Crossover Report

Today is the first day post-crossover, meaning that all bills have either passed their originating body or they failed to move forward. This session, VSBA has been working with over 230 bills that are directly or indirectly related to K-12 education. We have had a number of significant successes in defeating or amending unfavorable legislation and in passing favorable legislation. Thank you to all of you who engaged in advocacy with the General Assembly. We greatly appreciate your help!

To assist you in your work, we have compiled a Crossover report which is divided into two sections, one for passed legislation and one for defeated legislation. As we move forward into the second half of session, we will be providing additional updates on these bills as they advance through the process. You can stay up-to-date on General Assembly's actions by visiting the VSBA Legislative Blog. Also, please keep an eye out for new VSBA Action Alerts. 

Thank you again for your continued support of VSBA. Your voice makes a difference in Richmond as legislators make decisions that impact your school divisions.

Passed Legislation 

HB1392 (Lingamfelter) would permit a school board to authorize school security officers to carry firearms in the performance of their duties in certain circumstances.  The school security officer must be a retired law enforcement officer and must receive training and certification from the Department of Criminal Justice Services.  The school board would also be required to solicit the input of the chief law enforcement officer of the locality regarding the qualifications of the retired officer. The bill passed the House on a 78-19 vote.

HB1400(R.P. Bell) would create a statewide Virginia Virtual School that would be open to any student in the Commonwealth. The bill passed the House on a 57-40 vote.

HB1408(Ware) will permit school boards to have the vision of students in grade 2 or 3 and in grades 7 and 10 be screened by a qualified nonprofit vision health organization that uses a digital photoscreening method pursuant to a comprehensive vision program.  The bill passed the House on a 97-0 vote. 

HB1414(Austin) will require VDOE to review multipart questions on SOL assessments determine the feasibility of awarding students partial credit.  The bill passed the House on a 95-0 vote.

HB1437 (Head) would eliminate the requirement to test the sight and hearing of a student  who has any defect of vision or hearing or disease of the eyes or ears that requires the use of a corrective or supplemental device as set forth in the student's Individualized Education Program. The bill passed the House on a 99-0 vote.

HB1490 (Marshall) requires a school board member who temporarily vacates his seat due to war service in the Armed Forces to submit to the school board a list of names of suitable persons to serve as an acting school board member during his absence.  The school board will be required to appoint an acting school board member from such list of names.  The bill passed the House on a 63-36 vote.

HB1534 (R.P. Bell) as amended, limits long-term suspensions to 45 days, unless aggravating circumstances exist, in which case the long-term suspension may last a maximum of 90 days.  The maximum length of a long term suspension would be 90 days, regardless of the circumstances. The bill narrowly passed the House on a 51-46 vote.

HB1536 (R.P. Bell) as amended, limits the length of time that a student in grades pre-K through 3 can be suspended to 5 days.  A student in grades pre-k through 3 cannot be suspended for more than 5 days or expelled, except in limited cases involving firearms or drugs. The bill narrowly passed the House on a 49-47 vote.  (Interestingly, several delegates changed their votes later in the day but, unfortunately, no member moved for a reconsideration of the bill.)

HB1552(Bulova) will require each school board to post on its website a notice to high school students and parents of the opportunities available to obtain a nationally recognized career readiness certificate at a local public high school, comprehensive community college or workforce center. The bill passed the House on a 98-0 vote.

HB1578 (R.B. Bell) will require the Virginia High School League to allow home schooled students to participate in interscholastic sports and programs. The bill passed the House on a 60-38 vote.

HB1586 (Campbell) directs courts to require that the parties to a child custody case provide to the child’s school a copy of any order that prohibits a parent from picking a child up at school or that affects a child’s school enrollment.  The bill also clarifies that school staff is not required to interpret of enforce the custody order.  The bill passed the house on a 87-8 vote.

HB1605  (LaRock) creates Parental Choice Educational Savings Accounts which will allow parents to receive state SOQ funding to use for education expenses, including private and sectarian schools. The bill narrowly passed the House on a 49-47 vote.

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 passed the House on a 97-0 vote. 

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 passed the House on a 95-0 vote.

HB1709(Filler-Corn) will require each school board to have a policy that directs principals to notify the parent of any student involved in an alleged incident of bullying of the status of any investigation within 14 school days of the allegation of bullying.  The bill passed the House on a 99-0 vote.

HB1770 (Frietas) would allow a school board or superintendent to waive certain requirements for licensure in the area of career and technical education. The bill passed the House on a 72-26 vote. 

HB1829 (Dudenhefer) requires hands-on CPR training for teacher licensure and recertification. The bill passed the House on a 97-0 vote.

