2023 Session of the Virginia General Adjourned Sine Die February 25

The 2023 Session of the Virginia General Assembly adjourned Sine Die on Saturday February 25 with lawmakers adopting a four-page stop-gap measure to revise spending negotiations continue on revisions to the 2022-24 biennial budget. The stop-gap agreement includes funding for local school divisions to receive at least as much revenue in the current budget year as was anticipated before the state discovered an error in the calculation tool for state funding in absence of the grocery tax which was passed by the General Assembly last year.

We anticipate negotiations on revisions to the budget will begin in the near future with a potential Special Session called by Governor Youngkin later this spring. VSBA's Government Relations team will continue to advocate for the association's budget priorities as lawmakers meet to hammer out a final deal.

To View the complete list of legislation tracked by the VSBA Government Relations Team during the 2023 session, click here.

The General Assembly will reconvene on Wednesday, April 12, 2023 to consider legislation that is either amended or vetoed by Governor Youngkin.

HB 1887 Fails to Report from Conference Committee

HB 1887 (Byron), a bill that encourages local school boards and comprehensive communities colleges to enter into local or regional agreements for the establishment and implementation of a competitive compensation structure to recruit and retain adjunct instructors to be jointly compensated by the relevant school boards and colleges to prepare both high school students and college students to earn credit-bearing workforce credentials and noncredit workforce credentials, as that term is defined in relevant law failed to report from a Conference Committee made up of members of the Senate and House. 

Senate, House Reach Stop-Gap Agreement, Skinny Budget

The General Assembly will consider a stop-gap budget bill to buy time for the House of Delegates and Senate to bridge their wide differences over $1 billion in tax cuts that Gov. Glenn Youngkin proposed in revisions to the two-year budget adopted a year ago.

House and Senate budget negotiators regrouped on Saturday after a blowup the previous day about the amount of tax cuts that the Senate would accept and the reduced spending it would require in Democratic priorities.

One of the pieces of the stopgap bill is money to compensate for a $201 million mistake in the amount of money the Department of Education estimated local school divisions that they would get from the budget adopted in June. 

The budget itself did not include the mistake, but school divisions based their current year budgets on the department estimates.The Senate version of the budget shifted $58.1 million to cover the estimated gap in the current year, but the House budget included $5 million and relied on additional sales tax revenues to make up the difference. “We’re going to make everybody whole and then some,” House Appropriations Chair Barry Knight said.

Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch

*DEVELOPING*

SB 1052 Conference Report Released

Senate and House Conferees have released the committee report for SB 1052 (McPike). To view the conference report, click here.

The Senate has approved the Conference Report by a vote of 40-0. We are awaiting action by the House of Delegates on the Conference Report.

Update 2/25/23 3:52 p.m.

The House of Delegates has adopted the Conference Report by a vote of 93-0. The legislation now heads to Governor Youngkin's desk where he can sign, amend, or veto the bill.

SB 1300 Conference Report Released

Senate and House Conferees have released the committee's report for SB 1300 (Deeds) a bill that deals with requirements for public primary and secondary school teachers; annual trauma-informed care training program. The Conference Report can be viewed by clicking here.

The Senate has accepted the report of the committee by a vote of 40-0. We are awaiting action by the House of Delegates on this matter.

Update 2/25/23 3:54 p.m.

The House of Delegates adopted the Conference Report by a vote of 90-0. The legislation now heads to Governor Youngkin's desk where he can sign, amend, or veto the bill.

Conference Report for SB 821 and HB 1704 Released

Senate and House Conferees released their committee report for SB 821 (Surovell) and HB 1704 (Bell) this morning. These bills deal with reports of certain arrests and convictions of certain individuals to division superintendents; employment verification; method of submission; compilation. The conference report can be viewed by clicking here.

We will provide additional information regarding the vote in each chamber as it becomes available.

Update- 2/25/23 11:18 a.m.

The Senate has approved the Conference Report by a vote of 40-0 on both bills. We are awaiting a vote in the House of Delegates.

Update- 2/25/23 1:39 p.m.

The House has approved the Conference Report by a vote of 95-0 on both bills. The legislation will now head to Governor Youngkin's desk for signature, amendment, or veto.

House Subcommittee Defeats Legislation on Superintendent Qualifications for Localities with 140,000+ Populations

The House K-12 Education Subcommittee met and recommended not Reporting SB 1041, patroned by Senator Jeremy McPike (D-Prince William). SB 1041 provides that the Board of Education shall require any candidate for division superintendent of a local school division serving a locality with a population greater than 140,000 people to have (i) a master's degree and relevant endorsements or a doctorate degree in an education-related field and (ii) at least five years of instructional, administrative, and supervisory experience in education, with no exceptions or substitutes for senior leadership experience in non-education fields. The Board of Education may substitute certain requirements for education-specific endorsements, degrees, or educational, administrative, or supervisory experience for a certain amount of experience in senior leadership positions outside of the education field only for local school divisions serving a locality with a population not exceeding 140,000 people.

The bill failed to Report in the subcommittee on a vote of 3-5.

House Education Committee- 2/15/23

The House Education Committee met Wednesday morning, February 15, 2023 and and heard legislation on its docket. Below you can find a summary of legislation related to K-12 education and actions taken by the committee. To view a recording of the meeting, click here.

SB 880 (Favola) Directs the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, in coordination with the Department of Education and relevant stakeholders, to develop and disseminate best practice standards for the transition of services and transfer of records for students with disabilities who reach the age of majority.

The bill Reported by a vote of 22-0.

