WEST virginia legislature

2017 regular session

Introduced

House Bill 2950

By Delegate Kessinger

[Introduced March 13, 2017; Referred
to the Committee on Education.]

A BILL to amend and reenact §18-3-1 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to requiring the State Superintendent of Schools to have a terminal degree.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That §18-3-1 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:

ARTICLE 3. STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS.

§18-3-1. Appointment; qualifications; compensation; traveling expenses; office and residence; evaluation.

There shall be appointed by the state board a State Superintendent of Schools who serves at the will and pleasure of the state board. He or she shall be a person of good moral character, shall be able to perform the duties listed in this article and possess such other educational, administrative, experiential and other qualifications as determined by the State Board of Education. He or she shall hold at least a master's a terminal degree from a regionally accredited institution of higher education or equivalent degree as determined by the state board. He or she shall receive an annual salary set by the state board, to be paid monthly. The state superintendent also shall receive necessary traveling expenses incident to the performance of his or her duties to be paid out of the General School Fund upon warrants of the State Auditor. The state superintendent shall have his or her office at the State Capitol. The state board shall report to the Legislative Oversight Commission on Education Accountability upon request concerning its progress during any hiring process for a state superintendent.

The state board annually shall evaluate the performance of the state superintendent and publicly announce the results of the evaluation.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require the State Superintendent of Schools to have a terminal degree.

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