ENROLLED
H. B. 4478
(By Delegates
M. Poling, Paxton, Wysong, Rodighiero,
Ellis, Duke, Rowan, Gall and Wells
)
[Passed March 4, 2008; in effect ninety days from passage.]
AN ACT to
amend and reenact §18A-5-8 of the Code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to authority of certain
aides to exercise control over students; compensation;
transfers and limitations thereof; and expanding the
classifications of service personnel for which transfers
during the instructional term are limited.
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.
(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 autism mentors and
aides who work with students with autism and for
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 an autism mentor or aide who works
with students with autism, or as 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;
(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.