Introduced Version
House Bill 4368 History
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H. B. 4368
(By Delegates DeLong, Caputo, Fragale, M. Poling,
D. Poling and Tucker)
[Introduced January 31, 2008; referred to the
Committee on Education.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §18A-5-1 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended; and to further amend said code by adding
thereto a new section, designated §18A-5-1c, all relating to
the authority of teachers and school personnel in schools;
reducing school violence and disorderly conduct; student
behavior and discipline; alternative learning settings;
establishing and implementing consistent and effective
discipline policies; legislative findings; and establishing
the Bill of Rights and Responsibilities for Students and
School Personnel.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18A-5-1 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted; and that said code be further amended by
adding thereto a new section, designated §18A-5-1c, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5. AUTHORITY; RIGHTS; RESPONSIBILITY.
§18A-5-1. Authority of teachers and other school personnel;
exclusion of pupils having infectious diseases;
suspension or expulsion of disorderly pupils;
corporal punishment abolished.
(a) The teacher shall stand in the place of the parent(s),
guardian(s) or custodian(s) in exercising authority over the school
and shall have has control of all pupils students enrolled in the
school from the time they reach the school until they have returned
to their respective homes, except that where transportation of
pupils students is provided, the driver in charge of the school bus
or other mode of transportation shall exercise such authority and
control over the children students while they are in transit to and
from the school.
(b) Subject to the rules of the State Board of Education, the
teacher shall exclude from the school any pupil or pupils student
known to have or suspected of having any infectious disease, or any
pupil or pupils who have student who has been exposed to any
infectious disease, and shall immediately notify the proper health
officer or medical inspector of the exclusion. Any pupil student
so excluded shall may not be readmitted to the school until the
pupil he or she has complied with all the requirements of the rules governing those cases or has presented a certificate of health
signed by the medical inspector or other proper health officer.
(c) The teacher may exclude from his or her classroom or
school bus any pupil student who is guilty of disorderly conduct;
who in any manner interferes with an orderly educational process;
who threatens, abuses or otherwise intimidates or attempts to
intimidate a school employee or a pupil student; who willfully
disobeys a school employee; or who uses abusive or profane language
directed at a school employee. Any pupil student excluded shall be
placed under the control of the principal of the school or a
designee. The excluded pupil student may be admitted to the
classroom or school bus only when the principal, or a designee,
provides written certification to the teacher that the pupil
student may be readmitted and specifies the specific type of
disciplinary action, if any, which that was taken. If the
principal finds that disciplinary action is warranted, he or she
shall provide written and, if possible, telephonic notice of the
action to the parent(s), guardian(s) or custodian(s). When a
teacher excludes the same pupil student from his or her classroom,
the school or from a school bus two times in one semester, and
after exhausting all reasonable methods of classroom discipline
provided in the school discipline plan, the pupil student may be
readmitted to the teacher's classroom, and the school or the school bus only after the principal, teacher and, if possible, the
parent(s), guardian(s) or custodian(s) of the pupil student have
held a conference to discuss the pupil's student's disruptive
behavior patterns, and the teacher and the principal agree on a
course of discipline for the pupil student and inform the
parent(s), guardian(s) or custodian(s) of the course of action.
Thereafter, if the pupil's student's disruptive behavior persists,
upon the teacher's request, the principal may, to the extent
feasible, transfer the pupil student to another setting. The
Legislature finds that isolating students or placing them in
alternative learning centers may be the best setting for
chronically disruptive students. The county board of Education
shall create more alternative learning centers or placements,
subject to funding, to correct these students' behaviors so they
can return to a regular classroom without engaging in further
disruptive behavior.
(d) The Legislature finds that suspension from school is not
appropriate solely for a pupil's student's failure to attend class.
Therefore, no pupil may a student may not be suspended from school
solely for not attending class. Other methods of discipline may be
used for the pupil student which may include, but are not limited
to, detention, extra class time or alternative class settings.
(e) Corporal punishment of any pupil student by a school employee is prohibited.
