Action Needed Now (3-4-25) on SB 154!
Contact the Senate and OPPOSE this bill for these reasons:
- This bill would affect school employee rights regarding disciplinary action and grievance rights in relation to gender-related complaints.
We have concerns that this bill could also morph into an all-out attack on the full grievance procedure.
Committee Substitute for the Committee Substitute for SB 154 provides that teachers are:
- prohibited from providing instruction related to sexual orientation or gender identity.
- prohibited from knowingly giving false or misleading information to the parent or guardian of a student regarding the student’s gender identity or intention to transition to a gender that is different than the student’s biological sex.
- required to report a student’s request for an accommodation intended to affirm a change in the student’s gender identity that is different from a student’s biological sex, including a request to change names or pronouns, to an administrator. The administrator is required to report the student’s request to the student’s parent or guardian.
The bill contains some troublesome language that would negatively affect the rights of classroom teachers and school employees regarding discipline and grievance rights:
- If a parent makes a complaint that a teacher has violated this law, a school must start an investigation within 5 days of the report, and within 10 days of the complaint must issue a report.
- If the school finds that the report is unsubstantiated, the parent can appeal to the BOE, and the BOE can grant the appeal or remand it for additional fact-finding by a 2/3 vote.
The bill does not allow the local Board of Education to uphold the school’s decision that the complaint was unsubstantiated.
If the school finds that the report is substantiated, the school shall issue a report that includes the number of prior substantiated reports against the teacher in the previous 12 months and recommend disciplinary sanctions against the teacher:
- First offense: reprimand
- Second offense: 30-day suspension
- Third offense: termination.
If suspension or termination is recommended, the BOE must convene within 10 days to determine if it will adopt the school’s recommendation, however, the BOE only can consider facts in the school’s report and may refuse the recommendation of the school only on a 2/3 vote. A 2/3 vote will require the votes of 4 out of the 5 BOE members. Perhaps most significantly, teachers cannot use the grievance process to challenge these decisions and likewise may not be able to seek redress from the courts.
Email the Senate about SB 154!
Copy & paste Senate address list:
bill.hamilton@wvsenate.gov; robbie.morris@wvsenate.gov; darren.thorne@wvsenate.gov; jason.barrett@wvsenate.gov; patricia.rucker@wvsenate.gov; tom.willis@wvsenate.gov; mike.stuart@wvsenate.gov; rupie.phillips@wvsenate.gov; ryan.weld@wvsenate.gov; laura.chapman@wvsenate.gov; amy.grady@wvsenate.gov; eric.tarr@wvsenate.gov; mike.woelfel@wvsenate.gov; scott.fuller@wvsenate.gov; patrick.martin@wvsenate.gov; ben.queen@wvsenate.gov; glenn.jeffries@wvsenate.gov; charles.clements@wvsenate.gov; chris.rose@wvsenate.gov; rollan.roberts@wvsenate.gov; brian.helton@wvsenate.gov; vince.deeds@wvsenate.gov; jack.woodrum@wvsenate.gov; jay.taylor@wvsenate.gov; randy.smith@wvsenate.gov; tom.takubo@wvsenate.gov; joey.garcia@wvsenate.gov; craig.hart@wvsenate.gov; Mark.Maynard@wvsenate.gov; donna.boley@wvsenate.gov; mike.azinger@wvsenate.gov; mike.oliverio@wvsenate.gov; kevan.bartlett@wvsenate.gov; anne.charnock@wvsenate.gov