2018 General Assembly Session “In Review” 06.18.18
2018 GENERAL ASSEMBLY SESSION “IN REVIEW”
06.18.2018
During the 60-day “long” session of the 2018 General Assembly, legislators introduced and considered 3,722 bills and resolutions, passed 1,833 of those bills and failed to pass 1,683 bills. Post-session, legislators came together for the annual Veto Session in April to consider the Governor’s recommendations and attempted to “meet somewhere in the middle” during a budget session in May. School divisions, local governments and others throughout the state were rightly concerned that the House and Senate “battle” to expand Medicaid (and fund such initiatives as salary increases for teachers and principals) might not end well; however, on June 7, Governor Northam signed a final budget bill that included provisions to expand Medicaid by accepting increased federal funding and provide a 3% salary increase for school personnel, among a myriad of other funding priorities.
Highlights of the K-12 Budget include:
Rebenchmarking 477M Updates funding using current enrollment and staffing data)
Salary increase 131.4M State share of 3% raise for all school positions, effective, July 2019/contingent on hitting revenue targets
Lottery per pupil increase 73.9M (no local matching requirements)
At-risk “add on” 7.1M Increases from 1 – 13% to 1 – 14% per free lunch student, FY20)
Success! VASSP maintained a daily presence in Richmond during the Session and followed close to 300 bills that related directly to public education. Good communication breeds success; and educators, including principals and assistant principals, used their voices to support as well as to object to key pieces of education legislation. Public education bills that were supported by VASSP fared well and ran the gamut, with testimony and outcomes reflecting the changing face of the House of Delegates. Elections have consequences.
Although a new Commission on the Future of Public Education was proposed and could have served as another means for the General Assembly to play a larger and more consequential role in Board of Education issues and the future of K-12, the House of Delegates refused to back the new commission. One sticking point for educators and some legislators alike has been the resistance of the Committee on the Future of Public Education to back the alternative performance assessment proposals in the Board of Education’s new SOA. In another surprise move, the House also defeated a move to codify a requirement for a verified credit in History and Social Science (to be earned by passing a SOL test), thus requiring a revision to the newly adopted SOA allowing for a locally verified assessment in social studies. The Innovation Committee, which includes VASSP representatives, will continue to operate; however, the impact of the group has been diminished since proposed recommendations may be vetoed by a majority of the committee’s legislative representatives
Discipline bills were prolific this year, and VASSP was closely involved in work on legislation such as HB 1600, introduced in an effort to reduce long-term suspensions to 45 days. There was no question that some form of this bill would pass in 2018, and reaching a satisfactory arrangement required that all groups work together. In the end, a compromise was reached to limit long-term suspensions but to allow administrative flexibility in certain instances. A bill limiting K-3 suspensions also passed.
All bills attempting to reduce the types and number of misdemeanors principals are required to report to police failed in the House Courts of Justice Committee, with members noting that misdemeanors can be serious in nature and should be reported to law enforcement. The “school-to-prison” pipeline continues to be a major subject of discussion and concern, and VASSP will continue to represent your positions. It is important for legislators to understand that school administrators must maintain a safe and secure building as well an optimal learning environment while also protecting the rights of individual students, judging each disciplinary incident on its own merits.
VASSP was closely involved in the advancement and eventual passage of an omnibus teacher licensure bill, introduced by a bi-partisan group of legislators to address teacher shortages. This bill includes extensive revisions to licensure and was the result of numerous amendments, revisions and close cooperation among patrons in the House and Senate as well as all major education associations. HB 1125 includes reciprocity with reduced licensure requirements; that teacher education preparation programs include a 4- year bachelor’s degree; licensure renewal from 5 to10 years; extension of 3-year renewable license; alternate route to licensure for special education teachers; biennial waiver for CTE teachers; and 3-yr licenses to include part-time teachers.
Dual enrollment has long been an important issue for principals as it relates to quality and student eligibility to transfer credits earned. A bill passed this session to require higher education and public education representatives to develop a plan for quality and consistent standards for dual enrollment to include a process for determining if such courses meet the criteria to be transferable to public colleges and universities.
Included in legislation passed was a bill to establish content standards for career investigation courses, several bills to include mental health awareness in PE and Health classes, a bill to lower the age for GED testing to sixteen and a bill to require school boards to adopt policies to prohibit abusive work environments in schools. A bill to include dual language programs for ELL students passed and included that dual language teachers may provide instruction in English and a second language. Several bills related to truancy passed that included flexibility in school review teams and additional time for intervention programs. Bus drivers can be hired with less training; but drivers and aides must have training in autism spectrum disorders.
Of the three thousand bills introduced in 2018, close to half failed to pass. Among those were bills to: establish class size limits for science lab classes; reduce SOL to federal requirements; increase staffing for mental health counselors and nurses; open school before Labor Day; limit substitute teacher days; establish a certificate of program completion for high school students; establish a school climate survey; require the VHSL to establish a varsity sport in robotics and hold a state championship; limit the use of electronic textbooks unless such textbooks are available to all students; allow homeschool student participation in dual enrollment courses; expand opportunities for performance-based assessments; mandate alternative education programs in all schools; require a DOE resource guide for performance assessments; provide menstrual products free of charge; and mandate math intervention services at public high schools if students are unable to pass certain post-graduate and diagnostic tests.
BUDGET: Click to view the Commonwealth Institute fact sheet/ 2018 K-12 Budget: http://www.thecommonwealthinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Key-Budget-Policy-Choices-2018-SpecialSession-GAadopted.pdf
PRIORITY LEGISLATION 2018 GENERAL ASSEMBLY SESSION
(click on bill number to read entire text)
PASSED (bill summaries)
HB 1 Scholastic records; prohibited access to directory information.
