Senate Bill No. 521
(By Senators Dalton, Ross, Helmick, Tomblin and Felton)
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[Introduced March 22, 1993; referred to the Committee
on Education.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section five, article two-e, chapter
eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to education; and
removing the authority of the state board to intervene in
the operation of a district board.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section five, article two-e, chapter eighteen of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2E. HIGH QUALITY EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS.
§18-2E-5. School accreditation; standards compliance board;
approval status; intervention to correct impairments.
(a) The purpose of this section is to provide assurances
that a thorough and efficient system of education is being
provided for all West Virginia public school students on an equal
educational opportunity basis and that the high quality standards
are being met. A system for the review of school districteducational plans, performance-based accreditation and periodic,
random, unannounced on-site effectiveness reviews of district
educational systems, including individual schools within the
districts, shall provide assurances that the high quality
standards, established pursuant to subsection (b) of this
section, are being met. A performance-based accreditation system
shall provide assurances that the high quality standards,
established pursuant to subsection (c) of this section, are being
met.
(b) On or before the first day of January, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-one, the state board of education shall, in
accordance with the provisions of article three-b, chapter
twenty-nine-a of this code, establish and adopt high quality
educational standards in the areas of curriculum, finance,
transportation, special education, facilities, administrative
practices, training of school district board members and
administrators, personnel qualifications, professional
development and evaluation, student and school performance, a
code of conduct for students and employees and other such areas
as determined by the state board of education. The standards
established in the area of curriculum shall assure that all
graduates are prepared for the world of work or for continuing
postsecondary education and training. Each school district shall
submit an annual improvement plan designed around locally
identified needs showing how the educational program of each
school in the district will meet or exceed the high qualitystandards.
A performance-based accreditation system shall be the only
statewide system used for accrediting or classifying the public
schools in West Virginia. The state board shall establish a
schedule and shall review each school within a district and each
school district board of education for accreditation based on
information submitted to the board under the performance-based
accreditation system as set forth in subsection (c) of this
section.
(c) On or before the first day of July, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-one, the state board of education shall, in
accordance with the provisions of article three-b, chapter
twenty-nine-a of this code, establish by rule a system which
measures the performance of each school based on the following
measures of student and school performance: The acquisition of
student proficiencies as indicated by student performance by
grade level in the various subjects tested under the statewide
testing of educational progress program and other appropriate
measures; school attendance rates; the student dropout rate; the
percent of students promoted to next grade and the number of
waivers of the promotion standard granted; the graduation rate;
the average class size; the pupil-teacher ratio; the number of
exceptions to pupil-teacher ratio requested by the county board
and the number of exceptions granted; the number of split-grade
classrooms; the percentage of graduating students entering
postsecondary education or training; the pupil-administratorratio; parent involvement; parent, teacher and student
satisfaction; and operating expenditures per pupil.
The state board annually shall review the information
submitted for each school and shall issue to every school: (1)
Full accreditation status; or (2) probationary accreditation
status.
Full accreditation status shall be given to a school when
the school's performance on the above indicators is at a level
which would be expected when all of the high quality educational
standards are being met. Probationary accreditation status shall
be given to a school when the measure of the school's performance
is below such level.
Whenever a school is given probationary accreditation
status, the district board shall implement an improvement plan
which is designed to increase the performance of the school to a
full accreditation status level within one year.
(d) The state board of education shall establish and adopt
standards of performance to identify seriously impaired schools
and the state board may declare a school seriously impaired
whenever extraordinary circumstances exist as defined by the
state board. Whenever the state board of education determines
that the quality of education in a school is seriously impaired,
the state superintendent, with approval of the state board, shall
appoint a team of three improvement consultants to make
recommendations within sixty days of appointment for correction
of the impairment. Upon approval of the recommendations by thestate board, the recommendations shall be made to the district
board of education. If progress in correcting the impairment is
not made within six months of receipt of the recommendations, the
state superintendent shall provide consultation and assistance to
the district board to (1) improve personnel management, (2)
establish more efficient financial management practices, (3)
improve instructional programs and policies or (4) make such
other improvements as may be necessary to correct the
impairment. If the impairment is not corrected within one year
of receipt of the recommendations, the district shall be given
probationary approval status or nonapproval status.
