H. B. 4655
(By Delegates Perry, Perdue, Staggers, Fragale,
Williams, Shaver and Stephens)
[Introduced February 22, 2010
; referred to the
Committee on Education.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §18A-2-2, §18A-2-6, §18A-2-7 and
§18A-2-8a of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all
relating to school personnel; contracts; and changing dates
relating to when notices of termination of an employment
contract of school personnel, notices of transfer of school
personnel and notices to probationary personnel of rehiring or
nonrehiring are to be given.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18A-2-2, §18A-2-6, §18A-2-7 and §18A-2-8a of the Code of
West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to
read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. SCHOOL PERSONNEL.
§18A-2-2. Employment of teachers; contracts; continuing contract
status; how terminated; dismissal for lack of need;
released time; failure of teacher to perform contract
or violation thereof; written notice bonus for teachers and professional personnel.
(a) Before entering upon their duties, all teachers shall
execute a contract with their county boards, which shall state the
salary to be paid and shall be in the form prescribed by the state
superintendent. Each contract shall be signed by the teacher and
by the president and secretary of the county board and shall be
filed, together with the certificate of the teacher, by the
secretary of the office of the county board:
Provided, That when
necessary to facilitate the employment of employable professional
personnel and prospective and recent graduates of teacher education
programs who have not yet attained certification, the contract may
be signed upon the condition that the certificate is issued to the
employee prior to the beginning of the employment term in which the
employee enters upon his or her duties.
(b) Each teacher's contract, under this section, shall be
designated as a probationary or continuing contract. A
probationary teacher's contract shall be for a term of not less
than one nor more than three years, one of which shall be for
completion of a beginning teacher internship pursuant to the
provisions of section two-b, article three of this chapter, if
applicable. If, after three years of such employment, the teacher
who holds a professional certificate, based on at least a
bachelor's degree, has met the qualifications for a bachelor's
degree and the county board enter into a new contract of
employment, it shall be a continuing contract, subject to the following:
(1) Any teacher holding a valid certificate with less than a
bachelor's degree who is employed in a county beyond the three-year
probationary period shall upon qualifying for the professional
certificate based upon a bachelor's degree, if reemployed, be
granted continuing contract status; and
(2) A teacher holding continuing contract status with one
county shall be granted continuing contract status with any other
county upon completion of one year of acceptable employment if the
employment is during the next succeeding school year or immediately
following an approved leave of absence extending no more than one
year.
(c) The continuing contract of any teacher shall remain in
full force and effect except as modified by mutual consent of the
school board and the teacher, unless and until terminated, subject
to the following:
(1) A continuing contract may not be terminated except:
(A) By a majority vote of the full membership of the county
board on or before
February 1 April 1 of the then current year,
after written notice, served upon the teacher, return receipt
requested, stating cause or causes and an opportunity to be heard
at a meeting of the board prior to the board's action on the
termination issue; or
(B) By written resignation of the teacher on or before
February 1 April 1 to initiate termination of a continuing contract;
(2) The termination shall take effect at the close of the
school year in which the contract is terminated;
(3) The contract may be terminated at any time by mutual
consent of the school board and the teacher;
(4) This section does not affect the powers of the school
board to suspend or dismiss a principal or teacher pursuant to
section eight of this article;
(5) A continuing contract for any teacher holding a
certificate valid for more than one year and in full force and
effect during the school year 1984-1985 shall remain in full force
and effect;
(6) A continuing contract does not operate to prevent a
teacher's dismissal based upon the lack of need for the teacher's
services pursuant to the provisions of law relating to the
allocation to teachers and pupil-teacher ratios. The written
notification of teachers being considered for dismissal for lack of
need shall be limited to only those teachers whose consideration
for dismissal is based upon known or expected circumstances which
will require dismissal for lack of need. An employee who was not
provided notice and an opportunity for a hearing pursuant to this
subsection may not be included on the list. In case of dismissal
for lack of need, a dismissed teacher shall be placed upon a
preferred list in the order of their length of service with that
board. No teacher may be employed by the board until each qualified teacher upon the preferred list, in order, has been
offered the opportunity for reemployment in a position for which he
or she is qualified, not including a teacher who has accepted a
teaching position elsewhere. The reemployment shall be upon a
teacher's preexisting continuing contract and has the same effect
as though the contract had been suspended during the time the
teacher was not employed.
