Bill Clarifying Virginia Literacy Act Provisions Signed by Governor Youngkin

Governor Glenn Youngkin has signed Senate Bill 624 (Lucas)/HB 647 (Coyner) which clarifies several provisions of the Virginia Literacy Act (the Act), enacted during the 2022 Regular Session of the General Assembly and effective with the 2024-2025 school year, including (i) clarifying that the term "evidence-based literacy instruction" does not include practices that instruct students to gain meaning from print through the use of (a) three-cueing, which includes semantic, syntactic, and graphophonic cues; (b) meaning, structure, and visual cues; or (c) visual memory for word recognition; (ii) removing the option to use a literacy screener approved by the Department of Education for certain purposes enumerated in the Act; (iii) requiring the Department to develop a list of core literacy curricula for students in kindergarten through grade five and supplemental instruction practices and programs and intervention programs for students in kindergarten through grade eight that consist of evidence-based literacy instruction aligned with science-based reading research; and (iv) requiring each divisionwide literacy plan to address how the local school board will align (a) core reading and literacy curriculum for students in kindergarten through grade five and (b) screening, supplemental instruction, and interventions for students in kindergarten through grade eight with evidence-based literacy instruction practices aligned with science-based reading research. This bill is effective July 1, 2024 and is identical to HB 647.

Hazing Prevention Instruction Legislation Becomes Law

Governor Glenn Youngkin has signed Senate Bill 379 (Boysko) that Requires the Board of Education to develop Standards of Learning and curriculum guidelines for research-based hazing prevention instruction to be provided as a part of physical or health education instruction provided to students in grade nine or 10. The bill requires such hazing prevention instruction to include age-appropriate, extensive, and current education about hazing, including (i) examples of hazing; (ii) the dangers of hazing, including the consequences of alcohol intoxication; and (iii) school policies and laws related to hazing, including criminal penalties and bystander intervention. The bill requires such research-based hazing prevention instruction to be offered in-person but requires each school board to provide options for virtual participation for any student who is enrolled in an online or virtual physical or health education program. Finally, the bill requires each school board to provide such research-based hazing prevention instruction beginning with the school year following the Board's adoption of revised Standards of Learning for physical and health education for grades nine and 10 incorporating such research-based hazing prevention instruction and directs the Board to, in the intermediary time, develop and post on its website guidance documents for the purpose of making such research-based hazing prevention instruction available to local school boards. This bill is effective July 1, 2024 and is identical to HB 719.

Legislation from 2024 Session Awaits Action by Governor

The 2024 Session of the Virginia General Assembly adjourned Sine Die on Saturday, March 9, 2024. Lawmakers sent over 1,000 pieces of legislation to Governor Glenn Youngkin for consideration. The Governor has until April 8, 2024 to sign, veto, or offer amendments to legislation. The General Assembly will return to act on any amendments and vetoes by the Governor at the Reconvene Session scheduled for Wednesday, April 17, 2024.

Below is a listing of legislation important to school boards sent to the Governor. This is not a complete listing of all legislation passed during the 2024 session. To review legislation awaiting action by the Governor, please visit the Virginia Legislative Information System website.

In May, the VSBA Government Relations team will produce the 2024 Virginia General Assembly Comprehensive Report which will include additional legislative analysis from the session. 

SB 1 (Lucas)/ HB 1 (Ward) Increases the minimum wage from the current rate of $12.00 per hour to $13.50 per hour effective January 1, 2025, and to $15.00 per hour effective January 1, 2026. The bill satisfies a reenactment clause included in Chapters 1204 and 1242 of the Acts of Assembly of 2020. This bill is identical to HB 1.

SB 5 (Stanley)  Establishes the Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Computing (STEM+C) Competition Team Grant Program and Fund 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.

SB 14 (McPike)/ HB 805 (Rasoul) 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. The bill removes the requirement that such a tax must have an expiration date on either (i) the date of the repayment of any bonds or loans used for such capital projects or (ii) a date chosen by the governing body. Under current law, only Charlotte, Gloucester, Halifax, Henry, Mecklenburg, Northampton, Patrick, and Pittsylvania Counties and the City of Danville are authorized to impose such a tax. This bill is identical to HB 805.

