H. B. 2773
(By Delegates Paxton, Susman, Poling, Perry,
Beach, Harrison and Mathews)
[Originating in the Committee on Education]
[March 6, 2001]
A BILL to amend and reenact section three, article two, chapter
eighteen-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended; to amend and reenact section
three-a, article three of said chapter; to amend and reenact
section two, article four, chapter eighteen-c of said code;
and to further amend said article four by adding thereto a new
section, designated section six, all relating to addressing
areas of critical need and shortage of professional educators;
providing for substitutes continuously assigned to the same
classroom for more than one-half of a grading period which
assignment remains in effect two weeks prior to the end of the
grading period to remain in the assignment until the end of
the grading period; exceptions; defining teacher and
substitute teacher as professional educators for the purposes of the section; providing legislative findings and compelling
state interest to expanding use of retired teachers as
substitutes; providing for county policy to permit expanded
use; establishing process to permit retired teacher
substitutes to accept employment for unlimited days beginning
immediately upon retirement without affecting monthly
retirement annuity; prohibiting retired substitute eligibility
for additional pension, other benefits and seniority;
redefining courses covered by tuition reimbursement to add
additional endorsement in area of critical need and shortage;
limiting coverage of fees to those required; specifying types
of certificates a teacher must hold to be eligible; providing
for payment to teachers not employed regularly if state
resident; providing priority in selection for Underwood-Smith
scholarships to qualified applicants with the highest academic
abilities who intent to pursue careers in areas of critical
need and shortage; providing legislative findings and intent
for establishing special Underwood-Smith provisions for
scholarships for teachers affected by reduction in force;
providing separate eligibility requirements; providing for
modified scholarship agreement; limiting amount of scholarship
appropriations that may be expended for special program; requiring implementation of programs, course work and delivery
methods to facilitate access to teacher preparation,
continuing education and professional development; and
requiring collaboration with workforce development office on
other potential sources of funds to assist professional
educators affected by reduction in force to gain additional
certification in areas of critical need and shortage.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section three, article two, chapter eighteen-a of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted; that section three-a, article
three of said article be amended and reenacted; that section two,
article four, chapter eighteen-c of said code be amended and
reenacted; and that said article four be further amended by adding
thereto a new section, designated section six, all to read as
follows:
CHAPTER 18A. SCHOOL PERSONNEL.
ARTICLE 2. SCHOOL PERSONNEL.
§18A-2-3. Employment of substitute teachers and retired teachers
as substitutes in areas of critical need and
shortage; employment of prospective employable
professional personnel.
(a) The county superintendent, subject to approval of the county board, may employ and assign substitute teachers to any of
the following duties: (a) To fill the temporary absence of any
teacher or an unexpired school term made vacant by resignation,
death, suspension or dismissal; (b) to fill a teaching position of
a regular teacher on leave of absence; and (c) to perform the
instructional services of any teacher who is authorized by law to
be absent from class without loss of pay, providing the absence is
approved by the board of education in accordance with the law. The
substitute shall be a duly certified teacher.
Notwithstanding any
other provision of this code to the contrary, a substitute teacher
who has been assigned as a classroom teacher in the same classroom
continuously for more than one-half of a grading period and whose
assignment remains in effect two weeks prior to the end of the
grading period, shall remain in the assignment until the grading
period has ended, unless the regularly employed teacher has
communicated with and assisted the substitute with the preparation
of lesson plans and monitoring student progress or has been
approved to return to work by his or her physician. For the
purposes of this section teacher and substitute teacher, in the
singular or plural, mean professional educator as defined in
section one, article one of this chapter.
