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Introduced Version House Bill 2603 History

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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
H. B. 2603


(By Delegates Campbell, Williams, Perry and Beach)
[Introduced February 23, 2005; referred to the
Committee on Education then Finance.]




A BILL to amend and reenact §18A-3-3a of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to reimbursement of tuition, registration and other required fees for course work completed by teachers; correcting references to rule making authority; removing obsolete language; and allowing reimbursement to qualified applicants from funds remaining available for that purpose after certain conditions are met.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18A-3-3a of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. TRAINING, CERTIFICATION, LICENSING, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT.

§18A-3-3a. Payment of tuition, registration and other fees for teachers; maximum payment per teacher.

(a) The West Virginia department of education State Board shall promulgate rules to administer the reimbursement of tuition, registration and other required fees for coursework completed by teachers in accordance with the provisions of this section. The rules shall provide for reimbursement for courses completed toward both certification renewal, and additional endorsement in a shortage area.
(b) As used in this section, the following words and phrases have the meanings ascribed to them:
(1) "Teacher" has the meaning provided in section one, article one, chapter eighteen of this code.
(2) "Shortage area" "Area of critical need and shortage" shall be defined by State Board policy to indicate the subject areas of certification or endorsement for which an insufficient number of teachers are available.
(3) "Certification" and "certificate" mean a valid West Virginia:
(A) Professional teaching, service or administrative certificate, or its equivalent; or
(B) Provisional professional teaching, service or administrative certificate, or its equivalent.
(4) "Requirements for certification renewal" are those requirements of the State department of education Board as provided in section three of this article.
(5) "Requirements for additional endorsement" are those requirements of the State department of education Board as provided in section three of this article.
(6) "State institution of higher education" has the meaning provided in section two, article one, chapter eighteen-b of this code.
(c) To the extent of funds appropriated for the purposes specified in this section, payment shall be made to any teacher who:
(1) Holds either a valid West Virginia:
(A) Certificate; or
(B) First class permit for full-time employment; and
(2) Is seeking:
(A) An additional endorsement in a shortage area, and either resides in the state or is employed regularly for instructional purposes in a public school in the state; or
(B) Certification renewal, and has a continuing contract with a county board.
(d) The payment shall be made as reimbursement for the tuition, registration and other required fees for any course completed at:
(1) Any college or university within the state; or
(2) A college or university outside the state if prior approval is granted by the department in accordance with State Board rules.
(e) A course is eligible for reimbursement if it meets the requirements for:
(1) An additional endorsement in a shortage area an area of critical need and shortage; or
(2) Certification renewal.
(f) In the fiscal year beginning the first day of July, two thousand two, Funds appropriated for the purposes specified in this section shall be disbursed evenly between courses completed toward certification renewal and courses completed toward additional endorsement in a shortage area. Thereafter, funds shall be divided between renewal and endorsement courses completed toward certification renewal and courses completed toward an additional endorsement in an area of critical need and shortage in the same proportion that the number of applications for each was made toward the total number of applications received, except that reimbursement toward either may not exceed seventy-five percent of total funds appropriated: Provided, That if during the final processing of applications for the fiscal year, appropriations would remain unexpended after application of the seventy-five percent limit and additional qualified applicants remain, then reimbursement may be made to the remaining qualified applicants to the extent funds are available notwithstanding the seventy-five percent limit.
(g) Payment made for any single fee may not exceed the amount of the highest corresponding fee charged at a state institution of higher education.
(h) Reimbursement for courses completed toward certification renewal is limited to fifteen semester hours of courses for any teacher.
(i) The West Virginia Department of Education shall seek funding from sources other than general revenue appropriation, including, but not limited to, workforce investment funds.
(j) No provision of this section may be construed to require any appropriation or any specific amount of appropriation for the purposes specified in this section, or to require the Department to expend funds for those purposes from any other amounts appropriated for expenditure by the Department.



NOTE: The current statute divides the appropriation for the reimbursement for tuition, registration and other required fees to teachers who qualify into two categories, courses completed toward certification renewal and courses completed toward an additional endorsement in an area of critical need and shortage. The reimbursement for any one category is limited to 75% of the appropriation. The purpose of the bill is to allow reimbursement above the 75% limit if during the final processing of applications for the fiscal year, the 75% limits results in funds left over and qualified applicants not being reimbursed.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.

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