The PreK-12 Subcommittee met this evening and acted on the following bills:
Block 1
HB365 (Carroll Foy) Removes (i)
the option for local school boards to extend the three-year probationary term
of service for teachers by up to two additional years and (ii) the prohibition
against school boards reemploying any teacher whose performance evaluation
during the probationary term of service is unsatisfactory. The bill was recommended to be reported 4-3.
HB368 (Carroll Foy) Specifies, for the purpose of several provisions of law relating to the
public school enrollment of children placed in foster care, that a child or
student placed in foster care includes a pupil who was in foster care when he
reached age 18 but such pupil has not yet reached age 22. A substitute was adopted by the subcommittee. The bill was recommended to be reported and
rereferred to Appropriations 7-0.
HB570 (Guzman) Removes receipt of one or more unsatisfactory
performance evaluations from the list of factors that "incompetency"
may be construed to include for the purpose of establishing grounds for the
dismissal of public school teachers. The
bill was amended to eliminate the definition of incompetency from the
Code. The bill was recommended to be
reported 4-2.
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 was
passed by for the day.
HB725 (Reid) Requires the
Board of Education to extend for at least one additional year, but for no more
than two additional years, the three-year provisional license of a teacher
employed in a school for students with disabilities that is licensed by the
Board upon receiving from the school administrator of such school (i) a
recommendation for such extension and (ii) satisfactory performance evaluations
for such teacher for each year of the original three-year provisional license.
The provisions of the bill mirror current law relating to the extension of
provisional licenses for public school teachers. This bill was incorporated in HB1469.
HB797 (Askew) Requires each local school board to submit its plan to
test and remediate certain potable water sources and report the results of any
such test to the Department of Health. The bill also requires local school
boards to take all necessary steps to notify parents if testing results
indicate lead contamination that exceeds the maximum contaminant level goals
set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The bill was amended in subcommittee to
require parental notification if lead contamination exceeds 10 parts per
billion. The bill was recommended to be
reported 6-0.
HB836 (Carroll Foy) Requires
the Department of Education to develop and adopt standards for microcredentials
earned by public school teachers in the Commonwealth, including
microcredentials used toward add-on endorsements, initial licensure, renewal of
licensure, and professional development points in science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, that align with nationally-accepted
standards for microcredentials, such as those utilized by the nonprofit
organization Digital Promise. Such standards shall include (i) educator
microcredentials focused on discrete competencies based upon relevant,
peer-reviewed research in the specific domain or discipline; (ii) educator
microcredentials that rely upon demonstrable evidence from the submission of
artifacts, such as student projects and teacher lesson plans, that are then objectively
scored against existing rubrics; and (iii) educator microcredentials that focus
on interrelated competencies leading to logical teacher professional
development pathways and stacks of educator microcredentials. The bill requires
any entity that issues microcredentials to public school teachers in the
Commonwealth to comply with such standards.
A substitute was adopted by the subcommittee. The bill was recommended to be reported with
substitute 7-0.
HB837 (Carroll Foy) Requires the Board of Education to include in its
guidelines and model policies for codes of student conduct (i) standards for
reducing bias and harassment in the enforcement of any code of student conduct
and (ii) standards for dress or grooming codes, which the bill defines as any
practice, policy, or portion of a code of student conduct adopted by a school
board that governs or restricts the attire of any enrolled student. The bill
permits any school board to include in its code of student conduct a dress or
grooming code. The bill prohibits any school board that does not include in its
code of student a dress or grooming code from subjecting a student to
discipline for reasons typically assigned to a dress or grooming code. The bill
requires any dress or grooming code included in a school board's code of
student conduct or otherwise adopted by a school board to (a) permit any
student to wear any religiously, ethnically, or culturally specific or
significant head covering or hairstyle, including hijabs, yarmulkes, headwraps,
braids, locs, and cornrows; (b) maintain gender neutrality by subjecting any
student to the same set of rules and standards regardless of gender; (c) not
have a disparate impact on students of a particular gender; (d) be clear,
specific, and objective and avoid any subjective term or standard such as
"distracting," "provocative," or "inappropriate";
(e) prohibit any school board employee from enforcing the dress or grooming
code by direct physical contact with a student or a student's attire; and (f)
prohibit any school board employee from requiring a student to undress in front
of any other individual, including the enforcing school board employee, to
comply with the dress or grooming code.
