Bill Text: WV HB2387 | 2017 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requiring the State Board of Education to prescribe a comprehensive drug awareness and prevention program
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Republican 6-1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-02-13 - To House Prevention and Treatment of Substance Abuse [HB2387 Detail]
Download: West_Virginia-2017-HB2387-Introduced.html
WEST virginia Legislature
2017 regular session
Introduced
House Bill 2387
By Delegate Byrd
[Introduced February 13,
2017; Referred
to the Committee on Prevention and Treatment of Substance Abuse then Education.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §18-2-7b of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to requiring the State Board of Education to prescribe a comprehensive drug awareness and prevention program to be implemented by county boards of education that mandates students in grades K through 12 receive instruction regarding the dangers of substance abuse; providing purposes of the drug awareness and prevention program; requiring the State Board of Education to coordinate the directives of this amendment with educators, drug rehabilitation specialists and law-enforcement agencies; and providing instruction to students on risks, if stopped by law-enforcement officers, and proper responses and behavior, if arrested.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18-2-7b of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION.
§18-2-7b. Programs in drug prevention and violence reduction.
(a) In order for the schools to become healthy learning environments and to provide a strong defense against drug use and violence, the State Board of Education shall prescribe programs within the existing health and physical education program which teach resistance and life skills to counteract societal and peer pressure to use drugs, alcohol and tobacco, and shall include counselors, teachers and staff in full implementation of the program. The board shall also prescribe programs to coordinate violence reduction efforts in schools and between schools and their communities and to train students, teachers, counselors and staff in conflict resolution skills. The program shall be comprehensive, interdisciplinary and shall begin in elementary school. The state board shall report to the Legislative Oversight Commission on education accountability on the status of the programs no later than July 1, 1995.
(b) No later than the start of the 2017-2018 school year, the State Board of Education shall require each county board of education to implement a comprehensive drug awareness and prevention program that mandates students in grades K through 12 to receive instruction regarding the dangers of substance abuse. The purpose of the drug awareness and prevention program is to:
(1) Keep students from illegally using alcohol, tobacco or other drugs;
(2) Reduce or eliminate the incidence and prevalence of student alcohol, tobacco and other drug abuse;
(3) Reduce the factors that place students at risk with alcohol, tobacco or other drugs through school and community based planning processes;
(4) Contribute to the development of school environments and alternative activities that are alcohol, tobacco and drug-free;
(5) Increase the knowledge and skills of students, staff and community members for avoiding the harmful effects of alcohol, tobacco, drug-use and blood borne pathogens; and
(6) Actively involve staff, students, parents and other community members in the development and implementation of the drug awareness and prevention program plans.
(c) The state board shall coordinate the directives of subsection (b) of this section with educators, drug rehabilitation specialists and law-enforcement agencies to periodically provide opportunities for age appropriate student education on their experiences on the impacts of illegal alcohol and drug use.
(d) The drug awareness and prevention program shall also include instruction to facilitate understanding and appreciation by the students for;
(1) The risks to, duties of, and likely actions by law-enforcement officers when conducting investigations; and
(2) Instruction on how to respond to an officer during a vehicular or other stop or police interaction, including problematic or dangerous actions and behaviors that could result in a person being detained or arrested.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require the State Board of Education to prescribe a comprehensive drug awareness and prevention program to be implemented by county boards of education that mandates students in grades K through 12 receive instruction regarding the dangers of substance abuse. The bill enumerates purposes of the drug awareness and prevention program. It requires the State Board of Education to coordinate the directives of this bill with educators, drug rehabilitation specialists and law-enforcement agencies. And, the bill provides for instruction to students on the risks, if stopped by law-enforcement officers, and proper responses and behavior, if arrested.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.