Senate Bill No.68
(By Senators Mitchell, Redd, Ball and Unger)
____________
[Introduced January 13, 2000; referred to the Committee
on Education.]
____________
A BILL to amend and reenact section eighteen-a, article five,
chapter eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to prohibiting
split grades in elementary schools.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section eighteen-a, article five, 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 5. COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION.
§18-5-18a. Maximum teacher-pupil ratio.
County boards of education shall provide, by the school year
one thousand nine hundred eighty-three--eighty-four, and thereafter, sufficient personnel, equipment and facilities as
will ensure that each first and second grade classroom or
classrooms having two or more grades that include either the
first or second grades shall not have more than twenty-five
pupils for each teacher of the grade or grades and shall not have
more than twenty pupils for each kindergarten teacher per
session, unless the state superintendent has excepted a specific
classroom upon application therefor by a county board.
County boards shall provide by the school year one thousand
nine hundred eighty-four--eighty-five, and continue thereafter,
sufficient personnel, equipment and facilities as will ensure
that each third, fourth, fifth and sixth grade classroom, or
classrooms having two or more grades that include one or more of
the third, fourth, fifth and sixth grades, shall not have more
than twenty-five pupils for each teacher of the grade or grades.
Beginning with the school year one thousand nine hundred
eighty-six--eighty-seven two thousand--two thousand one, and
thereafter, no county shall maintain a greater number of
classrooms having two or more grades that include one or more of
the grade levels referred to in this section. than were in
existence in said county as of the first day of January, one thousand nine hundred eighty-three:
Provided,
That for the prior
school years, and only if there is insufficient classroom space
available in the school or county, a county may maintain one
hundred ten percent of such number of classrooms
During the school year one thousand nine hundred
eighty-four--eighty-five, and thereafter, the state
superintendent is authorized, consistent with sound educational
policy: (a) To permit on a statewide basis, in grades four
through six, more than twenty-five pupils per teacher in a
classroom for the purposes of instruction in physical education;
and (b) to permit more than twenty pupils per teacher in a
specific kindergarten classroom and twenty-five pupils per
teacher in a specific classroom in grades one through six during
a school year in the event of extraordinary circumstances as
determined by the state superintendent after application by a
county board of education.
The state board shall establish guidelines for the
exceptions authorized in this section, but in no event shall the
superintendent except classrooms having more than three pupils
above the pupil-teacher ratio as set forth in this section.
The requirement for approval of an exception to exceed the twenty pupils per kindergarten teacher per session limit or the
twenty-five pupils per teacher limit in grades one through six is
waived in schools where the school wide pupil-teacher ratio is
twenty-five or less in grades one through six: Provided, That a
teacher shall not have more than three pupils above the
teacher/pupil ratio as set forth in this section. Any
kindergarten teacher who has more than twenty pupils per session
and any classroom teacher of grades one through six who has more
than twenty-five pupils shall be paid additional compensation
based on the affected classroom teacher's average daily salary
divided by twenty for kindergarten teachers or twenty-five for
teachers of grades one through six for every day times the number
of additional pupils enrolled up to the maximum pupils permitted
in the teacher's classroom. All such additional compensation
shall be paid from county funds exclusively.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this section to the
contrary, commencing with the school year beginning on the first
day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-four, a teacher in
grades one, two or three or classrooms having two or more such
grade levels, shall not have more than two pupils above the
teacher/pupil ratio as set forth in this section: Provided, That commencing with the school year beginning on the first day of
July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-five, such teacher shall
not have more than one pupil above the teacher/pupil ratio as set
forth in this section: Provided, however, That commencing with
the school year beginning on the first day of July, one thousand
nine hundred ninety-six, such teacher shall not have any pupils
above the teacher/pupil ratio as set forth in this section.
No provision of this section is intended to limit the number
of pupils per teacher in a classroom for the purpose of
instruction in choral, band or orchestra music.
Each school principal shall assign students equitably among
the classroom teachers, taking into consideration reasonable
differences due to subject areas and/ or grade levels.
The state board shall collect from each county board of
education information on class size and the number of pupils per
teacher for all classes in grades seven through twelve. The
state board shall report such information to the legislative
oversight commission on education accountability before the first
day of January of each year.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to prohibit split grades
in elementary classrooms beginning with the 2000-2001 school
year.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.