Chapter 18, Chapter 18

(a) No county board of education shall prohibit the use as an educational resource or teaching device any historical document related to the founding of the United States of America or any government publication solely because the document contains a religious reference or refere…

No public school board, school superintendent, or school principal may prohibit a public school classroom teacher from responding to student inquiries or answering questions from students about scientific theories of how the universe and/or life came to exist.

(a) Each county shall develop a county-wide council on productive and safe schools, which shall be comprised of the following members: (1) The county superintendent, who shall serve as the chair of the county-wide council on productive and safe schools; (2) One representative fro…

(a) For the purposes of this section, an "early childhood education program" means a program created under this section for children who have attained the age of four prior to September 1 of the school year in which the children enter the program. (b) For the purposes of this sec…

(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 number of minutes as follows: (i) For early childhood programs as provided in subsect…

(a) Legislative findings. — (1) The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals held, in Jefferson County Bd. of Educ. v. Jefferson County Educ. Ass’n, 183 W.Va. 15 (1990), that “[p]ublic employees have no right to strike in the absence of express legislation or, at the very least, ap…

(a) No teacher may be required by a principal or any other person to change a student’s grade on either an individual assignment or a report card unless there is clear and convincing evidence that there was a mathematical error in calculating the student’s grade. (b) The teacher’…

(a) Each county board shall maintain flood insurance on each insurable building that it owns and that meets one or both of the following requirements: (1) The building is within the identified special flood hazard area which is the area on a flood hazard boundary map or a flood i…

(a) Each county board of education, public charter school, and multicounty vocational center shall annually assess the safety and security of each of the school facilities for which they are responsible. Safety and security measures of each facility shall be upgraded when necessa…

Each county board may by policy establish an exceptional needs fund from surpluses for students who are likely to perform better outside of the public school setting. The policy may include: (1) Allowing the county board to use excess funds or donated funds for expenditures relat…

The county board of education shall be a corporation by the name of "The Board of Education of the county of ..........," and as such may sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, contract and be contracted with. It shall succeed and be subrogated to all the rights of former magis…

(a) An eligible student enrolled in a virtual instruction program shall: (1) Be counted in the net enrollment of the school district in which the student resides for the purposes of calculating and receiving state aid; (2) Be subject to the same state assessment requirements as o…

An Innovation in Education school designated by the state board may not commence or continue operations without a signed operational agreement between the county board and the school principal which sets forth at least the following: (1) Any conditions which must be met before th…

(a) There is established at every public school in this state a faculty senate which is comprised of all permanent, full-time professional educators employed at the school who shall all be voting members. "Professional educators", as used in this section, means "professional educ…

(a) The state board shall promulgate a rule pursuant to the provisions of §29A-3B-1 et seq. of this code setting forth requirements for public charter school funding. The rule shall include a requirement that 99 percent of the per pupil total basic foundation allowance follow the…

(a) The Legislature finds and determines that: (1) In West Virginia, one in four children suffer from food insecurity; however, every day each school has a large percentage of food that is left uneaten and thrown away, and in many cases this food can be reused; (2) A new initiati…

Nothing in this article shall preclude a county school board from operating an office or position operating with the sole and exclusive mission of ensuring legal compliance under Title IX of the federal Education Amendments Act of 1972, 20 U.S.C. §1681 et seq., as amended, the fe…

There is hereby created in the State Treasury a special revenue fund designated and known as the Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Instruction Fund which is an interest- and earnings-accumulating account. The fund is established to support cardiopulmonary instruction for public high …

(a) Local school boards, public charter schools, and private or religious schools may employ school safety officers, as defined in §15-2D-3, or contract with private security services as set forth in §18-5-53 for the purposes set forth therein. (b) School safety officers may carr…

(a) Purpose. — County boards of education, public charter schools, and private or religious schools may contract with a private security guard firm licensed pursuant to the provisions of §30-18-1 et seq. of this code to provide the services of a school safety officer as set forth…

(a) Purpose. — County boards of education may contract with an independent contractor who is a former state trooper, former deputy sheriff, former state fire marshal, former Department of Natural Resources police officer, former municipal police officer, or former federal law-enf…

(a) Each authorizing authority is responsible for exercising in accordance with this article the following powers and duties with respect to the oversight and authorization of public charter schools: (1) Demonstrate public accountability and transparency in all matters concerning…

The county board shall have title to any land or school site which for five years has been in the undisputed possession of the county board or any Board of Education of a magisterial district, or subdistrict, or independent district, and to which title cannot be shown by any othe…

(a) During its third full year of operation the county superintendent shall issue a performance report on the Innovation in Education school. The performance report shall summarize the school’s performance record to date based on the data collected under school’s Innovation in Ed…

(a) The Legislature finds and declares that: (1) The Feed to Achieve initiative has successfully improved the availability and awareness for the need to provide nutritious food to state students and the Shared Table Initiative has facilitated a spirit of innovation and consciousn…

