The Senate Education and Health Committee met Wednesday, August, 19, 2020 to consider the following pieces of legislation. The committee heard these bills and acted accordingly on each piece of legislation.
SB 5004 (Kiggans) School personnel; school nurses. 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. The bill was reported and referred to the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations by a 14-0-1 vote.
SB 5020 (Chase) Public education; voucher program; emergency. Provides that, if a school operates a reduced schedule and the school offers online or virtual learning as a substitute for in-person attendance, it shall deposit a portion of unused funds resulting from the reduced schedule in a voucher account for each student, for use on programs operated by the school division or other educational options, whether public, private, or parochial. This bill was Passed by Indefinitely by a 9-6 vote of the committee.
SB 5021 (Chase) Public schools; mandatory virtual learning; provision of required technology and Internet service; emergency. Provides that if a school board requires students to engage in virtual learning for any reason, whether full time or part time, and a computer and Internet service to connect to the curriculum is required, then the school board must provide appropriate technology devices to every student enrolled in the school system so they may access the learning platform. Additionally, the bill requires school boards to provide adequate Internet service to a student's household at no cost if a student's family income is below 125 percent of the federal poverty guidelines. The bill contains an emergency clause. This bill was Passed by Indefinitely by a 9-5-1 vote of the committee.
SB 5028 (Newman) Emergency Services and Disaster Law; State Board of Health; emergency orders and regulations; authority over public and private elementary and secondary schools. Prohibits the Governor from issuing any rule, regulation, or order pursuant to his powers under the Emergency Services and Disaster Law affecting the operation of any public or private elementary or secondary school in the Commonwealth. The bill also prohibits the State Board of Health from making any emergency order or regulation affecting the operation of any public or private elementary or secondary school in the Commonwealth. No action was taken on this bill.
SB 5068 (Peake) Student safety drills and student health screenings; waiver; emergency. Permits any school board to waive any mandatory student safety drill and any mandatory student health screening until such time as the General Assembly reconsiders such waivers during the 2021 regular session of the General Assembly. The bill contains an emergency clause. This bill was reported favorably by the committee by a vote of 15-0.
SB 5069 (Ruff) Public schools; declared state of emergency; average daily membership. Provides that in the event that a declared state of emergency causes a disruption in the provision of in-person instruction for students that affects the calculation of average daily membership in a local school division as of March 31 in any school year, such membership shall consist of the greater of the average daily membership as of March 31 in the affected school year and the average daily membership as of March 31 in the immediately preceding school year. This bill was reported and referred to the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations by a vote of 15-0.
SB 5083 (McClellan/Hashmi) School boards; websites; COVID-19 virus mitigation plan; emergency. Requires each school board to post in a publicly accessible and conspicuous location on its website the plan outlining its strategies for mitigating the spread and public health risk of the COVID-19 virus, consistent with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Virginia Department of Health mitigation recommendations, that the school board is required to submit to the Department of Education before reopening schools in accordance with Phase II and III guidelines pursuant to the June 8, 2020, order of the State Health Commissioner. The bill contains an emergency clause. This bill was reported favorably by the Committee by a vote of 14-0.
SB 5093 (Dunnavant) Virtual Virginia; community college dual enrollment courses; emergency. Requires the Department of Education to make community college dual enrollment courses for students in grades 11 and 12 available through the Virtual Virginia program. The bill directs the Department of Education to prioritize the provision of community college dual enrollment courses that are included in the Passport Program, the Uniform Certificate of General Studies Program, and courses that lead to workforce credentials. The bill contains an emergency clause. This bill was Passed by Indefinitely by a 8-7 vote.
SB 5094 (Dunnavant) School boards; teachers; paid leave; COVID-19; emergency. Requires each school board to provide to each teacher in the local school division up to 14 days of paid leave, in addition to any other paid leave to which such individual is otherwise entitled, that may be used in the event that the teacher (i) has been exposed to the COVID-19 virus and is required to self-quarantine, (ii) contracts COVID-19, or (iii) is required to provide care for a family member who contracts COVID-19. The bill contains an emergency clause. This bill was reported and referred to the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations by a vote of 13-1-1.
SB 5095 (Dunnavant) Rapid diagnostic testing; essential workers; emergency. Requires that when the Commissioner of Health determines that a communicable disease of public health significance exists in the Commonwealth, he shall ensure that any available rapid diagnostic testing indicating the existence of such communicable disease is readily available to all essential workers in the Commonwealth. Priority for access to such testing shall go to (i) health care providers, (ii) law-enforcement officers, (iii) emergency medical services personnel and emergency medical services providers, (iv) patients in nursing homes who are determined by the nursing home to be high-risk patients, (v) public and private elementary and secondary schools in the Commonwealth, and (vi) public institutions of higher education and private institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth. The bill contains an emergency clause. This bill was reported with a substitute by a vote of 15-0.
SB 5100 (Dunnavant) Public schools; COVID-19-related absences. Excuses from school attendance children diagnosed with COVID-19 or children with a household member diagnosed with COVID-19 while the child or household member is suffering from COVID-19. This bill was reported favorably by the committee by a vote of 15-0.
