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ENGROSSED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 249
(By Senators Tomblin (Mr. President) and Caruth, By Request of
the Executive)
____________
[Originating in the Committee on Finance;
reported March 20, 2009.]
____________
A BILL
to amend and reenact §18-5-45 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended; and to amend and reenact §18-5A-5 of said
code, all relating to the annual school calendar; eliminating
instructional support and enhancement days; replacing the
earliest starting date and the latest ending date for the
instructional term with the requirement that the instructional
term begin so that students receive two full weeks of
instruction prior to Labor Day; encouraging the first half of
the instructional term to end on or before December 23;
requiring at least three of certain noninstructional days be
scheduled prior to the beginning of the instructional term; requiring all six out-of-school environment days be scheduled
after February 1; changing the earliest dates a county can use
noninstructional days and accrued instructional time to make
up canceled instructional days; requiring uniform method of
cancellation notification; providing that certain cancelled
instructional days be considered out-of-calendar days and
requiring those days to be rescheduled; applying the 43-week
limit on the beginning and ending dates of the minimum two
hundred-day employment term to professional personnel and
service personnel; and providing for faculty senate meetings
during specified months.
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 §18-5A-5 of said code be amended
and reenacted, all to read as follows:
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 Any 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
(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.
(d) The instructional term shall begin so that students will
receive two full weeks of instruction prior to Labor Day. The
Legislature finds that finishing the first semester before
Christmas break is beneficial to the education of students.
Therefore, county boards are encouraged to schedule the first half
of the instructional term to terminate on or before December 23.
(f) (e) 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)(f) At least three of the days described in subdivision
(4), subsection (f) (e) of this section shall be scheduled prior to
the twenty sixth day of August beginning of the instructional term
for the purposes of preparing for the opening of school and staff
development.
(h) (g) At least one of the days described in subdivision (4),
subsection (f) (e) of this section shall be scheduled after the
eighth day of June the last day of the instructional term 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) (h) At least four six of the days described in subdivision
(3), subsection (f) (e) of this section shall be scheduled after
March February 1.
(j) (i) At least two of the days described in subdivision (4),
subsection (f) (e) of this section will shall be scheduled for
professional development. The professional development conducted
on these days will shall 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) (j) Subject to the provisions of subsection (h) (g) of
this section, all noninstructional days will shall be scheduled
prior to the eighth day of June the last day of the instructional
term.
(l) (k) The state board may not schedule the primary statewide
assessment program prior to May 15 of the instructional year unless
the state board determines that the nature of the test mandates an
earlier testing date.
(m) (l) If, on or after March 1 February 1, 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 March 1 February 1, 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) (m) The following applies to accrued instructional time:
(1) Except as provided in subsection (m) (l) 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 shall 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) (n) 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 The state board may specify other requirements or
restrictions the state board may provide in the rule required to be
promulgated by this section.
(p) (o) 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 shall 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) (p) Noninstructional interruptions to the instructional
day shall be minimized to allow the classroom teacher to teach.
(r) (q) Nothing in this section prohibits establishing year-
round schools in accordance with rules to be established by the
state board.
(s) (r) 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 if designated by the state board.
(t) (s) The county board may contract with all or part of the
personnel for a longer term.
(u) (t) 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) (u) 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) (v) 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. Additionally, the rule shall prescribe a uniform method
for all districts to notify students and school personnel of an
instructional day cancellation.
(w) If an instructional day is cancelled before 4:30 a. m.:
(1) Except for any essential school personnel as determined by the county board and except for any school personnel whose normally
scheduled work hours begin before 4:30 a. m., employees shall not
report to work on that day;
(2) The day is not considered an instructional day;
(3) The day is considered an out-of-calendar day and is not
considered part of the minimum two hundred-day employment term;
(4)
The day shall be rescheduled as an instructional day on
any available noninstructional day if any noninstructional days are
available. If no noninstructional days are available, the day
shall be rescheduled as an instructional day and as a day to be
considered part of the minimum two hundred-day employment term on
a later day that was not originally scheduled to be part of the
minimum two hundred-day employment term
; and
(5) The school personnel who do not report to work on an
instructional day cancelled before 4:30 a. m. pursuant to this
subsection shall continue to be paid their normal rate of pay in
accordance with the established pay period schedule.
(x) The beginning and ending dates of the minimum two hundred-
day employment term may not exceed forty-three weeks.
ARTICLE 5A. LOCAL SCHOOL INVOLVEMENT.
§18-5A-5. Public school faculty senates established; election of
officers; powers and duties.
(a) There is established at every public school in this state
a faculty senate which is comprised of all permanent, full-time professional educators employed at the school who shall all be
voting members. Professional educators, as used in this section,
means professional educators as defined in chapter eighteen-a of
this code. A quorum of more than one half of the voting members of
the faculty shall be present at any meeting of the faculty senate
at which official business is conducted. Prior to the beginning of
the instructional term each year, but within the employment term,
the principal shall convene a meeting of the faculty senate to
elect a chair, vice chair and secretary and discuss matters
relevant to the beginning of the school year. The vice chair shall
preside at meetings when the chair is absent. Meetings of the
faculty senate shall be held during the times provided in
accordance with subdivision (12), subsection (b) of this section as
determined by the faculty senate. Emergency meetings may be held
during noninstructional time at the call of the chair or a majority
of the voting members by petition submitted to the chair and vice
chair. An agenda of matters to be considered at a scheduled
meeting of the faculty senate shall be available to the members at
least two employment days prior to the meeting. For emergency
meetings the agenda shall be available as soon as possible prior to
the meeting. The chair of the faculty senate may appoint such any
committees as may be desirable necessary to study and submit
recommendations to the full faculty senate, but the acts of the
faculty senate shall be voted upon by the full body.
