COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 2189
(By Delegates Caputo, Paxton, Perry, Fragale and M. Poling)
(Originating in the Committee on Education)
[February 20, 2007]
A BILL to amend and reenact §18-5-13 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended; and to amend and reenact §18A-4-8, §18A-4-
8f, §18A-4-8g and §18A-4-15 of said code, all relating to
public schools and county boards of education; school service
personnel; authority of county boards of education; expanding
purposes for which schools may expend funds; establishing
certain vehicle and driver safety requirements for
transporting students to a school-sponsored activity;
expanding the purposes for which county boards may lease
school buses; establishing service personnel classification
title for licensed practical nurse; prohibiting displacement
of aides to create vacancy for licensed practical nurse;
establishing parameters for the workday and beginning work
station for certain service personnel; modifying process for
determining certain service personnel hiring priority in cases
of school merger or consolidation; and modifying employment
benefits accrued by substitute service personnel.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18-5-13 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted; and that §18A-4-8, §18A-4-8f, §18A-4-8g
and §18A-4-15 of said code be amended and reenacted, all to read as
follows:
CHAPTER 18. EDUCATION.
ARTICLE 5. COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION.
§18-5-13. Authority of boards generally.
Each county board Subject to the provisions of this chapter
and the rules of the state board,
each county board has the
authority:
(a) To control and manage all of the schools and school
interests for all school activities and upon all school property
whether owned or leased by the county, including the authority to:
require that records be kept of
(1) Require schools to keep records regarding funds connected
with the school or school interests, including all receipts and
disbursements of all funds collected or received by:
(A) Any principal, teacher, student or other person in
connection with the schools and school interests;
any programs,
activities or other endeavors
(B) Any program, activity or other endeavor of any nature
operated or
carried on conducted by or in the name of the school;
or to and
(C) Any organization or body directly connected with the school;
(2) Allow schools to expend funds for student, parent, teacher
and community recognition programs. A school may use only funds it
generates through a fund-raising or donation-soliciting activity.
Prior to commencing the activity, the school shall:
(A) Publicize the activity as intended for this purpose; and
(B) Designate for this purpose the funds generated;
(3) Audit the records and
to conserve the funds,
which shall
be considered quasipublic moneys including securing surety bonds by
expenditure of expending board moneys.
The funds described in this
subsection are quasipublic funds, which means the moneys were
received for the benefit of the school system as a result of
curricular or noncurricular activities;
(b) To establish:
(1)
Schools, from preschool through high school;
inclusive of
(2) Vocational schools; and
to establish
(3) Schools
and programs
or both for post-high school
instruction, subject to approval of the state board;
(c) To close any school:
(1) Which is unnecessary and
to assign the pupils of the
school assign the students to other schools.
Provided, That The
closing shall
be officially acted upon, and occur pursuant to
official action of the board. Except in emergency situations when
the timing and manner of notification are subject to approval by
the state superintendent, the county board shall notify the
affected teachers and service personnel
involved notified on or before of the board action not later than the first Monday in
April.
Notification shall be provided in the same manner as
provided set forth in section four of this article;
except in an
emergency, subject to the approval of the state superintendent or
under subdivision or
(2) Pursuant to the provisions of subsection (e) of this
section;
(d) To consolidate schools;
(e) To close any elementary school whose average daily
attendance falls below twenty
pupils students for two
consecutive
months.
in succession and send the pupils The county board may
assign the students to other schools in the district or to schools
in adjoining districts. If the teachers in the closed school are
not transferred or reassigned to other schools, they shall receive
one month's salary;
(f)
To provide transportation according to such rules as the
board may establish, as follows:
(1) To provide at public expense adequate means of
transportation:
including transportation across county lines for
students whose transfer from one district to another is agreed to
by both county boards as reflected in the minutes of their
respective meetings
(A) For all children of school age who live more than two
miles distance from school by the nearest available road;
to
provide at public expense, according to such rules as the board may
establish, adequate means of transportation
(B) For school children participating in county board-approved
curricular and extracurricular activities;
to provide at public
expense, by rules and
(C) Across county lines for students transferred from one
district to another by mutual agreement of both county boards. The
agreement:
(i) Shall be recorded in the meeting minutes of each
participating board; and
(ii) Is subject to the provisions of subsection (h) of this
section.
(D) Within
the available revenues,
transportation for those
for students within two miles distance
of the school; and
(2) To provide
at no cost to the county board and according to
rules established by the board transportation for participants in
projects operated, financed, sponsored or approved by the
commission on aging.
all subject to the following: (A) Such
transportation shall be provided at no cost to the county board.
All costs and expenses incident in any way to
such transportation
for projects connected with the commission on aging shall be borne
by the commission or the local or county chapter of the commission;
(B) In all cases, the school buses
(3) Any school bus owned by the county board
shall be driven
or may only be operated
only by drivers by a bus operator regularly
employed by the county board;
(C) The county board may provide,
under
(4) Pursuant to rules established by the state board,
for the certification of the county board may provide for professional
employees
as drivers of to be certified to drive county board-owned
vehicles
with that have a seating capacity of less than ten
passengers.
used for the transportation of pupils Such employees
may use the vehicles to transport students for school-sponsored
activities,
other than transporting but may not use the vehicles to
transport students between school and home.
The use of the
vehicles shall be limited to one for each Not more than one such
vehicle may be used for any school-sponsored activity;
and (D)
(5) Students may not be transported to a school-sponsored
activity in any vehicle that does not meet school bus or public
transit rating;
(6) Students may be transported to a school-sponsored activity
in a vehicle that has a seating capacity of sixteen or more
passengers which is not owned and operated by the county board only
as follows:
(A) The State Board shall promulgate a rule to establish
requirements for:
(i) Automobile insurance coverage;
(ii) Vehicle safety specifications;
(iii) School bus or public transit rating; and
(iv) Driver training, certification and criminal history
record check; and
(B) The vehicle owner shall provide to the county board proof
that the vehicle and driver satisfy the requirements of the State
Board rule; and
(7) Buses shall be used for extracurricular activities as
provided in this section only when the insurance
provided for
coverage required by this section is in effect;
(2) To enter into agreements with one another as reflected in
the minutes of their respective meetings to provide, on a
cooperative basis, adequate means of transportation across county
lines for children of school age subject to the conditions and
restrictions of this subsection and subsection (h) of this section;
(g)
(1) To lease school buses
pursuant to rules established
by the county board.
