In addition to reporting Del. Greason's SOL Assessment Reform bill, HB 930 the Committee acted on a number of other bills. Below is a summary of the most pertinent of those bills:
HB 1091 (Garrett) which would remove OEI's authority to take
over schools that are denied accreditation for three years was reported and referred to Appropriations.
HB 1086 (Bell) provides that
when a student with a disability who lives in one school division enrolls in a
full time virtual program offered by another a school division, the school
division in which the student is enrolled must provide special education
services to the student. This bill was reported.
HB 324 (Bell) would, among other things, establish the Board
of the Virtual Virginia School and require that the School be open to any
student in the Commonwealth. The bill would result in federal, state, and local
funds, up to $6,500 per pupil, being transferred from local school boards to
the Virtual Virginia School. This bill was reported and referred to Appropriations. VSBA opposes this legislation.
HB 1115 (Greason) expands Virtual Virginia by authorizing DOE to contract with local school boards that have
developed virtual courses to make those virtual courses available to other
school boards through Virtual Virginia. This bill was reported. VSBA supports this legislation.
HB 1106 (Hope) will require the Joint Commission on Health Care, in
consultation with the Department of Education, to review restraint and seclusion
in the Commonwealth and in other states and make recommendations for modernizing
Virginia's policies to the General Assembly by the start of the 2015 session. This bill was reported.
HB 365 (Head) requires that revisions to SOL assessments be
finalized by December 31 of the year prior to the school year in which they will
be implemented. This bill was reported and referred to Appropriations.
HB 172 (Farrell) requires the Board of Education to promulgate
regulations to make the criteria for expedited retakes the same for all grade
levels and courses. This bill was reported and referred to
Appropriations.
