H. B. 2024
(By Delegate Ennis)
[Introduced February 14, 2001
; 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 allowing schools
to be closed by proper authorities for a national day of
mourning for the death of a current president or former
president of the United States.
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 may 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,
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 the 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, or for a national day of mourning for the death of the
president of the United States or death of a former president of
the United States
. 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 the 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 allow school authorities
to close schools on days of public mourning for the death of a
current or former President of the United States.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.