House Education SOL/SOQ Subcommittee Meeting- 1/18/21 (Morning Session)

The House Education Subcommittee on SOL/SOQ met this morning and heard the following pieces of legislation.

HB 1736 (Adams, D) Excludes school nurse positions from requirements for student support positions and instead requires each local school board to employ at least one full-time equivalent school nurse position in each elementary school, middle school, and high school in the local school division. The bill defines a school nurse as a registered nurse engaged in the specialized practice of nursing who protects and promotes student health, facilitates optimal development, and advances academic success. The bill reported with substitute by a 6-2 vote of the committee.

HB 1865 (Delaney) Requires reading intervention services for students in kindergarten through grade three who demonstrate deficiencies based on their individual performance on the Standards of Learning reading test or any reading diagnostic test that meets criteria established by the Department of Education to be evidence-based and aligned with the science of reading and structured literacy approaches, both defined in the bill, and to include the components of effective reading instruction and explicit, systematic, sequential, and cumulative instruction. The bill requires the parent of each student who receives such reading intervention services to be notified before the services begin and the progress of each such student to be monitored throughout the provision of services. The bill also requires the Department of Education, no later than the beginning of the 2021%962022 school year, to compile and provide to each local school division a list of materials, resources, and curriculum programs that are supported by the science of reading and based on instruction that is explicit, systematic, cumulative, and diagnostic, including (i) evidence-based dyslexia programs that are aligned to structured literacy or grounded in the Orton-Gillingham methodology and (ii) evidence-based reading intervention programs, including programs that are grounded in the science of reading. The bill reported 8-0 with amendment.

HB 1924 (Kilgore) Permits any local school board that governs a school division (i) in which the locality is designated as fiscally at-risk or fiscally distressed by the Appalachian Regional Commission in the most recent fiscal year or is determined to have above-average fiscal stress or high fiscal stress by the Virginia Commission on Local Government in its most recent "Report on Comparative Revenue Capacity, Revenue Effort, and Fiscal Stress of Virginia Counties and Cities" and (ii) for which the composite index of local ability to pay is less than or equal to 0.2000 to expend up to 25 percent of the required local effort for basic aid for debt service on school building capital renovation or construction projects. The bill provides that in the event that the school division no longer meets such criteria, the local school board shall develop and implement a plan to readjust expenditures of the required local effort for basic aid over the course of no more than four fiscal years. The bill also provides that in the event that a school division that no longer met such criteria subsequently meets the criteria again after developing a plan, the local school board may seek the approval of the Superintendent of Public Instruction to amend such plan. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2033. The bill was Laid on the Table by a 5-3 vote of the committee.

HB 1924 (Aird) Makes several changes to the Standards of Quality, including requiring the establishment of units in the Department of Education to oversee work-based learning and principal mentorship statewide in Standard 1 and requiring the Board of Education to establish and oversee the local implementation of teacher leader and teacher mentor programs in Standard 5. The bill also makes several changes relating to school personnel in Standard 2, including (i) establishing schoolwide ratios of students to teachers in certain schools with high concentrations of poverty and granting flexibility to provide compensation adjustments to teachers in such schools; (ii) requiring each school board to assign licensed personnel in a manner that provides an equitable distribution of experienced, effective teachers and other personnel among all schools in the local school division; (iii) requiring each school board to employ teacher leaders and teacher mentors at specified student-to-position ratios; (iv) requiring state funding in addition to basic aid to support at-risk students and granting flexibility in the use of such funds by school boards; (v) lowering the ratio of English language learner students to teachers; (vi) requiring each school board to employ reading specialists and establishing a student-to-position ratio for such specialists; (vii) requiring school boards to employ one full-time principal in each elementary school; (viii) lowering the ratio of students to assistant principals and school counselors in elementary, middle, and high schools; and (ix) requiring each school board to provide at least four specialized student support positions, including school social workers, school psychologists, school nurses, licensed behavior analysts, licensed assistant behavior analysts, and other licensed health and behavioral positions, per 1,000 students. The bill was reported with a recommendation for referral to the House Appropriations Committee 8-0.

