CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) – School discipline bills are making headway in the West Virginia Legislature again.
“When this bill didn’t pass last year, I was really upset,” said Sen. Amy Grady, R-Mason.
Grady stated that she revised the legislation to create a better version of a resource teachers claim they need.
“It was the number one concern for teachers the last two years,” Grady said after citing the answers from four different surveys sent to educators last year.
Senate Bill 199 outlines specific actions for teachers of grades K-6 when a student exhibits violent, threatening, or disruptive behavior: immediate removal of the student, parental notification, potential suspension, evaluation, and a possible alternative learning environment.
The first step includes the student’s behavior plan. If adequate progress is made after two weeks, that plan will continue.
If the student does not make progress, the behavioral plan could be changed and followed for another two weeks.
If the county has no behavioral intervention program, the student would be immediately removed from the classroom, parents would be notified to pick up the child, and the student would be suspended for one to three days while alternative accommodations are made.
The student would not return to school until a risk assessment is done. After the risk assessment, the student could return to school provisionally for five to 10 days. If another incident occurs, the student will be placed in an alternative learning environment for the rest of the semester or school year.
The Senate Education Committee passed SB 199 on Tuesday.
On Monday, the House passed its version of a school discipline bill HB 2515.
“We also have kids who are experiencing emotional issues they’ve went through trauma, and they don’t know how to process that. The processing of the emotions can be an outburst. The functional behavior analysis that is done immediately with a school counselor can actually set forth the plan to help that child move past whatever experiences they had,” Grady said.
The bill heads to the full Senate for consideration.
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