The House Education Committee met Monday February 13, 2023 and heard the following pieces of legislation dealing with K-12 education. The committee's docket can be found by clicking here.
SB 818 (Spruill) Requires each public elementary, middle, and high school to provide at each grade level, in addition to health instruction, an additional age-appropriate course of instruction on mental health. The bill directs the Board of Education to develop mental health curriculum guidelines for an age-appropriate, sequential mental health curriculum for each grade level and requires such curriculum guidelines to include instruction on (i) understanding general themes of mental health and wellness, (ii) recognizing symptoms of common mental health challenges, (iii) promoting mental health wellness, (iv) seeking assistance for mental health concerns and challenges, (v) promoting awareness of the prevalence of mental health challenges and the importance of overcoming common mental health stigmas, (vi) understanding the importance of mental health to a student's physical, academic, and overall well-being, and (vii) understanding, at such grade levels as the Board deems appropriate, age-appropriate instruction on the connection between mental health and substance use disorders. The bill permits the Board to consult with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services and other mental health experts in developing such curriculum guidelines and requires the Board to submit such guidelines to the State Board of Health for approval. The bill requires the Board to review and update by the beginning of the 2024–2025 school year the health Standards of Learning for each grade level to include such instruction on the mental health curriculum guidelines.
The bill Failed to Report by a vote of 10-11.
SB 821 (Surrovell) Requires each division superintendent to identify, update as necessary, and make available to the Department of Education and to other appropriate individuals a fax number, an email address, and a mailing address at which the division superintendent will receive the reports required to be transmitted pursuant to relevant law from (i) every state official or agency and every sheriff, police officer, or other local law-enforcement officer or conservator of the peace having the power to arrest for a felony upon arresting a person who is known or discovered by the arresting official to be a full-time, part-time, permanent, or temporary teacher or any other employee in any local school division in the Commonwealth for a felony or a Class 1 misdemeanor or an equivalent offense in another state and (ii) the clerk of any circuit court or any district court in the Commonwealth upon the conviction of a Board of Education-licensed school employee for certain enumerated felonies. The bill requires the Department to compile and make publicly available on its website a list of such fax numbers, email addresses, and mailing addresses. The bill also requires all such arresting officials or agencies and all such clerks to transmit the required reports via certified mail, return receipt requested, or to the identified fax numbers and email addresses. The bill finally requires, until July 1, 2027, all such arresting officials or agencies request in writing that the Virginia Employment Commission provide the name of the current employer of each arrested person for purposes of determining whether such notice is required.
The bill Reported with Amendment by a vote of 20-0.
SB 964 (Peake) Clarifies that any child day program offered by a private school accredited by and in good standing with the Virginia Council for Private Education, operated for no more than four hours per day, staffed by the accredited private school's employees, and attended by school-age children who are enrolled in the accredited private school is exempt from licensure by the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Current law provides a licensure exemption for any such program that is attended by children who are at least five years of age.
The bill Reported by a vote of 20-0.
SB 1019 (Edwards) Requires the Department of Education to assess and review authorization of Virginia-based nonprofit organizations to act as local education agencies to provide schools for adults who reside in the Commonwealth to earn industry-recognized credentials, dual college credits, and high school diplomas. The bill requires the Department of Education to report its findings to the Chairmen of the Senate Committee on Education and Health, the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations, the House Committee on Education, and the House Committee on Appropriations by November 1, 2023.
The bill Reported with a Substitute by a vote of 21-0.
SB 1020 (Edwards) Establishes the Virginia Museum of Transportation as a public entity and educational institution under the Commonwealth governed by a 15-member board of trustees. The provisions of this bill are contingent on funding in a general appropriation act.
The bill Failed to Report by a vote of 10-11.
SB 1045 (McPike) Requires each local school board to establish and include in any multiyear capital improvement plan or substantially similar document that it adopts a school building maintenance capital target of at least 1.5 percent of the replacement value of such buildings on average to avoid major replacement costs in the future. This bill is a recommendation of the Commission on School Construction and Modernization.
The bill Failed to Report by a vote of 10-11.
SB 1072 (Bell) Requires each local school board to require the principal of each public school to notify the parent of any student involved in an alleged bullying incident of the alleged incident within 24 hours of when the allegation was made. Current law does not require the parent of any student involved in an alleged incident of bullying to be notified of the initial alleged incident and only requires parental notification of the status of the investigation into an alleged incident to be given within five school days of when the allegation was made.
The bill Reported with amendment by a vote of 20-0.
SB 1099 (Norment) Provides that matching grants from the School Resource Officer Incentive Grants Fund may be awarded to local law-enforcement agencies and local school boards for the expenses related to the equipment necessary for uniformed school resource officers, school security officers, and other relevant school safety personnel and the enhancement of the school-law enforcement partnership through training and programming as determined by the Department; provided, however, that such grants shall not be used for any expense related to the purchase of firearms, handcuffs or other wrist restraints, or any stun weapon. The provisions of the bill are contingent on funding in a general appropriation act.
