Committee Substitute
House Bill 2160 History
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COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 2160
(By
Delegate Ashcraft
)
(Originating in the House Committee on Education)
[February 25, 1993]
A BILL to amend article five, chapter eighteen of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section
fourteen; and to amend and reenact sections two, three, five
and six, article five-a of said chapter, all relating to
board, faculty, parental and community participation in
schools; requiring county boards to adopt enumerated
policies; providing for election of members to local school
improvement councils; delineating certain duties of
principal as chair of such council; deleting language
relating to faculty senate proposal to waive state and
county board interpretations; changing date for submission
of report of faculty senate proposals; requiring attendance
at certain faculty senate meetings; extending school
curriculum teams to each school; and including science and
technology as basic skills.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article five, chapter eighteen of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, beamended by adding thereto a new section, designated section
fourteen; and that sections two, three, five and six, article
five-a of said chapter be amended and reenacted, all to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 5. COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION.
§18-5-14. Policies to promote school board effectiveness.
Prior to the first day of August, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-four, each county board of education in this state shall
adopt, and may modify thereafter as necessary, county board
policies that:
(a) Establish direct links between the board and its local
school improvement councils, and between the board and its
faculty senates, for the purpose of enabling the board to receive
information, comments and suggestions directly from the councils
and senates regarding the broad guidelines for oversight
procedures, standards of accountability and planning for future
needs required by this section;
(b) Provide for the development of direct links between the
board and the community-at-large; allow for community involvement
at regular board meetings; and specify how the board will
regularly communicate with the public regarding important issues;
(c) Provide for the periodic review of personnel policies of
the district in order to determine their effectiveness;
(d) Set broad guidelines for the school district, including
the establishment of specific oversight procedures, development
and implementation of standards of accountability, and the
development of long-range plans to meet future needs required by
this section; and
(e) Adopt a policy that aims to use school-based
accreditation and performance data provided by the state board in
board decision-making.
ARTICLE 5A. LOCAL SCHOOL INVOLVEMENT.
§18-5A-2. Local school improvement councils; election.
A local school improvement council shall be established at
every school consisting of the principal, who shall serve as the
ex officio chairman of the council and be entitled to vote, three
teachers elected by the faculty senate of the school, two school
service personnel elected by the school service personnel
employed at the school, three parents or legal guardians of
students enrolled at the school elected by the school's parent
teacher organization, and two at-large members appointed by the
principal, one of whom resides in the school's attendance area
and one of whom represents business or industry, both of whom are
not eligible for membership under any of the other elected
classes of members and in the case of vocational-technical
schools, the vocational director, or if there is no vocational
director then the principal, may appoint no more than two
additional representatives, one of whom represents business and
one of whom represents industry: Provided, That if the school
houses students in grade seven or higher, then the student body
president or other student, elected by the student body in grade
seven or higher, shall also be a member of the council.
(a) A local school improvement council shall be established
at every school and shall consist of the following:
(1) The principal, who shall serve as the ex officio
chairman of the council and be entitled to vote;
(2) Three teachers elected by the faculty senate of the
school;
(3) Two school service personnel elected by the school
service personnel employed at the school;
(4) Three parents or legal guardians of students enrolled at
the school elected by the parent members of the school's parent
teacher organization:
Provided,
That if there is no parent teacher
organization, the parent or legal guardian members shall be
elected by the parents and legal guardians of students enrolled
at the school in such manner as may be determined by the
principal;
(5) Two at-large members appointed by the principal, one of
whom resides in the school's attendance area and one of whom
represents business or industry, both of whom are not eligible
for membership under any of the other elected classes of members;
(6) In the case of vocational-technical schools, the
vocational director:
Provided,
That if there is no vocational
director, then the principal may appoint no more than two
additional representatives, one of whom represents business and
one of whom represents industry;
(7) In the case of a school with students in grade seven or
higher, the student body president or other student in grade
seven or higher elected by the student body in those grades.
