Senate Bill No. 422
(By Senators Tomblin (Mr. President) and Jackson)
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[Introduced March 21, 1997; referred to the Committee
on Education; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section sixteen, article nine-d,
chapter eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to withholding
part of a county school board's allowance for current
expense; and transferring the allowance to the school
building authority for the purpose of making required
maintenance, repairs or improvements to school structures.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section sixteen, article nine-d, 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 9D. SCHOOL BUILDING AUTHORITY.
§18-9D-16. Facilities and major improvement plans generally;
need-based eligibility.
(a) To facilitate the goals as stated in section fifteen of this article and to assure the prudent and resourceful
expenditure of state funds for construction projects as described
in subsection (d) of said section, each county board of education
shall submit a county-wide comprehensive educational facilities
plan that addresses the facilities and major improvement needs of
the county pursuant to such the guidelines as shall be adopted by
the authority in accordance with this section and in accordance
with each county's facilities plan approved by the state board of
education. Any project receiving funding shall be in furtherance
of such the approved county-wide facilities plan.
(1) To assure efficiency and productivity in the project
approval process, the county-wide facilities plan shall be
submitted only after a preliminary plan, a plan outline or a
proposal for a plan has been submitted to the authority.
Selected members of the authority, which selection shall include
citizen members, shall then meet promptly with those persons
designated by the county board to attend the facilities plan
consultation. The purpose of the consultation is to assure
understanding of the general goals of the school building
authority and the specific goals encompassed in the following
criteria and to discuss ways the plan may be structured to meet
those goals.
(2) The guidelines for the development of a facilities plan shall state the manner, timeline and process for submission of
any plan to the authority; such the project specifications as may
be deemed considered appropriate by the authority; and those
matters which are deemed considered by the authority to be
important reflections of how the project will further the overall
goals of the authority.
(b) To facilitate the goals as stated in section fifteen of
this article and to assure the prudent and resourceful
expenditure of state funds derived from the school major
improvement fund, each county board of education shall submit to
the authority a ten-year county-wide school major improvement
plan that addresses the major improvement needs of each school
within the county. If the state board of education or the
administrative council of an area vocational educational center
chooses to seek funding for a major improvement project from the
authority pursuant to subsection (f) of said section, the state
board or such the administrative council shall submit a ten-year
school major improvement plan that addresses the major
improvement needs of the school or area vocational educational
center for which funding is sought. Each ten-year school major
improvement plan shall be prepared pursuant to such the
guidelines as shall be adopted by the authority in accordance
with this section and shall be updated annually to reflect
projects completed and new or continuing needs. Any school major improvement project funded by the authority shall be in
furtherance of such the approved school major improvement plan.
The guidelines for the development and annual updates of a
ten-year school major improvement plan shall state the manner,
timeline and process for submission of any plan, including a
repair and replacement schedule for school facilities, to the
authority; such the maintenance specifications as may be deemed
considered appropriate by the authority; and those matters which
are deemed considered by the authority to be important
reflections of how the major improvement project or projects
will further the overall goals of the authority.
(c) The guidelines regarding submission of the facilities
plans and school major improvement plans shall include
requirements for public hearings, comments or other means of
providing broad-based input within a reasonable time period as
the authority may deem consider appropriate. The submission of
each plan shall be accompanied by a synopsis of all comments
received and a formal comment by the county board, the state
board or the administrative council of an area vocational
educational center submitting such the plan.
The guidelines regarding project specifications may include
such matters as energy efficiency, preferred siting, construction
materials, maintenance plan or any other matter related to how
the project is to proceed. If a county board of education proposes to finance a construction project through a lease with
an option to purchase pursuant to an investment contract as
described in subsection (e), section fifteen of this article,
the specifications for such the project shall include the term
of the lease, the amount of each lease payment, including the
payment due upon exercise of the option to purchase, and the
terms and conditions of the proposed investment contract.
(d) The guidelines pertaining to quality educational
facilities shall require that a facilities plan address how the
current facilities do not meet and how the proposed plan and any
project thereunder does meet the following goals:
(1) Student health and safety;
(2) Economies of scale, including compatibility with similar
schools that have achieved the most economical organization,
facility utilization and pupil-teacher ratios;
(3) Reasonable travel time and practical means of addressing
other demographic considerations;
(4) Multicounty and regional planning to achieve the most
effective and efficient instructional delivery system;
(5) Curriculum improvement and diversification, including
computerization and technology and advanced senior courses in
science, mathematics, language arts and social studies;
(6) Innovations in education;
(7) Adequate space for projected student enrollments; and
(8) To the extent constitutionally permissible, each
facilities plan shall address the history of efforts taken by
the county board to propose or adopt local school bond issues or
special levies.