The bill Reported with a Substitute by a vote of 12-9.
SB 1109 (Hashmi) Establishes the College and Career Readiness for English Language Learners Grant Program and Fund to support English language learner students in preparing for postsecondary opportunities by providing reimbursement grants to eligible school divisions for providing and expanding access to certain career, technical, apprenticeship, and college readiness and preparation programs and courses for high school students identified as having limited English proficiency. The bill provides that the total value of reimbursement grants awarded to any school division annually shall not exceed an amount equal to $500 times the number of English language learner students in grades nine through 12 enrolled in such school division. The bill directs the Board to establish such guidelines as it deems necessary for the administration of the Program and to establish procedures for determining amounts and prioritizing the award of such reimbursement grants in the event that the moneys in the Fund are not sufficient to provide each school division the full grant amount for which they are qualified. Finally, the bill provides that reimbursement grants shall be awarded to eligible school divisions beginning with the 2023-2024 school year.
The bill Failed to Report by a vote of 10-10.
SB 1118 (Hashmi) Provides that each local school board shall adopt employment policies and practices designed to promote the employment of highly qualified teachers to effectively serve the educational needs of students who are English language learners, including providing financial support for teachers seeking and obtaining an endorsement in English as a second language pre-kindergarten through grade 12. The bill also establishes the English as a Second Language Incentive Reward Program and Fund for the purpose of awarding incentive grants to public school teachers in the Commonwealth who obtain an endorsement in English as a second language pre-kindergarten through grade 12. The bill provides that the Board of Education shall award to any teacher who obtains such endorsement an initial incentive grant of $5,000 and a subsequent incentive grant of $2,500 each year for the life of the endorsement, with such incentive grants to resume upon renewal of the endorsement. Finally, the bill directs the Board to establish such guidelines as it deems necessary for the administration of the Program and to establish procedures for the award of such incentive grants in the event that the moneys in the Fund are not sufficient to award each eligible teacher the appropriate award amount.
The bill Failed to Report by a vote of 10-10.
SB 1175 (Lucas) Expands several provisions of the Virginia Literacy Act, enacted during the 2022 Regular Session of the General Assembly, effective with the 2024–2025 school year, and currently applicable to students in kindergarten through grade three, to students in grades four through eight, including (i) requiring each local school board to provide a program of literacy instruction to such students that is aligned with science-based reading research and provides evidenced-based literacy instruction; (ii) requiring each local school board to provide reading intervention services to such students who demonstrate substantial deficiencies based on their individual performance on the Standards of Learning reading assessment or a literacy screener provided or approved by the Department of Education; (iii) permitting the reading plan required for certain students in grades six through eight to include a literacy course, in addition to the course required by the Standards of Learning in English, that provides the specific evidence-based literacy instruction identified in such plan; (iv) requiring the Department to develop a list of core literacy curricula, supplemental instruction practices and programs, and intervention programs that consist of evidence-based literacy instruction aligned with science-based reading research for such students; (v) requiring each local school board to employ one reading specialist for each 550 students in kindergarten through grade eight; (vi) requiring the Board of Education to provide guidance on and each local school board to provide high-quality professional development and training in science-based reading research and evidence-based literacy instruction for certain middle school personnel; and (vii) requiring each divisionwide comprehensive plan to include a divisionwide literacy plan for such students.
The bill Reported by a vote of 19-0.
SB 1300 (Deeds) Directs the Board of Education to work in collaboration with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to develop a comprehensive trauma-informed care training program for elementary and secondary school teachers for the purpose of ensuring that all teachers are equipped with the skills, knowledge, and resources to recognize and address signs of childhood trauma, as defined in the bill, in students, to foster a trauma-sensitive learning environment, and to ensure that students who have experienced childhood trauma receive the support they need, both inside and outside of the classroom. The bill requires the trauma-informed care training program to be provided once every three years at each school division by a representative from the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services and to be administered by the Department of Education and the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services. Finally, the bill requires each local school board to adopt and implement policies requiring annual completion of the trauma-informed care training program by each primary and secondary school teacher in the school division.
The bill was Reported and Referred to the House Appropriations Committee.
SB 1329 (McClellan) Requires the Board of Education to assess and report to the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations and the House Committee on Appropriations and that the individuals and entities identified by such committees shall consider and make recommendations on the creation and maintenance of a Virginia parent data portal and that would (i) display individualized student assessment data on all state-supported assessments, as defined by the bill, currently and cumulatively over time; (ii) provide for each state-supported assessment a description of the purpose, an explanation of how to interpret student data, and a comparison of a student's performance with the performance of the student's school, the student's school division, and the Commonwealth; (iii) be viewable from a mobile device in addition to a desktop computer; and (iv) restrict user access to students and their parents. The bill requires such recommendations to include fiscal estimates related to the creation, implementation, and administration of a Virginia parent data portal. The bill requires such recommendations to be submitted to the General Assembly no later than October 1, 2023.
The bill Reported by a vote of 20-0.
