H. B. 3108
(By Delegate WilliamsSPONSOR, Tabb, Eldridge, Crosier, Roberts,
Fragale, Perry, Campbell, Wysong, Leggett, and Stephens)
[Originating in the DATE
Committee on EducationCOMMITTEE.]
(March 18,2005)
A BILL to amend and reenact §18-2-26Bill Title of the code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to increasing focus of
regional educational service agencies on school improvement;
providing direct role for state superintendent in agency
formation, oversight, employment, and school improvement
functions; removing requirements for state board rule;
providing for regional councils and their members and
functions; and changing reporting requirements. Title Language
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18-2-26Bill TitleEnacting Section of the code of West Virginia, 1931, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION.
§18-2-26. Establishment of multicounty regional educational
service agencies; purpose; authority of state board;
governance; annual performance standards.
(a) Legislative intent. -- The intent of the Legislature in
providing for establishment of regional education service
agencies, hereinafter referred to in this section as agency or
agencies, is to provide for high quality, cost effective
education programs and services to students, schools and school
systems.
Since the first enactment of this section in one thousand
nine hundred seventy-two, the focus of public education has
shifted from a reliance on input models to determine if education
programs and services are providing to students a thorough and
efficient education to a performance based accountability model
which relies on the following:
(1) Development and implementation of standards which set
forth the things that students should know and be able to do as
the result of a thorough and efficient education including
measurable criteria to evaluate student performance and progress;
(2) Development and implementation of assessments to measure
student performance and progress toward meeting the standards;
(3) Development and implementation of a system for holding
schools and school systems accountable for student performance
and progress toward obtaining a high quality education which is
delivered in an efficient manner; and
(4) Development and implementation of a method for building
the capacity and improving the efficiency of schools and school systems to improve student performance and progress.
(b) Purpose. -- In establishing the agencies, the
Legislature envisions certain areas of service in which the
agencies can best assist the state board superintendent in
implementing the standards based accountability model pursuant to
subsection (a) of this section and other areas in which the
county boards may realize greater efficiencies and programmatic
improvements by combining resources and, thereby, in providing
provide high quality education programs in the most efficient
manner. The purpose of this section is to establish a regional
educational service agency structure to accomplish these goals.
(c)
The state superintendent shall divide the state into
appropriate, contiguous geographical areas and designate an
agency to serve each area. Each of the state's counties shall be
contained within a single service area and all counties located
within the boundaries of each agency, as determined by the state
superintendent, shall be members of that agency. The state
superintendent shall oversee the operation of the agencies,
including the authority to hire and evaluate an executive
director for each agency. The state superintendent may
establish
and annually revise statewide standards for service delivery by
the agencies.
The executive director shall be responsible for
the administration of his or her respective agency. The agencies
may employ other staff as necessary with the approval of the state superintendent and upon the recommendation of the executive
director: Provided, That prior to the first day of July, two
thousand five, no person who is an employee of an agency on the
effective date of this section may be terminated or have his or
her salary and benefit levels reduced as the sole result of the
changes made to this section.
(d) Under the direction of the state superintendent, each
agency shall provide technical assistance to low performing
schools and school systems and provide high quality, targeted
staff development designed to enhance the performance and
progress of students in the public schools. The agencies shall
base all decisions regarding the provision of these services on
meeting the needs of the counties in their service areas as set
forth in each county's five-year strategic plan.
(e) The county boards in each agency area may select a
regional council for their agency consisting of representatives
of the county boards and county superintendents from within that
area for the purpose of advising and assisting the executive
director in carrying out his or her duties. The state
superintendent may provide for membership on the regional council
for representatives from other agencies and institutions who have
interest or expertise in the development or implementation of
regional education programs. The state superintendent may select
a representative from the state department of education to serve on each regional council. These representatives shall meet with
their respective regional councils at least quarterly.
(f) As determined by the regional councils, the agencies may
also, to the extent it will not impede their primary goal of
school system improvement under subsection (d) of this section,
offer other services needed in their counties including, but not
limited to, the following:
These areas of service include the following:
(1) Providing technical assistance to low performing schools
and school systems;
(2) Providing high quality, targeted staff development
designed to enhance the performance and progress of students in
state public education;
(3) (1) Facilitating coordination and cooperation among the
county boards within their respective regions in such areas as
cooperative purchasing; sharing of specialized personnel,
communications and technology; curriculum development; and
operation of specialized programs for exceptional children;
(4) (2) Installing, maintaining and/or and repairing
education related technology equipment and software with special
attention to the state level basic skills and SUCCESS programs;
(5) (3) Receiving and administering grants under the
provisions of federal and/or and state law; and
(6) (4) Developing and/or or implementing, or both
developing and implementing, any other programs or services as directed by law or by the state board.
