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Introduced Version Senate Bill 334 History

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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
Senate Bill No. 334

(By Senators Withers, Humphreys, Grubb,

Holliday and Wagner)

____________

[Introduced March 9, 1993; referred to the Committee
on Education; and then to the Committee on Finance.]

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A BILL to repeal section three-a, article nine-a, chapter eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended; to amend and reenact section eighteen, article sixteen, chapter five of said code; to amend and reenact sections two, four, five-a, six, seven, eight-a and nine, article nine-a, chapter eighteen of said code; and to further amend said article by adding thereto a new section, designated section six-b, all relating to public school support generally; deleting provisions regarding the foundation allowance regional educational service agencies for the current fiscal year only; increasing the percentage of net enrollment that may be counted as being enrolled in gifted education classes; increasing the computation for the allowance for professional educators per one thousand students; setting a new minimum ratio of professional instructional personnel per one thousand students; deleting certain publishing requirements; establishing a new ratio between professional
educators and service personnel; adding certain insurance costs to fixed cost allowances; providing for a public employees insurance fund allowance; increasing foundation allowance for cost of transportation; setting specific allowance for regional education service agencies; increasing substitute employee allowance; and removing county boards from those employers required to contribute to cost of public employers insurance costs and places those costs under other education provisions.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section three-a, article nine-a, chapter eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be repealed; that section eighteen, article sixteen, chapter five of said code be amended and reenacted; that sections two, four, five-a, six, seven, eight-a and nine, article nine-a, chapter eighteen of said code be amended and reenacted; and that said article be further amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section six-b, 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.

§5-16-18. Payment of costs by employer; schedule of insurance; special funds created; duties of treasurer with respect thereto.

All employers operating from state general revenue or special revenue funds or federal funds or any combination thereof shall budget the cost of insurance coverage provided by the public employees insurance agency to current and retired employees of the employer as a separate line item, titled "PEI", in its respective annual budget and shall be responsible for the transfer of funds to the director for the cost of insurance for employees covered by the plan. Each spending unit shall pay to the director its proportionate share from each source of funds. Any agency wishing to charge general revenue funds for insurance benefits for retirees under section thirteen of this article must provide documentation to the director that such benefits cannot be paid for by any special revenue account or that the retiring employee has been paid solely with general revenue funds for twelve months prior to retirement.
Should the general revenue appropriation for any employer, including a excluding county board boards of education, be insufficient to cover the cost of insurance coverage for such employer's participating employees, retired employees and surviving dependents, the employer shall pay the reminder of such cost from its "personal services" or "unclassified" line items. or, in the case of a county board of education, from other funds The amount of such payments for county boards of education shall be determined by the method set forth in section six-b, article nine-a, chapter eighteen of this code: Provided, That local excess levy funds shall be used only for the purposes for whichthey were raised: Provided, however, That after approval of its annual financial plan but in no event later than the thirty-first day of December of each year, the finance board shall notify the Legislature and county boards of education of the maximum amount of employer premiums that the county boards of education will be required to pay for covered employees during the following fiscal year. Provided further, That said amount shall not exceed five million dollars during fiscal year one thousand nine hundred ninety-three: And provided further, That the finance board and department of education shall determine the extent to which state school aid appropriations are being used by the county school boards to pay employer premiums for employees whose positions are not funded by state revenues and shall develop and implement a plan to minimize such expenditures
All other employers not operating from the state general revenue fund shall pay to the director their share of premium costs from their respective budgets. The finance board shall establish such employers' share of premium costs to reflect and pay the actual costs of such coverage including incurred but not reported claims.
The contribution of such other employers (namely: 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 governmentalfunction 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 the code) for their employees shall be such percentage of the cost of the employees' insurance package as the employers deem reasonable and proper under their own particular circumstances.
The employee's proportionate share of the premium or cost shall be withheld or deducted by the employer from such employee's salary or wages as and when paid and such sums shall be forwarded to the director with such supporting data as the director may require.
All moneys received by the public employees insurance agency shall be deposited in a special fund or funds as are necessary in the state treasury and the treasurer of the state shall be custodian of such fund or funds and shall administer such fund or funds in accordance with the provisions of this article or as the director may from time to time direct. The treasurer shall pay all warrants issued by the state auditor against such fund or funds as the director may direct in accordance with the provisions of this article. On and after the first day of July,one thousand nine hundred eighty-eight, all payments previously required to be made to the public employees insurance board shall be made to the public employees insurance agency.
CHAPTER 18. EDUCATION.

ARTICLE 9A. PUBLIC SCHOOL SUPPORT.

