HB2827 H ED AM 3-15 #1
The Committee on Education moves to amend the bill on page
one, following the enacting clause, by striking the remainder of
the bill and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
That §18-5-15e, §18-5-18b and
§18-5-22
of the code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted; that said
code be further amended by adding thereto a new section, designated
§18-8-6a; that §18-9A-8 of said code be amended and reenacted; and
that §18-9D-2 of said code be amended and reenacted, all
to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 5. COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION.
§18-5-15e. Comprehensive policy on healthy schools. Study on
school equity.
County boards shall conduct a comprehensive study to determine
equality of funding and programs among the various schools within
each county. Such study shall consider issues including, but not
limited to, cost per pupil and availability of curriculum and
programs. County boards shall submit a report to the Legislative
Oversight commission on education accountability by October 1, 1993.
(a) The Legislature hereby finds that obesity is a problem of
epidemic proportions in this state. There is increasing evidence
that all segments of the population, beginning with children, are
becoming more sedentary, more overweight and more likely to develop
health risks and diseases including Type II Diabetes, high blood cholesterol and high blood pressure. The Legislature further finds
that physical activity, physical education, healthy eating and
proper nutrition, and involvement by school staff, families and
communities are all parts of successful programs that help address
this growing problem. Finally, the Legislature finds that public
schools in this state and others have adopted a continuum of
policies to implement low cost, effective programs that include each
of these areas and that resources to assist schools in adopting
policies and implementing programs are easily accessible on the
internet and through the Office of Healthy Schools in the West
Virginia Department of Education. These schools report that student
academic performance frequently improves when comprehensive healthy
schools initiatives are implemented.
____________________________________________(b) Every county board of education shall develop a profile of
the health of their students, examine options available for
comprehensive policies and programs to improve student health and
establish a comprehensive policy on healthy schools that best meets
the need of their student population.
____________________________________________(c) At least biennially over the ten-year period following an
initial report during the 2014 legislative interims, the state board
shall report to the Legislative Oversight Commission on Education
Accountability on county comprehensive healthy schools policies and
concurrent trends in student health and academic achievement. The
initial report shall be for the 2013-14 school year.
§18-5-18b. School counselors in public schools.
(a) A school counselor means a professional educator who holds
a valid school counselor's certificate in accordance with article
three of this chapter article three, chapter eighteen-a of this
code.
(b) Each county board shall provide counseling services for
each pupil enrolled in the public schools of the county.
(c) The school counselor shall work with individual pupils and
groups of pupils in providing developmental, preventive and remedial
guidance and counseling programs to meet academic, social, emotional
and physical needs; including programs to identify and address the
problem of potential school dropouts. The school counselor also may
provide consultant services for parents, teachers and administrators
and may use outside referral services, when appropriate, if no
additional cost is incurred by the county board.
(d) The state board may adopt rules consistent with the
provisions of this section that define the role of a school
counselor based on the "National Standards for School Counseling
Programs" of the American school counselor association. A school
counselor is authorized to perform such services as are not
inconsistent with the provisions of the rule as adopted by the state
board. To the extent that any funds are made available for this
purpose, county boards shall provide training for counselors and
administrators to implement the rule as adopted by the state board.
(e) Each county board shall develop a comprehensive drop-out
prevention program utilizing the expertise of school counselors and
any other appropriate resources available.
(f) School counselors shall be full-time professional
personnel. School counselors shall spend at least seventy-five
ninety percent of their work time in a direct counseling
relationship with at-risk students and other pupils, and shall
devote no more than one fourth of the work day to administrative
activities: Provided, That such activities are counselor related
and all remaining work time on only counseling related
administrative and other counseling related duties.
(g) Subject to legislative appropriation, each county board
shall employ full-time at least one school counselor for every three
hundred fifty pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade students in net
enrollment or major fraction thereof in the county. County boards
may allocate counseling positions among the schools of the county
as they determine appropriate, but no school counselor may have a
caseload of more than five hundred students. Nothing in this
section prohibits a county board from exceeding the provisions of
this section. or requires any specific level of funding by the
Legislature.
§18-5-22. Medical and dental inspection; school nurses;
specialized health procedures; establishment of
council of school nurses.
(a) County boards shall provide proper medical health and
dental inspections assessments for all pupils attending the schools
of their county and have the authority to take any other action
necessary to protect the pupils and school personnel from infectious
diseases, including the authority to require from all school
personnel employed in their county, certificates of good health and
of physical fitness.
(b) Each county board shall employ full time at least one
school nurse for every one thousand five hundred kindergarten pre-
kindergarten through seventh twelfth grade pupils in net enrollment
or major fraction thereof in the county: 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 students with specialized
health care needs. An appropriation may be made to the state
department to be distributed to county boards to support school
health service needs that exceed the capacity of staff as mandated
in this section. Each county board shall apply to the state
superintendent for receipt of this funding in a manner set forth by the state superintendent that assesses and takes into account
varying acuity levels of students with specialized health care
needs.
(c) Any person employed as a school nurse must 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.
