The Virginia General Assembly met for the 2022 Reconvened Session on Wednesday, April 29. Each year, lawmakers meet in the reconvened session to consider legislative vetoes and recommendations by the Governor to legislation passed in the regular session of the General Assembly. The following actions were taken by the General Assembly on legislation of interest to school boards in the Commonwealth.
2022 Reconvene Session Report
SB 36
(Norment)/ HB 4 (Wyatt) Requires that school principals report to law enforcement certain
enumerated acts that may constitute a misdemeanor offense and report to the
parents of any minor student who is the specific object of such act that the
incident has been reported to law enforcement. Under current law, principals
are required to make such reports only for such acts that may constitute a
felony offense. The bill provides, as an exception to the requirement to report
any written threats against school personnel while on a school bus, on
school property, or at a school-sponsored activity, that a principal is not
required but may report to the local law-enforcement agency any such incident
committed by a student who has an individualized education plan.
The Senate rejected the Governor’s recommendation
on line 36 by a vote of 21-19. The House concurred with this recommendation by
a vote of 57-43. The Governor’s Recommendation was not agreed to as it
failed to receive a majority vote in each chamber.
The Senate concurred with the Governor’s recommendation
on line 52 through line 53 by a vote of 40-0. The House concurred with this
recommendation by a vote of 88-12. The Governor’s Recommendation was agreed
to as it received a majority vote in each chamber.
SB 62 (Favola)/ HB 215 (Robinson) Establishes
the School Health Services Committee in the legislative branch to review and
provide advice to the General Assembly and other policy makers regarding
proposals that require local school boards to offer certain health services in
a school setting. The bill requires the Committee to submit its findings and
recommendations to the General Assembly and the Governor by October 1 of each
year. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2025.
Governor’s Recommendation
The Senate and House concurred with the Governor’s
Recommendation.
SB 78 (Norment) Requires
the Board of Education to include an additional minimum 90-minute
parent/student driver education component as part of the classroom portion of
its driver education program for all public school divisions and provides that
participation in such component shall be encouraged but shall not be required.
Under current law, participation in such parent/student driver education
component is required in Planning District 8 (Northern Virginia) and
optional in all other school divisions. The bill also requires such
parent/student driver education component to emphasize the dangers of
distracted driving.
The Senate and House concurred with the
Governor’s Recommendation.
HB 307 (Freitas) Provides
that a public body subject to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act shall
make all reasonable efforts to supply records requested by a citizen at the
lowest possible cost. The bill also requires a public body, prior to conducting
a search for records, to notify the requester in writing of the public body's
right to make reasonable charges not to exceed its actual cost incurred in
accessing, duplicating, supplying, or searching for requested records and
inquire of the requester whether he would like to request a cost estimate in
advance of the supplying of the requested records.
The Senate and House concurred with the
Governor’s Recommendation.
HB 585 (Van Valkenburg) Requires,
except for those middle and high school students with significant cognitive
disabilities who participate in an alternate assessment, each student in middle
and high school to take only those end-of-course Standards of Learning
assessments necessary to meet federal accountability requirements and Virginia
high school graduation requirements. The bill requires, with such funds as may
be appropriated for such purpose, and except in the case of students who
participate in an alternate assessment, the Standards of Learning assessments
for Virginia Studies, Civics and Economics, Virginia and U.S. history, and
biology to include items that require the student to apply knowledge and skills
in preparing a response. Such items shall include open-ended questions,
long-form writing, and other tasks, with student responses scored by the
Department of Education according to statewide scoring rubrics. The bill
requires student performance on the Virginia and U.S. history and biology
end-of-course assessments to account for 10 percent of the student's final
grade in each such course. The bill also requires the Department of
Education to convene and consult a work group to develop a plan for the
implementation of such assessment items no later than the beginning
of the 2027–2028 school year.
Governor Recommendation (Substitute HB 585)
The Senate and House concurred with the Governor’s
Recommendation.
HB 873 (Greenhalgh) Requires,
in the case of any public elementary or secondary school in which a school
resource officer is employed, the threat assessment team for such school to
include at least one such school resource officer. The bill requires the chief
local law-enforcement officer for any local school division in which a public
elementary or secondary school does not employ a school resource officer to
designate a law-enforcement officer to receive, either in-person or online, the
school safety training for public school personnel conducted by the Virginia
Center for School and Campus Safety in accordance with relevant law and
requires such officer to serve as the law-enforcement liaison for the school
administrator in such a school who has also received such training as
prescribed by relevant law.
The Senate and
House concurred with the Governor’s Recommendation.
HB
879 (Rasoul) Requires the
nine-member Board of Education, all of whom are appointed by the Governor, to
include at least one member with experience or expertise in local government
leadership or policymaking, at least one member with experience or expertise in
career and technical education, and at least one member with experience or
expertise in early childhood education.
Governor’s
Recommendation (Substitute
HB 879)
The Senate and
House concurred with the Governor’s Recommendation.
HB 1026 (Guzman) Requires
the Superintendent of Public Instruction to establish and appoint no more than
12 members to the Digital Citizenship, Internet Safety, and Media Literacy
Advisory Council (the Council), including at least one of each of the
following: teacher, librarian, representative of a parent-teacher organization
who is the parent of a school-age child, school administrator, student, and
individual with expertise in digital citizenship, Internet safety, and media
literacy. The bill requires the Council to (i) develop and recommend to the
Board of Education for adoption a model policy for local school boards that
would enable such school boards to better support the digital citizenship,
Internet safety, and media literacy of all students and teachers in the local
school division; (ii) develop and recommend to the Board for adoption model instructional
practices for the safe, ethical, and responsible use of media and technology by
students and teachers in public elementary and secondary schools; (iii) design
and post on the Department of Education's website a page with links to
successful instructional practices, curricula, and other teacher resources used
in school divisions within and outside of the Commonwealth for the safe,
ethical, and responsible use of media and technology by students and teachers;
and (iv) submit a report of its findings to the Chairmen of the House Committee
on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health no later than
October 31, 2023. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2024.
Governor’s
Recommendation (Substitute
HB 1026)
The Senate and
House concurred with the Governor’s Recommendation.
HB 1138 (Reid) 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.
Governor’s
Recommendation (Substitute
HB 1138)
The Senate rejected the
Governor’s Recommendation by a vote of 22-18. The House concurred with the
Governor’s Recommendation by a vote of 51-48. The Governor’s Recommendation was
not agreed to as it failed to receive a majority vote in each chamber.
HB
1188 (Davis) Establishes the Student Advisory Board for
the purpose of providing student perspectives on matters before the
Board of Education.
The Senate and
House concurred with the Governor’s Recommendation.
