H. B. 4414


(By Delegates Mezzatesta, Williams, Paxton, Susman and Willis)


(Originating in the Committee on Education)

[February 4, 2000]





A BILL to amend and reenact section one, article one, chapter eighteen-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to amend and reenact section three, article two of said chapter, all relating to county boards of education; defined terms; employment of substitute teachers; and allowing the county superintendents to hire prospective employable professional personnel.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section one, article one, chapter eighteen-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted; and that section three, article two of said chapter be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS.

§18A-1-1. Definitions.
The definitions contained in section one, article one, chapter eighteen shall be applicable of this code apply 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 includes the professional educator and other professional employees.
(c) "Professional educator" shall be is synonymous with and shall have has 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 or her 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 includes 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 voluntarily 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 authorized full-time position.
(i) "Prospective employable professional personnel" means certified professional educators who have been recruited on a reserve list of a county board but who have not obtained regular employee status through the job posting process provided for in section seven-a, article four of this chapter.
ARTICLE 2. SCHOOL PERSONNEL.
§18A-2-3. Employment of substitute teachers and prospective employable professional personnel .

The county superintendent, subject to approval of the county board, shall have authority to may employ and assign substitute teachers to any of the following duties: (a) To fill the temporary absence of any teacher or an unexpired school term made vacant by resignation, death, suspension or dismissal; (b) to fill a teaching position of a regular teacher on leave of absence; and (c) to perform the instructional services of any teacher who is authorized by law to be absent from class without loss of pay, providing such the absence is approved by the board of education in accordance with the law. Such The substitute shall be a duly certified teacher.
 As an aid in recruiting teachers in the state, and notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the contrary, a county superintendent may employ up to twenty-five full-time prospective employable professional personnel each year on a reserve list at the county level . Such personnel may be granted benefits at a cost to the county board and as a condition of the employment contract as approved by the county board. Regular employment status for such personnel may be obtained only in accordance with the provision of section seven-a, article four of this chapter.