SB 1052 (McPike) Directs the Advisory Board on Teacher Education and Licensure to advise the Board of Education and submit recommendations on policies related to helping school divisions more effectively recruit and retain licensed teachers. The bill also directs the Board of Education to extend for at least one year a teacher's three-year provisional license upon receiving from the division superintendent (i) a recommendation for such extension and (ii) satisfactory performance evaluations for such teacher for each year during the original three-year provisional license for which such teacher was actually employed.

The bill Reported by a vote of 22-0.

SB 1281 (Dunnavant) Directs the Board of Education to develop guidelines for prioritizing to the maximum extent practicable dual enrollment programs, including the Passport Program, the Uniform Certificate of General Studies Program, the New Economy Workforce Credential Grant Program, and other courses that allow high school students to receive credit toward the completion of an undergraduate course, degree, or credential offered in the Virginia Community College System. The bill provides that such guidelines shall include recommendations on how direct prioritization of funding to such programs. The bill requires the Department of Education to convene a stakeholder work group, consisting of representatives from the Virginia Education Association, the Virginia Association of School Superintendents, and the local school boards, to make recommendations on policies for the prioritization of such dual enrollment programs and requires such recommendations to be submitted to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health by November 1, 2024. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2024.

The bill Reported by a vote of 22-0.

SB 1359 (Norment) Requires new threat assessment team members at each public elementary and secondary school to complete initial threat assessment training and all threat assessment team members to complete refresher training every three years.

The bill Reported by a vote of 22-0.

SB 806 (Stanley)  Establishes the Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Computing (STEM+C) Competition Team Grant Program to encourage interest in STEM+C-related subject areas and support STEM+C-related extracurricular team-building activities in public schools in the Commonwealth by providing grants to qualified schools, as defined in the bill, for use in establishing or supporting STEM+C competition teams. The bill also creates the STEM+C Competition Team Grant Fund for the purpose of providing such grants to qualified schools.

The bill was Reported and Referred to the House Appropriations Committee by a vote of 22-0.

SB 825 (Bell) Provides that the Board of Visitors of the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind is deemed a governmental entity for the purpose of receiving from the Central Criminal Records Exchange criminal history record information pertaining to an application for employment. The bill also provides that the Board of Visitors of the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind is subject to the same requirement of each local school board that all applicants for employment as instructional personnel at such school, or for employment as a contractor who shall have direct contact with students on school property during regular school hours or during school-sponsored activities, be required to provide data on prior convictions for certain crimes and submit to fingerprinting for the purpose of obtaining criminal history record information on such applicants.

The bill Reported by a vote of 22-0.

SB 826 (Bell) Authorizes the governing board of the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind to establish a campus police department and employ campus police officers and auxiliary police forces as provided by relevant law, the employment of whom is to be governed by the Virginia Personnel Act unless the governing board of the School directs otherwise. The provisions of this bill are contingent on funding in a general appropriation act.

The bill Reported with Substitute by a vote of 22-0.

SB 890 (Hashmi) Establishes the Veterans' Teaching Licensure Support Fund and Program for the purpose of supporting veterans and service members teaching in a public school in the Commonwealth or pursuing a career in education in the Commonwealth by awarding a reimbursement grant to eligible veterans and service members to reimburse them for their professional studies tuition expenses incurred toward receiving teacher licensure in the Commonwealth.

The bill Reported and was Referred to the House Committee on Appropriations by a vote of 22-0.

SB 1043 (McPike) Requires the Department of Education, in consultation with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, to develop, adopt, and distribute to each school board a model memorandum of understanding between a school board and a public or private community mental health services provider that sets forth parameters for the provision of mental health services to public school students enrolled in the local school division by such provider. The bill requires the memorandum of understanding to be available to each school board no later than the beginning of the 2023 - 2024 school year. The bill also permits, in order to fill vacant school psychologist positions, any local school board to employ, under a provisional license issued by the Department of Education for three school years with an allowance for an additional two-year extension, clinical psychologists licensed by the Board of Psychology, provided that any such individual makes progress toward completing the requirements for full licensure as a school psychologist during such period of employment. Finally, the bill defines the terms "direct counseling" and "program planning and school support" for the purpose of the provision of law that requires each school counselor to spend at least 80 percent of his staff time during normal school hours in the direct counseling of individual students or groups of students. This bill incorporates SB 1257 and SB 1268.

The bill Reported and was Referred to the House Committee on Appropriations with Amendments by a vote of 20-2.

SB 1044 (McPike) Requires each local school division that issues student identification cards for any grade level, kindergarten through grade 12, and each public institution of higher education that issues student identification cards to clearly and conspicuously include on one side of each student identification card the telephone number for the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline (formerly the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline) and to annually review the telephone number for accuracy and currency. The bill provides that each new student identification card and any replacement student identification card issued by any school division or by any public institution of higher education must comply with the provisions of the bill beginning with the 2023-2024 school year.

The bill Reported by a vote of 22-0.

SB 1277 (Dunnavant) Directs the Board of Education to develop guidelines and policies permitting any high school student in grades 11 and 12 to earn one-half standard unit of credit per semester for employment in certain fields or industries or participation in certain fine arts programs in which such student works or participates a certain minimum number of hours per week for each week of the semester, as determined by the Board. The bill requires the Board to collaborate with and seek input from the Coordinator of Fine Arts for the Department of Education and a representative from the Virginia Coalition for Fine Arts Education in developing and implementing guidelines and policies for awarding academic credit for participation in certain fine arts programs.

The bill Reported by a vote of 22-0.

