Subcommittee 2 of the House Education Committee met twice last
week and considered the following bills of interest:
HB1881 (Keam) was amended with a substitute.
The substitute requires
instruction concerning the health and safety risks of using nicotine vapor
products to be provided in public schools. The subcommittee recommended that the bill be
reported and referred to Appropriations on a vote of 9-0.
HB 1868 (Hurst) renames
the Virginia Index of Performance (VIP) incentive program as the Exemplar
School Recognition Program (the Program) and makes several changes to the
Program to align it with recent changes made by the Board of Education (the
Board) to the Standards of Accreditation, including requiring the Board to
design the Program to recognize and reward (i) schools that exceed Board-established
requirements or show continuous improvement on academic and school quality
indicators and (ii) schools, school divisions, and school boards that implement
effective, innovative practices that are aligned with the Commonwealth's goals
for public education. The subcommittee
recommended that the bill be reported on a vote of 6-3.
HB 1985 (Bell, R.P.) requires the
Department of Education to annually collect from each school board and publish
on its website various enrollment and achievement data on alternative education
programs for students who have been suspended, expelled, or otherwise precluded
from attendance at school. The bill requires such data to be published in a
manner that protects the identities of individual students and disaggregated by
local school division and by student race, ethnicity, gender, and disability. The subcommittee recommended reporting the
bill on a vote of 9-0.
HB 2008 (Garrett) requires the Department of Education, in consultation
with representatives from pertinent industries such as renewable energy,
natural gas, nuclear energy, coal, and oil, to establish an energy career
cluster. The bill requires the Department of Education to base the knowledge
and skill sets contained in such energy career cluster on the energy industry
competency and credential models developed by the Center for Energy Workforce
Development in partnership with the U.S. Department of Labor. The bill further
requires the Department of Education to report to the Chairmen of the House
Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health no
later than December 1, 2019, on its progress toward establishing such energy
career cluster. The subcommittee recommended
that the bill be reported on a vote of 9-0.
HB 2053 (McQuinn) requires the Department of Education, in consultation
with representatives from pertinent industries such as renewable energy,
natural gas, nuclear energy, coal, and oil, to establish an energy career
cluster. The bill requires the Department of Education to base the knowledge and
skill sets contained in such energy career cluster on the energy industry
competency and credential models developed by the Center for Energy Workforce
Development in partnership with the U.S. Department of Labor. The bill further
requires the Department of Education to report to the Chairmen of the House
Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health no
later than December 1, 2019, on its progress toward establishing such energy
career cluster. The subcommittee
recommended that the bill be reported and referred to Appropriations on a vote
of 8-1.
HB 2124 (Davis) requires the Board of
Education to waive the requirement that school divisions provide additional
teaching days or teaching hours to compensate for school closings resulting
from an evacuation directed and compelled by the Governor. The bill provides
that there shall be no proportionate reduction in the amount paid by the
Commonwealth from the Basic School Aid Fund or the amount paid by a local
governing body. The subcommittee
recommended that the bill be reported and referred to Appropriations on a vote
of 9-0. The subcommittee recommended
that the bill report and refer to Appropriations on a vote of 9-0.
HB 2140 (Thomas) permits the Board of Education to waive the requirement
to set the school calendar so that the first day students are required to
attend school must be after Labor Day for any school board that certifies to
the Board of Education that the school division is entirely surrounded by
school divisions that each have an opening date prior to Labor Day in the
school year for which the waiver is sought. The subcommittee recommended reporting on a
vote of 8-1. The subcommittee recommended
that the bill be reported on a vote of 8-1.
HB 2145 (Turpin) requires each local school board to (i) administer the
model exit questionnaire for teachers developed by the Superintendent of Public
Instruction to each teacher who ceases to be employed in the school division
for any reason and (ii) collect, maintain, and report on the results of each
such questionnaire in a manner that ensures the confidentiality of each
teacher's name and other personally identifying information. Under current law,
such model exit questionnaire for teachers is administered in five school
divisions pursuant to a pilot program. The subcommittee recommended that
the bill be reported and referred to Appropriations on a vote of 6-3. The subcommittee recommended that the bill report
and refer to Appropriations on a vote of 6-3.
HB 2417 (Turpin) aligns the state review
process of underperforming schools and school divisions with the new Standards
for Accreditation adopted by the Board of Education (Board). The bill requires
the Department of Education to cause an academic or other review to be
conducted to assist schools not meeting requirements for school quality
indicators established by the Board. The Board may require a local school board
to develop a corrective action plan for any such school within its division.
