H. B. 2862


(By Delegates Mezzatesta and Williams)
[Introduced March 15, 2001; referred to the
Committee on Education then Finance.]




A BILL to amend and reenact section three, article two, chapter eighteen-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to addressing areas of critical need and shortage of professional educators; providing for substitutes continuously assigned to the same classroom for more than one half of a grading period which assignment remains in effect two weeks prior to the end of the grading period to remain in the assignment until the end of the grading period; exceptions; defining teacher and substitute teacher as professional educators for the purposes of the section; providing legislative findings and compelling state interest to expand use of retired teachers as substitutes; providing for county policy to permit expanded use; establishing process to permit retired teacher substitutes to accept employment for unlimited days beginning immediately upon retirement without affecting monthly retirement annuity; prohibiting retired substitute eligibility for additional pension, other benefits and seniority; and revising process for employing prospective employable professional personnel.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section three, article two, 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 2. SCHOOL PERSONNEL.

§18A-2-3. Employment of substitute teachers and retired teachers as substitutes in areas of critical need and shortage; employment of prospective employable professional personnel.

(a) The county superintendent, subject to approval of the county board, may employ and assign substitute teachers to any of the following duties: (a) To fill the temporary absence of any teacher or an unexpired school term made vacant by resignation, death, suspension or dismissal; (b) to fill a teaching position of a regular teacher on leave of absence; and (c) to perform the instructional services of any teacher who is authorized by law to be absent from class without loss of pay, providing the absence is approved by the board of education in accordance with the law. The substitute shall be a duly certified teacher.
(b) Prospective employable professional personnel may be employed in accordance with this subsection.
(1) As an aid in recruiting teachers in the state, and notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the contrary, a superintendent of a county that meets the requirements in subdivision (3) of this subsection or obtains approval from the state board in accordance with subdivision (4) of this subsection may employ up to twenty-five full-time prospective employable professional personnel each year on a reserve list at the county level. Regular employment status for such personnel may be obtained only in accordance with the provision of section seven-a, article four of this chapter.
(2) Prior to the employment of the full-time prospective employable professional personnel on a reserve list, the superintendent shall obtain from the county board:
(A) General approval to employ the personnel on the reserve list;
(B) General approval as to the form of the contract to be used in employing the personnel; and
(C) Approval of the number of personnel to be employed from the reserve list.
(3) Unless a county is eligible under subdivision (4) of this subsection, a county is eligible to hire professional personnel in accordance with this subsection only if the county's net enrollment during the year is more than one hundred students greater than the fourth year prior to the current year.
(4) Unless a county is eligible under subdivision (3) of this subsection, a county is eligible to hire professional personnel in accordance with this subsection only if the county requests and receives approval from the state board. The state board shall determine the criteria for granting approval including, but not limited to, vacancies in professional personnel positions and the need to recruit teachers in specific subject matter areas. The state board annually shall determine the number of prospective employable professional personnel to be hired: Provided, That the number may not exceed twenty-five.
(5) The state board annually shall review the status of employing personnel under the provisions of this subsection, and annually shall report to the legislative oversight commission on education accountability on or before the first day of November of each year. The report shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
(A) The counties that participated in the program;
(B) The number of personnel hired;
(C) The teaching fields in which personnel were hired;
(D) The venue from which personnel were employed;
(E) The place of residency of the individual hired; and
(F) The state board's recommendations on the prospective employable professional personnel program.
 Notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the contrary, a substitute teacher who has been assigned as a classroom teacher in the same classroom continuously for more than one half of a grading period and whose assignment remains in effect two weeks prior to the end of the grading period, shall remain in the assignment until the grading period has ended, unless the regularly employed teacher has communicated with and assisted the substitute with the preparation of lesson plans and monitoring student progress or has been approved to return to work by his or her physician. For the purposes of this section "teacher" and "substitute teacher," in the singular or plural, mean professional educator as defined in section one, article one of this chapter.
 (b) The Legislature hereby finds and declares that due to a shortage of qualified substitute teachers, a compelling state interest exists in expanding the use of retired teachers to provide service as substitute teachers. Because diverse circumstances exist among the counties, the expanded use of retired teachers as substitute teachers is only permitted upon the affirmative vote of the county board to adopt a policy recommended by the superintendent to address areas of critical need and shortage, which policy includes the employment of retired teachers as substitute teachers during the school year on an expanded basis as provided in this section. The board policy is effective for one school year only, subject to annual renewal upon the affirmative vote of the county board. Notwithstanding any other provision of this code or any rule to the contrary, upon the adoption of a policy by the county board authorizing the employment of retired teachers on an expanded basis a person receiving retirement benefits under the provisions of article seven-a of this chapter or who is entitled to retirement benefits during the fiscal year in which that person retired may accept employment as a substitute teacher for an unlimited number of days each fiscal year, effective immediately following the effective date of his or her retirement without affecting the monthly retirement benefit to which the retirant is otherwise entitled: Provided, That prior to employment of the substitute teacher beyond the postretirement employment limitations established by the consolidated public retirement board, the superintendent of the affected county shall submit to the consolidated public retirement board and in a form approved by the retirement board, an affidavit signed by the superintendent stating the name of the county, the fact that the county has adopted a policy to employ retired teachers as substitutes to address areas of critical need and shortage, and the name or names of the person or persons to be employed pursuant to the policy. In the absence of the policy and procedures as provided in this section for the employment of retired teachers on an expanded basis to address areas of critical need and shortage, the applicable rules of the consolidated public retirement board prevail. With respect to the expanded substitute service provided in this section, retired teachers employed as substitutes are day-to-day, temporary, part-time employees. The substitutes are not eligible for additional pension or other benefits paid to regularly employed employees and do not accrue seniority.
 (c) As an aid in recruiting teachers in the state in areas of critical need and shortage, and notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the contrary, upon the adoption of a policy by the county board to address areas of critical need and shortage, which policy includes authorization to employ prospective employable professional personnel, a county superintendent may employ from candidates at a job fair who have or will graduate from college in the current school year or whose employment contract with a county board has or will be terminated due to a reduction in force in the current fiscal year, up to three full-time prospective employable professional personnel per one hundred professional personnel employed in the county or twenty-five full-time prospective employable professional personnel, which ever is less, each year on a reserve list at the county level in the area or areas of critical need and shortage authorized by the board in the policy. The personnel shall be granted benefits at a cost to the county board and as a condition of the employment contract as approved by the county board. Regular employment status for the personnel may be obtained only in accordance with the provisions of section seven-a, article four of this chapter.



NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to put provisions in place to address the shortage of teachers by easing restrictions on the hiring of retired teachers as substitute teachers and allowing the employment of prospective employable professional personnel by a county superintendent.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.