This morning, the House Education Committee considered the following bills:
HB1400 (R.P. Bell) would create a statewide Virginia Virtual School that would be open to ant student in the Commonwealth. The bill was reported and referred to the Appropriations Committee.
HB1414 (Austin) was amended to require VDOE to review multipart questions on SOL assessments determine the feasibility of awarding students partial credit. The bill was reported.
HB1661 (Greason) would permit (but not require) schools to stock and administer, pursuant to a prescriber's written order, injectable medication for the treatment of adrenal crisis in students with adrenal insufficiency. The bill also provides liability protection to school staff who administer such medications. The bill was reported.
HB1663 (Greason) was amended to authorize the Northern Virginia Community College to create an advisory committee and to develop computer science training and professional development activities for public school teachers. The bill reported.
HB1690 (Dudenhefer), which eliminates the requirement that local governing bodies to commit to providing the required matching funds in order to qualify for grants under the Virginia Preschool Initiative, was reported.
HB1708 (Filler-Corn) would require the BOE to consider for inclusion in the student outcome measures included in the Standards of Accreditation the number of industry certification credentials obtained by high school students. The bill reported.
HB1764 (Bulova) was amended to require every school division to offer a full-time virtual program. This is one of the Governor's bills. The bill was reported and referred to the Appropriations Committee.
HB1805 (J.J. Bell) would requires each school board that does not offer a full-day kindergarten program for each kindergarten student in the school division to develop a plan to fund and phase in a full-day kindergarten program for each kindergarten student in the school division and submit the plan to the General Assembly in advance of the 2018 Regular Session of the General Assembly. The bill was reported and referred to the Appropriations Committee.
HB1914 (Head) would require school board members to submit to background checks and would prohibit any individual who has been convicted of any felony or any offense involving the sexual molestation, physical or sexual abuse, or rape of a child or who is the subject of a founded complaint of child abuse and neglect from serving on any school board. The bill was referred to the Committee on Privileges and Elections.
HB1923 (Bagby) would allow middle school students participate in Virtual Virginia courses. The bill was reported and referred to the Appropriations Committee.
HB1924 (Bagby) directs the Board of Education to establish guidelines for alternatives to short-term and long-term suspension for consideration by local school boards. The bill was reported.
HB2140 (LeMunyon) was amended to direct VDOE to develop a pilot program to administer an exist questionnaire for teachers who leave the profession. The bill was reported.
HB2257 (Filler-Corn) would require any high school family life education curriculum offered by a local school division to incorporate age-appropriate elements of effective and evidence-based programs on the law and meaning of consent. The bill was reported.
HB2282 (Leftwich) would require each school board to ensure that each guidance counselor and school nurse that it employs receives training on the prevention of trafficking of children using awareness and training materials provided by the Board of Education and the Department of Social Services. The bill was reported.
HB2290 (Ward) would require that driver's education include instruction concerning traffic stops, including law-enforcement procedures for traffic stops, appropriate actions to be taken by drivers during traffic stops, and appropriate interactions with law-enforcement officers who initiate traffic stops. The bill was reported.
HB2355 (Pogge) would require school boards to (i) make Advanced Placement (AP) and Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) examinations available to students receiving home instruction, (ii) adopt written policies that specify the date by which such students shall register to participate in such examinations, and (iii) notify such students and their parents of such registration deadline and the availability of financial assistance to low-income and needy students to take such examinations. The bill was reported.
HB2395 (Cline) would require one reading specialist employed by each local school board to have training in the identification of and the appropriate interventions, accommodations, and teaching techniques for students with dyslexia or a related disorder and to serve as an advisor on dyslexia and related disorders. The bill was reported and referred to the Appropriations Committee.
HB2406 (Filler-Corn) would require any family life education curriculum offered to include instruction on the importance of the personal privacy and personal boundaries of other individuals and tools for a student to use to ensure that he respects the personal privacy and personal boundaries of other individuals. The bill was reported.
HB1991 (Webert) would have repealed a provision that caps the sum of basic aid payments and supplemental basic aid payments received by certain eligible school divisions at a certain historical level of basic aid payments received by the relevant locality. The bill failed to report.
