SB 1061 West Virginia Senate · 2026 Regular Session

Authorizing reassignment of school personnel in certain instances

SB 1061 allows West Virginia school superintendents to reassign surplus school personnel (such as teachers and support staff) without standard notice and hearing requirements when unexpected enrollment changes require it. The reassignment must occur before the last day of the second school month and applies only when enrollment shifts - unforeseen by May 1 - allow fewer teachers than planned under existing student-teacher ratios. The bill mandates that the least senior personnel be reassigned in such cases, prioritizing experience for remaining staff. This change streamlines adjustments to staffing needs during the school year without requiring full transfer procedures.

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2026

Committee Review

Mar 2026

Senate Passage

Mar 2026

House of Delegates Passage

Governor

Introduced Feb 21, 2026 Last action Mar 3, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced Version → Committee Substitute · 5 edits

MODERATE

The bill was amended to expand its scope from merely removing a prohibition on reassigning school personnel after the second school month to explicitly authorizing reassignment under certain circumstances. The committee substitute adds protections against arbitrary, capricious, or retaliatory transfers and establishes a grievance process for affected teachers. Technical clarifications were also made to improve consistency in language and formatting throughout the statute.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded from simply removing a timing prohibition to creating a comprehensive framework that authorizes reassignment while adding specific protections and procedural safeguards for teachers and service personnel.

SCOPE

Changed the bill's purpose from removing a prohibition to explicitly authorizing reassignment of teachers and service personnel under certain circumstances.

REQUIREMENT

Added explicit prohibition against making transfers based on arbitrary, capricious, or retaliatory reasons.

ENFORCEMENT

Created a new grievance process allowing teachers who believe their transfer violated provisions to file a complaint under West Virginia Public Employees Grievance Procedure.

TIMELINE

Modified the second school month restriction to include an exception when student population shifts leave a teacher without instructional responsibilities or work assignments.

TECHNICAL

Added comma to subsection (c) for consistency and corrected formatting of section references and numerical values throughout the text.

Floor votes · Senate Mar 2, 2026

How they voted

31–0

Passed · 2 other

Total votes 33

Mar 2, 2026

D Democratic2

2 Yea

100% Yea

R Republican31

29 Yea 2

93% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 3, 2026

Committee

To House Education

lower

Mar 3, 2026

Committee

To Education

lower

Mar 3, 2026

Introduced

Introduced in House

lower

Mar 2, 2026

Upper · Passed

Passed Senate (Roll No. 288)

upper

Feb 26, 2026

Upper · Passed

Committee substitute reported

upper

Feb 21, 2026

Introduced

Introduced in Senate

upper

Feb 21, 2026

Committee

To Education

upper

1 primary · 1 co-sponsor