H. B. 2660
(By Delegate Paxton)
[Introduced February 24, 2005; referred to the
Committee on Education then Education.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §18A-1-1 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended; and to amend said code by adding thereto a
new section, designated §18A-2-9a, all relating to setting
standards for assignment of high school athletic directors.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18A-1-1 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-2-9a, all to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS.
§18A-1-1. Definitions.
The definitions contained in section one, article one, chapter
eighteen of this code apply to this chapter. In addition, the
following words used in this chapter and in any proceedings
pursuant to this chapter shall, unless the context clearly indicates a different meaning, be construed as follows:
(a) "School personnel" means all personnel employed by a
county board whether employed on a regular full-time basis, an
hourly basis or otherwise. School personnel shall be comprised of
two categories: Professional personnel and service personnel;
(b) "Professional personnel" means persons who meet the
certification requirements of the state, licensing requirements of
the state or both and includes the professional educator and other
professional employees;
(c) "Professional educator" has the same meaning as "teacher"
as defined in section one, article one, chapter eighteen of this
code. Professional educators shall be classified as:
(1) "Classroom teacher" means a professional educator who has
direct instructional or counseling relationship with pupils,
spending the majority of his or her time in this capacity;
(2) "Principal" means a professional educator who, as agent of
the county board, has responsibility for the supervision,
management and control of a school or schools within the guidelines
established by the county board. The major area of the
responsibility shall be the general supervision of all the schools
and all school activities involving pupils, teachers and other
school personnel;
(3) "Athletic director" means a professional educator who is
responsible for supervising the management and operation of the athletic programs and activities of the school to which he or she
is assigned;
(3) (4) "Supervisor" means a professional educator who,
whether by this or other appropriate title, is responsible for
working primarily in the field with professional and other
personnel in instructional and other school improvement; and
(4) (5) "Central office administrator" means a superintendent,
associate superintendent, assistant superintendent and other
professional educators, whether by these or other appropriate
titles, who are charged with the administering and supervising of
the whole or some assigned part of the total program of the
countywide school system;
(d) "Other professional employee" means that person from
another profession who is properly licensed and is employed to
serve the public schools and includes a registered professional
nurse, licensed by the West Virginia Board of Examiners for
Registered Professional Nurses and employed by a county board, who
has completed either a two-year (sixty-four semester hours) or a
three-year (ninety-six semester hours) nursing program;
(e) "Service personnel" means those who serve the school or
schools as a whole, in a nonprofessional capacity, including such
areas as secretarial, custodial, maintenance, transportation,
school lunch and as aides;
(f) "Principals academy" or "academy" means the academy created pursuant to section two-b, article three-a of this chapter;
(g) "Center for professional development" means the center
created pursuant to section one, article three-a of this chapter;
(h) "Job-sharing arrangement" means a formal, written
agreement voluntarily entered into by a county board with two or
more of its employees who wish to divide between them the duties
and responsibilities of one authorized full-time position;
(i) "Prospective employable professional personnel" means
certified professional educators who:
(1) Have been recruited on a reserve list of a county board;
(2) Have been recruited at a job fair or as a result of
contact made at a job fair;
(3) Have not obtained regular employee status through the job
posting process provided for in section seven-a, article four of
this chapter; and
(4) Have obtained a baccalaureate degree from an accredited
institution of higher education within the past year;
(j) "Dangerous student" means a pupil who is substantially
likely to cause serious bodily injury to himself, herself or
another individual within that pupil's educational environment,
which may include any alternative education environment, as
evidenced by a pattern or series of violent behavior exhibited by
the pupil, and documented in writing by the school, with the
documentation provided to the student and parent or guardian at the time of any offense; and
(k) "Alternative education" means an authorized departure from
the regular school program designed to provide educational and
social development for students whose disruptive behavior places
them at risk of not succeeding in the traditional school structures
and in adult life without positive interventions.
ARTICLE 2. SCHOOL PERSONNEL.
