HB167 (Miyares) A substitute was adopted. The substitute would require the Board of Education to establish criteria for awarding a diploma seal for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Current law provides for a diploma seal for mathematics and technology only. The subcommittee voted unanimously to recommend that the substitute report (8-0).
HB542 (Freitas) This bill would have required dual enrollment agreements between school boards and community colleges to allow for nonresident students to apply for enrollment in dual enrollment courses. At the request of the patron, the subcommittee tabled the bill.
HB544 (Freitas) This bill would permit school boards to establish High School to Work Partnerships with local businesses to create opportunities for high school students to participate in apprenticeships, internships, and job shadowing programs and tour local businesses and meet with owners and employees. The subcommittee unanimously recommended that the bill be reported (7-0).
HB1502 (Miyares) This bill establishes the Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate Testing Grant Fund and Program, to be administered by the Department of Education, for the purpose of awarding grants to local school boards to be used to cover half of the fee required to participate in any Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate test for any high school student in the local school division who receives free or reduced price lunch. The bill requires the Department of Education to establish guidelines and procedures for application for and disbursement of such grants. The bill requires local school boards to use such grant funds to supplement, not supplant, any other federal, state, local, or private funds made available to cover such testing fees for high school students who receive free or reduced price lunch. The subcommittee unanimously recommended that the bill be reported and referred to Appropriations (8-0).
HB349 (Kory) This bill would prohibit the principal of a public elementary or secondary school from furnishing or permitting the furnishing of the name, address, and telephone listing of a presently or formerly enrolled pupil to an official recruiting representative of the Armed Forces of the United States or the Commonwealth without the written consent of such pupil or, if the pupil is less than 18 years of age, his parent if such pupil or his parent has submitted to the school board a written request to opt out of such disclosures. The subcommittee voted to recommend that the bill be passed by indefinitely (5-3).
HB 13 (Kory) – This bill requires state funding to be provided pursuant to the general appropriation act to support 20 full-time equivalent instructional positions for each 1,000 students identified as having limited English proficiency. Current law requires state funding to support 17 such positions for each 1,000 such students. The Committee reported and referred the bill to House Appropriations (20-0).
HB 45 (Filler-Corn) - This bill would require any family life education curriculum offered in any elementary school, middle school, or high school 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 Committee be reported the bill (20-0).
HB 168 (Murphy) - This bill would establish a maximum class size of 24 students in science laboratory classes in grades six through 12. The Committee amended the bill to refer to chemistry classes only. The Committee reported and referred the bill to House Appropriations (11-8).
HB 336 (Cole) - This bill would make several changes relating to the provisions for special education programs for students with blindness or visual impairment, including (i) requiring each local school board to provide instruction in Braille and the use of Braille for such students unless the student's Individualized Education Program (IEP) team determines, after a critical assessment of the student, that instruction in Braille or the use of Braille is not appropriate to the student's educational needs and (ii) requiring a critical assessment to be administered to each student with blindness or visual impairment triannually and after any significant change in the student's vision. The bill defines "critical assessment" as an assessment of a student with blindness or visual impairment conducted by a licensed Teacher of the Visually Impaired that includes (a) a functional vision assessment conducted in an educational setting; (b) an assessment of reading media that is designed for and intended to be administered to students, is administered in the student's native language and in accordance with any instructions, and contains appropriate objective components such as font size, sustained reading speed, and fluency; (c) an assessment of the student's reading comprehension and writing skills; and (d) consideration of the student's current and future needs, including consideration of the student's current and future technology support needs. VSBA is opposed to this bill. The Committee reported and referred the substitute to House Appropriations (21-0).
HB 791 (Pogge) - This bill would exclude school nurse positions from requirements for student support positions and instead requires each local school board to employ at least one full-time equivalent school nurse position in each elementary school, middle school, and high school in the local school division or at least one full-time equivalent school nurse position per 550 students in grades kindergarten through 12. The Committee reported and referred the bill to House Appropriations (15-3).
HB 1085 (Yancey) - A substitute for this bill was adopted in subcommittee. The substitute would require school boards which have military installations within their divisions to adopt and implement policies allowing for students residing on base or in base housing to enroll in another school in the school division if space is available. The policy may have other conditions on such enrollment. The Committee reported the substitute (15-5).
