Senate Education and Health Committee January 30, 2020

S.B. 129 (Norment) Requires local school boards to provide firearm safety education programs for students in all grades. The bill requires (i) the Board of Education to establish curriculum guidelines for the program, in consultation with the Department of Criminal Justice Services; (ii) school boards to offer a minimum of two hours of instruction consistent with such guidelines; and (iii) that the program be taught by a school resource officer, other law-enforcement officer, or a United States Armed Forces instructor. The bill prohibits the use of firearms in the program. Current law allows local school boards to provide a firearm safety education program for students in the elementary grades and does not specify who may instruct such program.  The bill was stricken at the request of the patron by a vote 0f 13-0.

S.B. 151 (Stuart) Excludes school nurse positions from requirements for student support positions and instead requires each local school board to employ at least one full-time equivalent school nurse position in each elementary school, middle school, and high school in the local school division or at least one full-time equivalent school nurse position per 550 students in grades kindergarten through 12.  The bill was passed by indefinitely by a 14-0 vote.

S.B. 170  (Locke) Requires the Department of Criminal Justice Services, in coordination with the Department of Education and the Department of Juvenile Justice, to annually collect, report, and publish data related to incidents involving students and school resource officers or school security officers. The bill also requires the Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety to analyze and disseminate submitted data.  The bill was amended to remove School Security Officers from the reporting requirement. The bill was reported as amended with a 13-0 vote.

S.B. 171  (Locke) Requires school resource officers and school security officers to receive training specific to the role and responsibility of a law-enforcement officer working with students in a school environment that includes training on (i) relevant state and federal laws; (ii) school and personal liability issues; (iii) security awareness in the school environment; (iv) mediation and conflict resolution, including de-escalation techniques; (v) disaster and emergency response; (vi) awareness of cultural diversity and implicit bias; (vii) working with students with disabilities, mental health needs, substance abuse disorders, or past traumatic experiences; and (viii) student behavioral dynamics, including current child and adolescent development and brain research.  The bill was reported as amended on a 12-1 vote.

S.B. 237  (Barker) Provides that an attendance officer, or a division superintendent or his designee when acting as an attendance officer, may complete, sign, and file a petition for a violation of a school attendance order in response to the filing of a petition alleging the pupil is a child in need of supervision with the intake officer of the juvenile and domestic relations district court on a form approved by the Virginia Supreme Court.  The bill was reported as amended on a 13-0 vote.

S.B. 327  (Lewis) Declares the Accomack County School Board and the Northampton County School Board eligible to receive the cost of competing adjustment to salaries for instructional and support positions as part of the state share of basic aid pursuant to the general appropriation act.  The bill was reported and referred to Finance and Appropriations on a 12-1 vote.

S.B. 366  (Dunnavant) Directs the Department of Education to obtain a statewide learning management system for use in public schools by the start of the 2022-2023 school year.  The bill was reported on a 14-0 vote.

S.B. 367 (Dunnavant) Directs the Department of Education to obtain an individualized student growth measurement system that tracks and analyzes student growth indicators. The bill requires that the student growth measurement system be implemented during the 2022-2023 school year.  The bill was reported to Finance and Appropriations on a 15-0 vote.

S.B. 392 (McPike) Requires each local school board to submit its plan to test and remediate certain potable water sources and report the results of any such test to the Department of Health.  The bill was reported with a substitute by a 15-0 vote.

S.B. 410 (Hashmi) Requires each school board to test each public school building in the local school division for the presence of Legionella bacteria at such regular intervals as the school board deems necessary to maintain the health and decency of such buildings. The bill requires the Department of Education to make recommendations for the frequency of testing for the presence of Legionella bacteria in public school buildings and to notify each local school board of its recommendations no later than September 1, 2020. The bill also requires each public elementary and secondary school to maintain files of its Legionella bacteria test results and make such files available for review and the division superintendent to report such results to the Department of Health.  The bill was reported and referred to Finance and Appropriations by a 15-0 vote.

S.B. 420 (DeSteph) Provides for the submission and utilization of seizure management plans for students with a seizure disorder. The bill requires that school nurses and certain school division employees complete an online course of instruction regarding treating students with seizure disorders. The bill also provides immunity from civil liability for acts or omissions related to providing for the care of a student under a seizure management plan. The bill was reported with a substitute on 12-1-2 vote.

S.B. 461 (Reeves) In its original form, the bill would have required each local school board to give any veteran or active duty member of any of the Armed Forces of the United States or the Commonwealth who it employs as a teacher in the local school division credit for any time served in any such forces in determining such teacher's step on the local school division's teacher salary scale.  The bill was amended in subcommittee to make it permissive.  The bill was reported and referred to Finance and Appropriations by a 14-1 vote.

S.B. 463  (Reeves) Directs the Board of Education to develop, biennially update, and distribute to each local school division guidelines on policies to inform and educate coaches, student-athletes, and student-athletes' parents or guardians about the nature and risk of sudden cardiac arrest, procedures for removal from and return to play, and the risks of not reporting symptoms. The bill also requires local school divisions to develop and biennially update policies and procedures regarding the identification and handling of symptoms that may lead to sudden cardiac arrest in student-athletes.  The bill was amended in subcommittee to remove the mandatory training and penalty provisions.  The amended bill was reported on a 15-0 vote.

S.B. 552 (Ruff) Requires the funding transferred from the Department of Education to the relevant school divisions in support of a regional alternative education program to be based on each such school division's need for the current school year. Under current law, such funding is transferred based on data accumulated during the prior school year.  The bill was reported and referred to Finance and Appropriations on a 15-0 vote.

S.B. 845 (Ebbin) Requires each local school board to develop and implement a plan to test and, if necessary, remediate mold from sources identified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as high priority for testing. The bill requires local school boards to give priority in the testing plan to schools whose school building was constructed, in whole or in part, before 1986 and to submit their testing plan and any testing results to the Department of Health. The bill also requires local school boards to take all steps necessary to notify the parents of all enrolled students if testing results indicate the presence of mold in a school building.  The bill was reported with a substitute on a 11-4 vote.

