COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 490
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(By Senators Jackson, Prezioso, White, Plymale, Craigo, Snyder,
Bailey, Macnaughtan, Schoonover, Ball and Anderson)
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[Originating in the Committee on Education;
reported April 2, 1997.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section sixteen, article nine-d,
chapter eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to indoor air
quality in public schools; requiring construction in
compliance with standards of the American Society of
Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers, the
National Fire Protection Association and the Building
Officials and Code Administrators standards; active soil
depressurization system; testing for radon; authorizing
school building authority to adopt rules; requiring carbon
dioxide tests; and requiring school building authority to
report to the legislative oversight commission on education
accountability.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section sixteen, article nine-d, chapter eighteen of
the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one,
as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 9D. SCHOOL BUILDING AUTHORITY.
§18-9D-16. Facilities and major improvement plans generally;
need-based eligibility.
(a) To facilitate the goals as stated in section fifteen of
this article and to assure the prudent and resourceful
expenditure of state funds for construction projects as described
in subsection (d) of said section, each county board of education
shall submit a county-wide comprehensive educational facilities
plan that addresses the facilities and major improvement needs of
the county pursuant to such the guidelines as shall be adopted by
the authority in accordance with this section and in accordance
with each county's facilities plan approved by the state board of
education. Any project receiving funding shall be in furtherance
of such the approved county-wide facilities plan.
(1) To assure efficiency and productivity in the project
approval process, the county-wide facilities plan shall be
submitted only after a preliminary plan, a plan outline or a
proposal for a plan has been submitted to the authority.
Selected members of the authority, which selection shall include
citizen members, shall then meet promptly with those persons
designated by the county board to attend the facilities plan consultation. The purpose of the consultation is to assure
understanding of the general goals of the school building
authority and the specific goals encompassed in the following
criteria and to discuss ways the plan may be structured to meet
those goals.
(2) The guidelines for the development of a facilities plan
shall state the manner, timeline and process for submission of
any plan to the authority; such project specifications as may be
deemed considered appropriate by the authority; and those matters
which are deemed considered by the authority to be important
reflections of how the project will further the overall goals of
the authority.
(b) To facilitate the goals as stated in section fifteen of
this article and to assure the prudent and resourceful
expenditure of state funds derived from the school major
improvement fund, each county board of education shall submit to
the authority a ten-year county-wide school major improvement
plan that addresses the major improvement needs of each school
within the county. If the state board of education or the
administrative council of an area vocational educational center
chooses to seek funding for a major improvement project from the
authority pursuant to subsection (f) of said section, the state
board or such the administrative council shall submit a ten-year
school major improvement plan that addresses the major
improvement needs of the school or area vocational educational center for which funding is sought. Each ten-year school major
improvement plan shall be prepared pursuant to such the
guidelines as shall be adopted by the authority in accordance
with this section and shall be updated annually to reflect
projects completed and new or continuing needs. Any school major
improvement project funded by the authority shall be in
furtherance of such the approved school major improvement plan.
The guidelines for the development and annual updates of a
ten-year school major improvement plan shall state the manner,
timeline and process for submission of any plan, including a
repair and replacement schedule for school facilities, to the
authority; such maintenance specifications as may be deemed
considered appropriate by the authority; and those matters which
are deemed considered by the authority to be important
reflections of how the major improvement project or projects
will further the overall goals of the authority.
(c) The guidelines regarding submission of the facilities
plans and school major improvement plans shall include
requirements for public hearings, comments or other means of
providing broad-based input within a reasonable time period as
the authority may deem consider appropriate. The submission of
each plan shall be accompanied by a synopsis of all comments
received and a formal comment by the county board, the state
board or the administrative council of an area vocational
educational center submitting such plan.