(d) Specialized health procedures that require the skill,
knowledge and judgment of a licensed health professional may be
performed only by school nurses, other licensed school health care
providers as provided 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, considered competent, have
consultation with, and be monitored or supervised by the school
nurse: Provided, That nothing in this section prohibits 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, but is not limited to, catheterization, suctioning of tracheostomy, naso-gastric 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. Commencing with the school year beginning
on July 1, 2002, "school employee" also means "secretary I",
"secretary II" and "secretary III" as defined in section eight,
article four, chapter eighteen-a of this code: Provided, however,
That a "secretary I", "secretary II" and "secretary III" shall be
limited to the dispensing of medications.
(e) Any school service employee 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 shall receive
additional pay of at least one pay grade higher than the highest pay
grade for which the employee is paid: Provided, That any training
required in this section may be considered in lieu of required
in-service training of the school employee and a school employee may
not be required to elect to undergo the training or retraining:
Provided, however, That commencing with July 1, 1989, any newly
employed school employee in the field of special education is
required to undergo the training and retraining as provided in this
section: Provided further, That if an employee who holds a class title of an aide is employed in a school and the aide has received
the training, pursuant to this section, then an employee in the
field of special education is not required to perform the
specialized health care procedures.
(f) 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.
(g) There shall be 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 Commissioner of the Bureau for
Public Health who shall consult with the state Department of
Education. The state board then has the authority to promulgate a
rule in accordance with the provisions of article three-b, chapter
twenty-nine-a of this code to implement the training and to create
standards used by those school nurses and school employees
performing specialized health procedures. The council shall meet
every two years to review the certification and training program
regarding school employees.
(h) 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
rule promulgated by the state board.
ARTICLE 8. COMPULSORY SCHOOL ATTENDANCE.
§18-8-6a. Incentive for county board participation in circuit
court juvenile probation truancy programs.
______________A county board that enters into a truancy program agreement
with the circuit court of the county that (1) provides for the
referral of truant juveniles for supervision by the court's
probation office pursuant to section eleven, article five, chapter
forty-nine of this code and (2) requires the county board to pay for
the costs of the probation officer or officers assigned to supervise
truant juneniles, shall be reimbursed for one half of the costs of
the probation officer or officers subject to appropriation of the
Legislature for this purpose to the West Virginia Department of
Education. For any year in which the funds appropriated are
insufficient to cover the reimbursement costs, the county's costs
shall be reimbursed prorata.
ARTICLE 9A. PUBLIC SCHOOL SUPPORT.
§18-9A-8. Foundation allowance for professional student support
services.
(a) The basic foundation allowance to the county for
professional student support personnel shall be the amount of money
determined in accordance with the following:
(1) The sum of the state minimum salaries, as determined in accordance with the provisions of article four, chapter eighteen of
this code, for all state aid eligible school nurse and counselor
positions in the county during the two thousand eight fiscal year
which number shall be reduced in the same proportion as the number
of professional educators allowed to be funded under section four
of this article to the total number of professional educators
employed that are state aid eligible. In performing this
calculation, the numerator shall be the number of professional
educators actually funded under section four of this article and the
denominator shall be the total number of professional educators
employed that are eligible to be funded under section four of this
article;
(2) The amount derived from the calculation in subdivision (1)
of this subsection is increased by one half percent;
(3) The amount derived from the calculation in subdivision (2)
of this subsection is the basic foundation allowance to the county
for professional student support personnel for the two thousand nine
fiscal year;
(4) For fiscal years two thousand ten, two thousand eleven, two
thousand twelve and two thousand thirteen, the basic foundation
allowance to the county for professional student support personnel
increases by one-half percent per year over the allowance for the
previous year; and
(5) For all fiscal years thereafter, the basic foundation allowance to the county for professional student support personnel
remains the same amount as in the two thousand thirteen fiscal year.
(b) The additional positions for counselors that may be created
as a result of the one percent increase provided pursuant to this
section shall be assigned to schools where the counselor can:
(1) Enhance student achievement;
(2) Provide early intervention for students in grades
prekindergarten through five; and
(3) Enhance student development and career readiness.
_____________(a) For the fiscal year beginning on the first day of July, two
thousand thirteen, and for each fiscal year thereafter,
the basic
foundation allowance to the county for student support personnel
shall be the amount of money required to pay the state minimum
salaries, in accordance with provisions of article four, chapter
eighteen-a of this code, to the personnel employed in the following
enumerated positions and subject to the following limitations
:
(1) For school nurse, no county shall receive an allowance for
the personnel which number is in excess of one nurse
to each one
thousand five hundred students in net enrollment;
_____________(2) For counselor, no county shall receive an allowance for the
personnel which number is in excess of one counselor
to each three
hundred fifty students in net enrollment;
_____________(b)
Any county not qualifying under the provisions of
subsection (a) for the maximum allowance for personnel is eligible for a growth rate in professional personnel in any one year not to
exceed twenty-five percent of its total potential increase in
personnel to achieve the maximum under subsection (a): Provided,
That the number of growth positions shall not be less than five
until the maximum allowance for personnel is reached.
