Source: http://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=SB1%20SUB2.htm&yr=2019&sesstype=RS&i=1
Timestamp: 2019-04-21 12:03:50+00:00

Document:
A BILL to amend and reenact §18-2-6 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended; to amend said code by adding thereto a new section, designated §18-2E-11; to amend and reenact §18-9A-2 of said code; and to amend said code by adding thereto a new article, designated §18C-9-1, §18C-9-2, §18C-9-3, §18C-9-4, §18C-9-5, and §18C-9-6, all relating generally to increasing access to career education and workforce training; establishing Advanced Career Education (ACE) programs and pathways; providing that certain individuals who have completed a secondary education program in a public, private, or home school shall be considered adults enrolled in regular secondary programs for funding purposes; requiring community and technical colleges establish partnerships with career technical education centers, county boards of education, or both that provide for ACE programs; providing requirements for ACE programs and pathways; requiring the Board of Education and the West Virginia Council for Community and Technical College Education promulgate joint guidelines; requiring the Division of Vocational Education and the council maintain and annually report certain information; providing that community and technical colleges and career technical education centers shall participate in one or more ACE partnerships in order to receive certain funding; establishing the WV Invests Grant Program; defining terms; authorizing the council to award WV Invests Grants under certain terms and conditions; requiring the council to report certain information on the WV Invests Grant Program; requiring the council to propose legislative rules; providing eligibility and renewal requirements for a WV Invests Grant; requiring applicants enter into certain agreements; and establishing the WV Invests Fund.
§18-2-6. Classification and standardization of schools; standards for degrees and diplomas; certificates of proficiency; establishment of alternative education programs.
(a) The state board shall promulgate rules for the accreditation, classification, and standardization of all schools in the state, except institutions of higher education, and shall determine the minimum standards for granting diplomas, advanced certifications, and certificates of proficiency by those schools.
(1) The certificates of proficiency shall include specific information regarding the graduate’s skills, competence, and readiness for employment, or honors and advanced education and shall be granted, along with the diploma, to every eligible high school graduate.
(2) The certificate of proficiency shall include the program of study major completed by the student only for those students who have completed the required major courses, or higher level courses, advanced placement courses, college courses, or other more rigorous substitutes related to the major, and the recommended electives.
(3) Students who have completed a secondary education program in a public, private, or home school and have continued to be enrolled in a program leading to an advanced certification or an advanced career education program shall be considered adults enrolled in regular secondary programs in accordance with §18-9A-2(i) of this code: Provided, That the State Superintendent of Schools, the Chancellor for the Council for Community and Technical College Education, and the Secretary of the Department of Commerce may designate additional programs that provide valuable workplace credentials and students enrolled in such programs shall also be considered adults enrolled in regular secondary programs in accordance with §18-9A-2(i) of this code.
(b) An institution of less than collegiate or university status may not grant any diploma or certificate of proficiency on any basis of work or merit below the minimum standards prescribed by the state board.
(c) A charter or other instrument containing the right to issue diplomas or certificates of proficiency may not be granted by the State of West Virginia to any institution or other associations or organizations of less than collegiate or university status within the state until the condition of granting or issuing the diplomas or other certificates of proficiency has first been approved in writing by the state board.
(d) The state board shall promulgate a rule for the approval of alternative education programs for disruptive students who are at risk of not succeeding in the traditional school structure.
(1) This rule may provide for the waiver of other policies of the state board, the establishment and delivery of a nontraditional curriculum, the establishment of licensure requirements for alternative education program teachers, and the establishment of performance measures for school accreditation.
(2) This rule shall provide uniform definitions of disruptive student behavior and uniform standards for the placement of students in alternative settings or providing other interventions including referrals to local juvenile courts to correct student behavior so that they can return to a regular classroom without engaging in further disruptive behavior.
(e) The state board shall establish up to five pilot projects at the elementary or middle school levels, or both, that employ alternative schools or other placements for disruptive students to learn appropriate behaviors so they can return to the regular classroom without further disrupting the learning environment. The state board shall report to the Legislative Oversight Commission on Education Accountability by December 1, 2010, on its progress in establishing the pilot projects and by December 1 in each year after that for the duration of the pilot projects on the effect of the projects on maintaining student discipline.
(3) If the waiver is granted, notwithstanding the provisions of §18-2-6(f)(1) of this code, the student graduating or passing the General Educational Development high school equivalency tests within five years shall be considered graduated.
