Senate Bill No. 137
(By Senators Dempsey, Love and Hunter)
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[Introduced January 12, 2006; referred to the Committee
on Education; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §18-5-45 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended; and to amend and reenact §18A-4-3 of said
code, all relating to funding salaries of principals for two
hundred twenty days.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18-5-45 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted; and that §18A-4-3 of said code be amended
and reenacted, all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 18. EDUCATION.
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 at least the
minimum amounts of time provided by state board rule;
(B) 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; and
(C) Such other criteria as the state board determines
appropriate.
(2) "Accrued instructional time" means instructional time
accruing during the instructional term from time added to the
instructional day beyond the time required by state board rule for
an instructional day. Accrued instructional time 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.
(c) The county board shall provide a school term for its
schools that contains the following:
(1) An employment term for teachers of no less than two
hundred days, exclusive of Saturdays and Sundays and an employment
term for principals of no less than two hundred twenty 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 for students shall include one
instructional day in each of the months of October, December,
February, April and June which is an instructional support and
enhancement day scheduled by the board to include both
instructional activities for students and professional activities
for teachers to improve student instruction. Instructional support
and enhancement days are subject to the following provisions:
(1) Two hours of the instructional support and enhancement day
shall be used for instructional activities for students. The
instructional activities for students are subject to the following
provisions:
(A) The instructional activities for students require the
direct supervision or involvement by teachers;
(B) The instructional activities for students shall be limited
to two hours;
(C) The instructional activities for students shall be
determined and scheduled at the local school level;
(D) The instructional activities for students may include, but
are not limited to, both in-school and outside of school activities
such as student mentoring, tutoring, counseling, student research
and other projects or activities of an instructional nature,
community service, career exploration, parent and teacher
conferences, visits to the homes of students, college and financial aid workshops and college visits;
(E) To ensure that the students who attend are properly
supervised, the instructional activities for students shall be
arranged by appointment with the individual school through the
principal, a teacher or other professional personnel at the school;
and
(F) Each school shall establish a policy relating to the use
of the two-hour block scheduled for instructional activities for
students;
(2) The instructional support and enhancement day shall
include a two-hour block of time for professional activities for
teachers during which the faculty senate shall have the opportunity
to meet;
(3) All time remaining in the school day after meeting the
requirements of subdivisions (1) and (2) of this subsection, not
including the duty-free lunch period, shall be used for other
professional activities for teachers to improve student instruction
which may include, but are not limited to, professional staff
development, curriculum team meetings, individualized education
plan meetings and other meetings between teachers, principals,
aides and paraprofessionals to improve student instruction as
determined and scheduled at the local school level;
(4) Notwithstanding any other provision of law or policy to
the contrary, the presence of any specific number of students in attendance at the school for any specific period of time shall not
be required on instructional support and enhancement days and the
transportation of students to the school shall not be required;
(5) Instructional support and enhancement days are also a
scheduled work day for all service personnel and shall be used for
training or other tasks related to their job classification if
their normal duties are not required; and
(6) Nothing in this section may be construed to require that
the instructional activities for students, faculty senate meetings
and other professional activities for teachers be scheduled in any
certain order.
(e) The instructional term shall commence no earlier than the
twenty-sixth day of August and terminate no later than the eighth
day of June.
(f) 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;
(C) Professional development;
(D) Teacher-pupil-parent conferences;
(E) Professional meetings; and
(F) Making up days when instruction was scheduled but not
conducted.
(g) Three of the days described in subdivision (4), subsection
(f) 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.
(h) At least one of the days described in subdivision (4),
subsection (f) 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.
(I) At least four of the days described in subdivision (3),
subsection (f) of this section shall be scheduled after the first
day of March.
(j) At least two of the days described in subdivision (4),
subsection (f) 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
of this chapter.
(k) Subject to the provisions of subsection (h) of this
section, all noninstructional days will be scheduled prior to the
eighth day of June.
(l) The state board may not schedule the primary statewide
assessment program prior to the fifteenth day of May of the
instructional year unless the state board determines that the
nature of the test mandates an earlier testing date.
(m) 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, subject to the following:
(1) The noninstructional days scheduled for professional
development shall be the last available noninstructional days to be
rescheduled as instructional days;
(2) On or after the first day of March, the county board also
may require additional minutes of instruction in the school day to
make up for lost instructional days in excess of the days available
through rescheduling and, if in its judgment it is reasonable and
necessary to improve student performance, to avoid scheduling
instruction on noninstructional days previously scheduled for professional development; and
(3) The provisions of this subsection do not apply to: (1)
Holidays; and (2) election day.
