Senate Bill No. 7
(By Senators Hunter and Love)
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[Introduced January 8, 2003; referred to the Committee on
Education.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section two, article two, chapter
eighteen-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to the term of
contract for a person hired as a coach in the county school
system.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section two, article two, chapter eighteen-a of the code
of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. SCHOOL PERSONNEL.
§18A-2-2. Employment of teachers; contracts; continuing contract
status; how terminated; dismissal for lack of need;
released time; failure of teacher to perform contract
or violation thereof.
(a) Before entering upon their duties, all teachers shall execute a contract with their boards of education, which contract
shall state the salary to be paid and shall be in the form
prescribed by the state superintendent of schools. Every such
contract shall be signed by the teacher and by the president and
secretary of the board of education and when so signed shall be
filed, together with the certificate of the teacher, by the
secretary of the office of the board.
(b) A teacher's contract, under this section, shall be for a
term of not less than one nor more than three years, one of which
shall be for completion of a beginning teacher internship pursuant
to the provisions of section two-b, article three of this chapter,
if applicable; and if, after three years of such employment, the
teacher who holds a professional certificate, based on at least a
bachelor's degree, has met the qualifications for the same and the
board of education enter into a new contract of employment, it
shall be a continuing contract: Provided, That any teacher holding
a valid certificate with less than a bachelor's degree who is
employed in a county beyond the said three-year probationary period
shall upon qualifying for said professional certificate based upon
a bachelor's degree, if reemployed, be granted continuing contract
status: Provided, however, That a teacher holding continuing
contract status with one county shall be granted continuing
contract status with any other county upon completion of one year
of acceptable employment if such employment is during the next succeeding school year or immediately following an approved leave
of absence extending no more than one year: Provided further, That
any person hired as a coach may be granted a contract for a term of
not less than one nor more than three years, after coaching for one
year.
(c) The continuing contract of any teacher shall remain in
full force and effect except as modified by mutual consent of the
school board and the teacher, unless and until terminated: (1) By
a majority vote of the full membership of the board on or before
the first Monday of April of the then current year, after written
notice, served upon the teacher, return receipt requested, stating
cause or causes and an opportunity to be heard at a meeting of the
board prior to the board's action thereon; or (2) by written
resignation of the teacher before that date, to initiate
termination of a continuing contract. Such termination shall take
effect at the close of the school year in which the contract is so
terminated: Provided, That the contract may be terminated at any
time by mutual consent of the school board and the teacher and that
this section shall not affect the powers of the school board to
suspend or dismiss a principal or teacher pursuant to section eight
of this article: Provided, however, That a continuing contract for
any teacher holding a certificate valid for more than one year and
in full force and effect during the school year one thousand nine
hundred eighty-four and one thousand nine hundred eighty-five shall remain in full force and effect: Provided further, That a
continuing contract shall not operate to prevent a teacher's
dismissal based upon the lack of need for the teacher's services
pursuant to the provisions of law relating to the allocation to
teachers and pupil-teacher ratios. The written notification of
teachers being considered for dismissal for lack of need shall be
limited to only those teachers whose consideration for dismissal is
based upon known or expected circumstances which will require
dismissal for lack of need. An employee who was not provided
notice and an opportunity for a hearing pursuant to subsection (a)
of this section may not be included on the list. In case of such
dismissal, the teachers so dismissed shall be placed upon a
preferred list in the order of their length of service with that
board, and no teacher shall be employed by the board until each
qualified teacher upon the preferred list, in order, shall have
been offered the opportunity for reemployment in a position for
which they are qualified: And provided further, That he or she has
not accepted a teaching position elsewhere. Such reemployment
shall be upon a teacher's preexisting continuing contract and shall
have the same effect as though the contract had been suspended
during the time the teacher was not employed.
(d) In the assignment of position or duties of a teacher under
said continuing contract, the board may provide for released time
of a teacher for any special professional or governmental assignment without jeopardizing the contractual rights of such
teacher or any other rights, privileges or benefits under the
provisions of this chapter. Released time shall be provided for
any professional educator while serving as a member of the
Legislature during any duly constituted session of that body and
its interim and statutory committees and commissions without
jeopardizing his or her contractual rights or any other rights,
privileges, benefits or accrual of experience for placement on the
state minimum salary schedule in the following school year under
the provisions of this chapter, board policy and law.
(e) Any teacher who fails to fulfill his contract with the
board, unless prevented from so doing by personal illness or other
just cause or unless released from such contract by the board, or
who violates any lawful provision thereof, shall be disqualified to
teach in any other public school in the state for a period of the
next ensuing school year and the state department of education or
board may hold all papers and credentials of such teacher on file
for a period of one year for such violation: Provided, That
marriage of a teacher shall not be considered a failure to fulfill,
or violation of, the contract.
(f) Any classroom teacher, as defined in section one, article
one of this chapter, who desires to resign employment with a board
of education or request a leave of absence, such resignation or
leave of absence to become effective on or before the fifteenth day of July of the same year and after completion of the employment
term, may do so at any time during the school year by written
notification thereof and any such notification received by a board
of education shall automatically extend such teacher's public
employee insurance coverage until the thirty-first day of August of
the same year.
(g) Any classroom teacher who gives written notice to the
county board of education on or before the first day of February of
the school year of their resignation or retirement from employment
with the board at the conclusion of the school year shall be paid
five hundred dollars from the "Early Notification of Retirement"
line item established for the department of education for this
purpose, subject to appropriation by the Legislature. If the
appropriations to the department of education for this purpose are
insufficient to compensate all applicable teachers, the department
of education shall request a supplemental appropriation in an
amount sufficient to compensate all such teachers. Additionally,
if funds are still insufficient to compensate all applicable
teachers, the priority of payment is for teachers who give written
notice the earliest. This payment shall not be counted as part of
the final average salary for the purpose of calculating retirement.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to
authorize the term of
contract for a person hired as a coach
in the county school system
to be for a three year period, after that person has coached for
one year.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.