H. B. 108
(By Mr. Speaker, (Mr. Thompson) and Delegate Armstead)
[By Request of the Executive]
[Introduced May 31, 2009; referred to the
Committee on Education.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §18-5-4 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended; to amend and reenact §18A-1-1 of said code;
to amend and reenact §18A-2-2, §18A-2-6, §18A-2-7 and
§18A-2-8a of said code; and to amend and reenact §18A-3-1 and
§18A-3-2a of said code, all relating to the hiring,
termination, transfer and reassignment of teachers and school
personnel; revising definition of "long-term substitute";
revising certain dates upon which action must be taken with
respect to the hiring, termination, resignation or transfer of
teachers and school personnel; clarifying probationary
professional employee contract; providing conditional contract
of prospective and recent graduates and prospective employable
professional personnel; revising dates regarding the early
notification of retirement; providing for nonrevocation of
early notification; providing an economic hardship exception; and authorizing certification of noncitizen teachers.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18-5-4 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted; that §18A-1-1 of said code be amended and
reenacted; that §18A-2-2, §18A-2-6, §18A-2-7 and §18A-2-8a of said
code be amended and reenacted; and that §18A-3-1 and §18A-3-2a of
said code be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 18. EDUCATION.
ARTICLE 5. COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION.
§18-5-4. Meetings; employment and assignment of teachers; budget
hearing; compensation of members; affiliation with
state and national associations.
(a) The county board shall meet on the first Monday in July,
and upon the dates provided by law for the laying of levies, and at
any other times the county board fixes upon its records. Subject
to adequate public notice, nothing
herein shall prohibit in this
section prohibits the county board from conducting regular meetings
in facilities within the county other than the county board office.
At any meeting as authorized in this section and in compliance with
the provisions of
article four of this chapter
eighteen-a of this
code, the county board may employ qualified teachers, or those who
will qualify by the time they enter upon their duties, necessary to
fill existing or anticipated vacancies for the current or next
ensuing school year.
At a meeting of the county board, on or before the first Monday in May, the county superintendent shall
furnish in writing to the county board a list of those teachers to
be considered for transfer and subsequent assignment for the next
ensuing school year. All other teachers not listed are considered
as reassigned to the positions held at the time of this meeting.
The list of those recommended for transfer shall be included in the
minute record and the teachers listed shall be notified in writing.
The notice shall be delivered in writing, by certified mail, return
receipt requested, to the teachers' last known addresses within ten
days following the board meeting, of their having been recommended
for transfer and subsequent assignment. Meetings of the county
board shall be held in compliance with the provisions of chapter
eighteen-a of this code for purposes relating to the assignment,
transfer, termination and dismissal of teachers and other school
employees.
(b) Special meetings may be called by the president or any
three members, but no business may be transacted other than that
designated in the call.
(c) In addition, a public hearing shall be held concerning the
preliminary operating budget for the next fiscal year not fewer
than ten days after the budget has been made available to the
public for inspection and within a reasonable time prior to the
submission of the budget to the state board for approval.
Reasonable time shall be granted at the hearing to any person who wishes to speak regarding any part of the budget. Notice of the
hearing shall be published as a Class I legal advertisement in
compliance with the provisions of article three, chapter fifty-nine
of this code.
(d) A majority of the members of the county board constitutes
the quorum necessary for the transaction of official business.
(e) Board members may receive compensation at a rate not to
exceed $160 per meeting attended, but they may not receive pay for
more than fifty meetings in any one fiscal year. Board members who
serve on an administrative council of a multicounty vocational
center also may receive compensation for attending up to twelve
meetings of the council at the same rate as for meetings of the
county board. Meetings of the council are not counted as board
meetings for purposes of determining the limit on compensable board
meetings.
(f) Members also shall be paid, upon the presentation of an
itemized sworn statement, for all necessary traveling expenses,
including all authorized meetings, incurred on official business,
at the order of the county board.
(g) When, by a majority vote of its members, a county board
considers it a matter of public interest, the county board may join
the West Virginia School Board Association and the National School
Board Association and may pay the dues prescribed by the
associations and approved by action of the respective county boards. Membership dues and actual traveling expenses incurred by
board members for attending meetings of the West Virginia School
Board Association may be paid by their respective county boards out
of funds available to meet actual expenses of the members, but no
allowance may be made except upon sworn itemized statements.