The committee chose to Pass by for the Day HB 1826, HB 1827, HB 1855, and HB 1947. These bills will be heard by the subcommittee at its January 25, 2021 meeting.

Due to time restraints, the committee will have to meet 1/2 hour after the House of Delegates adjourns from floor activity to complete its docket.

House Education Committee Meeting- 1/18/21

The House Education Committee met this morning to consider the following legislation. A summary of the legislation and actions taken by the committee are as follows: 

HB 1776 (Ward) Requires the Board of Education to grant a two-year extension of the renewable license of any public school teacher whose license expires in 2021 in order to provide the teacher with sufficient additional time to complete the requirements for re-licensure. The bill reported and was referred to the House Appropriations Committee with amendments by a 21-0 vote of the committee.

HB 1790 (McGuire) Provides that when severe weather conditions or other emergency situations have resulted in the closing of any school in a school division for in-person instruction, the school division may declare an unscheduled remote learning day whereby the school provides synchronous or asynchronous instruction, or some combination thereof, to all students in the school in lieu of in-person instruction without a reduction in the amount paid by the Commonwealth from the Basic School Aid Fund, provided that the school division has established an unscheduled remote learning day plan that ensures that every student is provided instruction and services on such unscheduled remote learning day that are comparable in quality to the instruction and services provided to learners on any other remote learning day. The bill reported with amendments by a vote of 21-0.

HB 1798 (Tyler) Removes the Brunswick County school board from the list of approved member salaries for appointed school boards. The Brunswick County school board is currently an elected school board. The bill was reported with a vote of 21-0.

HB 1823 (Askew) Requires each building that was built before 2015 and that houses any public school classroom for students, licensed child day program, or other program that serves preschool-age children to be equipped with at least one carbon monoxide detector. The bill was reported by a vote of 20-1.

HB 1904 (Jenkins) The bill requires teacher, principal, and division superintendent evaluations to include an evaluation of cultural competency. The bill requires every person seeking initial licensure or renewal of a license from the Board of Education (i) to complete instruction or training in cultural competency and (ii) with an endorsement in history and social sciences to complete instruction in African American history, as prescribed by the Board. The bill also requires each school board to adopt and implement policies that require each teacher and any other school board employee holding a license issued by the Board to complete cultural competency training, in accordance with guidance issued by the Board, at least every two years. The bill reported on 15-6 vote of the committee.

HB 1915 (Mugler) Requires that public school teachers be compensated at a rate that is at or above the national average. Under current law, compensation at such rate is aspirational. The bill requires state funding to be provided pursuant to the general appropriation act in a sum sufficient to fund a 4.5 percent annual increase for public school teacher salaries, effective from the 2022-23 school year through the 2026-27 school year. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2022. The bill reported and was referred to the House Appropriations Committee by a 19-3 vote of the committee.

HB 1940 (Rasoul) Requires, subject to guidelines established by the Department of Education, any middle school or high school student who is absent from school to engage in a civic or political event to be granted an excused absence. The committee reported the bill on a 17-5 vote.

House Education PreK-12 Subcommittee Meeting- 1/15/21

The House Education PreK-12 Subcommittee met virtually on Friday January 15, 2021 and acted on the following pieces of legislation:

HB 1742 (Webert) Requires, in the event that any school board does not provide the option of in-person instruction as the sole method of instruction for any enrolled student, the parent of any such student who withdraws his child from attendance to receive, upon request, an education voucher in an amount equal to a prorated share of the applicable Standards of Quality per-pupil state funds appropriated for public school purposes and apportioned to the school division, 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 child is eligible, to cover the expenses of providing in-person instruction in an alternative setting. The bill permits the Department of Education to establish rules, regulations, or procedures for the issuance of such education vouchers. The bill contains an emergency clause. The bill failed to report on a 3-5 vote of the subcommittee.

HB 1770 (Freitas) Permits any school division to establish a program to create savings accounts for students to be used for alternative educational programs. The bill requires the Department of Education to establish policies and procedures under which the parent of each student may use such funds on public or private educational programs. The bill failed to report on a 2-6 vote of the subcommittee.