(b) The Legislature hereby finds and declares that due to a shortage of qualified substitute teachers, a compelling state
interest exists in expanding the use of retired teachers to provide
service as substitute teachers. Because diverse circumstances
exist among the counties, the expanded use of retired teachers as
substitute teachers shall be permitted only upon the affirmative
vote of the county board to adopt a policy recommended by the
superintendent to address areas of critical need and shortage,
which policy includes the employment of retired teachers as
substitute teachers during the school year on an expanded basis as
herein provided. The board policy shall be effective for one
school year only, subject to annual renewal upon the affirmative
vote of the county board. Notwithstanding any other provision of
this code or any rule to the contrary, upon the adoption of a
policy by the county board authorizing the employment of retired
teachers on an expanded basis a person receiving retirement
benefits under the provisions of article seven-a of this chapter or
who is entitled to retirement benefits during the fiscal year in
which that person retired may accept employment as a substitute
teacher for an unlimited number of days each fiscal year, effective
immediately following the effective date of his or her retirement
without affecting the monthly retirement benefit to which the
retirant is otherwise entitled: Provided, That prior to employment of such substitute teacher beyond the post-retirement employment
limitations established by the consolidated public retirement
board, the superintendent of the affected county shall submit to
the consolidated public retirement board and in a form approved by
the retirement board, an affidavit signed by the superintendent
stating the name of the county, the fact that the county has
adopted a policy to employ retired teachers as substitutes to
address areas of critical need and shortage, and the name or names
of the person or persons to be employed pursuant to the policy. In
the absence of the policy and procedures as herein provided for the
employment of retired teachers on an expanded basis to address
areas of critical need and shortage, the applicable rules of the
consolidated public retirement board shall prevail. With respect
to the expanded substitute service provided herein, retired
teachers employed as such substitutes shall be considered day-to-
day, temporary, part-time employees. Such substitutes are not
eligible for additional pension or other benefits paid to regularly
employed employees and shall not accrue seniority.
(b) (c) Prospective employable professional personnel may be
employed in accordance with this subsection.
(1) As an aid in recruiting teachers in the state, and
notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the contrary, a superintendent of a county that meets the requirements in
subdivision (3) of this subsection or obtains approval from the
state board in accordance with subdivision (4) of this subsection
may employ up to twenty-five full-time prospective employable
professional personnel each year on a reserve list at the county
level. Regular employment status for such personnel may be
obtained only in accordance with the provision of section seven-a,
article four of this chapter.
(2) Prior to the employment of the full-time prospective
employable professional personnel on a reserve list, the
superintendent shall obtain from the county board:
(A) General approval to employ the personnel on the reserve
list;
(B) General approval as to the form of the contract to be used
in employing the personnel; and
(C) Approval of the number of personnel to be employed from
the reserve list.
(3) Unless a county is eligible under subdivision (4) of this
subsection, a county is eligible to hire professional personnel in
accordance with this subsection only if the county's net enrollment
during the year is more than one hundred students greater than the
fourth year prior to the current year.
(4) Unless a county is eligible under subdivision (3) of this
subsection, a county is eligible to hire professional personnel in
accordance with this subsection only if the county requests and
receives approval from the state board. The state board shall
determine the criteria for granting approval including, but not
limited to, vacancies in professional personnel positions and the
need to recruit teachers in specific subject matter areas. The
state board annually shall determine the number of prospective
employable professional personnel to be hired: Provided, That the
number may not exceed twenty-five.
(5) The state board annually shall review the status of
employing personnel under the provisions of this subsection, and
annually shall report to the legislative oversight commission on
education accountability on or before the first day of November of
each year. The report shall include, but not be limited to, the
following:
(A) The counties that participated in the program;
(B) The number of personnel hired;
(C) The teaching fields in which personnel were hired;
(D) The venue from which personnel were employed;
(E) The place of residency of the individual hired; and
(F) The state board's recommendations on the prospective employable professional personnel program.
ARTICLE 3. TRAINING, CERTIFICATION, LICENSING, PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT.
§18A-3-3a. Payment of tuition, registration and other fees for
teachers; maximum payment per teacher.
The West Virginia department of education shall establish in
its annual budget a separate line item and shall pay from the
appropriations therefor, to the extent that appropriations are
provided, the tuition, registration and other required fees of the
teachers, as defined in section one, article one, chapter eighteen
of this code, with continuing contracts who have completed any
courses meeting the requirements of the department for renewal of
certification or additional endorsement as required in section
three of this article in any college or university within the
state. A teacher may enroll for such courses in a college or
university outside the state and, upon receiving prior approval
from the department, be reimbursed for tuition, registration and
other required fees upon completion thereof.
