H. B. 2091


(By Delegate Prunty)

[Introduced February 14, 2001 ; referred to the

Committee on Education then Finance.]





A BILL to amend article five, chapter eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section fifteen-g, relating to daily scheduling of classes at middle schools, junior high schools and high schools; and prohibiting block scheduling.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That article five, 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 fifteen-g, to read as follows:

ARTICLE 5. COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION.

§18-5-15g. Block scheduling prohibited.
(a) For purposes of this section, "block scheduling" means a school day utilizing four ninety-minute class periods.
(b) The governor, the Legislature, the state board and the people of West Virginia agree that the education of their children is of utmost importance to the future well-being of the state and that the purpose of enacting education laws and providing funding to support a system of free schools is to assure that all of our children have every opportunity to secure an education which is thorough and is provided in an efficient manner.
(c) The Legislature finds that block scheduling creates a number of problems for the school children of West Virginia. The Legislature finds that problems associated with block scheduling far outweigh any benefits associated with this type of schedule. Some of the problems associated with block scheduling are:
(1) It fosters and magnifies attention span problems for our school children;
(2) It creates deficiencies in the amount of material covered in individual courses of instruction; and
(3) It results in a lack of sequentiality and continuity which are necessary components for success in many courses of instruction.
(d) Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the contrary, no middle school, junior high school or high school may utilize block scheduling. On or before the first day of August, two thousand one, each county board of education shall modify middle school, junior high school and high school schedules as necessary to comply with the provisions of this section.


NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to prohibit block scheduling.

This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.