The House Education Committee's Subcommittee on K-12 Education met on today and considered the following pieces of legislation on its docket. The House K-12 Education Subcommittee meets each Tuesday morning beginning at 7:30 a.m. You can view the committee's proceedings by clicking here.
HB 1379 (Anderson) Requires the principal of each public elementary or secondary school or his designee to (i) maintain in an electronic spreadsheet or a substantially similar electronic format a catalog of all printed and audiovisual materials, as defined in the bill, that are contained in the school library; (ii) identify each item in such catalog by title, author, and such other identifying features or information as the principal or his designee deems appropriate; (iii) identify with a prominent notation in such catalog each item that contains graphic sexual content, as defined in the bill; (iv) make such catalog available to any parent of a student enrolled in the school; (v) permit any parent of a student enrolled in the school to restrict his child's access to any item in such catalog that is identified as containing graphic sexual content; and (vi) permit any parent of a student enrolled in the school to request a graphic sexual content notation for any item in such catalog that is not so identified.
The bill Reported with Amendment on a vote of 5-3.
HB 1448 (Orrock) Requires the Department of Education, in consultation with local school boards, public school librarians, parents of public school students, and other interested stakeholders, to make recommendations to the General Assembly, the Board of Education, and local school boards no later than November 1, 2023, on the adoption of model policies for the selection and removal of books and other audiovisual materials available to students in public school libraries.
The bill Reported with Amendment on a vote of 4-3.
HB 1461 (Wiley) Requires the Department of Education to establish, within its regulations governing student conduct, and each school board to adhere to, a uniform system of discipline for disruptive behavior and the removal of a student from a class that includes, among other things, (i) criteria for teachers to remove disruptive students from their classes, including a requirement for a teacher to remove a disruptive student from a class if the disruptive behavior is violent and a requirement to implement a three-strike system for nonviolent disruptive behavior whereby a teacher is required to remove a student from a class if the student repeats or continues the nonviolent disruptive behavior after the teacher provides two warnings to the student and (ii) a prohibition against holding a teacher liable for taking reasonable actions or utilizing reasonable methods to control a physically disruptive or violently disruptive student.
The bill was Passed by for the Day.
HB 1475 (March) Prohibits public schools from joining an organization governing interscholastic programs that does not deem eligible for participation a student who (i) receives home instruction; (ii) has demonstrated evidence of progress for two consecutive academic years; (iii) is in compliance with immunization requirements; (iv) is a person of school age for whom public school is free; (v) has not reached the age of 19 by August 1 of the current academic year; (vi) is an amateur who receives no compensation but participates solely for the educational, physical, mental, and social benefits of the activity; (vii) complies with all disciplinary rules and is subject to all codes of conduct applicable to all public high school athletes; and (viii) complies with all other rules governing awards, all-star games, maximum consecutive semesters of high school enrollment, parental consents, physical examinations, and transfers applicable to all high school athletes. The bill provides that no local school board is required to establish a policy to permit students who receive home instruction to participate in interscholastic programs. The bill permits reasonable fees to be charged to students who receive home instruction to cover the costs of participation in such interscholastic programs, including the costs of additional insurance, uniforms, and equipment. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2028.
The bill Reported on a vote of 6-2.
HB 1508 (Davis) Permits the parents of qualified students, defined in the bill, to apply for a one-year, renewable Virginia Education Success Account that consists of an amount that is equivalent to a certain percentage of all applicable annual Standards of Quality per pupil state funds appropriated for public school purposes and apportioned to the school division in which the qualified student resides, including the per pupil share of state sales tax funding in basic aid and any state per pupil share of special education funding for which the qualified student is eligible. The bill permits the parent of the qualified student to use the moneys in such account for certain qualified expenses of the qualified student, including tuition, deposits, fees, and required textbooks at a private elementary school or secondary school that is located in the Commonwealth. The bill also contains provisions relating to program and account administration by the Department of the Treasury and a third-party financial institution that serves as program administrator pursuant to a contract with the Department of the Treasury.
The bill Reported with Amendment to be Referred to the House Appropriations Committee on a 6-3 vote.
HB 1556 (Brewer) Permits any local law-enforcement agency to employ in any public elementary or secondary school in the local school division, pursuant to an agreement with the local school board, a full-time or part-time K-9 Detection Team, defined in the bill as a law-enforcement team that consists of a local law-enforcement officer and a canine whose duty is to detect explosives, firearms, and narcotics. The bill requires each such school board and local law-enforcement agency to enter into a memorandum of understanding that sets forth the powers and duties of such teams. The bill requires the Department of Criminal Justice Services to establish compulsory training standards for such teams, requires certain data collection relating to the activities of such teams, and sets up a K-9 Detection Team Grant Program and Fund to provide matching grants on a competitive basis to support the employment of such teams.
The bill Reported with a Substitute to be Referred to the House Appropriations Committee on a 4-2 vote.
HB 1560 (Watts) Requires the Department of Education to develop culturally appropriate, age-appropriate, and trauma-informed Title IX and sexual harassment prevention training modules concerning Title IX rights and protections, consent, and sexual harassment prevention and reporting and to make such training modules available to each school board for the education of high school students. The bill also requires each school board to (i) ensure that all high school students complete such training modules within 31 days of the start of each school year, (ii) set aside instructional time during school hours for the completion of such training modules, (iii) allow all high school students to opt-out of participation in the completion of such training modules by request of the student's parents if such student is under the age of 18, or by request of the student if such student is 18 years of age or older, and (iv) inform all high school students of any counseling services related to sexual harassment that are available to them prior to such students completing such training modules. Finally, the bill requires (a) the Department to develop and make available to each school board such training modules by December 31, 2023; (b) the Department to revise such training modules to ensure continued compliance with applicable state and federal laws no later than December 31 of each year; and (c) each school board to adopt policies to implement such training modules by the beginning of the 2024–2025 school year.
The bill Failed to Report on a vote of 3-4.
HB 1592 (Davis) Requires each local school board to require the principal of each public school to notify the parent of any student who is the victim in an alleged bullying incident of the alleged incident within 24 hours of when the allegation was made. The bill also clarifies that the principal of each public school is required to notify the parent of any student who is not the victim but is otherwise involved in an alleged bullying incident of the status of any investigation within five school days of the allegation of bullying.
