2020 Crossover Report

Earlier this week, we passed the mid-point of the 2020 General Assembly Session.  Your VSBA lobbying team was engaged on a record 349 bills this session.  This is a dramatic increase over the last few years. 

Below is our Crossover Report, which provides the details on the most important of those bills.  For a full report of all 349 bills we were tracking, please check your inbox soon for the VSBA Legislative Update email from J.T. Kessler.

Advanced Legislation

Below are the House bills that were passed by the House.  These bills are now moving over to the Senate for its consideration and action.

HB36 (Hurst) This bill declares that, except in certain limited circumstances, a student journalist at a public institution of higher education has the right to exercise freedom of speech and the press in school-sponsored media, including determining the news, opinion, feature, and advertising content of school-sponsored media, regardless of whether the media is supported financially by the governing board of the institution, supported through the use of campus facilities, or produced in conjunction with a course in which the student is enrolled. The bill defines "school-sponsored media" as any material that is prepared, substantially written, published, or broadcast by a student journalist at a public institution of higher education under the direction of a student media adviser and distributed or generally made available to members of the student body. The bill was amended in the Committee on Education to remove public middle and high school students from the provisions of the legislation. The bill was passed by the House (86-14).

HB46 (Carter) This bill would require an employer whose employee has filed a claim under the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Act to advise the employee, within 30 days, whether the employer intends to accept or deny the claim or is unable to make such a determination because it lacks sufficient information from the employee or a third party. If the employer is unable to make such a determination because it lacks sufficient information from the employee or a third party, the employer shall so state and identify the needed additional information. If the employer intends to deny the claim, it shall provide the reasons. The bill was passed by the House (54-45).

HB74 (Kory) This bill would require each school board to (i) adopt and implement policies that require each teacher and other relevant personnel, as determined by the school board, employed on a full-time basis, to complete a mental health awareness training or similar program at least once and (ii) provide such training, which may be provided pursuant to a contract with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, a community services board, a behavioral health authority, a nonprofit organization, or other certified trainer or via an online module. The bill was passed by the House (88-12).

HB75 (Kory) This bill would authorize Dominion Energy to implement a pilot program under which it will deploy electric school buses in participating school divisions in its service territory. The initial phase of the pilot program is limited to the deployment of 50 electric school buses at a cost of up to $13.5 million. In each of the five years thereafter, the pilot program may be expanded by up to 200 additional electric school buses at a cost of up to $54 million per year. The pilot program provides that the utility may use vehicle-to-grid technology to access electricity in the storage batteries of the electric school buses when they are not in use. The duration of the pilot program shall not exceed 10 years, though the utility may petition the State Corporation Commission to make it permanent. Program costs, including the incremental cost of the electric school buses, are recoverable through the utility's base rates. The bill passed the House (55-44).

HB108 (Lindsey) This bill would designate Election Day, the Tuesday after the first Monday in November, as a state holiday and removes Lee-Jackson Day as a state holiday. The bill passed the House (55-42).

HB134 (Runion)This bill would require the Department of Education to establish guidelines for individualized education program (IEP) teams to utilize when developing IEPs for children with disabilities to ensure that IEP teams consider the need for age-appropriate and developmentally appropriate instruction related to sexual health, self-restraint, self-protection, respect for personal privacy, and personal boundaries of others. The bill requires each local school board, in developing IEPs for children with disabilities, in addition to any other requirements established by the Board, to ensure that IEP teams consider such guidelines. The bill passed the House (96-2).

HB145 (Simon) This bill would require the Department of Education to develop and make available to each school board, no later than December 31, 2020, model policies concerning the treatment of transgender students in public elementary and secondary schools that address common issues regarding transgender students in accordance with evidence-based best practices and include information, guidance, procedures, and standards relating to (i) compliance with applicable nondiscrimination laws; (ii) maintenance of a safe and supportive learning environment free from discrimination and harassment for all students; (iii) prevention of and response to bullying and harassment; (iv) maintenance of student records; (v) identification of students; (vi) protection of student privacy and the confidentiality of sensitive information; (vii) enforcement of sex-based dress codes; and (viii) student participation in sex-specific school activities, events, and athletics and use of school facilities. The bill requires each school board to adopt, no later than the beginning of the 2021–2022 school year, policies that are consistent with but may be more comprehensive than such model policies developed by the Department of Education. The bill passed the House (62-36).

HB256 (Mullin) This bill would provide that a student at any elementary or secondary school is not guilty of disorderly conduct in a public place if the disorderly conduct occurred on school property, on a school bus, or at any activity conducted or sponsored by any school. The bill passed the House (61-37).

HB257 (Mullin) This bill would eliminate the requirement for reports to be made to division superintendents and school principals on incidents involving assault or assault and battery, without bodily injury, of any person on a school bus, on school property, or at a school-sponsored activity. The bill also eliminates the requirement that school principals report certain enumerated acts that may constitute a misdemeanor offense to law enforcement. The bill based the House (81-15).

HB270 (VanValkenburg) This bill would require every public school to provide the parents of enrolled students with at least 24 hours' notice before the school conducts any lock-down drill. The bill specifies that no such notice is required to include the exact date and time of the lock-down drill. The bill passed the House (97-0).

HB271 (VanValkenburg) This bill would require 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. The bill also requires the Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety to analyze and disseminate submitted data. The bill passed the House (95-4).

HB273 (VanValkenburg) This bill would require 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 an average of 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 passed the House (91-6).

HB292 (VanValkenburg) This bill would shorten 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 passed the House (88-11).

HB308 (Hope) This bill would require 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 passed the House (60-38).

HB332 (Hope) This bill would require the Department of Education to develop and implement a geographically representative two-year pilot program to administer reading diagnostic tests that include all components of a normed rapid automatized naming test. The bill requires each local school division in the pilot program to provide evidence-based instruction, including structured literacy instruction, to students in kindergarten through grade three who fall below the benchmark on any such reading diagnostic test or demonstrate deficiencies based on their individual performance on the Standards of Learning reading test. The bill requires the Department of Education to report to the Governor and General Assembly, no later than December 1, 2022, on the outcomes of the pilot program and the necessary resources for statewide implementation of such tests and instruction. The bill passed the House (95-5).

HB351 (Bell) This bill would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction, with the assistance of each school board or division superintendent, to survey each local school division to identify critical shortages of school bus drivers by geographic area and local school division and to report any such critical shortage to each local school division and to the Virginia Retirement System. The bill permits any school bus driver in any geographic area or school division in which a critical shortage of school bus drivers has been so identified to elect to continue to receive a service retirement allowance if the driver meets certain other conditions. The bill passed the House (100-0).

HB358 (Lopez) This bill would authorize any public body, including any state or local government, when engaged in procuring products or services or letting contracts for construction, manufacture, maintenance, or operation of public works, to require bidders to enter into or adhere to project labor agreements on the public works projects. The bill passed the House (54-44).

HB365 (Carroll Foy) This bill would remove (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 passed the House (70-28).

HB376 (Willett) This bill would require (i) each school board to report to the Department of Education annually the number and type of teacher, other instructional personnel, and support staff vacancies in the school division and (ii) each approved education preparation program to report to the Department of Education annually the number of individuals who completed the program 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 passed the House (82-17).

HB392 (Ward) This bill would prohibit each school board from employing any individual who has been convicted of a violent felony set forth in the definition of barrier crime in subsection A of § 19.2-392.02 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 any individual who has been convicted of any felony or crime of moral turpitude that is not set forth in the definition of barrier crime in subsection A of § 19.2-392.02 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 passed the House (82-17).

HB395 (Ward) This bill would increase the minimum wage from its current federally mandated level of $7.25 per hour to $9 per hour effective July 1, 2020; to $11 per hour effective July 1, 2021; to $13 per hour effective July 1, 2022; and to $15 per hour effective July 1, 2023, unless a higher minimum wage is required by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. The measure also provides that the Virginia minimum wage applies to persons whose employment is covered by the FLSA and to public employees. The bill passed the House (55-45).

HB402 (Keam) This bill would require every public school to hold at least one lock-down drill after the first 60 days of the school session, in addition to the two lock-down drills required to be held during the first 20 days of the school session at each such school. Current law requires each public school to hold at least two lock-down drills after the first 20 days of the school session. The bill requires kindergarten students to be exempt from mandatory participation in lock-down drills during the first 60 days of the school session and requires the principal at each relevant school to implement such exemption by either (i) conducting teacher-only drills or otherwise providing suitable training for kindergarten teachers or (ii) notifying each parent of a kindergarten student at least five school days in advance of each planned lock-down drill and permitting each such parent to opt his child out of participation in such lock-down drill. The bill passed the House (97-0).

HB405 (Keam) This bill would require each school board to make tampons or 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 passed the House (60-39).

HB410 (Delaney) This bill would require each local school board to enact a policy to require that timely written notification is provided to the parents of any student who (i) undergoes literacy and Response to Intervention screening and services or (ii) does not meet the benchmark on any assessment used to determine at-risk learners in preschool through grade 12, which notification shall include all such assessment scores and subscores and any intervention plan that results from such assessment scores or subscores. The bill passed the House (99-0).

HB415 (Delaney) This bill would require school boards to adopt policies and procedures to ensure suspended students are able to access and complete graded work during and after the suspension. The bill passed the House (97-1).

