Senate President Mitch Carmichael gavels out the Senate on May 20. Carmichael plans to gavel the Senate back in session on Saturday. (Photo Courtesy/WV Legislative Photography)

CHARLESTON — Leadership of the West Virginia Senate wants to call the upper chamber back into special session Saturday to start work on the 144-page update to its regular session omnibus bill.

Senate President Mitch Carmichael, R-Jackson, sent a letter to senators Friday of his intention to return them in session Saturday to begin working on the Student Success Act, a draft education reform proposal also released on Friday.

“Our intention is to begin and complete Senate action on these measures on Saturday, June 1, 2019,” Carmichael wrote. “Obviously, this will require a high degree of coordination and cooperation within Senate membership. I look forward to working with you to achieve this goal.”

In the letter, Carmichael asked the senators to submit all amendments to the draft bill by noon Thursday.

“This is in no way an effort to diminish or effect the amendment process which each senator has every right to pursue,” Carmichael wrote. “Rather, I make this request in recognition that these concepts have been vetted and reviewed during the regular legislative session and throughout the education forums that have been conducted over the past months.”

The House of Delegates, which divided into four committees last Monday to review education proposals, plans to go into session June 17 to coincide with monthly legislative interim meetings. According to a spokesperson, House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay, will be on a trade mission to Japan and China starting Saturday and ending June 8.

“At that time (June 17), the House will begin consideration of bills House members plan to introduce, as well as anything that might be passed by the Senate by then,” said House Communications Director Jared Hunt.

The Senate released its sequel to Senate Bill 451, the education omnibus that died during the 2019 regular session, late Friday afternoon at the start of the three-day Memorial Day weekend. The new 144-page document, called the Student Success Act, updates several of the proposals in SB 451 and includes some new proposals.

The Senate Democratic caucus also introduced eight education bills during last Monday’s resumption of the special session.

“The Republican and Democrat caucuses have been actively engaged in the important work of ensuring that West Virginia operates a world-class public education system,” Carmichael wrote. “We have no time to spare in our quest to empower our students, parents and teachers with the tools necessary to improve student success. It is a moral imperative that we work together to lift student success and achievement in West Virginia to first place in America.”

A proposal in the original SB 451 that caused a two-day strike of teachers and school service personnel – education savings accounts for the parents of special-needs students – is not in the Student Success Act.

Public charter schools, however, remain in the bill, but more power is given to county boards of education to authorize charters. It gives the state Board of Education power to review denials of charter school applications, as well as contract renewals and revocations. It also allows the state’s four-year colleges and universities to start charters, but limits them to four charters total.

The bill also allows for open enrollment for students to attend schools in counties where they do not live. It gives counties and schools more flexibility and freedom from certain state education regulations by becoming an Innovation in Education school. The bill includes provisions for wrap-around services, increased numbers of counselors and nurses in schools, pay raises, provisions to provide counties with increased funding at the local level and incentives for hiring teachers in high-need subjects.

“Improving the West Virginia public education system is among the most important tasks that we face as senators,” Carmichael wrote. “Through your efforts, we have brought awareness and offered meaningful solutions to the issues that confront the education delivery model in our state.”

Senate Minority Leader Roman Prezioso, D-Marion, was unavailable for comment.