H. B. 2979
(By Delegate Hall)
[Introduced March 10, 2005; referred to the
Committee on Education then the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §18-5-45 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to the secondary school calendar
generally; and providing for up to four days flexibility for
the dates of commencement and termination of instructional
school year term
.
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 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 the 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 other criteria as the State Board determines
appropriate.
(2) "Bank time" means time added beyond the required
instructional day which 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. 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. The instructional activities for students shall be
determined and scheduled at the local school level. The first two
hours of the instructional day shall be used for instructional
activities for students which require the direct supervision or
involvement by teachers, and such activities shall be limited to
two hours. 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.
The school shall establish a policy relating to the use of the
two-hour block scheduled for instructional activities for students.
The professional activities for teachers shall include a two-hour
block of time immediately following the first two hours of
instructional activities for students during which the faculty
senate shall have the opportunity to meet. Any time not used by
the faculty senate and the remainder of the school day, 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.
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.
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.
(e) The instructional term shall commence no earlier than the
twenty-sixth day of August and terminate no later than the eighth
day of June
: Provided, That in the event the twenty-sixth day of
August falls on a Tuesday or a Wednesday of the week, the
instructional term may commence no earlier than the Monday
immediately prior to the twenty-sixth day of August: Provided,
however, That in the event the eighth day of June falls on a
Wednesday or a Thursday of the week, the instructional term may
terminate on the Friday next following the eighth day of June.
(f) 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) Three of the days described in subdivision (4), subsection
(f) of this section shall be scheduled prior to the twenty-sixth
day of August for the purposes of preparing for the opening of
school and staff development.
(h) At least one of the days described in subdivision (4),
subsection (f) of this section shall be scheduled after the eighth
day of June 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) At least four of the days described in subdivision (3),
subsection (f) of this section shall be scheduled after the first
day of March.
(j) At least two of the days described in subdivision (4),
subsection (f) of this section, will be scheduled for professional
development. The professional development conducted on these days
will be consistent with the goals established by the State Board
pursuant to the provisions of section twenty-three-a, article two,
chapter eighteen of this code.
(k) Subject to the provisions of subsection (h) of this
section, all noninstructional days will be scheduled prior to the
eighth day of June.
(l) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, the State
Board may not schedule the primary statewide assessment program
prior to the fifteenth day of May of the instructional year, unless
the State Board determines that the nature of the test mandates an
earlier testing date. For the school year beginning two thousand
three only, the State Board may not schedule the primary statewide
assessment program prior to the fifteenth day of April of the
instructional year.
(m) If, on or after the first day of March, 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: Provided, That the noninstructional
days scheduled for professional development shall be the last
available noninstructional days to be rescheduled as instructional
days: Provided, however, That on or after the first day in of
March, 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. The
provisions of this subsection do not apply to: (1) Holidays; and
(2) election day.
(n) The following applies to bank time:
(1) Except as provided in subsection (m) of this section, bank
time may not be used to avoid one hundred eighty separate days of
instruction;
(2) Bank time may not be used to lengthen the time provided in
law for faculty senates;
(3) The use of bank time for extracurricular activities will
be limited by the State Board; and
(4) Such other requirements or restrictions as the State Board
may provide in the rule required to be promulgated by this section.
(o) 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) Such other requirements or restrictions as the State Board
may provide in the rule required to be promulgated by this section.
(p) 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 bank time for extracurricular activities will
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 Schools
Activities Commission when those activities are related to
statewide tournaments or playoffs or are programs required for
Secondary Schools Activities Commission approval.
(q) Noninstructional interruptions to the instructional day
shall be minimized to allow the classroom teacher to teach.
(r) Nothing in this section prohibits establishing year-round schools in accordance with rules to be established by the State
Board.
(s) 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.
(t) The county board may contract with all or part of the
personnel for a longer term.
(u) 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) 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) 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.
Note: The purpose of this bill is to provide up to four days
flexibility for the dates of commencement and termination of instructional school year term.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.