H. B. 2432
(By Delegate McGraw, By Request)
[Introduced March 6, 1997; referred to the
Committee on Education.]
A BILL to amend article fifteen, chapter seventeen-c of the code
of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section
fifty; and to amend and reenact section one, article five,
chapter eighteen-a of said code, all relating to requiring
school buses to have a trained monitor on board to maintain
discipline; monitor seat and ceiling handrails installed in
school buses.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article fifteen, chapter seventeen-c of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended,
be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section
fifty; and that section one, article five, chapter eighteen-a of
said code be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 17C. TRAFFIC REGULATIONS AND LAWS OF THE ROAD.
ARTICLE 15. EQUIPMENT.
§17C-15-50. Additional equipment on school buses.
All school buses shall be equipped with a seat behind the
school bus driver's seat, facing toward the back of the bus, to
accommodate a school bus monitor, and equipped with ceiling
handrails to allow the school bus monitor to travel the isle
while the bus is in motion.
CHAPTER 18A. SCHOOL PERSONNEL.
ARTICLE 5. AUTHORITY; RIGHTS; RESPONSIBILITY.
§18A-5-1. Authority of teachers and other school personnel; exclusion of pupils having infectious diseases; suspension or expulsion of disorderly pupils; corporal punishment abolished.
(a) The teacher shall stand in the place of the parent(s),
guardian(s) or custodian(s) in exercising authority over the
school, and shall have control of all pupils enrolled in the
school from the time they reach the school until they have
returned to their respective homes, except that where
transportation of pupils is provided, the driver in charge of the
school bus or other mode of transportation shall exercise such
authority and control over the children while they are in transit
to and from the school.
(b) Subject to the rules of the state board of education,
the teacher shall exclude from the school any pupil or pupils
known to have or suspected of having any infectious disease, or
any pupil or pupils who have been exposed to such disease, and
shall immediately notify the proper health officer, or medical
inspector, of such exclusion. Any pupil so excluded shall may
not be readmitted to the school until such pupil has complied
with all the requirements of the rules governing such cases, or
has presented a certificate of health signed by the medical
inspector or other proper health officer.
(c) The teacher shall have authority to exclude from his or
her classroom or school bus, any pupil who is guilty of
disorderly conduct; who in any manner interferes with an orderly
educational process; who threatens, abuses, or otherwise
intimidates or attempts to intimidate a school employee or a
pupil; or who willfully disobeys a school employee; or who uses
abusive or profane language directed at a school employee. Any
pupil excluded shall be placed under the control of the principal
of the school or a designee. The excluded pupil may be admitted
to the classroom or school bus only when the principal, or a
designee, provides written certification to the teacher that the
pupil may be readmitted and specifies the specific type of
disciplinary action, if any, which was taken. If the principal finds that disciplinary action is warranted, he shall provide
written and, if possible, telephonic notice of such action to the
parent(s), guardian(s) or custodian(s). When a teacher excludes
the same pupil from his or her classroom or from a school bus
three times in one school year, and after exhausting all
reasonable methods of classroom discipline provided in the school
discipline plan, the pupil may be readmitted to the teacher's
classroom only after the principal, teacher and, if possible, the
parent(s), guardian(s) or custodian(s) of the pupil have held a
conference to discuss the pupil's disruptive behavior patterns,
and the teacher and the principal agree on a course of discipline
for the pupil and inform the parent(s), guardian(s) or
custodian(s) of the course of action. Thereafter, if the pupil's
disruptive behavior persists, upon the teacher's request, the
principal may, to the extent feasible, transfer the pupil to
another setting.
(d) Corporal punishment of any pupil by a school employee is
prohibited.
(e) The West Virginia board of education and county boards
of education shall adopt policies consistent with the provisions
of this section encouraging the use of alternatives to corporal
punishment, providing for the training of school personnel in
alternatives to corporal punishment and for the involvement of parent(s), guardian(s) or custodian(s) in the maintenance of
school discipline. The county boards of education shall provide
for the immediate incorporation and implementation in the schools
of a preventive discipline program, which may include the
responsible student program, and a student involvement program,
which may include the peer mediation program, devised by the West
Virginia board of education. Each board may modify such programs
to meet the particular needs of the county. The county boards
shall provide in-service training for teachers and principals
relating to assertive discipline procedures and conflict
resolution. The county boards of education may also establish
cooperatives with private entities to provide middle educational
programs, which may include programs focusing on developing
individual coping skills, conflict resolution, anger control,
self-esteem issues, stress management, and decision making for
students and any other program related to preventive discipline.
(f) For the purpose of this section: (1) "Pupil or student"
shall include any child, youth or adult who is enrolled in any
instructional program or activity conducted under board
authorization and within the facilities of or in connection with
any program under public school direction: Provided, That in the
case of adults the pupil-teacher relationship shall terminate
when the pupil leaves the school or other place of instruction or activity; (2) "teacher" shall mean all professional educators as
defined in section one, article one of this chapter and shall
include the driver of a school bus or other mode of
transportation.
(g) Teachers shall exercise such other authority and perform
such other duties as may be prescribed for them by law or by the
rules of the state board of education not inconsistent with the
provisions of this chapter and chapter eighteen of this code.
(h) All school buses shall have a trained school bus monitor
on board to maintain discipline and order on the bus. The school
bus monitor, along with the school bus driver, shall exercise
authority and control over the passengers on the school bus.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require school buses
to have a trained monitor on board to maintain discipline, and to
require a monitor's seat and ceiling hand railing to be installed
in school buses.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.
§17C-15-50 is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.