WEST virginia legislature
2021 regular session
Committee Substitute
for
House Joint Resolution 1
By Delegates Kimble, Hanna, J. Jeffries, Hamrick, Horst, Smith, Clark, Espinosa, Ellington, Keaton and Bruce
[Originating in the Committee on Judiciary; Reported on February 15, 2021]
Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the State of West Virginia, amending section 2, article 12 thereof, relating to education and the supervision of free schools; clarifying that the general supervisory authority of the State Board of Education is subject to legislative enactments; allowing the board to promulgate rules; requiring rules to be submitted to the Legislature for its review and approval, amendment, or rejection; numbering and designating such proposed amendment; and providing a summarized statement of the purpose of such proposed amendment.
Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia, two thirds of the members elected to each house agreeing thereto:
That the question of ratification or rejection of an amendment to the Constitution of the State of West Virginia be submitted to the voters of the state at the next general election to be held in the year 2022, which proposed amendment is that section 2, article 12 thereof, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE XII. EDUCATION.
§2. Supervision of free schools.
Subject to the enactments of the Legislature, The
the general supervision of the free schools of the State shall be vested
in the West Virginia Board of Education which shall perform such duties as may
be prescribed by law. In the performance of its supervisory duties, the
West Virginia Board of Education may promulgate rules which shall be submitted
to the Legislature for its review and approval, amendment or rejection, in
whole or in part, in the manner prescribed by general law. The board shall
consist of nine members to be appointed by the Governor, by and with the advice
and consent of the Senate, for overlapping terms of nine years, except that the
original appointments shall be for terms of one, two, three, four, five, six,
seven, eight, and nine years, respectively. No more than five members of the board
shall belong to the same political party, and in addition to the general
qualifications otherwise required by the legislature may require other specific
qualifications for membership on the board. No member of the board may be
removed from office by the Governor except for official misconduct,
incompetence, neglect of duty, or gross immorality, and then only in the manner
prescribed by law for the removal by the Governor of state elective officers.
The West Virginia Board of Education shall, in the
manner prescribed by law, select the State Superintendent of Free Schools who
shall serve at its will and pleasure. He or she shall be the chief
school officer of the state and shall have such powers and shall perform such
duties as may be are prescribed by law.
The State Superintendent of Free Schools shall be a member of the Board of Public Works as provided by subsection B, section fifty-one, article six of this Constitution.
Resolved further, That in accordance with the provisions of article 11, chapter 3 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, such amendment is hereby numbered “Amendment No. 1” and designated as the “Education Accountability Amendment” and the purpose of the proposed amendment is summarized as follows: “The purpose of this rule is to clarify that the general supervisory authority of the State Board of Education, including its rules, is subject to legislative enactments.”