(1) Leased buses may be operated only by
drivers bus operators
regularly employed by the county board.
(2) The lessee bears all costs and expenses incurred by or
incidental to the use of the bus.
(3) The county board may lease buses to:
(A) Public and private nonprofit organizations
or and private
corporations to transport school-age children
to and from for camps
or educational activities
in accordance with rules established by
the county board. All costs and expenses incurred by or incidental
to the transportation of the children shall be borne by the lessee;
(2) To contract with
(B) Any college,
or university or officially recognized campus
organizations to provide transportation for college or university
organization for transporting students, faculty
or and staff to and
from the college or university. Only college and university
students, faculty and staff may be transported pursuant to this
section paragraph (B). The
contract lease shall include
consideration and provisions for:
(i) Compensation for bus operators;
(ii) Consideration for insurance coverage, repairs and other
costs of service;
insurance and
(iii) Any rules concerning student behavior;
(C) Public and private nonprofit organizations, including
education employee organizations, for transportation associated
with fairs, festivals and other educational and cultural events.
The county board may charge fees in addition to those charges
otherwise required by this subsection.
(h) To provide at public expense for insurance
coverage
against
the negligence of the drivers of school buses, trucks or
other vehicles operated by the
county board.
and if the
transportation of pupils is contracted, then the contract for the
transportation shall provide that the contractor shall carry Any
contractual agreement for transportation of students shall require
the vehicle owner to maintain insurance
coverage against negligence
in an amount specified by the board;
(i) To provide
solely from county board funds for all regular
full-time employees of the county board all or any part of the cost
of a group plan or plans of insurance coverage for the full cost or
any portion thereof for group plan insurance benefits not provided
or available under the West Virginia Public Employees Insurance
Act.
Any such benefits are provided:
(1) Solely from county board funds; and
(2) For all regular full-time employees of the board;
(j) To employ teacher aides; to provide in-service training
for
teacher the aides
pursuant to rules established by the state
board;
the training to be in accordance with rules of the state
board and, in the case of service personnel assuming duties as
teacher aides in exceptional children programs to provide and to
provide a four-clock-hour program of training
for service personnel
assigned duties as a teacher aide in an exceptional children
program prior to the assignment.
which shall, in accordance with
rules of the state board The four-clock-hour program shall consist
of training in areas specifically related to the education of
exceptional children;
(k) To establish and
conduct operate a self-supporting
dormitory for:
the accommodation of the pupils
(1) Students attending a high school or participating in a
post high school program; and
of
(2) Persons employed to teach in the high school or post high
school program;
(l) At the
county board's discretion, to employ, contract with
or otherwise engage legal counsel in lieu of utilizing the
services
of the prosecuting attorney to advise, attend to, bring, prosecute
or defend, as the case may be, any matters, actions, suits and
proceedings in which the board is interested;
(m) To provide appropriate uniforms for school service
personnel;
(n) To provide at public expense
and under rules as established by any county board for the for payment of traveling
expenses incurred by any person invited to appear to be interviewed
concerning possible employment by the county board,
subject to
rules established by the county board;
(o) To allow
or disallow their designated employees to use
publicly provided carriage to travel from their residences to their
workplace and return.
Provided, That the usage The use:
(1) Is subject to the supervision of the county board; and
is
(2) Shall be directly connected with,
and required by
the
nature and in and essential to the performance of the employee's
duties and responsibilities;
(p) To provide at public expense adequate public liability
insurance, including professional liability insurance, for county
board employees;
(q) To enter into
cooperative agreements with
one another
other county boards to provide
on a cooperative basis improvements
to the instructional needs of each district. The cooperative
agreements may be used to employ specialists in a field of academic
study or
for support functions or services for the
academic study
field. The agreements are subject to approval by the state board;
(r) To provide information about vocational
or and higher
education opportunities to
exceptional students.
with handicapping
conditions The county board shall provide in writing to the
students and their parents or guardians information relating to
programs of vocational education and to programs available at state
funded institutions of higher education. The information may include sources of available funding, including grants, mentorships
and loans for students who wish to attend classes at institutions
of higher education;
(s) To enter into agreements with
one another, with the
approval of the state board other county boards for the transfer
and receipt of any
and all funds determined to be fair when
students are permitted or required to attend school in a district
other than the district of their residence.
Such agreements are
subject to the approval of the state board; and
(t) To enter into job-sharing arrangements, as defined in
section one, article one, chapter eighteen-a of this code, with its
employees, subject to the following provisions:
(1) A job-sharing arrangement shall meet all the requirements
relating to posting, qualifications and seniority, as provided for
in article four, chapter eighteen-a of this code;
(2) Notwithstanding any
provisions contrary provision of this
code or legislative rule and specifically the provisions of article
sixteen, chapter five of this code,
to the contrary a county board
which that enters into a job-sharing arrangement:
in which two or
more employees voluntarily share an authorized full-time position
(A) Shall provide
the insurance coverage to the one employee
mutually agreed upon
employee coverage but shall by the employees
participating in that arrangement; and
(B) May not
offer insurance coverage provide insurance
benefits of any type to more than one of the job-sharing employees,
including any group plan
or group plans available under the State Public Employees Insurance Act;
(3) Each job-sharing agreement shall be in writing on a form
prescribed and furnished by the county board. The agreement shall
designate specifically one employee only who is entitled to the
insurance coverage. Any employee who is not so designated is not
eligible for state public employees insurance coverage regardless
of the number of hours he or she works;
(4) All employees involved in the job-sharing agreement meet
the requirements of subdivision (3), section two, article sixteen,
chapter five of this code; and
(5) When entering into a job-sharing agreement, the county
board and the
participating employees
involved in the job-sharing
agreement shall consider issues such as retirement benefits,
termination of the job-sharing agreement and any other issue the
parties
to the agreement consider appropriate. Any provision in
the agreement relating to retirement benefits
shall may not cause
any cost to be incurred by the retirement system that is more than
the cost that would be incurred if a single employee were filling
the position.
