Bill Text: WV HB2412 | 2017 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to the public school calendar
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-02-13 - To House Education [HB2412 Detail]
Download: West_Virginia-2017-HB2412-Introduced.html
WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE
2017 REGULAR SESSION
Introduced
House Bill 2412
By Delegate cooper
[Introduced
February 13, 2017; Referred
to the Committee on Education. ]
A BILL to amend and reenact §18-5-45 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to primary and secondary school instructional terms; removing the word “separate” throughout the section as it relates to the number of instructional days in the school calendar; requiring that the instructional term for students begin no earlier than August 10 and end no later than June 10, except for schools operating on a balanced calendar; removing preparation for opening and closing school from mandatory list of areas for which remaining noninstructional days may be designated by county school board; designating one noninstructional day for teachers as a preparation day; allowing teacher preparation day to be used for other purposes only at teacher’s discretion; increasing number of two-hour blocks for faculty senate meetings from four to six; removing requirement that faculty senate meetings be held once every forty-five days; permitting accrued minutes to be used for lost instructional days; designating time frames within which faculty senate meetings may take place; and requiring county boards to first use accrued minutes for early dismissals and late arrivals and requiring that any reimagining student instructional days be exhausted prior to using accrued minutes for lost instructional days.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18-5-45 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5. COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION.
§18-5-45. School calendar.
(a) As used in this section:
(1) "Instructional day" means a day within the instructional term which meets the following criteria:
(A) Instruction is offered to students for at least the minimum amount of hours provided by state board rule;
(B) Instructional time is used for instruction and cocurricular activities; and
(C) Other criteria as the state board determines appropriate.
(2) "Cocurricular activities" are activities that are closely related to identifiable academic programs or areas of study that serve to complement academic curricula as further defined by the state board.
(b) Findings. –
(1) The primary purpose of the school system is to provide instruction for students.
(2) The school calendar, as defined in this section, is designed to define the school term both for employees and for instruction.
(3) The school calendar
shall provide for one hundred eighty separate instructional days.
(c) The county board shall provide a school term for its schools that contains the following:
(1) An employment term that excludes Saturdays and Sundays and consists of at least two hundred days, which need not be successive. The beginning and closing dates of the employment term may not exceed forty-eight weeks;
(2) Within the employment
term, an instructional term for students of no less than one hundred eighty separate
instructional days, which includes an inclement weather and emergencies plan
designed to guarantee an instructional term for students of no less than one
hundred eighty separate instructional days;
(3) The instructional term for students shall begin no earlier than August 10th and end no later than June 10th of each calendar school year: Provided, That nothing in this subdivision shall apply to any school operating on a balanced calendar as defined by state board policy.
(3) (4) Within the employment term,
noninstructional days shall total twenty and shall be comprised of the
following:
(A) Seven paid holidays;
(B) Election day as specified in section two, article five, chapter eighteen-a of this code;
(C) Six days to be
designated by the county board to be used by the employees outside the school
environment, with at least four outside the school environment days scheduled
to occur after the one hundred and thirtieth instructional day of the school
calendar; and
(D) One to be designated by the county board to be used by the employees for preparation for opening and closing school: Provided, That the school preparation day at the beginning of the instructional term may be used for the purposes set forth in subsection (e) of this section, at the teacher’s discretion; and
(D) (E) The remaining days to be designated by the
county board for purposes to include, but not be limited to:
(i) Curriculum development;
(ii) Preparation for
opening and closing school;
(iii) (ii) Professional development;
(iv) (iii) Teacher-pupil-parent conferences;
(v) (iv) Professional meetings;
(vi) (v) Making up days when instruction was
scheduled but not conducted; and
(vii) (vi) At least four six two-hour
blocks of time for faculty senate meetings with each a two-hour
block of time scheduled once at least every forty-five instructional days
in the first month and last month of school and once in October, December,
February, and April; and
(4) (5) Scheduled out-of-calendar days that are to
be used for instructional days in the event school is canceled for any reason.
(d) A county board of education shall develop a policy that requires additional minutes of instruction in the school day or additional days of instruction to recover time lost due to late arrivals and early dismissals first. Any remaining minutes accrued may be used for instructional minutes or days lost, due to inclement weather or emergencies: Provided, That any reimagining student instructional days that are awarded to the county by the state board must be exhausted prior to using accrued minutes to cover lost instructional days.
(e) If it is not possible to
complete one hundred eighty separate instructional days with the current
school calendar, the county board shall schedule instruction on any available
noninstructional day, regardless of the purpose for which the day originally
was scheduled, or an out-of-calendar day and the day will be used for
instruction of students: Provided, That the provisions of this
subsection do not apply to:
(A) Holidays;
(B) Election day;
(C) Saturdays and Sundays.
(f) The instructional term shall commence and terminate on a date selected by the county board.
(g) The state board may not schedule the primary statewide assessment program more than thirty days prior to the end of the instructional year unless the state board determines that the nature of the test mandates an earlier testing date.
(h) The following applies to cocurricular activities:
(1) The state board shall determine what activities may be considered cocurricular;
(2) The state board shall determine the amount of instructional time that may be consumed by cocurricular activities; and
(3) Other requirements or restrictions the state board may provide in the rule required to be promulgated by this section.
(i) Extracurricular activities may not be used for instructional time.
(j) Noninstructional interruptions to the instructional day shall be minimized to allow the classroom teacher to teach.
(k) Prior to implementing the school calendar, the county board shall secure approval of its proposed calendar from the state board or, if so designated by the state board, from the state superintendent.
(l) In formulation of a school's calendar, a county school board shall hold at least two public meetings that allow parents, teachers, teacher organizations, businesses and other interested parties within the county to discuss the school calendar. The public notice of the date, time and place of the public hearing must be published in a local newspaper of general circulation in the area as a Class II legal advertisement, in accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter fifty-nine of this code.
(m) The county board may contract with all or part of the personnel for a longer term of employment.
(n) The minimum instructional term may be decreased by order of the state superintendent in any county declared a federal disaster area and where the event causing the declaration is substantially related to a reduction of instructional days.
(o) Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the contrary, the state board may grant a waiver to a county board for its noncompliance with provisions of chapter eighteen, eighteen-a, eighteen-b and eighteen-c of this code to maintain compliance in reaching the mandatory one hundred eighty separate instructional days established in this section.
(p) The state board shall promulgate a rule in accordance with the provisions of article three-b, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code for the purpose of implementing the provisions of this section.
(q) The amendments to this section during the 2013 regular session of the Legislature shall be effective for school years beginning on or after July 1, 2014, and the provisions of this section existing immediately prior to the 2013 regular session of the Legislature remain in effect for school years beginning prior to July 1, 2014
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to restructure the primary and secondary school instructional terms. The bill removes the word “separate” throughout the section as it relates to the number of instructional days in the school calendar. The bill requires that the instructional term for students begin no earlier than August 10 and end no later than June 10, except for schools operates on a balanced calendar. The bill removes preparation for opening and closing school from mandatory list of areas for which remaining noninstructional days may be designated by county school board. The bill designates one noninstructional day for teachers as a preparation day. The bill allows teacher preparation day to be used for other purposes only at teacher’s discretion. The bill increases number of two-hour blocks for faculty senate meetings from four to six. The bill removes requirement that faculty senate meetings be held once every forty-five days. The bill permits accrued minutes to be used for lost instructional days. The bill designates time frames within which faculty senate meetings may take place. The bill requires county boards to first use accrued minutes for early dismissals and late arrivals and requires that any reimagining student instructional days be exhausted prior to using accrued minutes for lost instructional days.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.