SB 1453 (McPike) Requires each local school board to develop a plan for the placement, care, and use of an automated external defibrillator in every public elementary and secondary school in the local school division and to place an automated external defibrillator in every public elementary and secondary school in the local school division. Under current law, such a plan is optional and there is no requirement for each school board to place an automated external defibrillator in every public elementary and secondary school in the local school division.

The bill Reported by a vote of 21-0.

SB 1493 (Bell) Moves the Board of Visitors of the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind (the Board of Visitors) from under the responsibility of the Secretary of Education to under the direction and supervision of the Governor. The bill exempts the Board of Visitors from the definition of "executive branch agency" with respect to the responsibilities of the Virginia Information Technologies Agency. The provisions of the bill are contingent on funding in a general appropriation act.

The bill Reported and was Referred to the House Appropriations Committee by a vote of 22-0.

January Revenue Report Released

Today, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin announced the General Fund revenue collections for January 2023. For January, which is typically a significant month for collections, adjusted general fund revenues increased by 3.0 percent compared to January 2022. On an unadjusted basis, general fund revenues increased by 2.1 percent year-to-date. 

Year-to-date collections are running ahead of the January updated projections by $78.7 million overall. Among major sources, growth in withholding collections are slowing, but the slowdown is largely anticipated in the forecast. Upcoming February collections will provide initial insight into individual refunds for the filing season.  

The full January 2023 revenue report is available here.

Senate Committee Amends, Advances Bill to Floor

House Bill 1574 (Walker) was heard in the Senate Privileges and Elections Committee this afternoon. This bill allows the governing body of a county, city, or town to file a petition with the circuit court of the county or city or of the county within which the town or the greater part thereof is located asking that a referendum be held on the question of whether the members of the school board of the county, city, or town shall be elected directly by the voters. 

The bill was amended from a “majority vote of its members” to include the language seen below in red. 

"The governing body of the county, city, or town may, upon a majority four-fifths vote of its members, file a petition with the circuit court of the county or city or of the county within which the town or the greater part thereof is located asking that a referendum be held on the question of whether the members of the school board of the county, city, or town shall be elected directly by the voters."

The bill Reported with Amendment on a vote of 8-6-1.

House Education Subcommittee on Early Childhood and Innovation- 2/13/23

The House Education Subcommittee on Early Childhood and Innovation met and considered the following list of bills on its docket.

SB 935 (Hashmi) Directs the Department of Education to develop and maintain an easily accessible and streamlined website to provide clarification on teacher licensure and endorsement requirements, including information on specific requirements and certification credentials based on the specific type of licensure or endorsement. The bill also directs the Department to develop and maintain a teacher licensure application portal to integrate all forms and payment required for licensure and that includes (i) a feature enabling any teacher to track his progress in earning professional development points, completing licensure renewal requirements, and fulfilling any additional credentialing or endorsement options offered by the Board of Education and (ii) options for sharing and sending any application documents and forms to allow Educator Preparation Programs or division leadership to review and approve such documents and forms prior to the Department review process.

The bill was Laid on the Table by a vote of 4-2.

SB 1052 (McPike) Directs the Advisory Board on Teacher Education and Licensure to advise the Board of Education and submit recommendations on policies related to helping school divisions more effectively recruit and retain licensed teachers. The bill also directs the Board of Education to extend for at least one year a teacher's three-year provisional license upon receiving from the division superintendent (i) a recommendation for such extension and (ii) satisfactory performance evaluations for such teacher for each year during the original three-year provisional license for which such teacher was actually employed.

The bill Reported by a vote of 5-1.

SB 1281 (Dunnavant)  Directs the Board of Education to develop guidelines for prioritizing to the maximum extent practicable dual enrollment programs, including the Passport Program, the Uniform Certificate of General Studies Program, the New Economy Workforce Credential Grant Program, and other courses that allow high school students to receive credit toward the completion of an undergraduate course, degree, or credential offered in the Virginia Community College System. The bill provides that such guidelines shall include recommendations on how direct prioritization of funding to such programs. The bill requires the Department of Education to convene a stakeholder work group, consisting of representatives from the Virginia Education Association, the Virginia Association of School Superintendents, and the local school boards, to make recommendations on policies for the prioritization of such dual enrollment programs and requires such recommendations to be submitted to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health by November 1, 2024. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2024.

The bill Reported on a vote of 6-0.

SB 1359 (Norment) Requires new threat assessment team members at each public elementary and secondary school to complete initial threat assessment training and all threat assessment team members to complete refresher training every three years.

The bill Reported by a vote of 6-0.

House Education Committee- 2/13/23

The House Education Committee met Monday February 13, 2023 and heard the following pieces of legislation dealing with K-12 education. The committee's docket can be found by clicking here.

SB 818 (Spruill) Requires each public elementary, middle, and high school to provide at each grade level, in addition to health instruction, an additional age-appropriate course of instruction on mental health. The bill directs the Board of Education to develop mental health curriculum guidelines for an age-appropriate, sequential mental health curriculum for each grade level and requires such curriculum guidelines to include instruction on (i) understanding general themes of mental health and wellness, (ii) recognizing symptoms of common mental health challenges, (iii) promoting mental health wellness, (iv) seeking assistance for mental health concerns and challenges, (v) promoting awareness of the prevalence of mental health challenges and the importance of overcoming common mental health stigmas, (vi) understanding the importance of mental health to a student's physical, academic, and overall well-being, and (vii) understanding, at such grade levels as the Board deems appropriate, age-appropriate instruction on the connection between mental health and substance use disorders. The bill permits the Board to consult with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services and other mental health experts in developing such curriculum guidelines and requires the Board to submit such guidelines to the State Board of Health for approval. The bill requires the Board to review and update by the beginning of the 2024–2025 school year the health Standards of Learning for each grade level to include such instruction on the mental health curriculum guidelines.

