WEST virginia legislature
2018 regular session
Introduced
Senate Joint Resolution 7
By Senators Boso, Rucker, Cline, and Azinger
[Introduced January
15, 2018; Referred
to the Committee on the Judiciary; and then to the Committee on Finance]
Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the State of West Virginia, amending section two, article XII thereof, all relating to the supervision of the free schools; numbering and designating such proposed amendment; and providing a summarized statement of the purpose of such proposed amendment.
Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia, two thirds of the members elected to each house agreeing thereto:
That the question of ratification or rejection of an amendment to the Constitution of the State of West Virginia be submitted to the voters of the state at the next general election to be held in 2018:
§2. Supervision of free schools.
The governance structure for the supervision of the thorough and efficient system of free schools may be modified in any way pursuant to an act of the Legislature.
Unless modified pursuant to an act of the Legislature, the general supervision of the free schools of the state
shall be vested in the West Virginia Board of Education which shall perform
such duties as may be prescribed by law. The board shall consist of nine
members to be appointed by the governor, by and with the advice and consent of
the Senate, for overlapping terms of nine years, except that the original
appointments shall be for terms of one, two, three, four, five, six, seven,
eight, and nine years, respectively. No more than five members of the board
shall belong to the same political party, and in addition to the general
qualifications otherwise required by the Constitution, the Legislature may
require other specific qualifications for membership on the board. No member of
the board may be removed from office by the Governor except for official
misconduct, incompetence, neglect of duty, or gross immorality, and then only
in the manner prescribed by law for the removal by the Governor of state
elective officers.
Unless modified pursuant to an act of the Legislature, the West Virginia Board of Education shall in the
manner prescribed by law, select the State Superintendent of Free Schools who
shall serve at its will and pleasure. He or she shall be the chief
school officer of the state and shall have such powers and shall perform such duties
as may be prescribed by law.
The State Superintendent of Free Schools shall be a member of the Board of Public Works as provided by subsection B, section fifty‑one, article six of this Constitution.
Resolved further, That in accordance with the provisions of article eleven, chapter three of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, such amendment is hereby numbered “Amendment No. 1” and designated as the “Supervision of Free Schools Modification Amendment” and the purpose of the proposed amendment is summarized as follows: “The purpose of this amendment is to allow the modification of the state governance structure for the supervision of the free schools pursuant to an act of the Legislature.“
NOTE: The purpose of this resolution is to allow the modification of the state governance structure for the supervision of the free schools pursuant to act of the Legislature.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.