The bill requires a school board of a school division that does not demonstrate
progress in implementing such corrective action plan to enter into a memorandum
of understanding with the Board. The bill also requires the school board of an
underperforming school division to enter into a memorandum of understanding
with the Board prior to developing a corrective action plan. The subcommittee recommended that the bill be
reported on a vote of 8-1.
HB 2325 (Thomas) requires the Board of
Education to include in its regulations that prescribe the requirements for the
licensure of teachers and other school personnel required to hold a license
procedures for the private reprimand of such license holders. The bill permits
the Board of Education to issue private reprimand to any such license holder
who knowingly and willfully commits a certain enumerated act relating to secure
mandatory tests administered to students. The only express disciplinary actions
that are permissible under current law in such a scenario are suspension or
revocation of such individual's license. The bill also permits a school board
or division superintendent to issue private reprimand to a teacher who breaches
his employment contract after the school board or division superintendent
declines to grant such teacher's request for release from such contract on the
grounds of insufficient or unjustifiable cause. The only express disciplinary
action that is permissible under current law in such a scenario is revocation
of such teacher's license. The
subcommittee amended the bill to allow for a written reprimand, notice of which
must be given to all division superintendents.
The subcommittee recommended that the amended bill be reported on a vote
of 7-2.
HB 2384 (Hope) requires each school board to (i) develop and implement a policy to
prohibit the use and distribution of tobacco products and nicotine vapor
products on a school bus, on school property, or at an on-site or off-site
school-sponsored activity and (ii) include in its code of student conduct a
prohibition against possessing tobacco products or nicotine vapor products on a
school bus, on school property, or at an on-site or off-site school-sponsored
activity. Current law only places these requirements on each school board with
regard to electronic cigarettes. The bill requires such policy to include
adequate provisions for enforcement among students, employees, and visitors,
including the enumeration of possible sanctions or disciplinary action
consistent with state or federal law, and referrals to resources to help staff
and students overcome tobacco addiction. The bill provides such policies may
include procedures for effectively communicating the policy to students, their
parents and families, school personnel, visitors on school premises, and local
residents, groups, businesses, and other organizations served by the school.
The subcommittee recommended that bill for reporting on a vote of 7-2.
HB 2400 (Roem) requires each local school board that collects information to determine
eligibility for participation in the School Breakfast Program or the National
School Lunch Program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to
establish and post prominently on its website a web-based application for
student participation in such program and to continue to provide a paper-based
application. The bill permits any school board in establishing such an
application to adopt the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Web-Based Prototype
Application for Free and Reduced Price School Meals or to digitize its existing
paper-based application. The
subcommittee recommended reporting on a vote of 9-0.
HB 2486 (Robinson) requires
the Board of Education (Board) to provide for the issuance of a provisional
license, valid for a period not to exceed three years, to any individual who
has successfully completed the American Board for Certification of Teacher
Excellence alternative teacher certification program and who meets the basic
conditions for licensure established by the Board pursuant to subsection A of
8VAC20-23-40. The subcommittee
recommended that the bill on a vote of 9-0.
HB 2593 (Rodman) Directs the Board of Education to review
and update the health Standards of Learning for students in all grades to
include mental health. Legislation passed in 2018 required such review and
update for students in grades nine and 10.
The subcommittee recommended that the bill be reported and referred to
Appropriations on a vote of 9-0.
HB 2623 (Ransone) a substitute was
adopted which would require the Board of Education to develop a model policy
regarding the provision of mental health counseling to students. The subcommittee recommended reporting the
substitute on a vote of 9-0.
HB 2662 (Landes) directs the Board of Education, in establishing high
school graduation requirements, to require students to complete (i) a work
experience such as an internship, an externship, or another work-based or
service-based learning experience during eleventh or twelfth grade and (ii) a
capstone project that aligns with and further develops the knowledge and skills
attained through such work experience.
The subcommittee recommended that the bill be reported on a vote of 9-0.
HB 2721 (Freitas) allows a school security officer to carry a firearm in
the performance of his duties if, within 10 years immediately prior to being
hired by the local school board, he was employed by a law-enforcement agency of
the United States or any state or political subdivision thereof and his duties
were substantially similar to those of a law-enforcement officer in the
Commonwealth. Under current law, only a school security officer who was an
active law-enforcement officer in the Commonwealth within 10 years immediately
prior to being hired by the local school board may qualify to carry a firearm
in the performance of his duties.
The subcommittee recommended that the bill be reported on a vote of 9-0.
