ENROLLED
Senate Bill No. 237
(By Senators Jackson, Miller, Blatnik, Grubb,
Schoonover, Oliverio, Plymale and Helmick)
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[Passed March 2, 1995; in effect from passage.]
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AN ACT to amend and reenact section five, article five-a,
chapter eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to
amend and reenact sections one-c, three and five, article
twenty of said chapter, all relating to extending the
deadlines for plans for inclusion; and the requirements
as to the assistance, training and information to be
provided to the affected classroom teacher.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section five, article five-a, chapter eighteen of
the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-
one, as amended, be amended and reenacted; and that sections
one-c, three and five, article twenty of said chapter be
amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5A. LOCAL SCHOOL INVOLVEMENT.
§18-5A-5. Public school faculty senates established;
election of officers; powers and duties.
(a) There is established at every public school in this
state a faculty senate which shall be comprised of all
permanent, full-time professional educators employed at the
school who shall all be voting members. Professional
educators as used in this section means professional educators
as defined in chapter eighteen-a of this code. A quorum of
more than one half of the voting members of the faculty shall
be present at any meeting of the faculty senate at which
official business is conducted. Prior to the beginning of the
instructional term each year, but within the employment term,
the principal shall convene a meeting of the faculty senate to
elect a chair, vice chair and secretary and discuss matters
relevant to the beginning of the school year. The vice chair
shall preside at meetings when the chair is absent. Meetings
of the faculty senate shall be held on a regular basis as
determined by a schedule approved by the faculty senate and
amended from time to time if needed. Emergency meetings may
be held at the call of the chair or a majority of the voting
members by petition submitted to the chair and vice chair. An
agenda of matters to be considered at a scheduled meeting of
the faculty senate shall be available to the members at least
two employment days prior to the meeting, and in the case of
emergency meetings, as soon as possible prior to the meeting.
The chair of the faculty senate may appoint such committees as
may be desirable to study and submit recommendations to the
full faculty senate, but the acts of the faculty senate shall be voted upon by the full body.
(b) In addition to any other powers and duties conferred
by law, or authorized by policies adopted by the state or
county board of education or bylaws which may be adopted by
the faculty senate not inconsistent with law, the powers and
duties listed in this subsection are specifically reserved for
the faculty senate. The intent of these provisions is neither
to restrict nor to require the activities of every faculty
senate to the enumerated items except as otherwise stated.
Each faculty senate shall organize its activities as it deems
most effective and efficient based on school size,
departmental structure and other relevant factors.
(1) Each faculty senate shall control funds allocated to
the school from legislative appropriations pursuant to section
nine, article nine-a of this chapter. From such funds, each
classroom teacher and librarian shall be allotted fifty
dollars for expenditure during the instructional year for
academic materials, supplies or equipment which in the
judgment of the teacher or librarian will assist him or her in
providing instruction in his or her assigned academic
subjects, or shall be returned to the faculty senate:
Provided, That nothing contained herein shall prohibit such
funds from being used for programs and materials that, in the
opinion of the teacher, enhance student behavior, increase
academic achievement, improve self-esteem and address the
problems of students at-risk. The remainder of funds shall be expended for academic materials, supplies or equipment in
accordance with a budget approved by the faculty senate.
Notwithstanding any other provisions of the law to the
contrary, funds not expended in one school year shall be
available for expenditure in the next school year: Provided,
however, That the amount of county funds budgeted in a fiscal
year shall not be reduced throughout the year as a result of
the faculty appropriations in the same fiscal year for such
materials, supplies and equipment. Accounts shall be
maintained of the allocations and expenditures of such funds
for the purpose of financial audit. Academic materials,
supplies or equipment shall be interpreted broadly, but shall
not include materials, supplies or equipment which will be
used in or connected with interscholastic athletic events.
