Senate Bill No. 547
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[Originating in the Committee on Education;
reported April 1, 1997.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section two, article sixteen, chapter five of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended; to amend and reenact section one, article one, chapter eighteen of said code; to amend and reenact section twenty-two, article five of said chapter; to further amend said article by adding thereto a new section, designated section forty-four; to amend and reenact section six, article nine-a of said chapter; to further amend said article by adding thereto a new section, designated section twenty-six; to amend and reenact section thirteen, article nine-b of said chapter; to amend and reenact section sixteen, article nine-d of said chapter; to amend and reenact section one, article one, chapter eighteen-a of said code; to amend and reenact section twelve, article two of said chapter; to amend and reenact sections three, seven-a, eight, eight-a, eight-b, eight-g and fifteen, article four of said chapter; to further amend said article by adding thereto a new section, designated section eight-h; and to amend and reenact section one-a, article two, chapter twenty-three of said code, all relating to job-sharing arrangement; notification of casual deficit; specialized health care services; workers' compensation coverage for work-based learning; auditing by independent public accountant; enforcing maintenance of school buildings; evaluation of service personnel; increasing minimum salary increments; teacher transfers during instructional term; multiclassified bus operators; defining class titles; requiring Cook III in each school; increasing monthly pay for college credit; service personnel daily work schedule; adding to related duties for asbestos removal; retaining pay grade of involuntarily transferred service personnel; additional pay for drug/alcohol tests; seniority accumulation of autism mentor, braille sign language specialist or paraprofessional who are multiclassified as an aide; intercounty transfer arrangements; and requesting in writing for leave of absence.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section two, article sixteen, chapter five of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted; that section one, article one, chapter eighteen be amended and reenacted; that section twenty-two, article five of said chapter be amended and reenacted; that said article be further amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section forty-four; that section six, article nine-a of said chapter be amended and reenacted; that said article be further amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section twenty-six; that section thirteen, article nine-b of said chapter be amended and reenacted; that section sixteen, article nine-d of said chapter be amended and reenacted; that section one, article one, chapter eighteen-a of said code be amended and reenacted; that section twelve, article two of said chapter be amended and reenacted; that sections three, seven-a, eight, eight-a, eight-b, eight-g and fifteen, article four of said chapter be amended and reenacted; that said article be further amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section eight-h; and that section one-a, article two, chapter twenty-three of said code be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 5. GENERAL POWERS AND AUTHORITY OF THE GOVERNOR, SECRETARY OF STATE AND ATTORNEY GENERAL; BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS; MISCELLANEOUS AGENCIES, COMMISSIONS, OFFICES, PROGRAMS, ETC.

ARTICLE 16. WEST VIRGINIA PUBLIC EMPLOYEES INSURANCE ACT.

§5-16-2. Definitions.
The following words and phrases as used in this article, unless a different meaning is clearly indicated by the context, have the following meanings:
(1) "Advisory board" means the public employees insurance agency advisory board created by this article.
(2) "Agency" means the public employees insurance agency created by this article.
(3) "Director" means the director of the public employees insurance agency, created by this article.
(4) "Employee" means any person, including elected officers, who works regularly full time in the service of the state of West Virginia and, for the purpose of this article only, the term "employee" also means any person, including elected officers, who works regularly full time in the service of a county board ~~of education~~; a county, city or town in the state; any separate corporation or instrumentality established by one or more counties, cities or towns, as permitted by law; any corporation or instrumentality supported in most part by counties, cities or towns; any public corporation charged by law with the performance of a governmental function and whose jurisdiction is coextensive with one or more counties, cities or towns; any comprehensive community mental health center or comprehensive mental retardation facility established, operated or licensed by the secretary of health and human resources pursuant to section one, article two-a, chapter twenty-seven of this code, and which is supported in part by state, county or municipal funds; any person who works regularly full time in the service of the university of West Virginia board of trustees or the board of directors of the state college system; and any person who works regularly full time in the service of a combined city-county health department created pursuant to article two, chapter sixteen of this code. On and after the first day of January, one thousand nine hundred ninety-four, and upon election by a county board ~~of education~~ to allow elected board members to participate in the public employees insurance program pursuant to this article, any person elected to a county board ~~of education~~ shall be ~~deemed~~ considered to be an "employee" during the term of office of the elected member: Provided, That the elected member shall pay the entire cost of the premium if he or she elects to be covered under this act. Any matters of doubt as to who is an employee within the meaning of this article shall be decided by the director.
On or after the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-seven, a person shall be considered an "employee" if that person meets the following criteria:
(i) participates in a job-sharing arrangement as defined in section one, article one, chapter eighteen-a of this code;
(ii) has been designated, in writing, by all other participants in that job-sharing arrangement as the "employee" for purposes of this section; and
(iii) works at least forty percent of the time required for a full-time employee.
(5) "Employer" means the state of West Virginia, its boards, agencies, commissions, departments, institutions or spending units; a county board ~~of education~~; a county, city or town in the state; any separate corporation or instrumentality established by one or more counties, cities or towns, as permitted by law; any corporation or instrumentality supported in most part by counties, cities or towns; any public corporation charged by law with the performance of a governmental function and whose jurisdiction is coextensive with one or more counties, cities or towns; any comprehensive community mental health center or comprehensive mental retardation facility established, operated or licensed by the secretary of health and human resources pursuant to section one, article two-a, chapter twenty-seven of this code, and which is supported in part by state, county or municipal funds; and a combined city-county health department created pursuant to article two, chapter sixteen of this code. Any matters of doubt as to who is an "employer" within the meaning of this article shall be decided by the director. The term "employer" does not include within its meaning the national guard.
(6) "Finance board" means the public employees insurance agency finance board created by this article.
(7) "Plan" means the medical indemnity plan or a managed care plan option offered by the agency.
(8) "Retired employee" means an employee of the state who retired after the twenty-ninth day of April, one thousand nine hundred seventy-one, and an employee of the university of West Virginia board of trustees or the board of directors of the state college system or a county board ~~of education~~ who retires on or after the twenty-first day of April, one thousand nine hundred seventy-two, and all additional eligible employees who retire on or after the effective date of this article and meet the minimum eligibility requirements for their respective state retirement system: Provided, That for the purposes of this article, the employees who are not covered by a state retirement system shall, in the case of education employees, meet the minimum eligibility requirements of the state teachers retirement system, and in all other cases, meet the minimum eligibility requirements of the public employees retirement system.
CHAPTER 18. EDUCATION
ARTICLE 1. DEFINITIONS; LIMITATIONS OF CHAPTER.

§18-1-1. Definitions.

The following words used in this chapter and in any proceedings pursuant ~~thereto~~ to this chapter shall, unless the context clearly indicates a different meaning, be construed as follows:
(a) "School" ~~shall mean~~ means the pupils and teacher or teachers assembled in one or more buildings, organized as a unit;
(b) "District" ~~shall mean~~ means county school district;
(c) "State board" ~~shall mean~~ means the West Virginia board of education;
(d) "Board" ~~shall mean~~ means the county board of education;
(e) "State superintendent" ~~shall mean~~ means the state superintendent of free schools;
(f) "Superintendent" ~~shall mean~~ means the county superintendent of schools;
(g) "Teacher" ~~shall mean~~ means teacher, supervisor, principal, superintendent, public school librarian; registered professional nurse, licensed by the West Virginia board of examiners for registered professional nurses and employed by a county board ~~of education~~, who has a baccalaureate degree; or any other person regularly employed for instructional purposes in a public school in this state;
(h) "Service personnel" ~~shall mean~~ means all nonteaching school employees not included in the above definition of "teacher";
(i) "Regular full-time employee" ~~shall mean~~ means any person employed by a county board ~~of education~~ who has a regular position or job throughout his employment term, without regard to hours or method of pay.
(j) "Casual deficit" means a deficit of not more than three percent of the total anticipated revenues and receipts of all kinds in the budget adopted by the county board of education and approved by the State board of school finance.
ARTICLE 5. COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION.

§18-5-22. Medical and dental inspection; school nurses; specialized health procedures; establishment of council of school nurses.

County boards shall provide proper medical and dental inspections for all pupils attending the schools of their county and shall further have the authority to take any other action necessary to protect the pupils from infectious diseases, including the authority to require from all school personnel employed in their county, certificates of good health and of physical fitness.
Each county board shall employ full time at least one school nurse for every one thousand five hundred kindergarten through seventh grade pupils in net enrollment or major fraction thereof: Provided, That each county shall employ full time at least one school nurse: Provided, however, That a county board may contract with a public health department for services considered equivalent to those required by this section in accordance with a plan to be approved by the state board: Provided further, That the state board shall promulgate rules requiring the employment of school nurses in excess of the number required by this section to ensure adequate provision of services to severely handicapped pupils.
Any person employed as a school nurse shall be a registered professional nurse properly licensed by the West Virginia board of examiners for registered professional nurses in accordance with article seven, chapter thirty of this code.
Specialized health procedures that require the skill, knowledge and judgment of a licensed health professional, shall be performed only by school nurses, other licensed school health care providers as provided for in this section, or school employees who have been trained and retrained every two years who are subject to the supervision and approval by school nurses. After assessing the health status of the individual student, a school nurse, in collaboration with the student's physician, parents and in some instances an individualized education program team, may delegate certain health care procedures to a school employee who shall be trained pursuant to this section by the school nurse: Provided, That nothing herein shall prohibit any school employee from providing specialized health procedures or any other prudent action to aid any person who is in acute physical distress or requires emergency assistance. For the purposes of this section "specialized health procedures" means those specialized health care procedures as defined in state board policy 2422.7 - basic and specialized health care procedures in West Virginia schools. but is not limited to, catheterization, suctioning of tracheostomy, nasogastric tube feeding or gastrostomy tube feeding. "School employee means "teachers", as defined in section one, article one of this chapter and aides as defined in section eight, article four, chapter eighteen-a of this code.
Any school employee who is a classroom teacher or who holds a class title of an aide who elects, or is required by this section, to undergo training or retraining to provide, in the manner specified in this section, the specialized health care procedures for those students for which the selection has been approved by both the principal and the county board, and who is actually administering the specialized health care procedures, shall, in the case of an aide, receive additional pay of at least one pay grade higher than the highest pay grade for which the employee is paid or shall, in the case of a teacher, receive pay equal to the rate of pay specified in the next degree classification: Provided, That either the classroom teacher or the aide in the same class, but not both, may receive the additional pay: Provided, further, That the need for administering the specialized health care procedures by the employee shall be reviewed by the school nurses on an annual basis for purposes of receiving the additional pay. Provided, further ~~however~~, That commencing with the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred eighty-nine, any newly employed school employee in the field of special education shall be required to undergo the training and retraining as provided for in this section: Provided further, That if an employee who holds a class title of an aide is employed in a school and ~~such~~ the aide has received the training, pursuant to this section, then an employee in the field of special education shall not be required to perform the specialized health care procedures.
Each county school nurse, as designated and defined by this section, shall perform a needs assessment. These nurses shall meet on the basis of the area served by their regional educational service agency, prepare recommendations and elect a representative to serve on the council of school nurses established under this section.
There shall be established a council of school nurses which shall be convened by the state board of education. This council shall prepare a procedural manual and shall provide recommendations regarding a training course to the director of the state division of health who shall consult with the state department of education. The state division of health then has the authority to promulgate rules to implement the training program regarding school employees.
The state board of education shall work in conjunction with county boards to provide training and retraining every two years as recommended by the council of school nurses and implemented by the state department of health.
§18-5-44. Counties with more than a casual deficit; duty to notify the state board and to submit a plan.
Immediately after discovering that a county has more than a casual deficit, the county superintendent shall notify the state board of the deficit and shall submit a plan for eliminating the deficit.
ARTICLE 9A. PUBLIC SCHOOL SUPPORT.

