H. B. 2973
(By Delegate Walters)
[Introduced March 19, 2013; referred to the
Committee on Education then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §18-5-45 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to allowing county boards of
education with low density student populations to operate
their schools on a four-day school week.
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, the following terms have the
following meanings:
(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 amounts of time provided by state board rule;
(B) Instructional time is used for instruction, cocurricular
activities and approved extracurricular activities and, pursuant to
the provisions of subdivision twelve, subsection (b), section five,
article five-a of this chapter, faculty senates; and
(C) Such other criteria as the state board determines
appropriate.
(2) "Accrued instructional time" means instructional time
accruing during the instructional term from time added to the
instructional day beyond the time required by state board rule for
an instructional day. Accrued instructional time may be
accumulated and used in larger blocks of time during the school
year for instructional or noninstructional activities as further
defined by the state board.
(3) "Extracurricular activities" are activities under the
supervision of the school such as athletics, noninstructional
assemblies, social programs, entertainment and other similar
activities as further defined by the state board.
(4) "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 traditionally has provided for one
hundred eighty actual days of instruction but numerous
circumstances have combined to cause the actual number of
instructional days to be less than one hundred eighty.
(4) The quality and amount of instruction offered during the
instructional term is affected by the extracurricular and
cocurricular activities allowed to occur during scheduled
instructional time.
(5) Within reasonable guidelines, the school calendar should
be designed at least to guarantee that one hundred eighty actual
days of instruction are possible.
(c) The county board shall provide a school term for its
schools that contains the following:
(1) An employment term for teachers of no less than two
hundred days, exclusive of Saturdays and Sundays; and
(2) Within the employment term, an instructional term for
students of no less than one hundred eighty separate instructional
days, which shall include an icy conditions and emergencies plan
designed to guarantee an instructional term for students of no less
than one hundred eighty separate instructional days.
(d) The instructional term for students shall include one
instructional day in each of the months of October, December,
February, April and June which is an instructional support and
enhancement day scheduled by the board to include both
instructional activities for students and professional activities
for teachers to improve student instruction. Instructional support
and enhancement days are subject to the following provisions:
(1) Two hours of the instructional support and enhancement day
shall be used for instructional activities for students. The
instructional activities for students are subject to the following
provisions:
(A) The instructional activities for students require the
direct supervision or involvement by teachers;
(B) The instructional activities for students shall be limited
to two hours;
(C) The instructional activities for students shall be
determined and scheduled at the local school level;
(D) The instructional activities for students may include, but
are not limited to, both in-school and outside of school activities
such as student mentoring, tutoring, counseling, student research
and other projects or activities of an instructional nature,
community service, career exploration, parent and teacher
conferences, visits to the homes of students, college and financial
aid workshops and college visits;
(E) To ensure that the students who attend are properly
supervised, the instructional activities for students shall be
arranged by appointment with the individual school through the
principal, a teacher or other professional personnel at the school;
and
(F) Each school shall establish a policy relating to the use
of the two-hour block scheduled for instructional activities for
students;
(2) The instructional support and enhancement day shall
include a two-hour block of time for professional activities for
teachers during which the faculty senate shall have the opportunity
to meet;
(3) All time remaining in the school day after meeting the
requirements of subdivisions (1) and (2) of this subsection, not
including the duty-free lunch period, shall be used for other
professional activities for teachers to improve student instruction
which may include, but are not limited to, professional staff
development, curriculum team meetings, individualized education
plan meetings and other meetings between teachers, principals,
aides and paraprofessionals to improve student instruction as
determined and scheduled at the local school level;
(4) Notwithstanding any other provision of law or policy to
the contrary, the presence of any specific number of students in
attendance at the school for any specific period of time shall not be required on instructional support and enhancement days and the
transportation of students to the school shall not be required;
(5) Instructional support and enhancement days are also a
scheduled work day for all service personnel and shall be used for
training or other tasks related to their job classification if
their normal duties are not required; and
(6) Nothing in this section may be construed to require that
the instructional activities for students, faculty senate meetings
and other professional activities for teachers be scheduled in any
certain order.
(e) The instructional term shall commence on a date selected
by the county board and terminate on a date selected by the county
board.
