This morning the Senate
Education and Health committee convened for their weekly meeting. The docket
was lengthy but only contained a few education related bills. Below is a summary
of the bills and committee action. Check back tomorrow for the weekly round-up
from Richmond.
SB368
(McDougle) authorizes the Board of Education to review the accreditation status
of a school once every two years or every three years and requires any school
that receives a multiyear accreditation status other than full accreditation to
be covered by a Board approved multiyear
corrective action plan for the duration of the period of accreditation. The
bill also provides that when the Board of Education determines a corrective
action plan submitted by a local school board is not sufficient to enable all
schools within the division to achieve full accreditation, the Board may return
the plan to the local school board with directions to submit an amended plan
pursuant to Board guidance. The bill was unanimously reported, with amendments,
from the committee.
SB612
(Garrett) is identical to HB131. This legislation prohibits
school divisions from joining an athletic/interscholastic organization that
doesn’t allow home school students to participate in public schools athletics
or interscholastic activities. It allows students to be charged reasonable fees
for participation. It also states that eligibility of a student receiving home
instruction shall be limited to participation the school serving the attendance
zone in which the student lives and will be subject to policies governing
participation that the local school board may establish. As with
previous years the bill was reported from the committee on an 8-7 vote.
SB665
(Marsden) prohibits a middle school student from participating on or trying out
for any school athletic team or squad with
a predetermined roster, regular practices, and scheduled competitions with
other middle schools unless such student has submitted to the school
principal a signed report from a licensed physician, nurse practitioner, or physician
assistant acting under the supervision of a licensed physician attesting that
such student has been examined and found to be physically fit for athletic
competition. The bill was unanimously reported with an amendment from the
committee and is a recommendation of the Youth Commission on Youth.
