Bill Text: WV HB4389 | 2022 | Regular Session | Comm Sub
Bill Title: Relating to repealing school innovation zones provisions superseded by Innovation in Education Act
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 7-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2022-03-12 - Communicated to House [HB4389 Detail]
Download: West_Virginia-2022-HB4389-Comm_Sub.html
WEST virginia legislature
2022 regular session
Committee Substitute
for
House Bill 4389
By Delegates Ellington, Toney, Longanacre, Tully, Horst, Jennings and Maynor
[Originating in the Committee on Education; February 3, 2022]
A BILL to repeal §18-5B-1, §18-5B-2, §18-5B-3, §18-5B-4, §18-5B-5, §18-5B-6, §18-5B-7, §18-5B-8, §18-5B-9, §18-5B-11, §18-5B-12, §18-5B-13 and §18-5B-14 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended; to amend and reenact §18-5B-10 of said code; and to amend and reenact §18-5E-3 of said code, all relating to repealing school innovation zones provisions superseded by Innovation in Education Act; updating exceptions to statutes granted to schools to reflect changes in underlying circumstances; updating provisions related to granted exceptions to accommodate exceptions which may be granted to innovation in education schools and school systems; and clarifying process for state board and legislative oversight commission on education accountability to approve and recommend exceptions to statutes.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
Article 5B. School
innovation zones act EXCEPTIONS TO STATutES for schools and school systems
to implement Innovative alternatives.
§18-5B-1. Title.
[Repealed.]
§18-5B-2. Legislative findings and purpose.
[Repealed.]
§18-5B-3. School innovation zones; application for designation; state board rule.
[Repealed.]
§18-5B-4. Innovation zones; required plans; plan approval; state board rule.
[Repealed.]
§18-5B-5. Approval of innovation zone plans; waiver of statutes, policies, rules or interpretations.
[Repealed.]
§18-5B-6. Employee approval of innovation plan application and plan; transfer of employees.
[Repealed.]
§18-5B-7. Progress reviews and annual reports.
[Repealed.]
§18-5B-8. Teacher vacancies in an innovation zone; job postings exceeding certain qualifications and requirements; approval of postings.
[Repealed.]
§18-5B-9. Establishment of new innovation zone schools by state institutions of higher education.
[Repealed.]
§18-5B-10. Exceptions to statutes granted to
innovation zones for schools and school districts to implement
innovative alternatives; limitations.
(a) The Legislature hereby
grants an exception to the statute or statutes indicated for the following
schools and school districts pursuant to and for the purposes enumerated
in their innovation zone plans or innovation in education plans approved
by the state board at its meeting on the date specified. The grant of an
exception to a statute means that the school or schools granted the exception
may implement the actions as specifically described in their approved innovation
zone plan notwithstanding the provisions of this code from which they are
specifically excepted. These exceptions are limited to the purposes as
specifically described in the plan approved on the date indicated and are
expressly repealed for any plan modification or plan implementation which
changes those purposes. However, nothing in this section prohibits a school or
schools with an approved innovation zone or innovation in education plan
from requesting plan modifications, subject to approval of the state board, and
if the modifications change the purposes for which an exception to a statute
was granted, the state board shall request an exception to achieve the new
purposes in the manner provided in section five of this article or
requesting exceptions to a statute §18-5E-1 et seq. of this code.
If the approved innovation zone or innovation in education plan of a
school or schools is withdrawn by the state board, or the innovation zone or
innovation in education designation of a school or schools is revoked by
the state board, the exception granted to that school or those schools is
expressly repealed.