§18-9A-6. Foundation allowance for fixed charges.

The total allowance for fixed charges shall be the sum of the following:
(1) The sum of the foundation allowance for professional educators and the foundation allowance for other personnel, as determined in sections four and five above, multiplied by the current social security rate of contribution; plus
(2) The sum of the foundation allowance for professional educators and the foundation allowance for other personnel, as determined in sections four and five above, multiplied by four hundredths of one percent as an allowance for unemployment compensation contribution; plus
(3) The sum of the foundation allowance for professional educators and the foundation allowance for other personnel, as determined in sections four and five above, multiplied by the rate which is derived by dividing the total estimated contributions for workers' compensation for all county boards by the sum of the foundation allowance for professional educators and other personnel, as determined in sections four and five above. The total estimated contribution for workers compensation is determined by multiplying each county board's allowance for professional educators and other personnel, as determined by sections four and five above, by the county's actual contribution rate by using data of the most recent year for which it is available: Provided, That for the fiscal year beginning on the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-eight, the distribution of the allowance for workers' compensation shall be made to each county based upon either the lower of the rate as determined by this section or the county's actual rate for the most recent year for which it is available: Provided, however, That as an incentive for maintaining a rate that is lower than the rate as determined by this section, each county whose actual rate is lower than the rate determined by this section shall also receive one-half of the difference in the amounts determined by using the county's actual rate and the rate determined by this section: Provided, further, That the remainder of the allowance for workers' compensation shall be distributed proportional to the difference between the amount allocated using the rate as determined by this section and the amount actually required to those counties with an actual rate that is greater than the rate determined in this section; plus
(4) The teachers retirement fund allowance as determined in section six-a of this article.
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§18-9A-26. Allowance for workers' compensation for unpaid student work-based learning.

The workers' compensation division shall calculate a premium for students participating in an unpaid work-based learning experience off school premises as a part of the school curriculum with employers other than the county board. The amount of the premium shall be communicated to the department of education. The department of education shall communicate the amount of the premium to the governor and Legislature by the first day of December of each year, beginning the first day of December, one thousand nine hundred ninety-seven. Subject to an appropriation by the Legislature, funds shall be provided to the department of education to distribute to the county boards. If the appropriation is less than the total premium calculated, the county boards, individually, shall either reduce the number of students participating in work-based learning experiences off school premises or the county boards shall pay the difference between the amount of the premium calculated by the workers' compensation division and the amount allocated to the county board by the department of education.
ARTICLE 9B. STATE BOARD OF SCHOOL FINANCE.

§18-9B-13. Inspection and audit of school finance administration.
The board of finance may, through its duly authorized representatives, make inspections and examinations of the fiscal administration of a county school district. The inspection and examination may extend to any matter or practice subject to regulation by the state board. ~~Regular and special audits shall be made by the tax commissioner, as required by law, but the~~ The board may make selective audits to determine the accuracy of statements and reports made by a county board or superintendent.
The report of the examination shall be certified to the county board ~~of education~~, together with instructions for the correction of procedures and practices found to be not in accordance with the requirements of the state board. The county board shall comply with the instructions forthwith.
The state board, through its duly authorized representatives, shall have full access to all books, records, papers and documents of the county board. ~~of education~~
With the prior written approval of the state board, a county board may elect, to have its books, records and accounts audited by an independent public accountant in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards and "Government Auditing Standards" issued by the comptroller general of the United States and forward a copy of the report to the state tax commissioner, which shall be found, declared and determined to be sufficient to satisfy the requirements of article nine, chapter six of this code pertaining to the annual audit by the state tax commissioner. A copy of the report shall also be forwarded to the state board within thirty days of receipt of the report.

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~~ the 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~~ the 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~~ the 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. 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 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 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. ~~Such~~ The evaluation shall measure each project's furtherance of each applicable goal stated in this section and any guidelines adopted hereunder, 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, 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.
(K) Based on its on-site inspection of a facility funded, wholly or in part, by moneys from the authority or state board or based upon notification by the authority to the state board that the facility is not being properly maintained, the state board shall withhold sufficient funds from the county board's share of the moneys appropriated for current expense set forth in section nine, article nine-a of this chapter to ensure the building is properly maintained: Provided, That no more than ten percent per year of the county's share of the moneys appropriated for current expense may be withheld for this purpose: Provided, however, That up to ten percent may be withheld each year until the required maintenance, repairs or improvements are made. The moneys withheld by the state board shall be transferred to the authority. The authority shall use the moneys to make the required maintenance, repairs or improvements.
CHAPTER 18A. SCHOOL PERSONNEL.
ARTICLE 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS.

§18A-1-1. Definitions.
The definitions contained in section one, article one, chapter eighteen shall be applicable to this chapter. In addition, the following words used in this chapter and in any proceedings pursuant thereto shall, unless the context clearly indicates a different meaning, be construed as follows:
(a) "School personnel" means all personnel employed by a county board ~~of education~~ whether employed on a regular full-time basis, an hourly basis or otherwise. School personnel shall be comprised of two categories: Professional personnel and service personnel.
(b) "Professional personnel" means persons who meet the certification and/or licensing requirements of the state, and shall include the professional educator and other professional employees.
(c) "Professional educator" shall be synonymous with and shall have the same meaning as "teacher" as defined in section one, article one, chapter eighteen of this code. Professional educators shall be classified as:
(1) "Classroom teacher" -- The professional educator who has direct instructional or counseling relationship with pupils, spending the majority of his time in this capacity.
(2) "Principal" -- The professional educator who as agent of the board has responsibility for the supervision, management and control of a school or schools within the guidelines established by said board. The major area of such responsibility shall be the general supervision of all the schools and all school activities involving pupils, teachers and other school personnel.
(3) "Supervisor" -- The professional educator who, whether by this or other appropriate title, is responsible for working primarily in the field with professional and/or other personnel in instructional and other school improvement.
(4) "Central office administrator" -- The superintendent, associate superintendent, assistant superintendent and other professional educators, whether by these or other appropriate titles, who are charged with the administering and supervising of the whole or some assigned part of the total program of the county-wide school system.
(d) "Other professional employee" means that person from another profession who is properly licensed and is employed to serve the public schools and shall include a registered professional nurse, licensed by the West Virginia board of examiners for registered professional nurses and employed by a county board ~~of education~~, who has completed either a two-year (sixty-four semester hours) or a three-year (ninety-six semester hours) nursing program.
(e) "Service personnel" means those who serve the school or schools as a whole, in a nonprofessional capacity, including such areas as secretarial, custodial, maintenance, transportation, school lunch and as aides.
(f) "Principals academy" or "academy" means the academy created pursuant to section two-b, article three-a of this chapter.
(g) "Center for professional development" means the center created pursuant to section one, article three-a of this chapter.
(h) "Job-sharing arrangement" means a formal, written agreement entered into by a county board with two or more of its professional employees who wish to divide between them the duties and responsibilities of one full-time position: Provided, That a job sharing arrangement shall meet all the requirements relating to posting and seniority, as provided for in article four of this chapter.

ARTICLE 2. SCHOOL PERSONNEL.

§18A-2-12. Performance evaluations of school personnel; professional personnel evaluation process.