The bill Failed to Report by a vote of 10-11.

SB 821 (Surrovell) Requires each division superintendent to identify, update as necessary, and make available to the Department of Education and to other appropriate individuals a fax number, an email address, and a mailing address at which the division superintendent will receive the reports required to be transmitted pursuant to relevant law from (i) every state official or agency and every sheriff, police officer, or other local law-enforcement officer or conservator of the peace having the power to arrest for a felony upon arresting a person who is known or discovered by the arresting official to be a full-time, part-time, permanent, or temporary teacher or any other employee in any local school division in the Commonwealth for a felony or a Class 1 misdemeanor or an equivalent offense in another state and (ii) the clerk of any circuit court or any district court in the Commonwealth upon the conviction of a Board of Education-licensed school employee for certain enumerated felonies. The bill requires the Department to compile and make publicly available on its website a list of such fax numbers, email addresses, and mailing addresses. The bill also requires all such arresting officials or agencies and all such clerks to transmit the required reports via certified mail, return receipt requested, or to the identified fax numbers and email addresses. The bill finally requires, until July 1, 2027, all such arresting officials or agencies request in writing that the Virginia Employment Commission provide the name of the current employer of each arrested person for purposes of determining whether such notice is required.

The bill Reported with Amendment by a vote of 20-0.

SB 964 (Peake) Clarifies that any child day program offered by a private school accredited by and in good standing with the Virginia Council for Private Education, operated for no more than four hours per day, staffed by the accredited private school's employees, and attended by school-age children who are enrolled in the accredited private school is exempt from licensure by the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Current law provides a licensure exemption for any such program that is attended by children who are at least five years of age.

The bill Reported by a vote of 20-0.

SB 1019 (Edwards) Requires the Department of Education to assess and review authorization of Virginia-based nonprofit organizations to act as local education agencies to provide schools for adults who reside in the Commonwealth to earn industry-recognized credentials, dual college credits, and high school diplomas. The bill requires the Department of Education to report its findings to the Chairmen of the Senate Committee on Education and Health, the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations, the House Committee on Education, and the House Committee on Appropriations by November 1, 2023.

The bill Reported with a Substitute by a vote of 21-0.

SB 1020 (Edwards)  Establishes the Virginia Museum of Transportation as a public entity and educational institution under the Commonwealth governed by a 15-member board of trustees. The provisions of this bill are contingent on funding in a general appropriation act.

The bill Failed to Report by a vote of 10-11.

SB 1045 (McPike) Requires each local school board to establish and include in any multiyear capital improvement plan or substantially similar document that it adopts a school building maintenance capital target of at least 1.5 percent of the replacement value of such buildings on average to avoid major replacement costs in the future. This bill is a recommendation of the Commission on School Construction and Modernization.

The bill Failed to Report by a vote of 10-11.

SB 1072 (Bell) Requires each local school board to require the principal of each public school to notify the parent of any student involved in an alleged bullying incident of the alleged incident within 24 hours of when the allegation was made. Current law does not require the parent of any student involved in an alleged incident of bullying to be notified of the initial alleged incident and only requires parental notification of the status of the investigation into an alleged incident to be given within five school days of when the allegation was made.

The bill Reported with amendment by a vote of 20-0.

SB 1099 (Norment) Provides that matching grants from the School Resource Officer Incentive Grants Fund may be awarded to local law-enforcement agencies and local school boards for the expenses related to the equipment necessary for uniformed school resource officers, school security officers, and other relevant school safety personnel and the enhancement of the school-law enforcement partnership through training and programming as determined by the Department; provided, however, that such grants shall not be used for any expense related to the purchase of firearms, handcuffs or other wrist restraints, or any stun weapon. The provisions of the bill are contingent on funding in a general appropriation act.

The bill Reported with a Substitute by a vote of 12-9.

SB 1109 (Hashmi) Establishes the College and Career Readiness for English Language Learners Grant Program and Fund to support English language learner students in preparing for postsecondary opportunities by providing reimbursement grants to eligible school divisions for providing and expanding access to certain career, technical, apprenticeship, and college readiness and preparation programs and courses for high school students identified as having limited English proficiency. The bill provides that the total value of reimbursement grants awarded to any school division annually shall not exceed an amount equal to $500 times the number of English language learner students in grades nine through 12 enrolled in such school division. The bill directs the Board to establish such guidelines as it deems necessary for the administration of the Program and to establish procedures for determining amounts and prioritizing the award of such reimbursement grants in the event that the moneys in the Fund are not sufficient to provide each school division the full grant amount for which they are qualified. Finally, the bill provides that reimbursement grants shall be awarded to eligible school divisions beginning with the 2023-2024 school year.

The bill Failed to Report by a vote of 10-10.

SB 1118 (Hashmi) Provides that each local school board shall adopt employment policies and practices designed to promote the employment of highly qualified teachers to effectively serve the educational needs of students who are English language learners, including providing financial support for teachers seeking and obtaining an endorsement in English as a second language pre-kindergarten through grade 12. The bill also establishes the English as a Second Language Incentive Reward Program and Fund for the purpose of awarding incentive grants to public school teachers in the Commonwealth who obtain an endorsement in English as a second language pre-kindergarten through grade 12. The bill provides that the Board of Education shall award to any teacher who obtains such endorsement an initial incentive grant of $5,000 and a subsequent incentive grant of $2,500 each year for the life of the endorsement, with such incentive grants to resume upon renewal of the endorsement. Finally, the bill directs the Board to establish such guidelines as it deems necessary for the administration of the Program and to establish procedures for the award of such incentive grants in the event that the moneys in the Fund are not sufficient to award each eligible teacher the appropriate award amount.