(b) The principal shall arrange for such elections to be
held prior to the tenth day of May fifteenth day of September of
each school year to elect a council to serve for the next ensuing
school year and shall give notice of the elections at least one
week prior to the elections being held. To the extent practical,all elections shall be held within the same week. Persons
Parents, teachers, and service personnel elected to the council
shall serve until the next election and a two-year term, and
elections shall be arranged in such a manner that no more than
two teachers, no more than two parents or legal guardians, and no
more than one service personnel are elected in a given year. All
other non-ex-officio members shall serve one-year terms. Council
members may only be replaced upon death, resignation, failure to
appear at three consecutive meetings of the council for which
notice was given, or a change in personal circumstances so that
the person is no longer representative of the class of members
from which appointed. In the case of replacement, an election
shall be held to elect another qualified person to serve the
unexpired term of the person being replaced.
(c) Each member of the school improvement council must be
given written notice by the principal two employment days in
advance of any council meeting.
School improvement councils shall meet at least once every
nine weeks or equivalent grading period at the call of the chair
principal or by three fourths of its members. At the first
meeting of the council, the chair principal shall provide each
member with a copy of the current applicable section of this code
and any state board rule or regulation promulgated pursuant to
the operation of these councils, and the council shall elect from
its membership two members to assist the chair principal in
setting the agenda for each council meeting.
(d) School improvement councils shall be considered for the
receipt of school of excellence awards under section three ofthis article and competitive grant awards under section twenty-
nine, article two of this chapter, and may receive and expend
such grants for the purposes provided in such section.
In any and all matters which may fall within the scope of
both the school improvement councils and the school curriculum
teams authorized in section five of this article, the school
curriculum teams shall be deemed to have jurisdiction.
A school improvement council, in order to promote
innovations and improvements in the teaching and learning
environment at the school, shall receive cooperation from the
school in implementing policies and programs it may adopt to:
(1) Encourage the involvement of parents in their child's
educational process and in the school;
(2) Encourage businesses to provide time for their employees
who are parents to meet with teachers concerning their child's
education;
(3) Encourage advice and suggestions from the business
community;
(4) Encourage school volunteer programs and mentorship
programs; and
(5) Foster utilization of the school facilities and grounds
for public community activities.
§18-5A-3. Authority and procedures for local school improvement
councils to request waivers of certain rules,
policies and interpretations.
The intent of this section is to establish a mechanism which
allows local school level initiatives to be designed and
implemented to meet local school needs and circumstances. Inaccordance with this intent, a local school improvement council
established under the provisions of this article may propose
alternatives to the operation of the public school which
alternatives will meet or exceed the high quality standards
established by the state board and will increase administrative
efficiency, enhance the delivery of instructional programs,
promote community involvement in the local school system or
improve the educational performance of the school generally. The
proposal of the council shall set forth the objective or
objectives to be accomplished under the proposal, how the
accomplishment of such objective or objectives will meet or
exceed the standards established by the state board, the
indicators upon which the meeting of such standards should be
judged and a projection of any funds to be saved by the proposal
and how such funds will be reallocated within the school. The
alternatives proposed by the council may include matters which
require the waiver of policies or rules promulgated by the state
or county board of education, and/or state superintendent
interpretations and interpretations of the county or state boards
of education:
Provided,
That such request for waiver be submitted
to the appropriate board adopting said rule or policy and that
board may approve the waiver:
Provided, however,
That the state
superintendent need only be notified that the local council
intends to waive the interpretation:
Provided further,
That
notwithstanding any other provisions of the law to the contrary,
council is not prohibited from permitting off-site classrooms to
be developed in conjunction with local businesses if those sites
have met the requirements established by the local board ofeducation and if sites are located off campus. For an
alternative to be proposed, at least two-thirds of the members
must vote in favor thereof:
And provided further,
That if the
alternative to be proposed relates to a waiver of policies or
rules, promulgated by the state or county board of education,
and/or state superintendent interpretations and interpretations
of the county or state boards of education affecting employees,
then prior to the proposal of the alternative, a majority of the
local affected employee group involved must agree.
