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School Discipline Bill Stumbles In House Education Committee

School discipline was identified as a key issue coming into this year’s legislative session. But with the session’s end just days away, a key school discipline bill is in question after a contentious committee meeting Monday afternoon.

Senate Bill 614 aims to expand teachers’ ability to remove disruptive students to the elementary level from grades kindergarten through six. But the bill also has further requirements including suspension of the unruly student and placement in alternative education.

Lindsey McIntosh, general counsel for Kanawha County Schools, brought up several concerns when the Senate Education Committee discussed the bill in February. She was on hand again Monday afternoon in the House Education Committee, and told lawmakers that the bill will create more work for schools and school districts. According to McIntosh, the bill requires a student that has been removed to undergo a risk assessment, a step above what Kanawha County Schools already does.

“What we typically do, unless we’re talking about an expulsion, is we do a Threat Report, which is based on the Virginia model of threat reports,” she said. “It is a scientifically proven model that we evaluate whether or not that threat is transient, meaning it was just language used or if it was something that was substantive, meaning they have an intent to actually do what they stated that they were going to do. Once that threat report comes back as substantive, then we do the risk assessment.”

McIntosh said the county does far more threat reports than risk assessments.

She further warned legislators that as written, the bill’s required assessment could spell federal legal trouble for schools. McIntosh said the requirement triggers special education protections under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, also known as IDEA. Those federal protections are incongruous with the bill’s requirement to remove students from their classroom.

“It’s going to create an ambiguity that is going to lead to litigation, there is no way above that or beyond that,” McIntosh said. “If we have teachers that are asking for these students to be removed, and the law says technically they are protected students under the IDEA, which all of these kids would be because they’re all now triggering ChildFind under this language, then we as a school system have to figure out how to litigate – are we under the IDEA? Or are we complying with the law?”

SB 614’s lead sponsor and Senate Education Chair Sen. Amy Grady, R-Mason, was on hand to defend the bill. She said the bill’s requirements raise the standard for all counties.

“The whole purpose is to remove that child immediately, one to three days, and there have been school systems who say we can’t do a risk assessment, or we can’t do analysis in three days,” Grady said. “Well, you can, you’re just not doing it right now because there’s nobody forcing your hand to get it done right away. And this is kind of what we want to do is make sure we get that done quickly, rather than them dragging their feet for two weeks at a time and saying we don’t have that ready.”

Grady, a teacher, has consistently said that discipline is the number one issue for teachers, driving them away from the profession and robbing other students of their right to learn. She said SB 614 isn’t perfect, but something needs to be done to help the situation.

“You need more people to help with risk assessments, then so be it. That’s what you do,” Grady said. “You rearrange things. That’s what we do in education, we make do with what we have. And so I think that, that’s the best way we would do it now. And if it seems like there are a lot of referrals and specific counties or specific areas, then we have to revisit that and see what needs to be done.”

Grady said the law can be reassessed moving forward as needed, acknowledging it will not fit every situation.

“We don’t have an answer for everything. I wish we did,” she said. “And I wish that this bill solved every problem we have, it would be so great. I worked so hard to try to make this perfect. And I realized that it’s not perfect, and it’s never going to be perfect. Because let’s face it, every kid is different. Every county is different. Every school is different, every teacher is different. And so it’s not a one size fits all.”

After more than an hour of discussion over the bill’s language and potential changes to ensure compliance with federal requirements, the committee adjourned without taking further action on SB 614. With only four days left in the regular session, the bill’s future is unclear.

Language similar to, but less stringent than, SB 614 is included in House Bill 5262, also known as the Teacher’s Bill of Rights, which has cleared both education committees and is now pending in Senate Finance.

Senate Acts In Frustration Over House Inaction On Bills

With four days left in this legislative session, tension between the two chambers is rising. Each chamber is waiting for their prospective bills to be passed by the other chamber before the fast-approaching deadline.

The Senate passed 25 bills Tuesday, about half of which were House bills and the others Senate appropriations bills.

The Senate cruised through the other chamber’s bills like House Bill 4998. It would increase the penalties for the third offense of shoplifting. House Bill 4768 expands a program for out-of-state medical students who receive in-state tuition if they agree to stay in the state and work for the same number of years they received in-state tuition.

However, the process hit a snag when an otherwise non-controversial bill was introduced. House Bill 5002 would require at least one baby changing station to be placed in all men’s bathrooms in rest areas in the state.

Sen. Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell, opposed the bill. He said this is essentially in retaliation for the House’s failure to advance bills sent over to them from the Senate and urged a no vote.

“None of those bills, or very few, of those bills,” Woelfel said. “based on my review of today’s agenda in the House had been looked at or even examined, much less never, never, showing up on an agenda.”