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 passed the House on a 82-12 vote. 

HB1981 (Greason) requires BOE to promulgate regulations for the designation of School Divisions of Innovation in the local school divisions.  A School Division of Innovation would be an opportunity for a school division to innovate and be exempted from certain regulatory requirements. The bill passed the House on a 97-0 vote.

HB1982 (Greason) which would require the Board of Education to allow for the award of verified units of credit for a satisfactory score, to be determined by the BOE, on the PSAT examination. The bill passed the House on a 98-0 vote.

HB1983 (Greason) makes local school boards responsible for setting the school calendar and determining the opening day 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 passed the House on a 75-24 vote. 

HB2007 (R.B. Bell) requires each school board to permit any student who receives home instruction and resides in the local school division to apply for enrollment as a part-time student of the local school division in any dual enrollment course offered pursuant to an agreement for postsecondary degree attainment at a public high school in the local school division or at the comprehensive community college. The bill specifies that no such student shall be required to pay more in tuition or fees than the tuition or fees paid by public school students to enroll in such course. The bill passed the House on a 64-33 vote. 

HB2014(Keam) would change the BOE's biennial review of the SOQ from even-numbered years to odd-numbered years.  This was recommended by the BOE to align with the budget cycle. The bill passed the House on a 98-0 vote. 

HB2140(LeMunyon) directs VDOE to develop a pilot program to administer an exist questionnaire for teachers who leave the profession. The bill passed the House on a 95-0 vote. 

HB2141(LeMunyon) requires BOE to report on the need to retain or maintain the frequency of reports that local school divisions are required to submit. The bill passed the House on a 97-0 vote. 

HB2142(LeMunyon) delays the implementation of the redesigned high school graduation requirements by one year and alters the graduation requirements The bill passed the House on a 56-41 vote. 

HB2174(Murphy) requires school boards to report class size in middle and high school. The bill passed the House on a 53-44 vote.

HB2191 (Landes) requires each school board's procedures for handling challenged controversial instructional materials to include procedures for (i) annually notifying the parent of any student enrolled in a course in which the instructional materials or related academic activities may include sexually explicit content of the potential for such sexually explicit content in such course and (ii) providing, as a replacement for instructional materials or related academic activities that include sexually explicit content, nonexplicit instructional materials or related academic activities to any student whose parent so requests. The bill passed the House on a 73-25 vote.

HB2218 (Miyares) authorizes BOE to notify the local school board if the school board denies a charter school application and BOE finds the school board's rationale for such denial to be insufficient. The bill passed the House on a 58-38 vote.

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 passed the House on a 83-11 vote.

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 passed the House on a 95-0 vote.

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 passed the House on a 82-12 vote.

HB2332 (Tyler) states that it is a goal of the Commonwealth for teacher salaries to be competitive with the national average teacher salary. The bill passed the House on a 98-0 vote.

HB2341 (Landes) requires at least two of the nine members of the Board of Education to represent business and industry in the private sector in the Commonwealth. The bill passed the House on a 92-7 vote. 

HB2342 (Landes) would allow the BOE to establish regional charter school divisions, consisting of up to 3 underlying local school divisions that each have an enrollment of 3000 students and that each have one or more schools that have been denied accreditation for two of the last three years.  The regional charter school division would be governed by a separate board of eight members appointed by BOE and one member appointed from each underlying locality (not school board).  The regional charter school would get the per pupil state funding associated with the jurisdiction in which each student resides.  The regional charter school would not be entitled to receive any local share for such students. The bill passed the House on a 55-42 vote.

HB2352 (Freitas) allows a teacher licensed in another jurisdiction to be exempt from certain assessments that are required for licensure, subject to the approval of the superintendent or school board employing such teacher. The bill passed the House on a 68-30 vote.

HB2354 (Rush) will eliminate the prohibition against a school board employing or paying any teacher or other school board employee who is the father, mother, brother, sister, spouse, son, daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, sister-in-law, or brother-in-law of the division superintendent or any member of the school board. The bill passed the House on a 97-0 vote.

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 passed the House on a 95-0 vote.

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 passed the House on a 96-0 vote. 

HB2402 (Morris) provides that if a court finds that any officer or employee of a public body (i) receives a request for records that was sent by a requester by certified mail, return receipt requested, and (ii) without legal excuse or justification, deliberately, willfully, and knowingly fails to make a response to such request, such officer or employee may be terminated for cause by his appointing authority or agency head. The bill passed the House on a 67-27 vote.