"Quasipublic funds" as used in this section means any money
received by any principal, teacher, student or other person for the
benefit of the school system as a result of curricular or
noncurricular activities.
(u) Each county board shall expend under rules it establishes
for each child an amount not to exceed the proportion of all school
funds of the district that each child would be entitled to receive if all the funds were distributed equally among all the children of
school age in the district upon a per capita basis.
CHAPTER 18A. SCHOOL PERSONNEL.
ARTICLE 4. SALARIES, WAGES AND OTHER BENEFITS.
§18A-4-8. Employment term and class titles of service personnel;
definitions.
(a) The purpose of this section is to establish an employment
term and class titles for service personnel. The employment term
for service personnel may
not be
no less than ten months. A month
is defined as twenty employment days:
Provided, That the county
board may contract with all or part of these service personnel for
a longer term. The beginning and closing dates of the ten-month
employment term may not exceed forty-three weeks.
(b) Service personnel employed on a yearly or twelve-month
basis may be employed by calendar months. Whenever there is a
change in job assignment during the school year, the minimum pay
scale and any county supplement are applicable.
(c) Service personnel employed in the same classification for
more than the two hundred day minimum employment term shall be paid
for additional employment at a daily rate of not less than the
daily rate paid for the two hundred day minimum employment term.
(d)
No A service employee
without his or her agreement may
not
be required to report for work more than five days per week
without
his or her agreement, and no part of any working day may be
accumulated by the employer for future work assignments, unless the employee agrees thereto.
(e) If an employee whose regular work week is scheduled from
Monday through Friday agrees to perform any work assignments on a
Saturday or Sunday, the employee shall be paid for at least
one-half day of work for each day he or she reports for work.
and
If the employee works more than three and one-half hours on any
Saturday or Sunday, he or she shall be paid for at least a full day
of work for each day.
(f) Custodians, aides, maintenance, office and school lunch
employees required to work a daily work schedule that is
interrupted, that is, who do not work a continuous period in one
day, shall be paid additional compensation equal to at least one
eighth of their total salary as provided by their state minimum
salary and any county pay supplement, and payable entirely from
county funds:
Provided, That when engaged in duties of
transporting students exclusively, aides
shall may not be regarded
as working an interrupted schedule. Maintenance personnel are
defined as personnel who hold a classification title other than in
a custodial, aide, school lunch, office or transportation category
as provided in section one, article one of this chapter.
(g) Upon the change in classification or upon meeting the
requirements of an advanced classification of or by any employee,
the employee's salary shall be made to comply with the requirements
of this article, and to any county salary schedule in excess of the
minimum requirements of this article, based upon the employee's
advanced classification and allowable years of employment.
(h) An employee's contract as provided in section five,
article two of this chapter shall state the appropriate monthly
salary the employee is to be paid, based on the class title as
provided in this article and any county salary schedule in excess
of the minimum requirements of this article.
(i) The column heads of the state minimum pay scale and class
titles, set forth in section eight-a of this article, are defined
as follows:
(1) "Pay grade" means the monthly salary applicable to class
titles of service personnel;
(2) "Years of employment" means the number of years which an
employee classified as service personnel has been employed by a
board in any position prior to or subsequent to the effective date
of this section and including service in the armed forces of the
United States, if the employee were employed at the time of his or
her induction. For the purpose of section eight-a of this article,
years of employment shall be limited to the number of years shown
and allowed under the state minimum pay scale as set forth in
section eight-a of this article;
(3) "Class title" means the name of the position or job held
by service personnel;
(4) "Accountant I" means personnel employed to maintain
payroll records and reports and perform one or more operations
relating to a phase of the total payroll;
(5) "Accountant II" means personnel employed to maintain
accounting records and to be responsible for the accounting process associated with billing, budgets, purchasing and related
operations;
(6) "Accountant III" means personnel who are employed in the
county board office to manage and supervise accounts payable,
and/or payroll procedures,
or both;
(7) "Accounts payable supervisor" means personnel who are
employed in the county board office who have primary responsibility
for the accounts payable function, which may include the
supervision of other personnel, and who have either completed
twelve college hours of accounting courses from an accredited
institution of higher education or have at least eight years of
experience performing progressively difficult accounting tasks;
(8) "Aide I" means those personnel selected and trained for
teacher-aide classifications such as monitor aide, clerical aide,
classroom aide or general aide;
(9) "Aide II" means those personnel referred to in the "Aide
I" classification who have completed a training program approved by
the state board, or who hold a high school diploma or have received
a general educational development certificate. Only personnel
classified in an Aide II class title may be employed as an aide in
any special education program;
(10) "Aide III" means those personnel referred to in the "Aide
I" classification who hold a high school diploma or a general
educational development certificate and have completed six semester
hours of college credit at an institution of higher education or
are employed as an aide in a special education program and have one year's experience as an aide in special education;
(11) "Aide IV" means personnel referred to in the "Aide I"
classification who hold a high school diploma or a general
educational development certificate and who have completed eighteen
hours of state board-approved college credit at a regionally
accredited institution of higher education, or who have completed
fifteen hours of state board-approved college credit at a
regionally accredited institution of higher education and
successfully completed an in-service training program determined by
the state board to be the equivalent of three hours of college
credit;
(12) "Audiovisual technician" means personnel employed to
perform minor maintenance on audiovisual equipment, films, supplies
and the filling of requests for equipment;
(13) "Auditor" means personnel employed to examine and verify
accounts of individual schools and to assist schools and school
personnel in maintaining complete and accurate records of their
accounts;
(14) "Autism mentor" means personnel who work with autistic
students and who meet standards and experience to be determined by
the state board:
Provided, That if any employee has held or holds
an aide title and becomes employed as an autism mentor, the
employee shall hold a multiclassification status that includes aide
and autism mentor titles, in accordance with section eight-b of
this article;
(15) "Braille or sign language specialist" means personnel employed to provide braille and/or sign language assistance to