S.B. 880 (Locke) Requires local school boards to employ school counselors in accordance with the following ratios, effective with the 2020-2021 school year: in elementary schools, one hour per day per 75 students, one full-time equivalent at 375 students, one hour per day additional time per 75 students or major fraction thereof; in middle schools, one period per 65 students, one full-time equivalent at 325 students, one additional period per 65 students or major fraction thereof; and in high schools, one period per 60 students, one full-time equivalent at 300 students, one additional period per 60 students or major fraction thereof. The bill also requires local school boards to employ one full-time equivalent school counselor position per 250 students in grades kindergarten through 12, effective with the 2021-2022 school year.  The bill was reported and referred to Finance and Appropriations on a 11-2 vote.

S.B. 934 (Favola) Requires the Board of Education to permit any English language learner student who enters high school with an English language proficiency level of 1 or 2, has been enrolled in public schools in the Commonwealth for fewer than four semesters, and has a final four-year cohort status of dropout or unconfirmed to be removed from the calculation of the dropout rate and graduation and completion index non-academic school performance indicators for English language learner students under the Standards of Accreditation. The bill was stricken at the request of the patron by a 15-0 vote.

Post Secondary & Higher Education Subcommittee January 29, 2020

HB36 (Hurst) Declares that, except in certain limited circumstances, a student journalist at a public middle school or high school or public institution of higher education has the right to exercise freedom of speech and the press in school-sponsored media, including determining the news, opinion, feature, and advertising content of school-sponsored media, regardless of whether the media is supported financially by the school board or governing board, supported through the use of school or campus facilities, or produced in conjunction with a class or course in which the student is enrolled. The bill defines "school-sponsored media" as any material that is prepared, substantially written, published, or broadcast by a student journalist at a public middle school or high school or public institution of higher education under the direction of a student media adviser and distributed or generally made available to members of the student body.  The subcommittee recommended that the bill be reported 4-3.

House Education Committee January 29, 2020

HB410 (Delaney)  The bill was amended in subcommittee to require each local school to adopt a policy to require written notification to parents when a student undergoes literacy and Response to Intervention screening and services and when the student does not meet the benchmark on any assessment used to determine at-risk learners.  The notice must include the scores and subscores and any intervention plan.  The substitute was reported 17-0.

HB916 (Sickles) This bill was amended in subcommittee to require the establishment of a Culturally Relevant and Inclusive Education Practices Advisory Committee which will provide recommendations to the Board of Education regarding the Holocaust, slavery, anti-Semitism, and other subjects.  The bill was reported and rereferred to Appropriations 13-4.

HB975 (Guzman) The bill was amended in subcommittee to amend the ratio of instructional personnel to limited English proficient students from 17 per 1000 students to 20 per 1000 students.  The substitute was reported and rereferred to Appropriations 13-4.

HB1316 (Aird) Makes several changes to the Standards of Quality, including requiring the establishment of units in the Department of Education to oversee work-based learning and principal mentorship statewide in Standard 1 and requiring the Board of Education to establish and oversee the local implementation of teacher leader and teacher mentor programs in Standard 5. The bill also makes several changes relating to school personnel in Standard 2, including (i) establishing schoolwide ratios of students to teachers in certain schools with high concentrations of poverty and granting flexibility to provide compensation adjustments to teachers in such schools; (ii) requiring each school board to assign licensed personnel in a manner that provides an equitable distribution of experienced, effective teachers and other personnel among all schools in the local school division; (iii) requiring each school board to employ teacher leaders and teacher mentors at specified student-to-position ratios; (iv) requiring state funding in addition to basic aid to support at-risk students and granting flexibility in the use of such funds by school boards; (v) lowering the ratio of English language learner students to teachers; (vi) requiring each school board to employ reading specialists and establishing a student-to-position ratio for such specialists; (vii) requiring school boards to employ one full-time principal in each elementary school; (viii) lowering the ratio of students to assistant principals and school counselors in elementary, middle, and high schools; and (ix) requiring each school board to provide at least four specialized student support positions, including school social workers, school psychologists, school nurses, and other licensed health and behavioral positions, per 1,000 students.  The bill was reported and rereferred to Appropriations 14-3.

HB1508 (McQuinn) Requires school boards to employ school counselors in accordance with the following ratios: (i) effective with the 2020-2021 school year, in elementary schools, one hour per day per 60 students, one full-time at 300 students, one hour per day additional time per 60 students or major fraction thereof; in middle and high schools, one period per 55 students, one full-time at 275 students, one additional period per 55 students or major fraction thereof and (ii) effective with the 2021-2022 school year, in elementary, middle, and high schools, one hour per day per 50 students, one full-time at 250 students, one additional hour per day per 50 students or major fraction thereof. Under current law, school boards are required to employ school counselors in accordance with the following ratios: in elementary schools, one hour per day per 75 students, one full-time at 375 students, one hour per day additional time per 75 students or major fraction thereof; in middle schools, one period per 65 students, one full-time at 325 students, one additional period per 65 students or major fraction thereof; in high schools, one period per 60 students, one full-time at 300 students, one additional period per 60 students or major fraction thereof.  The bill was reported and rereferred to Appropriations 17-0.

HB257 (Mullin) Eliminates the requirement that school principals report certain enumerated acts that may constitute a misdemeanor offense to law enforcement.  The bill was amended in subcommittee.  The bill was reported 16-2.

HB271 (VanValkenburg) Requires the Department of Criminal Justice Services, in coordination with the Department of Education and the Department of Juvenile Justice, to annually collect, report, and publish data related to incidents involving students and school resource officers or school security officers. The bill also requires the Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety to analyze and disseminate submitted data.  The bill was amended in subcommittee to remove school security officers.  The bill was reported 17-1.

HB273 (VanValkenburg) Requires each local school board to ensure that each elementary school teacher has an average of one 45-minute period per school day of planning time and that each middle and high school teacher is provided one planning period per school day or the equivalent, which shall be at least 45 minutes or one class period, whichever is longer. The bill permits local school boards and teachers to enter into an appropriate contractual arrangement providing for compensation in lieu of such planning time or period. Under current law, public elementary school teachers are guaranteed at least an average of 30 minutes of planning time per school day during a school week.  The bill was reported 15-1.