(a) There shall be established at each school in the state a school curriculum team composed of the school principal, the counselor designated to serve that school and no fewer than three teachers representative of the grades taught at the school and chosen by the faculty senate:…

(a) Except as set forth in subsection (b) of this section, if at any time a county board determines that any building or any land is no longer needed for school purposes, the county board may sell, dismantle, remove or relocate the building and sell the land on which it is locate…

(a) (1) To ensure compliance with this article, a public charter school shall be administered by a governing board accountable to the authorizer as set forth in the charter contract, except in the case of a conversion public charter school authorized by a public school of this st…

There is hereby created in the State Treasury a special revenue fund to be known as the "Innovation in Education Fund." The fund shall consist of all moneys received from whatever source to further the purpose of this article. The fund shall be administered by the state board sol…

(a) If at any time the board ascertains that any land or part thereof then being used for school purposes is to be included in any federal flood control project the board may: (1) Sell, dismantle, remove or relocate any buildings thereon; (2) Contract with the United States of Am…

If, in the sound judgment of the board, the needs of the community require the use of property not needed for school purposes, for charitable, economic development or other community use, notwithstanding the provisions of section seven of this article, the board may convey by dee…

The board shall purchase by condemnation or otherwise, the land necessary for school buildings, playgrounds, athletic fields, experiments in agriculture, warehouses, bus garages, and other educational purposes, and may make necessary expenditures for the improvement of the land. …

(a) To establish a new public charter school, to convert an existing noncharter public school to a public charter school or establish a program conversion public charter school, an applicant shall submit a charter application to an authorizer. The West Virginia Professional Chart…

(a) The Legislature finds that when instruction is delivered to a class of students at a uniform pace, some students accumulate knowledge and skill deficits as they progress through the curriculum which, particularly in the STEM areas, limit their ability to be successful at high…

The board shall provide: (1) By purchase, lease, building or otherwise, a sufficient number of suitable schoolhouses and other buildings to meet the educational needs of its district; (2) The necessary furniture, fixtures, apparatus, fuel and all necessary supplies for the school…

(a) Within 90 days of the approval of a charter application, the governing board and the authorizer shall negotiate and enter into a charter contract, which may incorporate and be consistent with the approved application. Alternatively, the parties may agree to also have part or …

(a) For the purposes of this section: (1) "Energy-conservation measures" means goods or services, or both, to reduce energy consumption operating costs of school facilities. These include, but are not limited to, installation of two or more of the following: (A) Insulation of a b…

By August 15, 1995, the board shall implement the integrated pest management program promulgated under rules by the Department of Agriculture under authority of section four, article sixteen-a, chapter nineteen of this code.

The purpose of this article is to ensure that every secondary school pupil has the opportunity, at or about the time he or she reaches licensing age, to enroll in a course of driver education designed to train him or her to drive skillfully and safely under all traffic and roadwa…

(a) There shall be offered in all public secondary schools within the state, without charge to students, an approved, comprehensive course in driver education. The course may be offered in summer school in addition to the regular instructional term.(b) In those counties where suf…

(a) The state Board of Education shall establish minimum standards for all driver education courses offered and made available to persons within the state, regardless of whether the courses are offered by public, private, parochial, denominational or commercial schools, but no pe…

In accordance with article three-b, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, the state board shall, with the advice of the State Superintendent and the Superintendent of the State Police, adopt rules governing the establishment, conduct and scope of driver education for use in the pub…

The State Superintendent shall promote and direct the establishment and maintenance of courses of instruction in driver education in secondary schools in accordance with the provisions of this article and the rules that the state board adopts pursuant to section four of this arti…

County boards of education, subject to the rules and regulations of the state board, may expend school funds to maintain and repair vehicles used for instructional purposes, to purchase fuel, lubricants, parts and accessories therefor, to pay the compensation of teachers or instr…

County boards of education shall procure or require automobile liability insurance in the amount the state board shall prescribe covering motor vehicles owned or operated for driver education courses. The board having control of the financial and business affairs of any other sta…

Before any pupil graduates from a secondary school, he or she shall first be provided an opportunity and encouraged to successfully complete a driver education course approved by the state board in a public, private or parochial secondary school within the state. If a pupil has s…

A retirement system to be known as the "state Teachers Retirement System" is hereby established for the purpose of providing retirement allowances for the teachers of West Virginia.

(a) The Legislature hereby finds and declares as follows: (1) That the quality of this state's education system is largely dependent upon the quality of its teachers and educational service personnel; (2) That many West Virginia teachers and education service personnel who curren…

This article shall be known and may be cited as the "Teacher's Retirement Reform Act".

Each participating employer shall annually make a contribution equal to seven and one-half percent of each member's gross compensation. The pro rata share of this amount shall be paid upon each date that a member contribution is made and shall be remitted as provided for in secti…