students:
Provided, That if any employee has held or holds an aide
title and becomes employed as a braille or sign language
specialist, the employee shall hold a multiclassification status
that includes aide and braille or sign language specialist title,
in accordance with section eight-b of this article;
(16) "Bus operator" means personnel employed to operate school
buses and other school transportation vehicles as provided by the
state board;
(17) "Buyer" means personnel employed to review and write
specifications, negotiate purchase bids and recommend purchase
agreements for materials and services that meet predetermined
specifications at the lowest available costs;
(18) "Cabinetmaker" means personnel employed to construct
cabinets, tables, bookcases and other furniture;
(19) "Cafeteria manager" means personnel employed to direct
the operation of a food services program in a school, including
assigning duties to employees, approving requisitions for supplies
and repairs, keeping inventories, inspecting areas to maintain high
standards of sanitation, preparing financial reports and keeping
records pertinent to food services of a school;
(20) "Carpenter I" means personnel classified as a carpenter's
helper;
(21) "Carpenter II" means personnel classified as a journeyman
carpenter;
(22) "Chief mechanic" means personnel employed to be responsible for directing activities which ensure that student
transportation or other board-owned vehicles are properly and
safely maintained;
(23) "Clerk I" means personnel employed to perform clerical
tasks;
(24) "Clerk II" means personnel employed to perform general
clerical tasks, prepare reports and tabulations and operate office
machines;
(25) "Computer operator" means qualified personnel employed to
operate computers;
(26) "Cook I" means personnel employed as a cook's helper;
(27) "Cook II" means personnel employed to interpret menus, to
prepare and serve meals in a food service program of a school and
shall include personnel who have been employed as a "Cook I" for a
period of four years, if the personnel have not been elevated to
this classification within that period of time;
(28) "Cook III" means personnel employed to prepare and serve
meals, make reports, prepare requisitions for supplies, order
equipment and repairs for a food service program of a school
system;
(29) "Crew leader" means personnel employed to organize the
work for a crew of maintenance employees to carry out assigned
projects;
(30) "Custodian I" means personnel employed to keep buildings
clean and free of refuse;
(31) "Custodian II" means personnel employed as a watchman or groundsman;
(32) "Custodian III" means personnel employed to keep
buildings clean and free of refuse, to operate the heating or
cooling systems and to make minor repairs;
(33) "Custodian IV" means personnel employed as head
custodians. In addition to providing services as defined in
"custodian III," their duties may include supervising other
custodian personnel;
(34) "Director or coordinator of services" means personnel who
are assigned to direct a department or division. Nothing in this
subdivision may prohibit professional personnel or professional
educators
as defined in section one, article one of this chapter
from holding this class title, but professional personnel may not
be defined or classified as service personnel unless the
professional personnel held a service personnel title under this
section prior to holding class title of "director or coordinator of
services." Directors or coordinators of service positions shall be
classified as either a professional personnel or service personnel
position for state aid formula funding purposes and funding for
directors or coordinators of service positions shall be based upon
the employment status of the director or coordinator either as a
professional personnel or service personnel;
(35) "Draftsman" means personnel employed to plan, design and
produce detailed architectural/engineering drawings;
(36) "Electrician I" means personnel employed as an apprentice
electrician helper or who holds an electrician helper license issued by the state fire marshal;
(37) "Electrician II" means personnel employed as an
electrician journeyman or who holds a journeyman electrician
license issued by the state fire marshal;
(38) "Electronic technician I" means personnel employed at the
apprentice level to repair and maintain electronic equipment;
(39) "Electronic technician II" means personnel employed at
the journeyman level to repair and maintain electronic equipment;
(40) "Executive secretary" means personnel employed as the
county school superintendent's secretary or as a secretary who is
assigned to a position characterized by significant administrative
duties;
(41) "Food services supervisor" means qualified personnel not
defined as professional personnel or professional educators in
section one, article one of this chapter, employed to manage and
supervise a county school system's food service program. The
duties would include preparing in-service training programs for
cooks and food service employees, instructing personnel in the
areas of quantity cooking with economy and efficiency and keeping
aggregate records and reports;
(42) "Foremen" means skilled persons employed for supervision
of personnel who work in the areas of repair and maintenance of
school property and equipment;
(43) "General maintenance" means personnel employed as helpers
to skilled maintenance employees and to perform minor repairs to
equipment and buildings of a county school system;
(44) "Glazier" means personnel employed to replace glass or
other materials in windows and doors and to do minor carpentry
tasks;
(45) "Graphic artist" means personnel employed to prepare
graphic illustrations;
(46) "Groundsmen" means personnel employed to perform duties
that relate to the appearance, repair and general care of school
grounds in a county school system. Additional assignments may
include the operation of a small heating plant and routine cleaning
duties in buildings;
(47) "Handyman" means personnel employed to perform routine
manual tasks in any operation of the county school system;
(48) "Heating and air conditioning mechanic I" means personnel
employed at the apprentice level to install, repair and maintain
heating and air conditioning plants and related electrical
equipment;
(49) "Heating and air conditioning mechanic II" means
personnel employed at the journeyman level to install, repair and
maintain heating and air conditioning plants and related electrical
equipment;
(50) "Heavy equipment operator" means personnel employed to
operate heavy equipment;
(51) "Inventory supervisor" means personnel who are employed
to supervise or maintain operations in the receipt, storage,
inventory and issuance of materials and supplies;
(52) "Key punch operator" means qualified personnel employed to operate key punch machines or verifying machines;
(53)
"Licensed practical nurse" means a nurse licensed by the
West Virginia Board of Examiners for Licensed Practical Nurses who
is employed to work in a public school under the supervision of a
school nurse;
(54) "Locksmith" means personnel employed to repair and
maintain locks and safes;
(54) (55) "Lubrication man" means personnel employed to
lubricate and service gasoline or diesel-powered equipment of a
county school system;
(55) (56) "Machinist" means personnel employed to perform
machinist tasks which include the ability to operate a lathe,
planer, shaper, threading machine and wheel press. These personnel
should also
should have the ability to work from blueprints and
drawings;
(56) (57) "Mail clerk" means personnel employed to receive,
sort, dispatch, deliver or otherwise handle letters, parcels and
other mail;
