December 22, 2004

John Everett Roush, Esquire
WV School Service Personnel Association 1610 Washington St., East
Charleston, WV 25311

Dear Mr. Roush:

I am in receipt of your request for an opinion regarding supervisory aides. Specifically, you ask:

1. Are there any legal limits on the amount of time that a supervisory aide may spend supervising children?

2. If the answer to the first question is no, what does the state department of education suggest as a guideline for the amount of time that a supervisory aide may spend supervising children?

In regard to your first question, West Virginia Code ? 18A-5-8 states:

(a) Within the limitations provided in this section, any aide who agrees to do so shall stand in the place of the parent or guardian and shall exercise such authority and control over pupils as is required of a teacher as provided in section one of this article. The principal shall designate aides in the school who agree to exercise that authority on the basis of seniority as an aide and shall enumerate the instances in which the authority shall be exercised by an aide when requested by the principal, assistant principal or professional employee to whom the aide is assigned . . .

(d) An aide may not be required by the operation of this section to perform noninstructional duties for an amount of time which exceeds that required under the aide's contract of employment or that required of other aides in the same school unless the assignment of the duties is mutually agreed upon by the aide and the county superintendent, or the superintendent's designated representative, subject to board approval. The terms and conditions of the agreement shall be in writing, signed by both parties, and may include additional benefits. The agreement shall be uniform as to aides assigned similar duties for similar amounts of time within the same school. Aides shall have the option of agreeing to supervise students and of renewing related assignments annually. If an aide elects not to renew the previous agreement to supervise students, the minimum salary of the aide shall revert to the pay grade specified in section eight-a, article four of this chapter for the classification title held by the aide and any county salary schedule in excess of the minimum requirements of this article.

As I?m sure you are aware, paragraph (d) of Code ? 18A-5-8 was enacted by the Legislature during its 2003 session, and became effective on June 6, 2003. The department of education recommends that school principals and the aides assigned to their schools work together to reach a mutually satisfactory arrangement that effectively meets student needs and complies with the terms of this code section.
Hoping that I have been of service, I am
Sincerely,

/s/

David Stewart
State Superintendent of Schools