§18A-2-9a. Duties and responsibilities of high school athletic
directors.
(a) Upon the recommendation of the county superintendent of
schools, the county board of education shall employ and assign
through written contract, athletic directors who shall supervise
the management and the operation of high school athletic activities
to which they are assigned. An athletic director shall hold valid
credentials appropriate for his or her assignment. Beginning on
the first day of July, two thousand six, the prerequisites for
assignment as a high school athletic director are:
(1) A minimum of five years interscholastic or intercollegiate
coaching experience; and
(2) Compliance with one of the following education
requirements:
(A) A college degree in athletic administration;
(B) A masters degree in educational administration; or
(C) Completion of the following Leadership Training Classes provided through the National Interscholastic Athletic
Administration Association (NIAAA) Leadership Training Program:
LTC 501 - Athletic Administration: Philosophy, Leadership,
Organizations and Professional Programs;
LTC 502 - Athletic Administration: Principles, Strategies and
Methods; and
LTC 504 - Athletic Administration: Legal Issues I (Risk
Management).
(b) Any person employed in the capacity of athletic director
during, or prior to, the 2004 - 2005 school year is exempt from the
prerequisites set forth in subsection (a), except that the person
must complete the Leadership Training Courses set forth in
subdivision (2)(C), subsection (a) within three years of the
effective date of this legislation.
(c) Under the supervision of the school principal and in
accordance with the rules and regulations of the county board of
education, the athletic director shall assume administrative
responsibility for the planning, management, operation and
evaluation of the total athletic program for the school for which
he or she is assigned. The responsibilities of the athletic
director include, but are not limited to, the following: (1)
Supervision of games; (2) Overseeing the athletic budget; (3)
Hiring of game officials; (4) Scheduling athletic contest; (5)
Knowing and upholding all county, West Virginia Secondary Schools Activities Commission (WVSSAC) and league rules and regulations;
(6) Maintain proper records which includes a permanent file of
players; medical forms, insurance forms, participation records,
parent consent forms and birth certificates; (7) Scheduling
transportation for athletic teams; (8) Prepare and verify athletic
eligibility lists; (9) Supervise, observe and evaluate coaches;
(10) Secure all needed personnel for basic athletic event
operations; (11) Procure and care for athletic equipment; and (12)
Other duties involving athletics as assigned by the principal or as
a part of a county job description for athletic directors.
(d) Upon recommendation of the county superintendent of
schools, the county board of education shall, when needed, employ
and assign through written contract, assistant athletic directors
who shall work under the direction of the school principal and
athletic director. An assistant athletic director shall hold valid
credentials appropriate for his or her assignment. Beginning on
the first day of July, two thousand six, the prerequisite for
assignment as a high school assistant athletic director is the
completion of the Leadership Training Courses set forth in
subdivision (2)(C), subsection (a).
(e) Any person employed in the capacity of assistant athletic
director during, or prior to, the 2004 - 2005 school year is exempt
from the prerequisite set forth in subsection (d), except that the
person must complete the Leadership Training Courses set forth in subdivision (2)(C), subsection (a) within three years of the
effective date of this legislation.
(f) Beginning on the first day of July, two thousand six, the
county board of education shall employ an athletic director for
each high school in the county. Each high school that participates
in twelve or less varsity sports, as defined by the WVSSAC, shall
have an athletic director who is assigned to those athletic
activities at least one-half of the school day, with teaching
duties not to exceed twenty hours per week. Each school with
thirteen or more varsity sports, as defined by the WVSSAC, shall
have an athletic director who is assigned to those athletic
activities full-time and who may not be assigned any teaching
duties except on a temporary, emergency basis.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to set standards for school
athletic directors. The bill also requires a high school to assign
a full-time athletic director if the school has 13 or more varsity
sports, and at least a half-time athletic director if the school
has twelve or less varsity sports.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
§18A-2-9a is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring
have been omitted.