Senate Bill No. 523
(By Senators Schoonover and Bailey)
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[Introduced March 24, 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 twenty-two, article five,
chapter eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended; to amend and reenact
section five-a, article nine-a of said chapter; to amend
article two, chapter eighteen-a of said code by adding
thereto a new section, designated section twelve-a; and to
amend article four of said chapter by adding thereto a new
section, designated section twenty, all relating to school
nurses and service personnel; job descriptions; evaluations;
and pay increases.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section twenty-two, article five, chapter eighteen of
the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one,
as amended, be amended and reenacted; that section five-a,
article nine-a of said chapter be amended and reenacted; that article two, chapter eighteen-a of said code be amended by adding
thereto a new section, designated section twelve-a; and that
article four of said chapter be amended by adding thereto a new
section, designated section twenty, all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 18. EDUCATION
ARTICLE 5. COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION.
§18-5-22. Medical and dental inspection; school nurses; specialized health procedures; establishment of council of school nurses.
County boards shall provide proper medical and dental
inspections for all pupils attending the schools of their county
and shall further have the authority to take any other action
necessary to protect the pupils from infectious diseases,
including the authority to require from all school personnel
employed in their county, certificates of good health and of
physical fitness.
Each county board shall employ full time at least one school
nurse for every one thousand five hundred kindergarten through
seventh grade pupils in net enrollment or major fraction thereof:
Provided, That each county shall employ full time at least one
school nurse: Provided, however, That a county board may
contract with a public health department for services considered
equivalent to those required by this section in accordance with
a plan to be approved by the state board: Provided further, That the state board shall promulgate rules requiring the employment
of school nurses in excess of the number required by this section
to ensure adequate provision of services to severely handicapped
pupils.
Any person employed as a school nurse shall be a registered
professional nurse properly licensed by the West Virginia board
of examiners for registered professional nurses in accordance
with article seven, chapter thirty of this code.
Specialized health procedures that require the skill,
knowledge and judgment of a licensed health professional, shall
be performed only by school nurses, other licensed school health
care providers as provided for in this section, or school
employees who have been trained and retrained every two years who
are subject to the supervision and approval by school nurses.
After assessing the health status of the individual student, a
school nurse, in collaboration with the student's physician,
parents and in some instances an individualized education program
team, may delegate certain health care procedures to a school
employee who shall be trained pursuant to this section,
considered competent, have consultation with, and be monitored or
supervised by the school nurse: Provided, That nothing herein
shall prohibit any school employee from providing specialized
health procedures or any other prudent action to aid any person
who is in acute physical distress or requires emergency assistance. For the purposes of this section "specialized health
procedures" means, but is not limited to, catheterization,
suctioning of tracheostomy, naso-gastric tube feeding or
gastrostomy tube feeding. "School employee" means "teachers",
as defined in section one, article one of this chapter, and aides
and other school service personnel as defined in section eight,
article four, chapter eighteen-a of this code.
Any school employee who elects, or is required by this
section, to undergo training or retraining to provide, in the
manner specified in this section, the specialized health care
procedures or administration of medication as provided in section
twenty-two-a of this article, chapter eighteen-a, article five,
section twenty-two-a for those students for which the selection
has been approved by both the principal and the county board,
shall receive additional pay of at least one pay grade higher
than the highest pay grade for which the employee is paid:
Provided, That any training required in this section may be
considered in lieu of required in-service training of the school
employee and a school employee may not be required to elect to
undergo the training or retraining: Provided, however, That
commencing with the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred
eighty-nine, any newly employed school employee in the field of
special education shall be required to undergo the training and
retraining as provided for in this section: Provided further, That if an employee who holds a class title of an aide is
employed in a school and such aide has received the training,
pursuant to this section, then an employee in the field of
special education shall not be required to perform the
specialized health care procedures.
Each county school nurse, as designated and defined by this
section, shall perform a needs assessment. These nurses shall
meet on the basis of the area served by their regional
educational service agency, prepare recommendations and elect a
representative to serve on the council of school nurses
established under this section.
There shall be established a council of school nurses which
shall be convened by the state board of education. This council
shall prepare a procedural manual and shall provide
recommendations regarding a training course to the director of
the state division of health who shall consult with the state
department of education. The state division of health then has
the authority to promulgate propose rules to implement the
training and to create standards used by those school nurses and
school employees performing specialized health procedures. The
council shall meet every two years to review the certification
and training program regarding school employees.
The state board of education shall work in conjunction with
county boards to provide training and retraining every two years as recommended by the council of school nurses and implemented by
the state division of health.
ARTICLE 9A. PUBLIC SCHOOL SUPPORT.
§18-9A-5a. Ratio of foundation allowances for professional
educators and service personnel to net
enrollment.
(a) The purpose of this section is to establish maximum
ratios between the numbers of professional educators and service
personnel in the counties which are funded through the public
school support plan and the net enrollment in the counties, such
ratios are in addition to the ratios provided for in sections
four and five of this article. It is the intent of the
Legislature to adjust these ratios pursuant to legislative act as
may be appropriate when additional personnel are needed to
perform additional duties.