The bill was recommended to be reported 4-3.
HB1169 (Wampler) Provides that a probationary term of service of at least
three years shall be required before a public elementary or secondary school
teacher is issued a continuing contract. Current law provides that a
probationary term of service of at least three years and, at the option of the
local school board, up to five years in the same school division shall be
required before a public elementary or secondary school teacher is issued a
continuing contract. The bill was
incorporated into HB365.
HB1326 (Kory) Specifies that a teacher may be placed on probation for
incompetency, immorality, noncompliance with school laws and regulations,
disability as shown by competent medical evidence when in compliance with
federal law, conviction of a felony or a crime of moral turpitude, or other
good and just cause. The bill replaces the current condition constituting
incompetency, for the purposes of teacher employment, of one or more
unsatisfactory performance evaluations with the condition of more than one
unsatisfactory performance evaluation or one unsatisfactory performance
evaluation coupled with a finding by the division superintendent that the
teacher (i) exhibited a pattern of poor performance or (ii) failed to respond
to efforts to improve his performance. The bill extends from 10 business days
to 15 business days the deadline for a teacher to request a hearing after
receiving written notice of a recommendation of dismissal. The bill also
staggers by 10 days (a) the opportunity for a teacher recommended for dismissal
to inspect and copy his personnel file and all other documents relied upon in
reaching the decision to recommend dismissal and (b) the opportunity for the
division superintendent to inspect and copy the documents to be offered in
rebuttal to the decision to recommend dismissal. The bill also extends from 15
business days to 30 business days the deadline for the school board or hearing
officer to set a hearing after a request for a hearing by a teacher recommended
for dismissal. The bill was incorporated
into HB365.
HB1344 (Askew) Provides that when adopting regulations regarding the
issuance of written reprimands of teachers and other school personnel required
to hold a license, the Board of Education shall establish in such regulations
the grounds for such written reprimands and provides that for a teacher who
breaches his contract, the local board of education or division superintendent,
in addition to a written reprimand or revocation of the teacher's license as in
current law, may issue a suspension of the teacher's license. This bill was recommended to be reported 6-0.
HB1469 (Gooditis) Requires the Board of Education to extend for
at least one additional year, but for no more than two additional years, the
three-year provisional license of a teacher employed in an accredited private
elementary or secondary school upon receiving from the school administrator of
such school (i) a recommendation for such extension and (ii) satisfactory
performance evaluations for such teacher for each year of the original
three-year provisional license. The provisions of the bill mirror current law
relating to the extension of provisional licenses for public school teachers. The bill was recommended to be reported 6-0.
HB1568 (Rush) Directs the
State Board of Education to amend its regulations to require that persons
seeking a technical professional license with an endorsement to teach military
science have either the appropriate credentials issued by the United States
military or a recommendation from a Virginia employing educational agency. The bill was recommended to be reported
5-0.
HB1613 (Brewer) Requires the Board of Education, pursuant to
regulation, to permit any individual who seeks a technical professional license
to substitute the successful completion of an intensive, job-embedded,
three-year program of professional development for the nine semester hours of
professional studies required for such license.
The bill was recommended to be reported 6-0.
HB1630 (Kilgore) Permits any school board and division
superintendent to extend from three months to six months the period within
which the provisional license of an individual seeking initial teacher
licensure who has not completed professional assessments will expire for the
purpose of establishing such individual's eligibility for initial licensure,
provided that such individual has received a satisfactory mid-year performance
review in the current school year and meets all other eligibility criteria. The bill was recommended to be reported
5-0.