§18-9A-2. Definitions.

For the purpose of this article:
"State board" means the West Virginia board of education.
"County board" or "board" means a county board of education.
"Professional salaries" means the state legally mandated salaries of the professional educators as provided in article four, chapter eighteen-a of this code.
"Professional educator" shall be synonymous with and shall have the same meaning as "teacher" as defined in section one, article one, chapter eighteen of this code.
"Professional instructional personnel" means a professional educator whose regular duty is as that of a classroom teacher, librarian, counselor, attendance director, school psychologist or school nurse with a bachelors' degree and who is licensed by the West Virginia board of examiners for registered professional nurses. A professional educator having both instructional and administrative or other duties shall be included as professional instructional personnel for that ratio of the school day for which he or she is assigned and serves on a regular full-time basis in appropriate instruction, library, counseling, attendance, psychologist or nursing duties.
"Service personnel salaries" shall mean the state legally mandated salaries for service personnel as provided in section eight-a, article four, chapter eighteen-a of this code.
"Service personnel" shall mean all personnel as provided for in section eight, article four, chapter eighteen-a of this code. For the purpose of computations under this article of ratios of service personnel to adjusted enrollment, a service employee shall be counted as that number found by dividing his number of employment days in a fiscal year by two hundred: Provided, That the computation for any such person employed for three and one- half hours or less per day as provided in section eight-a, article four, chapter eighteen-a of this code shall be calculated as one-half an employment day.
"Net enrollment" means the number of pupils enrolled in special education programs, kindergarten programs and grades one to twelve, inclusive, of the public schools of the county. Commencing with the school year beginning on the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred eighty-eight, net enrollment further shall include adults enrolled in regular secondary vocational programs existing as of the effective date of this section: Provided, That net enrollment shall include no more than one thousand such adults counted on the basis of full-time equivalency and apportioned annually to each county in proportion to the adults participating in regular secondary vocational programs in the prior year counted on the basis of full-time equivalency: Provided, however, That no tuition or special feesbeyond that required of the regular secondary vocational student is charged for such adult students.
"Adjusted enrollment" means the net enrollment plus twice the number of pupils enrolled for special education. Commencing with the school year beginning on the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety, adjusted enrollment means the net enrollment plus twice the number of pupils enrolled for special education, including exceptional gifted, plus the number of pupils in grades nine through twelve enrolled for honors and advanced placement programs, plus the number of pupils enrolled on the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred eighty-nine, in the gifted program in grades nine through twelve: Provided, That commencing with the school year beginning on the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety, no more than four five percent of net enrollment of grades one through eight may be counted as enrolled in gifted education and no more than six seven percent of net enrollment of grades nine through twelve may be counted as enrolled in gifted education, exceptional gifted education (subject to the limitation set forth in section one, article twenty of this chapter) and honors and advanced placement programs for the purpose of determining adjusted enrollment within a county: Provided, however, That nothing herein shall be construed to limit the number of students who may actually enroll in gifted, honors or advanced placement education programs in any county: Provided further, That until the school year beginning on the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-two,the preceding percentage limitations shall not restrict the adjusted enrollment definition for a county to the extent that those limitations are exceeded by students enrolled in gifted education programs on the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred eighty-nine: And Provided further, That no pupil may be counted more than three times for the purpose of determining adjusted enrollment. Such enrollment shall be adjusted to the equivalent of the instructional term and in accordance with such eligibility requirements and rules as established by the state board. No pupil shall be counted more than once by reason of transfer within the county or from another county within the state, and no pupil shall be counted who attends school in this state from another state.
"Levies for general current expense purposes" means on each hundred dollars of valuation, twenty-two and five-tenths cents on Class I property, forty-five cents on Class II property, and ninety cents on Classes III and IV property.
"Basic resources per pupil" for the state and the several counties means the total of (a) property tax revenues computed at the maximum regular levy rates as provided by section six-c, article eight, chapter eleven of this code, at a uniform rate of ninety-five percent, but excluding revenues from increased levies as provided in section ten, article X of the Constitution of West Virginia, and (b) basic state aid as provided in sections twelve and thirteen of this article, but excluding the foundation allowance to improve instructional programs as provided insection ten of this article, and excluding any funds appropriated for the purpose of achieving salary equity among county board employees, this total divided by the number of students in adjusted enrollment: Provided, That beginning with the school year commencing on the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-one, and thereafter, the foundation allowance for transportation cost as provided in section seven of this article shall also be excluded and the total shall be divided by the number of students in net enrollment: Provided, however, That any year's allocations to the counties of the eighty percent portion of the foundation allowance to improve instructional programs, as provided in section ten of this article, shall be determined on the basis of the immediately preceding school year's basic resources per pupil.
§18-9A-4. Foundation allowance for professional educators.

