Senate Bill No. 584
(By Senators Tomblin (Mr. President) and Sprouse
By Request of the Executive)
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[Introduced February 21, 2000; referred to the Committee on
Education; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend article two-e, chapter eighteen of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated section nine,
relating to the creation of the West Virginia virtual school
within the department of education to offer high quality
educational courses via internet technology to students who
are not advantageously located with respect to schools.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article two-e, chapter eighteen of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section nine,
to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2E. HIGH QUALITY EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS
§18-2E-9. West Virginia Virtual School.
(a) Findings: -- The Legislature finds that:
(1) West Virginia schools have improved and expanded internet
access which enables schools to offer courses through the internet,
and other new and developing technologies;
(2) Current technology is available to provide students with
more resources for learning, and new and developing technologies
offer even more promise for expanded learning opportunities;
(3) A number of states and other jurisdictions have developed
internet-based instruction which is available currently and which
is being used by schools in the state;
(4) To better educate the students of West Virginia, more
course and class offerings can be made available through
technology, especially to students who are geographically
disadvantaged;
(5) Virtual learning enables students to learn from remote
sites, learn at times other than the normal school day, learn at a
different pace and gives students access to courses that would not
be available in their area;
(6) There is a need to assure that internet-based courses and
courses offered through new and developing technologies are of high
quality; and
(7) The state and county school systems can benefit from the
purchasing power the state can offer.
(b) The Legislature does hereby create the West Virginia
Virtual School. The West Virginia Virtual School shall be located
within the office of technology and information systems within the
West Virginia department of education.
(c) The administrative head of the West Virginia Virtual
School shall be the director who shall be appointed by the state
superintendent of schools with the approval of the state board.
(d) The West Virginia Virtual School shall have the following
powers and duties:
(1) To contract with providers for courses and other services;
(2) To review courses and courseware and make determinations
and recommendations relative to the cost and quality of the courses
and the alignment with the instructional goals and objectives of
the state board of education;
(3) To develop policy recommendations for consideration by the
state board, which may include, but not be limited to the
following:
(A) Hardware and software considerations for the offering of
courses on the internet or other developing technologies;
(B) Standards of teachers and other school employees who are engaged in the activities surrounding the offering of courses on
the internet or other developing technologies; and
(C) Sharing of resources with other agencies of government,
both within and outside West Virginia, to facilitate the offering
of courses on the internet or other developing technologies.
(4) Such other powers and duties as may be necessary to
address the findings of the Legislature in subsection (a) of this
section.
(e) The West Virginia department of education shall present
the progress of the West Virginia Virtual School to the legislative
oversight commission on accountability on or before the first day
of September, two thousand.
NOTE: This bill creates the West Virginia Virtual School
within the state department of education to take advantage of
internet technology in extending high quality education to students
who are not conveniently located near a school or who will benefit
from an expanded selection of courses.
This section is new: therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.