Introduced Version
Senate Bill 289 History
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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
Senate Bill No. 289
(By Senator Hunter)
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[Introduced January 26, 2004; referred to the Committee on
Education.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §18-5-16
of the code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to providing criteria for
determining whether the intercounty transfer of a student
should be approved.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18-5-16
of the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5. COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION.
§18-5-16. Student transfers; legislative findings; appeals;
calculating net enrollment; fees for transfer.
(a) County districts and school attendance. -- The county
board may divide the county into such districts as are necessary to
determine the schools the students of its county shall attend.
Upon the written request of any parent or guardian, or person
legally responsible for any student, or for reasons affecting the best interests of the schools, the superintendent may transfer
students from one school to another within the county. Any
aggrieved person may appeal the decision of the county
superintendent to the county board, and the decision of the county
board shall be final.
(b) Transfers between counties; legislative findings. --
(1) Transfers of students from one county to another may be
made by the county board of the county in which the student
desiring to be transferred resides. The transfer shall be subject
to the approval of both the board of the county in which the
student resides and the board to which the student wishes to be
transferred. The decision of the board of the county
, in which the
student resides and the board to which the student wishes to be
transferred on whether to grant or deny approval, is subject to the
following criteria:
(A) The inter-county transfer of a student shall be approved
if the student has a sibling that is attending or has attended the
same school to which the student wishes to be transferred;
(B) The inter-county transfer of a student shall be approved
if the travel time to the school in the district in which the
student resides would violate current state standards, and the
travel time to the school in which the student wishes to be
transferred is less;
(C) The inter-county transfer of a student shall be approved if the courses in which the student wishes to enroll cannot be
provided by:
(i) The school in which the student otherwise would be
required to attend pursuant to subsection (a) of this section; and
(ii) Another school within the county in which the student
resides that is closer to the student's residence than the school
in which the student wishes to be transferred;
(D) The inter-county transfer of a special education student
shall be approved if either of the provisions of paragraph (A), (B)
or (C) of this subdivision are satisfied;
(E) Approval of the inter-county transfer of a student may not
be based on a sports related reason unless it is approved by the
secondary schools activities commission;
(F) Approval of the inter-county transfer of a student may not
be based on the convenience to a parent's workplace;
(G) Approval of the inter-county transfer of a student may not
be based on convenient access to child care except in circumstances
where specialized care is needed;
(H) Approval of the inter-county transfer of a student may not
be based on social and emotional needs or friendships; and
(I) If a student is currently enrolled in a school pursuant to
subsection (a) of this section, an inter-county transfer may not
be approved except for the reasons set forth in paragraph (A), (B)
or (C) of this subdivision.
(2) Legislative findings. -- Over the past several years,
counties have been forced to close a number of schools because of
declining student enrollment. School officials predict that an
additional eighteen percent loss in enrollment may occur between
two thousand two and two thousand twelve. This continued decrease
in the number of students enrolled in the public schools of the
state may result in more instances of consolidation which will
increase the problem of long bus rides for students if they remain
in a school in their county of residence.
Therefore the Legislature makes the following findings:
(A) County lines may impede the effective and efficient
delivery of education services;
(B) Students often must endure long bus rides to a school
within their county of residence when a school in an adjacent
county is a fraction of the distance away;
(C) The wishes of parents or guardians to have their children
transferred to a county other than their county of residence should
be considered by the county boards; and
(D) Where counties cannot agree, it is necessary to establish
a process to determine when transfers are appropriate.
(3) The state board shall establish a process whereby a parent
or guardian of a student may appeal the refusal of a county board
to enter into an agreement to transfer or accept the transfer of
the student.
(A) The process shall designate the state superintendent to
hear the appeal In determining whether to overturn a decision of
a county board, the state superintendent shall consider such
factors as subject to the following:
(i) Travel time for the student;
(ii) Impact on levies or bonds;
(iii) Other financial impact on the county of residence; and
(iv) Such other factors as the state superintendent may
determine.
(i) The state superintendent shall abide by the criteria set
forth in subdivision (1) of this subsection; and
(ii) The state superintendent may not hear any appeal pursuant
to this section before the local board has made a decision.
(B) If, during the appeal process, the state superintendent
discovers that the education and the welfare of students in the
transferring county could be enhanced, the state superintendent may
direct that students may be permitted to attend a school in another
county.
(C) (B) If multiple appeals are received from the same
geographical area of a county, the state superintendent may impose
on the receiving county restrictions including, but not limited to,
requiring the receiving county to accept all students in that
geographical area of the sending county who wish to transfer to the
receiving county.
(D) (C) If a student is transferred on either a full-time or
a part-time basis without the agreement of both boards by official
action as reflected in the minutes of their respective meetings and
if the student's parent or guardian fails to appeal or loses the
appeal under the process established in subdivision (3) of this
subsection, the student shall be counted only in the net enrollment
of the county in which the student resides.
(4) If, after two county boards have agreed to a transfer
arrangement for a student, that student chooses to return to a
school in his or her county of residence after the second month of
any school year, the following shall apply:
(A) The county of residence may issue an invoice to the county
from which the student transferred for the amount, determined on a
pro rata basis, that the county of residence otherwise would have
received under the state basic foundation program established in
article nine-a of this chapter; and
(B) The county from which the student transferred shall
reimburse the county of residence for the amount of the invoice.
(c) Transfers between high schools. -- In any county where a
high school is maintained, but topography, impassable roads, long
bus rides or other conditions prevent the practicable
transportation of any students to such high school, the board may
transfer them to a high school in an adjoining county. In any such
case, the county boards may enter into an agreement providing for the payment of the cost of transportation, if any, of the students.
(d) Transfers between states. -- Transfer of students from
this state to another state shall be upon such terms as shall be
mutually agreed upon by the board of the transferring county and
the authorities of the school to which the transfer is made.
(e) No parent, guardian or person acting as parent or guardian
shall be required to pay for the transfer of a student or for the
tuition of the student after the transfer when such transfer is
carried out under the terms of this section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide criteria for
determining whether the inter-county transfer of a student should
be approved.
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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