HB 1380 (Robinson) - This bill was amended in Committee to reduce from 35 to 32 the maximum class size in grades four through six. The Committee reported and referred the bill to House Appropriations (16-4).
HB 159 (Rasoul) This bill would have required each local school board to implement a comprehensive, sequential family life education curriculum in grades kindergarten through 12 that is consistent with the family life education Standards of Learning or curriculum guidelines developed by the Board of Education and removed from such standards and guidelines the requirement for instruction in the benefits, challenges, responsibilities, and value of marriage for men, women, children, and communities; abstinence education; the value of postponing sexual activity; and the benefits of adoption as a positive choice in the event of an unwanted pregnancy. VSBA opposes this bill. The Committee voted to pass the bill by indefinitely (11-9).
The House Education Subcommittee 2 met beginning at 4 p.m. and considered the following bills:
HB50 (Hope) This bill requires each local school board to adopt policies that (i) prohibit school board employees from publicly identifying or stigmatizing a student who cannot pay for a meal at school or who owes a meal debt, including requiring that such student wear a wristband or hand stamp; (ii) prohibit school board employees from requiring a student who cannot pay for a meal at school or who owes a school meal debt to do chores or other work to pay for such meals; and (iii) require school board employees to direct any communication relating to a school meal debt to the student's parent, which may be made by a letter addressed to the parent to be sent home with the student. The bill was amended in subcommittee to remove the prohibition on publicly identifying or stigmatizing a student who cannot pay for a meal because the subcommittee members did not want the bill to be interpreted as a requirement that school boards provide a hot meal to a student who does not pay for it (which would be an unfunded mandate). The subcommittee recommended the amended bill be reported (8-0).
HB296 (Bell) This bill prohibits students in preschool through grade three from being suspended or expelled except for drug offenses, firearm offenses, or certain criminal acts. VSBA opposes this bill as drafted. VSBA attempted to negotiate a compromise on this bill but the patron rejected the compromise. The subcommittee voted to report the bill (5-3). VSBA will continue to oppose this bill and to support the compromise that was reached on the Senate version of the bill, SB170.
HB740 (McGuire) This bill requires the Department of Education to establish and appoint members to a task force for the purpose of establishing a program and standards for the designation of any public middle school or high school in the Commonwealth as a cyber center of excellence. The bill requires such program and standards to, at minimum, (i) establish a competitive process by which local school boards may apply to the Department of Education to designate any middle school or high school in the local school division as a cyber center of excellence and (ii) require applicants to demonstrate the ability to (a) provide high-quality programs and curricula for the development of the computer skills of enrolled students, (b) identify enrolled students with an aptitude for such programs and curricula, and (c) assist such students in developing their computer skills in order to be better prepared to meet the Commonwealth's growing demand and unmet need for cybersecurity professionals. The bill requires the task force to create and distribute to each local school board guidelines, procedures, and best practices for applications for the designation of schools as cyber centers of excellence. The subcommittee recommended that the bill be reported and referred to House Appropriations (8-0).
HB803 (O’Quinn) This bill extends eligibility to participate in programs of preparation and instruction to take a high school equivalency examination approved by the Board of Education to individuals who are at least 16 years of age. Under current law, such programs are available only to adults who did not complete high school, students who have been granted permission by their division superintendent, and those who have been ordered by a court to participate in the program. The subcommittee recommended that this bill report (7-1).
HB808 (O’Quinn) This bill requires the Department of Education, in scoring each individual Standards of Learning assessment, to utilize the highest score achieved by the student on each section of the assessment during any administration of the assessment. The subcommittee voted unanimously to carry this bill over to 2019.
HB829 (Bagby) This bill clarifies that each parent of a school-age child in the Commonwealth is required to cause his child to attend school. Current law requires each such parent to send his child to school. The subcommittee recommended that this bill report (7-1).
HB831 (Bagby) This bill requires the Virtual Virginia program, established by the Department of Education, to be made available to all public middle and high schools. The bill provides that such program may be made available to all public elementary schools. Under current law, Virtual Virginia is required to be made available to public high schools only. The bill also replaces the term "statewide electronic classroom" with "online learning program" to more accurately reflect the Virtual Virginia program. The subcommittee recommended that this bill report and refer to House Appropriations (8-0).
