COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE

FOR

H. B. 2835


(By Delegates Williams, Fletcher, Hubbard, Mathews and Paxton)


(Originating in the House Committee on Education)

[March 16, 2001]


A BILL to amend article two, chapter eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section thirty-five, relating to expanding the use of programs to strengthen student learning ability; providing legislative findings; providing for state board rules to implement grant program; specifying eligibility for award of grants and exceptions for early childhood programs; requiring state board to distribute funds based on need and suggesting criteria; authorizing legislative appropriation at no specific level.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That article two, 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 thirty-five, to read as follows:

ARTICLE 2. STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION.

§18-2-35. Programs to strengthen student learning ability.

(a) The Legislature finds that teachers at schools which have implemented programs to strengthen student learning ability are reporting substantial improvement in the performance of students referred to the programs. The Legislature further finds that the programs are being implemented with funding grants from the office of the secretary of education and the arts. The Legislature also finds that the funds granted by the secretary of education and the arts have been from the unclassified line item appropriations and appropriations for community schools mini grants and that the grants have been made on a year-to-year basis. It is the intent of the Legislature through this section to establish a more formal method to fund programs that strengthen student learning ability.

(b) The state board shall promulgate rules in accordance with article three-b, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code to implement the provisions of this section. The rules shall include, but are not limited to:

(1) A procedure for schools to apply for the funds to implement programs to strengthen student learning ability in accordance with the provisions of this section;

(2) Specific factors and a method for determining need for each school applying for the funds and judging applications for funds on a competitive basis; and

(3) A determination of the maximum percentage of total funds appropriated in accordance with this section which may be
distributed for use in grades six through twelve so that the priority for program implementation is at the pre-kindergarten and elementary levels.
(c) Except as provided in subsection (d) of this section, a school is not eligible to receive an award of funds appropriated for the purposes of this section unless the proposed program includes the following:

(1) Assessment of the cognitive abilities of students;

(2) Physical screening that identifies barriers to a student's ability to learn;

(3) Development of a student-specific program to improve student learning ability based on the results of the assessment and physical screening;

(4) Administration of learning development exercises that strengthen the ability of students to learn; and

(5) An evaluation of the program's impact, including factors such as student test scores and other measures of student performance, the program's impact on special education referrals, program cost, and other information considered important for judging the value of the program.

(d) A school is eligible to receive an award of funds appropriated for the purposes of this section for the implementation of an early childhood system to strengthen student learning abilities that includes cognitive/perceptual exercises for all children which are clearly based on the same intellectual
premise, and are intended to address for all students the same developmental needs, as the more individual specific remedies required for programs under subsection (c) of this section. The programs shall include a method for evaluating program impact using appropriate measures of early childhood student development and progress.
(e) All the funds which are appropriated for the purposes of this section shall be distributed to schools based upon need as determined by the state board. In determining need, the state board may consider such things as the assessment test scores of the students, percentage of students who are enrolled in special education programs, dropout rates, attendance rates, the number of at-risk students, monetary and in-kind resources available from other sources that will be committed to the program, and any other indicators the state board determines appropriate.

(f) The Legislature may appropriate funds to the department of education for the implementation of the programs to strengthen student learning ability in accordance with the provisions of this section. Nothing in this section requires any specific level of funding by the Legislature.