H. B. 2922
(By Delegates Hubbard and Boggs)
[Introduced March 20, 2001; referred to the
Committee on Education then Finance.]
A BILL to amend article four, chapter eighteen-a of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section
two-b, relating to state minimum salary bonus and
certification expenses for guidance counselors with national
board certification.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article four, chapter eighteen-a of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section two-b,
to read as follows:
ARTICLE 4. SALARIES, WAGES AND OTHER BENEFITS.
§18A-4-2b. State minimum salary bonus and expense reimbursement
for school counselors with national board
certification.
(a) The Legislature hereby finds and declares that the
rigorous standards and processes for endorsement by the national
board of certified counselors (NCSC) as a national certified school
counselor helps to promote the quality of counseling in schools.
Therefore, counselors in the public schools of West Virginia should
be encouraged to achieve the national board certification through
reimbursement of expenses and an additional salary bonus which
reflects their additional certification, to be paid in accordance
with subsection (b) of this section.
(b)
Two thousand five hundred
dollars shall be paid annually
to each school counselor who holds a valid national certified
school counselor certificate issued by the national board of
certified counselors for the life of the certification, but in no
event more than ten years for any one certification. The payments:
(i) Shall be in addition to any amounts prescribed in the
applicable state minimum salary schedule; (ii) shall be paid in
equal monthly installments; and (iii) shall be considered a part of
the state minimum salaries for counselors.
(c) Subject to legislative appropriation, one-half the
certification fee shall be paid for reimbursement once to each
counselor who enrolls in the program for national certified school
counselor certification and one-half the certification fee shall be
paid for reimbursement once to each counselor who acquires the
national board of certified counselors' national certified school counselor certification. Counselors who achieve national certified
school counselor certification from the national board of certified
counselors may be reimbursed a maximum of six hundred dollars for
expenses actually incurred while obtaining the endorsement.
(d) The state board shall limit the number of counselors who
receive the initial reimbursements to one hundred counselors
annually. The state board shall establish selection criteria for
the one hundred counselors by the legislative rule required
pursuant to subsection (f) of this section.
(e) Funding for reimbursement of the certification fee and
expenses actually incurred while obtaining the certification from
the national board of certified counselors shall be administered by
the state department of education from an appropriation established
for that purpose by the Legislature. If funds appropriated by the
Legislature to accomplish the purposes of this subsection are
insufficient, the state department shall prorate the reimbursements
for expenses and shall request of the Legislature, at its next
regular session, funds sufficient to accomplish the purposes of
this subsection, including needed retroactive payments.
(f) The state board shall promulgate legislative rules
pursuant to article three-b, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code to
implement the provisions of this section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is provide a $2,500 annual
salary bonus and reimbursement for certification expenses to school counselors certified by the National Board of Certified
Counselors. The provisions are limited to 100 counselors.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.