(2) A faculty senate may establish a process for faculty
members to interview new prospective professional educators
and paraprofessional employees at the school and submit
recommendations regarding employment to the principal, who may
also make independent recommendations, for submission to the
county superintendent: Provided, That such process must
permit the timely employment of persons to perform necessary
duties.
(3) A faculty senate may nominate teachers for
recognition as outstanding teachers under state and local
teacher recognition programs and other personnel at the
school, including parents, for recognition under other appropriate recognition programs and may establish such
programs for operation at the school.
(4) A faculty senate may submit recommendations to the
principal regarding the assignment scheduling of secretaries,
clerks, aides and paraprofessionals at the school.
(5) A faculty senate may submit recommendations to the
principal regarding establishment of the master curriculum
schedule for the next ensuing school year.
(6) A faculty senate may establish a process for the
review and comment on sabbatical leave requests submitted by
employees at the school pursuant to section eleven, article
two of this chapter.
(7) Each faculty senate shall elect three faculty
representatives to the local school improvement council
established pursuant to section two of this article.
(8) Each faculty senate may nominate a member for
election to the county staff development council pursuant to
section eight, article three, chapter eighteen-a of this code.
(9) Each faculty senate shall have an opportunity to make
recommendations on the selection of faculty to serve as
mentors for beginning teachers under beginning teacher
internship programs at the school.
(10) A faculty senate may solicit, accept and expend any
grants, gifts, bequests, donations and any other funds made
available to the faculty senate: Provided, That the faculty
senate shall select a member who shall have the duty of maintaining a record of all funds received and expended by the
faculty senate, which record shall be kept in the school
office and shall be subject to normal auditing procedures.
(11) On or after the first day of January, one thousand
nine hundred ninety-two, any faculty senate may review the
evaluation procedure as conducted in their school to ascertain
whether such evaluations were conducted in accordance with the
written system required pursuant to section twelve, article
two, chapter eighteen-a of this code and the general intent of
this Legislature regarding meaningful performance evaluations
of school personnel. If a majority of members of the faculty
senate determine that such evaluations were not so conducted,
they shall submit a report in writing to the state board of
education: Provided, That nothing herein shall create any new
right of access to or review of any individual's evaluations.
(12) Each faculty senate shall be provided by its local
board of education at least a two-hour per month block of
noninstructional time within the school day: Provided, That
any such designated day shall constitute a full instructional
day. This time may be utilized and determined at the local
school level and shall include, but not be limited to, faculty
senate meetings.
(13) Each faculty senate shall develop a strategic plan
to manage the integration of special needs students into the
regular classroom at their respective schools and submit said
strategic plan to the superintendent of the county board of education by the thirtieth day of June, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-five, and periodically thereafter pursuant to
guidelines developed by the state department of education.
Each faculty senate shall encourage the participation of local
school improvement councils, parents and the community at
large in the development of the strategic plan for each
school.
Each strategic plan developed by the faculty senate shall
include at least: (A) A mission statement; (B) goals; (C)
needs; (D) objectives and activities to implement plans
relating to each goal; (E) work in progress to implement the
strategic plan; (F) guidelines for the placement of additional
staff into integrated classrooms to meet the needs of
exceptional needs students without diminishing the services
rendered to the other students in integrated classrooms; (G)
guidelines for implementation of collaborative planning and
instruction; and (H) training for all regular classroom
teachers who serve students with exceptional needs in
integrated classrooms.
ARTICLE 20. EDUCATION OF EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN.
§18-20-1c. Integrated classrooms serving students with
exceptional needs; and requirements as to the
assistance, training and information to be
provided to the affected classroom teacher.