HB292 (VanValkenburg) Shortens from every five years to every two years the frequency of the review period for memorandums of understanding between school boards and local law-enforcement agencies. The bill also requires local school boards to conspicuously publish the current division memorandum of understanding on its division website and provide notice and opportunity for public input during each memorandum of understanding review period.  The bill was reported 13-2.

HB308 (Hope) Requires the Department of Education to establish and distribute to each school board no later than August 1, 2020, guidelines for the granting of excused absences to students who are absent from school due to mental or behavioral health and requires any student who is absent from school due to his mental or behavioral health to be granted an excused absence, subject to such guidelines.  The bill was reported 9-3.

HB365 (Carroll Foy)  Removes (i) the option for local school boards to extend the three-year probationary term of service for teachers by up to two additional years and (ii) the prohibition against school boards reemploying any teacher whose performance evaluation during the probationary term of service is unsatisfactory.  The bill was reported 10-3.

HB368 (Carroll Foy) Specifies, for the purpose of several provisions of law relating to the public school enrollment of children placed in foster care, that a child or student placed in foster care includes a pupil who was in foster care when he reached age 18 but such pupil has not yet reached age 22.  A substitute was adopted by the subcommittee.  The bill was reported and rereferred to Appropriations 13-0.

HB376 (Willett) Requires (i) each school board to report to the Department of Education annually the number and type of teacher and support staff vacancies in the school division and (ii) each education preparation program to report to the Department of Education annually the number of individuals who graduated from the program during the current calendar year, by endorsement area. The bill requires the Department of Education to (a) establish deadlines for and the format of the reporting of such data and (b) aggregate and report such data annually on the Department's website.  The bill was reported and rereferred to Appropriations 10-3.

HB392 (Ward) Prohibits each school board from employing or accepting the volunteer service of any individual who has been convicted of a violent felony set forth in subsection C of § 17.1-805 of the Code of Virginia or any offense involving the sexual molestation, physical or sexual abuse, or rape of a child. The bill permits each school board to employ or accept the volunteer service of any individual who has been convicted of any felony or crime of moral turpitude that is not set forth in subsection C of § 17.1-805 of the Code of Virginia and does not involve the sexual molestation, physical or sexual abuse, or rape of a child, provided that in the case of a felony conviction, such individual has had his civil rights restored by the Governor. The bill contains parallel provisions for contractors and their employees who have direct contact with students on school property during regular school hours or during school-sponsored activities. Current law provides that any felony conviction is a bar to employment and contract work in public schools.  The bill was amended in subcommittee remove all references to volunteers and to update the list of barrier crimes to refer to Va. Code § 19.2-392.02.  The bill was reported 10-2.

HB405 (Keam) Requires each school board to make tampons and pads available at all times and at no cost to students in the bathrooms of each facility that it owns, leases, or otherwise controls that houses a public school at which any student in grades five through 12 is enrolled.  The bill was reported 8-5.

HB415 (Delaney) Requires school boards to adopt policies and procedures to ensure suspended students are able to access and complete graded work during the suspension.  The bill was reported 13-1.

HB501 (Krizek) Permits each school board to designate another entity or individual to participate on its behalf in the annual review of its written school crisis, emergency management, and medical emergency response plan.  The bill was reported 14-0.

HB570 (Guzman)  Removes receipt of one or more unsatisfactory performance evaluations from the list of factors that "incompetency" may be construed to include for the purpose of establishing grounds for the dismissal of public school teachers.  The bill was amended to eliminate the definition of incompetency from the Code.  The bill was reported 9-6.

HB797 (Askew) Requires each local school board to submit its plan to test and remediate certain potable water sources and report the results of any such test to the Department of Health. The bill also requires local school boards to take all necessary steps to notify parents if testing results indicate lead contamination that exceeds the maximum contaminant level goals set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.  The bill was amended in subcommittee to require parental notification if lead contamination exceeds 10 parts per billion.  The bill was reported 15-0.

HB836 (Carroll Foy) Requires the Department of Education to develop and adopt standards for microcredentials earned by public school teachers in the Commonwealth, including microcredentials used toward add-on endorsements, initial licensure, renewal of licensure, and professional development points in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, that align with nationally-accepted standards for microcredentials, such as those utilized by the nonprofit organization Digital Promise. Such standards shall include (i) educator microcredentials focused on discrete competencies based upon relevant, peer-reviewed research in the specific domain or discipline; (ii) educator microcredentials that rely upon demonstrable evidence from the submission of artifacts, such as student projects and teacher lesson plans, that are then objectively scored against existing rubrics; and (iii) educator microcredentials that focus on interrelated competencies leading to logical teacher professional development pathways and stacks of educator microcredentials. The bill requires any entity that issues microcredentials to public school teachers in the Commonwealth to comply with such standards.  A substitute was adopted by the subcommittee.  The bill was reported with substitute 17-0.

HB1081 (Guzman) Provides that an attendance officer, or a division superintendent or his designee when acting as an attendance officer, may complete, sign, and file a petition for a violation of a school attendance order in response to the filing of a petition alleging the pupil is a child in need of supervision with the intake officer of the juvenile and domestic relations district court on a form approved by the Virginia Supreme Court.  The bill was reported 15-0.

HB1174 (Lopez) Requires each local school board to adopt and implement policies for the possession and administration of undesignated stock albuterol inhalers in every school in the local school division, to be administered by any school nurse, employee of the school board, employee of a local governing body, or employee of a local health department who is authorized by a prescriber and trained in the administration of albuterol inhalers for any student believed in good faith to be in need of such medication. The bill limits the liability of (i) any such individual who provides, administers, or assists in the administration of an albuterol inhaler for a student believed in good faith to be in need of such medication and (ii) the prescriber of such medication.  The bill was amended in subcommittee to be permissive.  The bill was reported 13-0.

HB1177 (Poindexter) Requires each school board to establish a policy to prohibit any teacher in the school division from assigning to any student a homework assignment that requires the use of an Internet connection that is capable of transmitting information at a rate that is not less than 256 kilobits per second in at least one direction when such student lacks access to such an Internet connection.  The bill was amended to permit but not require school boards to adopt such policies.  The bill failed to report 8-9. 