Summary as passed:
Scholastic records; disclosure of directory information. Clarifies that student directory information may be publicly disclosed by a school if the school has given notice to the parent or eligible student of (i) the types of information that the school has designated as directory information; (ii) the right of the parent or eligible student to refuse the designation of any or all of the types of information about the student as directory information; and (iii) the period of time within which a parent or eligible student must notify the school in writing that he does not want any or all of the types of information about the student designated as directory information. The bill also provides, however, that no school shall disclose the address, phone number, or email address of a student pursuant to 34 C.F.R. § 99.31(a)(11) or the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (§ 2.2-3700 et seq.) unless the parent or eligible student has affirmatively consented in writing to such disclosure.
HB 2 Teacher licensure; reciprocity, spouses of Armed Forces members.
Summary as passed:
Teacher licensure; reciprocity; spouses of Armed Forces members. Requires the Board of Education to provide for teacher licensure by reciprocity for any spouse of an active duty member of the Armed Forces of the United States or the Commonwealth who has obtained a valid out-of-state license, with full credentials and without deficiencies, that is in force at the time the application for a Virginia license is received by the Department of Education. The bill provides that no service requirements or licensing assessments shall be required for any such individual. This bill is identical to SB 103.
HB 3 Dual enrollment courses; quality, consistency, etc., of courses.
Summary as passed:
Dual enrollment courses; quality standards; transfer course credit. Requires the State Board for Community Colleges, in coordination with the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, the Department of Education, and the Virginia Association of School Superintendents, to develop and implement (i) a plan to achieve and maintain the same standards regarding quality, consistency, and level of evaluation and review for dual enrollment courses offered by local school divisions as are required for all courses taught in the Virginia Community College System and (ii) a process and criteria for determining whether any dual enrollment course offered in the Commonwealth that meets or exceeds such standards is transferable to a public institution of higher education as (a) a uniform certificate of general studies program or passport program course credit, (b) a general elective course credit, or (c) a course credit meeting other academic requirements of a public institution of higher education.
HB 45 Family life education curricula; personal privacy and personal boundaries.
Summary as passed House:
Family life education curricula; personal privacy and personal boundaries. Requires any family life education curriculum offered in any elementary school, middle school, or high school to incorporate age-appropriate elements of effective and evidence-based programs on the importance of the personal privacy and personal boundaries of other individuals and tools for a student to use to ensure that he respects the personal privacy and personal boundaries of other individuals.
HB 50 School meal policies; each local school board required to adopt policies.
Summary as passed House:
Local school boards; school meal policies. Requires each local school board to adopt policies that (i) prohibit school board employees from requiring a student who cannot pay for a meal at school or who owes a school meal debt to do chores or other work to pay for such meals or wear a wristband or hand stamp and (ii) require school board employees to direct any communication relating to a school meal debt to the student’s parent, which may be made by a letter addressed to the parent to be sent home with the student. This bill is identical to SB 840.
HB 80 Teacher licensure by reciprocity; third-party verification of application documents.
Summary as passed House:
Teacher licensure by reciprocity; third-party verification of application documents. Requires the Board of Education, in its regulations providing for teacher licensure by reciprocity, to permit applicants to submit third-party employment verification forms.
HB 84 American Sign Language, instruction in; academic credit, foreign language requirements.
Summary as passed House:
Instruction in American Sign Language; academic credit; foreign language requirements. Requires any local school board that does not offer any elective course in American Sign Language to (i) grant academic credit for successful completion of an American Sign Language course offered by a comprehensive community college or a multidivision online provider approved by the Board of Education on the same basis as the successful completion of a foreign language course and (ii) count completion of any such American Sign Language course toward the fulfillment of any foreign language requirement for graduation.
HB 129 Worker retraining tax credit; manufacturing instruction for students.
Summary as passed:
Worker retraining tax credit; manufacturing instruction for students. Modifies the worker retraining tax credit by allowing credit to manufacturers conducting a manufacturing orientation, instruction, and training program that is (i) provided to students in grades six through 12, (ii) coordinated with the local school division and certified as qualified for tax credit by the Virginia Economic Partnership Development Authority, and (iii) conducted either at a plant or facility used by the manufacturer or at a public middle or high school in Virginia. The credit would equal 35 percent of the manufacturer’s direct costs in providing the program, not to exceed $2,000 for any year.
The bill provides that the Department of Taxation (the Department) shall not issue more than $1 million in tax credits per year. Under current law, the Department is authorized to issue up to $2.5 million in credits each year.
HB 150 Child abuse and neglect; founded reports regarding former school employees.
Summary as passed:
Child abuse and neglect; founded reports regarding former school employees. Requires local departments of social services to notify the appropriate school board without delay if the subject of a founded complaint of child abuse or neglect was, at the time of the investigation or the conduct that led to the report, an employee of a school division located within the Commonwealth. Currently, such reporting is only required if the subject of the complaint is an employee of a school division at the time the complaint is determined to be founded. This bill is identical to SB 184.
HB 167 Diploma seals; science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
Summary as passed House:
Diploma seals; science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Requires the Board of Education to establish criteria for awarding a diploma seal for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) for the Board of Education-approved diplomas. Under current law, such diploma seal is limited in scope to technology and advanced mathematics.
HB 215 Teacher licensure; regulations governing licensure.
