SB 284 — Relating to county board of education member orientation and compensation

WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION IntroducedCommittee Substitute for Senate Bill 284 ByBYSENATORGRADY Senator[Reported GradyFebruary [Introduced28, February2025, 12,from 2025;the Committee on Education] CS for SB 284 A BILL to amend and reenact §18-5-1a and §18-5-4 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to adding to topics required to be covered by the county board of education member orientation;

referred to the Committee on Education] Intr SB 284 2025R2317 A BILL to amend and reenact §18-5-1a and §18-5-4 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to adding to topics required to be covered by the county board of education member orientation;

requiring any appointed member to attend and complete a make-up orientation training within 30 days of being swornappointed; in;

creatingincluding antrainings exceptionrequired toby the requirementState thatBoard aof countyEducation boardwith ofthose educationtrainings memberfor satisfywhich thefailure annualto trainingattend requirementand beforecomplete Januarywithout 1;good cause constitutes neglect of duty;

addingremoving certainJanuary non-1 votingdeadline exfor officiothe membersrequirement tothat a county board of education member satisfy the Countyannual Boardtraining Memberrequirement Trainingin Standardsthe Reviewfinal Committee;year of any four-year term of office and creating exception to that requirement;

requiringadding thecertain Statenon-voting Superintendentex ofofficio Schoolsmembers to report to the LegislativeCounty OversightBoard CommissionMember onTraining EducationStandards AccountabilityReview certainCommittee; county board of education related information;

andrequiring setting the countyState boardSuperintendent of educationSchools memberto compensationreport rateannually atto $260the perLegislative meetingOversight attendedCommission unlesson theEducation boardAccountability votescertain toCounty approveBoard aMember lowerTraining rate.Standards Review Committee and county board member training-related information;

setting the county board of education member compensation rate at $260 per meeting attended unless the board votes to approve a lower rate;

and excepting payment for mileage from the requirement for presentation of receipts.

CS for SB 284 (1) Shall be a citizen and resident in the county in which he or she serves on the county board.

Also, a A person who is a candidate for membership on a county board or who is a member-member-elect elect of a county board shall be a citizen and resident in the county in which he or she seeks to serve on the county board;

Intr SB 284 2025R2317 (3) May not engage in the following political activities:

(C) Become a candidate for, or serve as, a delegate, alternatealternate, or proxy to a national political party convention;

CS for SB 284 (D) Politically endorse any candidate in a partisan or bipartisan election;

(b) A member or member-elect of a county board, or a person desiring to become a member of a county board, may make a written request to the West Virginia Ethics Commission for an advisory opinion to determine if another elected or appointed position held or sought by the person is an office or public office which would bar service on a county board pursuant to Intr SB 284 2025R2317 subsection (a) of this section.

CS for SB 284 (c) To be eligible for election or appointment as a member of a county board, a person shall possess at least a high school diploma or a general educational development (GED) diploma.

(d) A person elected to a county board after July 1, 1990 July 1, 2024, may not assume the duties of county board member unless he or she has first attended and completed a course of an orientation training relating to boardsmanshipboardsmanship, and governance effectiveness, and fiscal management, which shall be given provided between the date of election and the beginning of the Intr SB 284 2025R2317 member's term of office under the following conditions:

(2) Attendance at the session of in the orientation given training provided between the date of election and the beginning of the member's term of office permits the member-elect to assume the duties of county boardboardmember, member, as specified in this section:

(e) Annually, effective July 1, 2025, each member of a county board shall receive seven clock twelve12 hours of training in areas relating to boardsmanship, governance effectiveness, fiscal management, and school performance issues including, but not limited to, pertinent state and CS for SB 284 federal statutes such as the "Process for Improving Education" set forth in §18-2E-5 of this codecode, and the "No Child Left Behind Act" Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the Individuals with Disabilities Education and Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA), and their respective administrative rules:

Provided, That the Statestate Boardboard may require any county board member to attend additional training if they believe that the training would be beneficial in assisting the member in successfully fulfilling his or her duties on the county board as requested by the State Superintendent.

(1) The orientation and training All training required in this section shall be approved by the state board and conducted by the West Virginia School Board Association or other organization or Intr SB 284 2025R2317 organizations approved by the state board:

(A) The state board may exclude time spent in training on school performance issues from the requisite seven hours herein required twelve-hour12-hour requirement;

and (B) If the state board elects to exclude time spent in training on school performance issues from the requisite seven twelve12 hours, the state board shall limit the training to a feasible and practicable amount of time.

(2) Failure to attend and complete the approved course of orientation and training relating to boardsmanship and governance effectiveness the orientation training, annual training, or training required by the Statestate Board,board, without good cause, as determined by the state board by duly promulgated legislative rules, constitutes neglect of duty under §6-6-7 of this code.

(f)(f)In In the final year of any four-year term of office, aamember member shall satisfy thetheannual annual training requirement before January 1 unless the county board member is not seeking reelection.

(g) The state board shall appoint a committee named the "CountyCounty Board Member Training Standards Review Committee"Committee whose members shall include the chair of the Senate Committee on Education and the chair of the House Committee on Education, or their respective designees, CS for SB 284 which shall serve as non-voting ex officio members.

(h) On or before January 1, 2026, and annually thereafter, the State Superintendent shall report annually to the Legislative Oversight Commission on Education Accountability on the activities of the County Intr SB 284 2025R2317 Board Member Training Standards Review Committee, the types of training provided to county board members, the level of training participation by county board members, and the number of boardcommittee meetings held.

SubjectSubjectto to adequate public notice, nothing in this section prohibits the county board from conducting regular meetings in facilities within the county other than the county board office.

Meetings of the county board shall be held CS for SB 284 in compliance with the provisions of §18A-1-1 et seq.

of this code for purposes relating to the assignment, transfer, terminationtermination, and dismissal of teachers and other school employees.

(c) In addition, a public hearing shall be held concerning the preliminary operating budget for the next fiscal year not fewer than ten10 days after the budget has been made available to the public for inspection and within a reasonable time prior to the submission of the budget to the state board for approval.

Intr SB 284 2025R2317 (d) A majority of the members of the county board constitutes the quorum necessary for the transaction of official business.

(e) Board members may shall receive compensation at a rate not to exceed the rate of $260 per meeting attended, unless the Boardboard votes to approve a lower rate, but they may not receive pay for more than 40 meetings in any one fiscal year.

Board members who serve on an administrative council of a multicountymulti-county vocational center also may receive compensation for attending up to twelve12 meetings of the council at the same rate as for meetings of the county board:

Provided, further, That up to five paid meetings may be provided when planning for activities such as running an election for excess levy, construction bond hearings, CS for SB 284 school closure hearings, personnel hearings, student expulsion hearings, and in the case of a disaster:

(f) Members also shall be paid, upon the presentation of receipts, for all necessary traveling expenses, including all authorized meetings, incurred on official business, at the order of the county board.board:

Provided, That the presentation of receipts is not required for payment for mileage.

Membership dues and actual traveling expenses incurred by board members for attending meetings of the West Virginia School Board Intr SB 284 2025R2317 Association shall be paid by their respective county boards out of funds available to meet actual expenses of the members, but no allowance may be made except upon presentation of receipts.

NOTE:

The purpose of this bill is to reinstate, with minor revisions, changes to §18-5-1a that passed during the 2024 regular session but were unintentionally overridden by a subsequently passed bill;