2005 West Virginia Code - §18-5A-2. — Local school improvement councils; election.

§18-5A-2. Local school improvement councils; election.
(a) A local school improvement council shall be established at every school consisting of the following:
(1) The principal, who shall serve as an ex officio member of the council and be entitled to vote;
(2) Three teachers elected by the faculty senate of the school;
(3) Two school service personnel elected by the school service personnel employed at the school;
(4) Three parent(s), guardian(s) or custodian(s) of students enrolled at the school elected by the parent(s), guardian(s) or custodian(s) members of the school's parent teacher organization: Provided, That if there is no parent teacher organization, the parent(s), guardian(s) or custodian(s) members shall be elected by the parent(s), guardian(s) or custodian(s) of students enrolled at the school in such manner as may be determined by the principal;
(5) Two at-large members appointed by the principal, one of whom resides in the school's attendance area and one of whom represents business or industry, neither of whom is eligible for membership under any of the other elected classes of members;
(6) In the case of vocational-technical schools, the vocational director: Provided, That if there is no vocational director, then the principal may appoint no more than two additional representatives, one of whom represents business and one of whom represents industry;
(7) In the case of a school with students in grade seven or higher, the student body president or other student in grade seven or higher elected by the student body in those grades.
(b) Under no circumstances may more than one parent member of the council be then employed at that school in any capacity.
(c) The principal shall arrange for such elections to be held prior to the fifteenth day of September of each school year to elect a council and shall give notice of the elections at least one week prior to the elections being held. To the extent practicable, all elections to select council members shall be held within the same week.
(d) Parent(s), guardian(s) or custodian(s), teachers and service personnel elected to the council shall serve a two-year term and elections shall be arranged in such a manner that no more than two teachers, no more than two parent(s), guardian(s) or custodian(s) and no more than one service person are elected in a given year. All other non-ex officio members shall serve one-year terms.
(e) Council members may only be replaced upon death, resignation, failure to appear at three consecutive meetings of the council for which notice was given, or a change in personal circumstances so that the person is no longer representative of the class of members from which appointed. In the case of a vacancy in an elected membership, the chair of the council shall appoint another qualified person to serve the unexpired term of the person being replaced or, in the case of an appointed member of the council, the principal shall appoint a replacement as soon as practicable.
(f) As soon as practicable after the election of council members, and no later than the first day of October of each school year, the principal shall convene an organizational meeting of the school improvement council. The principal shall notify each member in writing at least two employment days in advance of the organizational meeting. At this meeting, the principal shall provide each member with the following:
(1) A copy of the current applicable sections of this code;
(2) Any state board rule or regulation promulgated pursuant to the operation of these councils; and
(3) Any information as may be developed by the department of education on the operation and powers of local school improvement councils and their important role in improving student and school performance and progress.
(g) The council shall elect from its membership a chair and two members to assist the chair in setting the agenda for each council meeting. The chair shall serve a term of one year and no person may serve as chair for more than two consecutive terms. If the chair's position becomes vacant for any reason, the principal shall call a meeting of the council to elect another qualified person to serve the unexpired term. Once elected, the chair is responsible for notifying each member of the school improvement council in writing two employment days in advance of any council meeting.
(h) School improvement councils shall meet at least once every nine weeks or equivalent grading period at the call of the chair or by three fourths of its members.
(i) The local school improvement council shall meet at least annually with the county board, in accordance with the provisions in section fourteen, article five of this chapter. At this annual meeting, the local school improvement council chair, or another member designated by the chair, shall be prepared to address any matters as may be requested by the county board as specified in the meeting agenda provided to the council and may further provide any other information, comments or suggestions the local school improvement council wishes to bring to the county board's attention. Anything presented under this subsection shall be submitted to the county board in writing.
(j) School improvement councils shall be considered for the receipt of school of excellence awards under section three of this article and competitive grant awards under section twenty-nine, article two of this chapter and may receive and expend such grants for the purposes provided in such section. In any and all matters which may fall within the scope of both the school improvement councils and the school curriculum teams authorized in section five of this article, the school curriculum teams shall be deemed to have jurisdiction. In order to promote innovations and improvements in the environment for teaching and learning at the school, a school improvement council shall receive cooperation from the school in implementing policies and programs it may adopt to:
(1) Encourage the involvement of parent(s), guardian(s) or custodian(s) in their child's educational process and in the school;
(2) Encourage businesses to provide time for their employees who are parent(s), guardian(s) or custodian(s) to meet with teachers concerning their child's education;
(3) Encourage advice and suggestions from the business community;
(4) Encourage school volunteer programs and mentorship programs; and
(5) Foster utilization of the school facilities and grounds for public community activities.
(k) On or before the eighth day of June, one thousand nine hundred ninety-five, each local school improvement council shall develop and deliver a report to the countywide council on productive and safe schools. The report shall include guidelines for the instruction and rehabilitation of pupils who have been excluded from the classroom, suspended from the school or expelled from the school, the description and recommendation of in-school suspension programs, a description of possible alternative settings, schedules for instruction and alternative education programs and an implementation schedule for such guidelines. The guidelines shall include the following:
(1) A system to provide for effective communication and coordination between school and local emergency services agencies;
(2) A preventive discipline program which may include the responsible students program devised by the West Virginia board of education as adopted by the county board of education, pursuant to the provisions of subsection (e), section one, article five, chapter eighteen-a of this code; and
(3) A student involvement program, which may include the peer mediation program or programs devised by the West Virginia board of education as adopted by the county board of education, pursuant to the provisions of subsection (e), section one, article five, chapter eighteen-a of this code.
(l) The council may include in its report to the county-wide council on productive and safe schools provisions of the state board of education policy 4373, student code of conduct, or any expansion of such policy which increases the safety of students in schools in this state and is consistent with the policies and other laws of this state.
(m) Councils may adopt their own guidelines established under this section. In addition, the councils may adopt all or any part of the guidelines proposed by other local school improvement councils, as developed under this section, which are not inconsistent with the laws of this state, the policies of West Virginia board of education or the policies of the county board of education.
(n) The state board of education shall provide assistance to a local school improvement council upon receipt of a reasonable request for that assistance. The state board also may solicit proposals from other parties or entities to provide orientation training for local school improvement council members and may enter into contracts or agreements for that purpose. Any training for members shall meet the guidelines established by the state board.