The Legislative Oversight Committee on Education Accountability met Sunday afternoon.
The committee heard from the WV Tax Division first. The Division indicated that County Property Assessors are doing well and making progress in assessing properties at 60 percent of market value. The Division did state there were a couple of outliers with higher than usual percentages. McDowell Counties is an outlier because of the sales of the Hatfield and McCoy properties. Boone and Pleasant Counites have adjusted modifiers to move based on market value. Ohio, Richie, and Tyler Counties are outliers with higher values due to timing issues with oil and gas data. The 2 percent increase to the limit of the total property tax revenues will prevent a rollback.
The committee heard about three WV Board of Education Policies, which are currently up for public comment. Policy 2520.2B – WV College and Career Readiness Standards for Mathematics – is being amended to align high-quality content standards for mathematics to address requirements passed in House Bill 3055 (2023 RS). The revisions include aligning grade-level and course-specific standards to reflect a more coherent progression of developmentally appropriate mathematics learning as well as reorganizing standards and courses to articulate horizontal and vertical connections. The policy also establishes a set of knowledge and skills that individuals need to transition into employment, enlistment, and higher education.
Policy 5202 – Minimum Requirements for Licensure of Professional/Paraprofessional Personnel and Advanced Salary Classifications- is being repealed and replaced due to formatting, technical, and subject matter changes. The replacement will align with current legislation. The policy outlines the minimum requirements for education licenses. The policy is revised to allow for Temporary Teaching Certificates, which are renewable. The policy removes language relating to charter schools. The bill changes the language for Early Childhood Classroom Assistant Teachers (ECCATs) to include first through third grades in addition to Pre-K and Kindergarten. The policy also includes criteria for these grades for the ECCAT certificates. The policy amends out-of-state applicates and non-US citizen criteria. The policy adds eligibility and criteria for candidates who hold multi-subject K-8 endorsements to teach English, Science, Social Studies, and Math to teach seventh and eighth grades. The policy clarifies salaries on a CTE Permit or Certificate for the vocational salary class. The policy removes credential language and clarifies reimbursement and salary supplements.
Policy 5901 – Regulations for Alternative Certification Programs for the Education of Teachers – is being revised to align with changes proposed in Policy 5202 and the WV Licensure Testing Directory. The Policy also removes the bachelor’s GPA requirement.
The committee also heard brief reports from the WV Department of Education on extended learning programs and funding for establishing agricultural programs.