The bill Failed to Report by a vote of 10-10.

SB 1175 (Lucas)  Expands several provisions of the Virginia Literacy Act, enacted during the 2022 Regular Session of the General Assembly, effective with the 2024–2025 school year, and currently applicable to students in kindergarten through grade three, to students in grades four through eight, including (i) requiring each local school board to provide a program of literacy instruction to such students that is aligned with science-based reading research and provides evidenced-based literacy instruction; (ii) requiring each local school board to provide reading intervention services to such students who demonstrate substantial deficiencies based on their individual performance on the Standards of Learning reading assessment or a literacy screener provided or approved by the Department of Education; (iii) permitting the reading plan required for certain students in grades six through eight to include a literacy course, in addition to the course required by the Standards of Learning in English, that provides the specific evidence-based literacy instruction identified in such plan; (iv) requiring the Department to develop a list of core literacy curricula, supplemental instruction practices and programs, and intervention programs that consist of evidence-based literacy instruction aligned with science-based reading research for such students; (v) requiring each local school board to employ one reading specialist for each 550 students in kindergarten through grade eight; (vi) requiring the Board of Education to provide guidance on and each local school board to provide high-quality professional development and training in science-based reading research and evidence-based literacy instruction for certain middle school personnel; and (vii) requiring each divisionwide comprehensive plan to include a divisionwide literacy plan for such students.

The bill Reported by a vote of 19-0.

SB 1300 (Deeds) Directs the Board of Education to work in collaboration with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to develop a comprehensive trauma-informed care training program for elementary and secondary school teachers for the purpose of ensuring that all teachers are equipped with the skills, knowledge, and resources to recognize and address signs of childhood trauma, as defined in the bill, in students, to foster a trauma-sensitive learning environment, and to ensure that students who have experienced childhood trauma receive the support they need, both inside and outside of the classroom. The bill requires the trauma-informed care training program to be provided once every three years at each school division by a representative from the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services and to be administered by the Department of Education and the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services. Finally, the bill requires each local school board to adopt and implement policies requiring annual completion of the trauma-informed care training program by each primary and secondary school teacher in the school division.

The bill was Reported and Referred to the House Appropriations Committee.

SB 1329 (McClellan) Requires the Board of Education to assess and report to the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations and the House Committee on Appropriations and that the individuals and entities identified by such committees shall consider and make recommendations on the creation and maintenance of a Virginia parent data portal and that would (i) display individualized student assessment data on all state-supported assessments, as defined by the bill, currently and cumulatively over time; (ii) provide for each state-supported assessment a description of the purpose, an explanation of how to interpret student data, and a comparison of a student's performance with the performance of the student's school, the student's school division, and the Commonwealth; (iii) be viewable from a mobile device in addition to a desktop computer; and (iv) restrict user access to students and their parents. The bill requires such recommendations to include fiscal estimates related to the creation, implementation, and administration of a Virginia parent data portal. The bill requires such recommendations to be submitted to the General Assembly no later than October 1, 2023.

The bill Reported by a vote of 20-0.

House Education Committee- 2/8/23

The House Education Committee met on February 8, 2023 for its first meeting following the Crossover Deadline of February 7th. To view the archived recording of the meeting, click here.

SB 943 (Suetterlein) Requires each public high school in the Commonwealth to publicly identify on its official website the faculty member responsible for special education transition planning and coordination at such high school.

The bill Reported on a vote of 22-0.

SB 1124 (Stanley) Requires the Board of Education to make recommendations to the General Assembly for amendments to the Standards of Quality to establish standards for the maintenance and operations, renovation, and new construction of public elementary and secondary school buildings. The bill requires such recommendations to include standards for the percentage of the current replacement value of a public school building that a school board should budget for the maintenance and operations of the building and such other standards as the Board deems appropriate. The bill also requires the Board to solicit the input of relevant stakeholders and the public in developing such recommendations. Finally, the bill requires the Board to submit its recommendations to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health no later than December 1, 2023. This bill is a recommendation of the Commission on School Construction and Modernization.

The bill Reported on a vote of 20-2.

SB 1215 (Lucas)  Requires the Commonwealth to compensate its public school teachers at a rate that is competitive, defined in current law as at or above the national average teacher salary, in order to attract and keep highly qualified teachers. Current law declares it the policy of the Commonwealth to compensate public school teachers at such competitive rate but does not require it. The bill requires the Department of Education to conduct an annual calculation to determine the estimated national average teacher salary for each year of the current budget biennium that relies on the most up-to-date data from the source of the 50-state average salary of K-12 teachers in public school set forth in the annual Virginia Compared with the Other States report published by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission. The bill permits the Department, in making such calculation, to use the trends of the percent change for the national average teacher salaries in the two to four years prior to project averages in each year of the current and upcoming biennia. The bill requires the results of such calculation to be reported to the Governor, the General Assembly, and the Board of Education by June 1 of each year. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2024.

The bill was Reported with Substitute by a vote of 21-0.

SB 1253 (Dunnavant) Requires each school board to provide teachers, parents, principals, and other school leaders with their students' results on any Standards of Learning assessment or Virginia Alternate Assessment Program assessment as soon as practicable after the assessment is administered.

The bill Reported on a vote of 22-0.