Summary as passed House:
Teacher licensure; one-year license; instructors at regionally accredited institutions of higher education. Declares eligible for a renewable one-year license to teach in public high schools in the Commonwealth any individual who has (i) received a graduate degree from a regionally accredited institution of higher education; (ii) completed at least 30 credit hours of teaching experience as an instructor at a regionally accredited institution of higher education; (iii) received qualifying scores on the professional teacher’s assessments prescribed by the Board, including the communication and literacy assessment and the content-area assessment for the endorsement sought; and (iv) completed certain other licensure requirements.
HB 274 Informal truancy plans; students proceeded against or adjudicated on more than 2 occasions.
Summary as passed House:
Informal truancy plans. Provides that a student may have up to three discretionary diversions for truancy so long as the immediately previous diversion occurred at least three calendar years prior to the current diversion.
HB 292 Abduction; reports to school division superintendents.
Summary as introduced:
Reports to school division superintendents; abduction. Adds abduction to the list of offenses that are reported to school division superintendents by a juvenile intake officer when a petition is filed alleging a student committed such offense. The bill also adds abduction and acts of violence by mobs to the list of offenses reported to school division superintendents by a law-enforcement officer when a student who is 18 years of age or older is arrested for committing such an offense; acts of violence by mobs is already on the list reported by an intake officer for a minor student. The bill also adds abduction on school property, on a school bus, or at a school-sponsored activity to the list of incidents to be reported to school division superintendents and principals.
HB 329 High school graduation requirements; course load.
Summary as introduced:
High school graduation requirements; course load. Requires the Board of Education, in establishing high school graduation requirements, to permit students to exceed a full course load in order to participate in courses offered by an institution of higher education that lead to a degree, certificate, or credential at such institution.
HB 389 Child abuse and neglect; notice of founded reports to Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Summary as passed House:
Child abuse and neglect; notice of founded reports to Superintendent of Public Instruction. Requires local departments of social services to notify the Superintendent of Public Instruction without delay (i) when an individual holding a license issued by the Board of Education is the subject of a founded complaint of child abuse or neglect and (ii) if the founded complaint of child abuse or neglect is dismissed on appeal. This bill is identical to SB 183.
HB 399 School boards; work-based learning experiences for students, notification.
Summary as introduced:
School boards; work-based learning experiences for students; notification. Requires each school board to implement a plan to notify students and their parents of the availability of internships, externships, apprenticeships, credentialing programs, certification programs, licensure programs, and other work-based learning experiences.
HB 438 School boards, local, etc.; prohibits assisting person for new job if engaged in misconduct w/minor.
Summary as passed:
Elementary and secondary schools; sexual misconduct. Requires the Department of Education and local school boards to adopt policies to implement the provisions of federal law that prohibit any local school board or any individual who is an employee, contractor, or agent of a local school board from assisting an employee, contractor, or agent of such local school board in obtaining a new job if such local school board or individual knows or has probable cause to believe that the employee, contractor, or agent engaged in sexual misconduct regarding a minor or student in violation of law. This bill is identical to SB 605.
HB 442 Career and technical education credentials; testing accommodations for English language learners.
Summary as passed House:
Career and technical education credentials; testing accommodations for English language learners. Requires the Department of Education to develop, maintain, and make available to each local school board a catalogue of the testing accommodations available to English language learners for each certification, examination, assessment, and battery that satisfies the career and technical education credential graduation requirement. The bill requires each local school board to develop and implement policies to require each high school principal or his designee to notify each English language learner of the availability of such testing accommodations prior to the student’s participation in any such certification, examination, assessment, or battery. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2019.
HB 443 High school graduation requirements; substitution of computer coding for foreign language credit.
Summary as passed:
High school graduation requirements; substitution of computer coding credit for foreign language credit. Requires the Board of Education, in establishing high school graduation requirements, to permit any English language learner who previously earned a sufficient score on an Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate foreign language examination or an SAT II Subject Test in a foreign language to substitute computer coding course credit for any foreign language course credit required to graduate, except in cases in which such foreign language course credit is required to earn an advanced diploma offered by a nationally recognized provider of college-level courses.
HB 507 Standards of Quality; instructional programs and positions, dual language teachers.
Summary as introduced:
Standards of Quality; instructional programs and positions; dual language. Provides that (i) the instructional programs for students with limited English proficiency implemented by each local school board may include dual language programs whereby such students receive instruction in English and in a second language and (ii) the additional full-time equivalent instructional positions for students identified as having limited English proficiency that are funded pursuant to the general appropriation act may include dual language teachers who provide instruction in English and in a second language.
HB 544 High School to Work Partnerships; establishment, exemptions.
Summary as introduced:
High School to Work Partnerships; establishment; exemptions. Permits each local school board to (i) establish High School to Work Partnerships (Partnerships) between public high schools and local businesses to create opportunities for high school students to (a) participate in an apprenticeship, internship, or job shadow program in a variety of trades and skilled labor positions or (b) tour local businesses and meet with owners and employees or (ii) delegate the authority to establish Partnerships to the local school division’s career and technical education administrator or his designee, in collaboration with the guidance counselor office of each public high school in the school division. The bill requires such local school boards to educate high school students about opportunities available through such Partnerships. The bill also requires the Board of Education, the Department of Labor and Industry, and the State Board for Community Colleges to identify Partnerships that may be eligible for exemptions from certain federal and state labor laws and regulations and establish procedures by which such exemptions may be obtained for such Partnerships. This bill is identical to SB 960.
HB 632 Career investigation courses and programs of instruction; Board of Education to establish.
Summary as passed House:
Career investigation courses and programs of instruction. Requires the Board of Education (Board) to (i) establish content standards and curriculum guidelines for courses in career investigation; (ii) develop, in consultation with certain stakeholders, resource materials that are designed to ensure that students have the ability to further explore interest in career and technical education opportunities in middle and high school; and (iii) disseminate such career investigation resource materials to each school board. The bill directs each school board to require each middle school student to take at least one course or alternative program of instruction in career investigation.
