This morning the Senate Education and Health Committee held
their first meeting on the 2015 session. Senator Steve Martin again serves as chairman of
the committee. The other members of the committee include Senators Dick Saslaw,
Louise Lucas, Janet Howell, Steve Newman, Mamie Locke, George Barker, Ralph
Smith, Jeff McWaters, Dick Black, Bill Carrico, Tom Garrett, Chap Petersen,
John Cosgrove, and Lynwood Lewis. This
committee is slightly different than last year. Senators John Miller and
Barbara Favola have been removed from the committee and Senators Petersen,
Cosgrove, and Lewis have been added. Senator Bill Carrico has been named
chairman of the public education subcommittee, which will meet on Mondays. The
members of the subcommittee include Senators Howell, Locke, Smith, and
Cosgrove.
Although there were several bills on the agenda, many of them
were passed by for the week. After some discussion and input from VSBA and other members
of the committee, Senate Bill 852 (Carrico) was passed by for the week so that
we can continue to work on the language. As currently written the legislation permits
a public school athletic coach to require a student-athlete to participate in
conditioning exercise, such as push-ups or running laps, as part of a
disciplinary process if the student athlete and his parents have signed a form
that: (1) enumerate actions, such as being late to or missing practice, that
would result in discipline involving conditioning or exercise; (2) specifies
the required conditioning or exercise for each action that would result in
discipline; and (3) acknowledges that the student-athlete and his parent
understand and accept the disciplinary process.
Senate Bill 985 (Garrett) was also heard in committee this
morning. This legislation, which VSBA strongly supports, allows school
divisions to use Virginia Public School Educational Technology grant funds for
the lease of educational technology. Under current law, these grants are only
available for the acquisition and replacement of educational technology. The
bill was reported and referred to the Senate Finance Committee on a 13-2 vote.
VSBA will continue to support and address any concerns about this legislation.
All other public education bills were taken by for the week.
Check back next week for more updates from the public education subcommittee
and full committee on Thursday.