(b) The following exceptions are granted:
(1) Piedmont Elementary
School, Kanawha County, is excepted from §18A-4-14(b)
of this code for the purpose of allowing specialist teachers to take their
planning period before and after school totaling one hour, three days per week,
and from §18-5-18a of this chapter code for the purpose of
permitting a number of students in music and physical education classes in
excess of the class size limits to provide the time and structure for teams to
meet in professional learning communities, which purposes are as more
specifically described in the school’s innovation zone plan approved by the
state board on January 13, 2010;
(2) Putnam County High
Schools Consortium comprised of Buffalo High School, Hurricane High School,
Poca High School, Winfield High School and Putnam Career and Technical Center,
Putnam County, is excepted from §18-5-45 of this chapter code
only to the extent necessary for the purpose of establishing a structured
transition program for freshman freshmen only one day prior to
the beginning of the regular instructional term, and for the purpose of
permitting the creation of not more than three hours each month during the
school term of structured, regularly scheduled time for all teachers to work in
professional learning communities, which purposes are as more specifically
described in the schools’ innovation zone plan approved by the state board on
January 13, 2010;
(3) Nellis Elementary
School, Boone County, is excepted from subsection (a), section two, article
five-a of this chapter, for the purpose of expanding the membership of its
local school improvement council, which purpose is as more specifically described
in the school’s innovation zone plan approved by the state board on January 13,
2010
(4) (3) Cabell County Secondary School Consortium
comprised of Cabell County Career Technical Center, Cabell Midland High School
and Huntington High School, Cabell County, is excepted from §18-8-1 and
§18-8-1a of this chapter code for the purpose of raising the
compulsory school attendance age to 18 years old, and from section two-b,
article three, chapter eighteen-a of this code for the purpose of providing a
customized high quality beginning teacher induction program developed at the
county level, which purposes are as purpose is more
specifically described in the schools’ innovation zone plan approved by the
state board on January 13, 2010;
(5) (4) Clay County Schools is excepted from §18-5-15
of this chapter code for the purpose of allowing persons over the
age of 21 years to enroll without charge of fees in the Clay County Schools “iREAD”
program and upon, successful completion, be awarded a Clay County High School
Diploma, which purposes are more specifically described in the Clay County School’s
Schools’ innovation zone plan approved by the state board on January 12,
2011. The grant of this exception does not abrogate the authority of the state
board to determine the minimum standards for granting diplomas pursuant to
§18-2-6 of this chapter code and does not permit persons over the
age of 21 who reenter the public schools to be included in net enrollment for
the purposes of funding pursuant to §18-9A-1 et seq. of this chapter
code, except as otherwise provided by law;
(6) (5) Monroe County Schools is excepted from
§18-8-1a(a)(3) of this chapter code for the purpose of allowing
the school district to increase the compulsory school attendance age from 17
years of age to 18 years of age as part of its county-wide dropout prevention
initiative as more specifically described in the Monroe County School’s Schools’
Local Solutions Dropout Prevention and Recovery Innovation Zone plan approved
by the state board on November 14, 2012; and
(7) (6) Nicholas County Schools is excepted from sections
§§18-8-4, -8 and -11 of this chapter code only to the
extent necessary to permit up to two unexcused absences per semester on regular
instructional days to be erased from a student’s attendance record and not used
toward the initiation of the attendance enforcement actions as set forth in
those sections, if the student successfully completes the county’s Saturday
instruction program operated as part of the county’s county-wide Attendance
Recovery dropout prevention initiative as more specifically described in the
Nicholas County School’s Schools’ Local Solutions Dropout Prevention
and Recovery Innovation Zone plan approved by the state board on October 3,
2012.
§18-5B-11. Local Solution Dropout Prevention and Recovery Innovation Zone Act.
[Repealed.]
§18-5B-12. School system collaborative innovation zone; requirements to qualify; application for designation; required plans for innovation zones; plan approval; waiver of statutes, policies, rules or interpretations; progress reviews and annual reports; teacher vacancies, job postings and approval.
[Repealed.]
§18-5B-13. Innovation school district Act; legislative findings, intent and purpose; eligibility; application; innovation plan and plan approval; designation; waiver of statutes, policies, rules or interpretations; exceptions; progress reviews and annual reports; state board rule.