However, payment for any single fee made by the department
pursuant to the provisions of this section shall may not exceed the
amount of the highest corresponding fee charged at a West Virginia
state-supported college or university: Provided, That the payment for tuition, registration or other required fees under this section
shall be limited to payment of such fees for up to a maximum of
fifteen semester hours per teacher and may only be made to a
teacher holding a valid West Virginia professional or provisional
professional teaching, service or administrative certificate, or
its equivalent for coursework completed toward renewal of
certification or additional endorsements in areas of critical need
and shortage, as determined by the state board: Provided, however,
That payment may only be made to a teacher who is not employed
regularly for instructional purposes in a public school in West
Virginia, if that teacher resides in this state and is pursuing an
additional endorsement in an area of critical need and shortage.
The payment shall be in accordance with rules and regulations
promulgated by the department pursuant to this section. From the
funds appropriated for this purpose, the department of education
may not expend more than one-third of the funds for the renewal of
certification.
CHAPTER 18C. STUDENT LOANS; SCHOLARSHIPS AND STATE AID.
ARTICLE 4. UNDERWOOD-SMITH TEACHER SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM.
§18C-4-2. Selection criteria and procedures.
(a) The governor shall designate an existing scholarship
selection agency or panel to select the recipients of Underwood-Smith teacher scholarships who meet the eligibility
criteria set forth in subsection (b) of this section. If no such
agency or panel exists, the governor shall appoint a scholarship
selection panel for this purpose which shall consist of seven
persons representative of public school administrators, teachers,
including preschool teachers, and parents.
(b) Eligibility for an Underwood-Smith teacher scholarship
award shall be limited to West Virginia resident students who:
(1) Have graduated or are graduating from high school, and
rank in the top ten percent of their graduating class or the top
ten percent statewide of those West Virginia students taking the
American college test;
(2) Have a cumulative grade point average of at least three
and twenty-five one hundredths on a possible scale of four after
successfully completing two years of course work at an approved
institution of higher education;
(3) Are public school aides or paraprofessionals as defined in
section eight, article four, chapter eighteen-a of this code, and
who have a cumulative grade point average of at least three and
twenty-five one hundredths on a possible scale of four after
successfully completing two years of course work at an approved
institution of higher education; or
(4) Are graduate students at the master's degree level who
have graduated or are graduating in the top ten percent of their
college graduating class.
(c) In accordance with the rules of the governing boards, the
senior administrator shall develop criteria and procedures for the
selection of scholarship recipients that reflect the purposes of
this article and the areas in which particular efforts will be made
in the selection of scholars as set forth in section one of this
article and which also may include, but not be limited to, the
grade point average of the applicant, involvement in
extracurricular activities, financial need, current academic
standing and an expression of interest in teaching as expressed in
an essay written by the applicant. Such criteria and procedures
further may require the applicant to furnish letters of
recommendation from teachers and others. It is the intent of the
Legislature that academic abilities be the primary criteria for
selecting scholarship recipients: Provided, That the qualified
applicants with the highest academic abilities who intend to pursue
teaching careers in areas of critical need and shortage as
determined by the state board of education shall be given priority.
(d) In developing the selection criteria and procedures to be
used by the panel, the senior administrator shall solicit the views of public and private education agencies and institutions and other
interested parties. These views: (1) Shall be solicited by means
of written and published selection criteria and procedures in final
form for implementation; and (2) may be solicited by means of
public hearings on the present and projected teacher needs of the
state or such other methods as the senior administrator may
determine to be appropriate to gather such information.
(e) The senior administrator shall make application forms
for Underwood-Smith teacher scholarships available to public and
private high schools in the state and in other locations
convenient to applicants, parents and others, and shall make an
effort to attract students from low-income backgrounds, ethnic or
racial minority students, students with disabilities, and women
or minority students who show interest in pursuing teaching
careers in mathematics and science and who are underrepresented
in those fields.
