H. B. 2745
(By Delegates Yeager, C. White, Paxton,
Susman, Compton, Evans and Hubbard)
[Introduced March 5, 2001; referred to the
Committee on Education then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section one, article one, chapter
eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to amend article five of
said chapter by adding thereto a new section, designated
section eighteen-e; and to amend article nine-a of said
chapter by adding thereto a new section, designated section
twenty-seven, all relating to art and music teachers in public
schools; definitions; requirement and assignment; and state
allowance for improvement of art and music instruction in
public elementary schools.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section one, article one, chapter eighteen of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted; that article five of said chapter be amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated section eighteen-e; and
that article nine-a of said chapter be amended by adding thereto a
new section, designated section twenty-seven, all to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 1. DEFINITIONS; LIMITATIONS OF CHAPTER; GOALS FOR
EDUCATION.
§18-1-1. Definitions.
The following words used in this chapter and in any
proceedings pursuant thereto shall, unless the context clearly
indicates a different meaning, be construed as follows:
(a) "School" means the pupils and teacher or teachers
assembled in one or more buildings, organized as a unit;
(b) "District" means county school district;
(c) "State board" means the West Virginia board of education;
(d) "Board" means the county board of education;
(e) "State superintendent" means the state superintendent of
free schools;
(f) "Superintendent" means the county superintendent of
schools;
(g) "Teacher" means teacher, supervisor, principal,
superintendent, public school librarian, registered professional nurse, licensed by the West Virginia board of examiners for
registered professional nurses and employed by a county board of
education, who has a baccalaureate degree; or any other person
regularly employed for instructional purposes in a public school in
this state;
(h) "Service personnel" means all nonteaching school employees
not included in the above definition of "teacher";
(i) "Regular full-time employee" means any person employed by
a county board of education who has a regular position or job
throughout his or her employment term, without regard to hours or
method of pay;
(j) "Career clusters" means broad groupings of related
occupations;
(k) "Work-based learning" means a structured activity that
correlates with and is mutually supportive of the school-based
learning of the student and includes specific objectives to be
learned by the student as a result of the activity;
(l) "School-age juveniles" means any individual who is
entitled to attend or who, if not placed in a residential facility,
would be entitled to attend public schools, in accordance with:
(1) Section five, article two of this chapter; (2) sections fifteen and eighteen, article five of this chapter; or (3) section one,
article twenty of this chapter;
(m) "Student with a disability" means an exceptional child,
other than gifted, pursuant to section one, article twenty of this
chapter;
(n) "Low density county" means a county whose ratio of student
population to square miles is less than or equal to the state
average ratio as computed by the state department of education;
(o) "High density county" means a county whose ratio of
student population to square miles is greater than the state
average ratio as computed by the state department of education; and
(p) "Casual deficit" means a deficit of not more than three
percent of the approved levy estimate or a deficit that is
nonrecurring from year to year;
(q) "Art teacher" means a professional educator who holds a
valid teaching certificate endorsed for the teaching of art and
indicating the grade levels in which the person is certified to
teach art in the public schools; and
(r) "Music teacher" means a professional educator who holds a
valid teaching certificate endorsed for the teaching of music and
indicating the grade levels in which the person is certified to teach music in the public schools.
ARTICLE 5. COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION.
§18-5-18e. Art and music teachers in public elementary schools.
Beginning with the school year two thousand one-two thousand
two, each county school system shall employ at least one full-time
art teacher, or the equivalent, and at least one full-time music
teacher, or the equivalent, as defined in section one, article one
of this chapter, for direct teaching or as a resource teacher, as
described below, for the general art and general music instruction
of students in grades kindergarten through four and any other
elementary grades housed in the same school.
The art and music teachers assigned to deliver general art and
general music instruction in the elementary schools may be
designated as resource teachers who will spend at least fifty
percent of instructional time in direct teaching activities with
students in one or more schools, and shall not devote more than
fifty percent of instructional time to consulting with and
assisting self-contained multisubject classroom teachers through
demonstration lessons, use of technology, provision of lesson
plans, workshops, and other services designed to improve the
quality of instruction in art and music for students enrolled: Provided, That music teachers may also be assigned to teach
electives in choral music or instrumental music.
Nothing herein prohibits a county board of education from
exceeding the provisions of this section.
Nothing herein requires a county board of education to employ
more than one art teacher and one music teacher for the
kindergarten through fourth grades.
ARTICLE 9A. PUBLIC SCHOOL SUPPORT.
§18-9A-27. State allowance for the improvement of art and music
instruction in public elementary schools.
For the school year two thousand one-two thousand two, there
shall be appropriated funds in an amount to be determined by the
Legislature to provide grants, administered by the West Virginia
department of education, for the purpose of providing high quality
art and music instruction. Preference shall be given to counties
that have not employed the services of art or music teachers, as
defined in section one, article one of this chapter, for the
general art or general music instruction of students in the
elementary grades for a period of two or more school years. A
county is eligible to apply for a grant in an amount not to exceed
the annual salary and benefits of one art teacher or one music
teacher, or both, if neither has been employed in the county for the general art or general music instruction of students in the
elementary grades in the past two school years.
The department of education shall file a report on the effects
of this initiative to the Legislature no later than the second day
of January, two thousand three.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to define art and music
teachers; beginning in the school year 2001-2002 to require that
each county school system employ at least one art teacher and one
music teacher, or the full-time equivalent of each, to provide the
general art and general music instruction of students in the
elementary grades; and to provide a state allowance for the
improvement of art and music instruction in public elementary
schools.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
§§18-5-18e and 18-9A-27 are new, therefore, strike-throughs
and underscoring have been omitted.