Block 2
HB109 (Cole) Provides
that in no case shall sufficient cause for the suspension or expulsion of a
student from attendance at a public elementary or secondary school include only
instances of truancy or nonviolent behavior. Current law provides that in no
cases may sufficient cause for suspensions include only instances of truancy. The bill was carried over until 2021.
HB257 (Mullin) Eliminates the requirement that school
principals report certain enumerated acts that may constitute a misdemeanor
offense to law enforcement. The bill was
amended in subcommittee. The bill was recommended to be reported 5-0.
HB308 (Hope) Requires
the Department of Education to establish and distribute to each school board no
later than August 1, 2020, guidelines for the granting of excused absences to
students who are absent from school due to mental or behavioral health and
requires any student who is absent from school due to his mental or behavioral
health to be granted an excused absence, subject to such guidelines. The bill was recommended to be reported
5-1.
HB392 (Ward) Prohibits
each school board from employing or accepting the volunteer service of any
individual who has been convicted of a violent felony set forth in subsection C
of § 17.1-805 of the Code of Virginia or any offense involving the sexual
molestation, physical or sexual abuse, or rape of a child. The bill permits
each school board to employ or accept the volunteer service of any individual
who has been convicted of any felony or crime of moral turpitude that is not
set forth in subsection C of § 17.1-805 of the Code of Virginia and does not
involve the sexual molestation, physical or sexual abuse, or rape of a child,
provided that in the case of a felony conviction, such individual has had his
civil rights restored by the Governor. The bill contains parallel provisions
for contractors and their employees who have direct contact with students on school
property during regular school hours or during school-sponsored activities.
Current law provides that any felony conviction is a bar to employment and
contract work in public schools. The
bill was amended in subcommittee remove all references to volunteers and to
update the list of barrier crimes to refer to Va. Code § 19.2-392.02. The bill was recommended to be reported 5-2.
HB405 (Keam) Requires
each school board to make tampons and pads available at all times and at no
cost to students in the bathrooms of each facility that it owns, leases, or
otherwise controls that houses a public school at which any student in grades
five through 12 is enrolled. The bill
was recommended to be reported 3-2.
HB415 (Delaney) Requires school boards to adopt policies and procedures
to ensure suspended students are able to access and complete graded work during
the suspension. The bill was recommended
to be reported 3-2.
HB501 (Krizek) Permits each school board to designate another entity or
individual to participate on its behalf in the annual review of its written
school crisis, emergency management, and medical emergency response plan. The bill was recommended to be reported 5-0.
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 passed by for the day.
HB1177 (Poindexter) Requires each school board to establish a policy to prohibit any teacher
in the school division from assigning to any student a homework assignment that
requires the use of an Internet connection that is capable of transmitting
information at a rate that is not less than 256 kilobits per second in at least
one direction when such student lacks access to such an Internet connection. The bill was amended to permit but not
require school boards to adopt such policies.
The bill was recommended to be reported 5-1.
HB1208 (Tran) Requires each school board to establish a process for
assisting any student whose family members have one or more medical conditions
that preclude them from providing transportation for the student to attend
school to apply for and obtain a pass to ride a regionally operated or locally
operated bus to school. The bill was
amended in subcommittee to require school boards to establish a waiver process
by which students who are not eligible for transportation (because, for
example, they live within the walking zone) to receive transportation in
certain instances. The bill was
recommended to be reported 6-0.
HB1633 (Edmunds) Requires the Board of Education to establish a program to
use Literary Fund proceeds to subsidize interest payments on certain loans made
by the Virginia Public School Authority to local governing bodies and school
boards for the design and construction of new school buildings and facilities
or the modernization and maintenance of existing school buildings and
facilities as follows: for school divisions in localities determined to have
above-average or high fiscal stress by the Commission on Local Government in
its most recent version of such report, the Board shall subsidize up to 100
percent of the interest due on such loan. Under current law, eligibility for
such interest rate subsidy payment is based on the local composite index of
ability to pay. The bill was recommended
to be reported 5-0.
