H. B. 4478
(By Delegates
M. Poling, Paxton, Wysong, Rodighiero,
Ellis, Duke, Rowan, Gall and Wells
)
(Originating in the House Committee on Education)
[February 8, 2008]
A BILL to
amend and reenact §18A-5-8 of the Code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to authority of certain
aides to exercise control over students; compensation;
transfers and limitations thereof; and expanding the
classifications of service personnel for which transfers
during the instructional term are limited.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18A-5-8 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5. AUTHORITY; RIGHTS; RESPONSIBILITY.
§18A-5-8. Authority of certain aides to exercise control over
students; compensation; transfers.
(a) Within the limitations provided in this section, any
aide who agrees to do so shall stand in the place of the parent
or guardian and shall exercise such authority and control over
students as is required of a teacher as provided in section one of this article. The principal shall designate aides in the
school who agree to exercise that authority on the basis of
seniority as an aide and shall enumerate the instances in which
the authority shall be exercised by an aide when requested by the
principal, assistant principal or professional employee to whom
the aide is assigned.
(b) The authority provided for in subsection (a) of this
section may does not extend to suspending or expelling any
student, participating in the administration of corporal
punishment or performing instructional duties as a teacher or
substitute teacher. However, the authority extends to
supervising students undergoing in-school suspension if the
instructional duties required by the supervision are limited
solely to handing out class work and collecting class work. The
authority to supervise students undergoing in-school suspension
may does not include actual instruction.
(c) An aide designated by the principal under subsection (a)
of this section shall receive a salary not less than one pay
grade above the highest pay grade held by the service person
under section eight-a, article four of this chapter and any
county salary schedule in excess of the minimum requirements of
this article.
(d) An aide may not be required by the operation of this
section to perform noninstructional duties for an amount of time
which exceeds that required under the aide's contract of employment or that required of other aides in the same school
unless the assignment of the duties is mutually agreed upon by
the aide and the county superintendent, or the superintendent's
designated representative, subject to board approval.
(1) The terms and conditions of the agreement shall be in
writing, signed by both parties, and may include additional
benefits.
(2) The agreement shall be uniform as to aides assigned
similar duties for similar amounts of time within the same
school.
(3) Aides have the option of agreeing to supervise students
and of renewing related assignments annually. If an aide elects
not to renew the previous agreement to supervise students, the
minimum salary of the aide shall revert to the pay grade
specified in section eight-a, article four of this chapter for
the classification title held by the aide and any county salary
schedule in excess of the minimum requirements of this article.
(e) For the purposes of this section, aide means any aide
class title as defined in section eight, article four of this
chapter regardless of numeric classification.
(f) Subject to the limitations set forth in subsection (g)
of this section, an aide may transfer to another position of
employment one time only during any one half of a school term,
unless otherwise mutually agreed upon by the aide and the county
superintendent, or the superintendent's designee, subject to board approval. During the first year of employment as an aide,
an aide may not transfer to another position of employment during
the first one-half school term of employment unless mutually
agreed upon by the aide and county superintendent, subject to
board approval.
(g) Autism mentors and aides providing services to children
diagnosed as autistic or with autism spectrum disorder;
paraprofessionals, interpreters and aides providing one-on-one
services to students with exceptionalities as required by the
students' individualized education programs (IEP).
(1) Legislative findings and intent.
(A) The Legislature finds that it is not in the best
interest of students a student with autism or a student with an
exceptionality whose IEP requires one-on-one services to have
multiple teachers, mentors, aides, paraprofessionals,
interpreters or any combination thereof during the instructional
term; and
(B) It is the intent of the Legislature that filling
positions for autism mentors and aides who work with autistic
students through transfers of personnel from one position to
another after the fifth day prior to the beginning of the
instructional term be kept to a minimum for autism mentors and
aides who work with autistic students and for paraprofessionals,
interpreters and aides who work with students with
exceptionalities whose IEPs require one-on-one services.
(2) Transfer limitations and conditions.
(A) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (f) of this
section, after the fifth day prior to the beginning of the
instructional term, no a service person employed and assigned as
an autism mentor or aide who works with autistic students may not
transfer to another position in the county during that
instructional term, unless the service person holding that
position he or she does not have valid certification, if the
service person is employed and assigned as an autism mentor or
aide who works with autistic students, or as a paraprofessional,
interpreter or aide who works with a student with an
exceptionality whose IEP requires one-on-one services.
(B) The provisions of this subsection are subject to the
following conditions:
(i) The aide, or autism mentor, paraprofessional or
interpreter may apply for any posted, vacant position with the
successful applicant assuming the position at the beginning of
the next instructional term;
(ii) The county board, upon recommendation of the
superintendent, may fill a position before the beginning of the
next instructional term when it is determined to be in the best
interest of the students; and
(iii) The county superintendent shall notify the State Board
when a service person employed in a position as autism mentor or
aide working with autistic students who is subject to the provisions of this subsection is transferred to another position
after the fifth day prior to the beginning of the instructional
term;
(h) Regular service personnel employed in a category of
employment other than aide who seek employment as an aide shall
hold a high school diploma or shall have received a general
educational development certificate and shall have the
opportunity to receive appropriate training pursuant to
subsection (10), section thirteen, article five, chapter eighteen
of this code and section two, article twenty of said chapter.