A registered professional nurse, licensed by the West Virginia Board of Examiners for Registered Professional Nurses and employed by a county board of education, who has less than a bachelor's degree, shall receive a salary not less than that provided in sections two [§18A-4-2] and two-a [§18A-4-2a, repealed] of this article and in accordance with the following:
(a) A registered professional nurse who has completed a two-year nursing program (sixty-four semester hours) shall be paid not less than the salary for a teacher whose classification of training is "third class" as defined in subparagraph (3), section one [§18A-4-1] of this article, such salary to include allowable years of experience, and(b) A registered professional nurse who has completed a three-year nursing program (ninety-six hours) shall be paid not less than the salary for a teacher whose classification of training is "second class" as defined in subparagraph (4), section one [§18A-4-1] of this article, such salary to include allowable years of experience. The salary provided under this section and the additional fixed charge payments required therefor shall be paid outside the public school support plan provided for in article nine-a [§§18-9A-1 et seq.], chapter eighteen of this code.