(b) Commencing with the school year one thousand nine
hundred eighty-nine--ninety, ninety-six -- ninety-seven, and each
year thereafter, in computing the basic foundation allowance to
a county for professional educators and the basic foundation
allowance to a county for service personnel under sections four
and five of this article, a county shall not receive an allowance
for such personnel which number per one thousand students in net
enrollment is in excess of the number of professional educators
and the number of service personnel in the county computed as follows:
Maximum professionalMaximum service
For theeducators per 1000personnel per 1000
school yearnet enrollment thenet enrollment the
preceding yearpreceding year
1989-9076.545.5
1990-9176.045.0
1991-9275.544.5
1992-9375.044.0
1993-9474.543.75
1994-95 and74.043.5
thereafter
(c) Every county shall utilize methods other than reductions
in force, such as attrition and early retirement, before
implementing their reductions in force policy to comply with the
limitations of this section.
(d) For the school years one thousand nine hundred eighty- nine--ninety and one thousand nine hundred ninety--ninety-one
only, if a school district loses more than six percent of the
number chargeable for the previous school year for professional
educator positions or service personnel positions, due to the
maximum ratios established in subsection (b) of this section, it
may apply to the state board for a waiver of said ratios to the
extent that the loss exceeds either six percent of its professional educators or service personnel: Provided, That the
county board of education establishes and maintains the minimum
ratio of professional instructional personnel per one thousand
students in adjusted enrollment as required in section four of
this article. Waivers shall be determined on a case by case
basis according to rules adopted by the state board and granted
to the extent funds are appropriated by the Legislature for this
purpose. Prior to the adoption of such rules, the state board
shall conduct a thorough review of the staffing patterns in each
county. Any personnel positions funded as a result of a waiver
granted under the provisions of this subsection shall not be
included in the computations set forth in sections four and five
of this article.
CHAPTER 18A. SCHOOL PERSONNEL.
ARTICLE 2. SCHOOL PERSONNEL.
§18A-2-12a. Evaluation of school service personnel; improvement plans.
All school service personnel shall receive regular
evaluations of the performance of their duties. Such evaluations
shall be fair, honest and impartial. School service personnel
who hold continuing contract status shall receive at least one
evaluation by their immediate supervisor annually to be completed
on or before the first day of June of the current school year.
School service personnel who hold probationary contract status shall receive at least two evaluations by their immediate
supervisor annually. The first evaluation must be completed on
or before the fifteenth day of January of the current school year
and the second to be completed on or before the first day of June
of the current school year.
The state department of education shall design and provide an
evaluation form to county boards of education before the first
day of September, one thousand nine hundred ninety-seven. The
evaluation form designed by the state board of education shall be
utilized by county boards of education exclusively. The
evaluation document shall provide for:
(1) An overall designation of "Performance Acceptable" or
"Performance Unacceptable" and other areas of evaluation as
determined proper;
(2) A signature and date line for the immediate supervisor
and the employee;
(3) Space for comments or suggestions for improvement by the
immediate supervisor; and
(4) Space for the employee to indicate agreement or
disagreement with the evaluation or parts thereof.
The state department at its discretion may design special
evaluation forms for various classification categories or titles
of employment and substitute employees.
A copy of a regular employee's evaluation shall be provided and discussed with the employee when presented. A copy of the
evaluations of substitute employees shall be mailed to their last
known address within ten working days of completion and the
substitute employee must be notified of the opportunity to
discuss the evaluation with the immediate supervisor and shall be
given the opportunity to do so at a mutually agreeable time if
the employee so requests. Any employee may file a written
response to any evaluation with the immediate supervisor within
ten working days of the receipt of the evaluation. This response
shall be made a part of the employee's personnel file and shall
be attached to the evaluation in question.
An employee who receives the designation of "Performance
Unacceptable" must be placed on a written improvement plan to
cover a time period of no less than thirty working days. The
immediate supervisor shall design the improvement plan and
provide a copy of the improvement plan to the employee. The
improvement plan shall designate the deficiencies to be corrected
and suggested action to accomplish the desired goals. The
purpose of the improvement plan is to provide the employee a fair
method and opportunity to improve the employee's performance.
After completion of the improvement plan the immediate
supervisor shall prepare an evaluation of the employee. If the
evaluation results in a designation of "Performance
Unacceptable", the employee shall be placed on a second plan of improvement of no less than twenty working days. This
improvement plan shall be prepared by an improvement team. The
improvement team shall consist of three members. The affected
employee shall select an administrator and an experienced service
personnel employee in the same classification category. The
county superintendent shall select a school employee with
expertise in the area of identified deficiencies.
The improvement team shall conduct at least two observations
of the employee and provide a written summary of those
observations to the employee. After the completion of the second
improvement plan, the improvement team shall evaluate the
employee on the standard form, provide a copy of this evaluation
to the employee and discuss the evaluation with the employee.