(a) The state board of education shall adopt a written system for the evaluation of the employment performance of personnel, which system shall be applied uniformly by county boards of education in the evaluation of the employment performance of personnel employed by the board.
(b) The system adopted by the state board for evaluating the employment performance of service personnel as defined in section one, article one, of this chapter shall conform to, but not be limited by, the following:
(1) All school service personnel shall be evaluated by their immediate supervisor: Provided, That if the county board or superintendent can show that good cause exists to have the evaluation of a particular service person performed by someone other than the immediate supervisor, the board or superintendent shall designate another professional employee to evaluate the service person.
(2) School service personnel who hold continuing contract status shall receive at least one evaluation by their immediate supervisor annually to be completed on or before the first day of June of the current school year.
(3) On or before the first day of January, one thousand nine hundred ninety-eight, the state board shall design and provide an evaluation form which shall be the only form used by the county boards.
(4) To the extent feasible, the state board shall cause policies regarding service personnel to be consistent with the policies regarding professional personnel.
~~(b)~~ (c) The system adopted by the state board of education for evaluating the employment performance of professional personnel shall be in accordance with the provisions of this section. Professional personnel means professional personnel as defined in section one, article one of this chapter. In developing the professional personnel performance evaluation system, and amendments thereto, the state board shall consult with the professional development project of the center for professional development created in section three, article three-a of this chapter. The center shall actively participate with the state board in developing written standards for evaluation which clearly specify satisfactory performance and the criteria to be used to determine whether the performance of each professional personnel meets such standards.
The performance evaluation system shall contain, but shall not be limited to the following information:
(1) The professional personnel positions to be evaluated, whether they be teachers, substitute teachers, administrators, principals, or others;
(2) The frequency and duration of the evaluations, which shall be on a regular basis and of such frequency and duration as to insure the collection of a sufficient amount of data from which reliable conclusions and findings may be drawn;
(3) The purposes of the evaluation, which shall serve as a basis for the improvement of the performance of the personnel in their assigned duties, serve as an indicator of satisfactory performance for individual professional personnel and serve as documentation for a dismissal on the grounds of unsatisfactory performance, and serve as a basis for programs to increase the professional growth and development of professional personnel;
(4) The standards for satisfactory performance for professional personnel and the criteria to be used to determine whether the performance of each professional meets such standards and other criteria for evaluation for each professional position evaluated; and
(5) Provisions for a written improvement plan, which shall be specific as to what improvements, if any, are needed in the performance of the professional and shall clearly set forth recommendations for improvements, including recommendations for additional education and training during the professional's recertification process.
A professional whose performance is deemed to be unsatisfactory shall be given notice of deficiencies. A remediation plan to correct deficiencies shall be developed by the employing county board ~~of education~~ and the professional. The professional shall be given a reasonable period of time for remediation of the deficiencies and shall receive a statement of the resources and assistance available for the purposes of correcting the deficiencies.
No person may evaluate professional personnel for the purposes of this section unless such person has an administrative certificate issued by the state superintendent and has successfully completed education and training in evaluation skills through the center for professional development, or equivalent education training approved by the state board, which will enable the person to make fair, professional, and credible evaluations of the personnel whom the person is responsible for evaluating. After the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-four, no person may be issued an administrative certificate or have an administrative certificate renewed unless the state board determines that such person has successfully completed education and training in evaluation skills through the center for professional development, or equivalent education and training approved by the state board.
Any professional personnel whose performance evaluation includes a written improvement plan shall be given an opportunity to improve his or her performance through the implementation of the plan. If the next performance evaluation shows that the professional is now performing satisfactorily, no further action shall be taken concerning the original performance evaluation. If such evaluation shows that the professional is still not performing satisfactorily, the evaluator shall either make additional recommendations for improvement or may recommend the dismissal of such professional in accordance with the provisions of section eight of this article.

ARTICLE 4. SALARIES, WAGES AND OTHER BENEFITS.

§18A-4-3. State minimum annual salary increments for principals and assistant principals.
In addition to any salary increments for principals and assistant principals, in effect on the first day of January, one thousand nine hundred ~~ninety-six~~ ninety-seven and paid from local funds, and in addition to the county schedule in effect for teachers, the county board shall pay each principal, a principal's salary increment and each assistant principal an assistant principal's salary increment as prescribed by this section commencing on the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ~~ninety-six~~ ninety-seven from state funds appropriated for the salary increments.
State funds for this purpose shall be paid within the West Virginia public school support plan in accordance with article nine-a, chapter eighteen of this code.
The salary increment in this section for each principal shall be determined by multiplying the basic salary for teachers in accordance with the classification of certification and of training of the principal as prescribed in this article, by the appropriate percentage rate prescribed in this section according to the number of teachers supervised.
STATE MINIMUM SALARY INCREMENT
RATES FOR PRINCIPALS
No. of Teachers
SupervisedRates
1-7~~6.0%~~ 7.0%
8-14~~6.5%~~ 7.5%
15-24~~7.0%~~ 8.0%
25-38~~7.5%~~ 8.5%
39-57~~8.0%~~ 9.0%
58 and up~~8.5%~~ 9.5%
The salary increment in this section for each assistant principal shall be determined in the same manner as that for principals, utilizing the number of teachers supervised by the principal under whose direction the assistant principal works, except that the percentage rate shall be fifty percent of the rate prescribed for the principal.
Salaries for employment beyond the minimum employment term shall be at the same daily rate as the salaries for the minimum employment terms.
For the purpose of determining the number of teachers supervised by a principal, the county board shall use data for the second school month of the prior school term and the number of teachers shall be interpreted to mean the total number of professional educators assigned to each school on a full-time equivalency basis: Provided, That if there is a change in circumstances because of consolidation or catastrophe, the county board shall determine what is a reasonable number of supervised teachers in order to establish the appropriate increment percentage rate.
No county may reduce local funds allocated for salary increments for principals and assistant principals in effect on the first day of January, one thousand nine hundred ~~ninety-six~~ ninety-seven and used in supplementing the state minimum salaries as provided for in this article, unless forced to do so by defeat of a special levy, or a loss in assessed values or events over which it has no control and for which the county board has received approval from the state board prior to making the reduction.
Nothing in this section prevents a county board from providing, in a uniform manner, salary increments greater than those required by this section.
§18A-4-7a. Employment, promotion and transfer of professional personnel; seniority.