SB 1260 (Lucas) Renames the National Teacher Certification Incentive Reward Program and Fund as the National Board Certification Incentive Reward Program and Fund, expands eligibility for incentive grant awards from such Fund pursuant to such Program from solely teachers who have obtained national certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards to (i) all public school staff who are candidates for initial national certification or maintenance of national certification to cover certain costs of obtaining or maintaining such certification and (ii) all public school staff who have successfully obtained or maintained such certification. The bill also declares eligible for an annual incentive grant award in the amount of $7,500 all public school staff who have obtained or maintained such certification. Current law declares eligible for an annual incentive grant award of $5,000 in the first year and $2,500 in each subsequent year all teachers who have obtained or maintained such certification.

The bill was Reported and Referred to the House Appropriations Committee by a vote of 21-0.

SB 1300 (Deeds) Directs the Board of Education to work in collaboration with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to develop a comprehensive trauma-informed care training program for elementary and secondary school teachers for the purpose of ensuring that all teachers are equipped with the skills, knowledge, and resources to recognize and address signs of childhood trauma, as defined in the bill, in students, to foster a trauma-sensitive learning environment, and to ensure that students who have experienced childhood trauma receive the support they need, both inside and outside of the classroom. The bill requires the trauma-informed care training program to be provided once every three years at each school division by a representative from the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services and to be administered by the Department of Education and the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services. Finally, the bill requires each local school board to adopt and implement policies requiring annual completion of the trauma-informed care training program by each primary and secondary school teacher in the school division.

The bill was Laid on the Table by a vote of 11-10.

SB 1325 (McClellan) Amends Standard of Quality 2 by increasing the required number of specialized student support positions from at least three to at least four such positions per 1,000 students. Such specialized student support positions include school social workers, school psychologists, school nurses, licensed behavior analysts, licensed assistant behavior analysts, and other licensed health and behavioral positions.

The bill was Reported and Referred to the House Appropriations Committee by a vote of 22-0.

SB 1404 (Barker) Renames the School Readiness Committee as the Commission on Early Childhood Care and Education and makes several changes to the Commission, including adjusting its purpose, increasing and adjusting its membership, and establishing eight enumerated powers and duties for the Commission.

The bill Reported by a vote of 22-0.

SB 1498 (McClellan) Extends eligibility for the Brown v. Board of Education Scholarship Program to the direct descendants of persons who were residing in jurisdictions in Virginia in which the public schools were closed to avoid desegregation between 1954 and 1964 and whose educations were affected by the school closings. Currently, only persons who resided in such jurisdictions at the time of the school closings are eligible for the program.

The bill Reported on a vote of 22-0.

Senate Budget Amendments Released

The Senate Finance and Appropriations released its approved amendments to its budget bill, SB 800 (Howell and Barker). The following selected list of amendments were made to the K-12 portion of the budget. For the entire package of amendments adopted by the committee, click here.

Item 128 #1s- This amendment defers funding from the introduced budget for positions at the Secretary of Education's Office to support other public education initiatives.

Item 129 #1s- This amendment provides $6.7 million the second year from the general fund to implement the expansion of the Virginia Literacy Act from grades K-3 to grades K-8. These funds specifically are provided to support additional literacy coaches, development of a literacy screener for use in grades 4-7, professional development, and review of curriculum materials. In addition, the amendment restructures the existing language to delineate one-time versus ongoing costs associated with this initiative. Finally, the amendment ensures that all regional literacy coaches are licensed reading specialists.

Item 136 #6s- This amendment provides $8.9 million GF the second year to increase the National Board Certification Incentive bonus to $7,500 every year for the award to teachers. The current bonus is $2,500. It also allows funds to be used for candidates seeking certification.

Item 136 #11s- This amendment redirects funding in the introduced budget for performance bonuses to other public education initiatives.

Item 137 #1s- This amendment provides $270.6 million GF the second year to increase the number of support positions by removing the standard used in Chapter 2, 2022 Special Session I.

Item 137 #2s- This amendment provides $27.5 million the second year from general fund to provide one reading specialist per 550 students in grades six through eight. The adopted budget funds reading specialists at the same ratio in kindergarten through third grade, and the introduced budget would fund reading specialists at the same ratio in fourth and fifth grade. Existing language provides flexibility to permit school divisions to meet the ratio using other staff who are working toward meeting the training and licensure requirements for reading specialists that become effective for the 2024-2025 school year.

Item 137 #3s- This amendment provides additional, temporary funding of $38.6 million GF the second year for a subset of schools accredited with conditions to hire instructional assistants at a ratio of one assistant per 20 students in schools that do not meet three or more of the Board of Education's performance benchmarks for school accreditation. These positions are intended to (i) help teachers provide small group and individualized instruction necessitated by widening academic needs within classrooms, (ii) help teachers manage challenging student behaviors within classrooms, and (iii) reduce teacher workloads. This is a recommendation from JLARC's 2022 study: "Pandemic Impact on Public K-12 Education.

Item 137 #5s- This amendment redirects funding in the introduced budget for a one percent retention bonus to support other initiatives in public education.

Item 137 #7s- This amendment provides an additional $116.8 million in the second year from the general fund to support a total salary increase of seven percent effective July 1, 2024. This is an additional 2.0 percent increase from the 5.0 increase provided in Chapter 2, Special Session 1 of the General Assembly.

Item 137 #8s- This amendment provides $58.1 million GF the first year for a hold harmless payment to cover the identified error in the Direct Aid calculator tool from the Supplemental Supplemental General Fund Payment in Lieu of Sales Tax on Food and Personal Hygiene and Basic Aid offset. These funds represent the total impact to divisions in fiscal year 2023.

