Senate Bill No. 432
(By Senators White, Fanning and Hunter)
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[Introduced February 9, 1998; referred to the Committee
.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section fourteen, article four,
chapter eighteen-a of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to
duty free lunch and planning periods of school employees by
adding a provision to allow half-time teachers a planning
period of one-half the usual class period but not less than
thirty minutes; and to increase the minimum planning period
from thirty minutes to sixty minutes.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section fourteen, 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-4-14. Duty-free lunch and daily planning period for
certain employees.
(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of section seven, article
two of this chapter, every teacher who is employed for a period
of time more than one-half the class periods of the regular
school day and every service personnel whose employment is for a
period of more than three and one-half hours per day and whose
pay is at least the amount indicated in the "state minimum pay
scale" as set forth in section eight-a of this article shall be
provided a daily lunch recess of not less than thirty consecutive
minutes, and such employee shall not be assigned any
responsibilities during this recess. Such recess shall be
included in the number of hours worked, and no county shall
increase the number of hours to be worked by an employee as a
result of such employee being granted a recess under the
provisions of this section.
(2) Every teacher who is regularly employed for a period of
time more than one-half the class periods of the regular school
day shall be provided at least one planning period within each
school instructional day to be used to complete necessary
preparations for the instruction of pupils. Such planning period
shall be the length of the usual class period in the school to
which such teacher is assigned, and shall be not less than thirty
sixty minutes. Every teacher who is regularly employed for a
period of time equal to one-half the class periods of the regular
school day shall be provided at least one planning period within each school instructional day to be used to complete necessary
preparations for instruction of pupils. Such planning period
shall be the length one half of the usual class period of the
school to which the teacher is assigned, and shall be not less
than thirty minutes. No teacher shall be assigned any
responsibilities during this period, and no county shall increase
the number of hours to be worked by a teacher as a result of such
teacher being granted a planning period subsequent to the
adoption of this section on the thirteenth day of March,
thirteenth, one thousand nine hundred eighty-two.
Principals, and assistant principals, where applicable,
shall cooperate in carrying out the provisions of this
subsection, including, but not limited to, assuming control of
the class period or supervision of students during the time the
teacher is engaged in the planning period. Substitute teachers
may also be utilized to assist with classroom responsibilities
under this subsection: Provided,
That any substitute teacher who
is employed to teach a minimum of two consecutive days in the
same position shall be granted a planning period pursuant to this
section.
(3) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent
any teacher from exchanging his or her lunch recess or a planning
period or any service personnel from exchanging his or her
lunch
recess for any compensation or benefit mutually agreed upon by the employee and the county superintendent of schools or his or
her
agent: Provided,
That a teacher and the superintendent or
his or her
agent may not agree to terms which are different from
those available to any other teacher granted rights under this
section within the individual school or to terms which in any way
discriminate among such teachers within the individual school,
and that service personnel granted rights under this section and
the superintendent or his or her
agent may not agree to terms
which are different from those available to any other service
personnel within the same classification category granted rights
under this section within the individual school or to terms which
in any way discriminate among such service personnel within the
same classification category within the individual school.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to increase the minimum
planning period from thirty minutes to sixty minutes and to
provide half-time teachers with a planning period equal to one
half of the usual class period but no less than thirty minutes.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.