ENGROSSED

COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE

FOR

Senate Bill No. 194

(By Senators Wooton, Walker, White, Jackson, Buckalew, Anderson, Ball, Hunter, Schoonover, Macnaughtan, Bowman, Snyder, Love, Plymale and Ross)

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[Originating in the Committee on Education;

reported February 25, 1998.]

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A BILL to amend and reenact section seventeen, article four, chapter eighteen-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to amend article five-e, chapter forty-nine of said code by adding thereto a new section, designated section six, all relating to the provision of education opportunities to juveniles in secure predispositional detention centers; providing that the state department of education is responsible for providing education opportunities to such juveniles; and providing seniority rights to certain education employees working at the secure predispositional detention centers.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section seventeen, article four, chapter eighteen-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted; and that article five-e, chapter forty-nine of said code be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section six, all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 18A. SCHOOL PERSONNEL.

ARTICLE 4. SALARIES, WAGES AND OTHER BENEFITS.

§18A-4-17. Health and other facility employee salaries.
(a) The minimum salary scale for professional personnel and service personnel employed by the state department of education to provide education and support services to residents of state department of health and human resources facilities, corrections facilities providing services to juvenile and youthful offenders and in the West Virginia schools for the deaf and the blind is the same as set forth in sections two, three and eight-a of this article. Additionally, those personnel shall receive the equivalent of salary supplements paid to professional and service personnel employed by the county board of education in the county wherein each facility is located, as set forth in sections five-a and five-b of this article. Professional personnel and service personnel in these facilities who earn advanced classification of training after the effective date of this section shall be paid the advanced salary from the date the classification of training is earned. The professional personnel shall be certified, licensed or trained, and shall meet other eligibility classifications as may be required by the provisions of this chapter and by state board regulations for comparable instructional personnel who are employed by county boards of education. The professional personnel shall be paid at the equivalent rate of pay of teachers as set forth in section two of this article, but outside the public support plan, plus the equivalent of the salary supplement paid to teachers employed by the county board of education in the county in which each facility is located, as set forth in section five-a of this article.
(b) Professional personnel employed by the department to provide educational service to residents in state department of health and human resources facilities, corrections facilities providing services to juvenile and youthful offenders or in the West Virginia schools for the deaf and the blind shall be afforded all the rights, privileges and benefits established for the professional personnel under this article: Provided, That the benefits shall apply only within the facility at which the professional personnel are employed: Provided, however, That benefits shall exclude salaries unless explicitly provided for under this or other sections of this article: Provided further, That seniority for the professional personnel shall be determined on the basis of the length of time that the employee has been professionally employed at the facility, regardless of which state agency was the actual employer.
(c) Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to mean that professional personnel and service personnel employed by the department of education to provide educational and support services to residents in state department of health and human resources facilities, corrections facilities providing services to juvenile and youthful offenders and the West Virginia schools for the deaf and the blind are other than state employees.
(d) (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section to the contrary, professional and service personnel employed in an educational facility operated by the West Virginia department of education pursuant to the provisions of section six, article five-e, chapter forty-nine of this code shall accrue seniority at that facility on the basis of the length of time the employee has been employed at the facility. Any professional or service personnel whose employment at the facility was preceded immediately by employment with the county board previously providing education services at the facility or whose employment contract was with the county board previously providing education services at the facility: (A) shall retain any seniority accrued during employment by the county board; (B) shall accrue seniority as a regular employee with the county board during employment at the facility; (C) shall attain continuing contract status in accordance with section two, article two, chapter eighteen-a of this code with both the county and the facility if the sum of the years employed by the county and the facility equals the statutory number required for continuing contract status; and (D) shall retain and continue to accrue county and facility seniority in the event of reemployment by the county as a result of direct transfer from the facility or recall from the preferred list.
(2) Reductions in work force in the facility or employment by the facility or county board shall be made in accordance with the provisions of sections seven-a and eight-b, article four, chapter eighteen-a of this code: Provided, That only years of employment within the facility shall be considered for purposes of reduction in force within the facility.
(3) The seniority conferred in this section applies retroactively to all affected professional and service personnel, but the rights incidental to the seniority shall commence as of the effective date of this section.
CHAPTER 49. CHILD WELFARE.

ARTICLE 5E. DIVISION OF JUVENILE SERVICES.
§49-5E-6. Provision of educational services for juveniles placed in predispositional detention facilities.

(a) The state board of education is authorized to provide for adequate and appropriate education opportunities for juveniles placed in secure predispositional detention centers operated by or under contract with the division of juvenile services.
(b) Subject to appropriations by the Legislature, the state board is authorized: (1) To provide education programs and services for juveniles on the grounds of secure predispositional detention centers; (2) to hire classroom teachers and other school personnel necessary to provide adequate and appropriate education opportunities to these juveniles; and (3) to provide education services for the detained juveniles on a twelve-month basis.
(c) The division of juvenile services shall cooperate with the state board and the state superintendent in the establishment and maintenance of education programs authorized under this section. Subject to appropriations by the Legislature, the division of juvenile services shall provide, or cause to be provided, adequate space and facilities for the education programs. The state board may not be required to construct, improve or maintain any building, other improvement to real estate or fixtures attached thereto at any secure predispositional detention center for the purpose of establishing and maintaining an education program.
(d) The state board may develop and approve rules in accordance with article three-a, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code for the education of juveniles in secure predispositional detention centers.