(57) (58) "Maintenance clerk" means personnel employed to
maintain and control a stocking facility to keep adequate tools and
supplies on hand for daily withdrawal for all school maintenance
crafts;
(58) (59) "Mason" means personnel employed to perform tasks
connected with brick and block laying and carpentry tasks related
to such laying;
(59) (60) "Mechanic" means personnel employed who can independently perform skilled duties in the maintenance and repair
of automobiles, school buses and other mechanical and mobile
equipment to use in a county school system;
(60) (61) "Mechanic assistant" means personnel employed as a
mechanic apprentice and helper;
(61) (62) "Multiclassification" means personnel employed to
perform tasks that involve the combination of two or more class
titles in this section. In these instances the minimum salary
scale shall be the higher pay grade of the class titles involved;
(62) (63) "Office equipment repairman I" means personnel
employed as an office equipment repairman apprentice or helper;
(63) (64) "Office equipment repairman II" means personnel
responsible for servicing and repairing all office machines and
equipment. Personnel are responsible for parts being purchased
necessary for the proper operation of a program of continuous
maintenance and repair;
(64) (65) "Painter" means personnel employed to perform duties
of painting, finishing and decorating of wood, metal and concrete
surfaces of buildings, other structures, equipment, machinery and
furnishings of a county school system;
(65) (66) "Paraprofessional" means a person certified pursuant
to section two-a, article three of this chapter to perform duties
in a support capacity including, but not limited to, facilitating
in the instruction and direct or indirect supervision of pupils
under the direction of a principal, a teacher or another designated
professional educator:
Provided, That
no a person employed on the effective date of this section in the position of an aide may
not
be
reduced subject to a reduction in force or transferred to create
a vacancy for the employment of a paraprofessional:
Provided,
however, That if any employee has held or holds an aide title and
becomes employed as a paraprofessional, the employee shall hold a
multiclassification status that includes aide and paraprofessional
titles in accordance with section eight-b of this article:
Provided further, That once an employee who holds an aide title
becomes certified as a paraprofessional and is required to perform
duties that may not be performed by an aide without
paraprofessional certification, he or she shall receive the
paraprofessional title pay grade;
(66) (67) "Payroll supervisor" means personnel who are
employed in the county board office who have primary responsibility
for the payroll function, which may include the supervision of
other personnel, and who have either completed twelve college hours
of accounting from an accredited institution of higher education or
have at least eight years of experience performing progressively
difficult accounting tasks;
(67) (68) "Plumber I" means personnel employed as an
apprentice plumber and helper;
(68) (69) "Plumber II" means personnel employed as a
journeyman plumber;
(69) (70) "Printing operator" means personnel employed to
operate duplication equipment, and as required, to cut, collate,
staple, bind and shelve materials;
(70) (71) "Printing supervisor" means personnel employed to
supervise the operation of a print shop;
(71) (72) "Programmer" means personnel employed to design and
prepare programs for computer operation;
(72) (73) "Roofing/sheet metal mechanic" means personnel
employed to install, repair, fabricate and maintain roofs, gutters,
flashing and duct work for heating and ventilation;
(73) (74) "Sanitation plant operator" means personnel employed
to operate and maintain a water or sewage treatment plant to ensure
the safety of the plant's effluent for human consumption or
environmental protection;
(74) (75) "School bus supervisor" means qualified personnel
employed to assist in selecting school bus operators and routing
and scheduling
of school buses, operate a bus when needed, relay
instructions to bus operators, plan emergency routing of buses and
promoting promote good relationships with parents, pupils, bus
operators and other employees;
(75) (76) "Secretary I" means personnel employed to transcribe
from notes or mechanical equipment, receive callers, perform
clerical tasks, prepare reports and operate office machines;
(76) (77) "Secretary II" means personnel employed in any
elementary, secondary, kindergarten, nursery, special education,
vocational or any other school as a secretary. The duties may
include performing general clerical tasks, transcribing from notes
or stenotype or mechanical equipment or a sound-producing machine,
preparing reports, receiving callers and referring them to proper persons, operating office machines, keeping records and handling
routine correspondence. There is nothing implied in this
subdivision that would prevent the employees from holding or being
elevated to a higher classification;
(77) (78) "Secretary III" means personnel assigned to the
county board office administrators in charge of various
instructional, maintenance, transportation, food services,
operations and health departments, federal programs or departments
with particular responsibilities of purchasing and financial
control or any personnel who have served in a position which meets
the definition of "secretary II" or "secretary III" in this section
for eight years;
(78) (79) "Supervisor of maintenance" means skilled personnel
not defined as professional personnel or professional educators as
in section one, article one of this chapter. The responsibilities
would include directing the upkeep of buildings and shops, issuing
instructions to subordinates relating to cleaning, repairs and
maintenance of all structures and mechanical and electrical
equipment of a board;
(79) (80) "Supervisor of transportation" means qualified
personnel employed to direct school transportation activities,
properly and safely, and to supervise the maintenance and repair of
vehicles, buses and other mechanical and mobile equipment used by
the county school system;
(80) (81) "Switchboard operator-receptionist" means personnel
employed to refer incoming calls, to assume contact with the public, to direct and to give instructions as necessary, to operate
switchboard equipment and to provide clerical assistance;
(81) (82) "Truck driver" means personnel employed to operate
light or heavy duty gasoline and diesel-powered vehicles;
(82) (83) "Warehouse clerk" means personnel employed to be
responsible for receiving, storing, packing and shipping goods;
(83) (84) "Watchman" means personnel employed to protect
school property against damage or theft. Additional assignments
may include operation of a small heating plant and routine cleaning
duties;
(84) (85) "Welder" means personnel employed to provide
acetylene or electric welding services for a school system; and
(85) (86) "WVEIS data entry and administrative clerk" means
personnel employed to work under the direction of a school
principal to assist the school counselor or counselors in the
performance of administrative duties, to perform data entry tasks
on the West Virginia education information system, and to perform
other administrative duties assigned by the principal.
(j) In addition to the compensation provided for in section
eight-a of this article, for service personnel, each service
employee is, notwithstanding any provisions in this code to the
contrary, entitled to all service personnel employee rights,
privileges and benefits provided under this or any other chapter of
this code without regard to the employee's hours of employment or
the methods or sources of compensation.
