H. B. 3319
(By Delegate Rodighiero)
[Introduced January 13, 2010; referred to the
Committee on Education then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §18A-5-8 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to permitting the parents of an
autistic student to seek a change in the student's aide or
mentor; permitting the school to evaluate the request; and
permitting the school to take the appropriate action.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18A-5-8 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5. AUTHORITY; RIGHTS; RESPONSIBILITY.
§18A-5-8. Authority of certain aides to exercise control over
students; compensation; transfers;
parents' requests.
(a) Within the limitations provided in this section, any aide
who agrees to do so shall stand in the place of the parent or
guardian and shall exercise such authority and control over
students as is required of a teacher as provided in section one of this article. The principal shall designate aides in the school
who agree to exercise that authority on the basis of seniority as
an aide and shall enumerate the instances in which the authority
shall be exercised by an aide when requested by the principal,
assistant principal or professional employee to whom the aide is
assigned.
(b) The authority provided for in subsection (a) of this
section does not extend to suspending or expelling any student,
participating in the administration of corporal punishment or
performing instructional duties as a teacher or substitute teacher.
However, the authority extends to supervising students undergoing
in-school suspension if the instructional duties required by the
supervision are limited solely to handing out class work and
collecting class work. The authority to supervise students
undergoing in-school suspension does not include actual
instruction.
(c) An aide designated by the principal under subsection (a)
of this section shall receive a salary not less than one pay grade
above the highest pay grade held by the service person under
section eight-a, article four of this chapter and any county salary
schedule in excess of the minimum requirements of this article.
(d) An aide may not be required by the operation of this
section to perform noninstructional duties for an amount of time
which exceeds that required under the aide's contract of employment or that required of other aides in the same school unless the
assignment of the duties is mutually agreed upon by the aide and
the county superintendent, or the superintendent's designated
representative, subject to county board approval.
(1) The terms and conditions of the agreement shall be in
writing, signed by both parties, and may include additional
benefits.
(2) The agreement shall be uniform as to aides assigned
similar duties for similar amounts of time within the same school.
(3) Aides have the option of agreeing to supervise students
and of renewing related assignments annually. If an aide elects
not to renew the previous agreement to supervise students, the
minimum salary of the aide shall revert to the pay grade specified
in section eight-a, article four of this chapter for the
classification title held by the aide and any county salary
schedule in excess of the minimum requirements of this article.
(e) For the purposes of this section, aide means any aide
class title as defined in section eight, article four of this
chapter regardless of numeric classification.
(f) Subject to the limitations set forth in subsection (g) of
this section, an aide may transfer to another position of
employment one time only during any one half of a school term,
unless otherwise mutually agreed upon by the aide and the county
superintendent, or the superintendent's designee, subject to county board approval. During the first year of employment as an aide, an
aide may not transfer to another position of employment during the
first one-half school term of employment unless mutually agreed
upon by the aide and county superintendent, subject to county board
approval.
(g) Autism mentors and aides providing services to children
diagnosed as autistic or with autism spectrum disorder; and
paraprofessionals, interpreters and aides providing one-on-one
services to students with exceptionalities as required by the
students' individualized education programs (IEP).
(1) Legislative findings and intent.
(A) The Legislature finds that it is not in the best interest
of a student with autism or a student with an exceptionality whose
IEP requires one-on-one services to have multiple teachers,
mentors, aides, paraprofessionals, interpreters or any combination
thereof during the instructional term; and
(B) It is the intent of the Legislature that filling positions
through transfers of personnel from one position to another after
the fifth day prior to the beginning of the instructional term be
kept to a minimum for:
(i) Autism mentors and aides who work with students with
autism; and
for
(ii) Paraprofessionals, interpreters and aides who work with
students with exceptionalities whose IEPs require one-on-one services.
(2) Transfer limitations and conditions.
(A) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (f) of this
section, after the fifth day prior to the beginning of the
instructional term, a service person may not transfer to another
position in the county during that instructional term, unless he or
she does not have valid certification, if the service person is
employed and assigned as:
(i) An autism mentor or aide who works with students with
autism; or
as
(ii) A paraprofessional, interpreter or aide who works with a
student with an exceptionality whose IEP requires one-on-one
services.
(B) The provisions of this subsection are subject to the
following conditions:
(i) The aide, autism mentor, paraprofessional or interpreter
may apply for any posted, vacant position with the successful
applicant assuming the position at the beginning of the next
instructional term;
(ii) The county board, upon recommendation of the
superintendent, may fill a position before the beginning of the
next instructional term when it is determined to be in the best
interest of the students; and
(iii) The county superintendent shall notify the State Board when a service person who is subject to the provisions of this
subsection is transferred to another position after the fifth day
prior to the beginning of the instructional term;
(3) A parent of a student diagnosed with autism or autism
spectrum disorder may request that the IEP team evaluate whether
continued services from the current autism mentor or aide is in the
best interest of the student when a service person with greater
seniority bids on the position or the parent believes it is in the
best interest of the student to discontinue services from that
mentor or aide. Following the evaluation the IEP team may
recommend to the county superintendent that the mentor or aide
continue or discontinue providing services to the student.
Consistent with the recommendation, and at his or her discretion,
the superintendent may:
(A) Continue employment of the mentor or aide in that position
if he or she:
(i) Holds valid certification;
(ii) Has regular employment status;
(iii) Has more experience as an autism mentor or aide than the
service person bidding on the position; and
(iv) Elects to remain in the position; or
(B) Reassign the mentor or an aide in that position if:
(i) The superintendent determines that the student may be
better served by a different autism mentor or aide;
(ii) The current mentor or aide does not hold valid
certification; or
(iii) The current mentor or aide does not have regular
employment status.
(h) Regular service personnel employed in a category of
employment other than aide who seek employment as an aide shall
hold a high school diploma or shall have received a general
educational development certificate and shall have the opportunity
to receive appropriate training pursuant to subsection (j), section
thirteen, article five, chapter eighteen of this code and section
two, article twenty of said chapter.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to permit the parents of an
autistic student to seek a change in the student's aide or mentor.
The bill also permits the school to evaluate the request and take
the appropriate action.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.