To this end, the regional councils shall continually explore
possibilities for the delivery of services on a regional basis
which will facilitate equality in the education offerings among
counties in their service areas, permit the delivery of high
quality education programs at a lower per student cost,
strengthen the cost effectiveness of education funding resources,
reduce administrative and operational costs, including the
consolidation of administrative, coordinating and other county
level functions into region level functions, and promote the
efficient administration and operation of the public school
systems generally. The services may include technical,
operational, programmatic and professional services and further
may include offering instruction in driver education outside of
school times.
(g) The agency may acquire and hold real property;
(c) State board rule. -- The state board shall reexamine the
powers and duties of the agencies in light of the changes in
state level education policy that have occurred and shall
establish multicounty regional educational service agencies by
rule, promulgated in accordance with the provisions of article
three-b, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code.
The rule shall contain all information necessary for the
effective administration and operation of the agencies. In developing the rule, the state board may not delegate its
constitutional authority for the general supervision of schools
to the agencies, however, it may allow the agencies greater
latitude in the development and implementation of programs in the
service areas outlined in subsection (b) of this section with the
exceptions of providing technical assistance to low performing
schools and school systems and providing high quality, targeted
staff development designed to enhance the performance and
progress of students in state public education. These two areas
constitute the most important responsibilities for the agencies.
The rule establishing the agencies shall be promulgated
before the first day of November, two thousand two, and shall be
consistent with the provisions of this section. It shall
include, but is not limited to, the following procedures:
(1) Providing for a uniform governance structure for the
agencies containing at least these elements:
(A) Selection by the state board of an executive director
who shall be responsible for the administration of his or her
respective agency. The rule shall provide for the state board to
consult with the appropriate regional council during the
selection process;
(B) Development of a job description and qualifications for
the position of executive director, together with procedures for
informing the public of position openings and for taking and
evaluating applications for these positions;
(C) Provisions for the agencies to employ other staff, as
necessary, with the approval of the state board and upon the
recommendation of the executive director: Provided, That prior
to the first day of July, two thousand three, no person who is an
employee of an agency on the effective date of this section may
be terminated or have his or her salary and benefit levels
reduced as the sole result of the changes made to this section or
by state board rule;
(D) Appointment by the county boards of a regional council
in each agency area consisting of representatives of county
boards and county superintendents from within that area for the
purpose of advising and assisting the executive director in
carrying out his or her duties. The state board may provide for
membership on the regional council for representatives from other
agencies and institutions who have interest or expertise in the
development or implementation of regional education programs; and
(E) Selection by the state superintendent of a
representative from the state department of education to serve on
each regional council. These representatives shall meet with
their respective regional councils at least quarterly;
(2) Establishing statewide standards by the state board for
service delivery by the agencies. These standards may be revised
annually and shall include, but are not limited to, programs and
services to fulfill the purposes set forth in subsection (b) of this section;
(3) Establishing procedures for developing and adopting an
annual basic operating budget for each agency and for other
budgeting and accounting procedures as the state board may
require;
(4) Establishing procedures to clarifying that agencies may
acquire and hold real property;
(5) Dividing the state into appropriate, contiguous
geographical areas and designating an agency to serve each area.
The rule shall provide that each of the state's counties is
contained within a single service area and that all counties
located within the boundaries of each agency, as determined by
the state board, shall be members of that agency; and
(6) Such other standards or procedures as the state board
finds necessary or convenient.
(d) Regional services. -- In furtherance of the purposes
provided for in this section, the state board and the regional
council of each agency shall continually explore possibilities
for the delivery of services on a regional basis which will
facilitate equality in the education offerings among counties in
its service area, permit the delivery of high quality education
programs at a lower per student cost, strengthen the cost
effectiveness of education funding resources, reduce
administrative and/or operational costs, including the consolidation of administrative, coordinating and other county
level functions into region level functions, and promote the
efficient administration and operation of the public school
systems generally.
Technical, operational, programmatic or professional
services are among the types of services appropriate for delivery
on a regional basis.
