Subcommittee 3 of the House Education Committee met this morning this morning and considered the following bill of interest:
HB 1788 (Ransone) would require the Public School Records Consortium and the Records Oversight Committee to confer with school boards and division superintendents and submit to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health no later than November 1, 2019, recommendations on ways in which school boards and school board employees can better promote efficiency and cost-effectiveness in the implementation of the Virginia Public Records Act. The subcommittee recommended that the bill be reported on a vote of 8 to 0.
The House Education Committee also met this morning and heard a presentation from the Superintendent of Public Instruction. The Committee did not act on any bills today.
Subcommittee 1 of the House Education Committee met this evening and considered the following bills:
HB 1908 (VanValkenburg) would direct the Department of Education to update the "Window into a Green Virginia" curriculum developed by the Departments for sixth grade science to include a unit on the benefits, including the energy benefits, of recycling and reuse. The subcommittee voted to recommend the bill for reporting, with minor amendments, on a vote of 5 to 3.
HB 2041 (Kory) would prohibit school divisions from suspending students for infractions involving only cell phone use or only instances of dress code violations. The bill was passed by indefinitely on a vote of 6 to 2.
HB 1930 (Bell, R.P.) was amended and, as amended, would require (i) the Board of Education to collaborate with various stakeholders to biennially update its guidelines on policies to inform and educate coaches, student-athletes, and student-athletes' parents or guardians of the nature and risk of concussions, criteria for removal from and return to play, risks of not reporting the injury and continuing to play, and the effects of concussions on student-athletes' academic performance and (ii) each local school division to biennially update its policies and procedures regarding the identification and handling of suspected concussions in student-athletes. The subcommittee recommended the bill for reporting on a vote of 8 to 0.
HB 1877 (Convirs-Fowler) was amended in subcommittee to require school divisions to offer high school equivalency programs on a year-round basis. The subcommittee recommend that the bill be reported and referred to Appropriations on a vote of 6 to 2.
HB 1693 (Rodman) as originally filed would have require any high school family life education curriculum offered by a local school division to include, at least four times during grades 11 and 12, instruction for students with intellectual or developmental disabilities on a variety of topics, including social skills, self-esteem, sexuality, and rights and responsibilities. A substitute was adopted in subcommittee that would require VDOE to establish guidelines for age-appropriate instruction related to sexual health, self-restraint, self-protection, respect for personal privacy, and personal boundaries of others for IEP teams to utilize when developing IEPs. The substitute would also require IEP teams to consider such guidelines when developing IEPs for students with disabilities. The subcommittee recommended the bill for reporting on a vote of 7 to 1.
HB 1619 (Thomas) 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 be reported and referred to Appropriations on a vote of 8 to 0.
