H. B. 3052
(By Delegates Campbell, Canterbury, Shaver
and Williams)
[Introduced February 13, 2007; referred to the
Committee on Education then the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §18-5-13a of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to requiring voter approval prior
to closure and consolidation of certain schools with grades
eight or below when new building construction or addition of
two or more classrooms are involved and the closure or
consolidation was not included in a local bond issue approved
by the voters; exceptions.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18-5-13a of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5. COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION.
§18-5-13a. School closing or consolidation.
(a) In addition to the provisions of section thirteen of this
article, prior to any final decision of a county board on any
proposal to close or consolidate any school, except in cases in which a construction bond issue was passed by the voters and which
bond issue included the schools to be closed or consolidated, the
county board shall:
(1) Prepare and reduce to writing its reasons and supporting
data regarding the school closing or consolidation. The written
reasons shall:
(A) Be available for public inspection in the office of the
county school superintendent during the thirty days preceding the
date of the public hearing required by this section;
(B) Be delivered in duplicate to the:
(i) Principal of a school which is proposed to be closed or
consolidated, and of any school which will receive the students who
are relocated as a result of the closure or consolidation; and
(ii) The chair, if any, of the local school improvement
council representing a school which is proposed to be closed or
consolidated, and any school which will receive the students who
are relocated as a result of the closure or consolidation; and
(C) Comply with the rule promulgated pursuant to subsection
(b) of this section;
(2) Provide notice for a public hearing. The notice shall be
advertised through a Class III legal advertisement, pursuant to the
provisions of article three, chapter fifty-nine of this code for
the three weeks prior to the date of the hearing. The notice shall
contain the time and place of the hearing and the proposed action of the county board. Additionally, the notice shall contain the
statement that the hearing location is subject to change if at the
time the meeting is called to order, it is determined that the
meeting location is of insufficient size. A copy of the notice
shall be posted at any school which is proposed to be closed or
consolidated, and at any school which will receive the students who
are relocated as a result of the closure or consolidation, in
conspicuous working places for all professional and service
personnel to observe. The notice shall be posted at least thirty
days prior to the date of the hearing;
(3) Conduct a public hearing which meets the following
criteria:
(A) At least a quorum of the county board members and the
county superintendent from the county wherein an affected school is
located shall attend and be present at the public hearing;
(B) Members of the public may be present, submit statements
and testimony, and question county school officials at the public
hearing;
(C) A separate hearing shall be held for each school closed or
consolidated;
(D) More than one hearing may be held during any one day;
(E) The hearing shall be held in a facility of sufficient size
to accommodate all those who desire to attend;
(F) If, at the time the hearing is called to order, it is determined by the board that insufficient space is available to
accommodate all those who desire to attend, the hearing shall be
recessed and moved to a new location of sufficient size to
accommodate all those who desire to attend. If the meeting
location is changed due to insufficient capacity, the county board
shall cause the new meeting location to be posted at the original
meeting location; and
(G) The hearing is subject to the requirements set forth in
the rule promulgated in accordance with subsection (c) of this
section; and
(4) Receive findings and recommendations from any local school
improvement council representing an affected school relating to the
proposed closure or consolidation prior to or at the public
hearing; and
(5) For schools containing any of the grade levels eight or
below, if the closure or consolidation involves the construction of
a new school building or the addition of two or more classrooms to
an existing school building, the question of closing and
consolidating the schools shall be submitted to the voters of the
county and ratified by a majority of all votes for and against the
question. The provisions of this subdivision do not apply to
closures or consolidations approved by the county board prior to
the effective date of this section, to closures or consolidations
resulting from the destruction or unserviceability of school buildings due to flood, fire or other natural disaster, and to
closures or consolidations otherwise excepted by this section.
(b) The state board shall promulgate a rule, in accordance
with the provisions of article three-b, chapter twenty-nine-a of
this code, detailing the type of supporting data a county board
shall include as part of its written statement of reason required
by this section for school closing or consolidation. The rule
shall require at least the following data:
(1) The transportation time of the affected students; and
(2) Any data required by the state board to amend a county's
comprehensive educational facilities plan.
(c) The state board shall promulgate a rule, in accordance
with the provisions of article three-b, chapter twenty-nine-a of
this code, that establishes the procedure to be followed by county
boards when conducting a public hearing on the issues of school
consolidation and closing.
(1) The rule shall provide standards for at least the
following:
(A) The appropriate forum and venue for public hearings to be
held;
(B) A process for affording interested parties the opportunity
for their perspectives to be expressed;
(C) Establishing, where necessary, reasonable restrictions on
the amount of time allowed each individual desiring to speak so that all parties wishing to speak at the hearing are given an equal
amount of time; and
(D) Scheduling and organizing public hearings when more than
one school within a county is proposed for consolidation or
closure.
(2) It is the purpose of this subsection to provide for
uniformity among the counties in the procedures followed when
scheduling, organizing and conducting public hearings on the issues
of school consolidation and closure.
(d) The state board shall promulgate the rules required by
this section by the first day of June, two thousand two.
(e) Any document prepared, notice given, hearing conducted or
action taken prior to the effective date of the amendments made to
this section during the two thousand two regular session of the
Legislature, is considered sufficient if the county board complied
with the terms of this section effective at the time and the county
board violates no other provision of law which would invalidate the
document, notice, hearing or actions.
(f) The petition required to trigger the county-wide election
referred to above must be signed by a minimum of twenty percent
(20%) of the registered voters in the county. Each page of the
petition shall contain the following language placed conspicuously
at the top of the page:
"We, being registered voters of the County of ________________, object to the closure of _______________ (name of the school), and
we petition for an election by the county to determine whether or
not the school may be closed." The petition shall be delivered to
the office of the clerk of the county commission of the county who,
upon receiving the same, shall have the following duties:
(1) Within five days of receipt of the petition, notify the
board of education in writing that a petition objecting to the
closure of the school in question has been received;
(2) Within thirty days from receipt of the petition, verify
whether or not the petition has been signed by the requisite
percentage of the registered voters of the county;
(3) Within five days after determining whether or not the
petition has been signed by the requisite percentage of the
registered voters of the county, notify the board of education in
writing as to whether or not the petition is sufficient to mandate
an election before the school may be closed.
Note: The purpose of this bill is to require voter approval
prior to closure and consolidation of certain schools with grades
eight or below when new building construction or addition of two or
more classrooms are involved and the closure or consolidation was
not included in a local bond issue approved by the voters.
Strike-throughs indicate existing language that would be
removed, and underscoring indicates new language that would be
added.