A council may also submit a written statement, with
supporting reasons, to the legislative oversight commission on
education accountability recommending a waiver of a statute or
legislative rule, which the commission shall review and determine
whether a recommendation should be made to the Legislature to
waive such statute or rule.
When a council decides to propose an alternative, it shall
forward a copy of the proposal to the state board of education.
and the affected local board of education. The state board shall
acknowledge receipt of the proposed alternative, promptly review
the proposed alternative in consultation with the county board or
their agents and, in its discretion, approve implementation of
the alternative or reply to the council within a reasonable time
as to its reasons for not approving the proposed alternative. If
the state board approves a proposed alternative, the state board
shall provide appropriate notice to the local school improvement
council and the county board of education and shall establish a
process for evaluation of the operation of the alternative.
Approval for the operation of the alternative may be continued orrevoked at any time based on the results and findings of the
evaluation.
The state board shall submit a report to the legislative
oversight commission on education accountability and the governor
on the first day of July January of each year summarizing the
proposed alternatives received, approved or rejected, continued
or revoked during the preceding school year and the results and
findings of the evaluations. The report shall specifically
identify all policy, rule, and interpretation waiver requests
received during the preceding year and the disposition of each.
§18-5A-5. Public school faculty senates established; election
of officers; powers and duties.
(a) There is established at every public school in this
state a faculty senate which shall be comprised of all permanent,
full-time professional educators employed at the school who shall
all be voting members. Professional educators as used in this
section means professional educators as defined in chapter
eighteen-a of this code. A quorum of more than one half of the
voting members of the faculty shall be present at any meeting of
the faculty senate at which official business is conducted.
Prior to the beginning of the instructional term each year, but
within the employment term, the principal shall convene a meeting
of the faculty senate to elect a chair, vice chair and secretary
and discuss matters relevant to the beginning of the school year.
The vice chair shall preside at meetings when the chair is
absent. Meetings of the faculty senate shall be held on a
regular basis as determined by a schedule approved by the faculty
senate and amended from time to time if needed. Emergencymeetings may be held at the call of the chair or a majority of
the voting members by petition submitted to the chair and vice
chair. All professional personnel shall attend faculty senate
meetings held during the regular school day unless otherwise
assigned or excused by the principal of the school. An agenda of
matters to be considered at a scheduled meeting of the faculty
senate shall be available to the members at least two employment
days prior to the meeting, and in the case of emergency meetings,
as soon as possible prior to the meeting. The chair of the
faculty senate may appoint such committees as may be desirable to
study and submit recommendations to the full faculty senate, but
the acts of the faculty senate shall be voted upon by the full
body.
(b) In addition to any other powers and duties conferred by
law, or authorized by policies adopted by the state or county
board of education or bylaws which may be adopted by the faculty
senate not inconsistent with law, the powers and duties listed in
this subsection are specifically reserved for the faculty senate.
The intent of these provisions is neither to restrict nor to
require the activities of every faculty senate to the enumerated
items except as otherwise stated. Each faculty senate shall
organize its activities as it deems most effective and efficient
based on school size, departmental structure and other relevant
factors.
(1) Each faculty senate shall control funds allocated to the
school from legislative appropriations pursuant to section nine,
article nine-a of this chapter. From such funds, each classroom
teacher and librarian shall be allotted fifty dollars forexpenditure during the instructional year for academic materials,
supplies or equipment which in the judgment of the teacher or
librarian will assist him or her in providing instruction in his
or her assigned academic subjects, or shall be returned to the
faculty senate:
Provided,
That nothing contained herein shall
prohibit such funds from being used for programs and materials
that, in the opinion of the teacher, enhance student behavior,
increase academic achievement, improve self-esteem and address
the problems of students at-risk. The remainder of funds shall
be expended for academic materials, supplies or equipment in
accordance with a budget approved by the faculty senate.
