WVEA Members Encouraged to Make Voices Heard

Evaluating superintendents, health care procedures, vaccines for students and competency testing were a few of the issues on the May 12 agenda of the West Virginia State Board of Education.

Some 4,000 students will be vaccinated next week since the Center for Disease Control (CDC) approved the Pfizer COVID vaccine for children ages 12-15.

The board discussed pedagogical standards related to SB 14, which was passed during the last legislative session and provides a third option for alternative certification, including pedagogical training. This certification and standards will be included in Policy 5310, which currently deals with pedagogical training  and teacher evaluation standards and elements.

Policies that need educator input and expertise were also considered.   Some of these policies have already been on public comment were seeking the boards approval, while others will now be put on public comment. Policies needing educator comment include:

• Policy 2330 Non-public School Accreditation: This policy is being revised for the first time since 2013. Changes to the policy clearly identify the documents needed to verify the accreditation status of the schools and defines expectations for transfers of records. This policy will be put on public comment for 30 days. Comment here.
• Policy 5314 Service Personnel Classification, Competency Testing and Profession Learning: This Policy is a repeal and replace as four policies are being incorporated into one. Policies being repealed are: 5141, 5314.01, 5301, and 5500.02. The new Policy 5314 outlines the service personnel classifications, competency test procedures, and defines the Service Personnel Staff Development Council. This policy will be on public comment for 30 days. Comment here.

The board heard public comment on the following policies and these will now be effective July 1 of this year.

• Policy 2422.7 Standards for Basic and Specialized Health Care Procedures: This policy is being revised to clarify school nursing language. The revisions include a series of definitions such as CPR and emergency medication to provide better guidance for school nurses.
• Policy 4150 Student Driver Eligibility Certificate: This policy had not been updated since 2008 and is being revised to align with Policy 2510. The new policy revises language from “core requirements” to “graduation requirements”.
• Policy 5309 County Superintendent Performance Evaluations: This policy is being revised to clearly set forth the requirements of the West Virginia Constitution. Overall, there were minimal changes to the policy language and corrections to formatting.