CHAPTER 18A. SCHOOL PERSONNEL.
ARTICLE 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS.
§18A-1-1. Definitions.
The definitions contained in section one, article one, chapter
eighteen of this code apply to this chapter. In addition, the
following words used in this chapter and in any proceedings
pursuant to this chapter have the meanings ascribed to them unless
the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
(a) "School personnel" means all personnel employed by a
county board whether employed on a regular full-time basis, an
hourly basis or otherwise. "School personnel" is comprised of two
categories: Professional personnel and service personnel;
(b) "Professional person" or "Professional personnel" means
those persons or employees who meet the certification requirements
of the state, licensing requirements of the state, or both, and
includes a professional educator and other professional employee;
(c) "Professional educator" has the same meaning as "teacher"
as defined in section one, article one, chapter eighteen of this
code. Professional educators are classified as follows:
(1) "Classroom teacher" means a professional educator who has
a direct instructional or counseling relationship with students and
who spends the majority of his or her time in this capacity;
(2) "Principal" means a professional educator who functions as
an agent of the county board and has responsibility for the
supervision, management and control of a school or schools within
the guidelines established by the county board. The principal's
major area of responsibility is the general supervision of all the
schools and all school activities involving students, teachers and
other school personnel;
(3) "Supervisor" means a professional educator who is
responsible for working primarily in the field with professional
and other personnel in instructional and other school improvement.
This category includes other appropriate titles or positions with
duties that fit within this definition; and
(4) "Central office administrator" means a superintendent,
associate superintendent, assistant superintendent and other
professional educators who are charged with administering and
supervising the whole or some assigned part of the total program of
the countywide school system. This category includes other
appropriate titles or positions with duties that fit within this
definition;
(d) "Other professional employee" means a person from another
profession who is properly licensed and who is employed to serve the public schools. This definition includes a registered
professional nurse, licensed by the West Virginia Board of
Examiners for Registered Professional Nurses, who is employed by a
county board and has completed either a two-year (sixty-four
semester hours) or a three-year (ninety-six semester hours) nursing
program;
(e) "Service person" or "service personnel", whether singular
or plural, means a non-teaching school employee who is not included
in the meaning of "teacher" as defined in section one, article one,
chapter eighteen of this code, and who serves the school or schools
as a whole, in a nonprofessional capacity, including such areas as
secretarial, custodial, maintenance, transportation, school lunch
and aides. Any reference to "service employee" or "service
employees" in this chapter or chapter eighteen of this code means
service person or service personnel as defined in this section;
(f) "Principals Academy" or "academy" means the academy
created pursuant to section two-b, article three-a of this chapter;
(g) "Center for Professional Development" means the center
created pursuant to section one, article three-a of this chapter;
(h) "Job-sharing arrangement" means a formal, written
agreement voluntarily entered into by a county board with two or
more of its employees who wish to divide between them the duties
and responsibilities of one authorized full-time position;
(i) "Prospective employable professional person" whether singular or plural, means a certified professional educator who:
(1) Has been recruited on a reserve list of a county board;
(2) Has been recruited at a job fair or as a result of contact
made at a job fair;
(3) Has not obtained regular employee status through the job
posting process provided
for in section seven-a, article four of
this chapter; and
(4) Has obtained a baccalaureate degree from an accredited
institution of higher education within the past year;
(j) "Dangerous student" means a student who is substantially
likely to cause serious bodily injury to himself, herself or
another individual within that student's educational environment,
which may include any alternative education environment, as
evidenced by a pattern or series of violent behavior exhibited by
the student, and documented in writing by the school, with the
documentation provided to the student and parent or guardian at the
time of any offense;
and
(k) "Alternative education" means an authorized departure from
the regular school program designed to provide educational and
social development for students whose disruptive behavior places
them at risk of not succeeding in the traditional school structures
and in adult life without positive interventions;
and
(l) "Long-term substitute" means a substitute employee who
fills a vacant position:
(1) That the county superintendent expects to extend for at
least
ninety thirty consecutive days, and is either:
(A) Listed in the job posting as a long term substitute
position of over
ninety thirty days; or
(B) Listed in a job posting as a regular, full-time position
and:
(i) Is not filled by a regular, full-time employee; and
(ii) Is filled by a substitute employee.
