H. B. 2968
(By Delegates Perry, Williams, Crosier, Sumner,
Beach, Poling, Paxton, Wysong, Stephens and Duke)
[Introduced March 10, 2005; referred to the
Committee on Education then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §5-16-2 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, be amended; to amend and reenact §18A-1-1 of
said code; to amend and reenact §18A-3-2b of said code; and to
amend and reenact §18A-4-7b of said code, all relating to
long-term substitute professional educators; defining
long-term substitute professional educators for the purposes
of eligibility for Public Employee's Insurance coverage;
orientation and supervision of long-term substitute
professional educators; and including long-term substitute
professional educators as experienced permanently employed
personnel for the purposes of filling vacancies.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §5-16-2 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted; that §18A-1-1 of said code be amended and
reenacted; that §18A-3-2b of said code be amended and reenacted;
and that §18A-4-7b of said code be amended and reenacted, all to
read as follows:
CHAPTER 5. GENERAL POWERS AND AUTHORITY OF THE GOVERNOR,
SECRETARY OF STATE AND ATTORNEY GENERAL; BOARD
OF PUBLIC WORKS; MISCELLANEOUS AGENCIES, COMMISSIONS,
OFFICES, PROGRAMS, ETC.
ARTICLE 16. WEST VIRGINIA PUBLIC EMPLOYEES INSURANCE ACT.
§5-16-2. Definitions.
The following words and phrases as used in this article,
unless a different meaning is clearly indicated by the context,
have the following meanings:
(1) "Agency" means the Public Employees Insurance Agency
created by this article.
(2) "Director" means the Director of the Public Employees
Insurance Agency created by this article.
(3) "Employee" means any person, including elected officers,
who works regularly full time
or as a long-term substitute in the
service of the state of West Virginia and, for the purpose of this
article only, the term "employee" also means any person, including
elected officers, who works regularly full time in the service of
a county board of education; a county, city or town in the state;
any separate corporation or instrumentality established by one or
more counties, cities or towns, as permitted by law; any
corporation or instrumentality supported in most part by counties,
cities or towns; any public corporation charged by law with the
performance of a governmental function and whose jurisdiction is
coextensive with one or more counties, cities or towns; any
comprehensive community mental health center or comprehensive
mental retardation facility established, operated or licensed by the Secretary of Health and Human Resources pursuant to section
one, article two-a, chapter twenty-seven of this code, and which is
supported in part by state, county or municipal funds; any person
who works regularly full time in the service of the University of
West Virginia Board of Trustees or the Board of Directors of the
state college system; and any person who works regularly full time
in the service of a combined city-county health department created
pursuant to article two, chapter sixteen of this code. On and
after the first day of January, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-four, and upon election by a county board of education to
allow elected board members to participate in the Public Employees
Insurance Program pursuant to this article, any person elected to
a county board of education shall be considered to be an "employee"
during the term of office of the elected member:
Provided, That
the elected member shall pay the entire cost of the premium if he
or she elects to be covered under this article. Any matters of
doubt as to who is an employee within the meaning of this article
shall be decided by the Director.
On or after the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-seven, a person shall be considered an "employee" if that
person meets the following criteria:
(i) Participates in a job-sharing arrangement as defined in
section one, article one, chapter eighteen-a of this code;
(ii) Has been designated, in writing, by all other
participants in that job-sharing arrangement as the "employee" for
purposes of this section; and
(iii) Works at least one-third of the time required for a
full-time employee.
(4) "Employer" means the State of West Virginia, its boards,
agencies, commissions, departments, institutions or spending units;
a county board of education; a county, city or town in the state;
any separate corporation or instrumentality established by one or
more counties, cities or towns, as permitted by law; any
corporation or instrumentality supported in most part by counties,
cities or towns; any public corporation charged by law with the
performance of a governmental function and whose jurisdiction is
coextensive with one or more counties, cities or towns; any
comprehensive community mental health center or comprehensive
mental retardation facility established, operated or licensed by
the Secretary of Health and Human Resources pursuant to section
one, article two-a, chapter twenty-seven of this code and which is
supported in part by state, county or municipal funds; and a
combined city-county health department created pursuant to article
two, chapter sixteen of this code. Any matters of doubt as to who
is an "employer" within the meaning of this article shall be
decided by the Director. The term "employer" does not include
within its meaning the National Guard.