The guidelines regarding project specifications may include
such matters as energy efficiency, preferred siting, construction
materials, maintenance plan or any other matter related to how
the project is to proceed. In an effort to create safe school
environments and notwithstanding any other provision of this code
to the contrary, any new school constructed in the State of West
Virginia by a county board, regardless of the funding source,
shall be constructed in compliance with current codes and
standards of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and
Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), the National Fire Protection
Association (NFPA) and the Building Officials and Code
Administrators (BOCA). Additionally, all new school buildings
constructed in this state in zone one as identified in the United
States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) publication "EPA Map
of Radon Zones" (Document number 402-R-93-068) shall incorporate
an active soil depressurization system constructed in conformity
with the specifications recommended in the EPA publication "Radon
Prevention in the Design and Construction of Schools and Other
Large Buildings" (Document number EPA 625-R-92-016). Prior to
construction of a new school building in zone two as identified
in the "EPA Map of Radon Zones", tests required by school
building authority regulations shall be conducted to determine if
radon is present at the proposed construction site. If radon is
detected, additional tests shall be performed within thirty days
to confirm the results. If radon is found during both tests in detectable amounts, any new school building constructed on that
site shall incorporate an active soil depressurization system as
required for new buildings in zone one.
The school building authority also shall develop and adopt
guidelines to include indoor air quality as part of each county's
major improvement plan. The guidelines shall be submitted for
review and approval by the legislative oversight commission on
education accountability on or before the first day of January,
one thousand nine hundred ninety-eight. The plan shall be
required for eligibility for funding from the major improvement
fund. To assist in development of these regulations and
guidelines each county board shall test all classrooms and
offices which are on the ground floor or below ground for radon
levels between the first day of December, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-seven and the first day of March, one thousand
nine hundred ninety-eight. If any classroom or office has been
tested in the ten years prior to the first day of September, one
thousand nine hundred ninety-seven, the results of those tests
may be substituted for a test required in this section.
Additionally, each county board shall test all major student
occupied areas for carbon dioxide levels with the initial tests
to occur between the first of December, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-seven and the thirty-first of March, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-eight, except that for buildings built between the
first day of January, one thousand nine hundred seventy, and the thirty-first day of December, one thousand nine hundred seventy- nine these tests shall be conducted between the first day and the
thirty-first day of December,one thousand nine hundred and
ninety-seven. If the carbon dioxide level exceeds seven hundred
parts per million above the outside air level and a level above
that recommended in the current
American Society of Heating,
Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers
standard, a second
test shall be conducted to verify the results. The results of
the tests for any buildings which were constructed between the
first day of January, one thousand nine hundred seventy and the
thirty-first day of December, one thousand nine hundred seventy- nine, and which exceeds seven hundred parts per million above the
outdoor levels shall be submitted to the executive director of
the school building authority prior to the fifteenth day of
January, one thousand nine hundred ninety-eight. The school
building authority executive director shall make an interim
report regarding those test results to the legislative oversight
commission on education accountability at the following February
legislative interim committee. The results of the tests for any
remaining buildings which exceed seven hundred parts per million
above the outside levels shall be submitted to the executive
director of the school building authority on or before the
fifteenth day of April one thousand nine hundred ninety-eight and
the executive director shall report those results to the
legislative oversight commission on education accountability on or before the following June interim meetings. The school
building authority shall develop guidelines for the required
radon testing, carbon dioxide testing; and subsequent carbon
dioxide retesting. The guidelines shall be submitted for review
and approval to the legislative oversight commission on education
accountability on or before the first day of November, one
thousand nine hundred ninety-seven.
On or before the first day of February, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-eight, the executive director of the school
building authority shall submit a report related to the air
quality in West Virginia schools, including the results of the
tests required by this section to the legislative oversight
commission on education accountability.
If a county board of education proposes to finance a
construction project through a lease with an option to purchase
pursuant to an investment contract as described in subsection
(e), section fifteen of this article, the specifications for
such the project shall include the term of the lease, the amount
of each lease payment, including the payment due upon exercise of
the option to purchase, and the terms and conditions of the
proposed investment contract.
