West Virginia Senate passes school discipline bill, sends it to House

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WCHS) — The West Virginia Senate has passed its version of a school discipline bill aimed at helping address behavior concerns in K-6 classrooms in the state.

Senate Bill 199 outlines actions teachers in the state could take against students showing disruptive or violent behavior, including removal, parental notification, potential suspension, an evaluation and possibly an alternate learning environment.

The bill passed by a unanimous 33-0 vote with one person absent.

Similar legislation has failed in the past, but sponsors of the bill previously told Eyewitness News that new provisions in this proposal reflect communication with teachers in the state.

Under Senate Bill 199, if a student is threatening or disruptive, the student will be referred to a school counselor, social worker or school psychologist to do a functional behavioral analysis and come up with a behavioral plan.

If incidents continue to occur, the behavioral plan can be changed and the student will be given another two weeks to show improvement before further intervention, including work with a behavioral interventionist or a behavioral health agency.

If a county does not have access to a behavioral intervention program, then the student must be removed from the classroom and suspended while a risk assessment is done by a county psychologist.

The bill requires that these assessments be done within one to three days. During this time, alternative learning accommodations are made based on that assessment, whether in an alternate school setting, virtual learning, or back to school on a provisional basis.

The West Virginia House of Delegates has passed its own version of the bill, but Senate Education Chair Amy Grady, R-Mason, previously said both chambers are in agreement that the Senate version can combine the best ideas from both.