(6) Payment of tuition by a county board to the Mountaineer Challenge Academy for each student graduating from the academy with a high school diploma that resides in that county board’s school district. For purposes of this subdivision, “tuition” means an amount equal to 75 percent of the amount allotted per pupil under the school aid formula.
(h) Nothing in this section or the rules promulgated under this section compels the Mountaineer Challenge Academy to be operated as a special alternative education program or to be subject to any other laws governing the public schools except by its consent.
(F) In fragile homes, a child who is at risk and is becoming a discouraged and defeated learner often lacks adequate support and may develop peer relationships that further exacerbate the difficulty of reengaging him or her in learning, school, and responsible social behavior.
(2) The Legislature further finds that the public schools should not be deterred from seeking and assisting with enrollment of students in an alternative program that helps remedy the discouragement, lessens skill deficits, and facilitates a successful return to public school.
(7) The parents or legal guardian of the student make application for enrollment of the student in the alternative program, agree to the terms and conditions for enrollment, and enroll the student in the program.
(4) West Virginia’s economic prosperity is directly tied to the level and quality of its workforce career education. Providing the students of this state with increased access to career education will not only improve the general well-being of its citizens, but greatly enhance the economic prosperity of the state.
(2) Provide more opportunities for secondary students to earn post-secondary college credits, certifications, and associate degrees.
(c) To effectuate the purposes set forth in §18-2E-11(b) of this code, the community and technical colleges and the career technical education centers, county boards of education, or both in this state shall establish partnerships that provide for ACE programs which feature defined pathways that begin when a student is in secondary education and that ultimately lead to associate degrees awarded by community and technical colleges and advanced certifications. ACE programs shall be equally available to public, nonpublic, and homeschool students.
(d) ACE programs shall include pathways that consist of a curriculum of courses leading to advanced certifications or an associate degree that have been deemed to satisfy a workforce need as determined by the Department of Commerce. The Department of Commerce shall, on occasion, but at least annually, provide written notification to the State Board of Education and the West Virginia Council for Community and Technical College Education a determination of areas of workforce need within the state.
(5) Ensure that course requirements within ACE pathways are not duplicated.
(5) Any other provisions necessary to effectuate the purposes of this section.
(3) The nature and number of degrees and certifications awarded to students participating in ACE programs by each community and technical college and career technical education center.
(a) “State board” means the West Virginia Board of Education.
(b) “County board” or “board” means a county board of education.
(c) “Professional salaries” means the state legally mandated salaries of the professional educators as provided in §18A-4-1 et seq. of this code.
(d) “Professional educator” shall be synonymous with and shall have the same meaning as “teacher” as defined in §18-1-1 of this code, and includes technology integration specialists.
(e) “Professional instructional personnel” means a professional educator whose regular duty is as that of a classroom teacher, librarian, attendance director, or school psychologist. A professional educator having both instructional and administrative or other duties shall be included as professional instructional personnel for that ratio of the school day for which he or she is assigned and serves on a regular full-time basis in appropriate instruction, library, attendance, or psychologist duties.
(f) “Professional student support personnel” means a “teacher” as defined in §18-1-1 of this code who is assigned and serves on a regular full-time basis as a counselor or as a school nurse with a bachelor’s degree and who is licensed by the West Virginia Board of Examiners for Registered Professional Nurses. For all purposes except for the determination of the allowance for professional educators pursuant to §18-9A-4 of this code, professional student support personnel are professional educators.
(g) “Service personnel salaries” means the state legally mandated salaries for service personnel as provided in §18A-4-8a of this code.
(h) “Service personnel” means all personnel as provided in §18A-4-8 of this code. For the purpose of computations under this article of ratios of service personnel to net enrollment, a service employee shall be counted as that number found by dividing his or her number of employment days in a fiscal year by 200: Provided, That the computation for any service person employed for three and one-half hours or fewer per day as provided in §18A-4-8a of this code shall be calculated as one-half an employment day.
(j) “Sparse-density county” means a county whose ratio of net enrollment, excluding any increase in the net enrollment of counties, pursuant to §18-9A-2(i)(5) of this code, of the definition of “net enrollment”, to the square miles of the county is less than five.
(k) “Low-density county” means a county whose ratio of net enrollment, excluding any increase in the net enrollment of counties, pursuant to §18-9A-2(i)(5) of this code, of the definition of “net enrollment”, to the square miles of the county is equal to or greater than five but less than 10.
