H. B. 2704
(By Delegates Manuel and Doyle)
[Introduced March 24, 1997; referred to the
Committee on Education.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section fourteen, article four,
chapter eighteen-a of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to
duty free lunch and planning periods of school employees by
adding a provision to allow half-time teachers a planning
period of one-half the usual class period but not less than
thirty minutes.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section fourteen, article four, chapter eighteen-a of
the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one,
as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 4. SALARIES, WAGES AND OTHER BENEFITS.
§18A-4-14. Duty-free lunch and daily planning period for certain employees.
(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of section seven, article
two of this chapter, every teacher who is employed for a period
of time more than one-half the class periods of the regular
school day and every service personnel whose employment is for a
period of more than three and one-half hours per day and whose
pay is at least the amount indicated in the "state minimum pay
scale" as set forth in section eight-a of this article shall be
provided a daily lunch recess of not less than thirty consecutive
minutes, and such the employee shall may not be assigned any
responsibilities during this recess. Such The recess shall be
included in the number of hours worked, and no county shall
increase the number of hours to be worked by an employee as a
result of such the employee being granted a recess under the
provisions of this section.
(2) Every teacher who is regularly employed for a period of
time more than one-half the class periods of the regular school
day shall be provided at least one planning period within each
school instructional day to be used to complete necessary
preparations for the instruction of pupils. Such The planning
period shall be the length of the usual class period in the
school to which such the teacher is assigned, and shall may be
not less than thirty minutes. Every teacher who is regularly
employed for a period of time equal to one-half the class periods
of the regular school day shall be provided at least one planning period within each school instructional day to be used to
complete necessary preparations for instruction of pupils. The
planning period shall be the length one half of the usual class
period of the school to which the teacher is assigned, and shall
be no less than thirty minutes. No teacher shall be assigned any
responsibilities during this period, and no county shall increase
the number of hours to be worked by a teacher as a result of such
the teacher being granted a planning period subsequent to the
adoption of this section.
Principals and assistant principals, where applicable, shall
cooperate in carrying out the provisions of this subsection,
including, but not limited to, assuming control of the class
period or supervision of students during the time the teacher is
engaged in the planning period. Substitute teachers may also be
utilized to assist with classroom responsibilities under this
subsection: Provided, That any substitute teacher who is
employed to teach a minimum of two consecutive days in the same
position shall be granted a planning period pursuant to this
section.
(3) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent
any teacher from exchanging his or her lunch recess or a planning
period or any service personnel from exchanging his or her lunch
recess for any compensation or benefit mutually agreed upon by
the employee and the county superintendent of schools or his or her agent: Provided, That a teacher and the superintendent or
his or her agent may not agree to terms which are different from
those available to any other teacher granted rights under this
section within the individual school or to terms which in any way
discriminate among such the teachers within the individual
school, and that service personnel granted rights under this
section and the superintendent or his or her agent may not agree
to terms which are different from those available to any other
service personnel within the same classification category granted
rights under this section within the individual school or to
terms which in any way discriminate among such the service
personnel within the same classification category within the
individual school.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide one-half day
teachers with one half of a class period for planning.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.