COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 594
(By Senators Edgell, Kessler, Hunter, Deem and Love)
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[Originating in the Committee on Education;
reported February 21, 2008.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §18A-5-1 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended; and to amend said code by adding thereto a
new section, designated §18A-5-1c, all relating to the
authority of teachers and school personnel over students;
exclusion and readmission of students from and to the
classroom; creating more alternative learning centers or
placements, subject to funding; requiring countywide meetings
to discuss effective discipline policies; requiring local
school improvement councils to review certain discipline-
related issues; transmitting any determination of unfair or
inconsistent discipline to the county superintendent; and
establishing the Bill of Rights and Responsibilities for
Students and School Personnel.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18A-5-1 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted; and that said code be amended by adding
thereto a new section, designated §18A-5-1c, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5. AUTHORITY; RIGHTS; RESPONSIBILITY.
§18A-5-1. Authority of teachers and other school personnel;
exclusion of pupils having infectious diseases;
suspension or expulsion of disorderly pupils;
corporal punishment abolished.
(a) The teacher shall stand in the place of the parent(s),
guardian(s) or custodian(s) in exercising authority over the school
and shall have control of all
pupils students enrolled in the
school from the time they reach the school until they have returned
to their respective homes, except that where transportation of
pupils is provided, the driver in charge of the school bus or other
mode of transportation shall exercise
such the authority and
control over the
children students while they are in transit to and
from the school.
(b) Subject to the rules of the state board
of Education, the
teacher shall exclude from the school any
pupil or pupils student
known to have or suspected of having any infectious disease, or any
pupil or pupils who have student who has been exposed to any
infectious disease, and shall immediately notify the proper health
officer or medical inspector of the exclusion. Any
pupil student
so excluded
shall may not be readmitted to the school until the
pupil student has complied with all the requirements of the rules
governing those cases or has presented a certificate of health
signed by the medical inspector or other proper health officer.
(c) The teacher may exclude from his or her classroom or
school bus any
pupil student who is guilty of disorderly conduct;
who in any manner interferes with an orderly educational process;
who threatens, abuses or otherwise intimidates or attempts to
intimidate a school employee or a
pupil student; who willfully
disobeys a school employee; or who uses abusive or profane language
directed at a school employee. Any
pupil student excluded shall be
placed under the control of the principal of the school or a
designee. The excluded
pupil student may be admitted to the
classroom or school bus only when the principal, or a designee,
provides written certification to the teacher that the
pupil
student may be readmitted and specifies the specific type of
disciplinary action, if any, which was taken. If the principal
finds that disciplinary action is warranted, he or she shall
provide written and, if possible, telephonic notice of the action
to the parent(s), guardian(s) or custodian(s). When a teacher
excludes the same
pupil student from his or her classroom or
from
a school bus
three two times in one
school year semester and after
exhausting all reasonable methods of classroom discipline provided
in the school discipline plan, the
pupil student may be readmitted
to the teacher's classroom,
the school or the school bus only after
the principal, teacher and, if possible, the parent(s), guardian(s)
or custodian(s) of the
pupil student have held a conference to
discuss the
pupil's student's disruptive behavior patterns and the
teacher and the principal agree on a course of discipline for the
pupil student and inform the parent(s), guardian(s) or custodian(s) of the course of action. Thereafter, if the
pupil's student's
disruptive behavior persists, upon the teacher's request, the
principal may, to the extent feasible, transfer the
pupil student
to another setting.
The Legislature finds that isolating students
or placing them in alternative learning centers may be the best
setting for chronically disruptive students. The county board
shall create more alternative learning centers or placements,
subject to funding, to correct these students' behaviors so they
can return to a regular classroom without engaging in further
disruptive behavior.
(d) The Legislature finds that suspension from school is not
appropriate solely for a
pupil's student's failure to attend class.
Therefore,
no pupil a student may
not be suspended from school
solely for not attending class. Other methods of discipline may be
used for the
pupil student which may include, but are not limited
to, detention, extra class time or alternative class settings.
(e) Corporal punishment of any
pupil student by a school
employee is prohibited.