(e) Virtual education. -- The state board, in conjunction
with the various agencies, shall develop an effective model for
the regional delivery of instruction in subjects where there
exists low student enrollment or a shortage of certified teachers
or where the delivery method substantially improves the quality
of an instructional program. The model shall incorporate an
interactive electronic classroom approach to instruction. To the
extent funds are appropriated or otherwise available, county
boards or regional educational service agencies may adopt and
utilize the model for the delivery of the instruction.
(f) (h) Computer information system. -- Each county board of
education shall use the uniform integrated regional computer
information system recommended by the state board for data
collection and reporting to the state department of education.
County boards of education shall bear the cost of and fully
participate in the implementation of the system by using one of
the following methods:
(1) Acquiring necessary, compatible equipment to participate
in the regional computer information system; or
(2) Following receipt of a waiver from the state
superintendent, operating a comparable management information
system at a lower cost which provides at least all uniform
integrated regional computer information system software modules
and allows on-line, interactive access for schools and the county
board office onto the statewide communications network. All data
formats shall be the same as for the uniform integrated regional
information system and will reside at the regional computer.
Any county granted a waiver shall receive periodic
notification of any incompatibility or deficiency in its system.
No county shall expand any system either through the purchase of
additional software or hardware that does not advance the goals
and implementation of the uniform integrated regional computer
information system as recommended by the state board.
(g) (i) Reports and evaluations. -- Each agency shall submit
to the state superintendent on such date and in such form as
specified in the rules adopted by the state board by the state
superintendent a report and evaluation of the technical
assistance and other services provided and utilized by the
schools within each respective region and their effectiveness
services provided to the counties in its region. The report
shall indicate which of the services were designed to assist counties in meeting the goals of their unified improvement plans
.
Additionally, any county or school may submit an evaluation of
the services provided by the agency to the state superintendent
at any time. This report shall include an evaluation of the
agency program, suggestions on methods to improve utilization and
suggestions on the development of new programs and the
enhancement of existing programs. The reports and evaluations
submitted pursuant to this subsection shall be submitted to the
state board and shall be made available upon request to the
standing committees on education of the West Virginia Senate and
House of Delegates and to the secretary of education and the
arts.
(h) (j) Funding sources. -- An agency may receive and
disburse funds from the state and federal governments, from
member counties, or from gifts and grants.
(i) (k) Employee expenses. -- Notwithstanding any other
provision of this code to the contrary, employees of agencies
shall be reimbursed for travel, meals and lodging at the same
rate as state employees under the travel management office of the
department of administration.
A county board member may not be an employee of an agency.
(j) (l) Meetings and compensation. --
(1) Agencies shall hold at least one half of their regular
meetings during hours other than those of a regular school day. The executive director of each agency shall attend at least one
meeting of each of the member county boards of education each
year to explain the agency's services, garner suggestions for
program improvement and provide any other information as may be
requested by the county board.
(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the
contrary, county board members serving on regional councils may
receive compensation at a rate not to exceed one hundred dollars
per meeting attended, not to exceed fifteen meetings per year.
County board members serving on regional councils may be
reimbursed for travel at the same rate as state employees under
the rules of the travel management office of the department of
administration.
(k) (m) Computer installation, maintenance and repair. --
Agencies shall serve as the lead agency for computer
installation, maintenance and repair for the basic skills and
SUCCESS computer programs. Each agency shall submit a quarterly
status report on turn around time for computer installation,
maintenance and repair to the state superintendent of schools who
shall then submit a report to the legislative oversight
commission on education accountability. The status report for
turn around time for computer installation, maintenance and
repair shall be based on the following suggested time schedules:
Network File Servers.......................forty-eight hours
Local Area Networks........................forty-eight hours
West Virginia Education
Information System.........................twenty-four hours
Computer Workstations.....................three to five days
Printers..................................three to five days
Other Peripherals.........................three to five days
Agencies also shall submit an audit report to the
legislative oversight commission on education accountability each
year.
(l) (n) Professional development. -- Pursuant to the
processes and provisions of section twenty-three-a, article two,
chapter eighteen of this code, each agency shall provide
coordinated professional development programs within its region
to meet the professional development goals established by the
state board
with an emphasis on improving the performance and
progress of students in the public schools, particularly in low
performing schools
.
Note: The purpose of this bill is to increase the focus of
regional educational service agencies on school improvement by
placing them more directly under the supervision and oversight of
the state superintendent. The school improvement efforts will be
driven by the county's five-year improvement plans. The RESA's
will continue to be under an administrative council that will
determine additional areas in which the agencies will provide
services to its member counties.
Strike-throughs indicate existing language that would be
removed, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.