(l) “Medium-density county” means a county whose ratio of net enrollment, excluding any increase in the net enrollment of counties, pursuant to §18-9A-2(i)(5) of this code, of the definition of “net enrollment”, to the square miles of the county is equal to or greater than 10 but less than 20.
(m) “High-density county” means a county whose ratio of net enrollment, excluding any increase in the net enrollment of counties, pursuant to §18-9A-2(i)(5) of this code, of the definition of “net enrollment”, to the square miles of the county is equal to or greater than 20.
(n) “Levies for general current expense purposes” means 90 percent of the levy rate for county boards of education calculated or set by the Legislature pursuant to §11-8-6f of this code.
(o) “Technology integration specialist” means a professional educator who has expertise in the technology field and is assigned as a resource teacher to provide information and guidance to classroom teachers on the integration of technology into the curriculum.
(p) “State aid eligible personnel” means all professional educators and service personnel employed by a county board in positions that are eligible to be funded under this article and whose salaries are not funded by a specific funding source such as a federal or state grant, donation, contribution, or other specific funding source not listed.
CHAPTER 18C. STUDENT LOANS; SCHOLARSHIPS AND STATE AID.
ARTICLE 9. WEST VIRGINIA INVESTs GRANT PROGRAM.
This article shall be known and may be cited as the WV Invests Grant Program.
§18C-9-2. Legislative findings and purpose.
(6) An investment by the state into increasing access to post-secondary career education will provide its citizens the hope and opportunity for better career opportunities, and provide the state with the trained workforce needed to attract significant economic development.
(b) The purpose of this article is to provide West Virginians with hope and economic prosperity by increasing access to a higher level of career education that is needed to fulfill the needs of today’s workforce and provide for further economic development.
(4) “Tuition” means the semester or term charges imposed by an eligible institution and, additionally, all mandatory fees required as a condition of enrollment by all students.
§18C-9-4. WV Invests Grant Program.
(a) There is hereby created a grant program known as the WV Invests Grant Program, which shall be administered by the vice chancellor for administration in accordance with this article.
(6) If a WV Invests Grant recipient terminates enrollment for any reason during the academic year, the unused portion of the grant shall be returned by the institution to the council in accordance with the council’s policy for issuing refunds. The council shall transfer such funds to the WV Invests Fund for allocation and expenditure.
(c) On or before January 1 of each year, the council shall provide to the Legislature and the Governor a report on the WV Invests Grant Program, which shall include, but not be limited to, research and data concerning student success and grant retention.
(3) Any other provisions necessary to effectuate the purposes of this article.
(e) The Legislature hereby declares that an emergency situation exists and, therefore, the council may establish, by emergency rule, under the procedures of §29A-3A-1 et seq. of this code, a rule to implement the provisions of this article.
(f) Beginning with the 2021 fiscal year, and for every fiscal year thereafter, any appropriation by the Legislature to support and or alleviate the cost to citizens in this state to obtain advanced certifications and associate degrees shall only be distributed to those community and technical colleges that form one or more partnerships to establish ACE programs and pathways. Once distributed, such funds may be used to support any program or pathway leading to the award of an associate degree or certification.
(11) Have, prior to the start of each semester, satisfactorily passed a drug test administered by the eligible institution: Provided, That the applicant shall be responsible for the actual cost of the drug test.
(5) Satisfaction of any additional eligibility criteria established by the council through legislative rule.
(2) A description of the appeals procedure required to be established under this article.
(d) WV Invests Grant recipients found to be in noncompliance with the agreement entered into under §18C-9-5(c) of this code shall be required to repay the amount of the grant awards received, plus interest, and, where applicable, reasonable collection fees, on a schedule and at a rate of interest prescribed in rules promulgated by the council. The council shall also provide for proration of the amount to be repaid by a recipient who maintains employment in the state for a period of time within the time period required under §18C-9-5(c) of this code.
(4) Satisfying the provisions of any additional repayment exemptions prescribed by the council through rule.
§18C-9-6. WV Invests Fund; established.
(3) All interest or other income earned from investment of the WV Invests Fund.
(b) The WV Invests Fund shall be expended for the purpose of administering the WV Invests Grant Program, including the awarding of grants authorized by this article. Any funds remaining in the fund at the close of the fiscal year are carried forward for use in the next fiscal year.
(c) Nothing in this section requires any specific level of funding by the Legislature nor guarantees or entitles any individual to any benefit or grant of funds.
(d) The vice chancellor for administration may expend the moneys in the fund to implement the provisions of this article.

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