A county board ~~of education~~ shall make decisions affecting the hiring of professional personnel other than classroom teachers on the basis of the applicant with the highest qualifications. Further, the county board shall make decisions affecting the hiring of new classroom teachers on the basis of the applicant with the highest qualifications. In judging qualifications, consideration shall be given to each of the following: Appropriate certification and/or licensure; amount of experience relevant to the position or, in the case of a classroom teaching position, the amount of teaching experience in the subject area; the amount of course work and/or degree level in the relevant field and degree level generally; academic achievement; relevant specialized training; past performance evaluations conducted pursuant to section twelve, article two of this chapter; and other measures or indicators upon which the relative qualifications of the applicant may fairly be judged. If one or more permanently employed instructional personnel apply for a classroom teaching position and meet the standards set forth in the job posting, the county board ~~of education~~ shall make decisions affecting the filling of such positions on the basis of the following criteria: Appropriate certification and/or licensure; total amount of teaching experience; the existence of teaching experience in the required certification area; degree level in the required certification area; specialized training directly related to the performance of the job as stated in the job description; receiving an overall rating of satisfactory in evaluations over the previous two years; and seniority. Consideration shall be given to each criterion with each criterion being given equal weight. If the applicant with the most seniority is not selected for the position, upon the request of the applicant a written statement of reasons shall be given to the applicant with suggestions for improving the applicant's qualifications.
The seniority of classroom teachers as defined in section one, article one of this chapter with the exception of guidance counselors shall be determined on the basis of the length of time the employee has been employed as a regular full-time certified and/or licensed professional educator by the county board ~~of education~~ and shall be granted in all areas that the employee is certified and/or licensed.
Upon completion of one hundred thirty-three days of employment in any one school year, substitute teachers shall accrue seniority exclusively for the purpose of applying for employment as a permanent, full-time professional employee. One hundred thirty-three days or more of said employment shall be prorated and shall vest as a fraction of the school year worked by the permanent, full-time teacher.
Guidance counselors and all other professional employees, as defined in section one, article one of this chapter, except classroom teachers, shall gain seniority in their nonteaching area of professional employment on the basis of the length of time the employee has been employed by the county board ~~of education~~ in that area: Provided, That if an employee is certified as a classroom teacher, the employee accrues classroom teaching seniority for the time that that employee is employed in another professional area. For the purposes of accruing seniority under this paragraph, employment as principal, supervisor or central office administrator, as defined in section one, article one of this chapter, shall be considered one area of employment.
Employment for a full employment term shall equal one year of seniority, but no employee may accrue more than one year of seniority during any given fiscal year. Employment for less than the full employment term shall be prorated. A random selection system established by the employees and approved by the board shall be used to determine the priority if two or more employees accumulate identical seniority: Provided, That when two or more principals have accumulated identical seniority, decisions on reductions in force shall be based on qualifications.
Whenever a county board is required to reduce the number of professional personnel in its employment, the employee with the least amount of seniority shall be properly notified and released from employment pursuant to the provisions of section two, article two of this chapter: Provided, That all persons employed in a certification area to be reduced who are employed under a temporary permit shall be properly notified and released before a fully certified employee in such a position is subject to release: Provided, however, That an employee subject to release shall be employed in any other professional position where such employee is certified and was previously employed or to any lateral area for which such employee is certified and/or licensed, if such employee's seniority is greater than the seniority of any other employee in that area of certification and/or licensure: Provided further, That, if an employee subject to release holds certification and/or licensure in more than one lateral area and if such employee's seniority is greater than the seniority of any other employee in one or more of those areas of certification and/or licensure, the employee subject to release shall be employed in the professional position held by the employee with the least seniority in any of those areas of certification and/or licensure.
For the purpose of this article, all positions which meet the definition of classroom teacher as defined in section one, article one of this chapter, shall be lateral positions. For all other professional positions the county board ~~of education~~ shall adopt a policy by the thirty-first day of October, one thousand nine hundred ninety-three, and may modify said policy thereafter as necessary, which defines which positions shall be lateral positions. The board shall submit a copy of its policy to the state board within thirty days of adoption or any modification, and the state board shall compile a report and submit same to the legislative oversight commission on education accountability by the thirty-first day of December, one thousand nine hundred ninety-three, and by such date in any succeeding year in which any county board submits a modification of its policy relating to lateral positions. In adopting such a policy, the board shall give consideration to the rank of each position in terms of title, nature of responsibilities, salary level, certification and/or licensure, and days in the period of employment.
After the fifth day prior to the beginning of the instructional term, or after the first day of the second half of the instructional term, no person employed and assigned to a professional position may transfer to another professional position in the county during that half of the instructional term: Provided, That such person may apply for any posted, vacant positions with the successful applicant assuming the position at the beginning of the next half of the instructional term: Provided, however, That professional personnel who have been on an approved leave of absence may fill these vacancies prior to the next semester. The county board, upon recommendation of the superintendent, may fill a position before the next instructional term when it is determined to be in the best interest of the students: Provided, That the Legislature recognizes that it is not in the best interest of the students to have multiple teachers for any one course during the instructional term. It is the intent of the Legislature that the filling of positions after the fifth day prior to the beginning of the instructional term, or after the first day of the second half of the instructional term be kept to a minimum. The county superintendent shall notify the state board of each transfer of a person employed in a professional position to another professional position after the fifth day prior to the beginning of the instructional term, or after the first day of the second half of the instructional term.
All professional personnel whose seniority with the county board is insufficient to allow their retention by the county board during a reduction in work force shall be placed upon a preferred recall list. As to any professional position opening within the area where they had previously been employed or to any lateral area for which they have certification and/or licensure, such employee shall be recalled on the basis of seniority if no regular, full- time professional personnel, or those returning from leaves of absence with greater seniority, are qualified, apply for and accept such position. Before position openings that are known or expected to extend for twenty consecutive employment days or longer for professional personnel may be filled by the board, the board shall be required to notify all qualified professional personnel on the preferred list and give them an opportunity to apply, but failure to apply shall not cause such employee to forfeit any right to recall. The notice shall be sent by certified mail to the last known address of the employee, and it shall be the duty of each professional personnel to notify the board of continued availability annually of any change in address or of any change in certification and/or licensure.
Boards shall be required to post and date notices of all openings in established, existing or newly created positions in conspicuous working places for all professional personnel to observe for at least five working days. The notice shall be posted within twenty working days of such position openings and shall include the job description. Any special criteria or skills that are required by the position shall be specifically stated in the job description and directly related to the performance of the job. No vacancy shall be filled until after the five-day minimum posting period. If one or more applicants meets the qualifications listed in the job posting, the successful applicant to fill the vacancy shall be selected by the board within thirty working days of the end of the posting period: Provided, That a position held by a certified and/or licensed teacher who has been issued a permit for full-time employment and is working toward certification in the permit area shall not be subject to posting if the certificate is awarded within five years. Nothing provided herein shall prevent the county board ~~of education~~ from eliminating a position due to lack of need.
Notwithstanding any other provision of the code to the contrary, where the total number of classroom teaching positions in an elementary school does not increase from one school year to the next, but there exists in that school a need to realign the number of teachers in one or more grade levels, kindergarten through six, teachers at the school may be reassigned to grade levels for which they are certified without that position being posted: Provided, That the employee and the county board ~~of education~~ mutually agree to the reassignment.
When the total number of classroom teaching positions in an elementary school needs to be reduced, such reduction shall be made on the basis of seniority with the least senior classroom teacher being recommended for transfer: Provided, That a specified grade level needs to be reduced and the least senior employee in the school is not in that grade level, the least senior classroom teacher in the grade level that needs to be reduced shall be reassigned to the position made vacant by the transfer of the least senior classroom teacher in the school without that position being posted: Provided, however, That the employee is certified and/or licensed and agrees to the reassignment.
Any board failing to comply with the provisions of this article may be compelled to do so by mandamus and shall be liable to any party prevailing against the board for court costs and reasonable attorney fees as determined and established by the court. Further, employees denied promotion or employment in violation of this section shall be awarded the job, pay and any applicable benefits retroactive to the date of the violation and payable entirely from local funds. Further, the board shall be liable to any party prevailing against the board for any court reporter costs including copies of transcripts.
§18A-4-8. Employment term and class titles of service personnel; definitions.
The purpose of this section is to establish an employment term and class titles for service personnel. The employment term for service personnel may be no less than ten months. A month is defined as twenty employment days: Provided, That the county board may contract with all or part of these service personnel for a longer term. The beginning and closing dates of the ten-month employment term may not exceed forty-three weeks.
Service personnel employed on a yearly or twelve-month basis may be employed by calendar months. Whenever there is a change in job assignment during the school year, the minimum pay scale and any county supplement are applicable.
Service personnel employed in the same classification for more than the two hundred-day minimum employment term shall be paid for additional employment at a daily rate of not less than the daily rate paid for the two hundred-day minimum employment term.
No service employee, without his or her agreement, may be required to report for work more than five days per week and no part of any working day may be accumulated by the employer for future work assignments, unless the employee agrees thereto.
Should an employee whose regular work week is scheduled from Monday through Friday agree to perform any work assignments on a Saturday or Sunday, the employee shall be paid for at least one half day of work for each day he or she reports for work, and if the employee works more than three and one-half hours on any Saturday or Sunday, he or she shall be paid for at least a full day of work for each day.
~~Custodians, aides, maintenance, office and school lunch employees~~ Service personnel required to work a daily work schedule that is interrupted, that is, who do not work a continuous period in one day, shall be paid additional compensation equal to at least one eighth of their total salary as provided by their state minimum salary and any county pay supplement, and payable entirely from county funds: Provided, That when engaged in duties of transporting students exclusively, aides shall not be regarded as working an interrupted schedule: Provided, however, That bus operators may not be regarded as working an interrupted schedule unless they hold a multi-classification title. Bus operator interrupted work schedule additional pay may be no less than whichever is the greater of the one-eighth pay as provided in this section or at the federal minimum hourly rate of pay for each hour worked other than as a bus operator.
Upon the change in classification or upon meeting the requirements of an advanced classification of or by any employee, the employee's salary shall be made to comply with the requirements of this article, and to any county salary schedule in excess of the minimum requirements of this article, based upon the employee's advanced classification and allowable years of employment.
An employee's contract as provided in section five, article two of this chapter shall state the appropriate monthly salary the employee is to be paid, based on the class title as provided in this article and any county salary schedule in excess of the minimum requirements of this article.
The column heads of the state minimum pay scale and class titles, set forth in section eight-a of this article, are defined as follows:
"Pay grade" means the monthly salary applicable to class titles of service personnel.
"Years of employment" means the number of years which an employee classified as service personnel has been employed by a board in any position prior to or subsequent to the effective date of this section and including service in the armed forces of the United States, if the employee were employed at the time of his or her induction. For the purpose of section eight-a of this article, years of employment shall be limited to the number of years shown and allowed under the state minimum pay scale as set forth in section eight-a of this article.
"Class title" means the name of the position or job held by service personnel.
"Accountant I" means personnel employed to maintain payroll records and reports and perform one or more operations relating to a phase of the total payroll.
"Accountant II" means personnel employed to maintain accounting records and to be responsible for the accounting process associated with billing, budgets, purchasing and related operations.
"Accountant III" means personnel who are employed in the county board office to manage and supervise accounts payable and/or payroll procedures.
"Aide I" means those personnel selected and trained for teacher-aide classifications such as monitor aide, clerical aide, classroom aide or general aide.
"Aide II" means those personnel referred to in the "Aide I" classification who have completed a training program approved by the state board, or who hold a high school diploma or have received a general educational development certificate. Only personnel classified in an Aide II class title may be employed as an aide in any special education program.
"Aide III" means those personnel referred to in the "Aide I" classification who hold a high school diploma or a general educational development certificate, and have completed six semester hours of college credit at an institution of higher education or are employed as an aide in a special education program and have one year's experience as an aide in special education.
"Aide IV" means personnel referred to in the "Aide I" classification who hold a high school diploma or a general educational development certificate and who have completed eighteen hours of state board-approved college credit at a regionally accredited institution of higher education, or who have completed fifteen hours of state board-approved college credit at a regionally accredited institution of higher education and successfully completed an in-service training program determined by the state board to be the equivalent of three hours of college credit.
"Audiovisual technician" means personnel employed to perform minor maintenance on audiovisual equipment, films, supplies and the filling of requests for equipment.
"Auditor" means personnel employed to examine and verify accounts of individual schools and to assist schools and school personnel in maintaining complete and accurate records of their accounts.
"Autism mentor" means personnel who work with autistic students and who meet standards and experience to be determined by the state board: Provided, That the state board shall determine these standards and experience on or before the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-two: Provided, however, That if any employee has held or holds an aide title and becomes employed as an autism mentor, the employee shall hold a multiclassification status that includes aide and autism mentor titles, in accordance with section eight-b of this article.
"Braille or sign language specialist" means personnel employed to provide braille and/or sign language assistance to students: Provided, That if any employee has held or holds an aide title and becomes employed as a braille or sign language specialist, the employee shall hold a multiclassification status that includes aide and braille or sign language specialist title, in accordance with section eight-b of this article.
"Bus operator" means personnel employed to operate school buses and other school transportation vehicles as provided by the state board.
"Buyer" means personnel employed to review and write specifications, negotiate purchase bids and recommend purchase agreements for materials and services that meet predetermined specifications at the lowest available costs.
"Cabinetmaker" means personnel employed to construct cabinets, tables, bookcases and other furniture.
"Cafeteria manager" means personnel employed to direct the operation of a food services program in a school, including assigning duties to employees, approving requisitions for supplies and repairs, keeping inventories, inspecting areas to maintain high standards of sanitation, preparing financial reports and keeping records pertinent to food services of a school.
"Carpenter I" means personnel classified as a carpenter's helper.
"Carpenter II" means personnel classified as a journeyman carpenter.
"Chief mechanic" means personnel employed to be responsible for directing activities which ensure that student transportation or other board-owned vehicles are properly and safely maintained.
"Clerk I" means personnel employed to perform clerical tasks.
"Clerk II" means personnel employed to perform general clerical tasks, prepare reports and tabulations and operate office machines.
"Computer operator" means qualified personnel employed to operate computers.
"Cook I" means personnel employed as a cook's helper.
"Cook II" means personnel employed to interpret menus, to prepare and serve meals in a food service program of a school and shall include personnel who have been employed as a "Cook I" for a period of four years, if the personnel have not been elevated to this classification within that period of time.
