Bill Text: WV HB2046 | 2018 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requiring county boards of education to provide released time for professional educators and service personnel when serving in an elected municipal or county office
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-01-10 - To House Education [HB2046 Detail]
Download: West_Virginia-2018-HB2046-Introduced.html
FISCAL
NOTE
WEST virginia legislature
2017 regular session
By
[
to the Committee on Education then Finance
A BILL to amend and
reenact §18A-2-2 and §18A-2-6a of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
all relating to requiring county boards of education to provide released time
for professional educators and service personnel when serving in a part-time
elected or appointed municipal or county offices.
Be it enacted by the
Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18A-2-2 and §18A-2-6a
of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all
to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. SCHOOL
PERSONNEL.
§18A-2-2. Employment of
teachers; contracts; continuing contract status; how terminated; dismissal for
lack of need; released time; failure of teacher to perform contract or
violation thereof; written notice bonus for teachers and professional
personnel.
(a) Before entering upon
their duties, all teachers shall execute a contract with their county boards,
which shall state the salary to be paid and shall be in the form prescribed by
the state superintendent. Each contract shall be signed by the teacher and by
the president and secretary of the county board and shall be filed, together
with the certificate of the teacher, by the secretary of the office of the
county board. When necessary to facilitate the employment of employable
professional personnel and prospective and recent graduates of teacher
education programs who have not yet attained certification, the contract may be
signed upon the condition that the certificate is issued to the employee prior
to the beginning of the employment term in which the employee enters upon his or
her duties.
(b) Each teacher's
contract, under this section, shall be designated as a probationary or
continuing contract. A probationary teachers contract shall be for a term of
not less than one nor more than three years, one of which shall be for completion
of a beginning teacher internship pursuant to the provisions of section two-b,
article three of this chapter, if applicable. If, after three years of such
employment, the teacher who holds a professional certificate, based on at least
a bachelor's degree, has met the qualifications for a bachelor’s degree and the
county board enter into a new contract of employment, it shall be a continuing
contract, subject to the following:
(1) Any teacher with less
than a bachelor's degree who holds a valid certificate and is employed in a
county beyond the three-year probationary period shall be granted continuing
contract status upon qualifying for the professional certificate based upon a
bachelor's degree, if the teacher becomes reemployed; and
(2) A teacher holding
continuing contract status with one county shall be granted continuing contract
status with any other county upon completion of one year of acceptable
employment if the employment is during the next succeeding school year or
immediately following an approved leave of absence extending no more than one
year.
(c) The continuing contract
of any teacher shall remain in full force and effect except as modified by
mutual consent of the school board and the teacher, unless and until
terminated, subject to the following:
(1) A continuing contract
may not be terminated except:
(A) By a majority vote of
the full membership of the county board on or before May 1 of the then current
year, after written notice, served upon the teacher, return receipt requested,
stating cause or causes and an opportunity to be heard at a meeting of the
board prior to the board's action on the termination issue; or
(B) By written resignation
of the teacher on or before May 1 to initiate termination of a continuing
contract;
(2) The termination shall
take effect at the close of the school year in which the contract is
terminated;
(3) The contract may be
terminated at any time by mutual consent of the school board and the teacher;
(4) This section does not
affect the powers of the school board to suspend or dismiss a principal or
teacher pursuant to section eight of this article;
(5) A continuing contract
for any teacher holding a certificate valid for more than one year and in full
force and effect during the school year 1984-1985 shall remain in full force
and effect;
(6) A continuing contract
does not operate to prevent a teacher's dismissal based upon the lack of need
for the teacher's services pursuant to the provisions of law relating to the
allocation to teachers and pupil-teacher ratios. The written notification of
teachers being considered for dismissal for lack of need shall be limited to
only those teachers whose consideration for dismissal is based upon known or
expected circumstances which will require dismissal for lack of need. An
employee who was not provided notice and an opportunity for a hearing pursuant
to this subsection may not be included on the list. In case of dismissal for
lack of need, a dismissed teacher shall be placed upon a preferred list in the
order of their length of service with that board. A teacher may not be employed
by the board until each qualified teacher on the preferred list, in order, has
been offered the opportunity for reemployment in a position for which he or she
is qualified, not including a teacher who has accepted a teaching position
elsewhere. The reemployment shall be upon a teacher's preexisting continuing
contract and has the same effect as though the contract had been suspended
during the time the teacher was not employed.