HB 638 Trespass; use of an unmanned aircraft system, penalty.
Summary as enacted with Governor’s Recommendations:
Trespass; unmanned aircraft system; report; penalty. Provides that any person who knowingly and intentionally causes an unmanned aircraft system to enter the property of another and come within 50 feet of a dwelling house (i) to coerce, intimidate, or harass another person or (ii) after having been given notice to desist, for any other reason, is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill also provides that any person who is required to register with the Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry who uses or operates an unmanned aircraft system to knowingly and intentionally (a) follow or contact another person without such person’s permission or (b) capture images of another person without such person’s permission when such images render the person recognizable is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. Additionally, any respondent of a permanent protective order who uses or operates an unmanned aircraft system to knowingly and intentionally follow, contact, or capture images of any individual named in the protective order is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill also repeals the expiration of the prohibition on local regulation of privately owned, unmanned aircraft systems, clarifies the scope of such prohibition, and clarifies that such prohibition extends to all political subdivisions and not only to localities. The bill requires the Secretary of Commerce and Trade, in consultation with the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, to submit a report to the Governor and General Assembly no later than November 1, 2019, on the impact of this act on unmanned aircraft research, innovation, and economic development in Virginia. This bill is identical to SB 526.
HB 803 High school equivalency programs; extends eligibility.
Summary as introduced:
High school equivalency programs; eligibility. Extends eligibility to participate in programs of preparation and instruction to take a high school equivalency examination approved by the Board of Education to individuals who are at least 16 years of age. Under current law, such programs are available only to adults who did not complete high school, students who have been granted permission by their division superintendent, and those who have been ordered by a court to participate in the program.
HB 810 School bus operators; classroom and behind-the-wheel training.
Summary as passed House:
School bus operators; training. Requires any school bus operator applicant who does not possess a commercial driver’s license to receive (i) a minimum of 24 hours of classroom training and (ii) six hours of behind-the-wheel training on a school bus that contains no pupil passengers and requires any school bus operator applicant who possesses a commercial driver’s license to receive (a) a minimum of four hours of classroom training and (b) three hours of behind-the-wheel training on a school bus that contains no pupil passengers. Current law leaves the setting of such hourly requirements to the Department of Education. The bill contains technical amendments. This bill is identical to SB 557.
HB 829 Compulsory school attendance; requires parent of school-age child to cause child to attend school.
Summary as passed House:
Compulsory school attendance. Clarifies that each parent of a school-age child in the Commonwealth is required to cause his child to attend school. Current law requires each such parent to send his child to school.
HB 919 Virginia Community College System; changes to ensure a standard quality of education.
Summary as enacted with Governor’s Recommendations:
Public institutions of higher education; course credit. Makes several changes relating to course credit at public institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth, including requiring (i) the Virginia Community College System to develop a 15-credit-hour Passport Program and a 30-credit-hour Uniform Certificate of General Studies Program to be offered at each comprehensive community college and for which courses are transferable, except in certain circumstances, to each baccalaureate public institution of higher education and (ii) each baccalaureate public institution of higher education to develop pathway maps that clearly set forth the courses that a student at a comprehensive community college is encouraged to complete prior to transferring to the baccalaureate institution. This bill is identical to SB 631.
HB 1000 School boards; permitted to employ certain individuals.
Summary as enacted with Governor’s Recommendations:
School boards; employment of certain individuals. Permits any school board to employ an individual who, at the time of the individual’s hiring, has been convicted of a felony, provided that such individual (i) was employed in good standing by a school board on or before December 17, 2015; (ii) has been granted a simple pardon for such offense by the Governor or other appropriate authority; and (iii) has had his civil rights restored by the Governor or other appropriate authority. The bill permits a school board to employ, until July 1, 2020, a person who does not satisfy the conditions set forth in clauses (ii) and (iii), provided that such person has been continuously employed by the school board from December 17, 2015, through July 1, 2018. This bill is identical to SB 343.
HB 1044 School board; policies prohibiting abusive work environment, etc.
Summary as passed:
School board policies; healthy school workplaces. Requires each school board to adopt policies to (i) prohibit abusive work environments in the school division, (ii) provide for the appropriate discipline of any school board employee who contributes to an abusive work environment, and (iii) prohibit retaliation or reprisal against a school board employee who alleges an abusive work environment or assists in the investigation of an allegation of an abusive work environment.
HB 1085 Public schools; open enrollment for students residing on a military installation, etc.
Summary as passed House:
Public schools; military students; enrollment. Requires any local school board of a school division in which a military installation or other military housing is located to establish and implement policies to provide for the enrollment to any school of any student residing on a military installation or in military housing within the school division, upon the request of his parent. The bill permits such policies to include certain conditions. The bill requires a copy of such policies to be posted on the division’s website and to be available to the public upon request.
HB 1114 Professional and occupational regulation; authority to suspend or revoke licenses, certificates.
Summary as introduced:
Professional and occupational regulation; authority to suspend or revoke licenses, certificates, registrations, or permits; default or delinquency of education loan or scholarship. Provides that the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation, the Department of Health Professions, the Board of Accountancy, and the Board of Education shall not be authorized to suspend or revoke the license, certificate, registration, permit, or authority it has issued to any person who is in default or delinquent in the payment of a federal-guaranteed or state-guaranteed educational loan or work-conditional scholarship solely on the basis of such default or delinquency.