(f) Each county board is solely responsible for the
administration of proper discipline in the public schools of the
county and shall adopt policies consistent with the provisions of
this section to govern disciplinary actions. These policies shall
encourage the use of alternatives to corporal punishment, providing
for the training of school personnel in alternatives to corporal
punishment and for the involvement of parent(s), guardian(s) or
custodian(s) in the maintenance of school discipline. The county
boards of education shall provide for the immediate incorporation
and implementation in the schools of a preventive discipline
program which may include the responsible student program and a
student involvement program which may include the peer mediation
program, devised by the West Virginia Board of Education. Each
county board may modify those programs to meet the particular needs
of the county. The county boards shall provide in-service training
for teachers and principals relating to assertive discipline
procedures and conflict resolution. The county boards of education
also may establish cooperatives with private entities to provide
middle educational programs which may include programs focusing on
developing individual coping skills, conflict resolution, anger
control, self-esteem issues, stress management and decision making
for students and any other program related to preventive discipline.
(g) For the purpose of this section:
(1) "Pupil or Student" includes any child, youth or adult who
is enrolled in any instructional program or activity conducted
under board authorization and within the facilities of or in
connection with any program under public school direction:
Provided, That, in the case of adults, the pupil-teacher
student-teacher relationship shall terminate when the pupil student
leaves the school or other place of instruction or activity;
(2) "Teacher" means all professional educators as defined in
section one, article one of this chapter and shall include includes
the driver of a school bus or other mode of transportation; and
(3) "Principal" means the principal, assistant principal, vice
principal or the administrative head of the school or a
professional personnel designee of the principal or the
administrative head of the school.
(h) Teachers shall exercise other authority and perform other
duties prescribed for them by law or by the rules of the state
board not inconsistent with the provisions of this chapter and
chapter eighteen of this code.
(i) Each county board is required to conduct at least two
county-wide meetings to engage parents, students, school employees
and other interested parties in a positive and interactive dialogue regarding effective discipline policies. The meetings shall be
held in geographically diverse locations within each county to
maximize public attendance.
(j) Each public school in the state shall establish a five-
member committee to review the disciplinary practices at that
school. Members are selected as follows:
(1) The faculty senate shall select three teachers to serve as
members; and
(2) The state's largest employee organization of school
service personnel shall select one bus operator and one classroom
aide to serve as members.
(k) The committee members may meet for up to 2 hours per month
during the regular instructional day. The committee shall:
(1) Review disciplinary measures at the school;
(2) Examine fairness and consistency of disciplinary actions
at the school; and
(3) Report findings to the county superintendent.
(c) If the committee believes that student discipline at the
school is not enforced fairly or consistently, the committee shall
transmit that determination in writing, along with supporting
information, to the county superintendent. Within ten days of
receiving the report, the superintendent, or designee, shall
respond in writing to the committee. The county board shall retain and file all such correspondence and maintain it for public review.
§18A-5-1c. Bill of Rights and Responsibilities for Students and
School Personnel.
(a) The Legislature finds that:
(1) The mission of public schools is to prepare students for
equal and responsible citizenship and productive adulthood;
(2) Democratic citizenship and productive adulthood begin with
standards of conduct in schools;
(3) Schools should be safe havens for learning with high
standards of conduct for students; and
(4) Rights necessarily carry responsibilities.
(b) In recognition of the findings in this section, the
following Bill of Rights and Responsibilities for Students and
School Personnel is established:
(1) The right to attend a school and ride a bus that is safe,
orderly and drug free;
(2) The right to learn and work in a school that has clear
discipline codes with fair and consistently enforced consequences
for misbehavior;
(3) The right to learn and work in a school that has
alternative educational placements for violent or chronically
disruptive students;
(4) The right to be treated with courtesy and respect;
(5) The right to a attend a school and ride on a bus that is
free from bullying;
(6) The right to support from school administrators when
enforcing discipline policies;
(7) The right to support from parents, the community, public
officials and businesses in their efforts to uphold high standards
of conduct; and
(8) The responsibility to adhere to the principles in this
Bill of Rights and Responsibilities for Students and School
Personnel, and to behave in a manner that guarantees that other
students and school personnel enjoy the same rights.
The purpose of this bill is to reduce acts of student violence
and disruptive behavior through the implementation of a Bill of
Rights, School Discipline Committee, series of County-wide meetings
and increased penalties for chronically disruptive students.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.