HB1208 (Tran) Requires each school board to establish a process for assisting any student whose family members have one or more medical conditions that preclude them from providing transportation for the student to attend school to apply for and obtain a pass to ride a regionally operated or locally operated bus to school.  The bill was amended in subcommittee to require school boards to establish a waiver process by which students who are not eligible for transportation (because, for example, they live within the walking zone) to receive transportation in certain instances.  The bill was reported 13-0.

HB1344 (Askew) Provides that when adopting regulations regarding the issuance of written reprimands of teachers and other school personnel required to hold a license, the Board of Education shall establish in such regulations the grounds for such written reprimands and provides that for a teacher who breaches his contract, the local board of education or division superintendent, in addition to a written reprimand or revocation of the teacher's license as in current law, may issue a suspension of the teacher's license.  This bill was reported 13-0.

HB1355 (Rasoul) Requires the Department of Education to establish an interagency task force composed of state and local agencies and entities in the areas of early childhood development, health, social services, community engagement, family engagement, higher education, communities in schools, and workforce development for the purpose of developing a program for the establishment of community schools whereby public elementary and secondary schools serve as centers for the provision of such community programs and services to students and their families as may be necessary on the basis of the unique needs of the student population to be served. The bill requires such program to include a process by which school boards and community partnerships may apply to the Department of Education to designate an elementary or secondary school in the local school division as a community school. The bill also establishes a special nonreverting fund in the state treasury for the purpose of providing planning grants for school boards and community partnerships that seek to apply to the Department of Education through such program for community school designation.  The bill was amended in subcommittee with a substitute.  The bill was reported and referred to Appropriations 9-8.

HB1469 (Gooditis)  Requires the Board of Education to extend for at least one additional year, but for no more than two additional years, the three-year provisional license of a teacher employed in an accredited private elementary or secondary school upon receiving from the school administrator of such school (i) a recommendation for such extension and (ii) satisfactory performance evaluations for such teacher for each year of the original three-year provisional license. The provisions of the bill mirror current law relating to the extension of provisional licenses for public school teachers.  The bill was reported 15-0.

HB1568 (Rush) Directs the State Board of Education to amend its regulations to require that persons seeking a technical professional license with an endorsement to teach military science have either the appropriate credentials issued by the United States military or a recommendation from a Virginia employing educational agency.  The bill was reported 17-0.

HB1613 (Brewer)  Requires the Board of Education, pursuant to regulation, to permit any individual who seeks a technical professional license to substitute the successful completion of an intensive, job-embedded, three-year program of professional development for the nine semester hours of professional studies required for such license.  The bill was reported 17-0.

HB1630 (Kilgore)  Permits any school board and division superintendent to extend from three months to six months the period within which the provisional license of an individual seeking initial teacher licensure who has not completed professional assessments will expire for the purpose of establishing such individual's eligibility for initial licensure, provided that such individual has received a satisfactory mid-year performance review in the current school year and meets all other eligibility criteria.  The bill was reported 17-0.

HB1633 (Edmunds) Requires the Board of Education to establish a program to use Literary Fund proceeds to subsidize interest payments on certain loans made by the Virginia Public School Authority to local governing bodies and school boards for the design and construction of new school buildings and facilities or the modernization and maintenance of existing school buildings and facilities as follows: for school divisions in localities determined to have above-average or high fiscal stress by the Commission on Local Government in its most recent version of such report, the Board shall subsidize up to 100 percent of the interest due on such loan. Under current law, eligibility for such interest rate subsidy payment is based on the local composite index of ability to pay.  The bill was reported and rereferred to Appropriations 17-0.

House Education PreK-12 Subcommittee January 29, 2020

HB226 (Freitas) This bill, commonly referred to as the Tebow bill, would have forced the Virginia High School League to permit home school students to participate in interscholastic programs.  The bill was passed by indefinitely on a 4-2 vote.

HB678 (LaRock) Permits the parents of certain children to apply to the school division in which the child resides for a one-year, renewable Parental Choice Education Savings Account that consists of an amount that is equivalent to a certain percentage of all applicable annual Standards of Quality per pupil state funds appropriated for public school purposes and apportioned to the resident school division in which the student resides, including the per pupil share of state sales tax funding in basic aid and any state per pupil share of special education funding for which the student is eligible. The bill permits the parent to use the moneys in such account for certain education-related expenses of the student, including tuition, deposits, fees, and required textbooks at a private elementary school or secondary school that is located in the Commonwealth. The bill also contains provisions relating to auditing, rescinding, and reviewing expenses made from such accounts.  The bill was stricken at the request of the patron.

HB693 (Simonds) Requires each school board to establish a paid maternity leave benefit policy to grant any mother who has been employed full-time by the school board for at least two years and who gave birth to or adopted a child 12 weeks of paid sick leave, in addition to any other sick leave to which such individual is otherwise entitled, to care for such child. Each such policy shall include provisions relating to (i) any payroll contributions that may be required to finance all or any part of the implementation of the paid maternity leave benefit, (ii) the amount and value of the maternity leave benefit, (iii) the computation of the duration of the paid maternity leave benefit, (iv) the period within which the paid maternity leave benefit shall be used, (v) intermittent use of the paid maternity leave benefit, (vi) employment protection for mothers who use the paid maternity leave benefit, (vii) the coordination of the use of the paid maternity leave benefit and any other leave pursuant to the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, 29 U.S.C. § 2601 et seq., and (viii) any other consideration deemed relevant by the school board.  The bill failed on a 3-3 vote.

HB697 (Roem) Requires each local school board to adopt policies that prohibit school board employees from requiring a student who cannot pay for a meal at school or who owes a school meal debt to throw away or discard a meal after it has been served to him.  The bill was recommended to be reported 6-0.

HB698 (Roem)  Allows public school boards to distribute excess food to low-income students eligible for the School Breakfast Program or National School Lunch Program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture or to low-income students that the school board determines

are otherwise eligible to receive excess food.  The bill was recommended to be reported with amendments 6-0.

HB701 (Roem) Requires each school board to adopt policies that (i) require each elementary and secondary school in the school division to send to the parents of each student by the end of the first week of the school year notice of the consequences of school meal debt and the school board policy and procedure relating to such debt, including any requirement that such student be served an alternative meal or be required to dispose of meals served to him while such debt remains unpaid; (ii) require any elementary or secondary school in the school division to resend such notice to the parents of any student who accrues a school meal debt before the consequences of such debt go into effect; and (iii) require the parents of any student who do not want their child to be served a school meal to submit a written request to the student's school.  The bill failed on a 2-4 vote.