HB452 (Murphy) This bill would increase from $100,000 to $200,000 the small purchases exemption under the Virginia Public Procurement Act for single or term contracts for goods and services other than professional services. For state public bodies, the bill provides that all informal solicitations require the posting of a public notice on the Department of General Services' central electronic procurement website. Under current law, such posting is required only if a purchase is expected to exceed $30,000. The bill passed the House (99-0).

HB501 (Krizek) This bill would permit 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 passed the House (99-0).

HB516 (Bulova) This bill would require the Board of Education to include in its graduation requirements the options for students to complete a dual enrollment course or high-quality work-based learning experience. The bill passed the House (99-0).

HB570 (Guzman) This bill would remove the definition of "incompetency" for the purpose of establishing grounds for the dismissal of public school teachers. This bill passed the House (57-42).

HB582 (Guzman) This bill would repeal the existing prohibition on collective bargaining by public employees. The bill creates the Public Employee Relations Board, which will determine appropriate bargaining units and provide for certification and decertification elections for exclusive bargaining representatives of state employees and local government employees. The measure requires public employers and employee organizations that are exclusive bargaining representatives to meet at reasonable times to negotiate in good faith with respect to wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment. The measure repeals a provision enacted in 2013 that declares that, in any procedure providing for the designation, selection, or authorization of a labor organization to represent employees, the right of an individual employee to vote by secret ballot is a fundamental right that shall be guaranteed from infringement. This bill passed the House (54-45).

HB634 (LaRock) This bill would allow a local school board, when applying for its school division to be designated as a School Division of Innovation, to apply to the Board of Education to replace the Virginia Studies and Civics and Economics Standards of Learning assessments with local assessments that include performance-based assessments. The bill requires any such application to (i) demonstrate that the proposed local assessment requires that students demonstrate the knowledge and skills required by the relevant Standards of Learning and that students demonstrate one or more of the skills and qualities of critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, communication, or citizenship and (ii) provide evidence of the local school board's capacity to administer and score performance-based assessments. This bill passed the House (65-33).

HB697 (Roem) This bill would require 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. This bill passed the House (94-6).

HB698 (Roem) This bill would allow public school boards to distribute excess food to students eligible for the School Breakfast Program or National School Lunch Program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture or to students that the school board determines are otherwise eligible to receive excess food. This bill passed the House (100-0).

HB703 (Roem) This bill would permit 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 and requires each school board to use any such funds solely for such purpose. This bill passed the House (100-0).

HB753 (Rasoul) This bill would require the Department of Education to (i) establish a uniform definition of social-emotional learning and develop guidance standards for social-emotional learning for all public students in grades kindergarten through 12 in the Commonwealth; (ii) make such standards available to each local school division no later than July 1, 2021; and (iii) issue a report no later than November 1, 2021, on the resources needed to successfully support local school divisions with the implementation of a statewide social-emotional learning program. This bill passed the House (72-26).

HB785 (Watts) This bill would equalize city taxing authority and county taxing authority by granting a county the same authority to impose taxes on cigarettes, admissions, transient room rentals, meals, and travel campgrounds without limitation on the rate that may be imposed. The bill passed the House (60-38-1).

HB797 (Askew) This bill would require each local school board's plan to test and remediate certain potable water sources to be consistent with guidance published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or the Department of Health. The bill requires each local school board to submit such testing plan 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 10 parts per billion. The bill passed the House (99-0).

HB817 (Hope) This bill would require the Department of Education, in collaboration with the Department of Health and medical professional societies, to develop and implement health and safety best practice guidelines for the use of digital devices in public schools no later than the 2021-2022 school year. The bill passed the House (85-13-1).

HB827 (Carrol Foy) This bill would require employers, defined in the bill, to make reasonable accommodation for the known limitations of a person related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, if such accommodation is necessary to assist such person in performing a particular job, unless the employer can demonstrate that the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the employer. The bill also prohibits employers from taking any adverse action against an employee who requests or uses a reasonable accommodation, and from denying employment or promotion opportunities to an otherwise qualified applicant or employee because such employer will be required to make reasonable accommodation to the applicant or employee. The bill creates a cause of action against any employer who denies any of the rights afforded by the bill, and permits the court or jury to award compensatory and punitive damages, back pay, and other equitable relief. The bill makes technical amendments. This bill passed the House (66-31).

HB836 (Carroll Foy) This bill would require the Department of Education to develop a plan to adopt and implement standards for microcredentials used toward add-on endorsements and renewal of licenses earned by Virginia license holders in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. The bill requires such plan to include (i) a process for reviewing and administering educator microcredentials; (ii) assurances that educator microcredentials 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) assurances that educator microcredentials focus on interrelated competencies leading to logical teacher professional development pathways and stacks of educator microcredentials and align with the Board of Education's ongoing work on educator professional development. Such plan shall also include the resources needed for statewide implementation. The bill requires the Department of Education to complete and submit the plan to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Education, the House Committee on Appropriations, the Senate Committee on Education and Health, and the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations no later than December 1, 2020. The bill passed the House (99-0).

HB837 (Carroll Foy) This bill would require 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 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 and ethnically 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 in defining terms, if used; (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 passed the House (81-17).

HB890 (Sickles) This bill would remove the provision limiting the use of construction management contracts by local public bodies to projects with a cost expected to exceed $10 million and provides that construction management may be utilized on projects where the project cost is expected to be less than the project threshold established in the procedures adopted by the Secretary of Administration for using construction management or design-build contracts. This bill passed the House (94-5).

HB916 (Sickles) This bill would require the Department of Education to establish and appoint such members as it deems appropriate to a Culturally Relevant and Inclusive Education Practices Advisory Committee for the purpose of providing (i) standards recommendations to the Department of Education which shall be considered by the Board of Education during the 2021-2022 review of the history and social science Standards of Learning and (ii) recommendations on meaningful professional development with school personnel related to culturally relevant and inclusive education practices. The bill requires the Committee to report its recommendations to the Board of Education, the Governor, and the Chairpersons of the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health no later than July 1, 2021. The bill passed the House (79-19-1).

HB928 (Coyner) This bill would permit the Chesterfield County School Board to establish a recovery high school in the school division as a year-round high school (i) for which enrollment is open to any high school student who resides in Superintendent's Region 1 and is in the early stages of recovery from substance use disorder or dependency and (ii) for the purpose of providing such students with the academic, emotional, and social support necessary to make progress toward earning a high school diploma and reintegrating into a traditional high school setting. The bill passed the House (94-4).

HB975 (Guzman) This bill would require, effective with the 2020-2021 school year, state funding to be provided pursuant to the general appropriation act to support 18.5 full-time equivalent instructional positions for each 1,000 students identified as having limited English proficiency and, effective with the 2021-2022 school year, 20 full-time equivalent instructional positions for each 1,000 students identified as having limited English proficiency. Current law requires state funding to support 17 such positions for each 1,000 such students. The bill passed the House (58-40).

HB999 (Bell) This bill would require each school board's policies on the possession and administration of epinephrine in every school in the local school division to require that at least one 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 epinephrine has the means to access at all times during regular school hours any such epinephrine that is stored in a locked or otherwise generally inaccessible container or area. The bill passed the House (98-0).

HB1011 (Herring) This bill would clarify that the Virginia Conflict of Interest and Ethics Advisory Council may give guidance to constitutional officers and legislators regarding the prohibition on representing clients before their agency for one year after leaving office. The bill also requires the Council and the clerks of local governing bodies and school boards to redact email addresses from disclosure forms prior to releasing them to the public. Current law requires such entities to redact any residential address, personal telephone number, or signature. The bill passed the House (98-0).

HB1012 (Bulova) This bill would require the Board of Education to establish a statewide unified public-private system for early childhood care and education in the Commonwealth to be administered by the Board of Education, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the Department of Education. The bill transfers the authority to license and regulate child day programs and other early child care agencies from the Board of Social Services and Department of Social Services to the Board of Education and Department of Education. The bill maintains current licensure, background check, and other requirements of such programs. Such provisions of the bill have a delayed effective date of July 1, 2021. The bill requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to establish a plan for implementing the statewide unified early childhood care and education system and requires the Department of Social Services and the Department of Education to enter into a cooperative agreement to coordinate the transition. The bill also requires the Board of Education to establish, no later than July 1, 2021, a uniform quality rating and improvement system designed to provide parents and families with information about the quality and availability of certain publicly funded early childhood care and education providers and to publish the initial quality ratings under such system in the fall of 2023. The bill passed the House (89-11).

HB1049 (Levine) This bill would prohibit discrimination in employment, public accommodation, public contracting, apprenticeship programs, housing, banking, and insurance on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. The bill also adds discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity to the list of unlawful discriminatory housing practices. The bill contains technical amendments. The bill passed the House (59-39).

HB1073 (Kory) This bill would require each school board to annually provide parents of pupils in grades kindergarten through 12 information regarding the health dangers of tobacco and nicotine vapor products. The bill requires that the information provided be consistent with guidelines set forth by the Department of Education. The bill passed the House (62-36).

HB1080 (Hope) This bill would provide that no school board may authorize or designate any person to possess a firearm on school property other than those persons expressly authorized by statute. The bill also clarifies that no exemption exists for a special conservator of the peace to possess a firearm or other weapon on school property. The bill passed the House (54-46).