HB1125 (Landes) A substitute was adopted by the subcommittee. This is an omnibus bill making several changes to teacher licensure. Among other things, this substitute eliminates the requirements that teachers demonstrate proficiency in the use of educational technology for instruction and that they receive professional development in instructional methods tailored to promote student academic progress and effective preparation for the SOL end of course and end of grade assessments. The substitute also allows teachers to complete certain requirements during their first year of licensure rather than before licensure. The substitute provides for an alternate route to licensure for elementary education preK-6 and special education general curriculum. The substitute allows BOE to extend a provisional license for up to two additional years and provides for a 10 year renewable license instead of a 5 year renewable license. VSBA supports this bill. The subcommittee recommended that the bill report (8-0).
HB1286 (LaRock) This bill permits the parents of certain children to apply to the school division in which the child resides for a one-year, renewable Parental Choice Education Savings Account that consists of an amount that is equivalent to a certain percentage of all applicable annual Standards of Quality per pupil state funds appropriated for public school purposes and apportioned to the resident school division in which the student resides, including the per pupil share of state sales tax funding in basic aid and any state per pupil share of special education funding for which the student is eligible. The bill permits the parent to use the moneys in such account for certain education-related expenses of the student, including tuition, deposits, fees, and required textbooks at a private elementary school or secondary school that is located in the Commonwealth. The bill also contains provisions relating to auditing, rescinding, and reviewing expenses made from such accounts. VSBA opposes this bill. In subcommittee there first was a motion to pass the bill by indefinitely, which motion failed on a tie vote of 4-4. Then there was a motion to report the bill, which also failed on a tie vote of 4-4.
HB1346 (Thomas) This bill would expand eligibility for services under the Children's Services Act to students who transfer from an approved private school special education program to a public school special education program established and funded jointly by a local governing body and school division located within Planning District 16 for the purpose of providing special education and related services when (i) the public school special education program is able to provide services comparable to those of an approved private school special education program and (ii) the student would require placement in an approved private school special education program but for the availability of the public school special education program. The subcommittee recommended that the bill report any refer to House Appropriations (8-0).
HB1431 (Bell) This bill would require the Virginia Public Building Authority to establish and administer the Public School Capital Grant Program (the Program) for the purpose of providing grants on a competitive basis to any local school board that governs a local school division in a locality that is determined to have high fiscal stress by the Virginia Commission on Local Government in its most recent "Report on the Comparative Revenue Capacity, Revenue Effort, and Fiscal Stress of Virginia Counties and Cities" for such school board to use for school building capital renovation or construction projects. The bill caps each Program grant at $10 million and requires local matching funds for each such grant. The subcommittee recommended that the bill report and refer to House Appropriations (8-0).
HB1477 (Roem) The patron offered a substitute which would have required school boards to adopt policies prohibiting "lunch shaming" of students and would also have required school boards to provide a hot meal to every student who is unable to pay for the meal, regardless of how much lunch debt the student may have accumulated. The VSBA opposed the bill only to the extent that it required the unlimited provision of lunches to students who have not paid, which is an unfunded mandate. First, there was a motion to pass the bill by indefinitely which motion failed on a tie vote of 4-4. Then there was a motion to recommend reporting the bill which also failed on a vote of 3-5.
HB1532 (Herring) This bill would have requires the health education program required for each public elementary and secondary school student to include an age-appropriate program of instruction on the safe use of and risks of abuse of prescription drugs that is consistent with curriculum guidelines developed by the Board of Education and approved by the State Board of Health. The bill was amended in subcommittee to be permissive. The subcommittee voted to recommend that the amended bill report (8-0).
HB1579 (Kory) This bill would have provided that no student shall be charged tuition or fees for enrolling in any online course or virtual program that is required or is offered by the school division in which he resides and that provides that no local school board can offer and no student can be required to take any online course or virtual program unless every student enrolled in the course is provided or offered, free of charge, a computer or other electronic device necessary to take the course. Further, the bill provides an exception for the high school graduation requirement to take a virtual course if such requirements are not met. The subcommittee recommended that the bill be passed by indefinitely (5-3).
HB1604 (Bell) This bill requires health instruction to incorporate standards that recognize the multiple dimensions of health by including mental health and the relationship of physical and mental health so as to enhance student understanding, attitudes, and behavior that promote health, well-being, and human dignity. The bill also directs the Board of Education to review and update the health Standards of Learning for students in grades nine and 10 to include mental health. The subcommittee recommended that the bill report (8-0).
