The Legislature finds the professional expertise and insight of the classroom teacher to be an invaluable ingredient in the development and delivery of staff development programs which meet the needs of classroom teachers.

Terms Used In West Virginia Code 18A-3-8

  • Classroom teacher: means a professional educator who has a direct instructional or counseling relationship with students and who spends the majority of his or her time in this capacity. See West Virginia Code 18A-1-1
  • Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
  • State: when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10

Therefore, a professional staff development council comprised of proportional representation from the major school levels and from vocational, special education and other specialties in proportion to their employment numbers in the county shall be established in each school district in the state in accordance with rules adopted by the State Board of Education. Nominations of instructional personnel to serve on the county staff development council may be submitted by the faculty senates of the district to the county superintendent who shall prepare and distribute ballots and tabulate the votes of the counties instructional personnel voting on the persons nominated. Each county staff development council shall consist of between nine and fifteen members at the discretion of the county superintendent based on the size of the county. The councils have final authority to propose staff development programs for their peers based upon an analysis of the individual and collective needs of the schools of the county as indicated by their strategic plans.

The county superintendent or a designee has an advisory, nonvoting role on the council. The county board shall make available an amount equal to one tenth of one percent of the amounts provided in accordance with § 18-9A-4 of this code and credit the funds to an account to be used by the council to fulfill its objectives. The local board has final approval of all proposed disbursements.

Any funds credited to the council during a fiscal year, but not used by the council, shall be carried over in the council account for use in the next fiscal year. These funds are separate and apart from, and in addition to, those funds to be credited to the council pursuant to this section. At the end of each fiscal year, the council shall report to each faculty senate chairperson the amount of funds carried over into the next fiscal year.

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