HB1081 (Guzman) This bill would provide that an attendance officer, or a division superintendent or his designee when acting as an attendance officer, to complete, sign, and file with the intake officer of the juvenile and domestic relations district court, on forms approved by the Supreme Court of Virginia, a petition for a violation of a school attendance order entered by the juvenile and domestic relations district court in response to the filing of a petition alleging the pupil is a child in need of supervision. The bill provides that such actions do not constitute the unauthorized practice of law. The bill passed the House (99-0).

HB1139 (Keam) This bill would require the Board of Education, as part of its current comprehensive review of its Regulations Governing Educational Services for Gifted Students, to consider revisions to (i) the process of screening and identifying students for eligibility for gifted and talented programs and referring students to such programs to improve the identification of student populations that are underrepresented in such programs, including economically disadvantaged students, English language learner students, and students with disabilities and (ii) the data collection requirements of the annual report required by such regulations to better inform equitable screening and identification for and access to gifted and talented programs for student populations that are underrepresented in such programs. The bill passed the House (88-12).

HB1142 (Tran) This bill would prohibit persons from possessing or drinking alcoholic beverages while attending a public elementary or secondary school-sponsored activity hosted at a non-school facility. A violation of the provisions of the bill is a Class 2 misdemeanor. The bill passed the House (65-33).

HB1143 (Tran) This bill includes licensed behavior analysts and licensed assistant behavior analysts as support services positions in a local school division for the purposes of Title 22.1 (Education). The bill passed the House (85-13).

HB1174 (Lopez) This bill would provide that a prescriber may authorize pursuant to a written order or standing protocol issued within the course of the prescriber's professional practice, and with the consent of the student's parents, an employee of (i) a school board, (ii) a school for students with disabilities, or (iii) an accredited private school who is trained in the administration or supervision of self-administered inhaled asthma medications to administer or supervise the self-administration of such medication to a student diagnosed with a condition requiring inhaled asthma medications when the student is believed to be experiencing or about to experience an asthmatic crisis. The bill provides that such authorization shall be effective only when a licensed nurse, nurse practitioner, physician, or physician assistant is not present to perform the administration of the medication. The bill passed the House (99-0).

HB1208 (Tran) This bill would require each school board that provides for the transportation of students and that has established a rule, regulation, or policy to exclude certain students who reside within a certain distance from the school at which they are enrolled from accessing such transportation to establish a process for waiving, on a case-by-case and space-available basis, such exclusion and providing transportation to any such student whose parent is unable to provide adequate transportation for his child to attend school because the parent is providing necessary medical care to another family member who resides in the same household, as evidenced by a written explanation submitted by a licensed health care provider who provides care to such family member. The bill passed the House (99-0).

HB1276 (O’Quinn) This bill would require each school board to include, as part of each student's academic and career plan in the career and technical education curricula, a list of (i) the top 100 professions in the Commonwealth by median pay and the education, training, and skills required for each such profession and (ii) the top 10 degree programs at institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth by median pay of program graduates. The bill requires the Department of Education to annually compile such lists and provide them to each local school board. The bill passed the House (99-0).

HB1301 (Hurst) This bill would establish the Office of the Children's Ombudsman as a means of effecting changes in policy, procedure, and legislation; educating the public; investigating and reviewing actions of the State Department of Social Services, local departments of social services, child-placing agencies, or child-caring institutions; and monitoring and ensuring compliance with relevant statutes, rules, and policies pertaining to children's protective services and the placement, supervision, treatment, and improvement of delivery of care to children in foster care and adoptive homes. The Office of the Children's Ombudsman is headed by the Children's Ombudsman, who is appointed for a term of four years by the Governor and subject to confirmation by the General Assembly. The bill passed the House (99-0).

HB1336 (Keam) This bill would require the Board of Education, in conducting its regular review and revision of the Standards of Learning and curriculum guidelines for family life education, to consult relevant stakeholders to ensure that revisions reflect contemporary community standards. The bill requires the next such review and revision to be completed no later than June 30, 2021. The bill requires each school board to conduct a review of its family life education curricula at least once every seven years. The bill passed the House (99-0).

HB1344 (Askew) This bill 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. The bill passed the House (99-0).

HB1355 (Rasoul) This bill would require 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 passed the House (64-36).

HB1388 (Adams) This bill would eliminate the ability of a school that only maintains a passing rate on Virginia assessment program tests or additional tests approved by the Board of Education of 95 percent or above in each of the four core academic areas for two consecutive years to apply for and receive a waiver of accreditation from the Department of Education, which waiver confers full accreditation for a three-year period. Current law provides high-performing schools a separate pathway to obtain three-year accreditation. The bill passed the House (99-0).

HB1394 (Leftwich) This bill would require each local school board that offers a family life education program to post for public viewing (i) on the local school division's official website a summary of such program and (ii) on the local school division's official website or a parental portal a complete copy of all printed family life education program materials not subject to copyright protection and a description of all family life education program audio-visual materials. The bill requires each local school board to implement the foregoing provisions no later than the start of the 2021-2022 school year. The bill passed the House (76-23).

HB1419 (Jones) This bill would require school resource officers and school security officers to receive training specific to the role and responsibility of a law-enforcement officer working with students in a school environment that includes training on (i) relevant state and federal laws; (ii) school and personal liability issues; (iii) security awareness in the school environment; (iv) mediation and conflict resolution, including de-escalation techniques; (v) disaster and emergency response; (vi) awareness of cultural diversity and implicit bias; (vii) working with students with disabilities, mental health needs, substance abuse disorders, or past traumatic experiences; and (viii) student behavioral dynamics, including current child and adolescent development and brain research. The bill passed the House (94-3).

HB1426 (Roem) This bill would require 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 passed the House (79-19).

HB1427 (Krizek) This bill would authorize a private vendor operating a video monitoring system for a school division for the purpose of recording those illegally passing stopped school buses to impose and collect an administrative fee to recover the cost of collecting the civil penalty to be paid by the operator of the vehicle. The bill contains technical amendments. The bill passed the House (99-0).

HB1443 (VanValkenburg) This bill would require the Department of Education to conduct a biennial review of teacher compensation that takes into consideration the Commonwealth's compensation for teachers relative to national average teacher salary. Current law requires the Director of Human Resource Management to complete such biennial review. The bill passed the House (90-9).

HB1491 (Guy) This bill would require each public high school to provide to any enrolled student who is of voting age or otherwise eligible to register to vote access to Virginia voter registration information and applications and the opportunity to complete such application during the normal course of the school day. The bill passed the House (82-16).

HB1495 (Torian) This bill would allow a retired law-enforcement officer to continue to receive his service retirement allowance during a subsequent period of employment by a local school division as a school security officer, so long as he has a break in service of at least 12 calendar months between retirement and reemployment, did not retire under an early retirement program, and did not retire under the Workforce Transition Act of 1995. The provisions of the act shall expire on July 1, 2025. The bill passed the House (98-1).

HB1508 (McQuinn) This bill would require local school boards to employ school counselors in accordance with the following ratios, effective with the 2020-2021 school year: in elementary schools, one hour per day per 75 students, one full-time equivalent at 375 students, one hour per day additional time per 75 students or major fraction thereof; in middle schools, one period per 65 students, one full-time equivalent at 325 students, one additional period per 65 students or major fraction thereof; and in high schools, one period per 60 students, one full-time equivalent at 300 students, one additional period per 60 students or major fraction thereof. The bill also requires local school boards to employ one full-time equivalent school counselor position per 325 students in grades kindergarten through 12, effective with the 2021-2022 school year. The bill passed the House (83-16).

HB1557 (Fowler) This bill would eliminate the annual salary limits for appointed school board members and permits any appointed school board to pay each of its members an annual salary that is consistent with the salary procedures and no more than the salary limits provided for local governments in Article 1.1 (§ 15.2-1414.1 et seq.) of Chapter 14 of Title 15.2 (Counties, Cities and Towns) or as provided by charter. The bill passed the House (75-23).

HB1568 (Rush) This bill would direct 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 passed the House (99-0).

HB1613 (Brewer) This bill would require 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 passed the House (99-0).

HB1630 (Kilgore) This bill would permit 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 passed the House (99-0).

HB1633 (Edmunds) This bill would require  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 passed the House (100-0).

HB1653 (Wilt) This bill would require the Department of Education to collect data from school boards regarding their ability to fill school counselor positions, including (i) the number of school counselors employed in elementary, middle, and high schools in the local school division; (ii) the number and duration of school counselor vacancies; (iii) the number, role, and license type of other licensed counseling professionals employed by the school board; and (iv) information about their preferences for meeting updated school counselor to student ratios with other licensed counseling professionals. The bill requires the Department of Education to report the results of such data collection to the Governor, the Secretary of Education, the House Committee on Appropriations, and the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations no later than December 1, 2020. The bill passed the House (92-7).

HB1680 (Tyler) This bill would require the Board of Education to review and revise, in consultation with certain stakeholders and no later than December 1, 2020, 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 or in the case of agricultural education, supervised agricultural experiences, in addition to job shadowing, mentorships, internships, and externships. The bill passed the House (99-0).

HB1711 (Bagby) This bill would require Virtual Virginia to be made available to every public middle school student in the Commonwealth and permits it to be available to every public elementary school in the Commonwealth. Existing law requires availability only to public high schools. The bill passed the House (99-0).

HB1722 (Roem) This bill would require  the Department of Education to develop and publish no later than November 16, 2020, guidance and resources relating to the provision of applied behavior analysis services in public schools for students who are in need of such services. The bill passed the House (99-0).

