In addition to meeting one-on-one with legislators to discuss bills, today VSBA staff attended several committee/subcommittee meetings detailed below.
The House Education Committee met this morning and considered the following bills of interest:
HB 1725 (Knight) would require each school board, in consultation with the local building official and state or local fire marshal, to develop a procurement plan to ensure that all security enhancements to public school buildings are in compliance with the Uniform Statewide Building Code and Statewide Fire Prevention Code. The committee reported the bill unanimously
HB 1752 (Krizek) would prohibit local school boards from requiring students to attend school on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. The bill was reported on a vote of 19 - 1 -1.
HB 1738 (Rush) would require the licensed architect or professional engineer who provides the required statement to accompany the school superintendent's approval on all plans and specifications for new or remodeled public school building construction to be trained and experienced in crime prevention through environmental design. The committee reported the bill on a vote of 21-0.
HB 1732 (O’Quinn) was amended to require the development and implementation of annual training on safety procedures for staff and students. The amended bill was reported unanimously by the Committee.
HB1733 (Gilbert) would require the school board in each school division in which the local law-enforcement agency employs school resource officers to enter into a memorandum of understanding with such local law-enforcement agency that sets forth the powers and duties of the school resource officers. The bill requires each such school board and local law-enforcement agency to review and amend or affirm the memorandum at least once every five years. The bill was reported unanimously by the Committee.
HB 1729 (Landes) would require each school counselor employed by a school board in a public elementary or secondary school to spend at least 80 percent of his staff time during normal school hours in the direct counseling of individual students or groups of students. The bill also changes the name from guidance counselor to school counselor. The bill was reported on a vote of 18-0.
Subcommittee # 2 of the House Education Committee also met this morning and considered the following bills:
HB 1710 (Krizek) would require the Board of Education to make regulations to require each new public school bus purchased for the transportation of students to be equipped with a seat belt consisting of a lap belt and shoulder strap or harness in every seat. The bill requires each school board to ensure that no later than July 1, 2037, each school bus that it uses for the transportation of students is equipped with a seat belt in every seat. The bill was recommended to be reported and re-referred to Appropriations on a vote of 6 to 4.
HB 1724 (Krizek) would establish the Grow Your Own Teacher Pilot Programs Fund and permits the Department of Education to award grants from such fund to local school boards to establish Grow Your Own Teacher Pilot Programs whereby the local school board provides scholarships not to exceed $7,500 per academic year for attendance at a baccalaureate institution of higher education in the Commonwealth to any individual who (i) graduated from a public high school in the local school division, (ii) was eligible for free or reduced price lunch throughout the individual's attendance at a public high school in the local school division, and (iii) commits to teach, within three years of graduating from the baccalaureate institution of higher education in the Commonwealth and for a period of at least four years, at a public high school at which at least 50 percent of students qualify for free or reduced price lunch in the school division in which such individual graduated from high school. The bill provides that in the event that any program scholarship recipient fails or refuses to comply with such teaching obligation, the sum of all scholarship funds received by such individual shall be converted to a loan that is subject to repayment with interest. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2024. The bill was amended in subcommittee to apply only to Longwood University. The bill was recommended to be reported and re-referred to Appropriations on a vote of 9 to 1.
HB 1623 (Cole) would permit any student whose parent has received orders to relocate to a duty station in the Commonwealth to register for courses and other academic programs and participate in the lottery process for charter schools and college partnership laboratory schools in the school division in which such student will reside at the same time and in the same manner as students who reside in the local school division. The bill requires each such student to provide to the school board proof of residency in the local school division no later than 10 days after his parent establishes such residency. The bill was reported and referred to appropriations 10 -0.
Finally, the House Appropriations Elementary and Secondary Education Subcommittee met this evening and considered the following bills:
HB 1921 (Bourne) would permit any school board to finance capital projects with any funds appropriated to it by the local governing body that are unexpended by the school board in any year. The subcommittee recommended that the bill be tabled on a vote of 4 to 2.
HB 1969 (Delaney) would require all sums derived from local funds unexpended by a school board in any year to remain a part of the funds of the school board for use the next year. Under current law, such sums are required to remain a part of the funds of the governing body that appropriated the funds to the school board. The subcommittee recommended that the bill be tabled on a vote of 4 to 2.
HB 2144 (Turpin) would establish the Duty-Free Lunch Grant Fund and Program for the purpose of awarding grants on a competitive basis to school boards to provide teachers in the local school division with an uninterrupted lunch period during which they have no instructional, administrative, or other duties to perform. The bill requires the Department of Education to administer the Program and to establish such guidelines and procedures as it deems necessary for the administration of the Program, including guidelines and procedures for grant applications, awards, and renewals. The subcommittee recommended that the bill be tabled on a vote of 4 to 2.
