MINUTES

WEST VIRGINIA BOARD OF EDUCATION

Board Conference Room

Capitol Building 6, Room 353

1900 Kanawha Boulevard, East

Charleston, West Virginia

July 13, 2005

I.

President Barbara N. Fish called the meeting of the West Virginia Board of Education to order at 1:00 p.m. on July 13, 2005, in Capitol Building 6, Room 353, 1900 Kanawha Boulevard, East, Charleston, West Virginia.

The following members were present: President Fish, Vice President Lowell E. Johnson, Secretary Priscilla M. Haden, Sandra M. Chapman, Delores W. Cook, Sheila M. Hamilton, Burma Hatfield, Ronald B. Spencer, and Jenny N. Phillips, and ex officios Steven L. Paine, State Superintendent of Schools, and James L. Skidmore, Chancellor, the West Virginia Council for Community and Technical College Education. Member absent was ex officio J. Michael Mullen, Chancellor, the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission.

II.

Heather L. Deskins, Esq., Office of Legal Services, Superintendent's Office, administered the ceremonial oath of office to Dr. Paine.

III.

Mr. Bruce Seccurro, parent, Putnam County, addressed the Board regarding the proposed amendment of West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission Series 2, Athletics, Provisions Governing Eligibility.

IV.

Upon motion by Dr. Johnson, seconded by Ms. Phillips, the Board unanimously approved the agenda.

V.

Dr. Karen Huffman, Executive Director, and Ms. Serena Starcher, Coordinator, Office of Professional Preparation, Division of Administrative Services, and Dr. Lynn Boyer, Executive Director, Office of Special Education, Division of Instructional and Student Services, distributed information and addressed the Board regarding an alternative route to certification for special education teachers to attain highly qualified status. (Copy appended to Official Minutes of July 14, 2005 at Attachment C and addendum.)

VI.

Policy 5202 - Minimum Requirements for the Licensure of

Professional/ Paraprofessional Personnel and Advanced Salary Classification and

Policy 5100 - Approval of Educational Personnel Preparation Programs

Dr. Huffman addressed the Board regarding issues related to Board Policies 5202 and 5100. The report was in response to questions that were raised at the June meeting of the WVBE. The following three topics were discussed: 1) requirements in W. Va. Code and WVBE policy for courses/programs to be completed from institutions that are accredited or regionally accredited; 2) criteria for eligibility for on-line courses/programs to be used for state certification or certification renewal purposes; and, 3) options for teachers who are already certified in one area of special education to add certification in another area of special education certification including: a) the current option in WVBE Policy 5202 (for LD, BD and/or MI), b) a proposed option for adding Autism certification, and c) Multi-categorical Special Education (LD/BD/MI) or to BD. (Copy appended to Official Minutes, Attachment A.)

VII.

Mr. Mike Hayden, Executive Director, and Ms. Kelly Geddis, Assistant Executive Director, WVSSAC, distributed information and addressed the Board regarding proposed changes to WVSSAC Series 2 and Series 3. (Copy appended to Official Minutes of July 14, 2005 at Attachment E and addendum.)

VIII.

President Fish called for a break at 2:32 p.m.

IX.

President Fish called the meeting back to order at 2:46 p.m.

X.

Dr. Jack McClanahan, Acting Deputy State Superintendent, distributed information and addressed the Board regarding additional proposed changes to Policy 6200. (Copy appended to Official Minutes of July 14, 2005 at Attachment F and addendum.)

XI.

Dr. Cathy Jones, Coordinator, Early Childhood/Even Start, Division of Instructional and Student Services, addressed the Board and distributed information regarding proposed changes to Policy 2525. Dr. Jones stated that section 17.2 was inadvertently left out of the policy provided in the agenda and that the missing section has been returned to the version to be acted upon at the July 14 meeting. (Copy appended to Official Minutes of July 14, 2005 at Attachment H and addendum.)

XII.

Mr. Keith Butcher, Executive Director, Office of Instructional Services, Division of Instructional and Student Services, addressed the Board and distributed information regarding proposed changes (in response to recent legislation) to Policy 2510. (Copy appended to Official Minutes of July 14, 2005 at Attachment I and addendum.)

President Fish appointed Ms. Hatfield to assist with the development of guidelines regarding the use of accrued instructional time. Ms. Chapman requested information be provided at a future meeting regarding the attainment of physical education credits.

XIII.

Dr. Kenna R. Seal, Director, Office of Education Performance Audits, addressed the Board regarding proposed changes to Policy 2320. (Copy appended to Official Minutes of July 14, 2005 at Attachment J.)

XIV.

Dr. Stan Hopkins, Assistant State Superintendent, Division of Technical and Adult Education Services, provided a progress report on the high school student success initiative. This item will be placed on the August agenda for in-depth discussion and also on the September agenda with a detailed plan of action to include the topic of grammar and consideration will be given to the ideology of the codes of conduct and development of study skills.

XV.

The next regular meeting of the Board will be held July 14, 2005 in Charleston, West Virginia. President Fish announced a modification to the July 14 agenda as follows: item VIII.C. Grant Guidelines will be moved to the first order business following the approval of the Consent Agenda.

XVI.

Upon motion by Mrs. Hamilton, seconded by Ms. Chapman and unanimously carried, the meeting adjourned at 4:30 p.m.

Minutes approved by the Board on August 11, 2005.

_________________________________________

Lowell E. Johnson, President

_________________________________________

Priscilla M. Haden, Secretary

Minutes were recorded by

Virginia M. Harris

Executive Secretary to

the Board.

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