H. B. 2439
(By Delegate Ennis)
[Introduced January 27, 1999; referred to the
Committee on Education then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section two, article five, chapter
eighteen-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to designating
President's Day as a school holiday.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section two, article five, 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 5. AUTHORITY; RIGHTS; RESPONSIBILITY.
§18A-5-2. Holidays; closing of schools; time lost because of
such; special Saturday classes.
Schools shall not be kept open on any Saturday nor on the
following days which are designated as legal school holidays,
namely: Independence Day, Labor Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving
Day, Christmas Day, New Year's Day, Martin Luther King's birthday, President's Day, Memorial Day, West Virginia Day and
any day on which a primary election, general election or special
election is held throughout the state or school district and any
day appointed and set apart by the president or the governor as
a holiday of special observance by the people of the state.
When any such holiday falls within the employment term, it
shall be considered as a day of the employment term and the
full-time school personnel shall receive his or her pay for same.
When any of the above designated holidays, except a special
election, falls on Saturday, the schools shall be closed on the
preceding Friday; when any such falls on Sunday, the schools
shall be closed on the following Monday.
Special classes may be conducted on Saturdays, provided they
are conducted on a voluntary basis, for pupils and by teachers
and service personnel, and that such teachers and service
personnel shall be remunerated in ratio to the regularly
contracted pay.
Any school or schools may be closed by proper authorities on
account of the prevalence of contagious disease, conditions of
weather or any other calamitous cause over which the board has no
control. Under any or all of the above provisions, the time lost
by the closing of schools is counted as days of employment and as
meeting a part of the requirements of the minimum term of one
hundred eighty days of instruction. On such day or days, county boards of education may provide appropriate alternate work
schedules for professional and service personnel affected by the
closing of any school or schools under any or all of the above
provisions. Professional and service personnel shall receive pay
the same as if school were in session. Insofar as funds are
available or can be made available during the school year, the
board may extend the employment term for the purpose of making up
time that might affect the instructional term.
In addition to any other provisions of this chapter, the
board is further authorized to provide in its annual budget for
meetings, workshops, vacation time or other holidays through
extended employment of personnel at the same rate of pay.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to designate President's
Day as a school holiday.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.