(d) In the assignment of position or duties of a teacher under
a continuing contract, the board may provide for released time of
a teacher for any special professional or governmental assignment
without jeopardizing the contractual rights of the teacher or any
other rights, privileges or benefits under the provisions of this
chapter. Released time shall be provided for any professional
educator while serving as a member of the Legislature during any
duly constituted session of that body and its interim and statutory
committees and commissions without jeopardizing his or her
contractual rights or any other rights, privileges, benefits or
accrual of experience for placement on the state minimum salary
schedule in the following school year under the provisions of this
chapter, board policy and law.
(e) Any teacher who fails to fulfill his or her contract with
the board, unless prevented from doing so by personal illness or
other just cause or unless released from his or her contract by the
board, or who violates any lawful provision of the contract, is
disqualified to teach in any other public school in the state for a period of the next ensuing school year and the State Department
of Education or board may hold all papers and credentials of the
teacher on file for a period of one year for the violation:
Provided, That marriage of a teacher is not considered a failure to
fulfill, or violation of, the contract.
(f) Any classroom teacher, as defined in section one, article
one of this chapter, who desires to resign employment with a county
board or request a leave of absence, the resignation or leave of
absence to become effective on or before July 15 of the same year
and after completion of the employment term, may do so at any time
during the school year by written notification of the resignation
or leave of absence and any notification received by a county board
shall automatically extend the teacher's public employee insurance
coverage until August 31 of the same year.
(g) (1) A classroom teacher who gives written notice to the
county board on or before
December 1 of the school year January 1
of his or her retirement from employment with the board at the
conclusion of the school year shall be paid $500 from the Early
Notification of Retirement line item established for the Department
of Education for this purpose, subject to appropriation by the
Legislature. If the appropriations to the Department of Education
for this purpose are insufficient to compensate all applicable
teachers, the department of education shall request a supplemental
appropriation in an amount sufficient to compensate all such
teachers. Additionally, if funds are still insufficient to compensate all applicable teachers, the priority of payment is for
teachers who give written notice the earliest. This payment shall
not be counted as part of the final average salary for the purpose
of calculating retirement.
(2) The position of a classroom teacher providing written
notice of retirement pursuant to this subsection may be considered
vacant and the county board may immediately post the position as an
opening to be filled at the conclusion of the school year. If a
teacher has been hired to fill the position of a retiring classroom
teacher prior to the start of the next school year, the retiring
classroom teacher is disqualified from continuing his or her
employment in that position. However, the retiring classroom
teacher may be permitted to continue his or her employment in that
position and forfeit the early retirement notification payment if,
after giving notice of retirement in accordance with this
subsection, he or she becomes subject to a significant unforeseen
financial hardship, including a hardship caused by the death or
illness of an immediate family member or loss of employment of a
spouse. Other significant unforeseen financial hardships shall be
determined by the county superintendent on a case-by-case basis.
This subsection does not prohibit a county school board from
eliminating the position of a retiring classroom teacher.
§18A-2-6. Continuing contract status for service personnel;
termination.
After three years of acceptable employment, each service
personnel employee who enters into a new contract of employment
with the board shall be granted continuing contract status
:
Provided, That a service personnel employee holding continuing
contract status with one county shall be granted continuing
contract status with any other county upon completion of one year
of acceptable employment if such employment is during the next
succeeding school year or immediately following an approved leave
of absence extending no more than one year. The continuing
contract of any such employee shall remain in full force and effect
except as modified by mutual consent of the school board and the
employee, unless and until terminated with written notice, stating
cause or causes, to the employee, by a majority vote of the full
membership of the board before
February 1 April 1 of the then
current year, or by written resignation of the employee on or
before that date. The affected employee has the right of a hearing
before the board, if requested, before final action is taken by the
board upon the termination of such employment.