(k) Service personnel whose years of employment exceed the number of years shown and provided for under the state minimum pay
scale set forth in section eight-a of this article may not be paid
less than the amount shown for the maximum years of employment
shown and provided for in the classification in which he or she is
employed.
(l) The county boards shall review each service personnel
employee job classification annually and shall reclassify all
service employees as required by the job classifications. The
state superintendent of schools may withhold state funds
appropriated pursuant to this article for salaries for service
personnel who are improperly classified by the county boards.
Further, the state superintendent shall order county boards to
correct immediately any improper classification matter and with the
assistance of the attorney general shall take any legal action
necessary against any county board to enforce the order.
(m)
No service employee Without his or her written consent,
a service personnel may
not be:
(1) Reclassified by class title;
or nor may a service
employee, without his or her written consent, be
(2) Relegated to any condition of employment which would
result in a reduction of his or her salary, rate of pay,
compensation or benefits:
(A) Earned during the current fiscal year; or
which would
result in a reduction of his or her salary, rate of pay,
compensation or benefits
(B) For which he or she would qualify by continuing in the same job position and classification held during that fiscal year
and subsequent years.
(n) Any board failing to comply with the provisions of this
article may be compelled to do so by mandamus, and is liable to any
party prevailing against the board for court costs and the
prevailing party's reasonable attorney fee, as determined and
established by the court.
(o) Notwithstanding any
provisions in provision of this code
to the contrary, service personnel who hold a continuing contract
in a specific job classification and who are physically unable to
perform the job's duties as confirmed by a physician chosen by the
employee shall be given priority status over any employee not
holding a continuing contract in filling other service personnel
job vacancies if qualified as provided in section eight-e of this
article.
(p) Any person employed in an aide position on the effective
date of this section may not be transferred or subject to a
reduction in force for the purpose of creating a vacancy for the
employment of a licensed practical nurse.
(q) Without the written consent of the employee, a county
board may not establish the beginning work station for a bus
operator or transportation aide at any site other than a board-
owned facility with available parking. The workday of the bus
operator or transportation aide will commence at the bus at the
designated beginning work station and will not end until the
employee is able to leave the bus at the designated beginning work station, unless the employee agrees otherwise in writing. The
application or acceptance of a posted position may not be construed
as the written consent referred to in this subsection.
§18A-4-8f. Seniority rights, school consolidation.
(a) Notwithstanding any provision of this article to the
contrary, when a majority of the classroom teachers
or school
service personnel,
as defined in section one, article one of this
chapter who vote to do so, in accordance with procedures
established herein, and who are employed by a county board of
education, the board shall give priority to classroom teachers
or
school service personnel in any school or schools to be closed as
a result of a consolidation or merger when filling positions in the
new school created by consolidation or newly created positions in
existing schools as a result of the merger.
(b) Each year a consolidation or merger is proposed, prior to
the implementation of that plan, the superintendent shall cause to
be prepared and distributed to all faculty senates
and to all
schools or other work sites a ballot on which teachers
and service
personnel may indicate whether or not they desire those affected by
school closings to be given priority status in filling new
positions. A secret ballot election shall be conducted:
(1) In each faculty senate
for classroom teachers.
and The
faculty senate chair shall convey the results of
such the election
to the superintendent;
and
(2) At each school or work site for school service personnel.
The service personnel supervisor at each school or work site shall convey the results of the election to the superintendent.
(c) The superintendent shall tabulate and post all results
prior to the notice requirements for reduction in force and
transfer as outlined in sections two and seven, article two of this
chapter. The total number of votes shall be tabulated
separately
for classroom teachers and for service personnel.
and The
provisions of this section
also shall be implemented
separately as
follows:
(1) For classroom teachers only if a majority of the total
number of teachers who cast a ballot vote to do so;
and
(2) For school service personnel only if a majority of the
total number of service personnel who cast a ballot vote to do so.
(d) If a majority approves, the teachers
or school service
personnel in the school or schools to be closed
shall have priority
in filling new positions in the new or merged schools for which the
teachers are certified
or for which the school service personnel
are qualified and meet the standards set forth in the job posting
on the basis of seniority within the county.
Provided, That A
teacher
shall or school service personnel may only receive priority
for filling a position at a school impacted by a merger or
consolidation with the position being created by the influx of
students from a consolidated or merged school into the school
receiving students from their closed school or grade level.
(1) The most senior teacher
in from the closed school or
schools shall be placed first, the second most senior shall be
placed next and so on until all the newly created positions are filled, or until all the teachers in the closed school or schools
who wish to transfer into the newly created positions are placed.
(2) The most senior service personnel from the closed school
or schools has priority in filling any position within his or her
classification category. The second most senior service personnel
from the closed school or schools then has priority in filling
remaining vacancies and so on until all available positions are
filled.
Provided, however, That
(3) If there are fewer new positions in the newly created
school or merged school than there are classroom teachers
in or
school service personnel from the school or schools to be closed,
the teachers
or school service personnel who were not placed in the
new positions
shall retain the same rights as all other teachers
or
service personnel with regard to seniority, transfer and reduction
in force.
Provided further, That nothing herein shall be construed
to grant
(4) This section does not grant any employee additional rights
or protections with regard to reduction in force.
(e) For the purposes of this section only:
(1) A consolidation
shall mean means when one or more schools
are closed, or one or more grade levels are removed from one or
more schools, and the students who previously attended the closed
schools or grade levels are assigned to a new school.
For purposes
of this section only
(2) A merger
shall mean means when one or more schools are
closed or one or more grade levels are removed from one or more schools and the students who previously attended the closed schools
or grade levels are assigned to another existing school.
(f) The provisions of this section
shall do not apply to
positions
which that are filled by a county board prior to the
effective date of this section,
as reenacted during the regular
session of the Legislature, two thousand seven.
§18A-4-8g. Determination of seniority for service personnel.
(a) Seniority accumulation for a regular school service
employee:
(1) Begins on the date the employee enters upon regular
employment duties pursuant to a contract as provided in section
five, article two of this chapter;
and
(2) Continues until the employee's employment as a regular
employee is severed with the county board;
Seniority shall and
(3) Does not cease to accumulate when the employee is absent:
an
(A) Without pay as authorized by the county board; or
the
absence is
(B) Due to illness or other
reasons reason over which the
employee has no control as authorized by the county board.