ARTICLE 9D. SCHOOL BUILDING AUTHORITY.
§18-9D-2. Definitions.
For the purposes of this article, unless a different meaning
clearly appears from the context:
(1) "Authority" means the School Building Authority of West
Virginia;
(2) "Bonds" means bonds issued by the authority pursuant to
this article;
(3) "Construction project" means a project in the furtherance
of a facilities plan with a cost greater than §1 million for the new
construction, expansion or major renovation of facilities, buildings
and structures for school purposes, including:
(A) The acquisition of land for current or future use in
connection with the construction project;
(B) New or substantial upgrading of existing equipment,
machinery and furnishings;
(C) Installation of utilities and other similar items related
to making the construction project operational.
(D) Construction project does not include such items as books, computers or equipment used for instructional purposes other than
computers; fuel; supplies; routine utility services fees; routine
maintenance costs; ordinary course of business improvements; other
items which are customarily considered to result in a current or
ordinary course of business operating charge or a major improvement
project;
(4) "Cost of project" means the cost of construction,
expansion, renovation, repair and safety upgrading of facilities,
buildings and structures for school purposes; the cost of land,
equipment, machinery, furnishings, installation of utilities and
other similar items related to making the project operational,
including, if adequate playgrounds and play areas do not already
exist
, the cost of constructing, renovating and equipping
playgrounds and play areas up to a cost not exceeding $25,000
; and
the cost of financing, interest during construction, professional
service fees and all other charges or expenses necessary,
appurtenant or incidental to the foregoing, including the cost of
administration of this article;
(5) "Facilities plan" means the ten-year countywide
comprehensive educational facilities plan established by a county
board in accordance with guidelines adopted by the authority to meet
the goals and objectives of this article that:
(A) Addresses the existing school facilities and facility needs
of the county to provide a thorough and efficient education in accordance with the provisions of this code and policies of the
state board. As used in this article, "facility" in the singular
or plural includes school playgrounds and play areas
to promote
student health;
(B) Best serves the needs of individual students, the general
school population and the communities served by the facilities,
including, but not limited to, providing for a facility
infrastructure that avoids excessive school bus transportation times
for students consistent with sound educational policy and within the
budgetary constraints for staffing and operating the schools of the
county;
(C) Includes the school major improvement plan;
(D) Includes the county board's school access safety plan
required by section three, article nine-f of this chapter;
(E) Is updated annually to reflect projects completed, current
enrollment projections and new or continuing needs; and
(F) Is approved by the state board and the authority prior to
the distribution of state funds pursuant to this article to any
county board or other entity applying for funds;
(6) "Project" means a construction project or a major
improvement project;
(7) "Region" means the area encompassed within and serviced by
a regional educational service agency established pursuant to
section twenty-six, article two of this chapter;
(8) "Revenue" or "revenues" means moneys:
(A) Deposited in the School Building Capital Improvements Fund
pursuant to section ten, article nine-a of this chapter;
(B) Deposited in the School Construction Fund pursuant to
section thirty, article fifteen, chapter eleven of this code and
section eighteen, article twenty-two, chapter twenty-nine of this
code;
(C) Deposited in the School Building Debt Service Fund pursuant
to section eighteen, article twenty-two, chapter twenty-nine of this
code;
(D) Deposited in the School Major Improvement Fund pursuant to
section thirty, article fifteen, chapter eleven of this code;
(E) Received, directly or indirectly, from any source for use
in any project completed pursuant to this article;
(F) Received by the authority for the purposes of this article;
and
(G) Deposited in the Excess Lottery School Building Debt
Services Fund pursuant to section eighteen-a, article twenty-two,
chapter twenty-nine of this code.
(9) "School major improvement plan" means a ten-year school
maintenance plan that:
(A) Is prepared by a county board in accordance with the
guidelines established by the authority and incorporated in its
Countywide Comprehensive Educational Facilities Plan, or is prepared by the state board or the administrative council of an area
vocational educational center in accordance with the guidelines if
the entities seek funding from the authority for a major improvement
project;
(B) Addresses the regularly scheduled maintenance for all
school facilities of the county or under the jurisdiction of the
entity seeking funding;
(C) Includes a projected repair and replacement schedule for
all school facilities of the county or of entity seeking funding;
(D) Addresses the major improvement needs of each school within
the county or under the jurisdiction of the entity seeking funding;
and
(E) Is required prior to the distribution of state funds for
a major improvement project pursuant to this article to the county
board, state board or administrative council; and
(10) "School major improvement project" means a project with
a cost greater than $50,000 and less than $1 million for the
renovation, expansion, repair and safety upgrading of existing
school facilities, buildings and structures, including the
substantial repair or upgrading of equipment, machinery, building
systems, utilities and other similar items related to the
renovation, repair or upgrading in the furtherance of a school major
improvement plan. A major improvement project does not include such
items as books, computers or equipment used for instructional purposes other than computers
; fuel; supplies; routine utility
services fees; routine maintenance costs; ordinary course of
business improvements; or other items which are customarily
considered to result in a current or ordinary course of business
operating charge.