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 bill reported with amendment on a 15-0 vote.
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 to annually (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 bill reported with amendments on a 15-0 vote.
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 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 reported with an appropriations clause on a 13-0-1 vote.
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 was reported 16-0.