The regular classroom teacher shall be entitled to the
following when placing a student with exceptional needs into an integrated classroom when the student's individualized
education program requires an adjustment in either the
curriculum, instruction or service to be provided by the
regular classroom teacher:
(1) Training provided pursuant to the integrated
classroom program and additional individualized training,
pursuant to the rules developed by the state board of
education, if requested by the regular classroom teacher to
prepare the teacher to meet the exceptional needs of
individual students. Whenever possible, such training shall
be provided prior to such placement. Where prior training is
not possible, such training shall be commenced no later than
ten days following the placement of said student into the
regular classroom. Unavoidable delays in the provision of
training shall not result in the exclusion of a special needs
student from any class in the event said training cannot be
provided in said ten days;
(2) A signed copy of the individualized education program
for the special education student prior to the placement of
the student into the regular classroom. The receiving and
referring teachers shall participate in the development of
that student's individualized education program and shall also
sign the individualized education program as developed. In all
cases the teacher shall receive a copy of the individualized
education program for the special education student prior to
or at the time of the placement of the student into the regular classroom. Any teacher disagreeing with the
individualized education program committee's recommendation
shall file a written explanation outlining his or her
disagreement or recommendation;
(3) Participation by referring teachers in all
eligibility committees and participation by referring and
receiving teachers in all individualized education program
committees which involve possible placement of an exceptional
student in an integrated classroom;
(4) Opportunity to reconvene the committee responsible
for the individualized education program of the student with
special needs assigned to the regular classroom teacher. The
meeting shall include all persons involved in a student's
individualized education program and shall be held within
twenty-one days of the time the request is made;
(5) Assistance from persons trained or certified to deal
with a student's exceptional needs whenever such assistance is
part of the student's individualized education program as
necessary to promote accomplishment of the program's goals and
objectives: Provided, That aides in the area of special
education cannot be reassigned to more than one school without
the employee's consent.
§18-20-3. County reports.
Each county shall, after having received from the faculty
senates in its schools the strategic plans mandated by
subsection (13), section five, article five-a of this chapter, develop a county strategic plan to manage the integration of
special needs students into the regular classroom and submit
said strategic plan to the state superintendent of schools
prior to the first day of October, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-five.
Counties maintaining special schools, classes, regular
class programs, integrated classroom strategic plans and
training related to integrated education, basic and
specialized health care procedures including the
administration of medications, home-teaching or visiting
services and receiving or requesting reimbursement from state
appropriated funds shall file with the state superintendent of
schools on forms supplied by his office, applications, annual
reports and such other reports as he may require.
§18-20-5. Powers and duties of state superintendent.
The state superintendent of schools shall organize,
promote, administer and be responsible for:
(1) Stimulating and assisting county boards of education
in establishing, organizing and maintaining special schools,
classes, regular class programs, home-teaching and visiting-
teacher services.
(2) Cooperating with all other public and private
agencies engaged in relieving, caring for, curing, educating
and rehabilitating exceptional children, and in helping
coordinate the services of such agencies.
(3) Preparing the necessary rules, regulations, formula for distribution of available appropriated funds, reporting
forms and procedures necessary to define minimum standards in
providing suitable facilities for education of exceptional
children and ensuring the employment, certification and
approval of qualified teachers and therapists subject to
approval by the state board of education.
(4) Receiving from county boards of education their
applications, annual reports and claims for reimbursement from
such moneys as are appropriated by the Legislature, auditing
such claims and preparing vouchers to reimburse said counties
the amounts reimbursable to them.
(5) Assuring that all exceptional children in the state,
including children in mental health facilities, residential
institutions, private schools and correctional facilities as
provided in section thirteen-f, article two of this chapter
receive an education in accordance with state and federal
laws: Provided, That the state superintendent shall also
assure that adults in correctional facilities and regional
jails shall receive an education to the extent funds are
provided therefor.
(6) Performing such other duties and assuming such other
responsibilities in connection with this program as may be
needed.
(7) Receive the county plan for integrated classroom
submitted by the county boards of education and submit a state
plan, approved by the state board of education, to the legislative oversight commission on education accountability
no later than the first day of December, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-five.
Nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent
any county board of education from establishing and
maintaining special schools, classes, regular class programs,
home-teaching or visiting-teacher services out of funds
available from local revenue.