For the purposes of section two, article sixteen, chapter five
of this code, long-term substitute does not include a retired
employee hired to fill the vacant position.
ARTICLE 2. SCHOOL PERSONNEL.
§18A-2-2. Employment of teachers; contracts; continuing contract
status; how terminated; dismissal for lack of need;
released time; failure of teacher to perform contract
or violation thereof; written notice bonus for
teachers and professional personnel.
(a) Before entering upon their duties, all teachers shall
execute a contract with their county boards, which shall state the
salary to be paid and shall be in the form prescribed by the state
superintendent. Each contract shall be signed by the teacher and
by the president and secretary of the county board and shall be
filed, together with the certificate of the teacher, by the
secretary of the office of the county board: Provided, That when necessary to facilitate the employment of employable professional
personnel and prospective and recent graduates of teacher education
programs who have not yet attained certification, the contract may
be signed upon the condition that the certificate is issued to the
employee prior to the beginning of the employment term in which the
employee enters upon his or her duties.
(b) A Each teacher's contract, under this section, shall be
designated as a probationary or continuing contract. A
probationary teacher's contract shall be for a term of not less
than one nor more than three years, one of which shall be for
completion of a beginning teacher internship pursuant to the
provisions of section two-b, article three of this chapter, if
applicable. If, after three years of such employment, the teacher
who holds a professional certificate, based on at least a
bachelor's degree, has met the qualifications for a bachelor's
degree and the county board enter into a new contract of
employment, it shall be a continuing contract, subject to the
following:
(1) Any teacher holding a valid certificate with less than a
bachelor's degree who is employed in a county beyond the three-year
probationary period shall upon qualifying for the professional
certificate based upon a bachelor's degree, if reemployed, be
granted continuing contract status; and
(2) A teacher holding continuing contract status with one county shall be granted continuing contract status with any other
county upon completion of one year of acceptable employment if the
employment is during the next succeeding school year or immediately
following an approved leave of absence extending no more than one
year.
(c) The continuing contract of any teacher shall remain in
full force and effect except as modified by mutual consent of the
school board and the teacher, unless and until terminated, subject
to the following:
(1) A continuing contract may not be terminated except:
(A) By a majority vote of the full membership of the county
board on or before the first Monday of April February 1 of the then
current year, after written notice, served upon the teacher, return
receipt requested, stating cause or causes and an opportunity to be
heard at a meeting of the board prior to the board's action on the
termination issue; or
(B) By written resignation of the teacher on or before that
date February 1, to initiate termination of a continuing contract;
(2) The termination shall take effect at the close of the
school year in which the contract is terminated;
(3) The contract may be terminated at any time by mutual
consent of the school board and the teacher;
(4) This section does not affect the powers of the school
board to suspend or dismiss a principal or teacher pursuant to section eight of this article;
(5) A continuing contract for any teacher holding a
certificate valid for more than one year and in full force and
effect during the school year 1984-1985 shall remain in full force
and effect;
(6) A continuing contract shall does not operate to prevent a
teacher's dismissal based upon the lack of need for the teacher's
services pursuant to the provisions of law relating to the
allocation to teachers and pupil-teacher ratios. The written
notification of teachers being considered for dismissal for lack of
need shall be limited to only those teachers whose consideration
for dismissal is based upon known or expected circumstances which
will require dismissal for lack of need. An employee who was not
provided notice and an opportunity for a hearing pursuant to this
subsection may not be included on the list. In case of dismissal
for lack of need, a dismissed teacher shall be placed upon a
preferred list in the order of their length of service with that
board. No teacher shall may be employed by the board until each
qualified teacher upon the preferred list, in order, has been
offered the opportunity for reemployment in a position for which he
or she is qualified, not including a teacher who has accepted a
teaching position elsewhere. The reemployment shall be upon a
teacher's preexisting continuing contract and has the same effect
as though the contract had been suspended during the time the teacher was not employed.