(e) Whenever a school is given probationary status or is
determined to be seriously impaired and fails to improve its
status within one year, any student attending such school may
transfer once to the nearest fully accredited school, subject to
approval of the fully accredited school and at the expense of the
school from which the student transferred.
(f) The state board of education shall issue one of the
following accreditation levels to each school district board of
education: (1) Full approval, (2) conditional approval, (3)
probationary approval or (4) nonapproval.
Full approval shall be given to a district board whose
educational system meets or exceeds all of the high quality
standards adopted by the state board and whose schools have all
been given full accreditation status. Full approval shall be for
a period not to exceed four years.
Conditional approval shall be given to a district board
whose educational system meets at least ninety-five percent of
the high quality standards adopted by the state board and in
which at least ninety percent of the schools have been given full
accreditation status provided no school is seriously impaired.
Conditional approval shall be for a period not to exceed one
year:
Provided, That for counties that have fewer than ten
schools, the state board of education may grant conditional
approval without regard to the ninety percent based on the total
quality of the county educational program.
Probationary approval shall be given to a district board of
education whose educational system has met less than ninety-five
percent of the high quality standards, or which has eleven
percent or more schools in the district given probationary status
or serious impairment. Probationary approval is a warning that
the district board must make specified improvements. If the
number of schools in the district given probationary status is
not reduced to a number that would allow full accreditation to be
granted in the following year, the district board shall be
automatically given nonapproval. In addition, nonapproval shall
be given to a district board of education which fails to submit
an annual program plan or fails to demonstrate a reasonable
effort to meet the high quality standards. The state board of
education shall establish and adopt standards to identify school
districts in which the program may be nonapproved or the state
board may issue nonapproval status whenever extraordinarycircumstances exist as defined by the state board of education.
(g) Whenever nonapproval status is given to a district, the
state board of education shall declare a state of emergency in
the district and may intervene in the operation of the district
to (1) limit the authority of the district superintendent and
district board of education as to the expenditure of funds, the
employment and dismissal of personnel, the establishment and
operation of the school calendar, the establishment of
instructional programs and policies, and such other areas as may
be designated by the state board by rule, (2) take such direct
action as may be necessary to correct the impairment and (3)
declare that the office of the district superintendent is vacant.
(h) (g) To assist the state board in determinations of the
accreditation status of schools and the approval status of school
districts under this section, the state board shall from time to
time appoint an educational standards compliance review team to
make unannounced on-site reviews of the educational programs in
any school or school district in the state to assess compliance
of the school or district with the high quality standards adopted
by the state board, including, but not limited to, facilities,
administrative procedures, transportation, food services and the
audit of all matters relating to school finance, budgeting and
administration.
The teams shall be composed of not more than ten persons,
not more than half of whom may be members of or currently
employed by the state board, who possess the necessary knowledge,skills and experience to make an accurate assessment of such
educational programs. The educational standards compliance team
shall report the findings of its on-site reviews to the state
board of education for inclusion in the determination of a
school's or district's accreditation or approval status as
applicable. The state board of education shall encourage the
sharing of information to improve school effectiveness among the
districts.
The state board shall make accreditation information
available to the Legislature, the governor, the general public
and to any individuals who request such information.
(i) (h) The state board shall fully implement the
accreditation system established under this article for all
schools on the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-one, and may pilot test the system prior to that date.
The state board shall adopt rules in accordance with the
provisions of article three-b, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code
necessary to implement the provisions of this article.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to remove the authority
of the state board of education to intervene in the operation of
county or district boards of education.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.
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