HB226 (Freitas) This bill, commonly referred to as the Tebow
bill, would have forced the Virginia High School League to permit home school
students to participate in interscholastic programs. The bill was passed by indefinitely on a 4-2
vote.
HB678 (LaRock) 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. The bill was stricken at the request of the
patron.
HB693 (Simonds) Requires each school board to establish a
paid maternity leave benefit policy to grant any mother who has been employed
full-time by the school board for at least two years and who gave birth to or
adopted a child 12 weeks of paid sick leave, in addition to any other sick
leave to which such individual is otherwise entitled, to care for such child.
Each such policy shall include provisions relating to (i) any payroll
contributions that may be required to finance all or any part of the
implementation of the paid maternity leave benefit, (ii) the amount and value
of the maternity leave benefit, (iii) the computation of the duration of the
paid maternity leave benefit, (iv) the period within which the paid maternity
leave benefit shall be used, (v) intermittent use of the paid maternity leave
benefit, (vi) employment protection for mothers who use the paid maternity
leave benefit, (vii) the coordination of the use of the paid maternity leave
benefit and any other leave pursuant to the federal Family and Medical Leave
Act, 29 U.S.C. § 2601 et seq., and (viii) any other consideration deemed
relevant by the school board. The bill
failed on a 3-3 vote.
HB697 (Roem) Requires each local school board to adopt
policies that prohibit school board employees from requiring a student who
cannot pay for a meal at school or who owes a school meal debt to throw away or
discard a meal after it has been served to him.
The bill was recommended to be reported 6-0.
HB698 (Roem) Allows
public school boards to distribute excess food to low-income students eligible
for the School Breakfast Program or National School Lunch Program administered
by the U.S. Department of Agriculture or to low-income students that the school
board determines
are otherwise eligible to receive excess food. The bill was recommended to be reported with
amendments 6-0.
HB701 (Roem) Requires each school board to adopt policies
that (i) require each elementary and secondary school in the school division to
send to the parents of each student by the end of the first week of the school
year notice of the consequences of school meal debt and the school board policy
and procedure relating to such debt, including any requirement that such
student be served an alternative meal or be required to dispose of meals served
to him while such debt remains unpaid; (ii) require any elementary or secondary
school in the school division to resend such notice to the parents of any
student who accrues a school meal debt before the consequences of such debt go into
effect; and (iii) require the parents of any student who do not want their
child to be served a school meal to submit a written request to the student's
school. The bill failed on a 2-4 vote.
HB703 (Roem) Permits any school board to solicit and receive
any donation or other funds for the purpose of eliminating or offsetting any
school meal debt at any time during the school year and requires each school
board to use any such funds solely for such purpose, provided, however, that no
such funds are obtained in an illegal or illicit manner. The bill provides that
if a school board receives a donation that does not entirely eliminate or
offset the total school meal debt at any time during the school year, the
school board shall distribute the donation proportionately among each school
meal debt. The bill was amended in
subcommittee to eliminate the limitations on how the donations could be
used. The amended bill was recommended
to be reported 6-0.
HB710 (Rush) Permits local school boards, notwithstanding
any regulation to the contrary, to display decals containing the motto "In
God We Trust" on public school buses, provided that no such decal
obstructs the name of the school division or the number of the school bus. The bill failed to report on a 4-4 vote.
HB718 (Reid) Prohibits
each school resource officer from conducting a custodial interrogation, which
the bill defines as any interview of a public elementary or secondary school
student conducted by a school resource officer in such circumstances that would
lead a reasonable person to consider himself to be in custody associated with
arrest and during which the school resource officer takes actions or asks
questions that are reasonably likely to elicit responses from the student that
could incriminate him, without the written consent of the student's parent. The bill was tabled by the subcommittee.
HB1426 (Roem) Requires each school board to require each
public elementary and secondary school in the local school division to
participate in the federal National School Lunch Program and the federal School
Breakfast Program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and to make
meals available pursuant to such programs to any student who requests such a
meal, regardless of such student's family income or whether such student has
the money to pay for the meal or owes money for meals previously provided,
unless the student's parent has provided written permission to the school board
to withhold such a meal from the student.
The bill also prohibits school boards from using third party,
nongovernmental, debt collectors to collect school meal debt. The bill was recommended to be reported and rereferred
to Appropriations 5-2.
HB1711 (Bagby) Requires that Virtual Virginia’s online
program be made available to all middle school students and that it may be made
available to elementary students.
Current law only requires that it be made available to high school
students. The bill was recommended to be
reported and rereferred to Appropriations 6-0.