The basic foundation allowance to the county for professional educators shall be the amount of money required to pay the state minimum salaries, in accordance with provisions of article four, chapter eighteen-a of the code, to such personnel employed:
Provided, That in making this computation no county shall receive an allowance for such personnel which number is in excess of fifty-four and thirty-three one-hundredths and one-half professional educators to each one thousand students in adjusted enrollment: Provided, however, That for the school year commencing on the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-one, and thereafter, no county shall receive an allowancefor such personnel which number is in excess of fifty-three and one-half professional educators to each one thousand students in adjusted enrollment: Provided, further however, That any county not qualifying under the provision of section fourteen of this article shall be eligible for a growth rate in professional personnel in any one year not to exceed twenty percent of its total potential increase under this provision, except that in no case shall such limit be fewer than five professionals: And Provided further, That the number of and the allowance for personnel paid in part by state and county funds shall be prorated: And provided further, That where two or more counties join together in support of a vocational or comprehensive high school or any other program or service, the professional educators for such school or program may be prorated among the participating counties on the basis of each one's enrollment therein and that such personnel shall be considered within the above-stated limit: And provided further, That in the school year beginning the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred eighty-eight, and in each school year thereafter, each county board shall establish and maintain a minimum ratio of fifty fifty-one professional instructional personnel, excluding substitute teachers, per one thousand students in adjusted enrollment: And provided further, That no county shall have less than a total of five principals and central office administrators. Any county board which does not establish and maintain this minimum ratio shall suffer a pro rata reduction inthe allowance for professional educators under this section: And provided further, That no county shall be penalized if it has increases in enrollment during that school year, and no county shall be penalized if for the school year, one thousand nine hundred ninety-three--ninety-four, only the number of professional instructional personnel is greater than fifty but less than fifty-one per one thousand students in adjusted enrollment: And provided further, That any county board which does not establish and maintain this minimum ratio shall utilize any and all allocations to it by provision of section fourteen of this article solely to employ professional instructional personnel until the minimum ratio is attained. Every county shall utilize methods other than reductions in force, such as attrition and early retirement, before implementing their reductions in force policy to comply with the limitations of this section. It is the intent of the Legislature that in planning reductions in force to comply with reduced ratios of professional educators to students in adjusted enrollment, county boards shall consider positions for elimination in the following order: (1) Central office administrators, (2) assistant principals, and (3) principals.
No county shall increase the number of administrative personnel employed as either professional educators or pay grade "H" service personnel above the number which were employed, or for which positions were posted, on the thirtieth day of June, one thousand nine hundred ninety ninety-four, and, therefore,county boards shall whenever possible utilize classroom teachers for curriculum administrative positions through the use of modified or extended contracts:
Provided, That the governor shall submit a recommendation to the Legislature at the beginning of the regular session thereof in the year one thousand nine hundred ninety-one, which proposes a method for establishing a responsible level of administrative support for each county school system and a pay scale differentiation on a daily rate between classroom positions and administrative positions when all other factors are equal.
Every county board of education shall annually determine the number of professional educators employed that exceeds the number allowed by the public school support plan and determine the amount of salary supplement that would be available per state authorized employee if all expenditures for such excess employees were converted to annual salaries for state authorized professional educators within their county. Such information shall be published annually in each school report card of each such county.
§18-9A-5a. Ratio of foundation allowances for professional educators and service personnel to net enrollment.

