HB206 HFAT ROWAN 6-18 #1

            Delegate Rowan moves to amend the title of the bill to read as follows:

H. B. 206 – “A BILL to amend and reenact §5-16-2 and §5-16-22 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended; to amend and reenact §15-1B-24 of said code; to amend said code by adding thereto a new section, designated §18-2E-12; to amend and reenact §18-5-14, §18-5-16, §18-5-16a, §18-5-18a, §18-5-18b, and §18-5-46 of said code; to amend said code by adding thereto a new section, designated §18-5-48; to amend and reenact §18-5A-2 and §18-5A-3 of said code; to amend said code by adding thereto a new article, designated §18-5G-1, §18-5G-2, §18-5G-3, §18-5G-4, §18-5G-5, §18-5G-6, §18-5G-7, §18-5G-8, §18-5G-9, §18-5G-10, §18-5G-11 and §18-5G-12; to amend and reenact §18-7A-3 of said code as contained in Chapter 89, Acts of the Legislature, Regular Session, 2019; to amend and reenact §18-7B-2 of said code as contained in Chapter 89, Acts of the Legislature, Regular Session, 2019; to amend and reenact §18-8-4 of said code; to amend and reenact §18-9A-2 of said code as contained in Chapter 133, Acts of the Legislature, Regular Session, 2019; to amend and reenact §18-9A-8 and §18-9A-9 of said code; to amend said code by adding thereto a new section, designated §18-9A-19; to amend said code by adding thereto a new section, designated §18-9B-22; to amend and reenact §18-20-5 of said code; to amend and reenact §18A-4-2, §18A-4-5, §18A-4-5a, §18A-4-7a, §18A-4-8a, and §18A-4-10 of said code; to amend and reenact §18C-4-1, §18C-4-2, §18C-4-3, §18C-4-4, and §18C-4-5 of said code; to amend and reenact §18C-4A-1, §18C-4A-2, and §18C-4A-3 of said code; and to amend and reenact §29-12-5a of said code, all relating to public education; allowing public charter schools to participate in the Public Employees Insurance Agency insurance program; requiring Governor to expand Mountaineer Challenge Academy at its existing location and to a new location subject to agreement required under federal law; requiring the State Board of Education to implement the Mountain State Digital Literacy Project as a pilot project; modifying requirements for policies to promote school board effectiveness and eliminating requirement for filing and refiling policies with state board; limiting meetings with improvement councils to those at low performing schools; modifying agenda for meeting; eliminating reporting requirement; requiring county boards to establish attendance zones; replacing existing provisions pertaining to student transfers with requirement for county boards to establish an open enrollment policy; requiring appeal process whereby a parent or guardian can appeal the refusal of a county board to accept the transfer of the student; requiring the county to which a student is transferred include the student in its net enrollment in certain instances; providing that certain transfer provisions do not supersede eligibility requirements for participation in extracurricular activities established by the Secondary School Activities Commission; requiring the West Virginia Department of Education to survey districts to determine where overcrowding is impeding student achievement; increasing percentage of work time school counselors are required to spend in a direct counseling relationship with pupils; providing that the teacher’s recommendation is a primary consideration in determining student promotion; removing requirement that an Innovation in Education school have a focus on certain specified areas; removing certain provisions required in an Innovation in Education application and plan; providing county boards instead of the state board the authority to designate schools as Innovation in Education schools; allowing appeals to the State Board of Education certain Innovation in Education-related determinations made by a county board; exempting public charter schools from all statutes and administrative regulations applicable to the state board, a county board, or a school, with exceptions; providing that no elected official can profit from a charter school, with exception; setting forth public charter school requirements and authority; requiring a public charter school be administered by a governing board; allowing a public charter school to enroll any student in the state; requiring randomized and transparent lottery if capacity at a public charter school is insufficient; creating and allowing certain enrollment preferences at a public charter school; requiring a public charter school to submit a student recruitment and retention plan; requiring an applicant to submit an application to an authorizer in order to establish a new public charter school or to convert an existing noncharter public school to a public charter school; setting forth minimum requirements for application for a public charter school; allowing state board, subject to funding, to offer an incentive grant for a public charter school; setting forth duties of the authorizer of a public charter school; establishing process for authorizer’s approval or denial of public charter school application; limiting liability of certain persons and entities relating to the operation of a public charter school; requiring each public charter school to remit to its authorizer an oversight fee; requiring a charter contract between the governing board and the authorizer; setting forth requirements for the charter contract; making the authorizer responsible for collecting and reporting to the state board all state-required assessment and achievement data for the public charter school; setting forth requirements pertaining to renewal, nonrenewal, and revoking a charter contract; requiring state board rule establishing the process for renewing or not renewing a charter contract; requiring an authorizer to develop a public charter school