HB 3209: To provide at least one counselor for every 250 students in public schools and public charter schools in this state. - West Virginia

hb3209 hfat ellington 3-26 adopted.htm → hb3209 sfat grady _1 4-11 adopted.htm · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill title was updated from a House version to a Senate version with a revised description. The new title clarifies that each county must employ two school counselors per 1,000 students and explicitly states this requirement does not increase the number of eligible professional student support personnel positions under existing programs.

Scope change

The scope remains focused on school counselor-to-student ratios, but the language now explicitly defines the requirement as applying to each county and clarifies the impact on existing personnel funding categories.

REQUIREMENT

The counselor-to-student ratio requirement was clarified to specify 'two school counselors to each 1,000 students to net enrollment' in the title.

ELIGIBILITY

Added explicit clarification that the requirement cannot be construed to increase the number of eligible professional student support personnel positions under the public school support program.

TECHNICAL

Changed the bill identifier from 'HB3209 HFAT Ellington 3-26' to 'HB3209 SFAT GRADY #1 4-11' reflecting Senate adoption with Senator Grady's amendment.

hb3209 hfa ellington 3-25 _1 adopted.htm → hb3209 hfat ellington 3-26 adopted.htm · 2 edits

MINOR

The bill title was updated from a version dated March 25 to a version dated March 26, and the amendment language was changed from a specific page and section reference to a general instruction to replace the bill's title. This is primarily a procedural and formatting update rather than a substantive policy change.

TECHNICAL

The bill header was updated to reflect a new version number (HFAT) and date (3-26) instead of the previous version (HFA) and date (3-25).

The amendment instruction was changed from specifying a precise location (page 4, section 18b, lines 73-75) to a general instruction to replace the bill's title.

Committee Substitute → hb3209 hfa ellington 3-25 _1 adopted.htm · 2 edits

MINOR

The bill was amended to clarify that the new school counselor staffing requirements do not increase the number of eligible professional student support personnel positions for funding purposes. The amendment also corrected a formatting error where subsection (h) was duplicated and renumbered as (i).

Scope change

The amendment clarifies that the staffing ratio requirements do not affect existing funding allowances for student support personnel positions.

FISCAL

Added language clarifying that the counselor-to-student ratio requirements cannot be used to increase the number of eligible professional student support personnel positions for funding purposes under §18-9A-8.

TECHNICAL

Removed duplicate subsection (h) and corrected the numbering sequence in the original text.

Enrolled Committee Substitute → Committee Substitute · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill text was replaced with a different version of HB 3209, changing the effective date from July 1, 2025 to August 1, 2025, and adding a new requirement that every public school must have at least one professional counselor. The bill also changed the scope to include §18-9A-8 in addition to §18-5-18b, and updated the committee reporting information.

Scope change

The bill now explicitly requires every public school in the state to have at least one professional counselor, expanding beyond the previous county-level requirements.

TIMELINE

The effective date for the new counselor employment requirement changed from July 1, 2025 to August 1, 2025.

REQUIREMENT

Added a new mandate requiring every public school in the state to have at least one professional counselor.

SCOPE

The bill now amends two code sections (§18-5-18b and §18-9A-8) instead of just one, expanding its legal scope.

TECHNICAL

Updated committee reporting information to reflect March 19, 2025 reporting dates and additional committee assignments.

Engrossed Committee Substitute → Enrolled Committee Substitute · 4 edits · Apr 28, 2025

MODERATE

The bill was transitioned from a committee substitute draft to an enrolled final version, adding official certification signatures, legislative history, and a formal act title. The substantive policy content regarding school counselor ratios and training requirements remained unchanged between the two versions.

Scope change

The bill's scope and applicability remained the same; only the document format and certification status changed from draft to final enrolled legislation.

TECHNICAL

Added official certification signatures for the Clerk of the House, Clerk of the Senate, Speaker of the House, and President of the Senate to finalize the bill.

Added formal act title and legislative history section describing the bill's purpose and effective date.

Added footer navigation links and website maintenance information that were present in the enrolled version but not in the committee substitute.

Removed draft committee markings, page numbers, and navigation elements that were part of the committee substitute document format.

Introduced Version → Engrossed Committee Substitute · 4 edits · Apr 12, 2025

MODERATE

The bill was amended to clarify the counselor-to-student ratio requirements and update the effective date for new hiring mandates. The original version proposed a 1:250 ratio for all schools, while the committee substitute introduced a more flexible approach allowing counties to follow specific ratios based on school level (elementary/middle vs. high school) while maintaining a minimum requirement of one counselor per school. The amendment also added language to clarify that the new hiring requirements would not increase the number of eligible positions for funding purposes.

Scope change

The bill's scope was modified to provide counties with more flexibility in implementing counselor ratios based on school level, while maintaining the requirement that every public school have at least one counselor. The amendment also clarified the relationship between new hiring requirements and existing funding allowances.

REQUIREMENT

Changed counselor-to-student ratio from a flat 1:250 requirement to a flexible system where counties may follow 1:400-450 for elementary/middle schools and 1:250-300 for high schools, while still requiring at least one counselor per school.

TIMELINE

Added a specific effective date of August 1, 2025 for the new counselor hiring requirements.

FISCAL

Added clarification that the new counselor hiring requirements would not increase the number of eligible positions for existing funding allowances under the professional student support services section.

DEFINITION

Reorganized the section structure to better define the relationship between the new hiring mandate and existing funding provisions.

To provide at least one counselor for every 250 students in public schools and public charter schools in this state.

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