(f) Noninstructional days shall total twenty and shall be
comprised of the following:
(1) Seven holidays as specified in section two, article five,
chapter eighteen-a of this code;
(2) Election day as specified in section two, article five,
chapter eighteen-a of this code;
(3) Six days to be designated by the county board to be used
by the employees outside the school environment; and
(4) Six days to be designated by the county board for any of
the following purposes:
(A) Curriculum development;
(B) Preparation for opening and closing school;
(C) Professional development;
(D) Teacher-pupil-parent conferences;
(E) Professional meetings; and
(F) Making up days when instruction was scheduled but not
conducted.
(g) Three of the days described in subdivision (4), subsection
(f) of this section shall be scheduled prior to the commencement of
the instructional term for the purposes of preparing for the
opening of school and staff development.
(h) At least one of the days described in subdivision (4),
subsection (f) of this section shall be scheduled after the
termination of the instructional term for the purpose of preparing
for the closing of school.
(i) At least four of the days described in subdivision (3),
subsection (f) of this section shall be scheduled after March 1.
(j) At least two of the days described in subdivision (4),
subsection (f) of this section will be scheduled for professional
development. The professional development conducted on these days
will be consistent with the goals established by the state board
pursuant to the provisions of section twenty-three-a, article two
of this chapter.
(k) Subject to the provisions of subsection (h) of this
section, all noninstructional days will be scheduled prior to the termination of the instructional term.
(l) The state board may not schedule the primary statewide
assessment program prior to May 15 of the instructional year unless
the state board determines that the nature of the test mandates an
earlier testing date.
(m) If, on or after March 1, the county board determines that
it is not possible to complete one hundred eighty separate days of
instruction, the county board shall schedule instruction on any
available noninstructional day, regardless of the purpose for which
the day originally was scheduled, and the day will be used for
instruction, subject to the following:
(1) The noninstructional days scheduled for professional
development shall be the last available noninstructional days to be
rescheduled as instructional days;
(2) On or after March 1, the county board also may require
additional minutes of instruction in the school day to make up for
lost instructional days in excess of the days available through
rescheduling and, if in its judgment it is reasonable and necessary
to improve student performance, to avoid scheduling instruction on
noninstructional days previously scheduled for professional
development; and
(3) The provisions of this subsection do not apply to:
(1) Holidays; and
(2) Election day.
(n) The following applies to accrued instructional time:
(1) Except as provided in subsection (m) of this section,
accrued instructional time may not be used to avoid one hundred
eighty separate days of instruction;
(2) Accrued instructional time may not be used to lengthen the
time provided in law for faculty senates;
(3) The use of accrued instructional time for extracurricular
activities will be limited by the state board;
(4) Accrued instructional time may be used by schools and
counties to provide additional time for professional staff
development and continuing education as may be needed to improve
student performance and meet the requirements of the federal
mandates affecting elementary and secondary education. The amount
of accrued instructional time used for this purpose may not exceed
three instructional days; and
(5) Other requirements or restrictions the state board may
provide in the rule required to be promulgated by this section.
(o) 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.
(p) The following applies to extracurricular activities:
(1) Except as provided by subdivision (3) of this subsection,
extracurricular activities may not be scheduled during
instructional time;
(2) The use of accrued instructional time for extracurricular
activities will be limited by the state board; and
(3) The state board shall provide for the attendance by
students of certain activities sanctioned by the Secondary School
Activities Commission when those activities are related to
statewide tournaments or playoffs or are programs required for
Secondary School Activities Commission approval.
(q) Noninstructional interruptions to the instructional day
shall be minimized to allow the classroom teacher to teach.
(r) Nothing in this section prohibits establishing year-round
schools in accordance with rules to be established by the state
board.
(s) 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.
(t) The county board may contract with all or part of the
personnel for a longer term.
(u) 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.
(v) Where the employment term overlaps a teacher's or service
personnel's participation in a summer institute or institution of
higher education for the purpose of advancement or professional
growth, the teacher or service personnel may substitute, with the
approval of the county superintendent, the participation for up to
five of the noninstructional days of the employment term.
(w) 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.
(x) Notwithstanding any other provision in this code to the
contrary, beginning with school years starting after June 30, 2013,
county boards of education located in low density counties, as
defined in section one, article one, chapter eighteen may operate
their schools on the basis of a four-day school week so long as the
four-day school week meets the hourly equivalent of the minimum
instructional day requirements of this section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow county boards of
education in low density counties to operate their schools on a
four-day school week basis.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.