(b) In addition to any other powers and duties conferred by
law or authorized by policies adopted by the state or county board
of education or bylaws which may be adopted by the faculty senate
not inconsistent with law, the powers and duties listed in this
subsection are specifically reserved for the faculty senate. The
intent of these provisions is neither to restrict nor to require
the activities of every faculty senate to the enumerated items
except as otherwise stated. Each faculty senate shall organize its
activities as it deems determines most effective and efficient
based on school size, departmental structure and other relevant
factors.
(1) Each faculty senate shall control funds allocated to the
school from legislative appropriations pursuant to section nine,
article nine-a of this chapter. From such those funds, each
classroom teacher and librarian shall be allotted fifty dollars for
expenditure during the instructional year for academic materials,
supplies or equipment which, in the judgment of the teacher or
librarian, will assist him or her in providing instruction in his
or her assigned academic subjects or shall be returned to the
faculty senate: Provided, That nothing contained herein in this
subdivision prohibits the funds from being used for programs and
materials that, in the opinion of the teacher, enhance student
behavior, increase academic achievement, improve self-esteem and
address the problems of students at-risk. The remainder of funds shall be expended for academic materials, supplies or equipment in
accordance with a budget approved by the faculty senate.
Notwithstanding any other provisions of the law to the contrary,
funds not expended in one school year are available for expenditure
in the next school year: Provided, however, That the amount of
county funds budgeted in a fiscal year may not be reduced
throughout the year as a result of the faculty appropriations in
the same fiscal year for such the materials, supplies and
equipment. Accounts shall be maintained of the allocations and
expenditures of such the funds for the purpose of financial audit.
Academic materials, supplies or equipment shall be interpreted
broadly, but does not include materials, supplies or equipment
which will be used in or connected with interscholastic athletic
events.
(2) A faculty senate may establish a process for faculty
members to interview new prospective professional educators and
paraprofessional employees at the school and submit recommendations
regarding employment to the principal, who also may also make
independent recommendations for submission to the county
superintendent: Provided, That such the process shall be chaired
by the school principal and must permit the timely employment of
persons to perform necessary duties.
(3) A faculty senate may nominate teachers for recognition as
outstanding teachers under state and local teacher recognition programs and other personnel at the school, including parents, for
recognition under other appropriate recognition programs and may
establish such appropriate recognition programs for operation at
the school.
(4) A faculty senate may submit recommendations to the
principal regarding the assignment scheduling of secretaries,
clerks, aides and paraprofessionals at the school.
(5) A faculty senate may submit recommendations to the
principal regarding establishment of the master curriculum schedule
for the next ensuing school year.
(6) A faculty senate may establish a process for the review
and comment on sabbatical leave requests submitted by employees at
the school pursuant to section eleven, article two of this chapter.
(7) Each faculty senate shall elect three faculty
representatives to the local school improvement council established
pursuant to section two of this article.
(8) Each faculty senate may nominate a member for election to
the county staff development council pursuant to section eight,
article three, chapter eighteen-a of this code.
(9) Each faculty senate shall have an opportunity to make
recommendations on the selection of faculty to serve as mentors for
beginning teachers under beginning teacher internship programs at
the school.
(10) A faculty senate may solicit, accept and expend any grants, gifts, bequests, donations and any other funds made
available to the faculty senate: Provided, That the faculty senate
shall select a member who has the duty of maintaining a record of
all funds received and expended by the faculty senate. which The
record shall be kept in the school office and is subject to normal
auditing procedures.
(11) Any faculty senate may review the evaluation procedure as
conducted in their its school to ascertain whether the evaluations
were conducted in accordance with the written system required
pursuant to section twelve, article two, chapter eighteen-a of this
code and the general intent of this Legislature regarding
meaningful performance evaluations of school personnel. If a
majority of members of the faculty senate determine that such the
evaluations were not so conducted, they shall submit a report in
writing to the state board: of education Provided, That nothing
herein in this subdivision creates any new right of access to or
review of any individual's evaluations.
(12) A local county board shall provide to each faculty senate
a two-hour block of time for a faculty senate meeting on a day
scheduled for the opening of school prior to the beginning of the
instructional term and a two-hour block of time on each
instructional support and enhancement day scheduled by the board
for instructional activities for students and professional
activities for teachers pursuant to section forty-five, article five of this chapter during an instructional day in each of the
months of September, November, January, March and May. A faculty
senate may meet for an unlimited block of time per month during
noninstructional days to discuss and plan strategies to improve
student instruction and to conduct other faculty senate business.
A faculty senate meeting scheduled on a noninstructional day shall
be considered as part of the purpose for which the noninstructional
day is scheduled. This time may be utilized used and determined at
the local school level and includes, but is not limited to, faculty
senate meetings.
(13) Each faculty senate shall develop a strategic plan to
manage the integration of special needs students into the regular
classroom at their respective schools and submit the strategic plan
to the superintendent of the county board of education periodically
pursuant to guidelines developed by the State Department of
Education. Each faculty senate shall encourage the participation
of local school improvement councils, parents and the community at
large in developing the strategic plan for each school.
Each strategic plan developed by the faculty senate shall
include at least: (A) A mission statement; (B) goals; (C) needs;
(D) objectives and activities to implement plans relating to each
goal; (E) work in progress to implement the strategic plan; (F)
guidelines for placing additional staff into integrated classrooms
to meet the needs of exceptional needs students without diminishing the services rendered to the other students in integrated
classrooms; (G) guidelines for implementation of collaborative
planning and instruction; and (H) training for all regular
classroom teachers who serve students with exceptional needs in
integrated classrooms.