(5) "Finance Board" means the Public Employees Insurance
Agency Finance Board created by this article.
(6) "Person" means any individual, company, association,
organization, corporation or other legal entity, including, but not
limited to, hospital, medical or dental service corporations; health maintenance organizations or similar organizations providing
prepaid health benefits; or individuals entitled to benefits under
the provisions of this article.
(7) "Plan", unless the context indicates otherwise, means the
medical indemnity plan, the managed care plan option or the Group
Life Insurance Plan offered by the Agency.
(8) "Retired employee" means an employee of the state who
retired after the twenty-ninth day of April, one thousand nine
hundred seventy-one, and an employee of the University of West
Virginia Board of Trustees or the Board of Directors of the state
college system or a county board of education who retires on or
after the twenty-first day of April, one thousand nine hundred
seventy-two, and all additional eligible employees who retire on or
after the effective date of this article, meet the minimum
eligibility requirements for their respective State Retirement
System and whose last employer immediately prior to retirement
under the State Retirement System is a participating employer:
Provided, That for the purposes of this article, the employees who
are not covered by a State Retirement System shall, in the case of
education employees, meet the minimum eligibility requirements of
the State Teachers Retirement System and in all other cases, meet
the minimum eligibility requirements of the Public Employees
Retirement System.
CHAPTER 18A. SCHOOL PERSONNEL.
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) "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) "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; and
(5) "Long-term substitute" means a professional educator who
is not employed as a regular professional educator, but who is
employed in the same teaching position for thirty consecutive days
or who is at the time of employment, anticipated to be employed for
ninety consecutive days within the employment term.
(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 3. TRAINING, CERTIFICATION, LICENSING, PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT.
§18A-3-2b. Beginning teacher internships.
(a) Every person to whom a professional teaching certificate
is awarded after the first day of January, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-two, shall successfully complete a beginning teacher
internship program under the provisions of this section, except
such persons who were awarded a professional teaching certificate
on the basis of at least five years' teaching experience in another
state.
The beginning teacher internship program is a school based
program intended to provide appropriate staff development
activities and supervision to beginning teachers, including
long-term substitutes, to assure their competency for licensure to
teach in the public schools of this state. The beginning teacher
internship program shall consist of the following components:
(1) A professional support team comprised of the school
principal, who shall be the chair of the professional support team,
a member of the county professional staff development council and
an experienced classroom teacher at the school who teaches the same
or similar subject and grade level as the beginning teacher and who shall serve as a mentor for the beginning teacher;
(2) An orientation program to be conducted prior to the
beginning of the instructional term, but within the employment
term, supervised by the mentor teacher: Provided, That a long-term
substitute who is hired after the beginning of the instructional
term shall receive his or her orientation at a time that is
mutually agreed upon by the principal, the mentor and the long-term
substitute. If the orientation program is scheduled outside the
employment term, the professional employees participating in the
orientation session shall be paid their normal daily rate of
salary;
(3) The scheduling of joint planning periods for the mentor
and beginning teacher throughout the school year;
(4) Mentor observation of the classroom teaching skills of the
beginning teacher for at least one hour per week during the first
half of the school year and which may be reduced at the discretion
of the mentor to one hour every two weeks during the second half of
the school year;
(5) Weekly meetings between the mentor and the beginning
teacher at which the mentor and the beginning teacher discuss the
performance of the beginning teacher and any needed improvements,
which meetings may be reduced at the discretion of the mentor to
biweekly meetings during the second half of the school year;
(6) Monthly meetings of the professional support team to
discuss the performance of the beginning teacher which meetings may
include all mentor members of all professional support teams at the school if helpful in the judgment of the participants;
(7) In-service professional development programs provided
through the professional development project of the center for
professional development for beginning teachers and for mentors
both of which will be held in the first half of the school year;
(8) The provision of necessary release time from regular
duties for the mentor teacher, as agreed to by the principal and
the mentor teacher, and a stipend of at least six hundred dollars
for the mentor teacher for duties as a mentor teacher; and
(9) A final evaluation of the performance of the beginning
teacher completed by the principal on a form developed by the State
Board of Education.