(d) In the assignment of
position or duties of a teacher under a continuing contract, the board may
provide for released time of a teacher for any special professional or
governmental assignment without jeopardizing the contractual rights of the
teacher or any other rights, privileges or benefits under the provisions of
this chapter. Released time shall be provided for any professional educator
while serving as a member of the Legislature or any elected or appointed
part-time public office during any duly constituted session of that body
and its interim and statutory committees and commissions without jeopardizing
his or her contractual rights or any other rights, privileges, benefits or
accrual of experience for placement on the state minimum salary schedule in the
following school year under the provisions of this chapter, board policy and
law.
(e) A teacher is
disqualified to teach in any public school in the state for the duration of the
next ensuing school year, if that teacher:
(1) Fails to fulfill his or
her contract with the board, unless prevented from doing so by personal illness
or other just cause or unless released from his or her contract by the board,
or
(2) Violates any lawful
provision of his or her contract: Provided, That the marriage of a
teacher is not considered a failure to fulfill, or violation of, the contract.
The State Department of
Education or board may hold all papers and credentials of the teacher on file
for a period of one year for the violation and shall report such
disqualification status in the National Association of State Directors of
Teacher Education and Certification (NASDTEC) database system.
(f) Any classroom teacher,
as defined in section one, article one of this chapter, who desires to resign
employment with a county board or request a leave of absence, the resignation
or leave of absence to become effective on or before July 15 of the same year
and after completion of the employment term, may do so at any time during the
school year by written notification of the resignation or leave of absence and
any notification received by a county board shall automatically extend the
teacher's public employee insurance coverage until August 31 of the same year.
(g) (1) A classroom teacher
who gives written notice to the county board on or before March 1 of the school
year of his or her retirement from employment with the board at the conclusion
of the school year shall be paid $500 from the early notification of retirement
line item established for the Department of Education for this purpose, subject
to appropriation by the Legislature. If the appropriations to the Department of
Education for this purpose are insufficient to compensate all applicable
teachers, the Department of Education shall request a supplemental
appropriation in an amount sufficient to compensate all such teachers.
Additionally, if funds are still insufficient to compensate all applicable
teachers, the priority of payment is for teachers who give written notice the
earliest. This payment may not be counted as part of the final average salary
for the purpose of calculating retirement.
(2) The position of a classroom teacher providing
written notice of retirement pursuant to this subsection may be considered
vacant and the county board may immediately post the position as an opening to
be filled at the conclusion of the school year. If a teacher has been hired to
fill the position of a retiring classroom teacher prior to the start of the
next school year, the retiring classroom teacher is disqualified from
continuing his or her employment in that position. However, the retiring
classroom teacher may be permitted to continue his or her employment in that
position and forfeit the early retirement notification payment if, after giving
notice of retirement in accordance with this subsection, he or she becomes
subject to a significant unforeseen financial hardship, including a hardship
caused by the death or illness of an immediate family member or loss of
employment of a spouse. Other significant unforeseen financial hardships shall
be determined by the county superintendent on a case-by-case basis. This
subsection does not prohibit a county school board from eliminating the
position of a retiring classroom teacher.
§18A-2-6a. Released time for service personnel.
In the assignment of
position or duties of a service person under a continuing contract, the board
may provide for released time of a service person for any special professional
or governmental assignment without jeopardizing the contractual rights of such
service or any other rights, privileges or benefits under the provisions of
this chapter. Released time shall be
provided for any service person while serving as a member of the Legislature or
any elected or appointed part-time public office during any duly
constituted session of that body and its interim and statutory committees and
commissions, without jeopardizing his or her contractual rights or any other
rights, privileges, benefits or accrual of experience for placement on the
state minimum salary schedule in the following school year under the provisions
of this chapter, board policy and law.
For the purposes of this section, service person is the singular of
service personnel as defined in section one, article one of this chapter.
NOTE: The
purpose of this bill is to require county boards of education to provide
released time for professional educators and service personnel when serving in
a part-time elected or appointed municipal or county office.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be
stricken from a heading or the present law, and underscoring indicates new
language that would be added.