House Education Committee Story Archives - Page 2 of 5

Student Pregnancy, Cybersecurity Focus Of Education Committees

To start the week, education committees in both chambers have focused on supporting students in difficult situations.

According to the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, West Virginia has the eighth highest teen birth rate in the country.

During their meeting Monday, the House Education Committee discussed House Bill 5179. Also known as Jaycie’s Law, the bill would require that each county board develop a written attendance policy for pregnant and parenting students and excuse all absences due to pregnancy or parenting related conditions up to eight weeks.

The bill originated from a social worker in Cabell County who had seen the school system requiring teenage girls to go back to school one week after giving birth.

Del. Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, moved to amend language that would require schools to refer pregnant students to pregnancy health organizations.

“It requires the school to refer a girl to an unlicensed health care provider,” he said. “A lot of them also are religious based, maybe they’re not a member of that religion. There’s a lot of issues with that, sending somebody, putting it in code to go to this place that looks like a doctor’s office, but isn’t a doctor’s office.”

Pushkin’s amendment originally removed any reference to pregnancy health organizations from the bill. But after discussion, he reformed the amendment to make the requirement a permissive choice to refer students to the organizations.

Del. Rolland Jennings, R-Preston, said he believed the bill’s referral to resources fulfilled the lawmakers’ promise to support pregnant women made when the state’s abortion restriction was passed in 2022.

“This is giving support where the schools have to at least discuss with these young mothers places where they can go and get support for them,” he said. “If we make it permissive, some schools may do it. Others don’t want to get involved, won’t do it. And I think by making it so they have to do it, we’re doing the best for these young ladies.”

The amendment did pass, and the bill was recommended to the full chamber.

Other Business

The House committee also advanced bills regarding in-state tuition for all National Guard members and their dependents, as well as Hope Scholarship funding.

House Bill 4945 makes several changes to code relating to the Hope Scholarship, including permitting the Hope Scholarship board to provide an estimate of the program’s future enrollment to the Department of Education by Dec. 10 of each year for funding, rather than relying on the prior year’s enrollment.

“This would allow us instead of it being solely based on the number of applications received in the prior year, it would allow us to estimate,” said Amy Willard, assistant treasurer of savings programs for the West Virginia State Treasurer’s Office. “We would do that using trends that we’re seeing in the program, any data that we have on birth, stuff like that to try to estimate that incoming kindergarten class. But there is still the provision that if there was unused money, like at the end of the fiscal year, that that appropriation would be reduced. So we would still always estimate what our need was for the year.”

Pushkin again moved to amend the bill, this time excluding Hope Scholarship funds from being used out of state. About $300,000 in Hope funds were spent out of state in the program’s first year.

However, Del. Wayne Clark, R-Jefferson, pointed out that a similar restriction had been proposed when the Hope Scholarship was being created.

“One of the reasons why it was voted down at that time was because of the purchase of curriculum and purchase of, paying for field trips or paying for other things that the state does buy out of state,” he said. “And when we’re talking about, you know, the amount of students that do potentially attend border school, schools that are outside of our border are from border counties. Remember, we’re still trying to give the parents of West Virginia an option for their education. And that’s the whole purpose of the Hope Scholarship.”

The amendment was rejected, and House Bill 4945 was recommended to the full House, with a reference to the Finance Committee.

Other bills advanced by the committee:

H. B. 4882, extending in-state tuition rates to all members and veterans of the National Guard, reserves, and armed forces as well as their spouses and dependents.
H. B. 5038, relating to research and economic development agreements for state institutions of higher education.
H. B. 5050, relating to authorizing legislative rules regarding higher education.
H. B. 5056, relating to substitute service personnel positions.
H. B. 5153, relating to revising, updating and streamlining the requirements governing the West Virginia Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Scholarship.

Teaching Cyber Security

In the Senate Education Committee Tuesday morning, senators heard from law enforcement about the need for students to be educated about online safety.