(d) In the assignment of position or duties of a teacher under
a continuing contract, the board may provide for released time of
a teacher for any special professional or governmental assignment
without jeopardizing the contractual rights of the teacher or any
other rights, privileges or benefits under the provisions of this
chapter. Released time shall be provided for any professional
educator while serving as a member of the Legislature during any
duly constituted session of that body and its interim and statutory
committees and commissions without jeopardizing his or her
contractual rights or any other rights, privileges, benefits or
accrual of experience for placement on the state minimum salary
schedule in the following school year under the provisions of this
chapter, board policy and law.
(e) Any teacher who fails to fulfill his or her contract with
the board, unless prevented from doing so by personal illness or
other just cause or unless released from his or her contract by the
board, or who violates any lawful provision of the contract, shall
be is disqualified to teach in any other public school in the state
for a period of the next ensuing school year and the State
Department of Education or board may hold all papers and
credentials of the teacher on file for a period of one year for the
violation: Provided, That marriage of a teacher shall is not be
considered a failure to fulfill, or violation of, the contract.
(f) Any classroom teacher, as defined in section one, article
one of this chapter, who desires to resign employment with a county
board or request a leave of absence, the resignation or leave of
absence to become effective on or before July 15 of the same year
and after completion of the employment term, may do so at any time
during the school year by written notification of the resignation
or leave of absence and any notification received by a county board
shall automatically extend the teacher's public employee insurance
coverage until August 31 of the same year.
(g) Any (1) A classroom teacher who gives written notice to
the county board on or before the first day of February December 1
of the school year of their his or her retirement from employment
with the board at the conclusion of the school year shall be paid
$500 from the Early Notification of Retirement line item
established for the Department of Education for this purpose,
subject to appropriation by the Legislature. If the appropriations
to the Department of Education for this purpose are insufficient to
compensate all applicable teachers, the Department of Education
shall request a supplemental appropriation in an amount sufficient
to compensate all such teachers. Additionally, if funds are still
insufficient to compensate all applicable teachers, the priority of
payment is for teachers who give written notice the earliest. This
payment shall not be counted as part of the final average salary
for the purpose of calculating retirement.
(2) The position of a classroom teacher providing written
notice of retirement pursuant to this subsection may be considered
vacant and the county board may immediately post the position as an
opening to be filled at the conclusion of the school year. If a
teacher has been hired to fill the position of a retiring classroom
teacher prior to the start of the next school year, the retiring
classroom teacher is disqualified from continuing his or her
employment in that position. However, the retiring classroom
teacher may be permitted to continue his or her employment in that
position and forfeit the early retirement notification payment if,
after giving notice of retirement in accordance with this
subsection, he or she becomes subject to a significant unforeseen
financial hardship, including a hardship caused by the death or
illness of an immediate family member or loss of employment of a
spouse. Other significant unforeseen financial hardships shall be
determined by the county superintendent on a case-by-case basis.
This subsection does not prohibit a county school board from
eliminating the position of a retiring classroom teacher.
§18A-2-6. Continuing contract status for service personnel;
termination.
After three years of acceptable employment, each service
personnel employee who enters into a new contract of employment
with the board shall be granted continuing contract status:
Provided, That a service personnel employee holding continuing contract status with one county shall be granted continuing
contract status with any other county upon completion of one year
of acceptable employment if such employment is during the next
succeeding school year or immediately following an approved leave
of absence extending no more than one year. The continuing
contract of any such employee shall remain in full force and effect
except as modified by mutual consent of the school board and the
employee, unless and until terminated with written notice, stating
cause or causes, to the employee, by a majority vote of the full
membership of the board before the first day of April February 1 of
the then current year, or by written resignation of the employee on
or before that date. except that for the school year one thousand
nine hundred eighty-eight--eighty-nine only, the board shall have
until the fourth Monday of April, one thousand nine hundred
eighty-nine, to initiate termination of a continuing contract The
affected employee shall have has the right of a hearing before the
board, if requested, before final action is taken by the board upon
the termination of such employment.
Those employees who have completed three years of acceptable
employment as of the effective date of this legislation shall be
granted continuing contract status.
§18A-2-7. Assignment, transfer, promotion, demotion, suspension
and recommendation of dismissal of school personnel
by superintendent; preliminary notice of transfer; hearing on the transfer; proof required.