If the project is to benefit more than one county in the
region, the facilities plan shall state the manner in which the
cost and funding of the project shall be apportioned among the
counties.
(e) The guidelines pertaining to quality educational
facilities shall require that a school major improvement plan
address how the proposed plan and any project thereunder meet
the following goals:
(1) Student health and safety, including, but not limited
to, critical health and safety needs; and
(2) Economies of scale, including regularly scheduled
preventive maintenance: Provided, That each county board's
school maintenance plan shall address regularly scheduled
maintenance for all facilities within the county.
(f) Each county board's facilities plan and school major
improvement plan shall prioritize all the construction projects
or major improvement projects, respectively, within the county.
A school major improvement plan submitted by the state board or
the administrative council of an area vocational educational
center shall prioritize all the school improvement projects contained in such the plan. Such The priority list shall be one
of the criteria to be considered by the authority in determining
how available funds shall be expended. In prioritizing the
projects, the county board, the state board or the administrative
council submitting a plan shall make determinations in accordance
with the objective criteria formulated by the school building
authority.
(g) Each facilities plan and school major improvement plan
shall include the objective means to be utilized in evaluating
implementation of the overall plan and each project included
therein. Such The evaluation shall measure each project's
furtherance of each applicable goal stated in this section and
any guidelines adopted hereunder, as well as the overall success
of any project as it relates to the facilities plan or school
major improvement plan and the overall goals of the authority.
(h) The state department of education shall conduct on-site
inspections, at least annually, of all facilities which have been
funded, wholly or in part, by moneys from the authority or state
board to ensure compliance with the county board's facilities
plan and school major improvement plan as related to such the
facilities; to preserve the physical integrity of the facilities
to the extent possible; and to otherwise extend the useful life
of the facilities: Provided, That the state board shall submit
reports regarding its on-site inspections of facilities to the authority within thirty days of completion of such the on-site
inspections: Provided, however, That the state board shall
promulgate rules regarding such the on-site inspections and
matters relating thereto, in consultation with the authority, as
soon as practical and shall submit such the proposed rules for
legislative review no later than the first day of December, one
thousand nine hundred ninety-four.
(i) The authority may adopt guidelines for requiring that a
county board modify, update, supplement or otherwise submit
changes or additions to an approved facilities plan or for
requiring that a county board, the state board or the
administrative council of an area vocational educational center
modify, update, supplement or otherwise submit changes or
additions to an approved county board facilities plan or school
major improvement plan. The authority shall provide reasonable
notification and sufficient time for such the change or addition
as delineated in guidelines developed by the authority.
(j) Based on its on-site inspection of a facility funded,
wholly or in part, by moneys from the authority or state board or
notification by the authority to the state board that the changes
or additions to a county's board county board's facilities plan
or school major improvement plan required by the authority have
not been implemented within the time period prescribed by the
authority, the state board shall withhold sufficient funds from the county board's share of the moneys appropriated for current
expense restrict the use of the necessary funds or otherwise
allocate funds from moneys appropriated by the Legislature for
those purposes set forth in section nine, article nine-a of this
chapter to ensure compliance with a county board's facilities
plan or school major improvement plan, to preserve the physical
integrity of the facilities to the extent possible, and to
otherwise extend the useful life of the facilities: Provided,
That no more than ten percent per year of the county's share of
the moneys appropriated for current expense may be withheld for
this purpose: Provided, however, That up to ten percent may be
withheld each year until the required maintenance, repairs or
improvements are made. The moneys withheld by the state board
shall be transferred to the authority. The authority shall use
the moneys to make the required maintenance, repairs or
improvements.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow withholding of
up to ten percent per year of a county board of education's
allowance for current expense to ensure compliance with the
county board's facilities plan or school major improvement plan,
to preserve the physical integrity of the facilities to the
extent possible, and to extend the useful life of the facilities.
The bill transfers the withheld portion of the allowance to the
school building authority to use to make the required
maintenance, repairs or improvements.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.