HB2431(Bulova) permits a school board to have a retail fee-based electric vehicle charging stations on school property.  The charging station must be limited to school board employees, students, and authorized visitors. The bill passed the House on a 97-0 vote.

HB2432 (Bulova) requires BOE to make changes to its regulations regarding license revocation.  The bill will require that a superintendent investigate all complaints "immediately," that the school board hold a hearing on a petition for revocation within 90 days, and that the school board provide a copy of its investigative file to the Superintendent of Public Instruction before the hearing is held. The bill passed the House on a 97-0 vote. 

SB795 (Sturtevant) will require localities and school boards to post of their websites 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 contains exemptions for certain information. The bill passed the Senate on a 24-16 vote.

SB829 (Wexton) 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 passed the Senate on a 40-0 vote. 


SB 951 (Ruff) will require school service providers to provide each student or his parent with access to a downloadable electronic copy of any student personal information pertaining to such student that has been collected, maintained, used, or shared by the school service provider.  The bill passed the Senate on a 40-0 vote.

SB995 (Stanley) prohibits a long-term suspension from extending beyond 60 days unless the conduct may constitute an offense contemplated under subsection G of § 16.1-260.  The bill also provides that for any long-term suspension over 60 days, the school board or the superintendent or his designee shall conduct a review at the end of each grading period to determine whether the student will be permitted to return to school early. The bill passed the Senate on a 32-8 vote.
SB997(Stanley) prohibits expulsions and suspensions of more than ten days for students in prekindergarten through grade 3, except in cases involving serious bodily injury, inappropriate sexual behavior, or weapons.  The bill passed the Senate on a 34-6 vote. 

SB1017(Barker) authorizes a school attendance officer or local school division superintendent or his designee acting as an attendance officer to complete, sign, and file petitions and motions for the enforcement of certain orders entered by a juvenile and domestic relations district court. The bill also provides that a nonattorney attendance officer or local school division superintendent or his designee acting as an attendance officer performing the powers and duties of an attendance officer is not considered the practice of law. The bill passed the Senate on a 40-0 vote.

SB1082(Wexton) eliminates the requirement that school principals report misdemeanor offenses to law enforcement. Under this bill, principals must still report conduct that may constitute a felony to law enforcement and they may report misdemeanor offenses. The bill passed the Senate on a 40-0 vote.

SB1098(Newman) requires that the regulations establishing standards for accreditation adopted by the Board of Education ensure that the accreditation process is transparent and based on objective measurements and that any appeal of the accreditation status of a school is heard and decided by the Board. The bill passed the Senate on a 40-0 vote. 

SB1099(Newman) requires that school boards use the term "locally developed assessments," rather that "alternative assessments" to refer to assessments developed by the school division.  The bill also requires local school boards to distinguish between locally developed assessments and Standards of Learning assessments when administering assessments. The bill passed the Senate on a 40-0 vote.

SB1116 (McPike) authorizes, but does not require, school board employees who are registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, or certified nurse aides and who have been trained in the administration of insulin and glucagon to assist a student who uses an insulin pump with the insertion or reinsertion of the pump or any of its parts provided assistance has been authorized by the prescriber and consented to by the student's parent.  The bill passed the Senate on a 40-0 vote.

SB1117 (McPike) requires every person seeking initial licensure or renewal of a license with an endorsement as a school counselor to complete training in the recognition of mental health disorder and behavioral distress, including depression, trauma, violence, youth suicide, and substance abuse. The bill passed the Senate on a 40-0 vote.

SB1159 (Reeves) provides that the career and technical education credential, when required for high school graduation, adult education, or an alternative education plan, may be satisfied with the successful completion of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) The bill passed the Senate on a 40-0 vote.

SB1240 (Dunnavant) would create a state-wide Virginia Virtual School that would be open to any student in the Commonwealth. The bill narrowly passed the Senate on a 23-17 vote.

SB1245 (Dunnavant) requires the Board of Education to include evaluating the economic value of a postsecondary degree, including the net cost of attendance, potential student loan debt, and potential earnings, in the Board's objectives for economics education and financial literacy. The bill passed the Senate on a 40-0 vote.

SB1283 (Obenshain) would allow the BOE to establish regional charter school divisions, consisting of up to 3 underlying local school divisions that each have an enrollment of 3000 students and that each have one or more schools that have been denied accreditation for two of the last three years.  The regional charter school division would be governed by a separate board of eight members appointed by BOE and one member appointed from each underlying locality (not school board).  The regional charter school would get the per pupil state funding associated with the jurisdiction in which each student resides.  The regional charter school would not be entitled to receive any local share for such students. The bill narrowly passed the Senate on a 21-19 vote.