(a) The superintendent, subject only to approval of the board,
shall have authority to may assign, transfer, promote, demote or
suspend school personnel and to recommend their dismissal pursuant
to provisions of this chapter. However, an employee shall be
notified in writing by the superintendent on or before the first
Monday in April February 1 if he or she is being considered for
transfer or to be transferred. Only those employees whose
consideration for transfer or intended transfer is based upon known
or expected circumstances which will require the transfer of
employees shall be considered for transfer or intended for transfer
and the notification shall be limited to only those employees. Any
teacher or employee who desires to protest such the proposed
transfer may request in writing a statement of the reasons for the
proposed transfer. Such The statement of reasons shall be
delivered to the teacher or employee within ten days of the receipt
of the request. Within ten days of the receipt of the statement of
the reasons, the teacher or employee may make written demand upon
the superintendent for a hearing on the proposed transfer before
the county board of education. The hearing on the proposed
transfer shall be held on or before the first Monday in May March
15. At the hearing, the reasons for the proposed transfer must be
shown.
(b) The superintendent at a meeting of the board on or before the first Monday in May March 15 shall furnish in writing to the
board a list of teachers and other employees to be considered for
transfer and subsequent assignment for the next ensuing school
year. An employee who was not provided notice and an opportunity
for a hearing pursuant to subsection (a) of this section may not be
included on the list. All other teachers and employees not so
listed shall be considered as reassigned to the positions or jobs
held at the time of this meeting. The list of those recommended
for transfer shall be included in the minute record of such the
meeting and all those so listed shall be notified in writing, which
notice shall be delivered in writing, by certified mail, return
receipt requested, to such the persons' last known addresses within
ten days following said the board meeting, of their having been so
recommended for transfer and subsequent assignment and the reasons
therefor.
(c) The superintendent's authority to suspend school personnel
shall be temporary only pending a hearing upon charges filed by the
superintendent with the board of education and such the period of
suspension shall may not exceed thirty days unless extended by
order of the board.
(d) The provisions of this section respecting hearing upon
notice of transfer shall is not be applicable in emergency
situations where the school building becomes damaged or destroyed
through an unforeseeable act and which act necessitates a transfer of such the school personnel because of the aforementioned
condition of the building.
§18A-2-8a. Notice to probationary personnel of rehiring or
nonrehiring; hearing.
The superintendent at a meeting of the board on or before the
first Monday in May
March 15
of each year shall provide in writing
to the board a list of all probationary teachers that he or she
recommends to be rehired for the next ensuing school year. The
board shall act upon the superintendent's recommendations at that
meeting in accordance with section one of this article. The board
at this same meeting shall also act upon the retention of other
probationary employees as provided in sections four two and five of
this article. Any such probationary teacher or other probationary
employee who is not rehired by the board at that meeting shall be
notified in writing, by certified mail, return receipt requested,
to such persons' last-known addresses within ten days following
said board meeting, of their not having been rehired or not having
been recommended for rehiring.
Any probationary teacher who receives notice that he or she
has not been recommended for rehiring or other probationary
employee who has not been reemployed may within ten days after
receiving the written notice request a statement of the reasons for
not having been rehired and may request a hearing before the board.
Such The hearing shall be held at the next regularly scheduled board of education meeting or a special meeting of the board called
within thirty days of the request for hearing. At the hearing, the
reasons for the nonrehiring must be shown.
ARTICLE 3. TRAINING, CERTIFICATION, LICENSING, PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT.
§18A-3-1. Teacher preparation programs; program approval and
standards; authority to issue teaching certificates.
(a) The education of professional educators in the state is
under the general direction and control of the state board after
consultation with the Secretary of Education and the Arts and the
Chancellor for Higher Education who shall represent the interests
of educator preparation programs within the institutions of higher
education in this state as those institutions are defined in
section two, article one, chapter eighteen-b of this code.
The education of professional educators in the state includes
all programs leading to certification to teach or serve in the
public schools including:
(1) Those programs in all institutions of higher education,
including student teaching as provided in this section;
(2) Beginning teacher internship programs;
(3) The granting of West Virginia certification to persons who
received their preparation to teach outside the boundaries of this
state, except as provided in subsection (b) of this section;
(4) Any alternative preparation programs in this state leading to certification, including programs established pursuant to the
provisions of section one-a of this article and programs which are
in effect on the effective date of this section; and
(5) Any continuing professional education, professional
development and in-service training programs for professional
educators employed in the public schools in the state.