"Cook III" means personnel employed to prepare and serve meals, make reports, prepare requisitions for supplies, order equipment and repairs for a food service program of a school system.
"Crew leader" means personnel employed to organize the work for a crew of maintenance employees to carry out assigned projects.
"Custodian I" means personnel employed to keep buildings clean and free of refuse.
"Custodian II" means personnel employed as a watchman or groundsman.
"Custodian III" means personnel employed to keep buildings clean and free of refuse, to operate the heating or cooling systems and to make minor repairs.
"Custodian IV" means personnel employed as head custodians. In addition to providing services as defined in "Custodian III", their duties may include supervising other custodian personnel. "Director or coordinator of services" means personnel who are assigned to direct a department or division. Nothing herein may prohibit professional personnel or professional educators as defined in section one, article one of this chapter, from holding this class title, but professional personnel may not be defined or classified as service personnel unless the professional personnel held a service personnel title under this section prior to holding class title of "director or coordinator of services": Provided, That funding for professional personnel in positions classified as directors or coordinators of services who were assigned prior to the first day of May, one thousand nine hundred ninety-four, may not be required to be redirected from service personnel categories as a result of this provision until the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-six. Thereafter, directors or coordinators of service positions shall be classified as either a professional personnel or service personnel position for state aid formula funding purposes and funding for directors or coordinators of service positions shall be based upon the employment status of the director or coordinator either as a professional personnel or service personnel.
"Draftsman" means personnel employed to plan, design and produce detailed architectural/engineering drawings.
"Electrician I" means personnel employed as an apprentice electrician helper or who holds an electrician helper license issued by the state fire marshal.
"Electrician II" means personnel employed as an electrician journeyman or who holds a journeyman electrician license issued by the state fire marshal.
"Electronic technician I" means personnel employed at the apprentice level to repair and maintain electronic equipment.
"Electronic technician II" means personnel employed at the journeyman level to repair and maintain electronic equipment.
"Executive secretary" means personnel employed as the county school superintendent's secretary or as a secretary who is assigned to a position characterized by significant administrative duties.
"Food services supervisor" means qualified personnel not defined as professional personnel or professional educators in section one, article one of this chapter, employed to manage and supervise a county school system's food service program. The duties would include preparing in-service training programs for cooks and food service employees, instructing personnel in the areas of quantity cooking with economy and efficiency and keeping aggregate records and reports.
"Foremen" means skilled persons employed for supervision of personnel who work in the areas of repair and maintenance of school property and equipment.
"General maintenance" means personnel employed as helpers to skilled maintenance employees and to perform minor repairs to equipment and buildings of a county school system.
"Glazier" means personnel employed to replace glass or other materials in windows and doors and to do minor carpentry tasks.
"Graphic artist" means personnel employed to prepare graphic illustrations.
"Groundsmen" means personnel employed to perform duties that relate to the appearance, repair and general care of school grounds in a county school system. Additional assignments may include the operation of a small heating plant and routine cleaning duties in buildings.
"Handyman" means personnel employed to perform routine manual tasks in any operation of the county school system.
"Heating and air conditioning mechanic I" means personnel employed at the apprentice level to install, repair and maintain heating and air conditioning plants and related electrical equipment.
"Heating and air conditioning mechanic II" means personnel employed at the journeyman level to install, repair and maintain heating and air conditioning plants and related electrical equipment.
"Heavy equipment operator" means personnel employed to operate heavy equipment.
"Inventory supervisor" means personnel who are employed to supervise or maintain operations in the receipt, storage, inventory and issuance of materials and supplies.
"Key punch operator" means qualified personnel employed to operate key punch machines or verifying machines.
"Locksmith" means personnel employed to repair and maintain locks and safes.
"Lubrication man" means personnel employed to lubricate and service gasoline or diesel-powered equipment of a county school system.
"Machinist" means personnel employed to perform machinist tasks which include the ability to operate a lathe, planer, shaper, threading machine and wheel press. Such personnel should also have ability to work from blueprints and drawings.
"Mail clerk" means personnel employed to receive, sort, dispatch, deliver or otherwise handle letters, parcels and other mail.
"Maintenance clerk" means personnel employed to maintain and control a stocking facility to keep adequate tools and supplies on hand for daily withdrawal for all school maintenance crafts.
"Mason" means personnel employed to perform tasks connected with brick and block laying and carpentry tasks related to such laying.
"Mechanic" means personnel employed who can independently perform skilled duties in the maintenance and repair of automobiles, school buses and other mechanical and mobile equipment to use in a county school system.
"Mechanic assistant" means personnel employed as a mechanic apprentice and helper.
"Multiclassification" means personnel employed to perform tasks that involve the combination of two or more class titles in this section. In such instances the minimum salary scale shall be the higher pay grade of the class titles involved.
"Office equipment repairman I" means personnel employed as an office equipment repairman apprentice or helper.
"Office equipment repairman II" means personnel responsible for servicing and repairing all office machines and equipment. Personnel shall be responsible for parts being purchased necessary for the proper operation of a program of continuous maintenance and repair.
"Painter" means personnel employed to perform duties of painting, finishing and decorating of wood, metal and concrete surfaces of buildings, other structures, equipment, machinery and furnishings of a county school system.
"Paraprofessional" means a person certified pursuant to section two-a, article three of this chapter to perform duties in a support capacity including, but not limited to, facilitating in the instruction and direct or indirect supervision of pupils under the direction of a principal, a teacher or another designated professional educator: Provided, That no person employed on the effective date of this section in the position of an aide may be reduced in force or transferred to create a vacancy for the employment of a paraprofessional: Provided, however, That if any employee has held or holds an aide title and becomes employed as a paraprofessional, the employee shall hold a multiclassification status that includes aide and paraprofessional titles in accordance with section eight-b of this article: Provided further, That once an employee who holds an aide title becomes certified as a paraprofessional and is required to perform duties that may not be performed by an aide without paraprofessional certification, he or she shall receive the paraprofessional title pay grade.
"Plumber I" means personnel employed as an apprentice plumber and helper.
"Plumber II" means personnel employed as a journeyman plumber.
"Printing operator" means personnel employed to operate duplication equipment, and as required, to cut, collate, staple, bind and shelve materials.
"Printing supervisor" means personnel employed to supervise the operation of a print shop.
"Programmer" means personnel employed to design and prepare programs for computer operation.
~~"Roofing/sheet metal mechanic"~~ "Roofer" means personnel employed to install, repair, fabricate and maintain roofs, gutters and flashing. ~~and duct work for heating and ventilation.~~
"Sanitation plant operator" means personnel employed to operate and maintain a water or sewage treatment plant to ensure the safety of the plant's effluent for human consumption or environmental protection.
"School bus supervisor" means qualified personnel employed to assist in selecting school bus operators and routing and scheduling of school buses, operate a bus when needed, relay instructions to bus operators, plan emergency routing of buses and promoting good relationships with parents, pupils, bus operators and other employees.
"Secretary I" means personnel employed to transcribe from notes or mechanical equipment, receive callers, perform clerical tasks, prepare reports and operate office machines.
"Secretary II" means personnel employed in any elementary, secondary, kindergarten, nursery, special education, vocational or any other school as a secretary. The duties may include performing general clerical tasks, transcribing from notes or stenotype or mechanical equipment or a sound-producing machine, preparing reports, receiving callers and referring them to proper persons, operating office machines, keeping records and handling routine correspondence. There is nothing implied herein that would prevent the employees from holding or being elevated to a higher classification.
"Secretary III" means personnel assigned to the county board office administrators in charge of various instructional, maintenance, transportation, food services, operations and health departments, federal programs or departments with particular responsibilities of purchasing and financial control or any personnel who have served in a position which meets the definition of "Secretary II" or "Secretary III" herein for eight years.
"Sheet metal mechanic" means personnel employed to install, repair, fabricate and maintain gutters, flashing and duct work for heating and ventilation.
"Supervisor of maintenance" means skilled personnel not defined as professional personnel or professional educators as in section one, article one of this chapter. The responsibilities would include directing the upkeep of buildings and shops, issuing instructions to subordinates relating to cleaning, repairs and maintenance of all structures and mechanical and electrical equipment of a board.
"Supervisor of transportation" means qualified personnel employed to direct school transportation activities, properly and safely, and to supervise the maintenance and repair of vehicles, buses and other mechanical and mobile equipment used by the county school system.
"Switchboard operator-receptionist" means personnel employed to refer incoming calls, to assume contact with the public, to direct and to give instructions as necessary, to operate switchboard equipment and to provide clerical assistance.
"Truck driver" means personnel employed to operate light or heavy duty gasoline and diesel-powered vehicles.
"Warehouse clerk" means personnel employed to be responsible for receiving, storing, packing and shipping goods.
"Watchman" means personnel employed to protect school property against damage or theft. Additional assignments may include operation of a small heating plant and routine cleaning duties.
"Welder" means personnel employed to provide acetylene or electric welding services for a school system.
In addition to the compensation provided for in section eight-a of this article, for service personnel, each service employee is, notwithstanding any provisions in this code to the contrary, entitled to all service personnel employee rights, privileges and benefits provided under this or any other chapter of this code without regard to the employee's hours of employment or the methods or sources of compensation.
Service personnel whose years of employment exceed the number of years shown and provided for under the state minimum pay scale set forth in section eight-a of this article may not be paid less than the amount shown for the maximum years of employment shown and provided for in the classification in which he or she is employed.
The county boards shall review each service personnel employee job classification annually and shall reclassify all service employees as required by the job classifications. The state superintendent of schools is hereby authorized to withhold state funds appropriated pursuant to this article for salaries for service personnel who are improperly classified by the county boards. Further, the state superintendent shall order county boards to correct immediately any improper classification matter and with the assistance of the attorney general shall take any legal action necessary against any county board to enforce the order.
No service employee, without his or her written consent, may be reclassified by class title, nor may a service employee, without his or her written consent, be relegated to any condition of employment which would result in a reduction of his or her salary, rate of pay, compensation or benefits earned during the current fiscal year or which would result in a reduction of his or her salary, rate of pay, compensation or benefits for which he or she would qualify by continuing in the same job position and classification held during that fiscal year and subsequent years.
Any board failing to comply with the provisions of this article may be compelled to do so by mandamus, and is liable to any party prevailing against the board for court costs and the prevailing party's reasonable attorney fee, as determined and established by the court.
There shall be at least one "Cook III" employed in each school where meals are prepared.
Notwithstanding any provisions in this code to the contrary, service personnel who hold a continuing contract in a specific job classification and who are physically unable to perform the job's duties as confirmed by a physician chosen by the employee shall be given priority status over any employee not holding a continuing contract in filling other service personnel job vacancies if qualified as provided in section eight-e of this article.
§18A-4-8a. Service personnel minimum monthly salaries.
STATE MINIMUM PAY SCALE PAY GRADE
STATE MINIMUM PAY SCALE PAY GRADE
Years of
Employ-
ment
ABCDEF
0 1,040.00 1,060.00 1,100.00 1,150.00 1,200.00 1,260.00
1 1,066.00 1,086.00 1,126.00 1,176.00 1,226.00 1,286.00
2 1,092.00 1,112.00 1,152.00 1,202.00 1,252.00 1,312.00
3 1,118.00 1,138.00 1,178.00 1,228.00 1,278.00 1,338.00
4 1,144.00 1,164.00 1,204.00 1,254.00 1,304.00 1,364.00
5 1,170.00 1,190.00 1,230.00 1,280.00 1,330.00 1,390.00
6 1,196.00 1,216.00 1,256.00 1,306.00 1,356.00 1,416.00
7 1,222.00 1,242.00 1,282.00 1,332.00 1,382.00 1,442.00
8 1,248.00 1,268.00 1,308.00 1,358.00 1,408.00 1,468.00
9 1,274.00 1,294.00 1,334.00 1,384.00 1,434.00 1,494.00
10 1,300.00 1,320.00 1,360.00 1,410.00 1,460.00 1,520.00
11 1,326.00 1,346.00 1,386.00 1,436.00 1,486.00 1,546.00
12 1,352.00 1,372.00 1,412.00 1,462.00 1,512.00 1,572.00
13 1,378.00 1,398.00 1,438.00 1,488.00 1,538.00 1,598.00
14 1,404.00 1,424.00 1,464.00 1,514.00 1,564.00 1,624.00
15 1,430.00 1,450.00 1,490.00 1,540.00 1,590.00 1,650.00
16 1,456.00 1,476.00 1,516.00 1,566.00 1,616.00 1,676.00
17 1,482.00 1,502.00 1,542.00 1,592.00 1,642.00 1,702.00
18 1,508.00 1,528.00 1,568.00 1,618.00 1,668.00 1,728.00
19 1,534.00 1,554.00 1,594.00 1,644.00 1,694.00 1,754.00
20 1,560.00 1,580.00 1,620.00 1,670.00 1,720.00 1,780.00
21 1,586.00 1,606.00 1,646.00 1,696.00 1,746.00 1,806.00
22 1,612.00 1,632.00 1,672.00 1,722.00 1,772.00 1,832.00
23 1,638.00 1,658.00 1,698.00 1,748.00 1,798.00 1,858.00
24 1,664.00 1,684.00 1,724.00 1,774.00 1,824.00 1,884.00
25 1,690.00 1,710.00 1,750.00 1,800.00 1,850.00 1,910.00
26 1,716.00 1,736.00 1,776.00 1,826.00 1,876.00 1,936.00
27 1,742.00 1,762.00 1,802.00 1,852.00 1,902.00 1,962.00
28 1,768.00 1,788.00 1,828.00 1,878.00 1,928.00 1,988.00
29 1,794.00 1,814.00 1,854.00 1,904.00 1,954.00 2,014.00
30 1,820.00 1,840.00 1,880.00 1,930.00 1,980.00 2,040.00
Years of
Employ-
mentGH
0 1,290.00 1,360.00
1 1,316.00 1,386.00
2 1,342.00 1,412.00
3 1,368.00 1,438.00
4 1,394.00 1,464.00
5 1,420.00 1,490.00
6 1,446.00 1,516.00
7 1,472.00 1,542.00
8 1,498.00 1,568.00
9 1,524.00 1,594.00
10 1,550.00 1,620.00
11 1,576.00 1,646.00
12 1,602.00 1,672.00
13 1,628.00 1,698.00
14 1,654.00 1,724.00
15 1,680.00 1,750.00
16 1,706.00 1,776.00
17 1,732.00 1,802.00
18 1,758.00 1,828.00
19 1,784.00 1,854.00
20 1,810.00 1,880.00
21 1,836.00 1,906.00
22 1,862.00 1,932.00
23 1,888.00 1,958.00
24 1,914.00 1,984.00
25 1,940.00 2,010.00
26 1,966.00 2,036.00
27 1,992.00 2,062.00
28 2,018.00 2,088.00
29 2,044.00 2,114.00
30 2,070.00 2,140.00
CLASS TITLEPAY GRADE
Accountant I D
Accountant II E
Accountant III F
Aide I A
Aide II B
Aide III C
Aide IV D
Audiovisual Technician C
Auditor G
Autism Mentor E
Braille or Sign Language Specialist E
Bus Operator D
Buyer F
Cabinetmaker G
Cafeteria Manager D
Carpenter I E
Carpenter II F
Chief Mechanic G
Clerk I B
Clerk II C
Computer Operator E
Cook I A
Cook II B
Cook III C
Crew Leader F
Custodian I A
Custodian II B
Custodian III C
Custodian IV D
Director or Coordinator of Services H
Draftsman D
Electrician I F
Electrician II G
Electronic Technician I F
Electronic Technician II G
Executive Secretary G
Food Services Supervisor G
Foreman G
General Maintenance C
Glazier D
Graphic Artist D
Groundsman B
Handyman B
Heating and Air Conditioning Mechanic I E
Heating and Air Conditioning Mechanic II G
Heavy Equipment Operator E
Inventory Supervisor D
Key Punch Operator B
Locksmith G
Lubrication Man C
Machinist F
Mail Clerk D
Maintenance Clerk C
Mason G
Mechanic F
Mechanic Assistant E
Office Equipment Repairman I F
Office Equipment Repairman II G
Painter E
ParaprofessionalF
Plumber I E
Plumber II G
Printing Operator B
Printing Supervisor D
Programmer H
~~Roofing/Sheet Metal Mechanic F~~
Roofer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F
Sanitation Plant Operator F
School Bus Supervisor E
Secretary I D
Secretary II E
Secretary III F
Sheet Metal Mechanic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F
Supervisor of Maintenance H
Supervisor of Transportation H
Switchboard Operator-Receptionist D
Truck Driver D
Warehouse Clerk C
Watchman B
Welder F
(1) The minimum monthly pay for each service employee whose employment is for a period of more than three and one-half hours a day shall be at least the amounts indicated in the "state minimum pay scale pay grade" and the minimum monthly pay for each service employee whose employment is for a period of three and one-half hours or less a day shall be at least one-half the amount indicated in the "state minimum pay scale pay grade" set forth in this section.
(2) An additional ten dollars per month shall be added to the minimum monthly pay of each service employee who holds a high school diploma or its equivalent.
(3) An additional ten dollars per month ~~shall~~ also shall be added to the minimum monthly pay of each service employee ~~who holds twelve college hours or comparable credit obtained in a trade or vocational school as approved by the state board~~ for each of the following:
(a) A service employee who holds twelve college hours or comparable credit obtained in a trade or vocational school or in a staff development program as approved by the state board of education;
(b) A service employee who holds twenty-four college hours or comparable credit obtained in a trade or vocational school or in a staff development program as approved by the state board of education;
(c) A service employee who holds thirty-six college hours or comparable credit obtained in a trade or vocational school or in a staff development program as approved by the state board of education;
(d) A service employee who holds forty-eight college hours or comparable credit obtained in a trade or vocational school or in a staff development program as approved by the state board of education.
(4) When any part of a school service employee's daily shift of work is performed between the hours of six o'clock p.m. and five o'clock a.m. the following day, the employee shall be paid no less than an additional ten dollars per month and one half of the pay shall be paid with local funds.
(5) Any service employee required to work on any legal school holiday shall be paid at a rate one and one-half times the employee's usual hourly rate.
(6) Any full-time service personnel required to work in excess of their normal working day during any week which contains a school holiday for which they are paid shall be paid for the additional hours or fraction of the additional hours at a rate of one and one-half times their usual hourly rate and paid entirely from county board funds.