(n) The following applies to accrued instructional time:
(1) Except as provided in subsection (m) of this section,
accrued instructional
time may not be used to avoid one hundred
eighty separate days of instruction;
(2) Accrued instructional
time may not be used to lengthen the
time provided in law for faculty senates;
(3) The use of accrued instructional
time for extracurricular
activities will be limited by the state board;
(4) Accrued instructional time may be used by schools and
counties to provide additional time for professional staff
development and continuing education as may be needed to improve
student performance and meet the requirements of the federal
mandates affecting elementary and secondary education. The amount
of accrued instructional time used for this purpose may not exceed
three instructional days; and
(5) Other requirements or restrictions the state board may
provide in the rule required to be promulgated by this section.
(o) 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) Other requirements or restrictions the state board may
provide in the rule required to be promulgated by this section.
(p) 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 accrued instructional
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 School
Activities Commission when those activities are related to
statewide tournaments or playoffs or are programs required for
Secondary School Activities Commission approval.
(q) Noninstructional interruptions to the instructional day
shall be minimized to allow the classroom teacher to teach.
(r) Nothing in this section prohibits establishing year-round
schools in accordance with rules to be established by the state
board.
(s) 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.
(t) The county board may contract with all or part of the
personnel for a longer term.
(u) 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.
(v) 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.
(w) 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.
CHAPTER 18A. SCHOOL PERSONNEL.
ARTICLE 4. SALARIES, WAGES AND OTHER BENEFITS.
§18A-4-3. State minimum annual salary increments for principals
and assistant principals.
In addition to any salary increments for principals and
assistant principals, in effect on the first day of January, two
thousand two, and paid from local funds, and in addition to the
county schedule in effect for teachers, the county board shall pay each principal, a principal's salary increment and each assistant
principal an assistant principal's salary increment as prescribed
by this section from state funds appropriated for the salary
increments.
State funds for this purpose shall be paid within the West
Virginia public school support plan in accordance with article
nine-a, chapter eighteen of this code.
The salary increment in this section for each principal shall
be determined by multiplying the basic salary for teachers in
accordance with the classification of certification and of training
of the principal as prescribed in this article, by the appropriate
percentage rate prescribed in this section according to the number
of teachers supervised:
Provided, That an employment term for
principals shall be no less than two hundred twenty days, exclusive
of Saturdays and Sundays.
STATE MINIMUM SALARY INCREMENT
RATES FOR PRINCIPALS
EFFECTIVE UNTIL JULY 1, 2002
No. of Teachers
Supervised Rates
1-79.0%
8-149.5%
15-2410.0%
25-3810.5%
39-5711.0%
58 and up11.5%
STATE MINIMUM SALARY INCREMENT
RATES FOR PRINCIPALS
EFFECTIVE ON AND AFTER JULY 1, 2002
No. of Teachers
Supervised Rates
1-710.0%
8-1410.5%
15-2411.0%
25-3811.5%
39-5712.0%
58 and up12.5%
The salary increment in this section for each assistant
principal shall be determined in the same manner as that for
principals, utilizing the number of teachers supervised by the
principal under whose direction the assistant principal works,
except that the percentage rate shall be fifty percent of the rate
prescribed for the principal.
Salaries for employment beyond the minimum employment term
shall be at the same daily rate as the salaries for the minimum
employment terms.
For the purpose of determining the number of teachers
supervised by a principal, the county board shall use data for the second school month of the prior school term and the number of
teachers shall be interpreted to mean the total number of
professional educators assigned to each school on a full-time
equivalency basis: Provided, That if there is a change in
circumstances because of consolidation or catastrophe, the county
board shall determine what is a reasonable number of supervised
teachers in order to establish the appropriate increment percentage
rate.
No county may reduce local funds allocated for salary
increments for principals and assistant principals in effect on the
first day of January, two thousand two, and used in supplementing
the state minimum salaries as provided for in this article, unless
forced to do so by defeat of a special levy, or a loss in assessed
values or events over which it has no control and for which the
county board has received approval from the state board prior to
making the reduction.
Nothing in this section prevents a county board from
providing, in a uniform manner, salary increments greater than
those required by this section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to
fund salaries of
principals for two hundred twenty days.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.