(b) The state board, after consultation with the Secretary of
Education and the Arts and the Chancellor for Higher Education,
shall adopt standards for the education of professional educators
in the state and for awarding certificates valid in the public
schools of this state. The standards shall include, but are not be
limited to the following:
(1) A provision for the study of multicultural education. As
used in this section, multicultural education means the study of
the pluralistic nature of American society including its values,
institutions, organizations, groups, status positions and social
roles;
(2) A provision for the study of classroom management
techniques, including methods of effective management of disruptive
behavior which shall include societal factors and their impact on
student behavior; and
(3) Subject to the provisions of section ten of this article,
a teacher from another state shall be awarded a teaching
certificate for a comparable grade level and subject area valid in the public schools of this state, if he or she:
(A) Holds a valid teaching certificate or a certificate of
eligibility issued by another state;
(B) Has graduated from an educator preparation program at a
regionally accredited institution of higher education;
(C) Possesses the minimum of a bachelor's degree; and
(D) Meets all of the requirements of the state for full
certification except employment.
(c) To give prospective teachers the teaching experience
needed to demonstrate competence as a prerequisite to certification
to teach in the West Virginia public schools, the state board may
enter into an agreement with county boards for the use of the
public schools.
(d) An agreement established pursuant to subsection (c) of
this section shall recognize student teaching as a joint
responsibility of the educator preparation institution and the
cooperating public schools and shall include:
(1) The minimum qualifications for the employment of public
school teachers selected as supervising teachers, including the
requirement that field-based and clinical experiences be supervised
by a teacher fully certified in the state in which that teacher is
supervising;
(2) The remuneration to be paid public school teachers by the
state board, in addition to their contractual salaries, for supervising student teachers;
(3) Minimum standards to guarantee the adequacy of the
facilities and program of the public school selected for student
teaching;
(4) That the student teacher, under the direction and
supervision of the supervising teacher, shall exercise the
authority of a substitute teacher; and
(5) A provision requiring any higher education institution
with an educator preparation program to document that the student
teacher's field-based and clinical experiences include
participation and instruction with multicultural, at-risk and
exceptional children at each programmatic level for which the
student teacher seeks certification.
(e) Beginning the fall 2006-2007 academic term, in lieu of the
student teaching experience in a public school setting required by
this section, an institution of higher education may provide an
alternate student teaching experience in a nonpublic school setting
if the institution of higher education:
(1) Complies with the provisions of this section;
(2) Has a state board approved educator preparation program;
and
(3) Enters into an agreement pursuant to subdivisions (f) and
(g) of this section.
(f) At the discretion of the higher education institution, an agreement for an alternate student teaching experience between an
institution of higher education and a nonpublic school shall
require that either:
(1) The student teacher complete at least one half of the
clinical experience in a public school; or
(2) The educator preparation program include a requirement
that any student performing student teaching in a nonpublic school
complete at least:
(A) Two hundred clock hours of field-based training in a
public school; and
(B) A course, which is a component of the institution's state
board approved educator preparation program, that provides to
prospective teachers information that is equivalent to the teaching
experience needed to demonstrate competence as a prerequisite to
certification to teach in the public schools in West Virginia. The
course shall include instruction on at least the following
elements:
(i) State board policy and provisions of this code governing
public education;
(ii) Requirements for federal and state accountability,
including the mandatory reporting of child abuse;
(iii) Federal and state mandated curriculum and assessment
requirements, including multicultural education, safe schools and
student code of conduct;
(iv) Federal and state regulations for the instruction of
exceptional students as defined by the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. §1400 et seq.;
(v) Varied approaches for effective instruction for students
who are at-risk;
(g) In addition to the requirements set forth in subsection
(f) of this section, an agreement for an alternate student teaching
experience between an institution of higher education and a
nonpublic school shall:
(1) Require that the higher education institution with an
educator preparation program document that the student teacher's
field-based and clinical experiences include participation and
instruction with multicultural, at-risk and exceptional children at
each programmatic level for which the student teacher seeks
certification; and
(2) Include the minimum qualifications for the employment of
school teachers selected as supervising teachers, including the
requirement that field-based and clinical experiences be supervised
by a teacher fully certified in the state in which that teacher is
supervising.