HB 1125 Teacher licensure; requirements for license, provisional license, etc.
Summary as passed:
Teacher licensure. Makes several changes to the teacher licensure process, including (i) permitting teachers with a valid out-of-state license, with full credentials and without deficiencies, to receive licensure by reciprocity without passing additional licensing assessments and (ii) permitting a local school board or division superintendent to waive certain licensure requirements for any individual who holds a provisional license and is employed by the local school board. This bill is identical to SB 349.
HB 1156 Teacher licensure; endorsement in dual language instruction pre-kindergarten through grade six.
Summary as introduced:
Teacher licensure; endorsement in dual language instruction pre-kindergarten through grade six. Requires the Board of Education, in its regulations governing licensure, to provide for licensure of teachers with an endorsement in dual language instruction pre-kindergarten through grade six. The bill defines “dual language instruction” as instruction in English and in a second language. The bill requires the Board, in establishing the requirements for such endorsement, to require, at minimum, coursework in dual language education; bilingual literacy development; methods of second language acquisition; theories of second language acquisition; instructional strategies for classroom management for the elementary classroom; and content-based curriculum, instruction, and assessment. The bill provides that (i) each teacher with such an endorsement is exempt from the Virginia Communication and Literacy Assessment requirement but is subject to the subject matter-specific professional teacher’s assessment requirements and (ii) no teacher with such an endorsement is required to obtain an additional endorsement in early/primary education pre-kindergarten through grade three or elementary education pre-kindergarten through grade six in order to teach in pre-kindergarten through grade six.
HB 1265 Education preparation programs; reading specialists, dyslexia.
Summary as passed:
Education preparation programs; reading specialists; dyslexia. Requires each education preparation program offered by a public institution of higher education or private institution of higher education that leads to a degree, concentration, or certificate for reading specialists to include a program of coursework or other training in the identification of and the appropriate interventions, accommodations, and teaching techniques for students with dyslexia or a related disorder. The bill requires such programs to (i) include coursework in the constructs and pedagogy underlying remediation of reading, spelling, and writing and (ii) require reading specialists to demonstrate mastery of an evidence-based, structured literacy instructional approach that includes explicit, systematic, sequential, and cumulative instruction. This bill is identical to SB 368.
HB 1370 Home instruction of children; requirements, education options.
Summary as introduced:
Requirements for home instruction of children; education options. Clarifies that a parent who provides a program of study or curriculum that may be delivered as home instruction is required to provide his child with such program of study or curriculum to satisfy the requirements for the home instruction of such child.
HB 1375 Mental health professional, qualified; broadens definition.
Summary as introduced:
Definition of qualified mental health professional. Broadens the definition of “qualified mental health professional” to include employees and independent contractors of the Department of Corrections who by education and experience are professionally qualified and registered by the Board of Counseling to provide collaborative mental health services. This bill is identical to SB 812.
HB 1419 Public schools; instructional time for elementary school.
Summary as passed House:
Public schools; instructional time. Requires local school boards to provide (i) a minimum of 680 hours of instructional time to students in elementary school, except for students in half-day kindergarten, in the four academic disciplines of English, mathematics, science, and history and social science and (ii) a minimum of 375 hours of instructional time to students in half-day kindergarten in the four academic disciplines of English, mathematics, science, and history and social science. The bill authorizes local school boards to include and requires the Board of Education to accept, for elementary school, unstructured recreational time that is intended to develop teamwork, social skills, and overall physical fitness in any calculation of total instructional time or teaching hours. This bill is identical to SB 273.
HB 1485 Truancy; procedures relating to intervention.
Summary as passed House:
Truancy; procedures. Makes several changes to the procedures relating to interventions when a pupil fails to report to school for a total of five scheduled school days for the school year, no indication has been received by school personnel that the pupil’s parent is aware of and supports the pupil’s absence, and a reasonable effort to notify the parent has failed, including (i) removing the appointed attendance officer as a party to the plan to resolve such nonattendance, (ii) permitting but not requiring the attendance officer to participate in the conference necessitated by additional absences subsequent to the development of the plan, and (iii) permitting but not requiring the attendance officer to file a complaint with the juvenile and domestic relations district court alleging the pupil is a child in need of supervision or to institute criminal proceedings against the parent pursuant to relevant law. Under current law, the attendance officer is required to participate in such conference and is also required to file such complaint and institute such proceedings in cases in which the pupil is absent for an additional school day without indication that the pupil’s parent is aware of and supports the pupil’s absence. This bill is identical to SB 841.
HB 1530 High schools; Board of Education to make recommendations.
Summary as passed House:
Career and technical education; diplomas. Requires the Board of Education to make recommendations to the Governor and the Chairmen of the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health no later than November 1, 2018, relating to (i) strategies for eliminating any stigma associated with high school career and technical education pathways and the choice of high school students to pursue coursework and other educational opportunities in career and technical education and related fields such as computer science and robotics and (ii) the consolidation of the standard and advanced diplomas into a single diploma and the creation of multiple endorsements for such diploma to recognize student competencies and achievements in specific subject matter areas.
HB 1532 Health education program; program to include safe use of prescription drugs.
Summary as passed:
Health education; prescription drugs. Permits the health education program required for each public elementary and secondary school student to include an age-appropriate program of instruction on the safe use of and risks of abuse of prescription drugs that is consistent with curriculum guidelines developed by the Board of Education and approved by the State Board of Health. The bill provides that the Board of Education may consider the curriculum adopted by the School Board of the City of Virginia Beach regarding drugs and the opioid crisis in developing such curriculum guidelines.
HB 1600 Student discipline; long-term suspension.