SB 36 (Locke) Exempts certain public meetings from the definition of "meeting" under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act to clarify that three or more members of a public body may appear and participate in such public meeting without violating the Act, provided that no public business is transacted or discussed. The bill also exempts members of a public body who attend a public meeting of a second public body without violating the Act, provided that no public business is transacted or discussed. Finally, the bill defines "public business" as activity that a public body has undertaken or proposed to undertake on behalf of the people it represents.

SB 60 (Favola) Requires the Department of Education to make available to each school board and post on its website by the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year the guidelines established in accordance with relevant law for individualized education program (IEP) teams to use in developing IEPs for children with disabilities relating to the need for age-appropriate and developmentally appropriate instruction.

SB 104 (Lucas)/ HB 187 (Clark) Requires the Governor's introduced budget bills for the 2025, 2026, and 2027 Regular Sessions of the General Assembly to propose funding for, and state funding to be provided pursuant to the general appropriation act enacted during any regular or special session of the General Assembly during 2025, 2026, or 2027 to fund, the Commonwealth's share of compensation supplement incentives for Standards of Quality-funded instructional and support positions sufficient to increase the average teacher salary in the Commonwealth to at least the national average teacher salary by the end of the 2026–2028 biennium and establishes a detailed timeline and process for satisfying such requirement. This bill is identical to HB 187.

SB 105 (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 as 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 as 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 also establishes the At-Risk Program for the purpose of supporting programs and services for students who are educationally at risk, including prevention, intervention, or remediation activities required pursuant to relevant law, teacher recruitment programs and initiatives, programs for English language learners, the hiring of additional school counselors and other support staff, and other programs relating to increasing the success of disadvantaged students in completing a high school degree and providing opportunities to encourage further education and training. The bill also contains provisions relating to certain funding requirements for the At-Risk Program. Finally, the bill directs the Department of Education to (a) develop and implement a data collection process related to English language learner expenditures and student English proficiency levels to begin to address the recommendations of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission's 2023 review of Virginia's K-12 Funding Formula and (b) develop, in coordination with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services or any other relevant stakeholders, a plan for revised special education staffing requirements that addresses the staffing needs of each special education program in each school division. The bill provides for the inclusion of the provisions of the first enactment in the general appropriation act beginning July 1, 2026. This bill incorporates SB 127, SB 128, SB 187, SB 227, SB 228, and SB 609.

SB 142 (Ruff) Requires the Board of Education to include in its teacher licensure regulations provisions authorizing each school board to, upon recommendation of the division superintendent or the school board and in accordance with the criteria set forth in the bill, issue a one-year, nonrenewable local eligibility license that is only valid within the issuing school division to any individual who (i) received a baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited institution of higher education, (ii) has experience or training in a subject or content area as the school board and division superintendent may deem appropriate for the applicable teaching position or endorsement area, and (iii) is not seeking to provide instruction in special education or eligible for collegiate professional or postgraduate professional licensure. The bill establishes several requirements, criteria, and conditions relating to a local eligibility license. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2030.

SB 199 (Diggs)/ HB 1345 (Anthony) Requires the Board of Education, in collaboration with the Virginia Community College System, Career and Technical Education directors, and industry partners, to develop and maintain a current, comprehensive, and uniform list of industry-recognized workforce credentials that students may take as a substitute for certain units of credit required for graduation, including such credentials that are accepted as substitutes for electives credits and credentials completed outside of regular school hours. The bill requires each school board to accept as a substitute for a required credit any credential listed as an accepted substitute for such required credit. The bill also requires any College and Career Access Pathways Partnership entered into between a school board and a comprehensive community college to specify, consistent with the list, industry-recognized credentials that are accepted as substitutes for certain credits required for high school graduation. Finally, the bill requires the Board, in establishing graduation requirements, to permit any student to substitute elective credits for completion of any industry-approved workforce credential that is included on the list as an accepted substitute for such credits. This bill is identical to HB 1345.