He said that one of the committees he is part of, the Judiciary Committee, sent 27 bills to the House that have yet to reach the floor.

“What they send us. A bill about changing a poopy diaper at a rest area is a metaphor,” Woelfel said. “I’m sorry, Mr. President, but it’s a pretty good metaphor for how they do business down the hall.”

After a brief discussion between Senate President Craig Blair, R-Berkeley and Majority Leader Sen. Tom Takubo, R-Kanawha, the bill was parked in Senate Rules, a small but powerful committee responsible for setting the agenda for what bills hit the floor and have a chance to advance.

Education Funding Boosted, Promised Programs Cut In State Budget

Much of the debate in the House of Delegates Tuesday morning focused on satisfying a potential $465 million federal clawback regarding the state’s spending on education. When it came to the budget debate, some promised program funding that was not education related, fell by the wayside.

Much of the debate in the House of Delegates Tuesday morning focused on satisfying a potential $465 million federal “clawback” regarding the state’s spending on education. When it came to the budget debate, some promised program funding that was not education related fell by the wayside.

House Finance Committee Chairman Vernon Criss, R-Wood, wanted to make the reason behind passing Senate Bill 701 perfectly clear. The bill Supplements and amends appropriations to the Department of Education, School Construction Fund.

The bill appropriates $150 million to the School Building Authority, satisfying all the reconstruction requests made by state school districts.

Criss said the allocation intentionally goes toward satisfying the executive branch goal of showing in-kind state education funding to waive a potential $465 million-dollar federal clawback. The issue came up last week over concerns that the state did not spend enough money on education to match federal covid money.

“There are HVAC projects,” Criss said. “There were actually maybe two or three actual new schools involved in the projects, some roof projects, but cumulative, it was $150 million. And that these dollars will help, from what the governor’s office explained, would help towards the negotiations with the federal Department of Education”

The bill passed 94-2 and now goes to the governor.

Debate on the House Budget Bill 4025 began with a series of amendments proposed by Democrats.

Del. Larry Rowe, D-Kanawha, asked that the governor’s request for a $50 million agriculture lab at West Virginia State University be funded from budget back-end surplus money.

“This is needed. This will benefit us,” Rowe said. “I just can’t tell you how much it will lift West Virginia State into a new level of research and delivery of agricultural services throughout southern West Virginia.”

Del. Kayla Young, D-Kanawha, proposed an amendment to allocate $44 million from surplus budget funds for child care programs. The same programs were championed early on by Republican leadership and promised by Gov. Jim Justice.

“Last week, the federal government mandated that we do enrollment versus attendance to pay for child care,” Young said. “There is funding proposed with the federal government, but we all know they’re not so fast to do anything. And our child care centers are in desperate need of this money to keep maintaining, having all their services and keeping all the slots open.”

Concerned over balancing monies being poured into education, House Finance Committee Co-Chair Del. John Hardy, R-Berkeley, urged and got a voice vote rejection for every Democrat proposed amendment.

“I think that we’re very, very early in this process of the federal government coming out in front of this,” Hardy said. “Not being a priority of this legislature right now to be putting money being spent in the back of the budget as surplus revenue.”

With program funding concerns mounting and talk of a May Special Legislative Session to finalize a budget, Del. Daniel Linville, R-Cabell, questioned a possibly wasted effort.

“So all these amendments are fashioned to House Bill 4025. Is that right?” Linville asked Hardy. “Yes,” Hardy said. “And yet the vehicle that’s going to be the budget is Senate Bill 200, is that right?” Linville said. “So everything that we’re doing here does not matter in the least does it?”

The House postponed any more debate on HB 4025 for one day, but they were far from done.

After a fire drill, the House returned to session and took up the Senate’s budget bill that Linville referred to. Criss walked through every major department in the budget and indicated where the Senate budget was different from the governor’s proposed budget. After a 45-minute discussion on Senate Bill 200, it passed by a 74 to 16 vote.

The two chambers will have to come together in a budget conference committee to work out differences between the two bills.

Senate Steadily Passes House Bills Back To House

House Bill 5091, or the West Virginia Critical Infrastructure Protection Act, increases penalties for trespassing or damaging those areas. There are some drastic increases in fines in the bill like an increase in the maximum fine from $5,000 to $100,000. The bill heads back to the House for consideration.

The Senate passed 12 house bills on Monday, including bills on critical infrastructure, driving in the left lane, and suspended school personnel.

In West Virginia Code, critical infrastructure is considered things like steel and chemical factories, power plants, airports and health care facilities.

Opponents of the bill, like nonprofit law firms that represent protesters, say laws like this are aimed at creating steep consequences for protests of fossil fuel projects, such as pipelines.

“Although legislation that focuses on ‘critical infrastructure’ may sound innocuous and technocratic, these bills can significantly undermine the right to peaceful assembly,” The International Center for Nonprofit Law said in a statement.

