WEST virginia legislature

2024 regular session

Introduced

Senate Bill 860

By Senator Rucker

[Introduced February 19, 2024; referred
to the Committee on School Choice; and then to the Committee on Finance]

A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated §18-5G-14a, relating to creating alternative high-risk population public charter schools; describing students of said schools; and scheduling data computation for school enrollment.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

Article 5g. Public Charter Schools.

§18-5G-14a. Alternative high-risk population public charter schools.

(a) Alternative high-risk population public charter schools may be authorized pursuant to this article.  To be eligible for an alternative high-risk population public charter school, the school must have an unduplicated count of at least 70 percent of their total enrollment, upon first entry to the school, comprised of high-risk students and obtain approval from the Charter School Board certifying the school meets the criteria.  "High Risk" students including the following:

(1) Students who have been expelled;

(2) Students who have been suspended more than 10 days in a school year;

(3) Wards of the court or dependents of the court;

(4) Students who are pregnant and/or parenting;

(5) Recovered dropouts;

(6) Students who are habitually truant;

(7) Students who have been retained more than once in kindergarten through grade eight;

(8) Students who are credit deficient;

(9) Students who have a high-level transiency such as being enrolled in more than two schools during the past academic year or have changed secondary schools more than two times since entering high school;

(10) Foster youth; and

(11) Homeless youth.

(b) Data used in the computations relating to net and adjusted enrollment, and the number of professional educators, shall be performed three times a year to determine the basic foundation program for that fiscal year as determined in §18-9A-12 of this code.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to create alternative high-risk population public charter schools and permit an enrollment count of three times a year for funding purposes.

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