HB703 (Roem) Permits any school board to solicit and receive any donation or other funds for the purpose of eliminating or offsetting any school meal debt at any time during the school year and requires each school board to use any such funds solely for such purpose, provided, however, that no such funds are obtained in an illegal or illicit manner. The bill provides that if a school board receives a donation that does not entirely eliminate or offset the total school meal debt at any time during the school year, the school board shall distribute the donation proportionately among each school meal debt.  The bill was amended in subcommittee to eliminate the limitations on how the donations could be used.  The amended bill was recommended to be reported 6-0.

HB710 (Rush) Permits local school boards, notwithstanding any regulation to the contrary, to display decals containing the motto "In God We Trust" on public school buses, provided that no such decal obstructs the name of the school division or the number of the school bus.  The bill failed to report on a 4-4 vote.

HB718 (Reid)  Prohibits each school resource officer from conducting a custodial interrogation, which the bill defines as any interview of a public elementary or secondary school student conducted by a school resource officer in such circumstances that would lead a reasonable person to consider himself to be in custody associated with arrest and during which the school resource officer takes actions or asks questions that are reasonably likely to elicit responses from the student that could incriminate him, without the written consent of the student's parent.  The bill was tabled by the subcommittee.

HB1426 (Roem) Requires each school board to require each public elementary and secondary school in the local school division to participate in the federal National School Lunch Program and the federal School Breakfast Program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and to make meals available pursuant to such programs to any student who requests such a meal, regardless of such student's family income or whether such student has the money to pay for the meal or owes money for meals previously provided, unless the student's parent has provided written permission to the school board to withhold such a meal from the student.  The bill also prohibits school boards from using third party, nongovernmental, debt collectors to collect school meal debt.  The bill was recommended to be reported and rereferred to Appropriations 5-2.

HB1711 (Bagby) Requires that Virtual Virginia’s online program be made available to all middle school students and that it may be made available to elementary students.  Current law only requires that it be made available to high school students.  The bill was recommended to be reported and rereferred to Appropriations 6-0. 

Public Employee Collective Bargaining Legislation January 28, 2020

HB582 was considered by the House Labor and Commerce Committee this afternoon.  The committee adopted a comprehensive substitute.  The substitute would require public bodies, including school boards, to engage in collective bargaining with employee organizations.  The bill also requires that these collective bargaining agreements include, among other things, grievance procedures that provide for final and binding arbitration.  

VSBA has Legislative Position, 4.3, to oppose any legislation which would permit or expand the authority of any school board to engage in collective bargaining.  Click here it access the VSBA Legislative Positions.  

Based on Legislative Position 4.3, VSBA opposes HB582.  Rationale for our opposition is included below.  

·       Any legislation that requires school boards to enter into collective bargaining agreements that include binding arbitration is unconstitutional. 

o   No Virginia school board can agree to be subject to binding arbitration and, short of a constitutional amendment, the General Assembly cannot mandate such agreements.  See School Board for the City of Richmond v. Parham, 218 Va. 950 (1978) (“We conclude, therefore, that the binding arbitration provision of the Procedure produces an unlawful delegation of power, violative of § 7 of Article VIII of the Constitution.”)

·       Because school boards do not have taxing authority, they are not in a position to bargain with teachers’ unions with regard to salary or any other terms with a local cost. 

o   School boards are prohibited by law from entering into any contract to expend funds beyond what has been appropriated for the current fiscal year.  See Va. Code § 22.1-91.

·       The national trend in the last decade has been to move away from collective bargaining rights for teachers and towards focusing on student achievement instead.

o   Indeed, the vast majority of teacher collective bargaining laws were adopted between 1959 and 1987 and only one state (New Mexico), has adopted a duty-to-bargain law for public education since 1987.

o   On the other hand, many states including Wisconsin, Indiana, Idaho, Tennessee, and Michigan, have adopted legislation in the last decade to reduce teacher’s rights to collectively bargain.  

Collective bargaining can be used to increase protections for ineffective teachers.  VSBA believes that effective teachers are essential to providing a high-quality education to every student, in every school.  

PreK-12 Subcommittee of House Education Committee January 27, 2020

The PreK-12 Subcommittee met this evening and acted on the following bills:

Block 1

HB365 (Carroll Foy)  Removes (i) the option for local school boards to extend the three-year probationary term of service for teachers by up to two additional years and (ii) the prohibition against school boards reemploying any teacher whose performance evaluation during the probationary term of service is unsatisfactory.  The bill was recommended to be reported 4-3. 

HB368 (Carroll Foy) Specifies, for the purpose of several provisions of law relating to the public school enrollment of children placed in foster care, that a child or student placed in foster care includes a pupil who was in foster care when he reached age 18 but such pupil has not yet reached age 22.  A substitute was adopted by the subcommittee.  The bill was recommended to be reported and rereferred to Appropriations 7-0.

HB570 (Guzman)  Removes receipt of one or more unsatisfactory performance evaluations from the list of factors that "incompetency" may be construed to include for the purpose of establishing grounds for the dismissal of public school teachers.  The bill was amended to eliminate the definition of incompetency from the Code.  The bill was recommended to be reported 4-2.

HB710 (Rush) Permits local school boards, notwithstanding any regulation to the contrary, to display decals containing the motto "In God We Trust" on public school buses, provided that no such decal obstructs the name of the school division or the number of the school bus.  The bill was passed by for the day.

HB725 (Reid) Requires the Board of Education to extend for at least one additional year, but for no more than two additional years, the three-year provisional license of a teacher employed in a school for students with disabilities that is licensed by the Board upon receiving from the school administrator of such school (i) a recommendation for such extension and (ii) satisfactory performance evaluations for such teacher for each year of the original three-year provisional license. The provisions of the bill mirror current law relating to the extension of provisional licenses for public school teachers.  This bill was incorporated in HB1469.