[Repealed.]
§18-5B-14. Termination of funding for School Innovation Zones and Local Solution Dropout Prevention and Recovery Innovation Zones.
[Repealed.]
Article 5e. Innovation in Education Act.
§18-5E-3. Application for Innovation in Education school designation; application review and approval; state board rule.
(a) The state board may designate a school as a STEM, community school partnership, entrepreneurship, career pathways or the arts Innovation in Education school in accordance with this article and shall promulgate a rule, including an emergency rule if necessary, in accordance with §29A-3b-1 et seq. of this code to implement the provisions of this article. The rule shall include at least the following:
(1) A process for a school to apply for designation as an Innovation in Education school in STEM, community school partnership, entrepreneurship, career pathways or the arts;
(2) Clear and concise application evaluation factors in rubric form, including standards for the state board to review and make a determination of whether to designate an applicant as an Innovation in Education school;
(3) The manner, time and process for application submission;
(4) The form and necessary contents of the application, including but not limited to, the following:
(A) The proposed mission and vision of the school as it pertains to becoming an Innovation in Education school, including identification of the designation it seeks to obtain as a primary focus on which may include: (i) Science, technology, engineering and math (STEM); (ii) community school partnership; (iii) entrepreneurship; (iv) career pathways; or (v) the arts;
(B) An executive summary;
(C) The school’s proposed academic program, including a description of the school’s instructional design, learning environment, class structure, curriculum overview, teaching methods, research basis and other elements required in the school’s Innovation in Education plan pursuant to section four of this article;
(D) A clear articulation of the areas of autonomy and flexibility in curriculum, budget, school schedule and calendar, professional development, and staffing policies and procedures which would require a waiver of policy or code; and
(E) The school’s Innovation in Education plan; and
(7)(5) Following
the initial evaluation of Innovation in Education schools as provided in section
six of this article, the process by which the state board will periodically
review the performance and student success of Innovation in Education schools,
reaffirm or reconsider the designation of a school, and identify exemplary
schools to serve as demonstration sites.
(b) The state board may provide for the West Virginia Department of Education to independently assess applicants based on the evaluation factors rubric and provide the state board with this assessment. The state board shall consider the evaluation factors in rubric form in making any Innovation in Education school designation determination. In making a designation determination, the state board shall:
(1) Grant a designation only to applicants who have demonstrated competence in each element of the evaluation factors and who have demonstrated their capacity to operate an Innovation in Education school that will increase student achievement;
(2) Base determinations on documented evidence collected through the application review process;
(3) If appropriate, include in a designation determination reasonable conditions that the applicant must meet before commencing operation under the designation, including resubmission of the application;
(4) Decline weak or inadequate applications and clearly state its reasons for denial;
(5) Make and announce all designations of Innovation in Education schools in a meeting open to the public and clearly state in a resolution the reasons for the decisions. A copy of the resolution shall be submitted to Legislative Oversight Commission on Education Accountability; and
(6) Convey its determination on an application in writing to the applicant.
(c) If the state board approves an Innovation in Education designation which requires the waiver of a state statute, the state board shall forward the approved application to the Legislative Oversight Commission on Education Accountability. The commission shall acknowledge receipt of the application promptly and in consultation with the state board or its agents determine whether a recommendation should be made for an Act of the Legislature to waive the statute to permit implementation of the Innovation In Education.
(c) (d) An Innovation in Education school may not
commence or continue operations without a signed operational agreement as
provided in section five of this article between the county board and the
school principal.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to remove School Innovation Zones Act provisions that were superseded by enactment of the Innovation In Education Act in 2016. The bill also updates exceptions to statutes that were previously granted to schools to reflect changes in underlying circumstances. This section is also updated to accommodate exceptions which may be granted to Innovation in Education schools and school systems and the process for the state board and LOCEA to recommend exceptions to statutes is clarified.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.