(b) The final evaluation form shall be submitted by the
principal to the county school superintendent and shall include one
of the following recommendations:
(1) Full professional status: A recommendation of full
professional status indicates that the beginning teacher has
successfully completed the internship program and in the judgment
of the principal has demonstrated competence as a professional
educator;
(2) Continuing internship status: A recommendation of
continuing internship status indicates that in the judgment of the
principal, the beginning teacher requires further supervision and
further employment in the district should be conditioned upon
successful completion of an additional year under a beginning
teacher internship program; or
(3) Discontinue employment: A recommendation to discontinue
employment indicates that, in the judgment of the principal, the
beginning teacher has completed two years of employment under
supervision in a beginning teacher internship program, has not
demonstrated competence as a professional educator and will not
benefit from further supervised employment in the district.
ARTICLE 4. SALARIES, WAGES AND OTHER BENEFITS.
§18A-4-7b. Calculation of seniority for professional personnel.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the
contrary, seniority for professional personnel as defined in
section one, article one, chapter eighteen-a of this code, shall be
calculated pursuant to the provisions of section seven-a of this
article as well as the following: Provided, That any recalculation
of seniority of a professional personnel employee that may be
required in order to remain consistent with the provisions
contained herein shall be calculated retroactively, but shall not
be utilized for the purposes of reversing any decision that has
been made or grievance that has been filed prior to the effective
date of this section:
(a) A professional employee shall begin to accrue seniority
upon commencement of the employee's duties.
(b) An employee shall receive seniority credit for each day
the employee is professionally employed regardless of whether the
employee receives pay for that day: Provided, That no employee
shall receive seniority credit for any day the employee is
suspended without pay pursuant to section eight, article two of this chapter: Provided, however, That an employee who is on an
approved leave of absence shall accrue seniority during the period
of time that the employee is on the approved leave of absence.
(c) Any professional employee whose employment with a county
board of education is terminated either voluntarily or through a
reduction-in-force shall, upon reemployment with the same board of
education in a regular full-time position, receive credit for all
seniority previously accumulated with the board of education at the
date the employee's employment was terminated.
(d) Any professional employee whose employment has been
terminated through reduction in force and whose name is on the
preferred recall list shall retain all accumulated seniority for
the purpose of seeking reemployment with the county from which he
or she was terminated and nothing in this section may be construed
to the contrary.
(e) Any professional employee employed for a full employment
term but in a part-time position shall receive seniority credit for
each day of employment prorated to the proportion of a full
employment day the employee is required to work: Provided, That
nothing herein allows a regular full-time employee to be credited
with less than a full day of seniority credit for each day the
employee is employed by the board: Provided, however, That this
calculation of seniority for part-time professional personnel is
prospective and does not reduce any seniority credit accumulated by
any employee prior to the effective date of this section: Provided
further, That for the purposes of this section, a part-time employee shall be defined as an employee who is employed less than
three and one-half hours per day.
(f) For the purposes of filling teaching positions pursuant to
section seven-a of this article, any applicant who has served as a
substitute teacher for one hundred and thirty-three days or more in
a single employment term and continues to be employed as a
substitute by that board of education filling the teaching
position, shall be considered a "permanently employed professional
personnel" requiring the criteria set forth in subsection (d) of
section seven-a of this article to be utilized in selection of the
most qualified applicant.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide health insurance
coverage under the Public Employees Insurance Agency for long-term
substitute professional educators and to ensure that newly employed
long-term substitutes participate in teacher mentor and orientation
programs. The bill also provides that long-term substitute
professional educators who work more than 133 days in a school year
are granted permanently employed professional personnel status for
filling vacancies.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
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