August 13, 1999

Mr. Thomas E. Long
Superintendent
Marion County Schools
200 Gaston Avenue
Fairmont, West Virginia 26554

RE: Superintendent's Interpretation

Dear Superintendent Long:

I am in receipt of your request for a Superintendent's interpretation regarding two candidates for a position posted in June, 1999, and their seniority and total amount of teaching experience.

You indicated the following about the two candidates:

Candidate A - commencement of duties began on August 20, 1997, as a regular employee and still is currently under contract, having worked 1997-98 and 1998-99. Employment as a substitute teacher prior to 1997-98 reflects no years exceeding 133 days.

Candidate B - employed 1996-97 and 1997-98 in a position posted each year as one year only positions. He worked 1998-99 as a substitute teacher for a total of 161 days.

West Virginia Code Section 18A-4-7a states that "[t]he seniority of classroom teachers...shall be determined on the basis of the length of time the employee has been employed as a regular full-time certified and/or licensed professional educator by the county board of education..."

Mr. Thomas E. Long
August 13, 1999
Page 2

Candidate A has two years of seniority inasmuch as he is a regular full-time employee under contract as such for the school years 1997-98 and 1998-99. Because this employee's substitute experience does not exceed 133 days, it may not be prorated to give this employee an additional year of experience. Candidate A appears to have two years of teaching experience.

Candidate B, in accordance with the facts provided, does not appear to have been a regular full-time professional educator as required to accumulate regular seniority for the purpose of seniority. He is entitled to accumulate seniority for the time served as a substitute teacher because he completed more than one hundred thirty-three days as a substitute during the 1998-99 school year, but only for the limited purpose of applying for employment. The two single years of employment of Candidate B do not appear to accrue to his benefit for seniority purposes because this candidate did not have continuing full-time employment with the Board and there was a break in service after the end of each contract term. Consequently, for the purpose of applying for permanent employment, this individual would have seniority for the time served or .8 of a year. His teaching experience appears to total 2.8 years.

Hoping that I have been of service, I am

Sincerely,

/s/

Henry Marockie
State of Superintendent of Schools

HM/mp