HB 1776 (Ward)  Requires the Board of Education to grant a two-year extension of the renewable license of any public school teacher whose license expires in 2021 in order to provide the teacher with sufficient additional time to complete the requirements for re-licensure. The bill was reported as amended with a recommendation that the full House Education Committee refer the legislation to the House Appropriations Committee by a 8-0 vote of the subcommittee.

HB 1790 (McNamara) Provides that when severe weather conditions or other emergency situations have resulted in the closing of any school in a school division for in-person instruction, the school division may declare an unscheduled remote learning day whereby the school provides synchronous or asynchronous instruction, or some combination thereof, to all students in the school in lieu of in-person instruction without a reduction in the amount paid by the Commonwealth from the Basic School Aid Fund, provided that the school division has established an unscheduled remote learning day plan that ensures that every student is provided instruction and services on such unscheduled remote learning day that are comparable in quality to the instruction and services provided to learners on any other remote learning day. The bill was reported on a 8-0 vote of the subcommittee.

HB 1798 (Tyler) Removes the Brunswick County school board from the list of approved member salaries for appointed school boards. The Brunswick County school board is currently an elected school board. The bill was reported on a 9-0 vote of the subcommittee.

HB 1823 (Askew) Requires each building that was built before 2015 and that houses any public school classroom for students, licensed child day program, or other program that serves preschool-age children to be equipped with at least one carbon monoxide detector. The bill reported on a 7-1 vote of the subcommittee.

HB 1904 (Jenkins) The bill requires teacher, principal, and division superintendent evaluations to include an evaluation of cultural competency. The bill requires every person seeking initial licensure or renewal of a license from the Board of Education (i) to complete instruction or training in cultural competency and (ii) with an endorsement in history and social sciences to complete instruction in African American history, as prescribed by the Board. The bill also requires each school board to adopt and implement policies that require each teacher and any other school board employee holding a license issued by the Board to complete cultural competency training, in accordance with guidance issued by the Board, at least every two years. The bill reported on a 6-2 vote of the subcommittee.

HB 1915 (Mugler) Requires that public school teachers be compensated at a rate that is at or above the national average. Under current law, compensation at such rate is aspirational. The bill requires state funding to be provided pursuant to the general appropriation act in a sum sufficient to fund a 4.5 percent annual increase for public school teacher salaries, effective from the 2022-23 school year through the 2026-27 school year. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2022. The bill reported on a 6-2 vote of the subcommittee.

HB 1940 (Rasoul) Requires, subject to guidelines established by the Department of Education, any middle school or high school student who is absent from school to engage in a civic or political event to be granted an excused absence. The bill reported on a 5-3 vote of the subcommittee.

Senate Education & Health Committee Meeting- 1/14/21

The first meeting of the Senate Education & Health Committee for the 2021 session of the Virginia General Assembly convened today. A link to the committee's docket can be viewed by clicking here. During today's hearing, the committee made the following decisions regarding legislation on its docket:

SB 1106 (Stanley) Creates the Public School Assistance Fund and Program, to be administered by the Department of Education, for the purpose of providing grants to school boards to be used solely for the purpose of repairing or replacing the roofs of public elementary and secondary school buildings in the local school division. The bill permits any school board in the Commonwealth to apply for Program grants but requires the Department of Education to give priority in the award of grants to school boards that demonstrate the greatest need based on the condition of existing school building roofs and the ability to pay for the repair or replacement of such roofs. The legislation was Reported and Referred to the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee on a 12-0 vote.

SB 1132 (Sueterlein) Provides that when severe weather conditions or other emergency situations have resulted in the closing of any school in a school division for in-person instruction, the school division may declare an unscheduled remote learning day whereby the school provides synchronous or asynchronous instruction, or some combination thereof, to all students in the school in lieu of in-person instruction without a reduction in the amount paid by the Commonwealth from the Basic School Aid Fund, provided that the school division has established an unscheduled remote learning day plan that ensures that every student is provided instruction and services on such unscheduled remote learning day that are comparable in quality to the instruction and services provided to learners on any other remote learning day. The bill was Passed By for the Day.