Summary as passed:
Student discipline; long-term suspension. Reduces the maximum length of a long-term suspension from 364 calendar days to 45 school days. The bill permits a long-term suspension to extend beyond a 45-school-day period, not to exceed 364 calendar days, if (i) the offense involves weapons, drugs, or serious bodily injury or (ii) the school board or division superintendent or his designee finds that aggravating circumstances exist, as defined by the Department of Education. The bill requires the Department of Education’s definition of aggravating circumstances to include consideration of a student’s disciplinary history.
HB 1604 Health instruction; instruction to incorporate standards to recognize dimensions of mental health.
Summary as introduced:
Health instruction; mental health. Requires health instruction to incorporate standards that recognize the multiple dimensions of health by including mental health and the relationship of physical and mental health so as to enhance student understanding, attitudes, and behavior that promote health, well-being, and human dignity. The bill also directs the Board of Education to review and update the health Standards of Learning for students in grades nine and 10 to include mental health. This bill is identical to SB 953.
SB 76 Teacher licensure; education preparation programs.
Summary as passed Senate:
Teacher licensure; approval of teacher education programs. Specifies that for the purpose of Board of Education regulations for the approval of teacher education programs, the term “education preparation program” includes four-year bachelor’s degree programs in teacher education.
SB 101 Family life education; age-appropriate elements of effective programs.
Summary as passed:
Family life education curricula. Requires any high school family life education curriculum offered by a local school division to incorporate age-appropriate elements of effective and evidence-based programs on the prevention of sexual harassment using electronic means. The bill permits any family life education curriculum offered by a local school division to incorporate age-appropriate elements of effective and evidence-based programs on the prevention, recognition, and awareness of child abduction, child abuse, child sexual exploitation, and child sexual abuse. This bill incorporates SB 425, SB 789, and SB 843.
SB 103 Teacher licensure; reciprocity, spouses of Armed Forces members.
Summary as passed:
Teacher licensure; reciprocity; spouses of Armed Forces members. Requires the Board of Education to provide for teacher licensure by reciprocity for any spouse of an active duty member of the Armed Forces of the United States or the Commonwealth who has obtained a valid out-of-state license, with full credentials and without deficiencies, that is in force at the time the application for a Virginia license is received by the Department of Education. The bill provides that no service requirements or licensing assessments shall be required for any such individual. This bill is identical to HB 2.
SB 126 Driver education programs; parent/student driver education component.
Summary as passed:
Driver education programs; parent/student driver education component. Permits any school division outside Planning District 8, at the discretion of the local school board, to administer a parent/student driver education component as part of the driver education curriculum. Under both current law and the bill, such component is a requirement in Planning District 8 (Northern Virginia). The bill allows for school divisions outside Planning District 8 to administer such component in-person or online.
SB 170 Public schools; student discipline.
Summary as passed Senate:
Public schools; student discipline. Prohibits, except for drug offenses, firearm offenses, and certain criminal acts, students in preschool through grade three from being suspended for more than three school days or expelled from attendance at school unless (i) the offense involves physical harm or credible threat of physical harm to others or (ii) the local school board or the division superintendent or his designee finds that aggravating circumstances exist, as defined by the Department of Education.
SB 183 Child abuse and neglect; notice of founded reports to Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Summary as passed:
Child abuse and neglect; notice of founded reports to Superintendent of Public Instruction. Requires local departments of social services to notify the Superintendent of Public Instruction without delay (i) when an individual holding a license issued by the Board of Education is the subject of a founded complaint of child abuse or neglect and (ii) if the founded complaint of child abuse or neglect is dismissed on appeal. This bill is identical to HB 389.
SB 184 Child abuse and neglect; founded reports regarding former school employees.
Summary as passed:
Child abuse and neglect; founded reports regarding former school employees. Requires local departments of social services to notify the appropriate school board without delay if the subject of a founded complaint of child abuse or neglect was, at the time of the investigation or the conduct that led to the report, an employee of a school division located within the Commonwealth. Currently, such reporting is only required if the subject of the complaint is an employee of a school division at the time the complaint is determined to be founded. This bill is identical to HB 150.
SB 229 School bus personnel; training program on autism spectrum disorders.
Summary as passed Senate:
School bus personnel; training program; autism spectrum disorders. Requires the Board of Education to establish a training program for school board employees who assist in the transportation of students on school buses, including individuals employed to operate school buses and school bus aides, on autism spectrum disorders, including the characteristics of autism spectrum disorders, strategies for interacting with students with autism spectrum disorders, and collaboration with other employees who assist in the transportation of students on school buses. The bill requires each school board employee who assists in the transportation of students with autism spectrum disorders on school buses to participate in such training program.
SB 238 Students; collection of demographic data, designation of race or ethnicity.
Summary as passed Senate:
Collection of student demographic data; prohibition. Prohibits local school boards from requiring a student or his parent to disclose information related to the student’s race or ethnicity unless (i) the student or his parent is given an option to designate “other” for the student’s race or ethnicity or (ii) such disclosure is required by federal law.
SB 273 Public schools; instructional time for elementary school.
Summary as passed:
Public schools; instructional time. Requires local school boards to provide (i) a minimum of 680 hours of instructional time to students in elementary school, except for students in half-day kindergarten, in the four academic disciplines of English, mathematics, science, and history and social science and (ii) a minimum of 375 hours of instructional time to students in half-day kindergarten in the four academic disciplines of English, mathematics, science, and history and social science. The bill authorizes local school boards to include and requires the Board of Education to accept, for elementary school, unstructured recreational time that is intended to develop teamwork, social skills, and overall physical fitness in any calculation of total instructional time or teaching hours. This bill is identical to HB 1419.