(b) Seniority accumulation for a substitute employee:
shall
begin upon
(1) Begins on the date the employee enters upon the duties of
a substitute as provided in section fifteen of this article, after
executing with the board a contract of employment as provided in
section five, article two of this chapter;
The seniority of a substitute employee, once established, shall continue and
(2) Continues until:
(A) The employee enters into the duties of a regular
employment contract as provided in section five, article two of
this chapter; or
(B) Employment as a substitute with the county board is
severed.
(c) Seniority of a regular or substitute employee
shall does
not continue to accumulate
except during the time when an during
any time the employee is:
(1) Willfully absent from employment duties because of a
concerted work stoppage or strike; or
is
(2) Suspended without pay.
(b) (d) For all purposes including the filling of vacancies
and reduction in force, seniority shall be accumulated within
particular classification categories of employment as those
classification categories are referred to in section eight-e of
this article.
(e) Provided, That When implementing a reduction in force,
an employee with the least seniority within a particular
classification category shall be properly released and placed on
the preferred recall list. The particular classification title
held by an employee within the classification category
shall not be
taken into consideration may not be considered when implementing a
reduction in force.
(c) (f) On or before the first day of September and the fifteenth day of January of each school year, county boards shall
post at each county school or working station the current seniority
list or lists of each school service classification. Each list
shall contain the name of each regularly employed school service
personnel employed in each classification and the date that each
employee began performing his or her assigned duties in each
classification. Current seniority lists of substitute school
service personnel shall be available to employees upon request at
the county board office.
(d) (g) The seniority of an employee who transfers out of a
class title or classification category of employment and
subsequently returns to that class title or classification category
of employment
shall be is calculated as follows:
The county board shall establish the number of calendar days
between the date the employee left the class title or category of
employment in question and the date of return to the class title or
classification category of employment. This number of days shall
be added to the employee's initial seniority date to establish a
new beginning seniority date within the class title or
classification category. The employee shall then be considered as
having held uninterrupted service within the class title or
classification category from the newly established seniority date.
The seniority of an employee who has had a break in the
accumulation of seniority as a result of being willfully absent
from employment duties because of a concerted work stoppage or
strike shall be calculated in the same manner.
(e) (h) Beginning on the first day of July, two thousand
seven, a substitute school service employee shall acquire regular
employment status,
and but not regular employee job bidding rights
or regular seniority, if the employee receives a position pursuant
to
subsections the leave of absence or suspension provisions of
subdivisions (2) and (5),
subsection (a), section fifteen of this
article.
(f) Provided, That
(1) A substitute employee
who accumulates regular shall
accumulate substitute employee seniority while holding a position
acquired pursuant to said subsections
(2) and (5).
shall
simultaneously accumulate substitute seniority: Provided, however,
That
(2) Upon termination of
a the regular employee's leave of
absence or
a suspension, the
substitute employee shall return to
the status previously held.
If the employee returns to substitute
status, the employee shall retain any regular employee seniority
accrued, however, this seniority may not be used in the bidding
process for regular positions unless the employee again attains
regular employee status or has attained preferred recall status.
(3) County boards
shall not be are not prohibited from
providing any benefits of regular employment for substitute
employees, but the benefits
shall may not include regular employee
status
and or seniority.
(f) (i) If two or more employees accumulate identical
seniority, the priority shall be determined by a random selection
system established by the employees and approved by the county board. A board shall conduct the random selection within thirty
days upon the employees establishing an identical seniority date.
All employees with an identical seniority date within the same
class title or classification category shall participate in the
random selection. As long as the affected employees hold identical
seniority within the same classification category, the initial
random selection conducted by the board shall be permanent for the
duration of the employment within the same classification category
of the employees by the board. This random selection priority
applies to the filling of vacancies and to the reduction in force
of school service personnel.
Provided, That If another employee or
employees subsequently acquire If any other employee subsequently
acquires seniority identical to the employees involved in the
original random selection, a second random selection shall be held
within thirty days to determine the seniority ranking of the new
employee
or employees within the group. The priority between the
employees who participated in the original random selection
shall
remain remains the same. The second random selection
shall be is
performed by placing numbered pieces of paper equal to the number
of employees with identical seniority in a container.
The
employees who were Any employee who was not involved in the
original random selection shall draw a number from the container
which will determine
their his or her seniority within the group as
a whole. This process will be repeated if
any additional
employees
subsequently acquire employee subsequently acquires identical
seniority. The same process shall be utilized if
any additional
employees are employee is subsequently discovered to have the same
seniority as the original group of employees but who did not
participate in the original random selection
through due to
oversight or mistake.
(g) (j) Service personnel who are employed in a classification
category of employment at the time when a vacancy is posted in the
same classification category of employment shall be given first
opportunity to fill the vacancy.
(h) (k) Seniority acquired as a substitute and as a regular
employee shall be calculated separately and
shall may not be
combined for any purpose. Seniority acquired within different
classification categories shall be calculated separately.
Provided, That when If a school service employee
makes application
applies for a position outside of the classification category
he or
she currently
held holds, and if the vacancy is not filled by an
applicant within the classification category of the vacancy, the
applicant shall combine all regular employment seniority acquired
for the
purposes purpose of bidding on the position.
(I) (l) A school service personnel who
hold holds a
multiclassification
titles title shall accrue seniority in each
classification category of employment
which that the employee holds
and shall be considered an employee of each classification category
contained within his or her multiclassification title.
A
multiclassified
employees are employee is subject to reduction in
force in any category of employment contained within
their his or
her multiclassification title, based upon the seniority accumulated within that category of employment.
Provided, That If a
multiclassified employee is
reduced subject to a reduction in force
in one classification category, the employee shall retain
employment in any of the other classification categories that he or
she holds within his
or her multiclassification title. In that
case, the county board shall delete the appropriate classification
title or classification category from the contract of the
multiclassified employee.
(j) (m) When applying to fill a vacancy outside the
classification categories held by
the a multiclassified employee,
seniority acquired simultaneously in different classification
categories shall be calculated as if accrued in one classification
category only.