SB 1175 (Ruff) Removes the Brunswick County school board from the list of approved member salaries for appointed school boards. The Brunswick County school board is currently an elected school board. The bill was Reported to the full Senate on a 14-0 vote.

SB 1190 (Kiggans) Directs the Board of Education to include advanced directive education in its curriculum framework for the Health Standards of Learning for high school students. The bill was Reported to the full Senate on a 11-3 vote.

SB 1191 (Kiggans) Excludes school nurse positions from requirements for student support positions and instead requires each local school board to employ at least one full-time equivalent school nurse position in each elementary school, middle school, and high school in the local school division. The bill also requires the Department of Education to establish and administer a waiver process for local school boards for which the requirements of the bill create an undue hardship. The bill was Reported and Referred to the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee on 12-1-1vote.

SB 1196 (Locke) The bill requires teacher, principal, and division superintendent evaluations to include an evaluation of cultural competency. The bill requires every person seeking initial licensure or renewal of a license from the Board of Education (i) to complete instruction or training in cultural competency and (ii) with an endorsement in history and social sciences to complete instruction in African American history, as prescribed by the Board. The bill also requires each school board to adopt and implement policies that require each teacher and any other school board employee holding a license issued by the Board to complete cultural competency training, in accordance with guidance issued by the Board, at least every two years. The bill was Reported and Referred to the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee on a 9-4-1 vote.

2021 Session of Virginia General Assembly Convenes (Virtually) at Noon

The 2021 session of the Virginia General Assembly convenes today at noon. The VSBA Government Relations team is advocating for our members and legislative positions virtually this session due to the mitigation strategies imposed by the General Assembly to protect against the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. 

As much as we enjoy fighting on your behalf, we realize that you are the most effective advocates for education in the Commonwealth. If you haven’t already, we strongly encourage you to contact your legislators and educate them on positions of importance to you and the VSBA. To that end, we want to make sure you are aware of several tools that will help you stay on top of everything going on. 

Below is the link to resources for our members to help with advocacy:

https://www.vsba.org/advocacy-government-relations/advocacy/

Below is the link to the Virginia Legislative Information System where you can search for legislation and track developments:

http://leg1.state.va.us/lis.htm 

We hope to see you virtually at our 2021 VSBA Capital Conference on January 25 and 26. The second day of the Conference is focused on virtual visits with your elected members of the General Assembly. We would encourage you to schedule those meetings now if you haven’t already. Registrants to the Capital Conference should receive a Tool Kit prepared by VSBA to assist with these meetings as well as how to advocate virtually!

If you have questions regarding VSBA’s work at the General Assembly, you may contact VSBA Chief Lobbyist, Stacy Haney, at shaney@haneyphinyo.com or VSBA Government Relations Specialist JT Kessler at jason@vsba.org. 

Finally, be sure to check back regularly and monitor VSBA on Facebook and Twitter daily for real time information from the general assembly, as well as responding to any Legislative Action Alerts from the VSBA Government Relations team.

Thank you for all you do on behalf of public education in the Commonwealth!

Governor Unveils Budget Recommendations

Governor Ralph S. Northam presented his budget adjustment recommendations at a meeting of the Joint Money Committees (Senate Finance and Appropriations, House Appropriations, and House Finance) of the Virginia General Assembly this morning. Northam's revised budget includes investments in public education, pandemic vaccine delivery and recovery, and the state's reserve fund. 

In his speech, the Governor announced the December revenue report includes an additional forecast of $1.2 billion over the report received by legislators in August prior to the General Assembly's Special Session. "The plan I will present to you today is intended to help Virginians navigate the next phase of the crisis, and perhaps, its final months," Northam stated. "It will position us to recover as quickly as possible as we rebuild our economy in a post-pandemic world. And it’s about advancing the progressive agenda that we all embarked upon together a year ago."

