The House Education Committee met on Wednesday February 9 and took the following actions on legislation on its docket.
HB 344 (Davis) Permits the Board of Education (the Board) to receive, review, and rule upon applications for public charter schools and enter into agreements for the establishment of public charter schools. Under current law, the power to grant or deny a public charter school application and enter into an agreement for the establishment of a public charter school rests solely with local school boards. The bill also provides that the decision of the Board or a local school board to grant or deny a public charter school application or to revoke or fail to renew a public charter school agreement is final and is not subject to appeal. Current law contains an appeal process for such decisions. The bill was Passed by for the Day.
HB 346 (Davis) Permits any public institution of higher education, private institution of higher education, or private business to apply to the Board of Education (the Board) to establish a college partnership laboratory school as a new school or through the conversion of all or part of an existing school. Under current law, only public and private institutions of higher education that operate approved teacher education programs are permitted to apply to the Board to establish such a school and no explicit provision is made for the conversion of an existing school. The bill requires the Board, in reviewing such applications, to give substantial preference to any application from a historically black college or university and any application to establish a college partnership laboratory school in an underserved community, which the bill defines as a geographical area that is served by public schools in which a high percentage of students are eligible to receive free or reduced-price lunch, as determined by the Board. The bill was reported and referred to the House Appropriations Committee with a substitute by a vote of 12-10.
HB 1272 (Batten)Requires, except in the case of the 10 unscheduled remote learning days otherwise permitted by law, each school board to offer in-person instruction, as defined in the bill, to each student enrolled in the local school division in a public elementary or secondary school for at least the minimum number of required annual instructional hours and to each student enrolled in the local school division in a public school-based early childhood care and education program for the entirety of the instructional time provided pursuant to such program. The bill reported with amendment by a 12-10 vote.
K-12 Subcommittee Report
HB 215 (Robinson) Establishes the School Health Advisory Board in the executive branch to advise the General Assembly and the Governor on pending or proposed legislation concerning the role of employees in public elementary or secondary schools in providing health care services at such schools and provide guidance on any associated training requirements. The bill reported with a substitute by a vote of 22-0.
HB 787 (LaRock) Declares it an unlawful and discriminatory practice for any local school board or employee or contractor thereof to train or instruct any individual on any divisive concept, as defined in the bill, for the purpose of promoting and encouraging such individual to adopt or believe such concept. The bill requires the Department of Education to establish model policies for the prevention of such unlawful and discriminatory practice and each local school board to adopt policies that are consistent with but may be more comprehensive than the model policies established by the Department. The bill reported by a vote of 11-10-1.
HB 1009 (Durant) Requires the Board of Education to establish, and each local school board to comply with, a policy to require each public elementary or secondary school to (i) notify the parent of any student whose teacher reasonably expects to provide instructional material that includes sexually explicit content, (ii) permit the parent of any student to review instructional material that includes sexually explicit content upon request, and (iii) provide, as an alternative to instructional material and related academic activities that include sexually explicit content, nonexplicit instructional material and related academic activities to any student whose parent so requests. The bill reported with a substitute by a vote of 12-10.
HB 1108 (Rasoul) Requires instruction concerning gambling and the addictive potential thereof to be provided by the public schools as prescribed by the Board of Education. The bill reported with amendment by a vote 20-2.
HB 1124 (Anderson) Requires the Board of Education's guidelines and model policies for codes of student conduct to include a requirement that any code of student conduct is enforced and any student behavioral intervention or disciplinary method or measure is utilized in a fair, proportional, unbiased, and neutral manner, for the sole purpose of maintaining safe learning environments, and with full and sole consideration of the student's behavior and with no consideration of any individual immutable characteristic of the student such as the student's sex or race. The bill requires each school board to establish and continuously maintain a system of fair, proportional, unbiased, and neutral student behavioral intervention and discipline and prohibits any school board from establishing or maintaining any system of student behavioral intervention or discipline, including positive behavioral interventions and supports or any substantially similar disciplinary method, that targets or differentiates student behavioral interventions or disciplinary methods or measures based on any factor other than the student's behavior. The bill was carried over until 2023.
HB 1138 (Reid, D.) Requires the lot drawing required to be conducted by the Loudoun County Electoral Board to determine the members of four of nine districts who will be elected to the Loudoun County School Board for four-year terms and the members of the remaining five districts who will be elected to the Loudoun County School Board for two-year terms to ensure the staggering of member terms for such school board to be conducted at the electoral board's first meeting of 2023 but no later than January 31, 2023. The bill reported by a vote of 22-0.
HB 1315 (Anderson) Requires, within four hours of receiving notification of (i) a preliminary determination by the threat assessment team that a student poses a threat of violence or physical harm to self or others; (ii) threatening or aberrant behavior that may represent a threat to the school; or (iii) unlawful acts committed on school property, on a school bus, or at a school-sponsored activity that involve the unlawful use or possession of a weapon, homicide, criminal sexual assault, or trespassing, each division superintendent to notify the parent of each student enrolled in the relevant school of such threat, threatening or aberrant behavior, or unlawful act. The bill was carried over until 2023.
HB 1328 (Delaney) Requires the Board of Education to amend its regulations to require each early childhood care and education entity to implement policies for the possession and administration of epinephrine in every such entity, to be administered by any nurse at the entity, employee at the entity, or employee of a local health department who is authorized by a prescriber and trained in the administration of epinephrine to any child believed to be having an anaphylactic reaction. The bill mandates that such policies shall require that at least one school nurse, employee at the entity, or employee of a local health department who is authorized by a prescriber and trained in the administration of epinephrine has the means to access at all times during regular facility hours any such epinephrine that is stored in a locked or otherwise generally inaccessible container or area. This bill shall be known as Elijah's Law. The bill reported with amendment by a vote of 22-0.