The employee shall have the right to file a written response to
the evaluation within ten working days with the employee's
immediate supervisor. Such response shall be forwarded to
members of the improvement team and shall be placed in the
employee's personnel file and attached to the evaluation in
question.
No employee may be terminated for unacceptable performance of
his or her duties, incompetency or correctable misconduct as
provided in section eight, article two, chapter eighteen-a,
unless the above procedure is utilized immediately before
discharge of the employee. Nothing, however, contained herein shall be construed to limit an employer to utilization of only
two improvement plans for an employee nor to require an employer
to discharge an employee when the circumstances do not warrant
such action: Provided, That nothing herein shall abridge the
right to an employee to utilize the grievance procedure as
provided in article twenty-nine, chapter eighteen, to seek the
modification or removal of an evaluation, improvement plan or
disciplinary action based on the grounds that the document or
process was inaccurate or unfair or the designation of another
evaluator or improvement team on the same grounds.
For the purpose of this section, immediate supervisor shall
be defined as the employee who would respond to a grievance
initiated by the service employee at level one as provided in
section two and four, article twenty-nine, chapter eighteen of
this code.
ARTICLE 4. SALARIES, WAGES AND OTHER BENEFITS.
§18A-4-20. Work day for bus operators; compensation for extracurricular assignments; change of daily schedule; change of assignment.
(1) The regular work day of a bus operator shall consist of
a morning route involving the transportation of students from
home to school where students begin their respective school day
and an afternoon route involving the transportation of students
from their respective school to home. Any bus operator with a daily schedule consisting of both a morning and afternoon route
shall be considered a full day employee regardless of the number
of hours said employee works. The bus operator's place of
assignment shall consist of the actual physical route traveled by
the bus operator in performing his or her daily assignment.
(2) Any additional assignment which involves transportation
of students from a school to another school, from a school to a
job site, from a school to a school related athletic or academic
event, from a school to a nonschool related activity or any other
transportation of students other than from home to school and
from school to home may not be considered part of a bus
operator's daily regular duties. Such assignments shall be
considered either extracurricular or extra-duty employment. When
such an assignment occurs on a daily or weekly basis extending
beyond ten working days, it shall be designated as an
extracurricular assignment and must be posted and filled pursuant
to sections eight-b and eight-g of this article. The
compensation for such assignment shall be on an hourly rate equal
to no less than, one-seventh of the employees regular salary. If
the assignment is of a duration less than ten working days, the
assignment shall be considered extra-duty and must be offered in
rotation to regular employees as required by section eight-b of
this article.
(3) Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter to the contrary, whenever a change in a bus operator's daily work
schedule becomes necessary as a result of a student or students
moving into or living in the geographical area of the bus
operator's assigned route and which does not add to the bus
operator's assignment of transportation of student or students
which were transported by another bus operator, the county board
of education may make changes to the daily schedule of the bus
operator during the school year: Provided, That the written
consent of the bus operator is required if a schedule change
results in a change or addition to the route of more than ten
miles or fifteen minutes to the morning route and an addition to
or change of route of more than ten miles or fifteen minutes to
the afternoon route: Provided, however, That any addition to or
change of route which is greater than ten miles or fifteen
minutes or exceeds ten miles or fifteen minutes when added to a
previous change or changes made during the same school year,
shall require the written consent of the affected bus operator:
Provided further, That when making a change in a bus operator's
daily work schedule to transport new students, the county board
of education may only make changes in the daily work schedule of
the bus operator whose route is closest to the residence of the
new students to be transported: And provided further, That this
subsection does not apply to bus operators who exclusively
transport special education students.
(4) County boards of education may make alteration of the bus
operators' daily schedules for the subsequent school year by
notifying the employee of such anticipated changes pursuant to
section seven, article two of this chapter: Provided, That the
board of education must finalize the bus schedule for the school
year and provide a copy of the same to the employee on or before
the first day of August prior to the beginning of the employee's
term of employment. If the alteration of a bus schedule results
in a change of less than one half of the employee's route from
the previous year, the route shall be offered to the employee who
held the assignment the previous year. If the employee agrees to
the reassignment, he or she shall be removed from the transfer
and subsequent assignment list. If the employee refuses the
reassignment, the route shall be posted and filled pursuant to
sections eight-b and eight-g of this article. If the alteration
of the employee's schedule results in a change of more than one
half of the employee's route from the previous year, the route
shall be posted and filled pursuant to sections eight-b and
eight-g of this article.
When applying this section, change or alteration of
assignment shall be defined to include addition to or deletion of
time actually worked; addition to or deletion of mileage; and
change of physical route traveled.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to specify job titles,
descriptions and evaluations for consideration of school service
personnel pay increases.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that
would be added.
§18A-2-12a and §18A-4-20 are new; therefore, strike-throughs
and underscoring have been omitted.