(f) Each county board is solely responsible for the
administration of proper discipline in the public schools of the
county and shall adopt policies consistent with the provisions of
this section to govern disciplinary actions. These policies shall
encourage the use of alternatives to corporal punishment, provide
for the training of school personnel in alternatives to corporal
punishment and provide for the involvement of parent(s),
guardian(s) or custodian(s) in the maintenance of school discipline. The county boards
of education shall provide for the
immediate incorporation and implementation in the schools of a
preventive discipline program which may include the responsible
student program and a student involvement program which may include
the peer mediation program, devised by the
West Virginia Board of
Education state board. Each
county board may modify those programs
to meet the particular needs of the county. The county boards
shall provide in-service training for teachers and principals
relating to assertive discipline procedures and conflict
resolution. The county boards
of education also may establish
cooperatives with private entities to provide middle educational
programs which may include programs focusing on developing
individual coping skills, conflict resolution, anger control,
self-esteem issues, stress management and decisionmaking for
students and any other program related to preventive discipline.
(g) For the purpose of this section:
(1) "
Pupil or student Student" includes any child, youth or
adult who is enrolled in any instructional program or activity
conducted under board authorization and within the facilities of or
in connection with any program under public school direction:
Provided, That in the case of adults, the
pupil-teacher
student-teacher relationship
shall terminate terminates when the
pupil student leaves the school or other place of instruction or
activity;
(2) "Teacher" means all professional educators as defined in
section one, article one of this chapter and
shall include includes the driver of a school bus or other mode of transportation; and
(3) "Principal" means the principal, assistant principal, vice
principal or the administrative head of the school or a
professional personnel designee of the principal or the
administrative head of the school.
(h) Teachers shall exercise other authority and perform other
duties prescribed for them by law or by the rules of the state
board not inconsistent with the provisions of this chapter and
chapter eighteen of this code.
(i) Each county board is required to conduct at least two
countywide meetings to engage parents, students, school employees
and other interested parties in a positive and interactive dialogue
regarding effective discipline policies. The meetings, which shall
be official meetings of the board, shall be held in geographically
diverse locations within each county to maximize public attendance
and shall afford ample time for the dialogue.
(j) The local school improvement council required to be
established at each school pursuant to section two, article five-a,
chapter eighteen of this code shall:
(1) Review disciplinary practices and measures at the school;
(2) Examine fairness and consistency of disciplinary actions
at the school; and
(3) Report findings to the county board at its meeting with
the county board required by section fourteen, article five,
chapter eighteen of this code and section two, article five-a of
said chapter.
(k) If the local school improvement council at a school
determines that student discipline at the school is not enforced
fairly or consistently, the council shall transmit that
determination in writing, along with supporting information, to the
county superintendent. Within ten days of receiving the report,
the superintendent, or designee, shall respond in writing to the
council. The county board shall retain and file all the
correspondence and maintain it for public review.
§18A-5-1c. Bill of Rights and Responsibilities for Students and
School Personnel.
(a) The Legislature finds that:
(1) The mission of public schools is to prepare students for
equal and responsible citizenship and productive adulthood;
(2) Democratic citizenship and productive adulthood begin with
standards of conduct in schools;
(3) Schools should be safe havens for learning with high
standards of conduct for students; and
(4) Rights necessarily carry responsibilities.
(b) In recognition of the findings in this section, the
following Bill of Rights and Responsibilities for Students and
School Personnel is established:
(1) The right to attend a school and ride a bus that is safe,
orderly and drug free;
(2) The right to learn and work in a school that has clear
discipline codes with fair and consistently enforced consequences for misbehavior;
(3) The right to learn and work in a school that has
alternative educational placements for violent or chronically
disruptive students;
(4) The right to be treated with courtesy and respect;
(5) The right to attend a school and ride on a bus that is
free from bullying;
(6) The right to support from school administrators when
enforcing discipline policies;
(7) The right to support from parents, the community, public
officials and businesses in their efforts to uphold high standards
of conduct; and
(8) The responsibility to adhere to the principles in this
Bill of Rights and Responsibilities for Students and School
Personnel and to behave in a manner that guarantees that other
students and school personnel enjoy the same rights.