 

Here are the Senate bills that were passed by the Senate.  These bills are now moving over to the House for its consideration and action.

SB3 (McClellan) Provides that a student shall not be guilty of disorderly conduct if such disorderly conduct occurred on school property, on a school bus, or at any activity conducted or sponsored by any school.

SB4 (Stanley) Creates the Public School Assistance Fund and Program, to be administered by the Department of Education, for the purpose of providing grants to school boards to be used solely for the purpose of repairing or replacing the roofs of public elementary and secondary school buildings in the local school division. The bill permits any school board in the Commonwealth to apply for Program grants but requires the Department of Education to give priority in the award of grants to school boards that demonstrate the greatest need based on the condition of existing school building roofs and the ability to pay for the repair or replacement of such roofs. The provisions of the bill are contingent on funding in a general appropriation act.

SB5 (Stanley) Requires the Board of Education to prescribe by regulation uniform minimum standards for the erection of modern public school buildings and the modernization of existing public school buildings for the purpose of promoting positive educational outcomes for each public elementary and secondary school student. The bill requires such regulations to include uniform minimum modern public school building standards that promote (i) the delivery of instruction that complies with the Standards of Learning by addressing enrollment capacity and available space and (ii) the health and safety of each enrolled student. The bill requires each school board, once every three years, to (a) assess and report to the Board the extent to which each public school building in the local school division complies with such uniform minimum standards and (b) submit to the Board a long-range plan for compliance with such uniform minimum standards, including an assessment of the cost of such compliance, in any case in which the school board determines that a public school building in the local school division does not comply with such standards. The provisions of the bill are contingent on funding in a general appropriation act.

SB7 (Saslaw) Increases the minimum wage from its current federally mandated level of $7.25 per hour to $9.50 per hour, effective January 1, 2021; to $10.50 per hour, effective July 1, 2022; and to $11.50 per hour, effective July 1, 2023. Beginning July 1, 2024, the minimum wage would be based on the region on which the employer is located, to be determined by the Commissioner of Labor and Industry. 

SB8 (Saslaw) Requires contractors and subcontractors under any public contract with a state agency for public works to pay wages, salaries, benefits, and other remuneration to any mechanic, laborer, or worker employed, retained, or otherwise hired to perform services in connection with the public contract for public works at the prevailing wage rate. The provisions of the bill would not apply to any contract for public works of $250,000 or less. The Commissioner of Labor and Industry is required to determine the prevailing wage rate for such public contracts on the basis of applicable prevailing wage rate determinations made by the U.S. Secretary of Labor under the provisions of the federal Davis-Bacon Act. A contractor or subcontractor who willfully employs any mechanic, laborer, or worker to perform work contracted to be done under the public contract at a rate that is less than the prevailing wage rate is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. In addition, such a contractor or subcontractor shall be liable to such individuals for the payment of all wages due plus interest and shall be disqualified from bidding on public contracts with any public body until full restitution has been paid to the individuals. The provisions of the bill are contingent on funding in a general appropriation act.

SB44 (Spruill) Permits any public elementary or secondary school student to possess and use topical sunscreen in its original packaging on a school bus, on school property, or at a school-sponsored event without a note or prescription from a licensed health care professional if the topical sunscreen is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for nonprescription use for the purpose of limiting damage to skin caused by exposure to ultraviolet light.

SB50 (Spruill) Provides that the terms "because of race" and "on the basis of race," and terms of similar import, when used in reference to discrimination in the Code of Virginia and acts of the General Assembly, include traits historically associated with race, including hair texture, hair type, and protective hairstyles such as braids, locks, and twists.

SB54 (Cosgrove) Allows a retired law-enforcement officer to continue to receive his service retirement allowance during a subsequent period of employment by a local school division as a school security officer. The provisions of the bill are contingent on funding in a general appropriation act.

SB59 (Hanger) Changes from discretionary to mandatory that the chief of police of a city or chief of police or sheriff of a county disclose to a school principal all instances where a juvenile at the principal's school has been charged with a violent juvenile felony, an arson offense, or a concealed weapon offense and adds an offense that requires a juvenile intake officer to make a report with the school division superintendent to the list of such instances that must be disclosed to a school principal for the protection of the juvenile, his fellow students, and school personnel.

SB98 (Locke) 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.

SB112 (Suetterlein) Requires the Board of Education to include in its graduation requirements the options for students to complete a dual-enrollment course or high-quality work-based learning experience.

SB134 (Stuart) 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 an average of 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 provisions of the bill are contingent on funding in a general appropriation act.

SB138 (Stuart)  Adds regional public bodies to the types of public bodies that must designate a FOIA officer. The bill also changes the frequency for required FOIA officer training from annually to once during each consecutive period of two calendar years and provides that the name and contact information of a FOIA officer trained by legal counsel of a public body only needs to be submitted by July 1 of the initial year of training and updated if there are changes to that information. Current law requires this information to be submitted by July 1 of each year.

SB139 (Stuart) Adds the option for in-person training sessions in addition to the current requirement of online training sessions for local elected officials provided by the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council or a local government attorney. The bill also clarifies that "local elected officials" includes constitutional officers.

SB142 (Dunnavant) Requires 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, per-course fee to school divisions for each student enrolled in a full-time Virtual Virginia program beyond an initial allotment of 15 such students per course, per school. The bill prohibits the Department from limiting the total number of such students by school division. The bill requires the Department to annually report on the Virtual Virginia Program to the General Assembly.

SB153 (Stuart)  Provides that if a requester asks for a cost estimate in advance of a Virginia Freedom of Information Act request, the time to respond is tolled for the amount of time that elapses between notice of the cost estimate and the response from the requester, and that if the public body receives no response from the requester within 30 days of sending the cost estimate, the request shall be deemed to be withdrawn. The bill clarifies that if a cost estimate exceeds $200 and the public body requires an advance deposit, the public body may require the requester to pay the advance deposit before the public body is required to process the request. This bill is a recommendation of the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council.

SB161 (Boysko) Requires the Department of Education to develop and make available to each school board, no later than December 31, 2020, model policies concerning the treatment of transgender students in public elementary and secondary schools that address common issues regarding transgender students in accordance with evidence-based best practices and include information, guidance, procedures, and standards relating to (i) compliance with applicable nondiscrimination laws; (ii) maintenance of a safe and supportive learning environment free from discrimination and harassment for all students; (iii) prevention of and response to bullying and harassment; (iv) maintenance of student records; (v) identification of students; (vi) protection of student privacy and the confidentiality of sensitive information; (vii) enforcement of sex-based dress codes; and (viii) student participation in sex-specific school activities and events, excluding athletics, and use of school facilities. The bill requires each school board to adopt, no later than the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year, policies that are consistent with but may be more comprehensive than such model policies developed by the Department of Education.

SB167 (Favola) Removes the definition of "incompetency" for the purpose of establishing grounds for the dismissal of public school teachers.

SB170 (Locke) 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. The bill also requires the Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety to analyze and disseminate submitted data.

SB171 (Locke)  Requires school resource officers and school security officers to receive training specific to the role and responsibility of a law-enforcement officer working with students in a school environment that includes training on (i) relevant state and federal laws; (ii) school and personal liability issues; (iii) security awareness in the school environment; (iv) mediation and conflict resolution, including de-escalation techniques, such as physical alternatives to restraint; (v) disaster and emergency response; (vi) awareness of cultural diversity and implicit bias; (vii) working with students with disabilities, mental health needs, substance abuse disorders, or past traumatic experiences; and (viii) student behavioral dynamics, including current child and adolescent development and brain research.

SB173 (Hanger) Allows the holder of a valid concealed handgun permit to possess a stun weapon on school property while in a motor vehicle in a parking lot, traffic circle, or other means of vehicular ingress or egress to the school. The bill also allows a stun weapon to be stored in a closed container in a motor vehicle while such vehicle is on school property.

SB182 (Saslaw) Provides that a project labor agreements can neither be required nor prohibited by any public body in a procurement. 

SB186 (Dunnavant) Requires the Department of Education to establish guidelines for individualized education program (IEP) teams to utilize when developing IEPs for children with disabilities to ensure that IEP teams consider the need for age-appropriate and developmentally appropriate instruction related to sexual health, self-restraint, self-protection, respect for personal privacy, and personal boundaries of others. The bill requires each local school board, in developing IEPs for children with disabilities, in addition to any other requirements established by the Board of Education, to ensure that IEP teams consider such guidelines.

SB214 (Suetterlein) Provides that if the respondent to a guardianship or conservatorship petition is between 17 and a half and 21 years of age and has an Individualized Education Plan, the guardian ad litem appointed to represent the respondent shall review the IEP and include the results of his review in the report required to be submitted to the court.

SB221 (Locke) 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.

SB232 (Boysko) Requires each school board to make tampons and pads available at all times and at no cost to students in the bathrooms of each public school at which any student in grades five through 12 is enrolled.

SB237 (Barker) 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 provides that the filing of such a petition by a nonattorney school attendance officer, or a school division superintendent or his designee, does not constitute the practice of law.

SB238 (Barker) Increases from 540 hours to 990 hours the minimum instructional hours in a school year for students in kindergarten, beginning July 1, 2022. The bill directs the Board of Education to adopt regulations by July 1, 2022, establishing standards for accreditation that include a requirement that the standard school day for students in kindergarten average at least 5.5 instructional hours in order to qualify for full accreditation.

