VSBA Action Alert

We are pleased to announce that we were successful in DEFEATING SJ6 and SJ93, the charter school constitutional amendments, on the floor of the Senate on Monday. This vote was due to your direct advocacy efforts. Many of you called, emailed, and visited your legislators several times over the past few weeks and we thank you for all of these efforts.

HJ1 did pass the House of Delegates on Friday and will be crossing over to the Senate on Wednesday. We anticipate the second vote in the Senate to have the same outcome but we must keep all of our NO votes. We will alert you when HJ1, the constitutional amendment is placed on a committee docket for consideration again.

Thank you again for your continued advocacy efforts.

The Week Before Crossover

Even though it's only Tuesday, it's already been a busy week since it's the last before Crossover. The committees and subcommittees have had long dockets and extra meetings to finish their work by next Tuesday. In the House Education committee, they held several meetings of the Education Innovation subcommittee and Elementary and Secondary Education subcommittee yesterday and today. Here’s are the highlights from those meetings. All bills that reported from the subcommittee will now be considered before the full committee on Wednesday morning. 

Education Innovation subcommittee – Monday morning meeting

HB895 (Greason) removes existing provisions related to standard and advanced studies diplomas and standard and verified units of credit. Additionally, it requires the Board of Education, in establishing high school graduation requirements to: (1) Develop and implement a Profile of a Virginia Graduate that identifies the knowledge and skills that students should attain during high school in order to be successful contributors to the economy of the Commonwealth, giving due consideration to critical thinking, creative thinking, collaboration, communication, and citizenship; (2) emphasize the development of core skill sets in the early years of high school; and (3) establish and require students to follow in the later years of high school alternative paths toward college and career readiness that include internships, externships, and credentialing. The bill was unanimously reported from the subcommittee.

HB831 (Greason) requires the Board of Education to include computer science and computational thinking, including computer coding in the Standards of Learning and program of instruction. Several other Delegates had similar computer science bills and were all incorporated into HB831. With a substitute the bill was unanimously reported from the subcommittee.

Elementary and Secondary Education subcommittee – Monday morning meeting

HB167 (Cole) permits local school boards to allow any school board employee who is a former law-enforcement officer and ceased or retired from serving in such capacity while in good standing to possess a firearm in (i) any public elementary or secondary school in the school division, including buildings and grounds; (ii) that portion of any property open to the public and then exclusively used for school-sponsored functions or extracurricular activities while such functions or activities are taking place; and (iii) any school bus owned or operated by the local school board. The subcommittee recommended tabled the bill.

HB187 (Taylor) requires the plans or blueprints for the construction of a new public school building to include an indoor active shooter gunshot detection and alerting system. The subcommittee recommended reporting and referring the bill to the Appropriations committee on a 4-3 vote.

HB682 (Peace) allows a superintendent to apply to the Department of Education for an annual waiver of the teacher licensure requirements for an individual whom the local school board hires or seeks to hire to teach in the area of career and technical education. The individuals must have at least 4,000 hours of recent and relevant employment experience. The subcommittee recommended reporting on a 7-2 vote.

HB864 (Hugo) allows a school board to conduct a teacher grievance hearing before a three-member fact-finding panel. Under current law, the school board has the option of appointing a hearing officer or conducting such hearing itself. The subcommittee recommended tabling the bill.

HB1234 (Lingamfelter) authorizes a school security officer to carry a firearm in the performance of his duties if he is a retired law-enforcement officer and the local school board grants him the authority to carry a firearm in the performance of his duties. The subcommittee recommended reporting the bill on a 7-2 vote.

HB1279 (Anderson) requires public schools to hold a fire drill at least once every week during the first 10 school days of each school session and at least two additional fire drills during the remainder of the school session. Under current law, every public school is required to hold a fire drill at least once every week during the first 20 school days of each school session and at least once every month during the remainder of the school session. The bill also requires every public school to hold a lock-down drill at least once every week during the first 20 school days of each school session and at least two additional lock-down drills during the remainder of the school session. Under current law, every public school is required to hold at least two lock-down drills every school year. The bill was reported on an 8-1 vote from the subcommittee.

Education Innovation subcommittee – Tuesday morning meeting

HB436 (Austin) requires the Department of Education to award recovery credit to any student in grades three through eight who fails a Standards of Learning assessment in English, reading, or mathematics, receives remediation, and subsequently retakes and passes such assessment, including expedited retakes. The subcommittee unanimously recommends reporting with amendments.

HB520 (LeMunyon) requires each school division that provides for the redistricting of school boundaries to permit any enrolled student who is assigned to a different school in the school division as a result of such redistricting to remain, at the request of his parent, at the school at which he is currently enrolled until he completes the highest grade level at such school. While the bills includes several other provisions relating to the redistricting process and included a substitute bill, the subcommittee recommended tabling the bill.