SB1359 (McPike) requires school boards to develop and implement a plan to test for lead and, if necessary, remediate potable water in school buildings. The bill passed the Senate on a 31-9 vote.


SB1414 (Newman) would require school boards to (i) make Advanced Placement (AP),  Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), and PreACT 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 passed the Senate on a 40-0 vote.

SB1475 (McClellan) makes changes to family life education curriculum guidelines and curricula, including (i) requiring family life education curriculum guidelines to include instruction as appropriate for the age of the student in the benefits, challenges, responsibilities, and value of family relationships for men, women, children, and communities; (ii) amending the definition of "abstinence education" for the purposes of such curriculum guidelines; and (iii) permitting the age-appropriate elements of effective and evidence-based programs on sexual violence that are required to be incorporated into any high school family life education curriculum offered by a local school division to include instruction that increases student awareness of the fact that consent is required before sexual activity. The bill passed the Senate on a 37-2 vote.

SB1516 (Black) requires that school boards that employ reading specialists must have at least one reading specialist receive 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 passed the Senate on a 40-0 vote.

SB1523 (Mason) requires the Department of Education to develop a pilot program to administer exit questionnaires for teachers who leave their employment. The bill passed the Senate on a 40-0 vote. 

SB1583 (Sutterlein) permits each local school board or division superintendent to waive certain enumerated licensure requirements for any teacher seeking initial licensure or renewal of a license with an endorsement in the area of career and technical education. The bill passed the Senate on a 40-0 vote. 

Defeated Legislation  

HB1535 (R.P. Bell)/ SB996 (Stanley) would have prohibited the use of long-term suspensions or expulsions for disruptive behavior unless the behavior also involved intentional physical injury or credible threat of physical injury to another person.  The term “disruptive behavior” is defined in the Code as “a violation of school board regulations governing student conduct that interrupts or obstructs the learning environment.” The bills were stricken (Stanley) and left in Committee (Bell) after receiving much opposition.   

HB1757 (Dudenhefer) would have required one nurse in each school or a ratio of 1 nurse per 550 students. This bill was left in House Appropriations. 

HB1764 (Bulova) would have required every school division to offer a full-time virtual program. The bill failed to report out of House Appropriations. 

HB1805 (J.J. Bell) would have required school boards to develop a plan to fund and phase in full day kindergarten. The bill failed to report out of House Appropriations.  

HB1807 (J.J. Bell) would have reinstated the fact finding panel as an option for teacher grievances.  It would also have removed the deadline for conducting grievance hearings which would have resulted in the grievance process being subject to delays. The bill was defeated in the House Education subcommittee for Education Innovation. 

HB2401 (Morris) would have required public bodies to take minutes of all closed meetings and to record all closed meetings. The bill was defeated in subcommittee.

HJ629 (R.B. Bell) would have allowed the Board of Education to establish charter schools.  The constitutional amendment was defeated in the subcommittee of the House Privileges and Elections Committee. 

HJ634 (Cole) would have permitted the General Assembly to authorize an elected school board to impose real property tax.  This constitutional  amendment was defeated in the subcommittee of the House Privileges and Elections Committee.  

SB937 (Edwards) would have created the Office of the Children’s Ombudsman that would have had the authority to, among other things, investigate complaints regarding child-serving agencies, which would have included school divisions.  The bill was defeated in the Senate Finance Committee. 


SB1243 (Dunnavant) would have created Parental Choice Education Savings Accounts.  The bill failed on the floor of the Senate on a vote of 20to 21, with Lt. Governor Northam voting against the bill.

SB1476 (McClellan) would have required the Department of Education to (i) develop and make available to each local school board a program of training for hearing officers who preside over teacher dismissal hearings that includes information on the statutory procedure for teacher dismissal hearings and (ii) develop, maintain, and make available to each local school board a list of hearing officers who have completed such program of training. The bill was stricken at the request of the patron.

SB1556 (Newman) would have required the Board of Education's graduation requirements to require a student to earn at least one verified credit in each of the following subjects: mathematics, reading, writing, science, and history and social science. The bill requires a student to achieve a passing score on the associated end-of-course Standards of Learning assessment to earn a verified credit. The bill prohibits the associated end-of course Standards of Learning assessment from being diluted or replaced by another assessment.  The bill was passed by indefinitely in the Senate Education and Health Committee.

SJ240 (Obenshain) would have granted the Board of Education authority, subject to criteria and conditions prescribed by the General Assembly, to establish charter schools within the school divisions of the Commonwealth.  The bill was stricken by the patron in Committee when it appeared that there were not enough votes to pass it.