Introduced Version
House Bill 2325 History
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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
H. B. 2325
(By Delegates Mezzatesta and Williams)
[Introduced January 16, 2003
; referred to the
Committee on Education then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact sections sixteen and nineteen, article
nine-d, chapter eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, all relating to
the school building authority; requiring county-wide
comprehensive educational facilities plans and annual plan
updates to include up-to-date projections of student
enrollments; requiring the authority to provide funding for
construction of comprehensive vocational technical facilities
for middle schools in approved county plans; authorizing
comprehensive vocational facilities constructed at existing
high schools to include facilities for community and technical
college education; providing for involvement of multicounty
vocational technical center in planning construction of
comprehensive high schools and middle schools for programs
that complement center programs, including community and technical education facilities at center; providing that
programs at comprehensive high or middle school may not
replace program at multicounty vocational technical center
without consent of center board; providing comprehensive
vocational technical facilities at high schools and middle
schools may not be required in counties with county
comprehensive centers; and providing requirements for
consideration in planning comprehensive high schools and
middle schools in counties with county centers.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections sixteen and nineteen, article nine-d, chapter
eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred
thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 9D. SCHOOL BUILDING AUTHORITY.
§18-9D-16. Facilities and major improvement plans generally;
need-based eligibility.
(a) To facilitate the goals as stated in section fifteen of
this article and to assure the prudent and resourceful expenditure
of state funds for construction projects as described in subsection
(d) of said section, each county board of education shall submit a
county-wide comprehensive educational facilities plan that
addresses the facilities and major improvement needs of the county
and includes up-to-date projections of student enrollments pursuant to such guidelines as shall be adopted by the authority in
accordance with this section and in accordance with each county's
facilities plan approved by the state board of education. Any
project receiving funding shall must be in furtherance of such the
approved county-wide facilities plan.
(1) To assure efficiency and productivity in the project
approval process, the county-wide facilities plan shall may be
submitted only after a preliminary plan, a plan outline or a
proposal for a plan has been submitted to the authority. Selected
members of the authority, which selection shall include citizen
members, shall then meet promptly with those persons designated by
the county board to attend the facilities plan consultation. The
purpose of the consultation is to assure understanding of the
general goals of the school building authority and the specific
goals encompassed in the following criteria and to discuss ways the
plan may be structured to meet those goals.
(2) The guidelines for the development of a facilities plan
shall must state the manner, timeline and process for submission of
any plan to the authority; such project specifications as may be
deemed considered appropriate by the authority; and those matters
which are deemed considered by the authority to be important
reflections of how the project will further the overall goals of
the authority.
(b) To facilitate the goals as stated in section fifteen of this article and to assure the prudent and resourceful expenditure
of state funds derived from the school major improvement fund, each
county board of education shall submit to the authority a ten-year
county-wide school major improvement plan that addresses the major
improvement needs of each school within the county. If the state
board of education or the administrative council of an area
vocational educational center chooses to seek funding for a major
improvement project from the authority pursuant to subsection (f)
of said section, the state board or such the administrative council
shall submit a ten-year school major improvement plan that
addresses the major improvement needs of the school or area
vocational educational center for which funding is sought. Each
ten-year school major improvement plan shall must be prepared
pursuant to such guidelines as shall be adopted by the authority in
accordance with this section and shall must be updated annually to
reflect projects completed, current enrollment projections and new
or continuing needs. Any school major improvement project funded
by the authority shall must be in furtherance of
such the approved
school major improvement plan.
The guidelines for the development and annual updates of a
ten-year school major improvement plan shall must state the manner,
timeline and process for submission of any plan, including a repair
and replacement schedule for school facilities, to the authority;
such the maintenance specifications as may be deemed considered appropriate by the authority; and those matters which are deemed
considered by the authority to be important reflections of how the
major improvement project or projects will further the overall
goals of the authority.
(c) The guidelines regarding submission of the facilities
plans and school major improvement plans shall must include
requirements for public hearings, comments or other means of
providing broad-based input within a reasonable time period as the
authority may deem consider appropriate. The submission of each
plan shall must be accompanied by a synopsis of all comments
received and a formal comment by the county board, the state board
or the administrative council of an area vocational educational
center submitting such the plan.