SB 343 School boards; permitted to employ certain individuals.
Summary as enacted with Governor’s Recommendations:
School boards; employment of certain individuals. Permits any school board to employ an individual who, at the time of the individual’s hiring, has been convicted of a felony, provided that such individual (i) was employed in good standing by a school board on or before December 17, 2015; (ii) has been granted a simple pardon for such offense by the Governor or other appropriate authority; and (iii) has had his civil rights restored by the Governor or other appropriate authority. The bill permits a school board to employ, until July 1, 2020, a person who does not satisfy the conditions set forth in clauses (ii) and (iii), provided that such person has been continuously employed by the school board from December 17, 2015, through July 1, 2018. This bill is identical to HB 1000.
SB 349 Teacher licensure; requirements for license, provisional license, etc.
Summary as passed:
Teacher licensure. Makes several changes to the teacher licensure process, including (i) permitting teachers with a valid out-of-state license, with full credentials and without deficiencies, to receive licensure by reciprocity without passing additional licensing assessments and (ii) permitting a local school board or division superintendent to waive certain licensure requirements for any individual who holds a provisional license and is employed by the local school board. This bill incorporates SB 257, SB 409, SB 548, SB 549, SB 551, SB 558, SB 723, and SB 863 and is identical to HB 1125.
SB 359 Driver education courses; instructor qualifications.
Summary as passed:
Driver education courses; instructor qualifications. Provides that the Commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles (Commissioner) may, in lieu of the requirements established by the Department of Education for driver education instructor qualification, accept 20 years’ service as a traffic enforcement officer with patrol experience with any local police department by a law-enforcement officer who (i) retired or resigned while in good standing from such department, (ii) was certified through a criminal justice training academy, and (iii) has been certified to teach driver training by the Department of Criminal Justice Services. Current law only allows the Commissioner to accept 20 years’ service with the Department of State Police by a person who retired or resigned while in good standing from such department in lieu of such requirements for driver education instructor qualification.
SB 368 Education preparation programs; reading specialists, dyslexia.
Summary as passed:
Education preparation programs; reading specialists; dyslexia. Requires each education preparation program offered by a public institution of higher education or private institution of higher education that leads to a degree, concentration, or certificate for reading specialists to include a program of coursework or other training in the identification of and the appropriate interventions, accommodations, and teaching techniques for students with dyslexia or a related disorder. The bill requires such programs to (i) include coursework in the constructs and pedagogy underlying remediation of reading, spelling, and writing and (ii) require reading specialists to demonstrate mastery of an evidence-based, structured literacy instructional approach that includes explicit, systematic, sequential, and cumulative instruction. This bill is identical to HB 1265.
SB 512 FOIA; student addresses, telephone numbers, and email addresses.
Summary as passed:
Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA); scholastic records; student addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses. Prohibits the custodian of a scholastic record from releasing the address, phone number, or email address of a student in response to a FOIA request without first obtaining the written consent of either the student or the student’s parent or legal guardian.
SB 526 Trespass; use of an unmanned aircraft system, penalty.
Summary as enacted with Governor’s Recommendations:
Trespass; unmanned aircraft system; report; penalty. Provides that any person who knowingly and intentionally causes an unmanned aircraft system to enter the property of another and come within 50 feet of a dwelling house (i) to coerce, intimidate, or harass another person or (ii) after having been given notice to desist, for any other reason, is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill also provides that any person who is required to register with the Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry who uses or operates an unmanned aircraft system to knowingly and intentionally (a) follow or contact another person without such person’s permission or (b) capture images of another person without such person’s permission when such images render the person recognizable is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. Additionally, any respondent of a permanent protective order who uses or operates an unmanned aircraft system to knowingly and intentionally follow, contact, or capture images of any individual named in the protective order is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill also repeals the expiration of the prohibition on local regulation of privately owned, unmanned aircraft systems, clarifies the scope of such prohibition, and clarifies that such prohibition extends to all political subdivisions and not only to localities. The bill requires the Secretary of Commerce and Trade, in consultation with the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, to submit a report to the Governor and General Assembly no later than November 1, 2019, on the impact of this act on unmanned aircraft research, innovation, and economic development in Virginia. This bill is identical to HB 638.
SB 557 School bus operators; classroom and behind-the-wheel training.
Summary as passed:
School bus operators; training. Requires any school bus operator applicant who does not possess a commercial driver’s license to receive (i) a minimum of 24 hours of classroom training and (ii) six hours of behind-the-wheel training on a school bus that contains no pupil passengers and requires any school bus operator applicant who possesses a commercial driver’s license to receive (a) a minimum of four hours of classroom training and (b) three hours of behind-the-wheel training on a school bus that contains no pupil passengers. Current law leaves the setting of such hourly requirements to the Department of Education. The bill contains technical amendments. This bill is identical to HB 810.
SB 605 School boards, local, etc.; prohibits assisting person for new job if engaged in misconduct w/minor.
Summary as passed:
Elementary and secondary schools; sexual misconduct. Requires the Department of Education and local school boards to adopt policies to implement the provisions of federal law that prohibit any local school board or any individual who is an employee, contractor, or agent of a local school board from assisting an employee, contractor, or agent of such local school board in obtaining a new job if such local school board or individual knows or has probable cause to believe that the employee, contractor, or agent engaged in sexual misconduct regarding a minor or student in violation of law. This bill is identical to HB 438.
SB 631 Virginia Community College System; changes to ensure a standard quality of education.