(a) The purpose of this section is to establish maximum ratios between the numbers of professional educators and service personnel in the counties which are funded through the public school support plan and the net enrollment in the counties, such ratios are in addition to the ratios provided for in sectionsfour and five of this article. It is the intent of the Legislature to adjust these ratios pursuant to legislative act as may be appropriate when additional personnel are needed to perform additional duties.
(b) Commencing with the school year one thousand nine hundred eighty-nine--ninety, and each year thereafter, in computing the basic foundation allowance to a county for professional educators and the basic foundation allowance to a county for service personnel under sections four and five of this article, a county shall not receive an allowance for such personnel which number per one thousand students in net enrollment is in excess of the number of seventy-five and one-half professional educators and the number of forty-four and one-half service personnel in the county. computed as follows:
Maximum professionalMaximum service
For theeducators per 1000personnel per 1000
school yearnet enrollment thenet enrollment the
preceding yearpreceding year
1989-9076.545.5
1990-9176.045.0
1991-9275.544.5
1992-9375.044.0
1993-9474.543.75
1994-95 and74.043.5
thereafter
(c) Every county shall utilize methods other than reductionsin force, such as attrition and early retirement, before implementing their reductions in force policy to comply with the limitations of this section.
(d) For the school years one thousand nine hundred eighty- nine--ninety and one thousand nine hundred ninety--ninety-one only, if a school district loses more than six percent of the number chargeable for the previous school year for professional educator positions or service personnel positions, due to the maximum ratios established in subsection (b) of this section, it may apply to the state board for a waiver of said ratios to the extent that the loss exceeds either six percent of its professional educators or service personnel: Provided, That the county board of education establishes and maintains the minimum ratio of professional instructional personnel per one thousand students in adjusted enrollment as required in section four of this article. Waivers shall be determined on a case by case basis according to rules adopted by the state board and granted to the extent funds are appropriated by the Legislature for this purpose. Prior to the adoption of such rules, the state board shall conduct a thorough review of the staffing patterns in each county. Any personnel positions funded as a result of a waiver granted under the provisions of this subsection shall not be included in the computations set forth in sections four and five of this article.
§18-9A-6. Foundation allowance for fixed charges.

The total allowance for fixed charges shall be the sum ofthe following:
(1) The sum of the foundation allowance for professional educators and the foundation allowance for other personnel, as determined in sections four and five above, multiplied by the current social security rate of contribution; plus
(2) The sum of the foundation allowance for professional educators and the foundation allowance for other personnel, as determined in sections four and five above, multiplied by four hundredths of one percent as an allowance for unemployment compensation contribution; plus
(3) The sum of the foundation allowance for professional educators and the foundation allowance for other personnel, as determined in sections four and five above, multiplied by the rate which is derived by dividing the total contributions for workers' compensation for professional educators and other personnel by the total of the state minimum salaries. The computation of this rate shall be determined by using data of the most recent year for which available; plus
(4) The teachers retirement fund allowance as determined in section six-a of this article; plus
(5) The public employees insurance fund allowance as determined in section six-b.
§18-9A-6b. Public employees insurance fund allowance.

(1) County boards of education shall only be responsible for payments to the public employees insurance agency for professional employees who are employed above and beyond thoseauthorized by sections four or five-a of this article, whichever is less and service personnel who are employed above and beyond those authorized by sections five and five-a of this article whichever is less. For each employee employed beyond those authorized by sections four or five-a of this article, the county boards of education which employs such employee, shall forward to the public employees insurance agency an amount equal to the number of such employees times the average premium for all county boards of education as established by the public employees insurance agency financial board. The average premium rate for all county boards of education employees shall be incorporated into each financial plan developed by the finance board in accordance with section five, article sixteen, chapter five of this code. Such average premium rate shall include any proportionate share of retiree subsidy established by the finance board.
(2) The total public employees insurance fund allowance shall be the number of professional educators employed by the county boards of education pursuant to sections four or five-a of this article, whichever is less plus the number of service personnel employed by county boards of education pursuant to sections five or five-a of this article, whichever is less, multiplied by the average premium rate for all county boards of education employees established by the public employees insurance agency finance board. The average premium rate for all county boards of education employees shall be incorporated into eachfinancial plan developed by the finance board in accordance with section five, article sixteen, chapter five of this code. Such premiums shall include any proportionate share of retirees subsidy established by the finance board.
§18-9A-7. Foundation allowance for transportation cost.

