculty senates established; election of
officers; powers and duties; use of instructional day.
(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 the
voting members of the faculty shall be present at any meeting of
the faculty senate at which official business is conducted. When a
principal failsdoes not comply within a reasonable time, or refuses, to
comply with or implement a rule, policy or practice recommended as
a result of a majority vote of the faculty senate taken at a
regular faculty senate meeting, the faculty senate chair shall make
a written request to the principal for justification of his or her
failure or refusal. Within ten days of receipt of the request, the
principal shall give a written response to the faculty senate
chair, which response shall specifically state the reasons for his
or her failure or refusal. A copy of each request and response
shall be forwarded to the county superintendent by the respective
senders. 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. 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 county board
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 for expenditure 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 the
principal 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 such
evaluations 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 county board shall provide two options for
implementing faculty senate meetings. The county superintendent shall convene a meeting of the chairs of all the faculty senates of
the county, in accordance with paragraph (B) of this subsection,
who may elect either a full day or one-half of a day each month in
accordance with one of the two following options, either of which
shall be counted as full instructional days:
(A) Each faculty senate shall be provided by its local county
board one-half of a day each month for conducting faculty senate
meetings; or
(B) Each faculty senate shall be provided by its local county
board one day per month for the faculty senate meeting and other
activities that will result in improved student learning,
including, but not limited to, staff development, curriculum
development and articulation, writing or conducting meetings
regarding individualized education plans, parent teacher
conferences, continuing education, tutoring, unified school
improvement planning and other duties required of teachers.
At least two hours of the day under either option shall be reserved
for the faculty senate meeting. One-half of the full instructional
day per month provided by county boards under option (B) of this
subdivision shall be made available through extended instructional
time, continuing education time, outside the school environment
time, or other non-instructional time, so that instructional time
for students is not further reduced.
The county superintendent shall convene a meeting of the
chairs of all the faculty senates of the county who shall by majority vote select either option (A) or option (B) and the method
by which under option (B) the one-half instructional day per month
made available through extended instructional time, continuing
education time, outside the school environment time, or other non- instructional time shall be made available. The options selected
shall be binding upon all faculty senates in the county. The
county superintendent shall not vote in the selection except to
break a tie. The meeting shall be held on or before fifteenth day
of March for the next ensuing school year: Provided, That for the
school year beginning on the first day of July, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-seven, the meeting shall be held as soon as
practical after the fifteenth day of April.
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.
(13) On instructional days in which the faculty senate shall
meet, school service personnel shall perform their regular duties
as required or perform regular or routine maintenance for
transportation vehicles, have such continuing education as is
required, have skills development opportunities, attend to work
site needs or other special non-educational programs as needed,
required or developed by the county school board.
(13) (14) Each faculty senate shall develop a strategic plan to
manage the integration of special needs students into the regular
classroom at their respective schools and submit said strategic
plan to the superintendent of the county board of education by the
thirtieth day of June, one thousand nine hundred ninety-five, and periodically thereafter pursuant to guidelines developed by the
state department of education. Each faculty senate shall encourage
the participation of local school improvement councils, parents and
the community at large in the development of the strategic plan for
each school.
Each strategic plan developed by the faculty senate shall
include at least: (A) A mission statement; (B) goals; (C) needs;
(D) objectives and activities to implement plans relating to each
goal; (E) work in progress to implement the strategic plan; (F)
guidelines for the placement of additional staff into integrated
classrooms to meet the needs of exceptional needs students without
diminishing the services rendered to the other students in
integrated classrooms; (G) guidelines for implementation of
collaborative planning and instruction; and (H) training for all
regular classroom teachers who serve students with exceptional
needs in integrated classrooms.
Adopted
Rejected