Notwithstanding any other provisions of the law to the contrary,
funds not expended in one school year shall be available for
expenditure in the next school year:
Provided, however,
That the
amount of county funds budgeted in a fiscal year, shall not be
reduced throughout the year as a result of the faculty
appropriations in the same fiscal year for such materials,
supplies and equipment. Accounts shall be maintained of the
allocations and expenditures of such funds for the purpose of
financial audit. Academic materials, supplies or equipment shall
be interpreted broadly, but shall not include materials, supplies
or equipment which will be used in or connected with
interscholastic athletic events.
(2) A faculty senate may establish a process for faculty
members to interview new prospective professional educators and
paraprofessional employees at the school and submit
recommendations regarding employment to the principal, who may
also make independent recommendations, for submission to thecounty superintendent:
Provided,
That such process must permit
the timely employment of persons to perform necessary duties.
(3) A faculty senate may nominate teachers for recognition
as outstanding teachers under state and local teacher recognition
programs and other personnel at the school, including parents,
for recognition under other appropriate recognition programs and
may establish such programs for operation at the school.
(4) A faculty senate may submit recommendations to the
principal regarding the assignment scheduling of secretaries,
clerks, aides and paraprofessionals at the school.
(5) A faculty senate may submit recommendations to the
principal regarding establishment of the master curriculum
schedule for the next ensuing school year.
(6) A faculty senate may establish a process for the review
and comment on sabbatical leave requests submitted by employees
at the school pursuant to section eleven, article two of this
chapter.
(7) Each faculty senate shall elect three faculty
representatives to the local school improvement council
established pursuant to section two of this article.
(8) Each faculty senate may nominate a member for election
to the county staff development council pursuant to section
eight, article three, chapter eighteen-a of this code.
(9) Each faculty senate shall have an opportunity to make
recommendations on the selection of faculty to serve as mentors
for beginning teachers under beginning teacher internship
programs at the school.
(10) A faculty senate may solicit, accept and expend anygrants, gifts, bequests, donations and any other funds made
available to the faculty senate:
Provided,
That the faculty
senate shall select a member who shall have the duty of
maintaining a record of all funds received and expended by the
faculty senate, which record shall be kept in the school office
and shall be subject to normal auditing procedures.
(11) On or after the first day of January, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-two, any faculty senate may review the evaluation
procedure as conducted in their school to ascertain whether such
evaluations were conducted in accordance with the written system
required pursuant to section twelve, article two, chapter
eighteen-a of this code and the general intent of this
Legislature regarding meaningful performance evaluations of
school personnel. If a majority of members of the faculty senate
determine that such evaluations were not so conducted, they shall
submit a report in writing to the state board of education:
Provided,
That nothing herein shall create any new right of
access to or review of any individual's evaluations.
(12) Each faculty senate shall be provided by its local
board of education at least a two-hour per month block of
noninstructional time within the school day:
Provided,
That any
such designated day shall constitute a full instructional day.
This time may be utilized and determined at the local school
level and shall include, but not be limited to, faculty senate
meetings.
§18-5A-6. Establishment of school curriculum teams.
There shall be established at each elementary school in the
state a school curriculum team composed of the school principal,the counselor designated to serve that school and no less than
three teachers representative of the grades taught at the school
and from the kindergarten through fourth grade faculty chosen by
that the faculty senate.
The school curriculum team shall establish the programs and
methods for implementing a curriculum based on state-approved
learning outcomes instructional goals and objectives for
kindergarten through fourth and grade based on the needs of the
individual school with a focus on the basic skills of reading,
composition, and mathematics, science and technology. The
curriculum thus established shall be submitted to the county
board of education for approval or for return to the school for
reconsideration.
The school curriculum team may apply through the school's
local school improvement council for a waiver from the textbook
adoption process established in article two-a, of this chapter
if, in the judgment of the team, materials necessary for the
implementation of such curriculum are not available through the
normal adoption process.
The school team may apply for a grant from the state board
of education for the development or implementation, or both, of
remedial and accelerated programs to meet the needs of the
students at the individual school.
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