SB 220 (Favola)/ HB 1089 (Coyner) Makes several changes relating to special education and related services for children with disabilities in public elementary and secondary schools in the Commonwealth, including requiring (i) the Department of Education to (a) develop, establish, review and update as necessary at least once every five years, and make available to each local school board an IEP writing, facilitation, tracking, and transfer system to be referred to as the Virginia IEP that includes, at a minimum, an IEP template component and a data system component and (b) develop and publish a data dashboard for the annual public reporting of state-level, division-level, and school-level special education data; (ii) each local school board to designate a faculty member to serve as a special education parent/family liaison to be a resource to parents and families to understand and engage in the referral, evaluation, reevaluation, and eligibility process if they suspect that their child has a disability and in the IEP process; and (iii) the Parent Training and Information Center in the Commonwealth designated pursuant to relevant federal law to establish special education family support centers in eight distinct regions of the Commonwealth that shall each be staffed by a regional special education family liaison employed by such center, coordinate with the designated special education parent/family liaisons in the local school divisions in the region, develop and implement outreach and support to parents of children with disabilities in its region, and track and report to the State Parent Ombudsman for Special Education data on questions and concerns raised by parents. This bill is identical to HB 1089.

HB 66 (Campbell) Requires every public school to hold fire drills during the school session in accordance with the requirements of the Statewide Fire Prevention Code. Current law requires such fire drills to be conducted at least twice during the first 20 school days of each school session and at least twice more during the remainder of the school session.

HB 69 (Bulova) Requires the local governing body or elected school board making an interim appointment to fill a vacancy in the membership of such body or board to hold a public meeting at least seven days prior to making such appointment. The bill specifies that at such meeting, the body or board shall announce the names of all persons being proposed for the interim appointment and shall make available for inspection each person's resume and any other materials required by the body or board.

HB 252 (Cole)  Requires each school board to permit any student enrolled in a public elementary or secondary school in the local school division who provides acceptable proof of identification, if requested, and who signs up in accordance with the sign-up procedures for the respective school board meeting to submit oral comments during any public comment portion of such meeting, subject to the same reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions imposed by such school board on the expression of any other citizen participant in such meetings.

HB 269 (McQuinn) Requires the Board of Education to amend its relevant regulation to permit any career switcher who seeks a teaching endorsement preK through grade 12, including any career switcher who seeks a teaching endorsement in special education, to pursue a Provisional (Career Switcher) License through the career switcher alternate route to licensure program in accordance with all of the requirements set forth in such regulation, provided that the individual completes at least 60 percent of the endorsement requirements for special education general curriculum K-12 as part of Level I preparation and the remainder of such requirements as part of Level II and Level III preparation.

HB 501 (Cohen) Requires any divisionwide or public elementary or secondary school-specific school building evacuation plan, policy, or protocol to include provisions that seek to maximize the opportunity for students with mobility impairments to evacuate the school building alongside their non-mobility-impaired peers.

HB 561 (Askew) Requires the Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety to include specific technology systems in the list of items to be reviewed and evaluated in required annual school safety audits.

HB 599 (Simonds) Permits any school board, with the concurrence of the local governing body, to establish a capital reserve fund as a savings account into which it exclusively deposits the local operating funds that remain unexpended at the end of the year for future school division capital expenditures at no additional cost to local taxpayers, subject to certain conditions enumerated in the bill.

HB 919 (Srinivasan) Directs the Department of Education, in consultation with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services and the Department of Medical Assistance Services, to develop, adopt, and distribute to each school board a model memorandum of understanding between a school board and a nationally recognized school-based telehealth provider that sets forth the parameters for the provision of mental health teletherapy by such provider to public school students enrolled in the local school division. Current law only requires the development, adoption, and distribution of a model memorandum of understanding between a school board and a public or private community mental health services provider. The bill also permits each school board to adopt policies and procedures to increase the accessibility of school-based mental health services for students enrolled in each school division who may not have access to mental health services otherwise by providing or expanding virtual mental health resources and establishing or expanding a partnership with (i) a public or private community mental health services provider that offers school-based teletherapy to students or (ii) a nationally recognized school-based telehealth provider that provides mental health teletherapy to students.

HB 937 (Levere-Bolling) States that the intent of the General Assembly is that school boards encourage the implementation of innovative low-cost or no-cost alternatives to transporting students to and from school on school buses, including organizing or otherwise facilitating, encouraging, or supporting biking or walking school buses whereby groups of students ride bicycles or walk to and from school.