(k) (n) The seniority conferred in this section applies
retroactively to all affected school service personnel, but the
rights incidental to the seniority shall commence as of the
effective date of this section.
§18A-4-15. Employment of service personnel substitutes.
(a) The county board shall employ and the county
superintendent, subject to the approval of the county board, shall
assign substitute service personnel on the basis of seniority to
perform any of the following duties:
(1) To fill the temporary absence of another service employee;
(2) To fill the position of a regular service employee
who as
follows:
(A) If the regular service employee requests a leave of absence from the county board in writing and
who is granted the
leave in writing by the county board;
and to fill the position of
a regular service employee who or
(B) If the regular service employee is on workers'
compensation and absent.
Provided, That if the
(C) If an absence
pursuant to paragraph (A) or (B) of this
subdivision is to extend beyond thirty working days, the county
board shall post the position of the absent employee under the
procedures set forth in section eight-b of this article. If a
substitute service
employee personnel is employed to fill the
position of the absent employee and is employed in the position for
twenty or more working days, the substitute service personnel:
shall have
(i) Acquires regular employment status
and be with the
exception of regular employee job bidding rights;
(ii) Does not accrue regular seniority; and
(iii) Is accorded all
other rights, privileges and benefits
pertaining to the position until the regular employee returns to
the position or ceases to be employed by the county board;
Provided, however, That
(D) If a regular or substitute employee fills a vacancy that
is related
in any manner to a leave of absence or the absence of an
employee on workers' compensation
in any manner as provided in this
section, upon termination of the absence the employee shall be
returned to his or her original position
or status; Provided
further, That noa service person may
(E) A service personnel may not be:
(i) Required to request or to take a leave of absence;
or And
provided further, That no service person shall be
(ii) Deprived of any right or privilege of regular employment
status for refusal to request or failure to take a leave of
absence;
(3) To perform the service of a service
employee personnel who
is authorized to be absent from duties without loss of pay;
(4) To temporarily fill a vacancy in a permanent position
caused by severance of employment by the resignation, transfer,
retirement, permanent disability, dismissal pursuant to section
eight, article two of this chapter, or death of the regular service
employee who had been assigned to
fill the position.
Provided,
That Within twenty working days from the commencement of the
vacancy, the board shall fill the vacancy under the procedures set
out forth in section eight-b of this article and section five,
article two of this chapter.
and The person hired to fill the
vacancy shall have and
shall be accorded all rights, privileges and
benefits pertaining to the position;
(5) To fill the vacancy created by a regular employee's
suspension.
Provided, That
(A) If the suspension is for more than thirty working days,
the county board shall post the position of the suspended employee
under the procedures set forth in section eight-b of this article.
(B) If a substitute service
employee personnel is employed to
fill the suspended employee's position, the substitute service personnel:
shall have
(i) Acquires regular employment status
and be with the
exception of regular employee job-bidding rights;
(ii) Does not accrue regular seniority; and
(iii) Is accorded all
other rights, privileges and benefits
pertaining to the position until the termination by the county
board becomes final or the suspended employee is returned to
employment.
(C) If the suspended employee is not returned to his or her
job, the board shall fill the vacancy under the procedures set out
in section eight-b of this article and section five, article two of
this chapter; and
(6) To temporarily fill a vacancy in a newly created position
prior to
employment of employing a service personnel on a regular
basis
under the procedure set forth in pursuant to section eight-b
of this article.
(b) Substitutes shall be assigned in the following manner:
a
(1) The substitute with the greatest length of service time
that is, from the date he or she began his or her assigned duties
as a substitute in that particular category of employment, shall be
given in the vacant category of employment has priority in
accepting the assignment throughout the period of the regular
employee's absence or until the vacancy is filled on a regular
basis
under the procedures set out in pursuant to section eight-b
of this article.
Length of service time is calculated from the
date a substitute begins assigned duties as a substitute in a particular category of employment.
(2) All substitutes shall be employed on a rotating basis
according to
the length of their
lengths of service time until each
substitute has had an opportunity to perform similar assignments.
Provided, That if there are
(3) Any regular service
employees personnel employed in the
same building or working station
and the same classification
category of employment as the absent employee
and who are employed
in the same classification category of employment, the regular
employees shall be first offered the shall receive the first
opportunity to fill the position of the absent employee on a
rotating and seniority basis.
with the substitute then filling In
such case the regular employee's position
is filled by a substitute
service personnel. A regular employee assigned to fill the
position of an absent employee
shall be given has the opportunity
to hold that position throughout the absence. For the purpose of
this section only, all regularly employed school bus operators are
considered to be employed within the same building or working
station.
(c)
The county board shall return a regular school service
personnel
shall be returned by the county board of education to the
same position held prior to any approved leave of absence or period
of recovery from injury or illness. The school service personnel:
shall retain
(1) Retains all rights, privileges and benefits which had
accrued at the time of the absence or accrued under any other provision of law during the absence; and
shall have
(2) Has all rights, privileges and benefits generally accorded
school service
employees personnel at the time of return to work.
(d) The salary of a substitute service
employee personnel
shall be is:
(1) Based upon his or her years of employment as defined in
section eight of this article;
and
(2) As provided in the state minimum pay scale set forth in
section eight-a of this article; and
shall be
(3) In accordance with the salary schedule of persons
regularly employed in the same position in the county in which he
or she is employed.
(e)
Before any substitute service employee enters upon his or
her duties, he or she A substitute service personnel shall execute
with the county board a written contract
as provided in pursuant to
section five, article two of this chapter,
prior to beginning
assigned duties.
(f)
The following method shall be used to establish a
fair,
equitable and uniform system
of providing a fair and equitable
opportunity for substitutes to enter upon their for assigning
substitutes to their duties for the first time:
the following
method shall be used
(1) The initial order of assigning newly employed substitutes
shall be is determined by a random selection system established by
the affected substitute employees and approved by the county board;
This and
(2) The initial
priority order
shall be in effect is effective
only until the substitute service personnel have
entered upon begun
their duties for the first time.
(g)
A substitute service
employees who have personnel who has
worked thirty days for a school system
shall have has all rights
pertaining to suspension, dismissal and contract renewal as
is are
granted to regular service personnel in sections six, seven, eight
and eight-a, article two of this chapter.
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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