SB323 (Barker) Requires the Board of Education, in establishing high school graduation requirements, to permit any student who is pursuing an advanced studies diploma and whose individualized education program specifies a credit accommodation for world language to substitute two standard units of credit in computer science for two standard units of credit in a world language. Requires that for any student that elects to substitute a credit in computer science for credit in world language, his or her school counselor must provide notice to the student and parent or guardian of possible impacts related to college entrance requirements.

SB324 (Deeds) Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction, with the assistance of each school board or division superintendent, to survey each local school division to identify critical shortages of school bus drivers by geographic area and local school division and to report any such critical shortage to each local school division and to the Virginia Retirement System. The bill also provides that any person receiving a service retirement allowance who is hired by a local school board as a school bus driver may elect to continue to receive the retirement allowance during such employment, provided that certain conditions are met.

SB333 (Stuart)  Directs the Department of Housing and Community Development to convene stakeholders for the purpose of developing proposals for changes to the Uniform Statewide Building Code and the Statewide Fire Prevention Code to address active shooters or hostile threats. The review of the stakeholders is required to include the examination of (i) door locking devices, (ii) barricade devices, and (iii) other safety measures on doors and windows for the purpose of preventing both ingress and egress in the event of a threat to the physical security of persons in such buildings.

SB341 (Locke)  Limits the use of construction management by localities to projects where the project cost is expected to be less than the project cost threshold established in the procedures adopted by the Secretary of Administration for utilizing construction management or design-build contracts, provided that (i) the project is a complex project and (ii) the project procurement method is approved by the local governing body. Current law allows unqualified construction management for projects over $10 million and construction management meeting the provisions in (i) and (ii) for projects under $10 million.

SB366 (Dunnavant) Directs the Department of Education to obtain a statewide learning management system for use in public schools by the start of the 2022-2023 school year.

SB377 (Bell) Permits a school board to conduct a teacher grievance hearing before a three-member fact-finding panel consisting of one member selected by the teacher, one member selected by the division superintendent, and an impartial hearing officer selected by the other two panel members, to serve as the chairman of the panel. Under current law, the school board has the option of appointing a hearing officer or conducting such hearing itself. The bill also removes the requirement that a teacher grievance hearing be set within 15 days of the request for such hearing and extends from five days to 10 days the minimum period of advanced written notice to the teacher of the time and place of such hearing.

SB392 (McPike) 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 requires the plan to be consistent with guidelines published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or the Department of Health. The bill also requires each local school board to take all steps necessary to notify parents if testing results indicate lead contamination that exceeds 10 parts per billion.

SB410 (Hashmi) Requires each school board to maintain a water management program for the prevention of Legionella at each public school building in the local school division. Requires each school board to validate each water management program on at least an annual basis to maintain the health and decency of such buildings. Requires each public school to maintain files related to its water management program, including the results of all validation and remediation activities, and make such files available for review.

SB420 (DeSteph) Provides for the submission and utilization of seizure management and action plans for students with a seizure disorder. The bill requires that school nurses and certain school division employees biennially complete a Board of Education-approved online course of instruction regarding treating students with seizure disorders. The bill also provides immunity from civil liability for acts or omissions related to providing for the care of a student under a seizure management and action plan.

SB463 (Reeves) Directs the Board of Education to develop, biennially update, and distribute to each local school division guidelines on policies to inform and educate coaches, student-athletes, and student-athletes' parents or guardians about the nature and risk of sudden cardiac arrest, procedures for removal from and return to play, and the risks of not reporting symptoms. The bill also requires local school divisions to develop and biennially update policies and procedures regarding the identification and handling of symptoms that may lead to sudden cardiac arrest in student-athletes.

SB487 (Bell)  creases the aggregate limit for architectural and engineering services contracts (i) for localities for projects performed in a one-year contract term from $6 million to $8 million and (i) for environmental location, design, and inspection work regarding highways and bridges by the Commissioner of Highways for projects performed in an initial two-year term contract from $5 million to $8 million.

SB500 (Reeves)  Establishes an individual nonrefundable income tax credit of up to $250 for licensed teachers in taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2020, but before January 1, 2025, for the purchase price of materials used in teaching public primary or secondary school students that were purchased during the taxable year, provided that such purchases were neither reimbursed nor claimed as a deduction on the teacher's federal income tax return. The total amount of tax credits available for a taxable year shall not exceed $1 million. If the amount of the credit exceeds the taxpayer's tax liability for the taxable year in which the teaching materials were purchased, such excess may be carried over for five years. The provisions of the bill are contingent on funding in a general appropriation act.

SB578 (Howell) Requires the Board of Education to establish a statewide unified public-private system for early childhood care and education in the Commonwealth to be administered by the Board of Education, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the Department of Education. The bill transfers the authority to license and regulate child day programs and other early child care agencies from the Board of Social Services and Department of Social Services to the Board of Education and Department of Education. The bill maintains current licensure, background check, and other requirements of such programs. Such provisions of the bill have a delayed effective date of July 1, 2021. The bill requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to establish a plan for implementing the statewide unified early childhood care and education system and requires the Department of Social Services and the Department of Education to enter into a cooperative agreement to coordinate the transition. The bill also requires the Board of Education to establish, no later than July 1, 2021, a uniform quality rating and improvement system designed to provide parents and families with information about the quality and availability of certain publicly funded early childhood care and education providers and to publish the initial quality ratings under such system in the fall of 2023.

SB588 (Hanger) Modifies the restrictions that currently apply to county admission, cigarette, food and beverage, and transient occupancy taxes. The bill authorizes all counties to tax cigarettes at up to 40 cents per pack. The bill limits the cigarette tax rate of cities and towns to 40 cents per pack or the rate in effect on January 1, 2020, whichever is greater. Under current law, there is no limit on the cigarette tax rate that may be imposed by a city or town. The bill authorizes all counties, except the counties of James City and York, to impose an admissions tax at a rate of up to ten percent. Under current law, only certain counties may impose an admissions tax, and the rate generally is capped at 10 percent. The bill authorizes all counties to impose a food and beverage tax (commonly referred to as the meals tax) at a rate of up to six percent. Under current law, counties are limited to a four percent rate. The bill removes the requirement that a county hold a referendum before imposing a meals tax. However, if a county held a meals tax referendum that failed within the past two years, it would be prohibited from imposing a tax by ordinance until July 1, 2022. The bill authorizes all counties to impose a transient occupancy tax at a rate of up to five percent; however, if a county currently imposes the tax at a higher rate, it may continue to impose the tax at that rate. Under current law, counties generally are limited to a maximum rate of two percent, although certain counties may impose the tax at higher rates. The bill directs the Division of Legislative Services to convene a work group to develop recommendations as to any additional legislative changes that may be needed to effectuate the provisions of the bill. The bill also directs the Division to study the different legal authorities and requirements that apply to cities and counties that are not related to taxation. The bill directs the Department of Taxation to convene a workgroup to study modernizing the cigarette tax stamping process and unifying it so that it would be administered only at the state level. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2021.

SB619 (Deeds) Requires the Department of Education to make available mental health awareness training and permits the Department to contract with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, an institution of higher education, a community services board, a behavioral health authority, a nonprofit organization experienced in behavioral health and teen suicide prevention, or a certified trainer as defined in § 37.2-312.2 to provide such training.  Also requires each school board to adopt and implement policies requiring school board employees in need of such training to complete it once every 10 years. 

SB728 (McClellan) Codifies the Standards of Quality prescribed by the Board of Education last fall, including including requiring the establishment of a unit in the Department of Education to oversee work-based learning statewide in Standard 1 and requiring the Board of Education to establish and oversee the local implementation of teacher leader and teacher mentor programs and the establishment of a unit in the Department of Education to oversee principal mentorship statewide in Standard 5. The bill also makes several changes relating to school personnel in Standard 2, including (i) establishing schoolwide ratios of students to teachers in certain schools with high concentrations of poverty and granting flexibility to provide compensation adjustments to teachers in such schools; (ii) requiring each school board to assign licensed personnel in a manner that provides an equitable distribution of experienced, effective teachers and other personnel among all schools in the local school division; (iii) requiring each school board to employ teacher leaders and teacher mentors at specified student-to-position ratios; (iv) requiring state funding in addition to basic aid to support at-risk students and granting flexibility in the use of such funds by school boards; (v) lowering the ratio of English language learner students to teachers; (vi) requiring each school board to employ reading specialists and establishing a student-to-position ratio for such specialists; (vii) requiring school boards to employ one full-time principal in each elementary school; (viii) lowering the ratio of students to assistant principals and school counselors in elementary, middle, and high schools; and (ix) requiring each school board to provide at least four specialized student support positions, including school social workers, school psychologists, school nurses, and other licensed health and behavioral positions, per 1,000 students.  The bill includes a provision that it will only become effective if it is funded in the adopted budget.

SB729 (McClellan) Eliminates the requirement that school principals report certain enumerated acts that may constitute a misdemeanor offense to law enforcement.

SB845 (Ebbin) Requires each local school board to develop and implement a plan to test and, if necessary, a plan to remediate mold in public school buildings in accordance with guidance issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The bill requires each local school board to (i) submit such testing plan and report the results of any test performed in accordance with such plan to the Department of Health and (ii) take all steps necessary to notify school staff and the parents of all enrolled students if testing results indicate the presence of mold in a public school building at or above the minimum level that raises a concern for the health of building occupants, as determined by the Department of Health.