Senate Bill 466 requires the state board to develop an education program to teach safety while accessing technology. The committee previously discussed and laid over the bill on Jan. 18, and both times the discussion focused on the requirement for instruction on the risks associated with sharing sexually suggestive or sexually explicit materials.

SGT Jillian Yeager of the State Police’s Crimes Against Children Unit told the committee her office of 12 investigators has received 6,000 tips of sexual cybercrimes against minors in the past four years, mirroring a national spike during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. She said education like the kind proposed in Senate Bill 466 would go a long way to reducing such instances.

“I firmly believe that if we mandate cyber safety training in the state, that it will greatly reduce our number of cyber tips simply by educating children to help themselves not become victims to these predators online,” Yeager said.

The committee voted to recommend the bill to the full Senate, and laid over the only other bill on the agenda due to time constraints.

Bathroom Ban, Arming Teachers Focus Of House Education Committee Meeting

The House Committee on Education spent the better part of a two hour meeting Wednesday discussing two bills. One would restrict bathroom use in schools based on sex, and another would help arm teachers.

Bills restricting the use of school facilities by transgender students – namely bathrooms and locker rooms – have gained popularity across the country in recent years.

House Bill 4806 as described in the meeting “would prohibit public school students the use of multiple occupancy restrooms or changing areas within schools for the gender that the students were not assigned at birth.”

Minority chair Del. Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, pointed out early in discussion of the bill that the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, which includes West Virginia, had recently ruled against a similar bill in Virginia.

Pushkin invited Interim Executive Director for the American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia Eli Baumwell to discuss the court ruling’s impact. Puskin asked Baumwell if ACLU-WV would challenge the bill in court if it passed.

“Well, it wouldn’t be proper for me to speculate on potential litigation,” Baumwell said. “What I will say is based on controlling law here in West Virginia, I think there’s an extremely high likelihood that any challenge would cause the law to be both enjoined and eventually overturned, again, based on recent controlling precedent.”

Pushkin clarified that there was no reason to believe HB 4806 would have a different result in the courts and said a legal challenge would cost the state money. He went on to question the bill’s sponsor, Del. Dave Foggin, R-Wood, about the necessity of the bill.

“Have you received complaints from children in your district or parents in your district, regarding incidents where students felt uncomfortable in the bathroom?” Pushkin asked.

“I didn’t receive complaints, because I’m just a school teacher, but our administrators, where I teach, received several complaints,” Foggins said.

Much of the discussion time was taken up by an amendment from Minority Vice Chair Ric Griffith, D-Wayne, to create an exception for students over the age of 18 who had transitioned and updated their birth certificate.

Pushkin continued his opposition to the bill up to the final vote, calling it a solution in search of a problem. He warned the bill had the potential to harm children.

“Actually, West Virginia has a fairly high percentage of children who identify as transgender, and this will harm them,” Pushkin said. “They’re the ones who are more likely to get bullied in a public restroom. So you might think you’re doing something to protect kids, but I’m not hearing anything from kids.”

The committee voted to recommend the bill to the House, with a referral to the committee on Judiciary.

Arming Educators

Also discussed Wednesday was the possibility of allowing teachers and administrators to carry concealed firearms in school.

House Bill 4299 would designate armed staff as school protection officers or SPO’s but only with a valid West Virginia concealed carry permit and after completing the training requirements for the Prevention Resource Officer Program.

Several teachers on the committee spoke strongly in favor of the bill, including Del. David Elliott Pritt, R-Fayette. He recounted the difficulty of going through active shooter drills with the only defense for him and his students being a door and chairs.

“We live in a time where evil people walk around trying to do evil things,” Pritt said. “I’ll be damned if I’m going to sit in my classroom, and the only thing between me and someone that wants to kill me or my students is a door. So I’m going to vote for it. I urge you to vote for it as well.”

Opponents to the bill cited law enforcement opposition to such measures, given the potential confusion between an active shooter and an armed staff member. Del. Anitra Hamilton, D-Monongalia, expressed concern about bringing firearms into classrooms that have proven in recent years to be unruly and contentious.