(7) No service employee may have his or her daily work schedule changed during the school year without the employee's written consent, and the employee's required daily work hours may not be changed to prevent the payment of time and one-half wages or the employment of another employee. A county board may not require a school service person to give written consent to a possible change of a future daily work schedule or assigned work site as a condition of application to fill a vacancy or of acceptance of a school service personnel position.
(8) The minimum hourly rate of pay for extra duty assignments as defined in section eight-b of this article shall be no less than one seventh of the employee's daily total salary for each hour the employee is involved in performing the assignment and paid entirely from local funds: Provided, That an alternative minimum hourly rate of pay for performing extra duty assignments within a particular category of employment may be utilized if the alternate hourly rate of pay is approved both by the county board and by the affirmative vote of a two-thirds majority of the regular full-time employees within that classification category of employment within that county: Provided, however, That the vote shall be by secret ballot if so requested by a service personnel employee within that classification category within that county. The salary for any fraction of an hour the employee is involved in performing the assignment shall be prorated accordingly. When performing extra duty assignments, employees who are regularly employed on a one-half day salary basis shall receive the same hourly extra duty assignment pay computed as though the employee were employed on a full-day salary basis.
(9) The minimum pay for any service personnel employees engaged in the removal of asbestos material or related duties required for asbestos removal shall be their regular total daily rate of pay and no less than an additional three dollars per hour or no less than five dollars per hour for service personnel supervising asbestos removal responsibilities for each hour these employees are involved in asbestos related duties. Related duties required for asbestos removal include, but are not limited to, planning for the removal of asbestos, preparation of proposals, plans or other relevant documents required for approval of an asbestos project, travel, preparation of the work site, including taking test samples and filing reports concerning the results of tests, removal of asbestos and other byproducts and transportation of this material to the storage site, decontamination of the work site, placing and removal of equipment, making any reports, preparation of post-project reports necessary for completion of the project, and removal of structures from the site. If any member of an asbestos crew is engaged in asbestos related duties outside of the employee's regular employment county, the daily rate of pay shall be no less than the minimum amount as established in the employee's regular employment county for asbestos removal and an additional thirty dollars per each day the employee is engaged in asbestos removal and related duties. The additional pay for asbestos removal and related duties shall be payable entirely from county funds. Before service personnel employees may be utilized in the removal of asbestos material or related duties, they shall have completed a federal Environmental Protection Act approved training program and be licensed. The employer shall provide all necessary protective equipment and maintain all records required by the Environmental Protection Act.
(10) For the purpose of qualifying for additional pay as provided in section eight, article five of this chapter, an aide shall be considered to be exercising the authority of a supervisory aide and control over pupils if the aide is required to supervise, control, direct, monitor, escort or render service to a child or children when not under the direct supervision of certificated professional personnel within the classroom, library, hallway, lunchroom, gymnasium, school building, school grounds or wherever supervision is required. For purposes of this section, "under the direct supervision of certificated professional personnel" means that certificated professional personnel is present, with and accompanying the aide.
(11) Any school service person who is placed involuntarily on transfer pursuant to article two, section seven of this chapter shall retain his or her current classification title and pay grade upon acceptance of a position of a lower class title and pay grade within his or her classification category: Provided, however, That the employee may be multiclassified if necessary to perform the duties of the accepted positions.
(12) An employee who is required to take a drug/alcohol test at any time other than during an employee's regular work day shall be paid an additional amount of no less than one seventh of the employee's daily rate of pay for each hour or fraction thereof engaged in taking the test.
§18A-4-8b. Seniority rights for school service personnel.
A county board shall make decisions affecting promotions and the filling of any service personnel positions of employment or jobs occurring throughout the school year that are to be performed by service personnel as provided in section eight of this article, on the basis of seniority, qualifications and evaluation of past service.
Qualifications shall mean that the applicant holds a classification title in his category of employment as provided in this section and must be given first opportunity for promotion and filling vacancies. Other employees then must be considered and shall qualify by meeting the definition of the job title as defined in section eight of this article, that relates to the promotion or vacancy. If requested by the employee, the board must show valid cause why an employee with the most seniority is not promoted or employed in the position for which he or she applies. Applicants shall be considered in the following order:
(1) Regularly employed service personnel;
(2) Service personnel whose employment has been discontinued in accordance with this section;
(3) Professional personnel who held temporary service personnel jobs or positions prior to the ninth day of June, one thousand nine hundred eighty-two, and who apply only for such temporary jobs or positions;
(4) Substitute service personnel; and
(5) New service personnel.
The county board may not prohibit a service employee from retaining or continuing his employment in any positions or jobs held prior to the effective date of this section and thereafter.
A promotion shall be defined as any change in his employment that the employee deems to improve his working circumstance within his classification category of employment and shall include a transfer to another classification category or place of employment if the position is not filled by an employee who holds a title within that classification category of employment. Each class title listed in section eight of this article shall be considered a separate classification category of employment for service personnel, except for those class titles having Roman numeral designations, which shall be considered a single classification of employment. The cafeteria manager class title shall be included in the same classification category as cooks. The executive secretary class title shall be included in the same classification category as secretaries. ~~Paraprofessional, autism mentor and braille or sign language specialist class titles shall be included in the same classification category as aides.~~
For purposes of determining seniority under this section an employee's seniority begins on the date that he or she enters into his assigned duties.
Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter to the contrary, decisions affecting service personnel with respect to extra-duty assignments shall be made in the following manner: An employee with the greatest length of service time in a particular category of employment shall be given priority in accepting extra duty assignments, followed by other fellow employees on a rotating basis according to the length of their service time until all such employees have had an opportunity to perform similar assignments. The cycle then shall be repeated: Provided, That an alternative procedure for making extra-duty assignments within a particular classification category of employment may be utilized if the alternative procedure is approved both by the county board and by an affirmative vote of two thirds of the employees within that classification category of employment. For the purpose of this section, "extra-duty assignments" are defined as irregular jobs that occur periodically or occasionally such as, but not limited to, field trips, athletic events, proms, banquets and band festival trips.
Boards shall be required to post and date notices of all job vacancies of established existing or newly created positions in conspicuous working places for all school service employees to observe for at least five working days. The notice of the job vacancies shall include the job description, the period of employment, the amount of pay and any benefits and other information that is helpful to the employees to understand the particulars of the job. After the five day minimum posting period all vacancies shall be filled within twenty working days from the posting date notice of any job vacancies of established existing or newly created positions.
All decisions by county boards concerning reduction in work force of service personnel shall be made on the basis of seniority, as provided in this section.
The seniority of any service personnel shall be determined on the basis of the length of time the employee has been employed by the county board within a particular job classification. For the purpose of establishing seniority for a preferred recall list as provided in this section, when an employee has been employed in one or more classifications, the seniority accrued in each previous classification shall be retained by the employee.
If a county board is required to reduce the number of employees within a particular job classification, the employee with the least amount of seniority within that classification or grades of classification shall be properly released and employed in a different grade of that classification if there is a job vacancy: Provided, That if there is no job vacancy for employment within the classification or grades of classification, he or she shall be employed in any other job classification which he or she previously held with the county board if there is a vacancy and shall retain any seniority accrued in the job classification or grade of classification.
If two or more employees accumulate identical seniority, the priority shall be determined by a random selection system established by the employees and approved by the county board.
All employees whose seniority with the county board is insufficient to allow their retention by the county board during a reduction in work force shall be placed upon a preferred recall list and shall be recalled to employment by the county board on the basis of seniority.
Employees placed upon the preferred list shall be recalled to any position openings by the county board within the classification(s), where they had previously been employed, or to any lateral position for which the employee is qualified or to a lateral area for which an employee has certification and/or licensure.
Employees on the preferred recall list shall not forfeit their right to recall by the county board if compelling reasons require an employee to refuse an offer of reemployment by the county board.
The county board shall notify all employees on the preferred recall list of all position openings that from time to time exist. The notice shall be sent by certified mail to the last known address of the employee; it is the duty of each such employee to notify the county board of any change in the address of the employee.
No position openings may be filled by the county board, whether temporary or permanent, until all employees on the preferred recall list have been properly notified of existing vacancies and have been given an opportunity to accept reemployment.
Any board failing to comply with the provisions of this article may be compelled to do so by mandamus and is liable to any party prevailing against the board for court costs and the prevailing party's reasonable attorney fee, as determined and established by the court. Further, employees denied promotion or employment in violation of this section shall be awarded the job, pay and any applicable benefits retroactively to the date of the violation and shall be paid entirely from local funds. Further, the board is liable to any party prevailing against the board for any court reporter costs including copies of transcripts.
§18A-4-8g. Determination of seniority for service personnel.
The seniority for service personnel shall be determined in the following manner:
Seniority accumulation for a regular school service employee begins on the date the employee enters upon regular employment duties pursuant to a contract as provided in section five, article two of this chapter and continues until the employee's employment as a regular employee is severed with the county board. Seniority shall not cease to accumulate when an employee is absent without pay as authorized by the county board or the absence is due to illness or other reasons over which the employee has no control as authorized by the county board. Seniority accumulation for a substitute employee shall begin upon the date the employee enters upon the duties of a substitute as provided in section fifteen of this article, after executing with the board a contract of employment as provided in section five, article two of this chapter. The seniority of a substitute employee, once established, shall continue until such employee enters into the duties of a regular employment contract as provided in section five, article two of this chapter or employment as a substitute with the county board is severed. Seniority of a regular or substitute employee shall continue to accumulate except during the time when an employee is willfully absent from employment duties because of a concerted work stoppage or strike or is suspended without pay.
For all purposes including the filling of vacancies and reduction in force, seniority shall be accumulated within particular classification categories of employment as those classification categories are referred to in section eight-e of this article: Provided, That when implementing a reduction in force, an employee with the least seniority within a particular classification category shall be properly released and placed on the preferred recall list. The particular classification title held by an employee within the classification category shall not be taken into consideration when implementing a reduction in force.
On or before the first day of September and the fifteenth day of January of each school year, county boards shall post at each county school or working station the current seniority list or lists of each school service classification. Each list shall contain the name of each regularly employed school service personnel employed in each classification and the date that each employee began performing his or her assigned duties in each classification. Current seniority lists of substitute school service personnel shall be available to employees upon request at the county board office.
The seniority of an employee who transfers out of a class title or classification category of employment and subsequently returns to that class title or classification category of employment shall be calculated as follows:
The county board shall establish the number of calendar days between the date the employee left the class title or category of employment in question and the date of return to the class title or classification category of employment. This number of days shall be added to the employee's initial seniority date to establish a new beginning seniority date within the class title or classification category. The employee shall then be considered as having held uninterrupted service within the class title or classification category from the newly established seniority date. The seniority of an employee who has had a break in the accumulation of seniority as a result of being willfully absent from employment duties because of a concerted work stoppage or strike shall be calculated in the same manner.
A substitute school service employee shall acquire regular employment status and seniority if said employee receives a position pursuant to subsections (2) and (5), section fifteen of this article: Provided, That a substitute employee who accumulates regular employee seniority while holding a position acquired pursuant to said subsections shall simultaneously accumulate substitute seniority. County boards shall not be prohibited from providing any benefits of regular employment for substitute employees, but the benefits shall not include regular employee status and seniority.
If two or more employees accumulate identical seniority, the priority shall be determined by a random selection system established by the employees and approved by the county board. A board shall conduct the random selection within thirty days upon the employees establishing an identical seniority date. All employees with an identical seniority date within the same class title or classification category shall participate in the random selection. As long as the affected employees hold identical seniority within the same classification category, the initial random selection conducted by the board shall be permanent for the duration of the employment within the same classification category of the employees by the board. This random selection priority shall apply to the filling of vacancies and to the reduction in force of school service personnel: Provided, That if another employee or employees subsequently acquire seniority identical to the employees involved in the original random selection, a second random selection shall be held within thirty days to determine the seniority ranking of the new employee or employees within the group. The priority between the employees who participated in the original random selection shall remain the same. The second random selection will be performed by placing numbered pieces of paper equal to the number of employees with identical seniority in a container. The employees who were not involved in the original random selection will draw a number from the container which will determine their seniority within the group as a whole. This process will be repeated if additional employees subsequently acquire identical seniority. The same process will be utilized if additional employees are subsequently discovered to have the same seniority as the original group of employees but who did not participate in the original random selection through oversight or mistake.
Service personnel who are employed in a classification category of employment at the time when a vacancy is posted in the same classification category of employment shall be given first opportunity to fill the vacancy.
Seniority acquired as a substitute and as a regular employee shall be calculated separately and shall not be combined for any purpose. Seniority acquired within different classification categories shall be calculated separately: Provided, That when a school service employee makes application for a position outside of the classification category currently held, if the vacancy is not filled by an applicant within the classification category of the vacancy, the applicant shall combine all regular employment seniority acquired for the purposes of bidding on the position.
School service personnel who hold multi-classification titles shall accrue seniority in each classification category of employment which said employee holds and shall be considered an employee of each classification category contained within his or her multi-classification title. Multi-classified employees shall be subject to reduction in force in any category of employment contained within their multi-classification title based upon the seniority accumulated within said category of employment: Provided, That if a multi-classified employee is reduced in force in one classification category, said employee shall retain employment in any of the other classification categories that he holds within his multi-classification title. In such a case, the county board shall delete the appropriate classification title or classification category from the contract of the multi-classified employee.
When applying to fill a vacancy outside the classification categories held by the multi-classified employee, seniority acquired simultaneously in different classification categories shall be calculated as if accrued in one classification category only.
The seniority conferred in this section applies retroactively to all affected school service personnel, but the rights incidental thereto shall commence as of the effective date of this section.
§18A-4-8h. Seniority rights for professional educators and school service personnel in cases of intercounty transfer arrangements.