(d) The guidelines pertaining to quality educational
facilities shall require that a facilities plan address how the
current facilities do not meet and how the proposed plan and any
project thereunder under the plan does meet the following goals:
(1) Student health and safety;
(2) Economies of scale, including compatibility with similar
schools that have achieved the most economical organization,
facility utilization and pupil-teacher ratios;
(3) Reasonable travel time and practical means of addressing
other demographic considerations;
(4) Multicounty and regional planning to achieve the most
effective and efficient instructional delivery system;
(5) Curriculum improvement and diversification, including
computerization and technology and advanced senior courses in
science, mathematics, language arts and social studies;
(6) Innovations in education;
(7) Adequate space for projected student enrollments; and
(8) To the extent constitutionally permissible, each
facilities plan shall address the history of efforts taken by
the county board to propose or adopt local school bond issues or
special levies.
If the project is to benefit more than one county in the
region, the facilities plan shall state the manner in which the
cost and funding of the project shall be apportioned among the
counties.
(e) The guidelines pertaining to quality educational
facilities shall require that a school major improvement plan
address how the proposed plan and any project thereunder under
the plan meet the following goals:
(1) Student health and safety, including, but not limited
to, critical health and safety needs; and
(2) Economies of scale, including regularly scheduled
preventive maintenance: Provided,
That each county board's
school maintenance plan shall address regularly scheduled
maintenance for all facilities within the county.
(f) Each county board's facilities plan and school major
improvement plan shall prioritize all the construction projects
or major improvement projects, respectively, within the county.
A school major improvement plan submitted by the state board or
the administrative council of an area vocational educational
center shall prioritize all the school improvement projects
contained in such the plan. Such The priority list shall be one
of the criteria to be considered by the authority in determining
how available funds shall be expended. In prioritizing the
projects, the county board, the state board or the administrative
council submitting a plan shall make determinations in accordance
with the objective criteria formulated by the school building
authority.
(g) Each facilities plan and school major improvement plan
shall include the objective means to be utilized in evaluating
implementation of the overall plan and each project included
therein in the overall plan. Such The evaluation shall measure
each project's furtherance of each applicable goal stated in this
section and any guidelines adopted hereunder under this section, as well as the overall success of any project as it relates to
the facilities plan or school major improvement plan and the
overall goals of the authority.
(h) The state department of education shall conduct on-site
inspections, at least annually, of all facilities which have been
funded wholly or in part by moneys from the authority or state
board to ensure compliance with the county board's facilities
plan and school major improvement plan as related to such the
facilities; to preserve the physical integrity of the facilities
to the extent possible; and to otherwise extend the useful life
of the facilities: Provided,
That the state board shall submit
reports regarding its on-site inspections of facilities to the
authority within thirty days of completion of such the on-site
inspections: Provided, however,
That the state board shall
promulgate rules regarding such the on-site inspections and
matters relating thereto to the on-site inspections, in
consultation with the authority, as soon as practical and shall
submit such the proposed rules for legislative review no later
than the first day of December, one thousand nine hundred ninety- four.
(i) The authority may adopt guidelines for requiring that a
county board modify, update, supplement or otherwise submit
changes or additions to an approved facilities plan or for
requiring that a county board, the state board or the
administrative council of an area vocational educational center modify, update, supplement or otherwise submit changes or
additions to an approved county board facilities plan or school
major improvement plan. The authority shall provide reasonable
notification and sufficient time for such the change or addition
as delineated in guidelines developed by the authority.
(j) Based on its on-site inspection or notification by the
authority to the state board that the changes or additions to a
county's board county board's facilities plan or school major
improvement plan required by the authority have not been
implemented within the time period prescribed by the authority,
the state board shall restrict the use of the necessary funds or
otherwise allocate funds from moneys appropriated by the
Legislature for those purposes set forth in section nine, article
nine-a of this chapter.