ENGROSSED

H. B. 4040


(By Delegates Williams, Perry, Eldridge, Beach, Tansill,

Paxton, Poling, Canterbury, Fragale, Stevens and LaneSPONSOR)

[Originating in the Committee on EducationDATECOMMITTEE.]

(January 17, 2006)




A BILL to amend and reenact §18-5-13a of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to requiring voter approval prior to closure and consolidation of certain schools with grades eight or below when new building construction or addition of two or more classrooms are involved and the closure or consolidation was not included in a local bond issue or excess levy approved by the voters; exceptions; requiring petition of voters for election to be held.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That Enacting SectionBill Title§18-5-13a of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5. COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION.

§18-5-13a. School closing or consolidation.
(a) In addition to the provisions of section thirteen of this article, prior to any final decision of a county board on any proposal to close or consolidate any school, except in cases in which a construction bond issue was passed by the voters and which bond issue included the schools to be closed or consolidated, the county board shall:
(1) Prepare and reduce to writing its reasons and supporting data regarding the school closing or consolidation. The written reasons shall:
(A) Be available for public inspection in the office of the county school superintendent during the thirty days preceding the date of the public hearing required by this section;
(B) Be delivered in duplicate to the:
(i) Principal of a school which is proposed to be closed or consolidated, and of any school which will receive the students who are relocated as a result of the closure or consolidation; and
(ii) The chair, if any, of the local school improvement council representing a school which is proposed to be closed or consolidated, and any school which will receive the students who are relocated as a result of the closure or consolidation; and
(C) Comply with the rule promulgated pursuant to subsection (b) of this section;
(2) Provide notice for a public hearing. The notice shall be advertised through a Class III legal advertisement, pursuant to the provisions of article three, chapter fifty-nine of this code for the three weeks prior to the date of the hearing. The notice shall contain the time and place of the hearing and the proposed action of the county board. Additionally, the notice shall contain the statement that the hearing location is subject to change if at the time the meeting is called to order, it is determined that the meeting location is of insufficient size. A copy of the notice shall be posted at any school which is proposed to be closed or consolidated, and at any school which will receive the students who are relocated as a result of the closure or consolidation, in conspicuous working places for all professional and service personnel to observe. The notice shall be posted at least thirty days prior to the date of the hearing;
(3) Conduct a public hearing which meets the following criteria:
(A) At least a quorum of the county board members and the county superintendent from the county wherein an affected school is located shall attend and be present at the public hearing;
(B) Members of the public may be present, submit statements and testimony, and question county school officials at the public hearing;
(C) A separate hearing shall be held for each school closed or consolidated;
(D) More than one hearing may be held during any one day;
(E) The hearing shall be held in a facility of sufficient size to accommodate all those who desire to attend;
(F) If, at the time the hearing is called to order, it is determined by the board that insufficient space is available to accommodate all those who desire to attend, the hearing shall be recessed and moved to a new location of sufficient size to accommodate all those who desire to attend. If the meeting location is changed due to insufficient capacity, the county board shall cause the new meeting location to be posted at the original meeting location; and
(G) The hearing is subject to the requirements set forth in the rule promulgated in accordance with subsection (c) of this section; and
(4) Receive findings and recommendations from any local school improvement council representing an affected school relating to the proposed closure or consolidation prior to or at the public hearing; and
(5) For schools containing any of the grade levels eight or below with an average of thirteen or more students per grade level, if the closure or consolidation involves the construction of a new school building or the addition of two or more classrooms to an existing school building, if a petition conforming to the requirements of subsection (f) of this section is filed within sixty days following the public hearing required by this section, then the question of closing and consolidating the schools shall be submitted to the voters of the county and ratified by a majority of all votes for and against the question. The provisions of this subdivision do not apply to closures or consolidations approved by the county board prior to the effective date of this section, to closures or consolidations resulting from the destruction or unserviceability of school buildings due to flood, fire or other natural disaster, to closures or consolidations where the citizens of the county have already approved a bond issue or an excess levy called for the purpose of constructing a new school building or for the addition of two or more classrooms to an existing school building, or to closures or consolidations otherwise excepted by this section.
(b) The state board shall promulgate a rule, in accordance with the provisions of article three-b, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, detailing the type of supporting data a county board shall include as part of its written statement of reason required by this section for school closing or consolidation. The rule shall require at least the following data:
(1) The transportation time of the affected students; and
(2) Any data required by the state board to amend a county's comprehensive educational facilities plan.
(c) The state board shall promulgate a rule, in accordance with the provisions of article three-b, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, that establishes the procedure to be followed by county boards when conducting a public hearing on the issues of school consolidation and closing.
(1) The rule shall provide standards for at least the following:
(A) The appropriate forum and venue for public hearings to be held;
(B) A process for affording interested parties the opportunity for their perspectives to be expressed;
(C) Establishing, where necessary, reasonable restrictions on the amount of time allowed each individual desiring to speak so that all parties wishing to speak at the hearing are given an equal amount of time; and
(D) Scheduling and organizing public hearings when more than one school within a county is proposed for consolidation or closure.
(2) It is the purpose of this subsection to provide for uniformity among the counties in the procedures followed when scheduling, organizing and conducting public hearings on the issues of school consolidation and closure.
(d) The state board shall promulgate the rules required by this section by the first day of June, two thousand two.
(e) Any document prepared, notice given, hearing conducted or action taken prior to the effective date of the amendments made to this section during the two thousand two regular session of the Legislature, is considered sufficient if the county board complied with the terms of this section effective at the time and the county board violates no other provision of law which would invalidate the document, notice, hearing or actions.
(f) The petition required to trigger the county-wide election referred to above must be signed by a minimum of twenty percent (20%) of the registered voters in the county. Each page of the petition shall contain the following language placed conspicuously at the top of the page:
"We, being registered voters of the County of ________________, object to the closure of _______________ (name of the school), and we petition for an election by the county to determine whether or not the school may be closed."
The petition shall be delivered to the office of the clerk of the county commission of the county who, upon receiving the same shall have the following duties:
(1) Within five days of receipt of the petition, notify the board of education in writing that a petition objecting to the closure of the school in question has been received;
(2) Within thirty days from receipt of the petition, verify whether or not the petition has been signed by the requisite percentage of the registered voters of the county;
(3) Within five days after determining whether or not the petition has been signed by the requisite percentage of the registered voters of the county, notify the board of education in writing as to whether or not the petition is sufficient to mandate an election before the school may be closed.

Strike-throughs indicate existing language that would be removed, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.