Block 3
HB271 (VanValkenburg) Requires the Department of Criminal Justice Services, in
coordination with the Department of Education and the Department of Juvenile
Justice, to annually collect, report, and publish data related to incidents
involving students and school resource officers or school security officers.
The bill also requires the Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety to
analyze and disseminate submitted data.
The bill was amended in subcommittee to remove school security
officers. The bill was recommended to be
reported 5-1.
HB273 (VanValkenburg) Requires each local school board to ensure that each elementary school
teacher has an average of one 45-minute period per school day of planning time
and that each middle and high school teacher is provided one planning period
per school day or the equivalent, which shall be at least 45 minutes or one
class period, whichever is longer. The bill permits local school boards and
teachers to enter into an appropriate contractual arrangement providing for
compensation in lieu of such planning time or period. Under current law, public
elementary school teachers are guaranteed at least an average of 30 minutes of
planning time per school day during a school week. The bill was recommended to be reported
5-1.
HB292 (VanValkenburg) Shortens from every five years to every two years the frequency of the
review period for memorandums of understanding between school boards and local
law-enforcement agencies. The bill also requires local school boards to
conspicuously publish the current division memorandum of understanding on its
division website and provide notice and opportunity for public input during
each memorandum of understanding review period.
The bill was recommended to be reported 5-1.
HB376 (Willett) Requires
(i) each school board to report to the Department of Education annually the
number and type of teacher and support staff vacancies in the school division
and (ii) each education preparation program to report to the Department of
Education annually the number of individuals who graduated from the program
during the current calendar year, by endorsement area. The bill requires the
Department of Education to (a) establish deadlines for and the format of the
reporting of such data and (b) aggregate and report such data annually on the
Department's website. The bill was
recommended to be reported 5-1.
HB424 (McGuire) Requires
each local school board to place a school resource officer in each public elementary
and secondary school. The bill provides that 44 percent of revenues from taxes
on alcohol licenses, distilled spirits, and beer and wine coolers shall accrue
to the School Resource Officer Supplementary Fund, created by the bill, which
would be used to fund the costs of the school resource officer requirement. The bill was amended in subcommittee to create
a School Resource Officer Supplementary Fund to pay for School Resource
Officers or School Security Officers.
The amended bill does not mandate school boards to hire school resource
officers or school security officers. The
substitute failed 4-2.
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 passed by for the day.
HB897 (Guzman) The bill requires that the required memorandum of
understanding entered into by a local school board and local law-enforcement
agency be consistent with the model memorandum of understanding developed by
the Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety. The bill requires that the
model memorandum contain provisions that prohibit school resource officers from
(i) conducting a search of a student's person or property while on school
property unless such resource officer has probable cause to conduct such a
search and either has a judicial warrant authorizing the search or has
identified exigent circumstances necessitating a warrantless search; (ii)
participating in any request for assistance from a federal agency without a
subpoena or warrant; (iii) inquiring as to whether a student was born in a
country other than the United States or is a citizen of a country other than the
United States, unless such inquiry is in connection with an kidnapping or
extortion investigation; and (iv) absent exigent circumstances, questioning any
student without prior notification to the parent or guardian of such student's
right to refuse to be questioned or searched. The bill also provides that the
model memorandum of understanding shall contain provisions regarding the use of
translators or appropriate guardians to assist students in responding to
questions from a school resource officer. The bill requires each such school
board and local law-enforcement agency to review the memorandum of
understanding every four years or at any time upon request of either party. The
bill provides that such memorandum shall be made available for public review and
comment at least 30 days prior to its adoption. The bill also redefines school
resource officer to specifically prohibit a school resource officer from
investigating or enforcing violations of school board policies, including
student conduct codes. The bill was
incorporated into HB292.
HB939 (Webert) Requires local school boards to provide firearm safety
education programs for students in high school. The bill requires the Board of
Education to establish curriculum guidelines for the program, in consultation
with the Department of State Police, and requires that the program be taught by
a school resource officer, other law-enforcement officer, or a United States
Armed Forces instructor. The bill prohibits the use of firearms in the program.