Governor Youngkin Amends Senate Bill 225/House Bill 498

On Friday evening, Governor Youngkin amended Senate Bill 225 (Pekarsky)/ House Bill 498 (Cohen) which when left the general assembly would have required each local school board to develop and implement a policy to require the annual notification of the parent of each student enrolled in the local school division, to be sent by email and, if applicable, SMS text message within 30 calendar days succeeding the first day of each school year, of the parent's legal responsibility to safely store any firearm present in the household, risks associated with improperly stored firearms, statistics relating to firearm-related accidents, injuries, and death among youth, and other tips and strategies. The bill requires each school board to make such parental notification available in multiple languages on its website.

The Governor suggested the following recommendation be considered by the general assembly to the legislation,

1. After line 82, enrolled

insert

2. That the provisions of the first enactment of this act shall not become effective unless reenacted by the 2025 Session of the General Assembly.

3. The Department of Education shall (i) collaborate with relevant stakeholders to create a list of (a) parental rights, including the right to be notified of sexually explicit materials, to express disagreement with a school's or a school board's policies or decisions, and to make decisions concerning the upbringing, education, and care of the parent's child, and (b) parental responsibilities, including safeguarding their child against access to drugs, ensuring their child is protected from exploitation or abuse, maintaining their child's school attendance, participating in their child's school discipline proceedings, monitoring their child's behavioral and educational process, and, if applicable, paying child support; and (ii) develop an efficient method for distributing such list to parents at the beginning of each school year. The Department of Education shall submit a report on such list to the Chairs of the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health by December 1, 2024.

Governor Vetoes Senate Bill 235

Governor Glenn Youngkin vetoed Senate Bill 235 (Hashmi) Friday evening. This legislation provided that nothing in the law requiring the Department of Education to develop and make available to each school board model policies for ensuring parental notification of any instructional material that includes sexually explicit content and requiring each school board to adopt policies that are consistent with but may be more comprehensive than such model policies or that is in such model policies or school board policies shall be construed to permit the censoring of books in any public elementary or secondary school. 

In issuing the veto, Governor Youngkin provided the following explanation, 

"In accordance with Senate Bill 656 (2022), the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) released "Model Policies on Instructional Materials with Sexually Explicit Content." Developed through collaboration with educational leaders and parents, the model policy bolsters parental rights by granting parents more decision-making authority in their child's education. The model specifically states: “the Act shall not be construed to require or provide for the censoring of books in public elementary and secondary schools.” 

Despite the proponents’ claim that the current proposal codifies the enactment clause found in Chapter 100 of the 2022 Acts of Assembly, there are significant language differences that may cause confusion among school administrators, divisions, parents, and students. 

Current law unequivocally affirms that the adoption of these model policies by a school board should not be interpreted as requiring or providing for the censorship of books in public elementary and secondary schools. Therefore, the bill is unnecessary.

 Accordingly, I veto this bill."

Virginia General Assembly Day 60

Today is Day 60, the final day of the 2024 session of the Virginia General Assembly. The Senate and House are scheduled to convene at 2:00 p.m., to address the remaining pieces of legislation in conference committees and to vote on the 2024-2026 Biennial Budget. We will update the blog throughout the afternoon as legislation important to K-12 education is resolved.

Budget Writers Release Biennial Budget Conference Report

Senate and House Budget Conferees released the conference report for House Bill 30 late Thursday afternoon. Important items for school board members with explanation can be found below. The budget items below is not a complete listing of items that deal with K-12 education. To review the entire list of K-12 and other budget items, click here.

The Senate and House will vote on the proposed 2024-2026 biennial budget on Saturday, March 9, 2024.

 Item 117 #2c- This amendment provides for development of a plan to provide ongoing school-based mental health funding. This is a recommendation of the Behavioral Health Commission.

Item 117 #6c- This amendment (i) provides $6.9 million the first year and $4.9 million the second year to develop and maintain the Virginia Language and Literacy Screening System (VALLS), (ii) provides $3.4 million each year to continue support for literacy coaching, technical assistance and professional development as required by the Virginia Literacy Act (VLA), (iii) authorizes the Virginia Literacy Partnership to collect fees from publishers to offset costs to review reading curriculum materials for alignment with the VLA, (iv) redirects existing funding related to the implementation of the VLA to the University of Virginia's Literacy Partnership, and (v) delays the implementation of literacy screener for grades 4-8 and associated literacy plans for one year. The amendment also directs remaining federal pandemic relief balances from Learning Acceleration Grants be used to supplant general funds in the first year. This represents a net increase of $5.7 million in fiscal year 2025 and $3.7 million in fiscal year 2026 from the amounts proposed in the introduced budget for implementation of the VLA.

