West Virginia legislation · 2026 Regular Session
West Virginia HB4395: Relating to investigations of allegations of child safety violations for school personnel.
Status: Signed into law, April 1, 2026
What the bill says
An act to amend and reenact §18A-2-8 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to expanding requirement for a school principal to report certain employee conduct to the county superintendent within 24 hours to also require an a supervisor or administrator to report the conduct; expanding the duty of the county superintendent to report certain employees being investigated for alleged misconduct to the state superintendent within seven days; requiring that certain investigations continue if the employee transfers or resigns; expanding the individuals to be included in the database.
From the enrolled text, March 13, 2026:
AN ACT to amend and reenact §18A-2-8 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to expanding requirement for a school principal to report certain employee conduct to the county superintendent within 24 hours to also require an a supervisor or administrator to report the conduct; expanding the duty of the county superintendent to report certain employees being investigated for alleged misconduct to the state superintendent within seven days; requiring that certain investigations continue if the employee transfers or resigns; expanding the individuals to be included in the database maintained by the state superintendent to include those investigated for jeopardizing the health, safety, or welfare of students, or for impacting the learning environment of other students; requiring database to include the reason for the investigation; and allowing nonpublic schools to provide information to the state superintendent to be housed in the database. ARTICLE 2. SCHOOL PERSONNEL. §18A-2-8. Suspension and dismissal of school personnel by board; appeal. (a) Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, a board may suspend or dismiss any person in its employment at any time for: Immorality, incompetency, cruelty, insubordination, intemperance, willful neglect of duty, unsatisfactory performance, a finding of abuse by the Department of Human Services in accordance with §49-1-1 et seq. of this code, the conviction of a misdemeanor or a guilty plea or …