West Virginia school discipline bill officially in effect. What changes?

The bill is meant to give teachers in West Virginia more power over students in their classrooms and also outlines the process after a behavioral incident in a public school.

Under the bill, a teacher may exclude any middle or high school student (grades 6-12) from a class if their conduct is “disorderly” or “is interfering with an orderly educational process.” If a student is removed from class three times in a month, they should be suspended or considered for placement in an alternative learning center, as determined by the principal, according to the bill.

For elementary (K-6) and public Pre-K schools, any student who “is violent, threatening, or intimidating toward staff or peers, or creates an unsafe learning environment” should be referred to a school counselor or social worker.

That counselor will develop a two-week “behavioral plan” based on an assessment while the student is suspended for 1-3 days. That plan should be followed for two weeks, and then either continued or changed if the student is not making “adequate progress.” If the student still has not made progress after two additional weeks, they “should be placed in a behavioral intervention program or with a licensed behavioral health agency the county has established.”

Previously, there was not an outlined classroom discipline process for K-6 students in elementary school.

The bill also says that a school board, depending on available funding, should “create more alternative learning centers, expand its capacity for alternative placements, or partner with a licensed behavioral health agency” to fill the need for alternative learning due to behavioral issues.

You can read the full text of the bill, which is an amendment of West Virginia Code §18A-5-1, online here.