Those employees who have completed three years of acceptable
employment as of the effective date of this legislation shall be
granted continuing contract status.
§18A-2-7. Assignment, transfer, promotion, demotion, suspension
and recommendation of dismissal of school personnel
by superintendent; preliminary notice of transfer; hearing on the transfer; proof required.
(a) The superintendent, subject only to approval of the board,
may assign, transfer, promote, demote or suspend school personnel
and recommend their dismissal pursuant to provisions of this
chapter. However, an employee shall be notified in writing by the
superintendent on or before
February 1 March 15 if he or she is
being considered for transfer or to be transferred. Only those
employees whose consideration for transfer or intended transfer is
based upon known or expected circumstances which will require the
transfer of employees shall be considered for transfer or intended
for transfer and the notification shall be limited to only those
employees. Any teacher or employee who desires to protest the
proposed transfer may request in writing a statement of the reasons
for the proposed transfer. The statement of reasons shall be
delivered to the teacher or employee within ten days of the receipt
of the request. Within ten days of the receipt of the statement of
the reasons, the teacher or employee may make written demand upon
the superintendent for a hearing on the proposed transfer before
the county board of education. The hearing on the proposed
transfer shall be held on or before
March 15 May 1. At the
hearing, the reasons for the proposed transfer must be shown.
(b) The superintendent at a meeting of the board on or before
March 15 shall furnish in writing to the board a list of teachers
and other employees to be considered for transfer and subsequent assignment for the next ensuing school year. An employee who was
not provided notice and an opportunity for a hearing pursuant to
subsection (a) of this section may not be included on the list.
All other teachers and employees not so listed shall be considered
as reassigned to the positions or jobs held at the time of this
meeting. The list of those recommended for transfer shall be
included in the minute record of the meeting and all those so
listed shall be notified in writing, which notice shall be
delivered in writing, by certified mail, return receipt requested,
to the persons' last known addresses within ten days following the
board meeting, of their having been so recommended for transfer and
subsequent assignment and the reasons therefor.
(c) The superintendent's authority to suspend school personnel
shall be temporary only pending a hearing upon charges filed by the
superintendent with the board of education and the period of
suspension may not exceed thirty days unless extended by order of
the board.
(d) The provisions of this section respecting hearing upon
notice of transfer is not applicable in emergency situations where
the school building becomes damaged or destroyed through an
unforeseeable act and which act necessitates a transfer of the
school personnel because of the aforementioned condition of the
building.
§18A-2-8a. Notice to probationary personnel of rehiring or nonrehiring; hearing.
The superintendent at a meeting of the board on or before
March 15 May 1 of each year shall provide in writing to the board
a list of all probationary teachers that he or she recommends to be
rehired for the next ensuing school year. The board shall act upon
the superintendent's recommendations at that meeting in accordance
with section one of this article. The board at this same meeting
shall also act upon the retention of other probationary employees
as provided in sections two and five of this article. Any such
probationary teacher or other probationary employee who is not
rehired by the board at that meeting shall be notified in writing,
by certified mail, return receipt requested, to such persons' last
known addresses within ten days following said board meeting, of
their not having been rehired or not having been recommended for
rehiring.
Any probationary teacher who receives notice that he or she
has not been recommended for rehiring or other probationary
employee who has not been reemployed may within ten days after
receiving the written notice request a statement of the reasons for
not having been rehired and may request a hearing before the board.
The hearing shall be held at the next regularly scheduled board of
education meeting or a special meeting of the board called within
thirty days of the request for hearing. At the hearing, the
reasons for the nonrehiring must be shown.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to change dates relating to
when notices of termination of an employment contract with school
personnel, notices of transfer of school personnel and notices to
probationary personnel of rehiring or nonrehiring are to be given.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.