ENROLLED
Senate Bill No. 589
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[Passed March 13, 1999; to take effect July 1, 1999.]
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AN ACT to amend and reenact section twenty-one, article nine-a,
chapter eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended; to amend and reenact
said article by adding thereto a new section, designated
section twenty-six; and to amend chapter twenty-three,
article two, section one-a of said code, all relating to
requiring that all moneys appropriated for alternative
education programs be distributed in accordance with net
enrollment; and providing workers compensation coverage for
work-based learning.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section twenty-one, article nine-a, 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 9A. PUBLIC SCHOOL SUPPORT.
§18-9A-21. Funding for alternative education programs.
(a) An appropriation may be made to the state department to be distributed to county boards for the operation of alternative
education programs established in accordance with policies and
procedures adopted by the state board under section six, article
two of this chapter: Provided, That nothing in this section
shall be construed to require any specific level of funding by
the Legislature: Provided, however, That ninety percent of any
appropriation which may be made for the purposes set forth in
this section shall be distributed to county boards on the basis
of net enrollment and ten percent of this appropriation shall be
distributed on a competitive basis to county boards for the
operation of pilot or innovative alternative education programs:
Provided further, That for the fiscal year beginning the first
day of July, two thousand, the total appropriation which may be
made for the purposes set forth in this section shall be
distributed to the county boards on the basis of net enrollment.
(b) Each county board shall apply to the state
superintendent for receipt of its share of the distribution in
the manner set forth by the state superintendent which is
consistent with the policies and procedures adopted by the state
board for the establishment and maintenance of alternative education programs.
SB589 H ED AM 3/11 #1
Your Committee on Education moves to amend the bill on page
three, following line three, by adding the following:
§18-9A-26. Allowance for workers' compensation for unpaid
student work-based learning.
(a) The workers' compensation division shall create a
classification and calculate a base premium tax rate for students
participating in an unpaid work-based learning experience off
school premises as a part of the school curriculum with employers
other than the county board of education. The workers'
compensation division shall report to the state department of
education:
(1) The amount of the base premium tax rate for the class;
and
(2) The amount of wages per student to be used to provide
the minimum weekly benefits required by section six, article
four, chapter twenty-three of this code.
(b) The state department of education shall communicate the
amount of the premium to the governor and Legislature by the
first day of December of each year, beginning the first day of
December, one thousand nine hundred ninety-nine.
(c) The base premium tax rate reported to the state
department of education shall be that which was published by the
workers' compensation division prior to the first day of the immediately preceding July. That premium tax rate, however,
shall not be implemented by the workers' compensation division
until the first day of January and shall remain in effect through
the last day of the next December. The workers' compensation
division shall make no merit rate adjustment, as otherwise
provided for in paragraph (A), subdivision (1), subsection (a),
section four, article two, chapter twenty-three of this code, for
the members of the class required to be created by subsection (a)
of this section.
(d) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any rules
adopted to implement the provisions of section four, article two,
chapter twenty-three of this code and for the sole purposes of
this section, the workers' compensation division shall permit any
county board of education affected by this section to be
classified in accordance with this section and to be also
classified as otherwise required by any rules adopted to
implement the provisions of section four, article two, chapter
twenty-three of this code.
(e) Subject to an appropriation by the Legislature, funds
shall be provided to the department of education to distribute to
the county boards. If the appropriation is less than the total
premium calculated, the county boards, individually, shall either reduce the number of students participating in work-based
learning experiences off school premises or the county boards
shall pay the difference between the amount of the premium
calculated by the workers' compensation division and the amount
allocated to the county board by the department of education.
CHAPTER 23. WORKERS' COMPENSATION.
ARTICLE 2. EMPLOYERS AND EMPLOYEES SUBJECT TO CHAPTER;
EXTRATERRITORIAL COVERAGE.
§23-2-1a. Employees subject to chapter.
(a) Employees subject to this chapter are all persons in the
service of employers and employed by them for the purpose of
carrying on the industry, business, service or work in which they
are engaged, including, but not limited to:
(1) Persons regularly employed in the state whose duties
necessitate employment of a temporary or transitory nature by the
same employer without the state;
(2) Every person in the service of the state or of any
political subdivision or agency thereof, under any contract of
hire, express or implied, and every appointed official or officer
thereof while performing his or her official duties;
(3) Checkweighmen employed according to law;
(4) All members of rescue teams assisting in mine accidents with the consent of the owner who, in such case, shall be deemed
the employer, or at the direction of the director of the
department of mines;
(5) All forest fire fighters who, under the supervision of
the director of the department of natural resources or his or her
designated representative, assist in the prevention, confinement
and suppression of any forest fire; and
(6) Students while participating in a work-based learning
experience with an employer approved as a part of the curriculum
by the county board. The county board shall be the employer of
record of students while participating in unpaid work-based
experiences off school premises with employers other than the
county board. Students in unpaid work-based learning experiences
shall be considered to be paid the amount of wages so as to
provide the minimum workers' compensation weekly benefits
required by section six, article four of this chapter.
(b) The right to receive compensation under this chapter
shall not be affected by the fact that a minor is employed or is
permitted to be employed in violation of the laws of this state
relating to the employment of minors, or that he or she obtained
his or her employment by misrepresenting his or her age.