Item 137 #9s- This amendment redirects funding for lab schools to hold local school divisions harmless for the Grocery Sales tax error in the calculator tool in FY 2023. Adjustments made to the fund include a companion amendment to reduce funding for lab schools to $5.0 million.

Item 137 #10s- This amendment redirects funding for the lab school initiative to support other initiatives related to public education. The funding reduction to $5.0 million reflects the reduction in a companion amendment.

Item 137 #11s- This amendment provides $56.9 million GF the second year to fund the state's share of four specialized support positions per 1,000 students.

Item 137 #12s- This amendment provides $37.1 million the second year from the general fund to increase the At-Risk Add-On maximum from 36.0 percent to 40.0 percent in FY 2024.

Item 137 #13s- This amendment provides $24.3 million the second year from general fund to increase the ratio of English Language Learner positions from 20 per 1,000 students to 24 per 1,000 students.

Item 137 #14s- This amendment provides $140.4 million GF in FY 2024 to fund a bonus of $1,000 to instructional and support positions. There is no required local match.

Item 4-14 #2s- This amendment authorizes all counties and cities to impose an additional local sales and use tax at a rate not to exceed one percent with the revenue used only for capital projects for the construction or renovation of schools if such levy is approved in a voter referendum.

House Releases Budget Amendment Summaries

The House Appropriations Committee has released budget amendments to House Bill 1400 (Knight). The following list of amendments to the K-12 budget with detailed summaries are below. Please note, this is not the full list of House budget amendments. To view the entire list of budget amendments, click here.

Item 129 #1h- This amendment provides $6.7 million the second year from remaining balances of Governor's Emergency Education Relief federal pandemic relief funds to implement the provisions of House Bill 1526, which expands the Virginia Literacy Act from grades K-3 to grades K-8. These funds specifically are provided to support additional literacy coaches, development of a literacy screener for use in grades 4-7, professional development, and review of curriculum materials. In addition, the amendment restructures the existing language to delineate one-time versus ongoing costs associated with this initiative. Finally, the amendment ensures that all regional literacy coaches are licensed reading specialists.

Item 129 #2h- This amendment provides $132,932 the second year from the general fund to provide one full-time position to support new initiatives including College Partnership Laboratory Schools, Division Laboratory Schools, and Middle School Mathematics Innovation Zones.

Item 130 #1h- This amendment provides $500,000 the second year from the general fund to increase support for the Virginia Tiered System of Supports to $947,416 annually allowing expansion of the system to additional school divisions. The program provides support, technical assistance and coaching for school staff to help reduce disruptive classroom behavior by providing positive behavior interventions and supports. This recommendation was included in JLARC's report "Pandemic Impact on K-12 Public Education" and is also a recommendation of the Behavioral Health Commission.

Item 135 #1h- The Department of Education shall convene a workgroup including representatives from the Department of Planning & Budget, the Auditor of Public Accounts, the Virginia Association of School Business Officials, the Virginia Association of School Superintendents, the Virginia School Boards Association, the House Appropriations and Senate Finance and Appropriations Committees, and others as deemed appropriate to develop recommendations for the Department's existing systems used for distributing direct aid funds to school divisions.  Such review shall consider (i) the need to modernize systems to meet current business needs and provide adequate fiscal controls, (ii) providing external stakeholders with access to the system and transparent information, (iii)  systems used by other states to distribute public education funding, and (iv) adaptability of the system to consider alternate staffing scenarios and funding models.  The workgroup shall submit recommendations including funding options to the chairs of the House Appropriations, House Education, Senate Finance and Appropriations, and Senate Education and Health Committees no later than December 1, 2023.

Item 136 #7h- This amendment captures $50.0 million the second year in general fund savings by eliminating the proposed teacher performance bonus and redirecting these funds to provide a seven percent compensation increase, included in a companion amendment in Item 137.

Item 136 #8h- This amendment provides $1.0 million the second year from the general fund to implement a program to cover all except $40 of AP and IB exam fees for students eligible for free or reduced lunch.

Item 136 #12h- This amendment provides $3.0 million the second year from the general fund for additional, temporary funding to hire instructional assistants at a ratio of one assistant per 20 students in selected schools that do not meet five or more of the Board of Education's performance benchmarks for school accreditation. These positions are intended to (i) help teachers provide small group and individualized instruction necessitated by widening academic needs within classrooms, (ii) help teachers manage challenging student behaviors within classrooms, and (iii) reduce teacher workloads. This is a recommendation from JLARC's 2022 study: "Pandemic Impact on Public K-12 Education.

Item 136 #17h- This amendment moves the $15.0 million proposed in the introduced budget for school-based mental health services from the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to the Department of Education. There is a corresponding amendment in Item 311.

Item 137 #2h- This amendment changes several provisions of the School Construction Assistance Program, including (i) adding the principal portion of debt service payments on projects that have not yet been completed an eligible use, (ii) clarifying that any project that began construction after July 1, 2022 may qualify for grant funds, (iii) allowing the most favorable year among three years of fiscal stress index data to be used to determine the grant award amounts instead of only the current years' data, and (iv) requiring the program guidelines to address joint grant applications for regional school construction projects. These provisions are recommendations of the School Construction and Modernization Commission.

Item 137 #4h- This amendment provides $109.6 million the second year from the general fund to provide a 7.0 percent salary increase, effective July 1, 2023. This is a 2.0 percent increase from the 5.0 percent increase provided in the adopted budget. This amendment redirects $45.2 million the second year toward the salary increase, by eliminating the proposed teacher performance bonus. Additionally, the amendment directs a workgroup to determine appropriate metrics for the Commonwealth's teacher compensation goals.

