Senate Bill No. 125
(By Senators White, Prezioso and Hunter)
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[Introduced January 18, 2007; referred to the Committee on
Military; and then to the Committee on Education.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §18-2-34 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to providing that veterans who
serve during times of war or armed conflict prior to
completing high school may receive their high school diploma
under certain conditions.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18-2-34 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION.
§18-2-34. High school diplomas for surviving World War I, World
War II, Korean Conflict and Vietnam Conflict
veterans.
(a) Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the
contrary, the state board shall provide for the awarding of high
school diplomas, either by the county board in the county in which the veteran resides or the county in which the veteran would have
received his or her diploma, whichever location the veteran
chooses, to any surviving
World War I, World War II, Korean
Conflict or Vietnam Conflict veteran who:
(1) Left school prior to graduation and served in the Armed
Forces of the United States;
Provided, That a veteran of the
Korean Conflict or the Vietnam Conflict must have been attending
high school at the time he or she left prior to graduating and
served in the armed forces of the United States;
(2) Did not receive a high school diploma;
(3) Served during any period of war or armed conflict;
(3) (4) Was discharged from the armed services under honorable
conditions; and
(4) (5) Completes the application process as provided by the
joint rules of the state board and the veterans' council.
(b) The state board and the veterans' council, created in
article one, chapter nine-a of this code, shall jointly propose
rules for the identification of eligible veterans and for the
awarding of high school diplomas. The rules shall provide for an
application process and the credentials required to receive the
high school diplomas
as well as defining the terms "war and armed
conflict."
(c) For purposes of this section:
(1) "World War I veteran" means any veteran who:
(A) Performed wartime service between April sixth, one
thousand nine hundred seventeen, and November eleventh, one
thousand nine hundred eighteen; or
(B) Has been awarded the World War I Victory Medal;
(2) "World War II veteran" means any veteran who performed
wartime service between September sixteenth, one thousand nine
hundred forty, and December thirty-first, one thousand nine hundred
forty-six;
(3) "Korean Conflict veteran" means any veteran who performed
military service between June twenty-seventh, one thousand nine
hundred fifty, and January thirty-first, one thousand nine hundred
fifty-five; and
(4) "Vietnam Conflict veteran" means any veteran who performed
military service between February twenty-eighth, one thousand nine
hundred sixty-one, and May seventh, one thousand nine hundred
seventy-five.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that military
personnel who enlisted or was drafted during any time of war or
armed conflict into the armed forces prior to receiving their high
school degree are entitled to receive their high school diploma
under certain circumstances.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.