The Senate Pubic Education Subcommittee met for its first meeting of the 2022 legislative session. Following introductions by committee members and staff, the following actions were taken on pending legislation.
SB 68 (Favola) Board of Education; provisional teacher licensure; teachers licensed or certified outside of the United States. Requires the Board of Education to provide for the issuance of a provisional license, valid for a period not to exceed three years, to any individual who holds a valid and officially issued and recognized license or certification to teach outside of the United States but does not meet the requirements for a renewable license. The bill was recommended to the full committee by a 3-0-1 vote as amended.
SB 78 (Norment) Board of Education; driver education programs; parent/student driver education. Requires the Board of Education to include the requirement for an additional minimum 90-minute parent/student driver education component in its driver education program for all public school divisions. Under current law, the parent/student driver education component is required for Planning District 8 (Northern Virginia) and optional in all other school divisions. The bill was recommended to the full committee by a 4-0 vote.
SB 154 (Locke) Applications for teacher licensure by reciprocity; military spouses; timeline for determination. Requires the Board of Education's licensure regulations to provide for licensure by reciprocity for any spouse of an active duty or reserve member of the Armed Forces of the United States or a member of the Virginia National Guard who has obtained a valid out-of-state license, with full credentials and without deficiencies, that is in force at the time the application for a Virginia license is received by the Department of Education. Current law requires such regulations to provide for licensure by reciprocity for any spouse of an active duty member of the Armed Forces of the United States or the Commonwealth. The bill requires such an individual to submit an official copy of the military permanent assignment orders of the individual's spouse as part of the complete application packet. The bill requires the Department to determine and communicate such individual's eligibility for licensure by reciprocity within 15 business days of receipt of the complete application packet. The bill was recommended to the full committee by a 4-0 vote.
SB 193 (Mason) Child day programs; licensure; accredited private schools. Adds to the list of child day programs not required to be licensed by the Superintendent of Public Instruction to operate in the Commonwealth programs offered by accredited private schools that are in good standing with the Virginia Council for Private Education and operate for no more than four hours per day. The bill provides that, to be exempt from licensure, such accredited private school programs must be staffed by the accredited private school's employees and attended by children who are at least five years of age and are enrolled in the school. The bill requires such programs to be subject to safety and supervisory standards established by the Virginia Council for Private Education. The bill was recommended to the full committee by a 3-0 vote.
SB 275 (DeSteph) Public school libraries; printed and audiovisual materials; selection, evaluation, checkout, and removal procedures. Requires each local school board to adopt policies that address the selection and evaluation of all printed and audiovisual materials purchased by, donated to, or otherwise made available to the school division that will be available to students in school libraries and requires such policies to contain clear procedures for (i) parental involvement in and a reasonable opportunity for public comment before the selection and evaluation of printed and audiovisual materials that will be available to students in school libraries; (ii) mandatory prior written parental consent before a student is permitted to check out from the school library any such printed or audiovisual materials that could be considered grooming video or materials, as that term is defined in relevant law; and (iii) the removal from the school library of any such printed or audiovisual materials that could be considered grooming video or materials, as that term is defined in relevant law. The bill was passed by for the day.
SB 276 (Stanley) School boards; unexpended local funds; capital projects. Permits any school board to finance capital projects with any funds appropriated to it by the local governing body that are unexpended by the school board in any year. The bill is a recommendation of the Commission on School Construction and Modernization. The bill was recommended to the full committee as amended by a 4-0 vote.
SB 285 (Ebbin) High school interscholastic athletic competition; prevention of hate speech and ethnically or racially insensitive expressions. Requires the organization governing high school athletics and academic activities for public and approved non-boarding nonpublic high schools (the organization), with such funds as may be appropriated by the General Assembly for such purpose pursuant to the general appropriation act, to develop (i) rules and standards for the prevention of inequities involving the use of hate speech or ethnically or racially insensitive expressions during athletic and academic competitions sponsored by the organization's member schools, (ii) procedures for the enforcement of and penalties for the violation of such rules and standards, and (iii) training materials on such rules and standards. The bill requires each member school of the organization to abide by and implement such rules, standards, procedures, and penalties and ensure that each student who will participate in high school interscholastic athletic or academic competition, the parent of each such student, and each individual, whether paid or unpaid, who coaches a team that will participate in high school interscholastic athletic or academic competition receives and reviews such training materials. The bill requires the organization to make part of the process to become a registered official in good standing for any association offering services to the organization an education and training requirement that is consistent with the training materials developed by the organization. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2023. The bill was passed by for the day.