HB797 (Askew) Requires each local school board to submit its plan to test and remediate certain potable water sources and report the results of any such test to the Department of Health. The bill also requires local school boards to take all necessary steps to notify parents if testing results indicate lead contamination that exceeds the maximum contaminant level goals set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.  The bill was amended in subcommittee to require parental notification if lead contamination exceeds 10 parts per billion.  The bill was recommended to be reported 6-0. 

HB836 (Carroll Foy) Requires the Department of Education to develop and adopt standards for microcredentials earned by public school teachers in the Commonwealth, including microcredentials used toward add-on endorsements, initial licensure, renewal of licensure, and professional development points in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, that align with nationally-accepted standards for microcredentials, such as those utilized by the nonprofit organization Digital Promise. Such standards shall include (i) educator microcredentials focused on discrete competencies based upon relevant, peer-reviewed research in the specific domain or discipline; (ii) educator microcredentials that rely upon demonstrable evidence from the submission of artifacts, such as student projects and teacher lesson plans, that are then objectively scored against existing rubrics; and (iii) educator microcredentials that focus on interrelated competencies leading to logical teacher professional development pathways and stacks of educator microcredentials. The bill requires any entity that issues microcredentials to public school teachers in the Commonwealth to comply with such standards.  A substitute was adopted by the subcommittee.  The bill was recommended to be reported with substitute 7-0. 

HB837 (Carroll Foy) Requires the Board of Education to include in its guidelines and model policies for codes of student conduct (i) standards for reducing bias and harassment in the enforcement of any code of student conduct and (ii) standards for dress or grooming codes, which the bill defines as any practice, policy, or portion of a code of student conduct adopted by a school board that governs or restricts the attire of any enrolled student. The bill permits any school board to include in its code of student conduct a dress or grooming code. The bill prohibits any school board that does not include in its code of student a dress or grooming code from subjecting a student to discipline for reasons typically assigned to a dress or grooming code. The bill requires any dress or grooming code included in a school board's code of student conduct or otherwise adopted by a school board to (a) permit any student to wear any religiously, ethnically, or culturally specific or significant head covering or hairstyle, including hijabs, yarmulkes, headwraps, braids, locs, and cornrows; (b) maintain gender neutrality by subjecting any student to the same set of rules and standards regardless of gender; (c) not have a disparate impact on students of a particular gender; (d) be clear, specific, and objective and avoid any subjective term or standard such as "distracting," "provocative," or "inappropriate"; (e) prohibit any school board employee from enforcing the dress or grooming code by direct physical contact with a student or a student's attire; and (f) prohibit any school board employee from requiring a student to undress in front of any other individual, including the enforcing school board employee, to comply with the dress or grooming code.  The bill was recommended to be reported 4-3.

HB1169 (Wampler) Provides that a probationary term of service of at least three years shall be required before a public elementary or secondary school teacher is issued a continuing contract. Current law provides that a probationary term of service of at least three years and, at the option of the local school board, up to five years in the same school division shall be required before a public elementary or secondary school teacher is issued a continuing contract.  The bill was incorporated into HB365.

HB1326 (Kory) Specifies that a teacher may be placed on probation for incompetency, immorality, noncompliance with school laws and regulations, disability as shown by competent medical evidence when in compliance with federal law, conviction of a felony or a crime of moral turpitude, or other good and just cause. The bill replaces the current condition constituting incompetency, for the purposes of teacher employment, of one or more unsatisfactory performance evaluations with the condition of more than one unsatisfactory performance evaluation or one unsatisfactory performance evaluation coupled with a finding by the division superintendent that the teacher (i) exhibited a pattern of poor performance or (ii) failed to respond to efforts to improve his performance. The bill extends from 10 business days to 15 business days the deadline for a teacher to request a hearing after receiving written notice of a recommendation of dismissal. The bill also staggers by 10 days (a) the opportunity for a teacher recommended for dismissal to inspect and copy his personnel file and all other documents relied upon in reaching the decision to recommend dismissal and (b) the opportunity for the division superintendent to inspect and copy the documents to be offered in rebuttal to the decision to recommend dismissal. The bill also extends from 15 business days to 30 business days the deadline for the school board or hearing officer to set a hearing after a request for a hearing by a teacher recommended for dismissal.  The bill was incorporated into HB365.

HB1344 (Askew) Provides that when adopting regulations regarding the issuance of written reprimands of teachers and other school personnel required to hold a license, the Board of Education shall establish in such regulations the grounds for such written reprimands and provides that for a teacher who breaches his contract, the local board of education or division superintendent, in addition to a written reprimand or revocation of the teacher's license as in current law, may issue a suspension of the teacher's license.  This bill was recommended to be reported 6-0.

HB1469 (Gooditis)  Requires the Board of Education to extend for at least one additional year, but for no more than two additional years, the three-year provisional license of a teacher employed in an accredited private elementary or secondary school upon receiving from the school administrator of such school (i) a recommendation for such extension and (ii) satisfactory performance evaluations for such teacher for each year of the original three-year provisional license. The provisions of the bill mirror current law relating to the extension of provisional licenses for public school teachers.  The bill was recommended to be reported 6-0.

HB1568 (Rush) Directs the State Board of Education to amend its regulations to require that persons seeking a technical professional license with an endorsement to teach military science have either the appropriate credentials issued by the United States military or a recommendation from a Virginia employing educational agency.  The bill was recommended to be reported 5-0. 

HB1613 (Brewer)  Requires the Board of Education, pursuant to regulation, to permit any individual who seeks a technical professional license to substitute the successful completion of an intensive, job-embedded, three-year program of professional development for the nine semester hours of professional studies required for such license.  The bill was recommended to be reported 6-0. 

HB1630 (Kilgore)  Permits any school board and division superintendent to extend from three months to six months the period within which the provisional license of an individual seeking initial teacher licensure who has not completed professional assessments will expire for the purpose of establishing such individual's eligibility for initial licensure, provided that such individual has received a satisfactory mid-year performance review in the current school year and meets all other eligibility criteria.  The bill was recommended to be reported 5-0. 

Block 2

HB109 (Cole) Provides that in no case shall sufficient cause for the suspension or expulsion of a student from attendance at a public elementary or secondary school include only instances of truancy or nonviolent behavior. Current law provides that in no cases may sufficient cause for suspensions include only instances of truancy.  The bill was carried over until 2021. 

