CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals reversed a Monongalia County Circuit Court decision on the hiring practices for specific workers by the Monongalia County Board of Education.
In 2011, the American Federation of Teachers filed suit ultimately wanting district leaders to cease contracting with Regional Education Services Agency (RESA) for part-time interventionists.
The June 24, 2015 ruling by Circuit Court Judge Phillip Gaujot concluded that “an interventionist met the statutory definition of a classroom teacher; therefore the position had to be filled through direct employment by the Monongalia County Board of Education” using the same standards required in hiring a full time classroom teacher.
Gaujot’s ruling prohibited the school board from contracting with RESA to obtain services from interventionists.
In a decision by the Supreme Court of Appeals released Nov. 2, it was determined that under state code, the definition of classroom teacher does not include interventionists who work with individual students or small groups.
The ruling went on to say “a county board of education may contract with (RESA) for the provision of interventionist services to its students.”