Currently there are no laws against driving slowly in the left lane. House Bill 5237 would change that. There are exceptions, like if there is construction or an emergency vehicle on the side of the road. The maximum fine is $25. The bill heads back to the House as well.

Another bill would allow suspended school personnel to enter school functions open to the public. Supporters of the bill said the primary goal of House Bill 5650 is to allow parents, or guardians who are suspended employees of the school, to be able to pick up children or attend events. There are exceptions in the case of an employee who imposes a risk of danger or disruption to students, staff or the learning environment.

Constitutional Protection From Euthanasia Could Appear On Ballots This Fall

Republicans in the West Virginia House of Delegates have backed a resolution allowing residents to vote to add protection from euthanasia to the state constitution during this fall’s general election.

Republicans in the West Virginia House of Delegates are calling on their colleagues in the West Virginia Senate to place constitutional protections from euthanasia on voters’ ballots this fall.

Euthanasia, or medically assisted suicide, is already illegal in the state.

With both chambers’ support, House Joint Resolution 28 would allow residents to vote on adding protections against euthanasia to the state constitution during this fall’s general election.

But lawmakers held conflicting views on the measure at a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting Monday.

Resolution sponsor Del. Pat McGeehan, R-Hancock, was invited to speak to senators in committee, stating that the state’s stance against euthanasia is important.

“There’s this phenomenon of nihilism that’s sort of spreading across the country, and I think it’s an important issue we need to address,” McGeehan said. “To the best of my knowledge, we’ll be the first to place this and take a stand in the state constitution.”

While euthanasia prevention received some bipartisan support, pushback on aspects of the bill fell along party lines.

Republican lawmakers wanted to add language to the amendment so it could not affect capital punishment policies.

But Democratic lawmakers like Sen. Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell, said that contradicts the purported pro-life nature of the resolution.

Woelfel said he supported the resolution generally, but that protecting capital punishment gave him pause. Other lawmakers expressed concern over outright condemning euthanasia.

Sen. Mike Caputo, D-Marion, said he became more sympathetic to legalizing euthanasia after watching his father-in-law suffer through hospice care at the end of his life.

“We was praying for him to die, that’s how much he was suffering. We was literally praying for him to die,” Caputo said. “I know that, if he could have made this decision to end it earlier, he would have done that.”

Caputo also expressed concern that the resolution would hold legal implications for medical professionals, but McGeehan said the measure would not hold legal weight beyond what is already in place in state law.

Ultimately, members of the committee voted in favor of the resolution, sending it to the Senate floor with the recommendation that it pass.

If members of the Senate approve the resolution, West Virginia voters will be able to vote on constitutional protections from euthanasia in the state general election this November.

Prevention Day Brings Students And Advocates To The Capitol

Advocates gathered under the capitol dome Monday to educate lawmakers about the prevention of addictions and mental health struggles.

Organizations from across the state spent Monday morning manning tables throughout the rotunda, educating the public and lawmakers about their prevention efforts against many issues, from gambling to tobacco use.

Sheila Moran is director of marketing and communications for First Choice Services which operates several programs and helplines to provide access to behavioral health and social services.

Moran said while emergency services are vital, she wishes people would reach out before a crisis so First Choice Services can offer them prevention tools.

“There is a strong prevention component, Moran said. “We really wish people would call us sometimes before things get to a crisis, maybe a family member who’s concerned about someone in their life who may be suicidal, they can call our 988 line and they can get a heads up, they can get some advice, some guidance to provide their loved one.”

Moran said she was encouraged by the show of participation and support from youth attending the event.

“I’ve been heartened to see how many of the young people have come up to our table,” she said. “So I think it’s a really different environment than it was many years ago. You know, so many of these kids are involved in clubs and organizations that are talking about some of the dangers.”

One of those student participants was Colt Castle, a seventh grader from Washington Middle School who attended the event as part of the Pocahontas Youth Coalition.

“We will throw parties every month, to give people a sense of community to come to, instead of going out committing crimes and doing drugs,” Castle said.

Castle said his involvement in the group came from a deep sense of community.

“I wanted to help create a better sense of community, so that people wouldn’t go to jail for it, and wouldn’t die because of it,” Castle said.

Debbie Goff with Putnam Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) said her student-led organization chooses which issues to address in their community.

“We come into the community, we do a lot of educating students, it’s student-led, so that students actually decide what issues they want to tackle the most,” Goff said. “Right now, it’s mental health and vaping.”

Goff said she hopes the education SADD provides its participants with will arm them in making decisions in the future.

“I’m not naive enough to think I’m gonna stop every kid from trying something,” Goff said. “But what do they do? What, how do they know? Give them the education and make that choice.”