The guidelines regarding project specifications may include
such matters as energy efficiency, preferred siting, construction
materials, maintenance plan or any other matter related to how the
project is to proceed. If a county board of education proposes to
finance a construction project through a lease with an option to
purchase pursuant to an investment contract as described in
subsection (e), section fifteen of this article, the
specifications for such the project shall must include the term of
the lease, the amount of each lease payment, including the payment
due upon exercise of the option to purchase, and the terms and
conditions of the proposed investment contract.
(d) The guidelines pertaining to quality educational
facilities shall must require that a facilities plan address how
the current facilities do not meet and how the proposed plan and
any project thereunder does meet the following goals:
(1) Student health and safety;
(2) Economies of scale, including compatibility with similar
schools that have achieved the most economical organization,
facility utilization and pupil-teacher ratios;
(3) Reasonable travel time and practical means of addressing
other demographic considerations;
(4) Multicounty and regional planning to achieve the most
effective and efficient instructional delivery system;
(5) Curriculum improvement and diversification, including
computerization and technology and advanced senior courses in
science, mathematics, language arts and social studies;
(6) Innovations in education;
(7) Adequate space for projected student enrollments; and
(8) To the extent constitutionally permissible, each
facilities plan shall must address the history of efforts taken by
the county board to propose or adopt local school bond issues or
special levies.
If the project is to benefit more than one county in the
region, the facilities plan shall must state the manner in which
the cost and funding of the project shall will be apportioned among the counties.
(e) The guidelines pertaining to quality educational
facilities shall must require that a school major improvement plan
address how the proposed plan and any project thereunder meet the
following goals:
(1) Student health and safety, including, but not limited to,
critical health and safety needs; and
(2) Economies of scale, including regularly scheduled
preventive maintenance: Provided,
That each county board's school
maintenance plan shall must address regularly scheduled maintenance
for all facilities within the county.
(f) Each county board's facilities plan and school major
improvement plan shall must prioritize all the construction
projects or major improvement projects, respectively, within the
county. A school major improvement plan submitted by the state
board or the administrative council of an area vocational
educational center shall must prioritize all the school improvement
projects contained in
such the
plan.
Such The
priority list shall
be is one of the criteria to be considered by the authority in
determining how available funds shall must be expended. In
prioritizing the projects, the county board, the state board or the
administrative council submitting a plan shall make determinations
in accordance with the objective criteria formulated by the school
building authority.
(g) Each facilities plan and school major improvement plan
shall must include the objective means to be utilized used in
evaluating implementation of the overall plan and each project
included therein.
Such The
evaluation shall must measure each
project's furtherance of each applicable goal stated in this
section and any guidelines adopted hereunder, as well as the
overall success of any project as it relates to the facilities plan
or school major improvement plan and the overall goals of the
authority.
(h) The state department of education shall conduct on-site
inspections, at least annually, of all facilities which have been
funded wholly or in part by moneys from the authority or state
board to ensure compliance with the county board's facilities plan
and school major improvement plan as related to such the
facilities; to preserve the physical integrity of the facilities to
the extent possible; and to otherwise extend the useful life of the
facilities: Provided,
That the state board shall submit reports
regarding its on-site inspections of facilities to the authority
within thirty days of completion of such the on-site inspections:
Provided, however,
That the state board shall promulgate rules
regarding such the on-site inspections and matters relating
thereto, in consultation with the authority, as soon as practical
and shall submit such proposed rules for legislative review no
later than the first day of December, one thousand nine hundred ninety-four.
(i) The authority may adopt guidelines for requiring that a
county board modify, update, supplement or otherwise submit changes
or additions to an approved facilities plan or for requiring that
a county board, the state board or the administrative council of an
area vocational educational center modify, update, supplement or
otherwise submit changes or additions to an approved county board
facilities plan or school major improvement plan. The authority
shall provide reasonable notification and sufficient time for such
the change or addition as delineated in guidelines developed by the
authority.
(j) Based on its on-site inspection or notification by the
authority to the state board that the changes or additions to a
county's board facilities plan or school major improvement plan
required by the authority have not been implemented within the time
period prescribed by the authority, the state board shall restrict
the use of the necessary funds or otherwise allocate funds from
moneys appropriated by the Legislature for those purposes set forth
in section nine, article nine-a of this chapter.