HB257 (Mullin) Eliminates the requirement that school principals report certain enumerated acts that may constitute a misdemeanor offense to law enforcement.  The bill was amended in subcommittee.  The bill was recommended to be reported 5-0. 

HB308 (Hope) Requires the Department of Education to establish and distribute to each school board no later than August 1, 2020, guidelines for the granting of excused absences to students who are absent from school due to mental or behavioral health and requires any student who is absent from school due to his mental or behavioral health to be granted an excused absence, subject to such guidelines.  The bill was recommended to be reported 5-1. 

HB392 (Ward) Prohibits each school board from employing or accepting the volunteer service of any individual who has been convicted of a violent felony set forth in subsection C of § 17.1-805 of the Code of Virginia or any offense involving the sexual molestation, physical or sexual abuse, or rape of a child. The bill permits each school board to employ or accept the volunteer service of any individual who has been convicted of any felony or crime of moral turpitude that is not set forth in subsection C of § 17.1-805 of the Code of Virginia and does not involve the sexual molestation, physical or sexual abuse, or rape of a child, provided that in the case of a felony conviction, such individual has had his civil rights restored by the Governor. The bill contains parallel provisions for contractors and their employees who have direct contact with students on school property during regular school hours or during school-sponsored activities. Current law provides that any felony conviction is a bar to employment and contract work in public schools.  The bill was amended in subcommittee remove all references to volunteers and to update the list of barrier crimes to refer to Va. Code § 19.2-392.02.  The bill was recommended to be reported 5-2.

HB405 (Keam) Requires each school board to make tampons and pads available at all times and at no cost to students in the bathrooms of each facility that it owns, leases, or otherwise controls that houses a public school at which any student in grades five through 12 is enrolled.  The bill was recommended to be reported 3-2. 

HB415 (Delaney) Requires school boards to adopt policies and procedures to ensure suspended students are able to access and complete graded work during the suspension.  The bill was recommended to be reported 3-2. 

HB501 (Krizek) Permits each school board to designate another entity or individual to participate on its behalf in the annual review of its written school crisis, emergency management, and medical emergency response plan.  The bill was recommended to be reported 5-0.

HB678 (LaRock)  Permits the parents of certain children to apply to the school division in which the child resides for a one-year, renewable Parental Choice Education Savings Account that consists of an amount that is equivalent to a certain percentage of all applicable annual Standards of Quality per pupil state funds appropriated for public school purposes and apportioned to the resident school division in which the student resides, including the per pupil share of state sales tax funding in basic aid and any state per pupil share of special education funding for which the student is eligible. The bill permits the parent to use the moneys in such account for certain education-related expenses of the student, including tuition, deposits, fees, and required textbooks at a private elementary school or secondary school that is located in the Commonwealth. The bill also contains provisions relating to auditing, rescinding, and reviewing expenses made from such accounts.  The bill was passed by for the day. 

HB1177 (Poindexter) Requires each school board to establish a policy to prohibit any teacher in the school division from assigning to any student a homework assignment that requires the use of an Internet connection that is capable of transmitting information at a rate that is not less than 256 kilobits per second in at least one direction when such student lacks access to such an Internet connection.  The bill was amended to permit but not require school boards to adopt such policies.  The bill was recommended to be reported 5-1. 

HB1208 (Tran) Requires each school board to establish a process for assisting any student whose family members have one or more medical conditions that preclude them from providing transportation for the student to attend school to apply for and obtain a pass to ride a regionally operated or locally operated bus to school.  The bill was amended in subcommittee to require school boards to establish a waiver process by which students who are not eligible for transportation (because, for example, they live within the walking zone) to receive transportation in certain instances.  The bill was recommended to be reported 6-0.

HB1633 (Edmunds) Requires the Board of Education to establish a program to use Literary Fund proceeds to subsidize interest payments on certain loans made by the Virginia Public School Authority to local governing bodies and school boards for the design and construction of new school buildings and facilities or the modernization and maintenance of existing school buildings and facilities as follows: for school divisions in localities determined to have above-average or high fiscal stress by the Commission on Local Government in its most recent version of such report, the Board shall subsidize up to 100 percent of the interest due on such loan. Under current law, eligibility for such interest rate subsidy payment is based on the local composite index of ability to pay.  The bill was recommended to be reported 5-0.

Block 3

HB271 (VanValkenburg) Requires the Department of Criminal Justice Services, in coordination with the Department of Education and the Department of Juvenile Justice, to annually collect, report, and publish data related to incidents involving students and school resource officers or school security officers. The bill also requires the Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety to analyze and disseminate submitted data.  The bill was amended in subcommittee to remove school security officers.  The bill was recommended to be reported 5-1. 

HB273 (VanValkenburg) Requires each local school board to ensure that each elementary school teacher has an average of one 45-minute period per school day of planning time and that each middle and high school teacher is provided one planning period per school day or the equivalent, which shall be at least 45 minutes or one class period, whichever is longer. The bill permits local school boards and teachers to enter into an appropriate contractual arrangement providing for compensation in lieu of such planning time or period. Under current law, public elementary school teachers are guaranteed at least an average of 30 minutes of planning time per school day during a school week.  The bill was recommended to be reported 5-1. 

HB292 (VanValkenburg) Shortens from every five years to every two years the frequency of the review period for memorandums of understanding between school boards and local law-enforcement agencies. The bill also requires local school boards to conspicuously publish the current division memorandum of understanding on its division website and provide notice and opportunity for public input during each memorandum of understanding review period.  The bill was recommended to be reported 5-1.

HB376 (Willett) Requires (i) each school board to report to the Department of Education annually the number and type of teacher and support staff vacancies in the school division and (ii) each education preparation program to report to the Department of Education annually the number of individuals who graduated from the program during the current calendar year, by endorsement area. The bill requires the Department of Education to (a) establish deadlines for and the format of the reporting of such data and (b) aggregate and report such data annually on the Department's website.  The bill was recommended to be reported 5-1. 