SB853 (Boysko) Requires the Department of Education to establish and appoint such members as it deems appropriate to a Culturally Relevant and Inclusive Education Practices Advisory Committee for the purpose of providing (i) standards recommendations to the Department of Education which shall be considered by the Board of Education during the 2021-2022 review of the history and social science Standards of Learning and (ii) recommendations on meaningful professional development with school personnel related to culturally relevant and inclusive education practices. The bill requires the Committee to report its recommendations to the Board of Education, the Governor, and the Chairpersons of the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health no later than July 1, 2021.

SB868 (Ebbin) Creates explicit causes of action for unlawful discrimination in public accommodations and employment in the Virginia Human Rights Act. Currently, under the Act there is no cause of action for discrimination in public accommodations, and the only causes of action for discrimination in employment are for (i) unlawful discharge on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, including lactation, by employers employing more than five but fewer than 15 persons and (ii) unlawful discharge on the basis of age by employers employing more than five but fewer than 20 persons. The bill allows the causes of action to be pursued privately by the aggrieved person or, in certain circumstances, by the Attorney General. The bill prohibits discrimination in public and private employment on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The bill also codifies for state and local government employment the current prohibitions on discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, age, marital status, disability, or status as a veteran. Additionally, the bill (a) prohibits discrimination in public accommodations on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or status as a veteran; (b) prohibits discrimination in credit on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, disability, and status as a veteran; and (c) adds discrimination on the basis of an individual's sexual orientation, gender identity, or status as a veteran as an unlawful housing practice. The bill makes technical amendments. 

SB880 (Locke) Requires local school boards to employ school counselors in accordance with the following ratios, effective with the 2020%962021 school year: in elementary schools, one hour per day per 75 students, one full-time equivalent at 375 students, one hour per day additional time per 75 students or major fraction thereof; in middle schools, one period per 65 students, one full-time equivalent at 325 students, one additional period per 65 students or major fraction thereof; and in high schools, one period per 60 students, one full-time equivalent at 300 students, one additional period per 60 students or major fraction thereof. The bill also requires local school boards to employ one full-time equivalent school counselor position per 250 students in grades kindergarten through 12, effective with the 2021%962022 school year.

SB888 (McClellan) Establishes the Commission on School Construction and Modernization for the purpose of providing guidance and resources to local school divisions related to school construction and modernization and making funding recommendations to the General Assembly and the Governor. The bill has a sunset date of July 1, 2026, with a provision that if the Commission does not receive funding in the appropriation act after its first year, it will sunset on July 1 of the following year.

SB910 (Hashmi) Amends the Standards of Quality to require twenty instructional positions per each 1,000 students with limited English proficiency.  Current law requires seventeen instructional positions per each 1,000 students with limited English proficiency. 

SB932 (Kiggans) Adds school crossing zones and school property to the locations in which a driver is prohibited from holding a handheld personal communications device in his hand while driving a motor vehicle, with certain exceptions. The bill provides that a violation is punishable by a mandatory fine of $250. Current law prohibits (i) the reading of an email or text message on the device and manually entering letters or text in the device as a means of communicating and (ii) the holding of a handheld personal communication device in a highway work zone, with the same exceptions.

SB933 (Favola) Requires the Department of Education to develop and adopt a common statewide definition for the term "students with limited or interrupted formal education" and to require school boards to report on the number of students who fall under such definition as part of the required data collection and reporting on average daily membership for the purposes of documenting any changes in such numbers over time.  Requires the Board of Education to evaluate the supports and programs available to "students with limited or interrupted formal education" in local school divisions to determine whether the calculations for the school quality indicators within the Board's Regulations Establishing the Standards for Accrediting Public Schools in Virginia are appropriate or whether changes in methodology could be made to more comprehensively measure the academic and nonacademic achievement of such student population. Such evaluation shall be completed to make the necessary revisions to impact the methodology for the calculation of school accreditation ratings for the 2021–2022 school year.

SB939 (Saslaw) Permits counties, cities, and towns as well as local school boards to adopt local ordinances authorizing them to (i) recognize any labor union or other employee association as a bargaining agent of any public officers or employees, including public school employees, and (ii) collectively bargain or enter into any collective bargaining contract with any such union or association or its agents with respect to any matter relating to them or their employment.

SB978 (Edwards) 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.

SB988 (Lucas) Authorizes Dominion Energy Virginia to implement projects designed to encourage the proliferation of school buses that are fueled in whole or in part by electricity, along with associated charging and other infrastructure, for the purpose of transporting students and that may also serve as electric grid stabilization or peak shaving resources. Under an electric school bus project, Dominion may (i) purchase, own, manage, or control electric school buses, along with associated charging or other infrastructure; (ii) enter into third-party agreements for the purchase, lease, or use of electric school buses, along with associated charging or other infrastructure; (iii) enter into agreements with any the school board of any public school division located in the Commonwealth for joint ownership of or for leasing on commercially competitive terms of electric school buses, along with associated charging or other infrastructure; (iv) provide financial incentives or rebates to any school board to promote or facilitate the purchase and ownership by such public school board of electric school buses, along with associated charging or other infrastructure; and (v) engage in other activities to promote the development and proliferation of electric school bus transportation in the Commonwealth. The bill also provides a tax exemption for electric school buses and associated charging and other infrastructure that is related or incidental to an authorized electric school bus project.

SB1020 (Stanley) Permits a local school board to establish an alternative school discipline process to provide the parties involved in certain incidents the option to enter into a mutually agreed-upon process between the involved parties. Such process shall be designed to hold the student accountable for a noncriminal offense through a mutually agreed-upon standard.

SB1034 (Chafin) Directs the Department of Education to review and revise the Guidelines for Conducting Functional Behavioral Assessment and Developing Positive Behavior Intervention Supports and Strategies to align with research-based behavior science and best practices for functional behavior analysis. The bill also requires the Department to review and revise the content of the in-depth training provided to local school divisions on conducting functional behavioral analysis and developing quality behavior intervention plans.

SB1040 (Vogel) Authorizes the City of Winchester to compensate its school board members with an annual salary not to exceed $4,500.

SB1087 (Pillion) Establishes the School Construction Fund as a special nonreverting fund in the state treasury and requires the Department of Education to establish the School Construction Program for the purpose of providing grants from the Fund, subject to certain conditions, to school boards that leverage federal, state, and local programs and resources to finance the design and construction of new school buildings and facilities or the modernization and maintenance of existing school buildings and facilities.

Defeated Legislation

The following are House bills that were defeated in the House. 

HB15 (Krizek) The bill required 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, 2038, each school bus that it uses for the transportation of students is equipped with a seat belt in every seat. This bill was left in the Committee on Appropriations.

HB40 (Samirah) The bill required the Board of Education to amend its regulations to require that each public school create and maintain a mental health break space within the public school building. The bill requires the Board of Education to collaborate with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services in the creation of regulations for the mental health break spaces. The Committee on Education continued the bill until 2021.

HB49 (McNamara)  The bill required the Department of Education and relevant local school boards to develop and implement a pilot program for the transition of students who are educated in private school settings pursuant to Individualized Education Programs to the appropriate public school setting in the relevant local school division for up to four years in two to eight local school divisions in the Commonwealth. In developing the pilot, the Department is required to partner with the appropriate school board employees in each such local school division to (i) identify the resources, services, and supports required by each student who resides in each such local school division and who is educated in a private school setting pursuant to his Individualized Education Program; (ii) study the feasibility of transitioning each such student from his private school setting to an appropriate public school setting in the local school division and providing the identified resources, services, and supports in such public school setting; and (iii) recommend a process for redirecting federal, state, and local funds, including funds provided pursuant to the Children's Services Act, provided for the education of each such student to the local school division for the purpose of providing the identified resources, services, and supports in the appropriate public school setting. The bill requires the Department of Education to make a report to the Governor, the Senate Committees on Education and Health and Finance, and the House Committees on Education and Appropriations on the findings of the pilot program after two and four years. The Committee on Appropriations continued the bill until 2021.

HB67 (Carter) The bill limited to law-enforcement officers the scope of the existing provision that deems any public employee who strikes to have terminated his employment and bars him from further public employment. The bill was stricken from the docket of the Labor and Commerce Committee at the request of the patron.

HB86 (Kilgore) The bill permitted any local school board that governs a school division (i) in which the locality is designated as fiscally at-risk or fiscally distressed by the Appalachian Regional Commission in the most recent fiscal year or is determined to have above-average fiscal stress or high fiscal stress by the Virginia Commission on Local Government in its most recent "Report on the Comparative Revenue Capacity, Revenue Effort, and Fiscal Stress of Virginia Counties and Cities" and (ii) for which the composite index of local ability to pay is less than or equal to 0.2000 to expend up to 25 percent of the required local effort for basic aid for debt service on school building capital renovation or construction projects. The bill provides that in the event that the school division no longer meets such criteria, the local school board shall develop and implement a plan to readjust expenditures of the required local effort for basic aid over the course of no more than four fiscal years. The bill also provides that in the event that a school division that no longer met such criteria subsequently meets the criteria again after developing a plan, the local school board may seek the approval of the Superintendent of Public Instruction to amend such plan. The Education SOL/SOQ Subcommittee failed to recommend the bill 5-3.

HB107 (Kilgore) The bill allowed local school boards to elect to have all of their employees and retirees, as well as the dependents of such employees and retirees, be eligible to participate in the state employee health insurance plan in lieu of the current state-administered local health insurance plan. Any participating local school board shall be responsible for whatever portion of the cost of such insurance is not paid by the employee, except any portion that the General Assembly elects to pay. The bill was left in the Committee on Appropriations.