§18-9D-19. Comprehensive high schools.
(a) The Legislature finds the following:
(1) The decline in student enrollment over the last twenty
years has necessitated consolidation of schools in many counties;
(2) It is projected that the decline in student enrollment during the period two thousand two through two thousand twelve may
be as great as eighteen percent and will continue the necessity to
consolidate schools;
(3) The new consolidated school buildings now being built
across the state provide an opportunity for communities to have
comprehensive high schools and middle schools that include space
for vocational-technical courses, community college courses and
other workforce related courses for the students and the public at
large;
(4) Requiring students to be bused to remote vocational
centers has sometimes deterred student participation in vocational
courses and has sometimes been considered a stigma upon those
students attending vocational courses;
(5) Offering vocational, community college and workforce
programs in close proximity to each other compliment the high
school and the programs; and
(6) The change in the season for girls' basketball to coincide
with boys' basketball has placed significant pressures on the
availability of gymnasium space and often has caused practices to
be scheduled late in the evenings and on weekends, interfering with
time needed for studying and rest.
(b) When planning the construction of a high school or a
middle school which has been approved by the authority and which
meets the required authority efficiencies, the authority shall provide funding for comprehensive vocational facilities to be
located, when feasible, on the same site as the high school or the
middle school and may, in cooperation with the higher education
policy commission, established in section one, article one-b,
chapter eighteen-b, provide funding for facilities for community
and technical college education. When building in conjunction with
the higher education policy commission, an educational
specification shall must be developed for the proposed new facility
by the appropriate institutional governing board as defined in
section two, article one, chapter eighteen-b of this code. The
county board is the fiscal agent for construction. All planning,
design, bidding and construction shall must be completed with
authority guidelines and under the supervision of the authority.
(c) When planning the construction of a high school which has
been approved by the authority and meets the required authority
efficiencies, the authority shall provide funding sufficient for
the construction of at least one auxiliary gymnasium. The
authority may establish standards for the auxiliary gymnasium.
(d) Upon application of a county board to construct
comprehensive vocational facilities at an existing high school, the
authority will provide technical assistance to the county in
developing a plan for construction of the comprehensive vocational
facility. The facility may, in cooperation with the higher
education policy commission in accordance with the provisions of subsection (b) of this section, include facilities for community
and technical college education. Upon development of the plan, the
authority shall consider funding based on the following criteria:
(1) The distance of any existing vocational facilities from
the high schools it serves;
(2) The time required to travel to and from the vocational
facility to the high schools it serves;
(3) The ability of the county board to provide local funds for
the construction of new comprehensive vocational facilities;
(4) The size of the existing high schools and the demand for
vocational technical courses;
(5) The age and physical condition of the existing vocational
facilities; and
(6) Such other criteria as the authority shall consider
appropriate.
(e) When planning the construction of a high school or a
middle school in a county which is served by a multicounty
vocational technical facility, the county may not be required to
include the construction of a comprehensive vocational facility in
the plan. If the county board elects to construct a comprehensive
vocational facility pursuant to this section, the board shall
include the multicounty center director and board in planning
program
s to be offered at the vocational facility which complement
the programs offered at the multicounty center and may as part of the plan include facilities for community and technical college
education at the multicounty center. The programs offered at the
vocational facility may not replace the programs offered at the
multicounty vocational technical center without the consent of the
center board.
(f) Notwithstanding other provisions of this section to the
contrary, the board of a county in which there is an existing
county comprehensive vocational center may not be required to plan
construction of a comprehensive vocational facility when planning
the construction of a new high school or middle school. If the
county elects to do so, the plan must consider programs which
complement the programs of the county center and may include
facilities for community and technical college education in
accordance with this section.
Note: The purpose of this bill is to establish alternative
considerations in planning construction of comprehensive high
schools for counties that have existing county comprehensive
vocational technical centers or are served by multicounty centers.
In addition, the School Building Authority is required to fund
comprehensive middle schools in approved county plans and county
plans are required to use up-to-date projections of enrollment.
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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