HB1377 (LeMunyon) requires local school divisions to notify the parents of each student where the number of students in a class exceeds the prescribed class size limit no later than 10 days after the date on which the classes exceed the limits. The bill was unanimously reported from the subcommittee.

HB565 (Lingamfelter) rewrites the required elements of a charter application and the charter contracting process. The bill does not restrict the Board of Education’s authority to authorize a charter school pursuant to the passage of the constitutional amendment. The subcommittee recommends reporting the substitute on a 5-4 vote. 

We look forward to seeing you at the VSBA Capital Conference tomorrow and Thursday! 

Highlights from the Education, Finance and Courts of Justice committees

This morning there were dueling meetings of the House Education committee and Senate Finance committee followed by the House Elementary and Secondary Education subcommittee. The VSBA team split our time between the two meetings to ensure we shared your positions and priorities.

The House Education committee took up several bills from yesterday’s Education Innovation subcommittee.

HB525 (LeMunyon) requires the SOL Innovation Committee to review and make recommendations to the Chairs of the House Education and Senate Education and Health committees on the number, subjects, and question compositions of standardized tests administered to public high school students in the Commonwealth by November 1, 2016. The bill was unanimously reported from the committee 21-0.

HB241 (Lingamfelter) directs the Board of Education to consider assessments aligned to the Standards of Learning that are structured and formatted in a way that measures the content knowledge of students who are English language learners and that may be administered to such students as Board of Education-approved alternatives to the SOL end-of-course English reading assessments. The bill was unanimously reported from the committee 21-0.

HB842 (Cline) requires every person seeking initial licensure or renewal of a license to receive professional development in the indicators of dyslexia and the scientific methods of teaching a student who is dyslexic. It also requires the Department of Education to collaborate with the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) to ensure that all teacher preparation programs offered at public higher education institutions in the Commonwealth convey information on the identification of students at risk for dyslexia and related disorders.

HB954 (Keam) requires each local school division’s policies and procedures regarding the identification and handling of suspected concussions in student-athletes to include a "Return to Learn Protocol" that requires school personnel to be alert to cognitive and academic issues that may be experienced by a student who has suffered a concussion or other head injury. The bill also broadens the scope of the "Return to Learn Protocol" in the Board of Education's guidelines for school division policies and procedures on concussions in student-athletes to require school personnel to (i) be alert to cognitive and academic issues that may be experienced by any student who has suffered a concussion or other head injury and (ii) accommodate the gradual return to full participation in academic activities of all students who has suffered a concussion or other head injury. Under current law, the "Return to Learn Protocol" only imposes such requirements on school personnel with respect to student-athletes.

In the Senate Finance committee it was anticipated that the statewide health insurance bills, SB384 (Vogel) and SB675 (Chafin) would be heard and voted on. However, the bills were taken by for the day as the patrons along with Delegates Jones and Kilgore and the Director of the Virginia Department of Human Resource Management work on an agreement between the House and Senate. We continue to strongly support this legislation which would give local school boards the option to join the state employee health plan and are appreciative of the efforts to reach a compromise.

The day was capped off with the House Courts of Justice Civil Law subcommittee where HB168 (LaRock) was on the docket. This bill allows a locality who has authorized the installation and operation of a video-monitoring system on school buses for recording violations of unlawfully passing a stopped school bus to execute a summons for these violations by mailing a copy of the summons to the owner of the vehicle. Current law requires that the summons be delivered by a law enforcement officer. HB168 was unanimously reported from the subcommittee and will now move on to the full House Courts committee. 

A busy Monday at the General Assembly

We started the day with the House Education committee where a handful of public education bills were on the docket. Below is a quick summary of the committee’s actions.

HB279 (Byron) directs the Board of Education to establish a Virginia career and technical education adjunct faculty provisional license and a Virginia STEM adjunct faculty renewable license for qualified individuals to teach high school career and technical education courses on a part-time basis. The bill prescribes requirements for such licenses. HB279 was unanimously reported from the committee with a substitute.

HB357 (Loupassi) requires at least 20 minutes of physical activity per day or an average of 100 minutes per week during the regular school year for students in grades kindergarten through five beginning with the 2018-2019 school year. The current requirement for a program of physical activity available to all students in grades six through twelve with a goal of at least 150 minutes per week remains unchanged. The committee recommended reporting the bill on an 18-4 vote.

HB942 (Wilt) requires local school boards to provide reasonable access to school property to any youth group listed as a patriotic and national organization in 36 U.S.C. Subtitle II, Part B, such as the Boy Scouts of America and the Girl Scouts of the United States of America, to provide written materials and speak to students at times other than instructional time during the school day to encourage such students to participate in the activities and programs provided by such organization. The bill was reported from the subcommittee on a 16-6 vote.