“I just don’t feel that teachers or SPOs, whoever is training periodically, even with a yearly evaluation, or yearly training, when you are under stress, and under duress, you act differently and you cannot predict that,” she said.

Hamilton instead pointed to measures already being taken to enhance and improve school building security across the state.

Committee vice-chair Del. Joe Statler, R-Monongalia, said the bill is permissive, meaning it is ultimately up to each county and school board to allow school staff to conceal carry.

The committee recommended House Bill 4299 to the full chamber, also with a reference to Judiciary.

Also Discussed

The committee also discussed and moved forward five other bills:

H. B. 4263, Modifying the definitions and pay grades of certain school cafeteria personnel.
H. B. 4331, To allow money paid to state employees to go to their estate if they pass away before their retirement date.
H. B. 4830, To address the professional development of teachers.
H. B. 4832, Relating to state superintendent’s reports regarding the finances of school districts.
H. B. 4838, Require county boards of education to provide long-term substitute teachers, upon hiring, with certain information.

Documenting Special Education Help, New Human Development Education Requirements

The legislature’s education committees started off the week discussing who is responsible for maintaining records for special education, and teaching about human development.

Individual Education Plans (IEPs) and 504 Plans provide accommodations and services to students with disabilities. Accommodation logs are just one form of documentation that some counties have chosen to use, and not a statewide requirement.

“There’s no reason you have to verify that accommodations were given if you’re the general education teacher, but there’s no specific format that has to be used,” said State Superintendent Michele Blatt. “You could document something in your lesson plans, or you could do a narrative at the end of the week that these three children received online or oral reading of their test or two. There’s not a specific way, but there has to be a way to document that accommodations were provided.”

Blatt was asked to speak to the House Education Committee Monday afternoon as they discussed House Bill 4860. The bill changes code to clarify that a general education teacher cannot be made responsible for accommodation logs, because that responsibility falls upon the special education instructor.

The bill’s lead sponsor Del. David Elliott Pritt, R-Fayette, is also a middle school social studies teacher, and was joined by other educators on the committee to praise the bill. He said teachers were required to review and acknowledge each student’s IEP at the start of the school year.

“I don’t know that everyone quite understands what an unnecessary burden it is to go through a sheet of paper every single day for 50 students and check mark every single accommodation to prove that you’re doing your job that you’re already mandated to do by federal law,” Pritt said. “Not only is it increased, it’s creating more legal liability for teachers than less because what if I miss-mark a student accidentally on a day he wasn’t there, or they weren’t there and I mark ‘I provided accommodations’ and I didn’t and then it comes back?”

Committee Minority Chair Del. Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, spoke in opposition of the bill. He said he trusts teachers to teach, but recognized the reality that a lot of students in the state have IEPs while there is a shortage of special education professionals and those that are in schools cannot visit every classroom every day.

“I think that it’s not practical to have someone who’s not in the room responsible for signing off on something that they can’t really verify whether it happened or not,” he said. “I share the concern to the superintendent that it could very well not be done, because we’re putting it in statute that the person responsible for it is not there.”

Blatt said there are close to 50,000 students in the state with IEPs.

“That would just be students with special education, with an IEP,” she said. “That does not include 504s and that does not count our gifted or exceptionally gifted students that we have.”

Blatt told lawmakers a general education classroom can have as many as 30 percent special education students in it.

The bill was recommended to the House floor.

Human Growth and Development Requirement

Tuesday morning in the Senate Education Committee, Senators discussed Senate Bill 468. The bill creates the Baby Olivia Act and requires the State Board of Education to provide courses on human growth and development related to pregnancy and specifically inside the womb. The bill specifies that a 3-minute video entitled Meet Baby Olivia – A Never Before Seen Look At Human Life In The Womb be shown in classrooms.

Senators watched the video and voted it to the Senate floor.

A previous version of the bill would have allowed the Attorney General to sue for damages and injunctive relief on behalf of any or all residents or citizens of West Virginia against any person or entity that violated the new Baby Olivia Act. That component of the bill was removed from a committee substitute.