(h) The state superintendent may issue certificates to
graduates of educator preparation programs and alternative educator
preparation programs approved by the state board. The certificates
are issued in accordance with this section and rules adopted by the state board after consultation with the Secretary of Education and
the Arts and the Chancellor for Higher Education.
(1) A certificate to teach may be granted only to any person
who is:
(A) A citizen of the United States, except as provided in
subdivision (2) of this subsection;
(B) Is (A) Of good moral character;
(C) (B) Physically, mentally and emotionally qualified to
perform the duties of a teacher; and
(D) (C) At least eighteen years on or before October 1 of the
year in which his or her certificate is issued.
(2) A permit to teach in the public schools of this state may
be granted to a person who is an exchange teacher from a foreign
country or an alien person who meets the requirements to teach.
(i) In consultation with the Secretary of Education and the
Arts and the Chancellor for Higher Education, institutions of
higher education approved for educator preparation may cooperate
with each other, with the center for professional development and
with one or more county boards to organize and operate centers to
provide selected phases of the educator preparation program. The
phases include, but are not limited to:
(1) Student teaching;
(2) Beginning teacher internship programs;
(3) Instruction in methodology; and
(4) Seminar programs for college students, teachers with
provisional certification, professional support team members and
supervising teachers.
The institutions of higher education, the Center for
Professional Development and county boards may by mutual agreement
budget and expend funds to operate the centers through payments to
the appropriate fiscal office of the participating institutions,
the Center for Professional Development and the county boards.
(j) The provisions of this section do not require
discontinuation of an existing student teacher training center or
school which meets the standards of the state board.
(k) All institutions of higher education approved for educator
preparation in the 1962-1963 school year shall continue to hold
that distinction so long as they meet the minimum standards for
educator preparation. Nothing in this section infringes upon the
rights granted to any institution by charter given according to law
previous to the adoption of this code.
(l) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, nor
any other provision of rule, law or this code to the contrary, an
institution of higher education may enter into an agreement with a
nonpublic school:
(1) For the purposes of this section regarding student
teaching;
(2) For the spring, 2006 academic term only;
(3) If the institution is approved for educator preparation by
the state board; and
(4) If the institution had entered into the agreement for that
academic term prior to the effective date of this section.
(m) As used in this section:
(1) "Nonpublic school" means a private school, parochial
school, church school, school operated by a religious order or
other nonpublic school that elects to:
(A) Comply with the provisions of article twenty-eight,
chapter eighteen of this code;
(B) Participate on a voluntary basis in a state operated or
state sponsored program provided to such schools pursuant to this
section; and
(C) Comply with the provisions of this section;
(2) "At-risk" means having the potential for academic failure,
including, but not limited to, the risk of dropping out of school,
involvement in delinquent activity or poverty as indicated by free
or reduced lunch status; and
(3) "Exceptional children" has the meaning ascribed pursuant
to section one, article twenty, chapter eighteen of this code, but
does not include gifted students.
§18A-3-2a. Authority of state superintendent to issue
certificates; kinds of certificates.
(a) In accordance with State Board of Education rules for the education of professional educators adopted after consultation with
the Secretary of Education and the Arts, the State Superintendent
of Schools may issue certificates valid in the public schools of
the state. Provided, That
(1) A certificate shall may not be issued to any person who is
not a citizen of the United States is not of good moral character,
and is not physically, mentally and emotionally qualified to
perform the duties for which the certification would be is granted
and who has not attained the age of eighteen years on or before
October 1 of the year in which the certificate is issued.
Provided, however, That
(2) An exchange teacher from a foreign country or an alien
person who meets the requirements to teach may be granted a permit
to teach within the public schools of the state.
