The following pieces of legislation have passed both Chambers of the Virginia General Assembly and are awaiting action by the Governor. Please continue to check often as the legislator is in its final week before Sine Die adjournment. We will be updating the blog daily with the latest news from Richmond.
If you have any questions, please contact VSBA Government Relations Specialist, J.T. Kessler, via email at jason@vsba.org.
HB134 (Runion)/ 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.
HB145 (Simon)/ 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.
HB256 (Mullin)/ SB3 (McClellan) Provides 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.
HB257 (Mullin)/ SB729 (McClellan) Eliminates the requirement that school
principals report to law enforcement certain enumerated acts that may
constitute a misdemeanor offense.
HB292 (VanValkenburg)/ 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.
HB365 (Carroll Foy)/ 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.
HB452 (Murphy)/ SB650 (Boysko) Increases 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. The bill
also removes outdated provisions related to informal solicitations required to
be posted on the Department of General Services' central electronic procurement
website.
HB516 (Bulova)/ 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.
HB570 (Guzman)/ SB167 (Favola) Removes the definition of "incompetency" for the
purpose of establishing grounds for the dismissal of public school teachers.
HB890 (Sickles)/ SB341 (Locke) Removes 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 contracts.
HB973 (VanValkenburg)/ SB600 (Lucas) Repeals several Acts of Assembly from 1901
to 1960 that contain provisions relating to the racial segregation of students
in elementary and secondary schools and institutions of higher education in the
Commonwealth.
HB1011 (Herring)
Clarifies 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.
HB1081 (Guzman)/ SB237 (Barker) Provides 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.
HB1514 (McQuinn)/ 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.
HB1568 (Rush)/ 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.
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.