HB109 (Cole, J.G.) The bill provided 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 Committee on Education continued the bill until 2021.

HB153 (Carter) The bill repealed the provisions of the Code of Virginia that, among other things, prohibit any agreement or combination between an employer and a labor union or labor organization whereby (i) nonmembers of the union or organization are denied the right to work for the employer, (ii) membership in the union or organization is made a condition of employment or continuation of employment by such employer, or (iii) the union or organization acquires an employment monopoly in any such enterprise. The bill was left in the Committee on Appropriations.

HB226 (Freitas) The bill prohibited public schools from joining an organization governing interscholastic programs that does not deem eligible for participation a student who (i) receives home instruction; (ii) has demonstrated evidence of progress for two consecutive academic years; (iii) is in compliance with immunization requirements; (iv) is entitled to free tuition in a public school; (v) has not reached the age of 19 by August 1 of the current academic year; (vi) is an amateur who receives no compensation but participates solely for the educational, physical, mental, and social benefits of the activity; (vii) complies with all disciplinary rules and is subject to all codes of conduct applicable to all public high school athletes; and (viii) complies with all other rules governing awards, all-star games, maximum consecutive semesters of high school enrollment, parental consents, physical examinations, and transfers applicable to all high school athletes. The bill was passed by indefinitely by a 4-3 vote in the Education Subcommittee on Pre-K-12.

HB231 (Freitas) The bill required the parent of any child with a disability who is placed in a public school pursuant to his individualized education program who subsequently places his child in a nonpublic school setting to receive from the school board, upon request, the applicable Standards of Quality per pupil state funds appropriated for public school purposes and apportioned to the school division, 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 child is eligible, to pay for tuition and fees associated with such nonpublic school setting, subject to such rules, regulations, or procedures as the Department of Education may establish. The bill requires each such parent to submit annually to the division superintendent an evaluation or assessment that indicates that the child is achieving an adequate level of educational growth and progress. The bill was left in the Committee on Education.

HB233 (Mugler) The bill required public school teachers to be compensated at a rate that is at or above the national average. Under current law, compensation at such rate is aspirational. The foregoing provisions of the bill have a delayed effective date of July 1, 2025. The bill requires funding to be provided on an incremental basis pursuant to the general appropriation act to implement such teacher compensation rate by the effective date. The bill was left in the Committee on Education.

HB399 (Keam) The bill required for the purposes of ensuring state accountability pursuant to relevant federal law and publicly reporting the assessment scores of student subgroups, the minimum student subgroup size to be 10. The bill was laid on the table by a 6-2 vote of the Education Subcommittee on SOL/SOQ.

SB424 (McGuire) The bill required 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 Education Subcommittee on Pre-K-12 failed to recommend reporting of the bill on a 4-2 vote.

HB527 (Kory) This bill would have required each school board to establish a process for the translation of certain statutorily required student assessments and any accompanying assessment instructions into the native language of each student who will participate in such assessments. This bill was left in the Committee on Education.

HB602 (Freitas) This bill would have provided that upon request, scholastic records shall be furnished electronically once per academic quarter and physically once per academic year at no charge to the student who is the subject thereof or the student's parent or legal guardian. The Committee on Appropriations continued the bill until 2021.

HB1085 (Hayes) The bill established minimum requirements for the installation of water bottle filling stations and drinking fountains in new public school buildings, additions to existing public school buildings, and alterations to existing public school buildings estimated to cost $50,000 or more. The bill requires the Board of Education to amend its regulations to require local school divisions to allow all students to carry and utilize a water bottle while at school. The Education Subcommittee on Pre-K-12 voted to lay the bill on the table 7-1.

HB1122 (Robinson) The bill required local school boards to offer as an elective in grades nine through 12 with appropriate credits toward graduation a course, either in a traditional classroom setting or in a virtual classroom setting, on the Hebrew Scriptures/Old Testament of the Bible or the New Testament of the Bible or a combined course on both. The bill requires the Board of Education to develop Standards of Learning and curriculum guidelines for such courses. The bill provides that the purpose of such courses is to introduce students to biblical content, characters, poetry, and narratives that are prerequisites to understanding contemporary society and culture, including literature, art, music, mores, oratory, and public policy. The bill prohibits students from being required to use a specific translation of a religious text when taking the courses and provides that such courses shall maintain religious neutrality and shall not endorse, favor, promote, disfavor, or show hostility toward any particular religion or nonreligious perspective. The Education Subcommittee on SOL/SOQ voted to lay the bill on the table 5-3.

HB1124 (Davis) The bill permitted any school board to enter into an operating contract with a not-for-profit entity (operating entity) to designate a public elementary or secondary school in the local school division in which at least 50 percent of enrolled students are eligible for free or reduced price lunch as a yellow school and requires each such contract to (i) require the school board to transfer its constitutional authority to supervise the yellow school to the operating entity, including its authority relating to personnel and curriculum, for an initial period of at least two years, provided, however, that the yellow school shall be subject to all federal and state accountability requirements prescribed by law or regulation; (ii) require the operating entity to make available nutritional support, after school academic and mentorship services, health care support by licensed nurse practitioners or doctors, and dental care by dental hygienists or dentists to each student enrolled in the yellow school; (iii) permit the operating entity to seek reimbursement under Medicaid for all the services described in clause (ii) that are provided to eligible students; (iv) require the operating entity to establish performance metrics for the yellow school and biannually report to the school board on its compliance with such metrics; and (v) require the supervision of the yellow school to be transferred back to the school board if the operating entity breaches the operating contract or fails to meet the performance metrics established in the operating contract. The Education Subcommittee on Pre-K-12 voted to lay the bill on the table 4-3.

HB1177 (Poindexter) The bill required 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 meaningful access to such an Internet connection. The bill failed to report from the Committee on Education by a vote of 10-9.

HB1274 (O’Quinn) The bill established the School Construction Fund as a special nonreverting fund in the state treasury and requires the Department of Education to establish the School Construction Program for the purpose of providing grants from the Fund, subject to certain conditions, to school boards that leverage federal, state, and local programs and resources to finance the design and construction of new school buildings and facilities or the modernization and maintenance of existing school buildings and facilities. The Appropriations Subcommittee on Elementary & Secondary Education voted to lay the bill on the table 5-2.

HB1277 (O’Quinn) The bill reduced the total number and type of required Standards of Learning assessments to the minimum requirements established by the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended. The Committee on Education continued the bill until 2021.

HB1316 (Aird) The bill made several changes to the Standards of Quality, including requiring the establishment of units in the Department of Education to oversee work-based learning and principal mentorship statewide in Standard 1 and requiring the Board of Education to establish and oversee the local implementation of teacher leader and teacher mentor programs in Standard 5. The bill also makes several changes relating to school personnel in Standard 2, including (i) establishing schoolwide ratios of students to teachers in certain schools with high concentrations of poverty and granting flexibility to provide compensation adjustments to teachers in such schools; (ii) requiring each school board to assign licensed personnel in a manner that provides an equitable distribution of experienced, effective teachers and other personnel among all schools in the local school division; (iii) requiring each school board to employ teacher leaders and teacher mentors at specified student-to-position ratios; (iv) requiring state funding in addition to basic aid to support at-risk students and granting flexibility in the use of such funds by school boards; (v) lowering the ratio of English language learner students to teachers; (vi) requiring each school board to employ reading specialists and establishing a student-to-position ratio for such specialists; (vii) requiring school boards to employ one full-time principal in each elementary school; (viii) lowering the ratio of students to assistant principals and school counselors in elementary, middle, and high schools; and (ix) requiring each school board to provide at least four specialized student support positions, including school social workers, school psychologists, school nurses, and other licensed health and behavioral positions, per 1,000 students. The bill was left in the Committee on Appropriations.

HB1381 (Leftwich) Th bill permitted a school division and the parents of a child with a disability in the school division to be accompanied and advised by any nonattorney with special knowledge or training with respect to the needs of children with disabilities in any due process hearing before a hearing officer. The bill declares that it constitutes the practice of law without being authorized or licensed to do so as prohibited by law when any such nonattorney drafts or submits pleadings, motions, or briefs; presents evidence; makes any argument, including any argument relating to any law or regulation; or questions witnesses on behalf of any parent or student. The bill requires the Board of Education to adopt regulations to establish (i) licensure requirements, including minimum training and qualification requirements, (ii) a code of professional conduct, and (iii) a mechanism for the review and resolution of complaints for such nonattorneys. Current law permits the school division and the parents of a child with a disability to be represented by any individual, regardless of special knowledge or training, in any due process hearing before a hearing officer and declares that such representation does not constitute the practice of law without being authorized or licensed to do so. The Committee of Courts of Justice continued the bill until 2021.

HB1446 (Aird) The bill required any local school board in a local school division that (i) is under a division-level corrective action plan, (ii) contains any school that is under a corrective action plan, or (iii) receives at-risk add-on payments pursuant to the general appropriation act to annually assess each school building in the local school division for compliance with the Board of Education's minimum standards for school buildings and report the results to the Board. The bill requires, in any case of noncompliance with such standards, such report to include an assessment of the extent to which local funds are available to remedy such noncompliance. The bill provides that when the Board determines, on the basis of any such report, that a local governing body has not provided the local school board sufficient funds to ensure compliance with the minimum standards for school buildings, the Board may petition the relevant circuit court to compel the local governing body to provide such funds to the local school board. The bill was left in the Committee on Education.

