CHARLESTON, WV (LOOTPRESS) — Delegate Christopher Toney, R-Raleigh, the lead sponsor of House Bill 2145, is hoping it allows counties to support more specific training for student aides in public schools.
The bill, which was co-sponsored by House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay, and Delegate Matthew Rohrbach, R-Cabell, overwhelmingly passed the full House of Delegates March 26 by a vote of 93-2.
“This would allow our counties, if they want, to provide more specific training at no cost to the aide and would create two new classifications for classroom aides,” Toney said. “This would create the positions of Special Education Assistant Teacher and Behavioral Support Assistant Teacher.”
The bill was created last year after much consultation with the West Virginia Department of Education to hone in on the proper language that would create something to help students without adding a financial burden to the state.
“We believe it’s important to properly recognize the critical contributions our service personnel make to public education, and one way to do that is to create proper job classifications that accurately reflect the jobs and services performed by these employees,” Hanshaw said.
The classes referenced in the measure are designed to improve skills and specific competency areas related to services for students with special needs. Employees would have to be recommended for the training and be enrolled while pursuing other West Virginia Board of Education requirements.
This measure is with the West Virginia Senate for debate and is on the Senate Education Committee’s agenda for its 2 p.m. meeting today. The final day of the regular legislative session is Saturday, April 10.