HB516 (Landes) requires the Board of Education to establish a policy to require each public elementary or secondary school to (i) notify the parent of any student whose teacher reasonably expects to provide instructional material that includes sexually explicit content, (ii) permit the parent of any student to review instructional material that includes sexually explicit content upon request, and (iii) provide, as an alternative to instructional material and related academic activities that include sexually explicit content, nonexplicit instructional material and related academic activities to any student whose parent so requests. The bill was unanimously reported from the committee.

HB487 (McClellan) removes language in § 9.1-110. pertaining to school resource officers employed by the School Resource Officer Grants Program from the obligation to enforce school board rules and codes of student conduct as a condition of their employment. The committee reported the bill on a 20-2 vote.

After the committee meeting the education team was diligently meeting with legislators to share VSBA's opposition to the charter school constitutional amendment. On the House side, it is anticipated that the constitutional amendment will be on the floor tomorrow for a vote. In the Senate, the constitutional amendment will be taken up tomorrow afternoon (Tuesday) in the Privileges and Elections committee at 4:00p.m. If you have not reached out to your legislators yet we would encourage you to do so.

The afternoon was busy with several committee meetings and legislators meetings for bills coming up later in the week.

In Senate General Laws, SB500 (Sturtevant) was heard by the committee. The bill requires every locality and school division to post on the public government website of the locality a register of all funds expended, showing vendor name, date of payment, amount, and a description of the type of expense, including credit card purchases with the same information. The bill also provides for the Commonwealth Data Point website administered by the Auditor of Public Accounts to include the same information for each state agency and institution, including each independent agency. Currently, the website includes such information for major state agencies. The bill will not be moving forward as it was passed by indefinitely on an 11-4 vote.

On the House side, the Courts Civil Law subcommittee was scheduled to hear HB168 (LaRock). However the bill was taken by for the day and will be heard on Wednesday. The bill allows a locality that has authorized the installation and operation of a video-monitoring system on school buses for recording violations of unlawfully passing a stopped school bus to execute a summons for such violation by mailing a copy of the summons to the owner of a vehicle that unlawfully passed a stopped school bus.

Thank you for your continued advocacy on behalf your board and VSBA. Check back tomorrow for more updates from Richmond! 

VSBA ACTION ALERT

CHARTER SCHOOL CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT

Call Your House of Delegates Members 

Thank you for your continued efforts opposing the charter school constitutional amendment, which divests local school boards of the sole authority to approve charter schools. The VSBA lobbying team has been diligently working to share our opposition to this legislation but WE NEED YOUR HELP! 

This morning the House Privileges and Elections committee narrowly passed, on a 10-9 vote, the charter school constitutional amendment (HJ1) and accompanying legislation (HB3). This very close vote is a testament to your advocacy efforts and we need your help again! Now the amendment and legislation will be going to the floor of the House for a vote. By Tuesday morning, please CALL YOUR DELEGATES and ask them to vote NO on the charter school constitutional amendment (HJ1) and accompanying legislation (HB3). Please utilize the attached VSBA talking points and share with your legislators that VSBA does support high-quality charter schools, as defined by local school boards, not an unelected Board of Education.

Thank you again for your continued support of VSBA. Your voice makes a difference in Richmond. 

Quick Update from the Senate Education and Health Committee

This morning the Senate Education and Health committee convened for their weekly meeting. The docket was lengthy but only contained a few education related bills. Below is a summary of the bills and committee action. Check back tomorrow for the weekly round-up from Richmond.  

SB368 (McDougle) authorizes the Board of Education to review the accreditation status of a school once every two years or every three years and requires any school that receives a multiyear accreditation status other than full accreditation to be covered by a Board approved multiyear corrective action plan for the duration of the period of accreditation. The bill also provides that when the Board of Education determines a corrective action plan submitted by a local school board is not sufficient to enable all schools within the division to achieve full accreditation, the Board may return the plan to the local school board with directions to submit an amended plan pursuant to Board guidance. The bill was unanimously reported, with amendments, from the committee.

SB612 (Garrett) is identical to HB131. This legislation prohibits school divisions from joining an athletic/interscholastic organization that doesn’t allow home school students to participate in public schools athletics or interscholastic activities. It allows students to be charged reasonable fees for participation. It also states that eligibility of a student receiving home instruction shall be limited to participation the school serving the attendance zone in which the student lives and will be subject to policies governing participation that the local school board may establish. As with previous years the bill was reported from the committee on an 8-7 vote.

SB665 (Marsden) prohibits a middle school student from participating on or trying out for any school athletic team or squad with a predetermined roster, regular practices, and scheduled competitions with other middle schools unless such student has submitted to the school principal a signed report from a licensed physician, nurse practitioner, or physician assistant acting under the supervision of a licensed physician attesting that such student has been examined and found to be physically fit for athletic competition. The bill was unanimously reported with an amendment from the committee and is a recommendation of the Youth Commission on Youth.