Notwithstanding any other provisions of this code to the contrary, if students are required to attend school in a county other than the county of their residence as a result of an intercounty transfer arrangement, then the following terms, rules and procedures shall apply:
(a) For the purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:
(1)"Intercounty transfer arrangement" means those cases in which students are required to attend school in a county other than the county of their residence;
(2) "Receiving county" means the county, other than the county of residence, where students are required to attend school.
(3)"Sending county" means the county of residence of students involved in intercounty transfer arrangements.
(b) The state board shall determine the number of professional educator and school service personnel positions to be created in facilities receiving students or in any facility affected by an intercounty transfer arrangement. The state board shall prepare a certified list of positions and shall provide the list to both the sending and receiving counties involved in the intercounty transfer arrangement.
(c) The state board shall prepare a certified list containing the names and seniority of the professional educators and service personnel in the sending county whose employment has been terminated as a result of an intercounty transfer arrangement. Those eligible to appear on the certified list shall be limited to the following classifications of employees:
(1)those persons whose positions were eliminated as a direct result of an intercounty transfer arrangement and (i) who choose not to exercise their right to displace another employee with lesser seniority or (ii) whose seniority is insufficient to allow them to displace other employees;
(2)Those persons, as determined by the state board, who would have retained a position with the sending county if the intercounty transfer arrangement had not occurred.
(d)The receiving county may not fill any position on the list of positions created pursuant to the provisions of subsection (b) of this section until the receiving county has received the list of employees created pursuant to the provisions of subsection (c) of this section. When the receiving county has been provided copies of both the certified list of positions and the certified list of employees, the receiving county shall begin filling the vacancies by selecting employees from the certified list. In filling these positions, the receiving county shall comply with all provisions of law relevant to the filling of professional educator or service personnel vacancies.
(e)For the remainder of the school year immediately following the effective date of an intercounty transfer arrangement, but in no case less than six months, the receiving county may fill positions on the certified list of positions only by selecting employees from the certified list of employees.
(f)For the purposes of this section only, professional educators and service personnel whose names appear on the certified list of employees created pursuant to the provisions of subsection (c) of this section and who are hired by the county board of the receiving county shall accrue seniority in both the sending and the receiving counties during the time in which they continue to be employed by the county board of the receiving county.
(g)The state board shall promulgate legislative rules to implement the provisions of this section pursuant to the provisions of article three-b, chapter twenty-nine-a, of this code. The rules shall be filed with the office of the Secretary of State no later than the first day of October one thousand nine hundred ninety-seven.
§18A-4-15. Employment of service personnel substitutes.
The county board shall employ and the county superintendent, subject to the approval of the county board, shall assign substitute service personnel on the basis of seniority to perform any of the following duties:
(1) To fill the temporary absence of another service employee;
(2) To fill the position of a regular service employee on who requests a leave of absence from the county board in writing and who is granted the leave in writing by the county board ~~leave of absence~~: Provided, That if such leave of absence is to extend beyond thirty days, the board, within twenty working days from the commencement of the leave of absence, shall give regular employee status to a person hired to fill such position. The person employed on a regular basis shall be selected under the procedure set forth in section eight-b of this article. The substitute shall hold such position and regular employee status only until the regular employee shall be returned to such position and the substitute shall have and shall be accorded all rights, privileges and benefits pertaining to such position: Provided, however, That if a regular or substitute employee fills a vacancy that is related to a leave of absence in any manner as provided herein, upon termination of the leave of absence said employee shall be returned to his or her original position: Provided, further, That no service person may be required to request or to take a leave of absence: Provided, further, That no service person shall be deprived of any right or privilege of regular employment status for refusal to request or failure to take a leave of absence;
(3) To perform the service of a service employee who is authorized to be absent from duties without loss of pay;
(4) To temporarily fill a vacancy in a permanent position caused by severance of employment by the resignation, transfer, retirement, permanent disability, dismissal pursuant to section eight, article two of this chapter, or death of the regular service employee who had been assigned to fill such position: Provided, That within twenty working days from the commencement of the vacancy, the board shall fill such vacancy under the procedures set out in section eight-b of this article and section five, article two of this chapter and such person hired to fill the vacancy shall have and shall be accorded all rights, privileges and benefits pertaining to such position;
(5) To fill the vacancy created by a regular employee's suspension: Provided, That if the suspension is for more than thirty working days the substitute service employee shall be assigned to fill the vacancy on a regular basis and shall have and be accorded all rights, privileges and benefits pertaining to such position until such termination by the county board becomes final. If the suspended employee is not returned to his job, the board shall fill the vacancy under the procedures set out in section eight-b of this article and section five, article two of this chapter; and
(6) To temporarily fill a vacancy in a newly created position prior to employment of a service personnel on a regular basis under the procedure set forth in section eight-b of this article.
Substitutes shall be assigned in the following manner: A substitute with the greatest length of service time, that is, from the date he began his assigned duties as a substitute in that particular category of employment, shall be given priority in accepting the assignment throughout the period of the regular employee's absence or until the vacancy is filled on a regular basis under the procedures set out in section eight-b of this article. All substitutes shall be employed on a rotating basis according to the length of their service time until each substitute has had an opportunity to perform similar assignments: Provided, That if there are regular service employees employed in the same building or working station as the absent employee and who are employed in the same classification category of employment, such regular employees shall be first offered the opportunity to fill the position of the absent employee on a rotating and seniority basis with the substitute then filling the regular employee's position. A regular employee assigned to fill the position of an absent employee shall be given the opportunity to hold that position throughout such absence.
The salary of a substitute service employee shall be based upon his years of employment as defined in section eight of this article and as provided in the state minimum pay scale set forth in section eight-a of this article and shall be in accordance with the salary schedule of persons regularly employed in the same position in the county in which he is employed.
Before any substitute service employee enters upon his or her duties, he shall execute with the county board a written contract as provided in section five, article two of this chapter.
To establish a uniform system of providing a fair and equitable opportunity for substitutes to enter upon their duties for the first time, the following method shall be used: The initial order of assigning newly employed substitutes shall be determined by a random selection system established by the affected substitute employees and approved by the county board. This initial priority order shall be in effect only until the substitute service personnel have entered upon their duties for the first time.
Substitute service employees who have worked thirty days for a school system shall have all rights pertaining to suspension, dismissal and contract renewal as is granted to regular service personnel in sections six, seven, eight and eight-a, article two of this chapter.
CHAPTER 23. WORKERS' COMPENSATION

