Committee Substitute
for
H. B. 109
(By Mr. Speaker, (Mr. Thompson) and Delegate Armstead)
[By Request of the Executive]
[Originating in the Committee on Education.]
(May 16, 2010)
A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new article, designated §18-5D-1, §18-5D-2
and §18-5D-3, all relating to collaborative team school-based
decision-making; establishing purpose; school application to
state board to create teams; request to replace certain
school-level committees; contents of application; local level
approval prior to submission of application; state board
approval; state board waiver of rules requiring certain
school-level committees; exemptions granted to school from
certain statutes requiring school-level committees is
requested in approved application; collaborative team
authorization to request waivers of state and county policies;
and requiring state board rule.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new article, designated §18-5D-1, §18-5D-2 and
§18-5D-3, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5D. COLLABORATIVE TEAM SCHOOL-BASED
DECISION-MAKING.
§18-5D-1. Purpose.
The purpose of this article is:
(a) To facilitate and encourage teacher collaboration by
empowering schools to create alternative decision-making processes
that address school and classroom improvement and by allowing for
the reorganization or consolidation of certain school committees
required by statutes and state board rules, including the School
Curriculum Team, Strategic Planning Committee, Technology Team and
School Support Team; and
(b) To recognize that schools in this state differ greatly in
enrollment, grade configuration, demographics and student needs and
to provide flexibility to teachers and principals by allowing them
to determine the types of teams necessary to move the school
forward.
§18-5D-2. Application to create collaborative teams; contents and
approval of application; grant of rule waivers and
statutory exceptions from requirements for certain
school-level committees.
__________(a) Request for reorganization. -- A school may submit an
application to the state board to create collaborative teams at the
school. The application may request that the collaborative teams replace any or all of the following school-level committees: The
School Curriculum Team, required by section six, article five-a of
this chapter, and the Strategic Planning Committee, the Technology
Team and the School Support Team, required by state board rules.
Reorganization under this article may not replace the Student
Assistance Team or the faculty senate. Reorganization under this
article does not supercede the authorization of the faculty senate
with approval of the principal to form a collaborative team as an
alternative to the school curriculum team pursuant to section five,
article two-e of this chapter.
__________(b) Contents of application. -- The application shall
include:
__________(1) A description of the collaborative teams, which shall
address all of the following:
(A) An emphasis on teacher collaboration and leadership;
(B) School and classroom effectiveness;
(C) Involvement and support of stakeholders; and
(D) A coherent, learner-focused improvement plan;
__________(2) A list of the school-level committees that will be
replaced by the collaborative teams, an explanation of how the
existing membership of the committees replaced will have
representation in the reorganization, and how the roles,
responsibilities and tasks of the committees replaced, including
how the authority of the school curriculum team to request waivers
of state and county board policies, if this body is replaced, will be instituted in the reorganization;
__________(3) Evidence that the employees and stakeholders who are
involved in restructured collaborative teams have, or will enter
into, a process of professional learning that develops the
necessary knowledge and skills to enhance learner-focused
collaboration; and
__________(4) Evidence that employees and stakeholders have researched
viable improvement structures and processes and have proposed an
effective structure that addresses the particular needs of the
school, its students and employees.
__________(c) Local-level approval. -- Before submitting an application
to the state board:
__________(1) At least eighty percent of the faculty senate must vote in
favor of the reorganization. The vote shall be conducted by secret
ballot by the faculty senate chair. Before the vote, the faculty
senate shall be presented with the structure, roles and
responsibilities of the reorganization;
__________(2) At least eighty percent of the local school improvement
council must vote in favor of the reorganization. The vote shall
be conducted by chair of the council and shall be conducted within
one week of the vote of the faculty senate. Before the vote, the
council shall be presented with the structure, roles and
responsibilities of the reorganization; and
__________(3) The county superintendent and county board must approve
the waiver application.
__________(d) State Board approval. -- After meeting the requirements
of subsection (c) of this section, the school shall submit its
application to the state board. Upon review and approval of the
application, the state board may approve the waiver of rules
requiring the Strategic Planning Committee, the Technology Team and
the School Support Team as requested in the application. If an
application approved by the state board requests the creation of
collaborative teams that also replace the School Curriculum Team
,
then
the school is not subject to the provisions of section six,
article five-a of this chapter, as requested in the application.
The collaborative teams have the authority to request waivers of
state and county board policies.
__________The school then may institute the reorganization.
§18-5D-3. State board rule.
__________The state board shall promulgate a rule in accordance with
article three-b, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code to implement
the provisions of this article.
This is a new article; therefore all of the language is
underscored.