§18C-4-6. Special provisions for the additional certification of
reduction in force teachers in areas of critical need and
shortage.
(a) The Legislature hereby finds that there exist within the
state areas of critical need and shortage of fully and
appropriately certified classroom teachers and that these areas
exist by level and area of certification, and geographically. The Legislature further finds that many school systems in the
state must reduce their teaching forces because of declining
enrollment and because of this many certified classroom teachers
are released from employment who could be of further service
within the state if they were certified to teach in a different
level or area. Therefore, it is the intent of the Legislature to
assist classroom teachers who are fully certified and whose
employment is terminated due to a reduction in force to take
additional course work to gain certification in areas of critical
need and shortage.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this article to
the contrary, a classroom teacher in the public schools of this
state whose contract with a county board of education is not
renewed due to a reduction in force in the county, is eligible
for award of an Underwood-Smith teacher scholarship, subject to
the availability of funds, in accordance with the following:
(1) In lieu of the eligibility requirements set forth in
subsection (b), section two of this article, the vice chancellor
for administration shall develop selection criteria and
procedures which consider the following criteria in priority
order:
(A) The highest area of critical need and shortage as determined by the state board of education;
(B) A satisfactory rating on the last two evaluations of
performance as a classroom teacher;
(C) Total teaching experience in the state;
(D) Degree level; and
(E) Amount of course work needed to be certified for
employment in an area of critical need and shortage.
(2) The recipient shall enter into an agreement with the
vice chancellor for administration as provided in section three
of this article, except that the agreement shall provide that:
(A) The recipient is pursuing a course of study leading to
certification in an area of critical need and shortage as
established by the state board of education;
(B) Any teaching time by the recipient prior to the award of
the scholarship and prior to completion of the course work for
which the scholarship was awarded shall not be counted as
satisfying the teaching service conditions of the scholarship;
and
(C) The recipient is pursuing a full-time course of study at
an accredited institution of higher education, in which case the
scholarship is limited to two-years duration or the amount of
time needed to complete the needed course work to obtain certification in the area of critical need and shortage as
specified in the agreement on a full-time basis which ever is
less, or, if employment by a county board of education is
accepted by the recipient after award of the scholarship, the
recipient may be enrolled and pursuing the course of study at
less than full-time, in which case the scholarship is limited to
four-years duration and the amount of the scholarship shall be
prorated in accordance with the course work taken. A recipient
who does not notify the vice chancellor for administration of his
or her enrollment at less than full-time is in noncompliance of
the scholarship agreement; and
(D) The recipient shall seek and be unable to find full-time
employment under contract with a county board of education in
this state in the area of critical need and shortage for which
the scholarship was granted before other provisions for
compliance with a scholarship agreement in subdivision (2),
subsection (a), section three of this article become applicable.
(c) The vice chancellor for administration shall expend not
more than one-third of the appropriations for the Underwood-Smith
teacher scholarship program for the purposes of this section.
(d) The vice chancellor for administration, the chancellor
and the state superintendent shall cooperate through the use of resources within their respective systems on the implementation
of programs, course work and delivery systems which facilitate
access to teacher preparation, continuing education and high
quality professional development throughout the state to enhance
instructional quality and address areas of critical need and
shortage. Such access shall recognize the need for quality
programs which are relevant to the various disciplines taught in
the public schools and to the barriers imposed by both
geographical distance and public school instructional schedules
which may include year-round and summer instruction. The use of
electronic media such as the internet shall be considered as a
delivery method as a part of this cooperative effort. The vice
chancellor for administration, the chancellor and the state
superintendent shall make a progress report to the legislative
oversight commission on education accountability no later than
the legislative interim meetings in September, two thousand one.
(e) In addition to the provisions for addressing areas of
critical need and shortage for professional educators through the
award of scholarships as provided in this section, the vice
chancellor for administration, the chancellor and the state
superintendent shall collaborate with the governor's workforce
development office on other potential sources of funds to assist professional educators whose contract of employment with a county
board of education were not renewed due to a reduction in force
to gain additional certification in areas of critical need and
shortage.
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