ARTICLE 2. EMPLOYERS AND EMPLOYEES SUBJECT TO CHAPTER; EXTRATERRITORIAL COVERAGE.

§23-2-1a. Employees subject to chapter.

(a) Employees subject to this chapter are all persons in the service of employers and employed by them for the purpose of carrying on the industry, business, service or work in which they are engaged, including, but not limited to:
(1) Persons regularly employed in the state whose duties necessitate employment of a temporary or transitory nature by the same employer without the state;
(2) Every person in the service of the state or of any political subdivision or agency thereof, under any contract of hire, express or implied, and every appointed official or officer thereof while performing his or her official duties;
(3) Checkweighmen employed according to law;
(4) All members of rescue teams assisting in mine accidents with the consent of the owner who, in such case, shall be deemed the employer, or at the direction of the director of the department of mines; and
(5) All forest fire fighters who, under the supervision of the director of the department of natural resources or his or her designated representative, assist in the prevention, confinement and suppression of any forest fire.
(6) Students while participating in a work-based learning experience with an employer approved as part of the curriculum by the county board. The county board shall be the employer of record of students while participating in unpaid work-based experiences off school premises with employers other than the county board. For the purposes of this chapter, students in unpaid work-based learning experiences shall be considered to be paid the state minimum wage.
(b) The right to receive compensation under this chapter shall not be affected by the fact that a minor is employed or is permitted to be employed in violation of the laws of this state relating to the employment of minors, or that he or she obtained his or her employment by misrepresenting his or her age.