Update on Senate Bills in House Education Committee

The House Education Committee has met twice since crossover and has considered the following bills of interest:

SB 1215 (Newman) would  require the development and implementation of annual training on safety procedures for staff and students.  The Committee voted to report the bill 22-0.

SB 1249 (Reeves) permits a child of a military family that will be relocating to a Virginia school division pursuant to orders to register for courses and other academic programs and participate in the lottery process for charter schools and college partnership laboratory schools at the same time and in the same manner as students who already reside in the local school division. The Committee voted to report the bill 22-0.

SB1258 (Dunnavant) would include licensed behavior analysts and licensed assistant behavior analysts as support services positions in the Standards of Quality.  The Committee voted to report and rerefer the bill to Appropriations 22-0.

SB 1295 (Spruill) was amended to require each school board to (i) develop and implement a policy to prohibit the use and distribution of tobacco products and nicotine vapor products on a school bus, on school property, or at an on-site or off-site school-sponsored activity and (ii) include in its code of student conduct a prohibition against possessing tobacco products or nicotine vapor products on a school bus, on school property, or at an on-site or off-site school-sponsored activity. Current law only places these requirements on each school board with regard to electronic cigarettes. The bill requires such policy to include adequate provisions for enforcement among students, employees, and visitors, including the enumeration of possible sanctions or disciplinary action consistent with state or federal law, and referrals to resources to help staff and students overcome tobacco addiction. The bill provides that each school board "shall work to ensure adequate notice of this policy."  The Committee voted to report the amended bill 20-2.

SB 1298 (Barker) requires VDOE to collect and report certain data regarding alternative education programs that are provided for students who are suspended or expelled from school.  The Committee voted to report the bill 22-0.

SB 1397 (Peake)  requires the Board of Education to issue a license to an individual seeking initial licensure who has not completed the professional assessments prescribed by the Board, if such individual (i) holds a provisional license that will expire within three months, (ii) is employed by a school board, (iii) is recommended for licensure by the division superintendent, (iv) has attempted, unsuccessfully, to obtain a qualifying score on the professional assessments prescribed by the Board, (v) has received an evaluation rating of proficient or above on the performance standards for each year of the provisional license and such evaluation was conducted in a manner consistent with the Guidelines for Uniform Performance Standards and Evaluation Criteria for Teachers, Principals, and Superintendents, and (vi) meets all other requirements for initial licensure. The bill removes the requirement that the Board of Education prescribe an assessment of basic skills for individuals seeking entry into an approved education preparation program and establish a minimum passing score for such assessment.  The Committee voted to report the bill 22-0.

SB 1440 (McCLellan) directs the Board of Education to review and update the health Standards of Learning for students in all grades to include mental health. Legislation passed in 2018 required such review and update for students in grades nine and 10.  The Committee voted to report and rerefer the bill to Appropriations 22-0.

SB 1236 (DeSteph) would require school boards to adopt and implement policies to ensure employees have equal access to education employee.  The bill is troubling because, among other things, it would remove the discretion of the local school board or superintendent to decide what groups are permitted to attend new teacher or employee orientations.  The bill failed on a vote of 10-11.

SB 1433 (McCLellan) requires the Department of Education to aggregate and report to each education preparation program certain teacher employment data, as available, regarding such program's graduates.  The Committee voted to report the bill 21-0.

SB 1005 (Chase) was conformed to the original language of Del. Robinson's School Calendar bill, which would repeal the post-Labor Day start requirement, allow school boards to set the school start date without limitation, but require a 5-day Labor Day weekend.  The Committee reported the bill 16-6.

SB1214 (Newman) was amended to conform to the version of HB 1733 (Gilbert) which was passed by the House.  As amended the bill requires each school board that has School Resource Officers to enter into an MOU with local law enforcement to set forth the powers and duties of SROs.  The bill also requires that the MOU be reviewed at least every 5 years.  The Committee reported the bill 22-0.

SB 1269 (Cosgrove) would require the Board of Education to waive the requirement that school divisions provide additional teaching days or teaching hours to compensate for up to five days of school closings resulting from an evacuation directed and compelled by the Governor. The bill provides that there shall be no proportionate reduction in the amount paid by the Commonwealth from the Basic School Aid Fund or the amount paid by a local governing body.  The Committee reported the bill 22-0.

SB 1348 (Newman) would require the Department of Education, in consultation with representatives from pertinent industries such as renewable energy, natural gas, nuclear energy, coal, and oil, to establish an energy career cluster. The bill requires the Department of Education to base the knowledge and skill sets contained in such energy career cluster on the energy industry competency and credential models developed by the Center for Energy Workforce Development in partnership with the U.S. Department of Labor. The bill further requires the Department of Education to report to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health no later than December 1, 2019, on its progress toward establishing such energy career cluster. The Committee reported the bill 22-0.

SB 1419 (Sturtevant)  would permit the Department of Education to establish a microcredential program for the purpose of permitting any public elementary or secondary school teacher who holds a renewable or provisional license or any individual who participates in any alternate route to licensure program to complete additional in-person or blended coursework and earn microcredentials in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) endorsement areas, including computer science, for which there is a high need for additional qualified teachers. The bill requires the Department of Education to establish a microcredential committee to determine how any microcredential awarded pursuant to any such program will be used to award add-on endorsements and certifications for teachers in such STEM endorsement areas. The bill provides certain conditions in which in-person coursework in a microcredential program not contributing to an endorsement is eligible for professional development points towards the renewal of a teaching license. The Committee reported the bill 22-0.

SB 1434 (McClellan) would require the Board of Education to review and revise, in consultation with certain stakeholders and no later than December 1, 2019, its Career and Technical Education Work-Based Learning Guide to expand the opportunities available for students to earn credit for graduation through high-quality work-based learning experiences such as job shadowing, mentorships, internships, and externships.  The Committee reported the bill 22-0.

SB 1575 (Ebbin) was amended to conform to HB 2589 (Tran) which would require the Advisory Board on Teacher Education and Licensure (ABTEL) to make recommendations for licensure of for teachers of CTE and dual enrollment courses.  The Committee reported the amended bill 22-0.

SB 1590 (Dunnavant) would require that the Virtual Virginia program, the statewide electronic classroom established by the Department of Education, be made available to all public schools. Currently, the program is available only to high schools. The bill requires the Department to utilize a learning management system for the purposes of implementing Virtual Virginia. The bill also authorizes the Department to charge a per-student fee to school divisions for each student enrolled in a full-time Virtual Virginia program beyond an initial allotment of 15 such students per school division and prohibits the Department from limiting the total number of such students by school division.  The Committee voted to rerefer the bill to Appropriations.