HB1599 (Roem) The bill required school boards to employ librarians in accordance with the following ratios: in elementary schools, one part-time to 299 students, one full-time at 300 students, and two full-time at 700 students; in middle schools, one-half time to 299 students, one full-time at 300 students, two full-time at 800 students, and three full-time at 1,700 students; and in high schools, one half-time to 299 students, one full-time at 300 students, two full-time at 900 students, and three full-time at 1,800 students. Under current law, school boards are required to employ librarians in accordance with the following ratios: in elementary schools, one part-time to 299 students and one full-time at 300 students; in middle schools, one-half time to 299 students, one full-time at 300 students, and two full-time at 1,000 students; and in high schools, one half-time to 299 students, one full-time at 300 students, and two full-time at 1,000 students. The bill was left in the Committee on Education until 2021.

HB1732 (Miyares) The bill Directs the Board of Housing and Community Development to require that all high-risk structures, defined in the bill, have key boxes installed in strategic locations on the outside of such structures. The bill requires that such key box contain keys or other credentials or access cards that may be necessary for law-enforcement officials to gain access to such structure or an area within such structure during an emergency. The General Laws Subcommittee on Housing/Consumer Protection voted to lay the bill on the table 8-0.

The following are Senate bills that were defeated in the Senate.

SB6 (Stanley) Provides for a statewide referendum on the question of whether the General Assembly shall issue state general obligation bonds in the amount of $3 billion for the purpose of K-12 school building construction, repair, or other capital projects related to the modernization of school facilities. The results would be advisory only and are intended only to demonstrate the preference of the citizens of the Commonwealth on the issuance of such bonds. The referendum would be held at the November 2020 general election.  The bill was passed by indefinitely in the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee. 

SB80 (Marsden) Declares that, except in certain limited circumstances, a student journalist at a public middle school or high school or public institution of higher education has the right to exercise freedom of speech and the press in school-sponsored media, including determining the news, opinion, feature, and advertising content of school-sponsored media, regardless of whether the media is supported financially by the school board or governing board, supported through the use of school or campus facilities, or produced in conjunction with a class or course in which the student is enrolled. The bill defines "school-sponsored media" as any material that is prepared, substantially written, published, or broadcast by a student journalist at a public middle school or high school or public institution of higher education under the direction of a student media adviser and distributed or generally made available to members of the student body. The bill was continued to 2021 in the Senate Education and Health Committee.

SB128 (Suetterlein) Requires the Department of Education and relevant local school boards to develop and implement a pilot program for up to four years in two to eight local school divisions in the Commonwealth. In developing the pilot, the Department is required to partner with the appropriate school board employees in each such local school division to (i) identify the resources, services, and supports required by each student who resides in each such local school division and who is educated in a private school setting pursuant to his Individualized Education Program; (ii) study the feasibility of transitioning each such student from his private school setting to an appropriate public school setting in the local school division and providing the identified resources, services, and supports in such public school setting; and (iii) recommend a process for redirecting federal, state, and local funds, including funds provided pursuant to the Children's Services Act, provided for the education of each such student to the local school division for the purpose of providing the identified resources, services, and supports in the appropriate public school setting. The bill requires the Department of Education to make a report to the Governor, the Senate Committees on Education and Health and Finance, and the House Committees on Education and Appropriations on the findings of each pilot program after two and four years.  The bill was continued to 2021 in the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee.

SB132 (Chase) Requires the Board of Education to authorize local school boards to offer as an elective in grades nine through 12 with appropriate credits toward graduation a course on the Hebrew Scriptures/Old Testament of the Bible or the New Testament of the Bible or a combined course on both. The bill requires the Board of Education to develop Standards of Learning and curriculum guidelines for such courses. The bill provides that the purpose of such courses is to introduce students to biblical content, characters, poetry, and narratives that are prerequisites to understanding contemporary society and culture, including literature, art, music, mores, oratory, and public policy. The bill prohibits students from being required to use a specific translation of a religious text when taking the courses and provides that such courses shall maintain religious neutrality and shall not endorse, favor, promote, disfavor, or show hostility toward any particular religion or nonreligious perspective.  The bill was passed by indefinitely in the Senate Education and Health Committee. 

SB135 (Stuart) Expands 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 bill was continued to 2021 in the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee.

SB151 (Stuart)  Excludes school nurse positions from requirements for student support positions and instead requires each local school board to employ at least one full-time equivalent school nurse position in each elementary school, middle school, and high school in the local school division or at least one full-time equivalent school nurse position per 550 students in grades kindergarten through 12.  The bill was passed by indefinitely in the Senate Education and Health Committee. 

SB188 (Peake) Requires legislation with a negative local fiscal impact to be filed no later than the December 15 immediately preceding the first day of a regular session of the General Assembly. If a standing committee of the General Assembly to which a bill is referred that was not introduced by December 15 determines that a bill has a negative local fiscal impact, the bill shall be rereferred to the House or Senate Committee on Rules as appropriate. If the Committee on Rules determines that there is a negative local fiscal impact, the bill shall be ruled out of order. The bill also requires the Commission on Local Government to work with the Virginia Association of Counties and the Virginia Municipal League to develop processes and procedures for a review of fiscal impact of legislation.  The bill was passed by indefinitely in the Senate Rules Committee. 

SB190 (Pease) Provides that the state pool of funds for community policy and management teams may be used for residential or nonresidential services in a public school setting and to provide services to children placed in public residential facilities or public special education day schools in addition to such private facilities and private special education day schools as provided in current law.  The bill was continued to 2021 in the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee.

SB234 (Chafin) Allows local school boards to elect to have all of their employees and retirees, as well as the dependents of such employees and retirees, be eligible to participate in the state employee health insurance plan in lieu of the current state-administered local health insurance plan. Any participating local school board shall be responsible for whatever portion of the cost of such insurance is not paid by the employee, except any portion that the General Assembly elects to pay.  The bill was continued to 2021 in the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee.

SB249 (Favola) Allows a local school board, when applying for its school division to be designated as a School Division of Innovation, to apply to the Board of Education to replace the Virginia Studies and Civics and Economics Standards of Learning assessments with performance-based assessments. The bill requires any such application to (i) demonstrate that the proposed performance-based assessment requires that students demonstrate the knowledge and skills required by the relevant Standards of Learning and that students demonstrate one or more of the skills and qualities of critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, communication, or citizenship and (ii) provide evidence of the local school board's capacity to administer and score performance-based assessments. The bill was continued to 2021 in the Senate Education and Health Committee.

SB390 (McPike)  Reduces the total number and type of required Standards of Learning assessments to the minimum requirements established by the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended.  The bill was continued to 2021 in the Senate Education and Health Committee.

SB426 (Saslaw) Authorizes an employer, pursuant to an agreement between the employer and a labor union or labor organization, to require as a condition of employment any employee who is not a member of such labor union or labor organization and is a member of a collective bargaining unit, where the labor union or labor organization is the exclusive representative of the members of the collective bargaining unit, to pay a fair share fee to compensate the labor union or labor organization for the costs of representing the nonmember employee. The bill defines a "fair share fee" as the pro rata share of the portion of a labor union's or labor organization's dues attributable to activities stemming from its duty to represent all employees in a collective bargaining unit without regard to membership in the labor union or labor organization, including (i) the cost of all activities germane to collective bargaining, administration, and enforcement of collective bargaining agreements; (ii) representation of employees before public bodies in matters that are germane to either collective bargaining agreements or employer-employee relations; (iii) representation of employees during grievance procedures; and (iv) labor union or labor organization governance and administration. Under the bill, a fair share fee does not include the cost of any political activities, lobbying, organizing, charity, donations, or community service activities undertaken by the labor union or labor organization, and in no case will the fair share fee exceed 60 percent of dues required of a similarly situated member of such labor union or labor organization.  The bill was passed by indefinitely in the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee.

SB461 (Reeves) Requires each local school board to give any veteran or active duty member of any of the Armed Forces of the United States or the Commonwealth who it employs as a teacher in the local school division credit for any time served in any such forces in determining such teacher's step on the local school division's teacher salary scale.  The bill was continued to 2021 in the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee.

SB551 (Ruff) Requires the Board of Education, in establishing high school graduation requirements, to permit any student who has successfully completed during high school at least two years of workforce skills training as evidenced by written certification from the training provider to graduate with a standard diploma without completing the remaining credit requirements for such diploma.  The bill was stricken in the Senate Education and Health Committee.

SB552 (Ruff) Requires the funding transferred from the Department of Education to the relevant school divisions in support of a regional alternative education program to be based on each such school division's need for the current school year. Under current law, such funding is transferred based on data accumulated during the prior school year.  The bill was left in the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee. 

SB847 (Pillion) Reduces the total number and type of required Standards of Learning assessments to the minimum requirements established by the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended. The bill requires the Department of Education to annually report on the estimated projected and actual savings from the implementation of the bill and report the amount of such savings to the Governor and the Chairmen of the House Committee on Appropriations and the Senate Committee on Finance no later than the first day of each Regular Session of the General Assembly. The bill also requires that such amount be included in the total for Direct Aid to Public Education in any general appropriation act.  The bill was passed by indefinitely by the Senate Education and Health Committee.