HB424 (McGuire) Requires each local school board to place a school resource officer in each public elementary and secondary school. The bill provides that 44 percent of revenues from taxes on alcohol licenses, distilled spirits, and beer and wine coolers shall accrue to the School Resource Officer Supplementary Fund, created by the bill, which would be used to fund the costs of the school resource officer requirement.  The bill was amended in subcommittee to create a School Resource Officer Supplementary Fund to pay for School Resource Officers or School Security Officers.  The amended bill does not mandate school boards to hire school resource officers or school security officers.  The substitute failed 4-2. 

HB718 (Reid)  Prohibits each school resource officer from conducting a custodial interrogation, which the bill defines as any interview of a public elementary or secondary school student conducted by a school resource officer in such circumstances that would lead a reasonable person to consider himself to be in custody associated with arrest and during which the school resource officer takes actions or asks questions that are reasonably likely to elicit responses from the student that could incriminate him, without the written consent of the student's parent.  The bill was passed by for the day.

HB897 (Guzman) The bill requires that the required memorandum of understanding entered into by a local school board and local law-enforcement agency be consistent with the model memorandum of understanding developed by the Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety. The bill requires that the model memorandum contain provisions that prohibit school resource officers from (i) conducting a search of a student's person or property while on school property unless such resource officer has probable cause to conduct such a search and either has a judicial warrant authorizing the search or has identified exigent circumstances necessitating a warrantless search; (ii) participating in any request for assistance from a federal agency without a subpoena or warrant; (iii) inquiring as to whether a student was born in a country other than the United States or is a citizen of a country other than the United States, unless such inquiry is in connection with an kidnapping or extortion investigation; and (iv) absent exigent circumstances, questioning any student without prior notification to the parent or guardian of such student's right to refuse to be questioned or searched. The bill also provides that the model memorandum of understanding shall contain provisions regarding the use of translators or appropriate guardians to assist students in responding to questions from a school resource officer. The bill requires each such school board and local law-enforcement agency to review the memorandum of understanding every four years or at any time upon request of either party. The bill provides that such memorandum shall be made available for public review and comment at least 30 days prior to its adoption. The bill also redefines school resource officer to specifically prohibit a school resource officer from investigating or enforcing violations of school board policies, including student conduct codes.  The bill was incorporated into HB292.

HB939 (Webert) Requires local school boards to provide firearm safety education programs for students in high school. The bill requires the Board of Education to establish curriculum guidelines for the program, in consultation with the Department of State Police, and requires that the program be taught by a school resource officer, other law-enforcement officer, or a United States Armed Forces instructor. The bill prohibits the use of firearms in the program. Current law allows local school boards to provide a firearm safety education program for students in the elementary grades and does not specify who may instruct such program.  The bill was tabled 4-2. 

HB1081 (Guzman) Provides that an attendance officer, or a division superintendent or his designee when acting as an attendance officer, may complete, sign, and file a petition for a violation of a school attendance order in response to the filing of a petition alleging the pupil is a child in need of supervision with the intake officer of the juvenile and domestic relations district court on a form approved by the Virginia Supreme Court.  The bill was recommended to be reported 7-0. 

HB1135 (Lopez) The bill requires that the required memorandum of understanding entered into by a local school board and local law-enforcement agency be consistent with the model memorandum of understanding developed by the Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety. The bill requires that the model memorandum contain provisions that prohibit school resource officers from (i) conducting a search of a student's person or property while on school property unless such resource officer has probable cause to conduct such a search and either has a judicial warrant authorizing the search or has identified exigent circumstances necessitating a warrantless search; (ii) participating in any request for assistance from a federal agency without a subpoena or warrant; (iii) inquiring as to whether a student was born in a country other than the United States or is a citizen of a country other than the United States, unless such inquiry is in connection with an kidnapping or extortion investigation; and (iv) absent exigent circumstances, questioning any student without prior notification to the parent or guardian of such student's right to refuse to be questioned or searched. The bill also provides that the model memorandum of understanding shall contain provisions regarding the use of translators or appropriate guardians to assist students in responding to questions from a school resource officer. The bill requires each such school board and local law-enforcement agency to review the memorandum of understanding every four years or at any time upon request of either party. The bill provides that such memorandum shall be made available for public review and comment at least 30 days prior to its adoption. The bill also redefines school resource officer to specifically prohibit a school resource officer from investigating or enforcing violations of school board policies, including student conduct codes.  The bill was incorporated in HB292. 

HB1174 (Lopez) Requires each local school board to adopt and implement policies for the possession and administration of undesignated stock albuterol inhalers in every school in the local school division, to be administered by any school nurse, employee of the school board, employee of a local governing body, or employee of a local health department who is authorized by a prescriber and trained in the administration of albuterol inhalers for any student believed in good faith to be in need of such medication. The bill limits the liability of (i) any such individual who provides, administers, or assists in the administration of an albuterol inhaler for a student believed in good faith to be in need of such medication and (ii) the prescriber of such medication.  The bill was amended in subcommittee to be permissive.  The subcommittee was recommended to be reported 5-0. 

HB1355 (Rasoul) Requires the Department of Education to establish an interagency task force composed of state and local agencies and entities in the areas of early childhood development, health, social services, community engagement, family engagement, higher education, communities in schools, and workforce development for the purpose of developing a program for the establishment of community schools whereby public elementary and secondary schools serve as centers for the provision of such community programs and services to students and their families as may be necessary on the basis of the unique needs of the student population to be served. The bill requires such program to include a process by which school boards and community partnerships may apply to the Department of Education to designate an elementary or secondary school in the local school division as a community school. The bill also establishes a special nonreverting fund in the state treasury for the purpose of providing planning grants for school boards and community partnerships that seek to apply to the Department of Education through such program for community school designation.  The bill was amended in subcommittee with a substitute.  The bill was recommended to be reported and referred to Appropriations 4-2. 

HB1443 (VanValkenburg)   Requires the Department of Education to conduct an annual review of teacher compensation that takes into consideration the Commonwealth's compensation for teachers relative to member states in the Southern Regional Education Board. The bill requires the Department to report its findings to the Governor, the General Assembly, and the School Board by June 1 of each year. Current law requires the Director of Human Resource Management to complete a biennial review of teacher compensation that also compares the Commonwealth's compensation for teachers to other occupations requiring similar education and training.  The bill was recommended to be reported 4-2.