(b) Certificates authorized to be issued. include
(1) Professional teaching certificates. -- A professional
teaching certificate for teaching in the public schools may be
issued to a person who
under the following conditions:
(A)
Regular professional preparation. --
(i) Has The applicant holds at least a bachelor's degree from
an accredited institution of higher education in this state;
(ii) The applicant has completed a program for the education
of teachers which meets the requirements approved by the state
board of education or has met equivalent standards at institutions in other states; and
(iii) The applicant
has passed appropriate state board
approved basic skills and subject matter tests or has completed
three years of successful experience within the last seven years in
the area for which licensure is being sought; or
(B)
Alternative professional preparation. --
(i) Has The applicant holds
at least a bachelor's degree in a
discipline taught in the public schools from an accredited
institution of higher education;
(ii) The applicant
has passed appropriate state board approved
basic skills and subject matter tests or has completed three years
of successful experience within the last seven years in the area
for which licensure is being sought;
(iii) The applicant
has completed an alternative program for
teacher education approved by the state board; and
(iv) The applicant
is recommended for a certificate by the
chairperson of the professional support team of the person's
alternative program or the state superintendent based on
documentation submitted;
(C) The certificate shall be is endorsed to indicate the grade
level or levels or areas of specialization in which the person is
certified to teach or to serve in the public schools;
(D) The initial professional certificate shall be is issued
provisionally for a period of three years from the date of issuance and may be converted to a professional certificate valid for five
years subject to successful completion of a beginning teacher
internship, if applicable, or renewed subject to rules adopted by
the state board.
(2) Professional administrative certificate. -- A professional
administrative certificate, endorsed for serving in the public
schools, with specific endorsement as a principal, vocational
administrator, supervisor of instructions or superintendent, may be
issued to a person who has completed the following requirements all
to be approved by the state board: as follows
(A) For A master's degree from an institution of higher
education accredited to offer a master's degree;
(B) has successfully completed Successful completion of an
approved program for administrative certification, developed by the
state board of education in cooperation with the governing boards
of the university of West Virginia system and the state college
system Higher Education Policy Commission;
(C) has successfully completed Successful completion of
education and training in evaluation skills through the Center for
Professional Development, or equivalent education and training in
evaluation skills; and
(D) Three years of management level experience; Provided,
That anyone having received a certificate during the period from
the thirtieth day of August, one thousand nine hundred ninety, until the effective date of this bill without having met the above
requirements shall complete those requirements within five years
after the effective date of this bill: Provided, however, That any
(E) A person who was serving in the position of dean of
students on the effective date of this section shall June 4, 1992,
is not be required to hold a professional administrative
certificate; Beginning the first day of September, one thousand
nine hundred ninety-two, and
(F) The initial professional administrative certificate shall
be is issued provisionally for a period of five years. This
certificate may be converted to a professional administrative
certificate valid for five years or renewed, subject to the
regulations of the state board.
(3) Paraprofessional certificate. -- A paraprofessional
certificate may be issued to a person who meets the following
conditions:
(A) Has completed thirty-six semester hours of post-secondary
education or its equivalent in subjects directly related to
performance of the job, all approved by the state board; and
can (B) Is able to demonstrate the proficiencies to perform
duties as required of a paraprofessional as defined in section
eight, article four of this chapter.
(4) Other certificates; permits. -- Other certificates and
permits may be issued, subject to the approval of the state board, to persons who do not qualify for the professional or
paraprofessional certificate. Such The certificates or permits
shall may not be given permanent status and persons holding such
these certificates or permits shall meet renewal requirements
provided by law and by regulation rule, unless the state board
declares certain of these certificates to be the equivalent of the
professional certificate.
Within the category of other certificates and permits, the
state superintendent may issue certificates for persons to serve in
the public schools as athletic coaches or other extracurricular
activities coaches whose duties may include the supervision of
students, subject to the following limitations:
(A) Such The person shall be employed under a contract with
the county board of education which specifies the duties to be
performed, which specifies a rate of pay equivalent to the rate of
pay for professional educators in the district who accept similar
duties as extra duty assignments and which provides for liability
insurance associated with the activity: Provided, That such the
persons shall are not be considered employees of the board for
salary and benefit purposes other than as specified in the
contract;
(B) A currently employed certified professional educator has
not applied for the position; and
(C) such The person completes an orientation program designed and approved in accordance with state board rules. which shall be
adopted no later than the first day of January, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-one
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to revise dates for action
with respect to hiring, termination, resignation or transfer of
teachers and school personnel so that hiring determinations may be
made earlier in the year to better allow county boards to recruit
new teachers. This bill also allows people who are not United
States citizens to receive teaching certificates.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.