Senate Bill No. 121
(By Senator Browning)
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[Introduced January 13, 2010; referred to the Committee on
Education; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §18A-2-3 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to changing the phrase "employment
term" to "contract term" as it relates to employment of
retired teachers as substitutes in areas of critical need.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18A-2-3 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. SCHOOL PERSONNEL.
§18A-2-3. Employment of substitute teachers and retired teachers
as substitutes in areas of critical need and
shortage; employment of prospective employable
professional personnel.
(a) The county superintendent, subject to approval of the
county board, may employ and assign substitute teachers to any of the following duties: (1) To fill the temporary absence of any
teacher or an unexpired school term made vacant by resignation,
death, suspension or dismissal; (2) to fill a teaching position of
a regular teacher on leave of absence; and (3) to perform the
instructional services of any teacher who is authorized by law to
be absent from class without loss of pay, providing the absence is
approved by the board of education in accordance with the law. The
substitute shall be a duly certified teacher.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the
contrary, a substitute teacher who has been assigned as a classroom
teacher in the same classroom continuously for more than one half
of a grading period and whose assignment remains in effect two
weeks prior to the end of the grading period, shall remain in the
assignment until the grading period has ended, unless the principal
of the school certifies that the regularly employed teacher has
communicated with and assisted the substitute with the preparation
of lesson plans and monitoring student progress or has been
approved to return to work by his or her physician. For the
purposes of this section, teacher and substitute teacher, in the
singular or plural, mean professional educator as defined in
section one, article one of this chapter.
(c) (1) The Legislature hereby finds and declares that due to
a shortage of qualified substitute teachers, a compelling state
interest exists in expanding the use of retired teachers to provide service as substitute teachers in areas of critical need and
shortage. The Legislature further finds that diverse circumstances
exist among the counties for the expanded use of retired teachers
as substitutes. For the purposes of this subsection, "area of
critical need and shortage" means an area of certification and
training in which the number of available substitute teachers in
the county who hold certification and training in that area and who
are not retired is insufficient to meet the projected need for
substitute teachers.
(2) A person receiving retirement benefits under the
provisions of article seven-a of this chapter or who is entitled to
retirement benefits during the fiscal year in which that person
retired may accept employment as a substitute teacher for an
unlimited number of days each fiscal year without affecting the
monthly retirement benefit to which the retirant is otherwise
entitled if the following conditions are satisfied:
(A) The county board adopts a policy recommended by the
superintendent to address areas of critical need and shortage;
(B) The policy sets forth the areas of critical need and
shortage in the county in accordance with the definition of area of
critical need and shortage set forth in subdivision (1) of this
subsection;
(C) The policy provides for the employment of retired teachers
as substitute teachers during the school year on an expanded basis in areas of critical need and shortage as provided in this
subsection;
(D) The policy provides that a retired teacher may be employed
as a substitute teacher in an area of critical need and shortage on
an expanded basis as provided in this subsection only when no other
teacher who holds certification and training in the area and who is
not retired is available and accepts the substitute assignment;
(E) The policy is effective for one school year only and is
subject to annual renewal by the county board;
(F) The state board approves the policy and the use of retired
teachers as substitute teachers on an expanded basis in areas of
critical need and shortage as provided in this subsection; and
(G) Prior to employment of a substitute teacher beyond the
post-retirement employment limitations established by the
Consolidated Public Retirement Board, the superintendent of the
affected county submits to the Consolidated Public Retirement
Board, in a form approved by the retirement board, an affidavit
signed by the superintendent stating the name of the county, the
fact that the county has adopted a policy to employ retired
teachers as substitutes to address areas of critical need and
shortage and the name or names of the person or persons to be
employed pursuant to the policy.
(3) Any person who retires and begins work as a substitute
teacher within the same
employment contract term shall lose those retirement benefits attributed to the annuity reserve, effective
from the first day of employment as a retiree substitute in that
employment contract term and ending with the month following the
date the retiree ceases to perform service as a substitute.
(4) Retired teachers employed to perform expanded substitute
service pursuant to this subsection are considered day-to-day,
temporary, part-time employees. The substitutes are not eligible
for additional pension or other benefits paid to regularly employed
employees and shall not accrue seniority.
(5) When a retired teacher is employed as a substitute to fill
a vacant position, the county board shall continue to post the
vacant position until it is filled with a regularly employed
teacher.
(6) Until this subsection is expired pursuant to subdivision
(7) of this subsection, the state board, annually, shall report to
the Joint Committee on Government and Finance prior to the first
day of February of each year. Additionally, a copy shall be
provided to the Legislative Oversight Commission on Education
Accountability. The report shall contain information indicating
the effectiveness of the provisions of this subsection on expanding
the use of retired substitute teachers to address areas of critical
need and shortage.
(7) The provisions of this subsection shall expire on June 30,
2010.
(d) (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code to
the contrary, each year a county superintendent may employ
prospective employable professional personnel on a reserve list at
the county level subject to the following conditions:
(A) The county board adopts a policy to address areas of
critical need and shortage as identified by the state board. The
policy shall include authorization to employ prospective employable
professional personnel;
(B) The county board posts a notice of the areas of critical
need and shortage in the county in a conspicuous place in each
school for at least ten working days; and
(C) There are not any potentially qualified applicants
available and willing to fill the position.
(2) Prospective employable professional personnel may only be
employed from candidates at a job fair who have or will graduate
from college in the current school year or whose employment
contract with a county board has or will be terminated due to a
reduction in force in the current fiscal year.
(3) Prospective employable professional personnel employed are
limited to three full-time prospective employable professional
personnel per one hundred professional personnel employed in a
county or twenty-five full-time prospective employable professional
personnel in a county, whichever is less.
(4) Prospective employable professional personnel shall be granted benefits at a cost to the county board and as a condition
of the employment contract as approved by the county board.
(5) Regular employment status for prospective employable
professional personnel may be obtained only in accordance with the
provisions of section seven-a, article four of this chapter.
(e) The state board annually shall review the status of
employing personnel under the provisions of subsection (d) of this
section and annually shall report to the Legislative Oversight
Commission on Education Accountability on or before November 1, of
each year. The report shall include, but not be limited to, the
following:
(A) (1) The counties that participated in the program;
(B) (2) The number of personnel hired;
(C) (3) The teaching fields in which personnel were hired;
(D) (4) The venue from which personnel were employed;
(E) (5) The place of residency of the individual hired; and
(F) (6) The state board's recommendations on the prospective
employable professional personnel program.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to change the phrase
"employment term" to "contract term" as it relates to employment of
retired teachers as substitutes in areas of critical need.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.