Morrisey signs bill to help teachers ‘regain control of their classrooms’
By Autumn Shelton, RealWV
RIPLEY, W.Va. – On Tuesday, Gov. Morrisey signed Senate Bill 199 into law. This bill provides classroom teachers and school personnel throughout the state with the increased ability to provide behavioral support to students, and to potentially remove a student from the classroom or bus if they exhibit certain types of disorderly conduct.
The bill must follow all guidelines of the federal Individuals with Disabilities Act or Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
During a bill signing ceremony held at Ripley Elementary, Morrisey said that although many have said the 2025 Legislative Session, which ended on Saturday, didn’t accomplish much, a lot of “critical” legislation was passed, including this bill.
“I’m especially pleased with what we have been able to do for the next generation of West Virginians,” Morrisey said. “We know a lot more needs to be done. We know that West Virginia, unfortunately, ranks nationally near the bottom in key metrics like educational attainment, teacher pay and literacy, but reversing course in these areas – that’s a major priority for my administration and I know that the legislature shares that sentiment.”
Morrisey explained that this bill will help teachers “regain control of their classrooms.”
“We know that when students are distracted, misbehaving or otherwise inhibiting their learning environment, teachers need to have the tools at their disposal in order to regain control,” Morrisey said. “We want our teachers teaching – not babysitting, not disciplining.”
According to Morrisey, the bill will create a “streamlined process for K-12 teachers when dealing with violent student behavior.”
Students in grades K-6, who exhibit violent or threatening behavior to other students, staff or peers, or are otherwise creating an unsafe learning environment, may be removed from the classroom or bus and referred to the school counselor, social worker or school psychologist, Morrisey explained. From there an evidence based intervention plan will be developed and followed for two weeks.
“If adequate progress is being made after two weeks, it makes sense the plan would continue,” Morrisey said. “If the student is not making progress, the behavioral plan could be changed and then followed for another two weeks. If after four weeks, satisfactory progress is not being made, the student will be placed in a behavioral intervention program or with a licensed behavioral health agency.”
“If there is no county program, the student may be removed from school and found alternative learning environments, maybe it’s a virtual school or other locations,” Morrisey continued. “That’s done until a risk assessment is completed.”
For students in grades 6-12 who are acting “disorderly or violent,” they will be “removed from the classroom for the day,” Morrisey noted, adding that if a student is removed from class three times in one month, they will be suspended and “potentially be placed in an alternative learning center or with a licensed behavior health agency as determined by the principal.”
The bill’s lead sponsor, Senator Amy Grady, R-Mason, who is an elementary school teacher, was present during the bill’s signing.
“The most important part is we want to make sure you guys always have a safe classroom and safe learning environment to learn in and that your teachers have a safe environment to teach in,” Grady said to the fifth grade students who were in attendance.
State Superintendent of Schools, Michele Blatt, was also in attendance.
“We worked really hard all last session and into this session to make sure that we could get something that was going to be good for our schools, for our kids and for our teachers,” Blatt said. “I think we have something in place that’s really going to support our teachers and make a difference.”
Also joining Morrisey during the bill’s signing were Senator Eric Tarr, R-Putnam, and Ripley Mayor Carolyn Radler.