The Governor's budget proposes over $500 million to hold school divisions harmless for enrollment loss in public schools that has occurred due to the COVID-19 pandemic. School division instructional and support staff would receive a one-time 2% bonus. The Governor added he would like to turn this 2% bonus into a permanent raise if revenue forecasts continue to show healthy tax collections in the months ahead. Recognizing the important role school counselors will have as students return to in-person learning, the Governor proposed $21.6 million to fund a school counselor ratio of 1:325.

The Governor is also proposing nearly $100 million to pay off deferred contributions from the 2008 recession into the VRS Teacher Plan and to pay down retired health credit and Other Post Employment Benefit liabilities for teacher and state plans.

Other Highlights of the Governor's Proposed Revisions to the Budget include:

• $650 million toward the state’s revenue reserves
• $90 million toward COVID-19 vaccination preparation and delivery

The budget revisions proposed to the General Assembly today will be considered by lawmakers when they return for their 2021 session on January 13th. At the present time, this session is slated for 30 days, but lawmakers can extend the session for 15 days if enough lawmakers agree when the Senate and House convenes in January.

The VSBA Government Relations team will continue to monitor the budget and legislative developments as session approaches. If you have any questions, please contact VSBA Government Relations Specialist, J.T. Kessler, at jason@vsba.org.   

JLARC Releases Virginia K-12 Special Education Findings

The Virginia Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission released its findings on K-12 Special Education in the Commonwealth on Monday morning during a joint committee meeting of members of the Senate of Virginia and the Virginia House of Delegates. The findings of the JLARC study are a result of a 2018 request by the General Assembly to conduct a review of K–12 special education services. The goal of the study was to examine the processes used by school divisions to enroll students in special education, to determine the services needed by students with disabilities, and to provide needed services, as well as to review the effectiveness of VDOE in its supervisory role.

A summary of the studies findings can be found by clicking here.

The findings from the study reveal:

1. Graduation rates for students with disabilities have increased between 2008 and 2018, but African-American students with disabilities were less likely to graduate than students with disabilities in other races.
2. Enrollment in special education varies across Virginia school divisions, both overall and by disability.
3. IEPs are not consistently designed to be effective and reliable guides for special education services.
4. Shortcomings in post-high school transition planning require VDOE intervention.
5. “Applied studies diploma” for students with disabilities does not help students access future opportunities and is not well understood.
6. Despite emphasis on inclusion, Virginia does not prepare general education teachers or administrators with necessary special education-related skills.
7. School divisions rely on under-prepared teachers to fill gaps in special education teaching positions.
8. VDOE’s handling of complaints against school divisions does not ensure all problems are resolved.
9. VDOE’s ongoing monitoring is too limited. 

In response to the findings, JLARC staff made the following recommendations to members of the General Assembly for possible legislative action:

• Direct VDOE to conduct a targeted review, in the near term, of the transition sections of student IEPs to identify improvements needed to student transition planning, and direct VDOE to develop a robust statewide plan for improving transition planning for students with disabilities. 
• Require school divisions to provide a draft IEP to parents at least two business days in advance of the IEP team meeting, but only if a draft IEP is developed in advance of the meeting. 
• Direct VDOE and the Board of Education to develop and implement statewide criteria for the applied studies diploma and require local school divisions to more fully explain the limitations of this diploma to families. 
• Direct the Board of Education to review and update regulations governing K–12 teacher preparation programs to require that graduates are proficient in teaching students with disabilities and require teachers seeking license renewal to complete training in instructing students with disabilities. 
• Direct the Board of Education to review and update regulations governing administrator preparation programs to require that graduates demonstrate comprehension of key aspects of special education.
• Direct VDOE to develop and maintain a data-driven statewide strategic plan for recruiting and retaining special education teachers. 
• Direct VDOE to revise its handling of special education complaints to require that school divisions carry out corrective actions that fully and appropriately remedy any found instances of school non-compliance. 
• Direct VDOE to develop and implement a robust plan to improve the effectiveness of its supervision and monitoring of special education. 

To read the entire report and to review the presentation made to the joint legislative committee, click here.

If you have any questions regarding the study report released by JLARC, please contact VSBA Government Relations Specialist J.T. Kessler at jason@vsba.org.