hb3082 intr

H. B. 3082

(By Delegates Perry, Shaver, Williams,
Pino, Beach, Poling and Sumner)

[Introduced February 20, 2003 ; referred to the

Committee on Education.]

A BILL to amend and reenact section forty-five, article five, chapter eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to the school calendar and providing that bank time may be accrued per day to comply with the one hundred eighty day requirement.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That section forty-five, article five, chapter eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:

ARTICLE 5. COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION.

§18-5-45. School calendar.

(a) As used in this section, the following terms have the following meanings:

(1) Instructional day means a day within the instructional term which meets the following criteria:

(A) Instruction is offered to students for the amounts of time provided by state board rule;

(B) A minimum percentage of students, as defined by state board rule, is present in the county schools;

(C) Instructional time is used for instruction, cocurricular activities and approved extracurricular activities, and pursuant to the provisions of subdivision (12), subsection (b), section five, article five-a of this chapter, faculty senates;

(D) Such other criteria as the state board determines appropriate.

(2) Bank time means time added beyond the required instructional day which may be accumulated and used in larger blocks of time during the school year for instructional or noninstructional activities, as further defined by the state board.

(3) Extracurricular activities are activities under the supervision of the school such as athletics, noninstructional assemblies, social programs, entertainment and other similar activities, as further defined by the state board.

(4) Cocurricular activities are activities that are closely related to identifiable academic programs or areas of study that serve to complement academic curricula as further defined by the state board.

(b) Findings. --

(1) The primary purpose of the school system is to provide instruction for students.

(2) The school calendar, as defined in this section, is designed to define the school term both for employees and for instruction.

(3) The school calendar traditionally has provided for one hundred eighty actual days of instruction but numerous circumstances have combined to cause the actual number of instructional days to be less than one hundred eighty.

(4) The quality and amount of instruction offered during the instructional term is affected by the extracurricular and cocurricular activities allowed to occur during scheduled instructional time.

(5) Within reasonable guidelines, the school calendar should be designed at least to guarantee that one hundred eighty actual days of instruction are possible.

(1) An employment term for teachers of no less than two hundred days, exclusive of Saturdays and Sundays; and

(2) Within the employment term, an instructional term for students of no less than one hundred eighty separate instructional days.

(d) The instructional term shall commence no earlier than the twenty-sixth day of August and terminate no later than the eighth day of June.

(e) Noninstructional days shall total twenty and shall be comprised of the following:

(1) Seven holidays as specified in section two, article five, chapter eighteen-a of this code;

(2) Election day as specified in section two, article five, chapter eighteen-a of this code;

(3) Six days to be designated by the county board to be used by the employees outside the school environment; and

(4) Six days to be designated by the county board for any of the following purposes:

(A) Curriculum development;

(B) Preparation for opening and closing school;

(D) Teacher-pupil-parent conferences;

(E) Professional meetings; and

(F) Making up days when instruction was scheduled but not conducted.

(f) Three of the days described in subdivision (4), subsection (e) of this section shall be scheduled prior to the twenty-sixth day of August for the purposes of preparing for the opening of school and staff development.

(g) At least one of the days described in subdivision (4), subsection (e) of this section shall be scheduled after the eighth day of June for the purpose of preparing for the closing of school. If one hundred eighty separate instruction days occur prior to the eighth day of June, this day may be scheduled on or before the eighth day of June.

(h) At least four of the days described in subdivision (3), subsection (e) of this section shall be scheduled after the first day of March.

(i) At least two of the days described in subdivision (4), subsection (e) of this section, will be scheduled for professional development. The professional development conducted on these days will be consistent with the goals established by the state board pursuant to the provisions of section twenty-three-a, article two, chapter eighteen of this code.

(j) Subject to the provisions of subsection (g) of this section, all noninstructional days will be scheduled prior to the eighth day of June.

(k) The state board may not schedule the primary statewide assessment program prior to the ~~fifteenth~~ first day of May of the instructional year unless the state board determines that the nature of the test mandates an earlier testing date.

(l) If, on or after the first day of March, the county board determines that it is not possible to complete one hundred eighty separate days of instruction, the county board shall schedule instruction on any available noninstructional day, regardless of the purpose for which the day originally was scheduled, and the day will be used for instruction. The provisions of this subsection do not apply to: (1) Holidays; and (2) election day.

(m) The following applies to bank time:

~~(1) Bank time may not be used to avoid one hundred eighty separate days of instruction;~~
~~(2)~~ (1) Bank time may not be used to lengthen the time provided in law for faculty senates;

~~(3)~~ (2) The use of bank time for extracurricular activities will be limited by the state board; and

~~(4)~~ Such other requirements or restrictions as the state board may provide in the rule required to be promulgated by this section: Provided, That bank time may be used and accrued by increasing the number of minutes per day that students are present in school in order to meet the requirement of one hundred eighty separate instructional days.

(n) The following applies to cocurricular activities:

(1) The state board shall determine what activities may be considered cocurricular;

(2) The state board shall determine the amount of instructional time that may be consumed by cocurricular activities; and

(3) Such other requirements or restrictions as the state board may provide in the rule required to be promulgated by this section.

(o) The following applies to extracurricular activities:

(1) Except as provided by subdivision (3) of this subsection, extracurricular activities may not be scheduled during instructional time;

(2) The use of bank time for extracurricular activities will be limited by the state board; and

(3) The state board shall provide for the attendance by students of certain activities sanctioned by the secondary schools activities commission when those activities are related to statewide tournaments or playoffs or are programs required for secondary schools activities commission approval.

(p) Noninstructional interruptions to the instructional day shall be minimized to allow the classroom teacher to teach.

(q) Nothing in this section prohibits establishing year-round schools in accordance with rules to be established by the state board.

(r) Prior to implementing the school calendar, the county board shall secure approval of its proposed calendar from the state board or, if so designated by the state board, from the state superintendent.

(s) The county board may contract with all or part of the personnel for a longer term.

(t) The minimum instructional term may be decreased by order of the state superintendent in any county declared a federal disaster area and where the event causing the declaration is substantially related to a reduction of instructional days.

(u) Where the employment term overlaps a teacher's or service personnel's participation in a summer institute or institution of higher education for the purpose of advancement or professional growth, the teacher or service personnel may substitute, with the approval of the county superintendent, the participation for up to five of the noninstructional days of the employment term.

(v) The state board shall promulgate a rule in accordance with the provisions of article three-b, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code for the purpose of implementing the provisions of this section.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to permit the accrual of bank time per day in order to comply with the one hundred eighty day requirement.

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