ENROLLED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 4054
(By Delegates Mezzatesta, Williams and Harrison)
[Passed March 9, 2002; in effect July 1, 2002.]
AN ACT to amend and reenact section three-a, article three, chapter
eighteen-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to amend article four of
said chapter by adding thereto a new section, designated
section twenty, all relating generally to reimbursement of
teachers' expenses; school personnel; definitions;
disbursement of funds and limitations thereof; reimbursement
of tuition and fees for certain courses completed by teachers;
providing moving expenses for teachers who meet certain
criteria; and requiring certain reports to be made by state
board and county boards of education.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section three-a, article three, chapter eighteen-a of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted; and that article four of said
chapter be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated
section twenty, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. TRAINING, CERTIFICATION, LICENSING, PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT.
§18A-3-3a. Payment of tuition, registration and other fees for
teachers; maximum payment per teacher.
(a) The West Virginia department of education shall promulgate
rules to administer the reimbursement of tuition, registration and
other required fees for coursework completed by teachers in
accordance with the provisions of this section. The rules shall
provide for reimbursement for courses completed toward both
certification renewal, and additional endorsement in a shortage
area.
(b) As used in this section, the following words and phrases
have the meanings ascribed to them:
(1) "Teacher" has the meaning provided in section one, article
one, chapter eighteen of this code.
(2) "Shortage area" shall be defined by state board policy to
indicate the subject areas for which an insufficient number of
teachers are available.
(3) "Certification" and "certificate" mean a valid West
Virginia:
(A) Professional teaching, service or administrative
certificate, or its equivalent; or
(B) Provisional professional teaching, service or
administrative certificate, or its equivalent.
(4) "Requirements for certification renewal" are those requirements of the state department of education as provided in
section three of this article.
(5) "Requirements for additional endorsement" are those
requirements of the state department of education as provided in
section three of this article.
(6) "State institution of higher education" has the meaning
provided in section two, article one, chapter eighteen-b of this
code.
(c) To the extent of funds appropriated for the purposes
specified in this section, payment shall be made to any teacher
who:
(1) Holds either a valid West Virginia:
(A) Certificate; or
(B) First class permit for full-time employment; and
(2) Is seeking:
(A) An additional endorsement in a shortage area, and either
resides in the state or is employed regularly for instructional
purposes in a public school in the state; or
(B) Certification renewal, and has a continuing contract with
a county board.
(d) The payment shall be made as reimbursement for the
tuition, registration and other required fees for any course
completed at:
(1) Any college or university within the state; or
(2) A college or university outside the state if prior
approval is granted by the department.
(e) A course is eligible for reimbursement if it meets the
requirements for:
(1) An additional endorsement in a shortage area; or
(2) Certification renewal.
(f) In the fiscal year beginning the first day of July, two
thousand two, funds appropriated for the purposes specified in this
section shall be disbursed evenly between courses completed toward
certification renewal and courses completed toward additional
endorsement in a shortage area. Thereafter, funds shall be divided
between renewal and endorsement in the same proportion that the
number of applications for each was made toward the total number of
applications received, except that reimbursement toward either may
not exceed seventy-five percent of total funds appropriated.
(g) Payment made for any single fee may not exceed the amount
of the highest corresponding fee charged at a state institution of
higher education.
(h) Reimbursement for courses completed toward certification
renewal is limited to fifteen semester hours of courses for any
teacher.
(i) The West Virginia department of education shall seek
funding from sources other than general revenue appropriation,
including, but not limited to, workforce investment funds.
(j) No provision of this section may be construed to require
any appropriation or any specific amount of appropriation for the
purposes specified in this section, or to require the department to
expend funds for those purposes from any other amounts appropriated for expenditure by the department.
ARTICLE 4. SALARIES, WAGES AND OTHER BENEFITS.
§18A-4-20. Moving expenses allowed for teachers laid off in
counties due to lack of need.
(a) From funds appropriated, the department of education may
pay the moving expenses for a teacher who meets the following
criteria:
(1) The teacher's position was eliminated as part of a
reduction in force by a West Virginia county school board;
(2) The teacher has secured employment for a West Virginia
county school board in another county;
(3) The teacher has moved his or her residence to the West
Virginia county in which he or she has gained employment or to an
adjacent county in West Virginia;
(4) The teacher is to be employed in a county where shortages
exist either in numbers of teachers or in subject matter areas as
determined by the state board; and
(5) As a result of the new employment, it would be impractical
for the teacher to maintain his or her previous residence.
(b) The reimbursement shall be for actual expenses and shall
not exceed two thousand five hundred dollars, subject to the
availability of funds.
(c) Each county board of education shall send the state board
by the first day of May, annually, a report that includes:
(1) The available teacher positions in the county;
(2) Any shortages in subject matter areas in the county; and
(3) The name of all teachers reduced in force: Provided, That
the teacher has permitted the county board to submit his or her
name.
(d) The state board shall compile a report including all
information submitted to the state board based on the reports
provided in subsection (c) of this section. The state board shall
send this report to each county board of education. Additionally,
the state board shall send a letter to all teachers reduced in
force. This letter shall identify all teacher positions available
in West Virginia and identify those counties where shortages exist
either in numbers of teachers or in subject matter areas.
(e) The state board shall promulgate a rule pursuant to the
provisions of article three-b, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code
that implements the provisions of this section. The rule shall
include, but is not limited to:
(1) Standards sufficient to define and measure the criteria
set forth in subsection (a) of this section; and
(2) A procedure for allocating the funds if the funds
appropriated are insufficient.
(f) Nothing in this section shall require any level of
appropriation by the Legislature.
(g) The state board shall report to the Legislature by the
first day of January of each year on the number of teachers being
reimbursed.
(h) This section shall expire on the first day of July, two thousand five, unless continued by the Legislature.