Highlights from the House Education Committee and House ESE Subcommittee

It was another busy day at the General Assembly with back to back committee and subcommittee meetings. Both meetings had very full dockets. I’ve included the highlights from the House Education committee and House Elementary and Secondary subcommittee meetings below. Check back tomorrow for updates from the Senate Education and Health committee and Senate Public Education subcommittee. 

House Education committee

HB166 (Cole) requires that a local school division school division provide instruction in Braille or the use of Braille to visually impaired students unless the IEP or 504 team, after an evaluation by a certified Teacher of the Visually Impaired (TVI), determines that it is not appropriate to meet the student’s educational needs. The Committee voted to report and refer the bill to the Appropriations committee.

HB365 (Davis) establishes the Adaptive Learning Tools Grant Fund where the Department of Education awards grants on a competitive basis to local school divisions that demonstrate the effective use of adaptive learning tools. The bill was reported and referred to the Appropriations committee.

HB753 (Greason) is another school calendar bill similar to HB571 but does not require an extended break over the Labor Day weekend. This bill makes local school boards responsible for setting the school calendar and determining the opening date of the school year and eliminates the post-Labor Day opening requirement and "good cause" scenarios for which the Board of Education may grant waivers of this requirement. The bill was reported from the committee on a 16-6 vote.

HB353 (Greason) authorizes local school boards to enter into agreements with nonpublic schools to provide student transportation to and from school field trips. Current law authorizes such agreements for transportation to and from school. The bill was unanimously reported from the full committee.

HB196 (Lingamfelter) requires the Board of Education to adopt policies to ensure that the Department of Education does not require public elementary or secondary schools or local school divisions to provide certain duplicate information or certain information that is not necessary or required pursuant to state or federal law. It also requires the Board to permit public elementary and secondary schools and local school divisions to submit all information and forms to the Department electronically and annually evaluate and determine the continued need for the information that it collects from local school divisions. The bill was unanimously reported from the full committee.

HB571 (Robinson) makes local school boards responsible for setting the school calendar and determining the opening date of the school year and eliminates the post-Labor Day opening requirement and "good cause" scenarios for which the Board of Education may grant waivers of this requirement. However, the bill requires local school boards that set the school calendar with a pre-Labor Day opening date, except those schools that were granted a "good cause" waiver for the 2015-2016 school year, to close all schools in the division (i) from the Thursday immediately preceding Labor Day through Labor Day or (ii) from the Friday immediately preceding Labor Day through the Tuesday immediately succeeding Labor Day. The bill was reported from the committee on a 16-6 vote.

House Elementary and Secondary Education subcommittee

HB279 (Byron) directs the Board of Education to establish a Virginia STEM adjunct faculty provisional license and a Virginia STEM adjunct faculty renewable license for qualified individuals to teach high school science, technology, engineering, or mathematics courses on a part-time basis. The bill prescribes requirements for such licenses. HB279 was unanimously reported from the subcommittee.

HB306 (O’Quinn) permits local school boards to display advertising material on the sides and rear of school buses, provided that no such material obstructs the name of the school division or the number of the school bus or pertains to alcohol, gambling, or tobacco. After much discussion and concerns from stakeholder groups the bill was tabled by the subcommittee.

HB357 (Loupassi) requires at least 20 minutes of physical activity per day or an average of 100 minutes per week during the regular school year for students in grades kindergarten through five beginning with the 2018-2019 school year. The current requirement for a program of physical activity available to all students in grades six through twelve with a goal of at least 150 minutes per week remains unchanged. The subcommittee recommended reporting the bill on a 6-3 vote.

HB942 (Wilt) requires local school boards to provide reasonable access to school property to any youth group listed as a patriotic and national organization in 36 U.S.C. Subtitle II, Part B, such as the Boy Scouts of America and the Girl Scouts of the United States of America, to provide written materials and speak to students at times other than instructional time during the school day to encourage such students to participate in the activities and programs provided by such organization. The bill was reported from the subcommittee on a 6-3 vote.

HB516 (Landes) requires the Board of Education to establish a policy to require each public elementary or secondary school to (i) notify the parent of any student whose teacher reasonably expects to provide instructional material that includes sexually explicit content, (ii) permit the parent of any student to review instructional material that includes sexually explicit content upon request, and (iii) provide, as an alternative to instructional material and related academic activities that include sexually explicit content, nonexplicit instructional material and related academic activities to any student whose parent so requests. The bill was unanimously reported from the subcommittee.

HB487 (McClellan) removes language in § 9.1-110. pertaining to school resource officers employed by the School Resource Officer Grants Program from the obligation to enforce school board rules and codes of student conduct as a condition of their employment. The subcommittee recommended reporting the bill on a 7-2 vote.