Item 137 #6h- This amendment provides $4.9 million the first year from the general fund to ensure that the per-pupil amount of basic aid and sales tax payments a school division receives in fiscal year 2023 is greater than the per-pupil amount of basic aid and sales tax payments for fiscal year 2023 that was communicated through the Department of Education's calculation tool in June 2022. The tool overestimated the amount of funding school divisions should receive by $58.1 million in fiscal year 2023, an amount that was offset for most school divisions by the net impact of the sales tax reforecast by $84.8 million.

Item 137 #9h- This amendment provides $13.9 million the second year from the general fund to provide one reading specialist per 1,100 students in grades six through eight. The adopted budget funds one reading specialist per 550 students in kindergarten through third grade, and the introduced budget would fund reading specialists at the 1:550 ratio in fourth and fifth grade. Existing language provides flexibility to permit school divisions to meet the ratio using other staff who are working toward meeting the training and licensure requirements for reading specialists that become effective for the 2024-2025 school year.

Item 137 #11h- This amendment provides $12.0 million the second year from the Lottery Proceeds Fund for competitive school security grants. There is an existing $12.0 million School Security Equipment Grant Program that can only be used for capital related security needs due to the funding source of the program, tax exempt bonds. These additional funds could be used to fund grants for any school security need, including leases, subscriptions to software services, and human resources.

Budget Updates from February 5, 2023

 On Sunday, the money committees from each chamber released their proposed budgets.  

Information on the House budget proposal, including video of the meeting, can be found here.  Specific details of the House budget related to education can be found here.

Information on the Senate budget proposal can be found here.  Specific details of the Senate proposal related to education can be found here.

There are significant differences between the two proposals which still have to be resolved.  Check back for additional updates.  

House Education- 2/3/2023

The House Education Committee met Friday morning, February 3, 2023, and took the following actions on its docket.

HB 2137 (Delaney) Requires each local school board to submit to the Department of Education before the start of the school year, and to resubmit to the Department as necessary to remain current, a description of the reading intervention materials and core reading curriculum to be used at each of the schools within such local school division and the job description and contact information for each reading specialist and any dyslexia specialist employed by such school division. The bill requires the Department to publicly post on its website such information submitted by each local school board and update its website as necessary to ensure that such information is easily accessible, accurate, and current. Finally, the bill requires each local school board to post, maintain, and update as necessary a link on its website to the page on the Department's website on which such information is posted.

The bill was Reported with Substitute by a vote of 19-0.

HB 1387 (Greenhalgh) Requires each interscholastic, intercollegiate, intramural, or club athletic team or sport sponsored by a public elementary or secondary school or by a public institution of higher education to be expressly designated as one of the following based on biological sex: (i) males, men, or boys; (ii) females, women, or girls; or (iii) coed or mixed if participation on such team or sport is open to both (a) males, men, or boys and (b) females, women, or girls. The bill requires identification of the student's biological sex on an athletics eligibility form signed by a licensed physician, nurse practitioner, or physician assistant to be submitted by any such student who desires to try out for or participate in an interscholastic, intercollegiate, intramural, or club athletic team or sport. The bill prohibits any such team or sport that is expressly designated for females, women, or girls from being open to students whose biological sex is male. The bill further prohibits any interscholastic, intercollegiate, intramural, or club athletic team or sport sponsored by a public elementary or secondary school or a public institution of higher education from competing against any interscholastic, intercollegiate, intramural, or club athletic team or sport sponsored by a private elementary or secondary school or private institution of higher education unless such private school or institution complies with the applicable provisions of the bill.

The bill prohibits any government entity, licensing or accrediting organization, or athletic association or organization from entertaining a complaint, opening an investigation, or taking any other adverse action against public school or institution of higher education based on a violation of the provisions of the bill and creates a cause of action for any school or institution of higher education that suffers harm as a result of a violation of the bill. Finally, the bill creates a civil cause of action for any student that suffers harm as a result of a knowing violation of a provision of the bill by a school or institution or as a result of the student's reporting a violation of a provision of the bill by a school, institution, athletic association, or organization.

The bill was Reported with Amendment by a vote of 11-9.

HB 2432 (LaRock) Requires any person licensed as administrative or instructional personnel by the Board of Education and employed by a local school board who, in the scope of his employment, has reason to believe, as a result of direct communication from a student, that such student is self-identifying as a gender different from the student's biological sex to contact as soon as practicable at least one of such student's parents to ask whether such parent is aware of the student's mental state and whether the parent wishes to obtain or has already obtained counseling for such student. The bill requires the Board of Education to include in its guidelines for making such contact criteria to assess whether students have begun to self-identify as a gender different from their biological sex and criteria for notification of and discussions with parents of students self-identifying as a gender different from their biological sex. The bill also prohibits any licensed school counselor, professional counselor, clinical social worker, or psychologist or other counseling personnel in any school division from (i) encouraging or coercing a minor to withhold from the minor's parent the fact that the minor's perception of his or her gender or sex is inconsistent with the minor's biological sex or (ii) withholding from a minor's parent information relating to the minor's perception that his or her gender or sex is inconsistent with the minor's biological sex. Finally, the bill clarifies, in the definition of the term "abused or neglected child," that in no event shall referring to and raising the child in a manner consistent with the child's biological sex, including related mental health or medical decisions, be considered abuse or neglect.

This bill incorporates HB 1707 (Durant).

The bill was Reported with Amendment by a vote of 11-10.