H. B. 4284
(By Delegates Swartzmiller, Shaver, Perry,
Kominar, Williams, Beach and Ennis)
[Introduced
February 3, 2004
; referred to the
Committee on Education then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §18A-2-2 of the code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to including all persons who meet
the criteria to be categorized, as "school personnel,"
"professional educators," or "other professional employees,"
under the definitions set forth in §18A-1-1, for eligibility
to receive the five hundred dollar early retirement bonus
currently only offered to "classroom teachers."
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18A-2-2
of the code of West Virginia, 1931, 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; eligibility for early retirement bonus.
(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.
(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, employee who is considered to be
"school personnel," a "professional educator" or "other
professional employee", as those terms are defined under the
provisions of section one, article one of this chapter
,
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 employees, the department of education shall
request a supplemental appropriation in an amount sufficient to
compensate all such teachers employees. Additionally, if funds are
still insufficient to compensate all applicable teachers employees,
the priority of payment is for teachers employees 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 extend to all school
employees (i.e., not only "classroom teachers") eligibility to
receive the $500 early retirement bonus provided for under
§18A-2-2. Under §18A-1-1, which defines categories of employees in
the school system, the following terms are defined as follows:
"school personnel" includes "professional personnel" and "service
personnel; "professional educator" includes "classroom teacher,"
"principal," "supervisor," and "central office administrator;" and,
"other professional employee" includes "registered professional
nurses" who are employed to serve the public schools.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.