The House Committee on Education met Monday, February 24, 2020 and considered the following pieces of legislation.
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. The bill reported 14-3.
SB323
(Barker) Requires the Board of
Education, in establishing high school graduation requirements, to permit a
student who is pursuing an advanced 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. The bill provides that for any student electing 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. The bill reported 11-6.
.
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. The bill was reported and referred to the House Committee on Appropriations 15-2.
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. The bill
was was reported and amended and referred to the House Committee on Appropriations 18-0.
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.
The bill was carried over until 2021.
SB933
(Favoloa) The bill requires that the Board of
Education 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. The bill was reported 16-2.
SB904 (Vogel) Directs the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia to facilitate the development of a statewide coalition of public institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth to gather and share information on the latest evidence-based methods and approaches to effectively educate K-12 students in reading, including multisensory structured language education to instruct students with dyslexia. The bill provides that the coalition shall meet twice annually, and relevant stakeholders shall be permitted to attend such meetings to provide input and contribute to discussions. The bill allows each public institution's school of education, education department, or relevant department for the career paths of K-12 reading specialists and teachers to collect such information and collaborate with other public institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth regarding the latest reliable research for reading instruction to all K-12 students, with an emphasis on improving reading instruction to students with dyslexia. The bill was reported as amended 18-1.