Item 118 #1c- This amendment provides $2.2 million each year from the general fund to implement provisions of House Bill 1089 and Senate Bill 220 related to establishing eight regional special education family support centers, provision of professional development, and ongoing special education coaching. The amendment also directs remaining federal pandemic relief balances from Learning Acceleration Grants be used to supplant general funds in the first year.

Item 120 #1c- This amendment restores $1.9 million from the general fund in each year to the Office of School Quality and establishes reporting requirements.

Item 123 #2c- This amendment provides $140,000 from the general fund each year for one position in the proposed Office of Community Schools.

Item 123 #3c- This amendment provides $300,000 from the general fund each year and up to two positions to support the Joint Subcommittee on Elementary and Secondary Education Funding through increased staffing and contracted services.

Item 125 #1c- This amendment redirects $1.7 million GF the first year and $1.6 million GF the second year from the general fund each year by maintaining a cap on supplemental basic aid payments. The introduced budget proposed eliminating this cap.

Item 125 #2c- This amendment provides $186.7 million the first year and $184.6 million the second year from the general fund to (i) consolidate SOQ Prevention, Intervention, and Remediation and At-Risk Add-On incentive funding into a single At-Risk Add-On funding program, (ii) transition the proxy used to estimate the number of at-risk students from federal free lunch rates to federal Identified Student Percentage rates, using a multiplier of 1.25 plus one-quarter of English learner students, (iii) distributes an 11.0 percent add on to basic aid funding per at-risk student, and (iv) distributes a variable add on between 0 percent and 37 percent to basic aid funding per At-Risk student based on the concentration of At-Risk students in the school division relative to all other school divisions. This amendment addresses in part recommendations 8, 9, and 10 from JLARC's 2023 report, "Virginia's K-12 Funding Formula.

Item 125 #3c- This amendment provides $37.9 million the first year and $43.7 million the second year to implement staffing standards for English Learner students based on student proficiency level, in lieu of the current standard that provides one position per 50 identified EL students. Flexibility is provided during the first year to implement this new standard to only require one-half of the additional positions.

Item 125 #5c- This amendment authorizes the Department of Education to offer $250.0 million in school construction loans from the Literary Fund over the biennium and directs the Board of Education to revise its schedule of interest rates to be fully responsive to market rates while providing reasonably discounted interest rates.

Item 125 #9c- This amendment provides an additional $53.3 million the first year and $133.0 million the second year in additional sales tax distributions to school divisions resulting from the expansion of the sales tax base to include digital products and services. Sales tax distributions reduce the state's share of basic aid funding, resulting in a net increase of $23.7 million the first year and $59.2 million the second year.

Item 125 #10c- This amendment provides $121.3 million the first year and $121.8 million the second year from the general fund to restore and reforecast the general fund payments provided in lieu of the K-12 dedicated sales tax on grocery and personal hygiene products that would have been collected had the tax not been eliminated effective January 1, 2023. The amount of these general fund payments is updated to $272.5 million the first year and $273.6 million in the second year. These payments reduce the state's share of basic aid by $151.1 million the first year and $151.7 million the second year.

Item 125 #15c- This amendment provides $178.1 million the first year and $361.0 million the second year from the general fund to provide the state's share of two 3.0 percent salary increases provided on July 1, 2024 and July 1, 2025.

Item 275 #2c- This amendment adds $100,000 from the Commonwealth Opioid and Abatement and Remediation fund the second year for the purchase and distribution of additional opioid reversal agents for public school divisions by the Virginia Department of Health. The funding will enable the Department of Health to distribute a supply of opioid antagonists in an amount equivalent to at least two unexpired 20 doses to every public elementary and secondary school in the Commonwealth for the 2025-2026 school year. This will assist School Boards in complying with the provisions set forth in House Bill 732.