ENROLLED
Senate Bill No. 2006
(By Senators Tomblin (Mr. President) and Hall,
By Request of the Executive)
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[Passed July 21, 2010; in effect from passage.]
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AN ACT to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §18-2-38; and to
amend said code by adding thereto a new article, designated
§18-5C-1, §18-5C-2 and §18-5C-3, all relating to school teams
and school committees; making legislative findings; requiring
state board study; establishing purposes; requiring school
application to create or augment collaborative teams by
replacing certain school committees; providing that certain
committees may not be reorganized; establishing certain
authority not superceded; establishing contents of
application; establishing local level approval process;
providing for appeals of applications not approved by county;
requiring state board approval; providing state board
authority to waive certain state board rules; authorizing
school to institute plan; and requiring state board
legislative rules by certain date.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated §18-2-38; and that said
code be amended by adding thereto a new article, designated
§18-5C-1, §18-5C-2 and §18-5C-3, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION.
§18-2-38. School committees and school teams; legislative
findings; state board study.
(a) Legislative findings. --
(1) The Legislature finds that the ultimate purpose of public
education is to create the best possible environment to foster the
teaching and learning process and that this purpose is best
accomplished when professional educators are involved in direct
interaction with students.
(2) The Legislature finds further that a number of school
committees and school teams have been created over the years, both
by state board rule and by state statute, designed to meet the
needs of a specific time or place and that these committees and
teams sometimes linger long after the specific purpose or need that
created them has passed. The time and paperwork required to keep
these committees and teams functioning may create a burden for
school personnel in certain circumstances.
(3) The Legislature finds further that a thorough study is
needed to determine the feasibility, effectiveness and necessity of
each of these committees and teams in relation to one another and to the needs of the students and schools they are intended to
serve.
(b) State board study. --
(1) Therefore, in view of the findings in subsection (a) of
this section, it is the intent of the Legislature that the state
board undertake a study of each school committee or school team
created by statute or by state board rule and determine its
organizational goals, effectiveness in meeting those goals, and
viability in relation to the demands of time and paperwork it
places on principals, teachers and other school personnel. The
study further shall consider alternative ways that the goals of
these teams and committees may be met to involve stakeholders in
the education process while reducing the time demands and the
paperwork burden they place on school personnel.
(2) The state board shall report its study findings and
recommendations, together with draft legislation to implement the
recommendations, to the Legislative Oversight Commission on
Education Accountability and the Joint Standing Committee on
Education by November 1, 2010.
ARTICLE 5C. COMMITTEE REORGANIZATION AND COLLABORATIVE TEAM
WAIVERS.
§18-5C-1. Purpose.
The purposes of this article are as follows:
(1) To facilitate and encourage teacher collaboration by
empowering schools to create alternative decision-making processes that address school and classroom improvement. The intent is to
authorize reorganization or consolidation of certain school
committees and teams required by state board rules, including the
Strategic Planning Committee, the Technology Team and the School
Support Team; and
(2) To recognize that schools in this state differ greatly in
enrollment, grade configuration, demographics and student needs and
to provide teachers and principals with flexibility to determine
the types of committees and teams that are needed to move the
school forward.
§18-5C-2. Application to create or augment existing collaborative
teams; contents and approval of application; grant of
rule waivers for certain school-level committees
required by state board rule.
(a) Request for reorganization. -- A school may submit an
application to the state board to create collaborative teams that
replace, or to augment its existing collaborative teams by
replacing, any or all of the following school-level committees
required by state board rule: The Strategic Planning Committee, the
Technology Team and the School Support Team. Reorganization under
this article may not replace the Local School Improvement Council,
the School Curriculum Team, the Student Assistance Team or the
Faculty Senate. Reorganization under this article does not
supercede the authorization of the faculty senate with approval of
the principal to form a collaborative team as an alternative to the school curriculum team pursuant to section six, article five-a of
this chapter.
(b) Contents of application. -- The application shall
include:
(1) A description of the collaborative teams, which shall
address all of the following:
(A) An emphasis on teacher collaboration and leadership;
(B) School and classroom effectiveness;
(C) Involvement and support of stakeholders; and
(D) A coherent learner-focused improvement plan;
(2) A list of the school-level committees that will be
replaced by the collaborative teams, an explanation of how the
existing membership of the committees replaced will have
representation in the reorganization, and how the roles,
responsibilities and tasks of the committees replaced will be
instituted in the reorganization;
(3) Evidence that the employees and stakeholders who are
involved in restructured collaborative teams have, or will enter
into, a process of professional learning that develops the
necessary knowledge and skills to enhance learner-focused
collaboration; and
(4) Evidence that employees and stakeholders have researched
viable improvement structures and processes and have proposed an
effective structure that addresses the particular needs of the
school, its students and employees.
(c) Local-level approval. -- Before submitting the waiver
application to the state board, a school shall take the following
steps:
(1) Present to the faculty senate a detailed explanation of
the proposed structure, roles and responsibilities addressed by the
reorganization plan;
(2) Provide for the chair of the faculty senate to conduct a
vote by secret ballot on the issues addressed in the reorganization
plan;
(3) Obtain a favorable vote for the reorganization plan from
at least eighty percent of the faculty senate members present and
voting after a quorum is established.
(4) Present to the local school improvement council a detailed
explanation of the proposed structure, roles and responsibilities
addressed by the reorganization plan;
(5) If the faculty senate vote is favorable and if it meets
the percentage threshold established in subdivision (3) of this
subsection, within one week of the vote taken by the faculty
senate, provide for the chair of the council to conduct a vote on
the issues addressed in the reorganization.
(6) Obtain a favorable vote for the reorganization plan from
at least eighty percent of the local school improvement council
members present and voting after a quorum is established; and
(7) Obtain approval for the reorganization plan from the
county superintendent and the county board.
(d) State board approval. -- After meeting the requirements
of subsection (c) of this section, the school shall submit its
application to the state board. After review of the waiver
application, the state board may approve the waiver of rules
requiring the Strategic Planning Committee, the Technology Team or
the School Support Team. After the state board has reviewed and
approved a school's reorganization plan, the school may institute
the plan as presented in its application.
§18-5C-3. Rulemaking.
By October 1, 2010, the state board shall promulgate a
legislative rule in accordance with article three-b, chapter
twenty-nine-a of this code to implement the provisions of this
article
.
The rule shall include a process for schools to appeal to
the state board for approval of an application under this article
for which approval has been denied by the county superintendent or
county board, or both.