The allowance in the foundation school program for each county for transportation shall be the sum of the following computations:
(1) Eighty Ninety percent of the transportation cost within each county for maintenance, operation and related costs, exclusive of all salaries;
(2) The total cost, within each county, of insurance premiums on buses, buildings and equipment used in transportation: Provided, That such premiums were procured through competitive bidding;
(3) For the school year beginning the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred eighty-nine, and thereafter, an amount equal to ten percent of the current replacement value of the bus fleet within each county as determined by the state board, such amount to be used only for the replacement of buses. In addition, in any school year in which its net enrollment for increases when compared to the net enrollment for the year immediately preceding, a school district may apply to the state superintendent for funding for an additional bus. Furthermore, large, sparsely populated counties may also apply to the state superintendent for funding for additional mini-buses. The statesuperintendent shall make a decision regarding each application based upon an analysis of the individual school district's net enrollment history and transportation needs or, in the case of a large, sparsely populated county, the population of the county: Provided, That the superintendent shall not consider any application which fails to document that the county has applied for federal funding for additional buses. If the state superintendent finds that a need exists, a request for funding shall be included in the budget request submitted by the state board for the upcoming fiscal year;
(4) Eighty Ninety percent of the cost of contracted transportation services and public utility transportation with each county;
(5) Aid in lieu of transportation equal to the state average amount per pupil for each pupil receiving such aid within each county; and
(6) Ninety percent of the total cost of transportation operations and related expenses, excluding salaries and maintenance for transporting students to and from classes at a multicounty vocational center.
The total state share for this purpose shall be the sum of the county shares: Provided, That no county shall receive an allowance which is greater than one-third above the computed state average allowance per mile multiplied by the total mileage in the county.
§18-9A-8a. Foundation allowance for regional educational service
agencies.
For the fiscal year beginning on the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-one, and for each fiscal year thereafter, the foundation allowance for regional educational service agencies shall be equal to sixty-three one-hundredths percent of the allocation for professional educators as determined in section four of this article three million seven hundred thousand dollars. The allowance shall be distributed to the regional educational service agencies in accordance with rules adopted by the state board. The allowance for regional educational service agencies shall be excluded from the computation of total basic state aid as provided for in section twelve of this article.
§18-9A-9. Foundation allowance for other current expense and substitute employees.

The total allowance for other current expense and substitute employees shall be the sum of the following: Provided, That each of the three amounts amount set forth in subparagraphs subparagraph (1) (2) and (3) of this section shall not exceed the preceding year's allowance by more than four five percent:
(1) For current expense, for the year one thousand nine hundred ninety--ninety-one and thereafter, ten percent of the sum of the computed state allocation for professional educators and service personnel as determined in sections four and five of this article. Distribution to the counties shall be made proportional to the average of each county's average daily attendance for thepreceding year and the county's second month net enrollment; plus
(2) For professional educator substitutes, or current expense, two and five-tenths percent of the computed state allocation for professional educators as determined in section four of this article. Distribution to the counties shall be made proportional to the number of professional educators authorized for the county in compliance with sections four and five-a of this article each county shall be reimbursed at a rate of ninety- five percent of the actual expenditure made by the county in providing substitutes for professional educators during the most recent fiscal year in which complete data is available; plus
(3) For service personnel substitutes, or current expense, two and five-tenths percent of the computed state allocation for service personnel as determined in section five of this article. Distribution to the counties shall be made proportional to the number of service personnel authorized for the county in compliance with sections five and five-a of this article each county shall be reimbursed at a rate of ninety-five percent of the actual expenditure made by the county in providing substitutes for service personnel during the most recent fiscal year in which complete data is available; plus
(4) For academic materials, supplies and equipment for use in instructional programs, two hundred dollars multiplied by the number of professional instructional personnel employed in the schools of the county. Distribution shall be made to each county for allocation to the faculty senate of each school in the countyon the basis of two hundred dollars per professional instructional personnel employed at the school. Faculty senate means a faculty senate created pursuant to section five, article five-a of this chapter. Decisions for the expenditure of such funds shall be made at the school level by the faculty senate in accordance with the provisions of said section five, article five-a, and shall not be used to supplant the current expense expenditures of the county.
(5) For the school year one thousand nine hundred ninety-- ninety-one only, There shall be a one-time an additional appropriation of five hundred thousand one million dollars to be distributed to the counties on a needs basis. Funds shall be distributed to those very few counties in which costs for the delivery of educational services are extraordinarily greater than in the vast majority of counties, thus impairing the quality of education in those few counties. The factors used to determine eligibility for funds shall be sparsity of student population, combined with geographical barriers to the efficient transportation of students; or extraordinary growth in net enrollment for school year one thousand nine hundred ninety-- ninety-one which exceed the allowance for increased enrollment appropriated in the budget for that year. Prior to the distribution of funds, the state superintendent shall establish that the applying county has demonstrated efficiency and fiscal responsibility in staffing, and in maximum sharing of services with adjoining counties and the regional educational serviceagency for that county in the use of the total local county budget.



NOTE: The purpose of this bill generally is to amend various provisions of the education code to provide for increased professional educator ratios and other increases in the funding for public schools. The bill increases the number of professional educators and professional instructional personnel, by eliminating further reductions in professional and service personnel positions based on net enrollment. It increases the caps on special education. It establishes a system for funding insurance premiums for county boards of education employees paid to the premiums for county boards of education employees paid to the public employees insurance agency and increases reimbursement rate for transportation paid to county boards of education. The bills also changes the mechanism for reimbursements to county boards of education for substitute professional and service personnel.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.

§18-9A-6b is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.
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