Education Committees In Both Chambers Address Financial Issues

Now more than a week into the session, the Education committees of both chambers are addressing financial issues in the state’s schools.

The West Virginia Legislature is more than a week into the session and bills have started to move through their respective committees. The Education committees of both chambers are addressing financial issues in the state’s schools.

Many of these bills taken up and passed this week may seem familiar. That’s because most of them also passed both Education committees last year, only to founder in House and Senate Finance.

The House Education Committee took up issues of educator pay at their meeting Wednesday. House Bill 4202 would raise salaries for school service personnel by $670 per month.

House Bill 4767 raises the salaries of new teachers with no experience to $44,000. A similar bill, Senate Bill 204, passed out of the Senate Education Committee last year but did not make it out of Finance.

House Education Committee Chair Del. Joe Ellington, R-Mercer, said the two bills would make positions in West Virginia more competitive with neighboring states.

“Of note, that also brings up to the 50th percentile of our surrounding states,” he said.

Gov. Jim Justice already announced plans to raise the pay of all state employees, including teachers and school staff, by 5 percent this year. Legislative leaders have indicated their support of the raise, but union leaders and other advocates say the raise isn’t enough to address rising PEIA premiums, let alone bigger issues of teacher retention.

Related to the teacher shortage, a bill that attempts to define and limit the role of school counselors drew much discussion. House Bill 4769 aims to narrowly define the duties of school counselors, something Del. David Elliott Pritt, R-Fayette, said is necessary.

“I actually had a lunch meeting with a couple counselors that work in the county that I represent, and these counselors have over 300 unanswered counseling referrals because they’re being asked to fill in the role of teacher in positions that no long-term or short-term, day-to-day sub will take,” he said. “And it’s a problem. These are counseling referrals that could be potential suicide risk, abuse from a parent or guardian. They’re unanswered, because they’re being asked to fulfill other duties. This bill is incredibly important. I’m happy to support it. And I’m honestly very glad that we’re really addressing this, this year.“

Pritt works as a social studies teacher at Fayetteville PreK-8.

All five of the bills discussed were recommended to the House for passage.

On the Senate side, the Education Committee Thursday morning took up a bill regarding the Promise PLUS program, Senate Bill 259. First established in 2001, the Promise Scholarship is a merit-based academic award that pays in-state tuition and fees, or $5,000, whichever is less, at any eligible institution in West Virginia.

The Promise PLUS program would act as a supplement for individuals who meet more rigorous standards so that the total of both scholarships is equal to the actual cost of tuition.

Sen. Mike Oliverio, R-Monongalia, voiced his opposition to what he called the bill’s “held hostage” provision, which would require recipients of Promise PLUS funds to pay the state back if they left the state after graduation.

“I think the approach would better be to increase the amount of money that we give to all of the Promise scholarship recipients and continue to not have a “held hostage” provision over them and really live by that concept of, as a state, we should train and educate our next generation,” he said. “And if they leave, so be it, maybe they’ll come back. But if we don’t train and educate them, and they stay, we have a lot of problems.”

Senators also discussed bills to require age-appropriate education on the Holocaust (SB 448), as well as the development of an education program to teach safety while accessing technology (SB 466). All three bills were recommended to the Senate for passage.

House Bill Enables Athletic Participation For Hope Scholarship Students

Hope Scholarship recipients and other non-traditional students would be able to participate in athletics and other extracurricular activities at their local public schools under a House bill.

Hope Scholarship recipients and other non-traditional students would be able to participate in athletics and other extracurricular activities at their local public schools under House Bill 2820.

The bill, which was considered in the House Education Committee Tuesday, would amend state code to allow these types of students to participate in public school programs if they’ve shown “satisfactory evidence of academic progress,” similar to how homeschooled students in the state already enroll.

The bill also includes students enrolled in microschools and learning pods, though there are no microschools in the state.

