Opinion ID: 1421099
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: entitlement to improvement period

Text: The Appellant argues that even if all of the charges had been adequately proven by the Board, she should have been given an opportunity to improve. In Trimboli v. Board of Education of Wayne County, 163 W.Va. 1, 254 S.E.2d 561 (1979), the Board had transferred a director of federal programs for county schools, and the lower court had reinstated that individual to his position. Id. at 2, 254 S.E.2d at 562. We held that the employee had not been evaluated and given an opportunity to improve his job performance prior to transfer in violation of requirements of Policy 5300 of the West Virginia Board of Education. Policy 5300(6)(a) provides as follows: (a) Every employee is entitled to know how well he is performing his job, and should be offered the opportunity of open and honest evaluation of his performance on a regular basis. Any decision concerning promotion, demotion, transfer or termination of employment should be based upon such evaluation, and not upon factors extraneous thereto. Every employee is entitled to the opportunity of improving his job performance prior to the terminating or transferring of his services, and can only do so with assistance of regular evaluation. In syllabus point three of Trimboli, we held: Failure by any board of education to follow the evaluation procedure in West Virginia Board of Education Policy No. 5300(6)(a) prohibits such board from discharging, demoting or transferring an employee for reasons having to do with prior misconduct or incompetency that has not been called to the attention of the employee through evaluations, and which is correctable. In syllabus point four of Mason County Board of Education v. State Superintendent of Schools, 165 W.Va. 732, 274 S.E.2d 435 (1980), we explained: It is not the label given to conduct which determines whether 5300(6)(a) procedures must be followed but whether the conduct forming the basis of dismissal involves professional incompetency and whether it directly and substantially affects the system in a permanent, noncorrectable manner. The Appellant asserts that her conduct was correctable and that she should consequently have been provided an improvement period. She claims that she simply needed to be trained regarding proper procedures to be utilized when an accident interrupts completion of the bus route. The Board, however, contends that the Appellant's omissions constitute behavior which is not correctable, within the meaning of Trimboli, and endangered the lives of the children on her bus. The ALJ specifically addressed Policy 5300 and determined that the Appellant compromised the safety of the children and that her actions were not correctable. The ALJ explained: Respondent proved that Grievant failed to maintain control of her passengers, and that this compromised the safety of her passengers in a significant manner so that Policy 5300 is not applicable. Furthermore, the ALJ stated: Respondent proved that Grievant let students leave with persons other than parents in violation of the state regulation and county policy which requires a note signed by the parent and the principal before a child is allowed to depart the bus other then at his designated stop, an that this compromised the safety of her passengers in a significant manner so that Policy 5300 is not applicable. Having considered the materials submitted and the arguments of counsel, we affirm the decision of the lower court. Affirmed.