closure protocol or protocol for transitioning a charter school to noncharter public school status; allowing a charter applicant or governing board to appeal certain authorizer decisions; setting forth prohibitions for a public charter school; requiring or allowing state board rules pertaining to public charter school funding, clarifying certain requirements, addressing unforeseen circumstances, prohibiting discrimination against employees involved with establishing charter schools, ensuring accountability, and facilitating the creation of two youth programs modeled after the Mountaineer Challenge Academy; providing for public charter school access to public facilities; setting forth reporting requirements for certain authorizers and the State Superintendent; allowing public charter schools to elect to participate in certain state retirement systems; modifying requirements applicable after certain numbers of unexcused student absences; including professional personnel providing direct social and emotional support services to students and professional personnel addressing chronic absenteeism within the definition of “professional student support personnel”; increasing calculated net enrollment for the purposes of determining a county’s basic foundation program of certain counties with an actual net enrollment of less than 1,400; decreasing the percent of the levy rate used to calculate local share; basing the basic foundation allowance for professional student support personnel on a ratio; increasing the percentage used to calculate each county’s allowance for current expense; requiring that each county board receive its allocated state aid share of the county’s basic foundation program in the form of block grants; requiring the State Superintendent to provide the State Auditor with the required data for use by the searchable budget data website; including public charter schools in the provisions pertaining to an appropriation to serve certain exceptional children; increasing teacher salaries; providing that certain math and special education teachers be considered to have three additional years of experience for the purposes of the salary schedule; removing definition of salary equity among the counties; removing requirement that Department of Education include in its budget request a request for funding sufficient to meet the objective of salary equity; adding to exceptions to requirement that county salary schedules be uniform; permitting a county board of education to base its reductions in force determinations on an individual’s qualifications as defined in county board policy; modifying provisions pertaining to the preferred recall list and posting of position openings; removing requirement for county board to annually make available a list of all professional personnel employed, their areas of certification, and their seniority; providing that all personnel in a public charter school accrue seniority for the purpose of employment in noncharter public schools; increasing salaries for service personnel; increasing leave without cause days from three to four; requiring a bonus for classroom teachers who have not used more than four days of personal leave during the employment term; renaming the Underwood-Smith Teacher Scholarship and Loan Assistance programs the Underwood-Smith Teaching Scholars Program and the Teacher Education Loan Repayment Program; modifying requirements for Higher Education Policy Commission rules providing for administration of the programs; requiring that Underwood-Smith Teaching Scholars award recipients receive additional academic support and training from mentors in their academic field; continuing the Underwood-Smith Teacher Scholarship and Loan Assistance Fund as the Underwood-Smith Teaching Scholars Program Fund; requiring each award recipient to be distinguished as an Underwood-Smith Teaching Scholar; establishing uses for moneys in the Underwood-Smith Teaching Scholars Program Fund; providing for continuation of certain terms, conditions, requirements, and agreements; requiring the Vice Chancellor for Administration to appoint a selection panel to select Underwood-Smith Teaching Scholars; modifying eligibility criteria for Underwood-Smith Teaching Scholars; modifying Underwood-Smith Teaching Scholars award agreement requirements; modifying renewal requirements for an Underwood-Smith Teaching Scholars award; modifying conditions under which a recipient is not in violation of the agreement; requiring Underwood-Smith Teaching Scholars award to be used in preparation for becoming a teacher in a critical shortage field in the public schools of this state; increasing the amount of the annual award; requiring as a condition of loan repayment award eligibility an applicant to be currently employed in a public school in this state in a critical teacher shortage field or as a school counselor in a school or geographic area of the state identified as an area of critical need for such field; requiring as a condition of eligibility an applicant to agree to be employed full time for two school years in a critical teacher shortage field or as a school counselor in a school or geographic area of critical need for such field for each year for which a loan repayment assistance award is received; modifying provisions pertaining to the amount of loan assistance and the requirements for eligibility; modifying eligibility requirements for renewal of a loan repayment assistance award; removing accumulated limit on loan repayment awards; increasing minimum Board of Risk and Insurance Management coverage; requiring at least annual written notice of Board of Risk and Insurance Management insurance coverages by county boards to employee insureds; and allowing public charter schools to obtain insurance coverage from the Board of Risk and Insurance Management.