“I think the question or the element of fairness comes to mind when we know those kids who are not academically finding success in the public school system find a way to improve their academic success elsewhere,” said Del. Todd Longanacre, R-Greenbrier, who spoke in favor of the bill. “When they leave that public school system, they’re not taking all of their parents’ tax money from that county, they’re leaving some in that county. They still have skin in the game. So that’s fair that they would have the opportunity if their school that they go to doesn’t offer sports.”

Del. Sean Hornbuckle, D-Cabell, the minority chair of the House Education Committee, expressed concerns over how it would potentially affect other students.

“On one hand, I obviously want to help the kid to be able to participate,” said Hornbuckle. “But on the other one, I want to also make sure that it doesn’t cause a disparate impact of other private school students.”

That came among other questions on how academic progress and discipline would be measured from other lawmakers.

“If a student is in a learning pod, or microschool, how do we know that that discipline is equivalent [to a public school]?” Del. Danielle Walker, D-Monongalia, asked early during the proceedings.

Legislators discussed HB 2820 for more than an hour, with an eventual amendment clarifying that private school students would not be able to play on a public school team if the sport is already offered at their school.

The bill passed the committee and is on its way to the House floor.

Other bills discussed during the meeting included House Bill 3293, which establishes requirements for educational agencies to help identify and support students with dyslexia and dyscalculia, and House Bill 3273, which establishes a commission that would negotiate dealings with entities interested in utilizing intellectual properties owned by institutions of higher education.

Both bills were approved in committee. HB 3293 is expected to be on second reading Wednesday, while HB 3273 was sent to the House Judiciary Committee for further consideration.

House Education Committee Hears Report On School Funding

The West Virginia Department of Education, reviewed the Public School Support Program (PSSP) during a House Education Committee meeting this week.

Federal school aid funding was up for review in the House Committee on Education this week.

Samuel Pauley, school operations officer for the West Virginia Department of Education (WVDE), talked about the Public School Support Program (PSSP), or state school aid funding formula.

PSSP is a plan of financial support for the public schools in the State of West Virginia. It covers the state’s responsibilities as well as that of the 55 county school districts.

Pauley provided an overview of the funding formula allowance, including calculations used for areas of funding for school personnel, transportation and fixed costs.

He explained that local governments provide a local share of funding which is calculated based on the regular levy or tax base of each school system.

Annually, the WVDE receives information from assessors across the state in each county that enables them to calculate how much is borne by local tax dollars in those counties.

The rest is net state aid to schools – the amount appropriated to school districts by the West Virginia Legislature. It is based on student population and densities of counties.

The student census for school aid funding is conducted each year by Oct 1. Any student entering a school after that date is not eligible for state aid funding.

Del. Michael Hornby, R-Berkeley, asked about future projections for student counts.

“Are you able to be proactive with the growth counties?” Hornby asked. “Because it seems if you’re doing a calculation, Oct. 1, and a county is growing 15 percent, or declining 15 percent – are you able to project out or do any kind of calculation with those school aid formulas based on previous growth?”

Pauley responded that the only projection his department has authority over in the statute is their increased enrollment funding calculation.

“Essentially, it looks at each individual school district and what their enrollment was the previous year,” Pauley said. “So we have a state policy that governs how we estimate increased enrollment, because we don’t really know what their enrollments are going to do until after the budget bill’s passed and the new school year has already started.”

Melanie Perky, federal programs officer for the West Virginia Department of Education updated the committee with a report on federal programs including the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, National School Lunch Program and one time COVID-19 relief funding.

Perky talked about strict auditing and financial procurement requirements or accountability systems schools must meet when using federal dollars.

“Many of these programs have tests built in that counties and states have to verify that they are maintaining the state base level – that we’re using the federal funding to meet the requirements of this and the responsibilities of the state,” Perky said.

Asked by the committee chair if there was a cap on federal funding, Laura Pauley, director of the office of federal programs for the West Virginia Department of Education explained that it depends on how Congress appropriates money.

“Unfortunately, most of our funding is due to poverty,” she said. “So we do get, you know, a decent share considering our size and our population. I believe we’re one of only a handful of states to where every district in our state qualifies for Title I.”