H. B. 4677
(By Delegates Hubbard and Paxton)
[Introduced February 25, 2000; referred to the
Committee on Education then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section fourteen, article four,
chapter eighteen-a of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to
planning periods of school employees; adding a provision to
allow half-time teachers a planning period of one-half the
usual class period but not less than thirty minutes;
increasing the minimum planning period from thirty minutes
to sixty minutes.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section fourteen, article four, chapter eighteen-a of
the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one,
as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 4. SALARIES, WAGES AND OTHER BENEFITS.
§18A-4-14. Duty-free lunch and daily planning period for
certain employees.
(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of section seven, article
two of this chapter, every teacher who is employed for a period
of time more than one-half the class periods of the regular
school day and every service personnel whose employment is for a
period of more than three and one-half hours per day and whose
pay is at least the amount indicated in the "state minimum pay
scale" as set forth in section eight-a of this article shall be
provided a daily lunch recess of not less than thirty consecutive
minutes, and such the employee shall not be assigned any
responsibilities during this recess. Such The recess shall be
included in the number of hours worked, and no county shall
increase the number of hours to be worked by an employee as a
result of such the employee being granted a recess under the
provisions of this section.
(2) Every teacher who is regularly employed for a period of
time more than one-half the class periods of the regular school
day shall be provided at least one planning period within each
school instructional day to be used to complete necessary
preparations for the instruction of pupils. Such The planning
period shall be the length of the usual class period in the
school to which such the teacher is assigned, and shall be not
less than thirty sixty minutes. Every teacher who is regularly
employed for a period of time equal to one-half the class periods
of the regular school day shall be provided at least one planning period within each school instructional day to be used to
complete necessary preparations for instruction of pupils. The
planning period shall be the length of one half of the usual
class period of the school to which the teacher is assigned, and
shall be not less than thirty minutes. No teacher shall be
assigned any responsibilities during this his or her planning
period, and no county shall increase the number of hours to be
worked by a teacher as a result of such the teacher being granted
a planning period subsequent to the adoption of this section.
Principals and assistant principals, where applicable, shall
cooperate in carrying out the provisions of this subsection,
including, but not limited to, assuming control of the class
period or supervision of students during the time the teacher is
engaged in the planning period. Substitute teachers may also be
utilized to assist with classroom responsibilities under this
subsection: Provided, That any substitute teacher who is
employed to teach a minimum of two consecutive days in the same
position shall be granted a planning period pursuant to this
section.
(3) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent
any teacher from exchanging his or her lunch recess or a planning
period or any service personnel from exchanging his or her lunch
recess for any compensation or benefit mutually agreed upon by
the employee and the county superintendent of schools or his or her agent: Provided, That a teacher and the superintendent or
his or her agent may not agree to terms which are different from
those available to any other teacher granted rights under this
section within the individual school or to terms which in any way
discriminate among such teachers within the individual school,
and that service personnel granted rights under this section and
the superintendent or his or her agent may not agree to terms
which are different from those available to any other service
personnel within the same classification category granted rights
under this section within the individual school or to terms which
in any way discriminate among such service personnel within the
same classification category within the individual school.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to increase the minimum
planning period from thirty minutes to sixty minutes for teachers
teaching more than half time, and to provide half-time teachers
a planning period of at least thirty minutes.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.