Current law allows local school boards to provide a firearm safety education
program for students in the elementary grades and does not specify who may
instruct such program. The bill was tabled
4-2.
HB1081 (Guzman) Provides
that an attendance officer, or a division superintendent or his designee when
acting as an attendance officer, may complete, sign, and file a petition for a
violation of a school attendance order in response to the filing of a petition
alleging the pupil is a child in need of supervision with the intake officer of
the juvenile and domestic relations district court on a form approved by the
Virginia Supreme Court. The bill was
recommended to be reported 7-0.
HB1135 (Lopez) The bill requires that the required memorandum of
understanding entered into by a local school board and local law-enforcement
agency be consistent with the model memorandum of understanding developed by
the Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety. The bill requires that the
model memorandum contain provisions that prohibit school resource officers from
(i) conducting a search of a student's person or property while on school
property unless such resource officer has probable cause to conduct such a
search and either has a judicial warrant authorizing the search or has
identified exigent circumstances necessitating a warrantless search; (ii)
participating in any request for assistance from a federal agency without a
subpoena or warrant; (iii) inquiring as to whether a student was born in a
country other than the United States or is a citizen of a country other than
the United States, unless such inquiry is in connection with an kidnapping or
extortion investigation; and (iv) absent exigent circumstances, questioning any
student without prior notification to the parent or guardian of such student's
right to refuse to be questioned or searched. The bill also provides that the
model memorandum of understanding shall contain provisions regarding the use of
translators or appropriate guardians to assist students in responding to
questions from a school resource officer. The bill requires each such school
board and local law-enforcement agency to review the memorandum of
understanding every four years or at any time upon request of either party. The
bill provides that such memorandum shall be made available for public review
and comment at least 30 days prior to its adoption. The bill also redefines
school resource officer to specifically prohibit a school resource officer from
investigating or enforcing violations of school board policies, including
student conduct codes. The bill was incorporated
in HB292.
HB1174 (Lopez) Requires each local school board to adopt and implement
policies for the possession and administration of undesignated stock albuterol
inhalers in every school in the local school division, to be administered by
any school nurse, employee of the school board, employee of a local governing
body, or employee of a local health department who is authorized by a
prescriber and trained in the administration of albuterol inhalers for any
student believed in good faith to be in need of such medication. The bill
limits the liability of (i) any such individual who provides, administers, or
assists in the administration of an albuterol inhaler for a student believed in
good faith to be in need of such medication and (ii) the prescriber of such
medication. The bill was amended in
subcommittee to be permissive. The
subcommittee was recommended to be reported 5-0.
HB1355 (Rasoul) Requires the Department of Education to establish an
interagency task force composed of state and local agencies and entities in the
areas of early childhood development, health, social services, community
engagement, family engagement, higher education, communities in schools, and
workforce development for the purpose of developing a program for the
establishment of community schools whereby public elementary and secondary
schools serve as centers for the provision of such community programs and
services to students and their families as may be necessary on the basis of the
unique needs of the student population to be served. The bill requires such
program to include a process by which school boards and community partnerships
may apply to the Department of Education to designate an elementary or
secondary school in the local school division as a community school. The bill
also establishes a special nonreverting fund in the state treasury for the
purpose of providing planning grants for school boards and community
partnerships that seek to apply to the Department of Education through such
program for community school designation.
The bill was amended in subcommittee with a substitute. The bill was recommended to be reported and
referred to Appropriations 4-2.
HB1443 (VanValkenburg) Requires
the Department of Education to conduct an annual review of teacher compensation
that takes into consideration the Commonwealth's compensation for teachers relative
to member states in the Southern Regional Education Board. The bill requires
the Department to report its findings to the Governor, the General Assembly,
and the School Board by June 1 of each year. Current law requires the Director
of Human Resource Management to complete a biennial review of teacher
compensation that also compares the Commonwealth's compensation for teachers to
other occupations requiring similar education and training. The bill was recommended to be reported 4-2.
