Senate Bill No. 624
(By Senators Plymale and Edgell)
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[Introduced February 8, 2008; referred to the Committee on
Education; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §18A-5-8 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to expanding the application of
provisions limiting the transfer of autism mentors and aides
working with autistic students to also apply to
paraprofessionals and interpreters working with students with
any exceptionality.
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 the 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 may 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 may 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 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 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 board approval.
(g) Autism mentors, paraprofessionals, interpreters and aides
providing services to children diagnosed as autistic or with autism
spectrum disorder student with exceptionalities.
(1) Legislative findings and intent.
(A) The Legislature finds that it is not in the best interest
of students with autism exceptionalities to have multiple teachers,
mentors, aides or any combination thereof during the instructional
term; and
(B) It is the intent of the Legislature that filling positions
for autism mentors, paraprofessionals, interpreters and aides who
work with autistic students with exceptionalities 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.
(2) Transfer limitations and conditions.
(A) After the fifth day prior to the beginning of the
instructional term, no service person employed and assigned as an
autism mentor, paraprofessional, interpreter or aide who works with
autistic students with exceptionalities may transfer to another
position in the county during that instructional term unless the
service person holding that position does not have valid certification.
(B) The provisions of this subsection are subject to the
following conditions:
(i) The aide paraprofessional, interpreter or autism mentor
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 employed in a position as autism mentor,
paraprofessional, interpreter or aide working with autistic
exceptionalities students 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 (10) (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 expand the application of provisions limiting the transfer of autism mentors and aides
working with autistic students to also apply to paraprofessionals
and interpreters working with students with any exceptionality.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.