H. B. 4539
(By Delegate Paxton)
[Introduced February 14, 2008; referred to the
Committee on Education.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §18-2-13f of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to continuing contract status for
teachers established and dismissal and suspension procedures.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18-2-13f of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION.
§18-2-13f. Responsibility for administration and provision of
educational services in state correctional
institutions; continuing contract status
established; dismissal and suspension procedures.
The state board is responsible for the administration of
programs for the education of all institutionalized school-age
juveniles within facilities operated by the Division of
Corrections. School-age juvenile means in this article any individual who would, if not institutionalized, be entitled to
attend the public schools in accordance with: (1) Section five,
article two of this chapter; (2) sections fifteen and eighteen,
article five of this chapter; or (3) section one, article twenty of
this chapter. To strengthen the administration of educational
programs, there shall be: (1) A full-time principal or lead
teacher at each department of corrections facility having any
school-age juveniles and (2) a full-time director of educational
services for institutionalized school-age juveniles employed by the
Department of Education. Such principal or lead teacher shall be
employed by and responsible to the director of educational
services.
Classroom teachers and other school personnel shall be hired
and provided as necessary to all institutionalized juveniles by the
State Department of Education to the extent necessary to provide
adequate and appropriate educational opportunity.
All teachers
shall execute a contract with the State Board of Education, which
contract shall state the salary to be paid and shall be in the form
prescribed by the State Superintendent of Schools. Every contract
shall be signed by the teacher and by the president and secretary
of the State Board of Education.
A teacher's contract under this section, shall be for a term
of not less than one nor more than three years. If, after three
years of such employment, the teacher who holds a professional certificate based on at least a bachelor's degree, has met the
qualifications required and the board of education enters into a
new contract of employment, it shall be a continuing contract.
Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, the State Board
of Education may suspend or dismiss any teacher subject to the
provisions of this article, with continuing contract status, for
immorality, incompetency, cruelty, insubordination, intemperance or
willful neglect of duty, but the charges shall be stated in writing
and the teacher affected shall be given an opportunity to be heard
by the state board upon not less than ten day's written notice,
which charges and notice shall be served on the teacher within five
days of the presentation of the charges to the state board. The
hearing may be held at a regular meeting of the state board or at
a special meeting called for that purpose.
The state board may employ such auxiliary and service
personnel as it considers necessary for meeting the educational
needs of the institutional schools. Before entering upon their
duties these personnel shall execute with the board a written
contract which may be in a letter form and shall state the
classification and terms of work, the employment period and pay,
and shall certify that the employment has been made a matter of
minute record. The letter shall provide space for an acceptance
provision and shall be signed and returned to the board by the
employee or otherwise he or she shall forfeit his or her right to employment.
After three years of acceptable employment each auxiliary and
service personnel, at the end of his contractual period of
employment, shall be notified in writing on or before the first day
of May in the year in which such employment shall terminate if he
is not to be reemployed for the ensuing year. The notice shall be
by certified mail, return receipt requested, and the employee has
the right of a hearing before the state board, if requested, before
final action is taken by the board upon the termination of such
employment.
Adequate and appropriate educational opportunity requires
education services for institutionalized school-age juveniles on a
twelve-month basis, excepting only normal school holidays and those
additional days determined by the State Board of Education in
consultation with the appropriate department head to be necessary.
School personnel shall be responsible to the principal or lead
teacher while providing educational services but shall comply with
rules established by the Division of Corrections to ensure security
and safety in the facility. Educational personnel employed at and
by correctional facilities and institutions shall be permitted to
transfer to comparable positions as school personnel of the State
Department of Education if those personnel meet the qualifications
established for those positions by the State Department of
Education. The daily rate of pay of educational personnel employed by the State Department of Education shall be equivalent to the
daily rate of pay of the comparable position in the public schools
of the county where the institution is located.
There shall be a separate line item account of the budget of
the State Department of Education for the education of
institutionalized school-age juveniles. All money that the
Legislature may annually appropriate for that purpose shall be
placed into this account. This account shall be used solely for
the education of such juveniles. Money for education of juveniles
in the Division of Corrections shall be deposited in that account
and accounted for separately.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide for continuing
contract status for teachers and establish dismissal and suspension
procedures.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.