Summary as enacted with Governor’s Recommendations:
Public institutions of higher education; course credit. Makes several changes relating to course credit at public institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth, including requiring (i) the Virginia Community College System to develop a 15-credit-hour Passport Program and a 30-credit-hour Uniform Certificate of General Studies Program to be offered at each comprehensive community college and for which courses are transferable, except in certain circumstances, to each baccalaureate public institution of higher education and (ii) each baccalaureate public institution of higher education to develop pathway maps that clearly set forth the courses that a student at a comprehensive community college is encouraged to complete prior to transferring to the baccalaureate institution. This bill incorporates SB 77 and SB 107 and is identical to HB 919.
SB 664 Graduation requirements; clock hours.
Summary as passed Senate:
Graduation requirements; clock hours. Requires the Board of Education, in its graduation requirements, to permit local school divisions to waive the requirement for students to receive 140 clock hours of instruction after the student has completed the course curriculum and relevant Standards of Learning end-of-course assessment, or Board-approved substitute, provided that such student subsequently receives instruction, coursework, or study toward an industry certification approved by the local school board.
SB 747 Higher educational institutions, public; guaranteed admissions agreements.
Summary as introduced:
Public institutions of higher education; guaranteed admissions agreements. Provides that the guaranteed admissions agreements between baccalaureate public institutions of higher education and associate-degree-granting public institutions of higher education may provide for the guaranteed admission of a student who earns an associate degree concurrently with a high school diploma through a dual enrollment program, as well as any student who earns an associate degree after high school.
SB 775 Public schools; military children, tuition.
Summary as passed Senate:
Public schools; military children; tuition. Prohibits the child of a person on active military duty who is attending school for free from being charged tuition upon such child’s relocation pursuant to orders his parent received to relocate to a new duty station or to be deployed. The bill allows the child to remain enrolled in the current school division free of tuition through the end of the school year. The bill also prohibits the child of a person on active military duty who is eligible to attend a school for free from being charged tuition by a school division that will be that child’s school division of residence upon such child’s service member parent’s relocation to the jurisdiction for that school division pursuant to orders received.
SB 840 School meal policies; each local school board required to adopt policies.
Summary as passed:
Local school boards; school meal policies. Requires each local school board to adopt policies that (i) prohibit school board employees from requiring a student who cannot pay for a meal at school or who owes a school meal debt to do chores or other work to pay for such meals or wear a wristband or hand stamp and (ii) require school board employees to direct any communication relating to a school meal debt to the student’s parent, which may be made by a letter addressed to the parent to be sent home with the student. This bill is identical to HB 50.
SB 841 Truancy; procedures relating to intervention.
Summary as passed Senate:
Truancy; procedures. Makes several changes to the procedures relating to interventions when a pupil fails to report to school for a total of five scheduled school days for the school year, no indication has been received by school personnel that the pupil’s parent is aware of and supports the pupil’s absence, and a reasonable effort to notify the parent has failed, including (i) removing the appointed attendance officer as a party to the plan to resolve such nonattendance, (ii) permitting but not requiring the attendance officer to participate in the conference necessitated by additional absences subsequent to the development of the plan, and (iii) permitting but not requiring the attendance officer to file a complaint with the juvenile and domestic relations district court alleging the pupil is a child in need of supervision or to institute criminal proceedings against the parent pursuant to relevant law. Under current law, the attendance officer is required to participate in such conference and is also required to file such complaint and institute such proceedings in cases in which the pupil is absent for an additional school day without indication that the pupil’s parent is aware of and supports the pupil’s absence. This bill is identical to HB 1485.
SB 953 Health instruction; instruction to incorporate standards to recognize dimensions of mental health.
Summary as introduced:
Health instruction; mental health. Requires health instruction to incorporate standards that recognize the multiple dimensions of health by including mental health and the relationship of physical and mental health so as to enhance student understanding, attitudes, and behavior that promote health, well-being, and human dignity. The bill also directs the Board of Education to review and update the health Standards of Learning for students in grades nine and 10 to include mental health. This bill is identical to HB 1604.
SB 960 High School to Work Partnerships; establishment, exemptions.
Summary as introduced:
High School to Work Partnerships; establishment; exemptions. Permits each local school board to (i) establish High School to Work Partnerships (Partnerships) between public high schools and local businesses to create opportunities for high school students to (a) participate in an apprenticeship, internship, or job shadow program in a variety of trades and skilled labor positions or (b) tour local businesses and meet with owners and employees or (ii) delegate the authority to establish Partnerships to the local school division’s career and technical education administrator or his designee, in collaboration with the guidance counselor office of each public high school in the school division. The bill requires such local school boards to educate high school students about opportunities available through such Partnerships. The bill also requires the Board of Education, the Department of Labor and Industry, and the State Board for Community Colleges to identify Partnerships that may be eligible for exemptions from certain federal and state labor laws and regulations and establish procedures by which such exemptions may be obtained for such Partnerships. This bill is identical to HB 544.
SB 961 Public schools; homeless children.
Summary as introduced:
Public schools; homeless children. Aligns provisions regarding when a homeless child or youth is deemed to reside in a school division with Subtitle VII-B of the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, as amended (42 U.S.C. § 11431 et seq.) and updates references to such Act.
FAILED
HB 15 Student discipline, alternative; assault and battery without bodily injury.
HB 90 Teacher grievance procedures; hearing, three-member fact-finding panel.
HB 121 Community schools; development of program to establish schools.
HB 168 Class size limits; establishes maximum of 24 students in science laboratory classes in grades 6-12.
HB 251 Public schools; Standards of Learning assessments.
HB 252 High school staffing; mental health counselors.
HB 296 Public schools; student discipline.
HB 330 Public elementary and secondary school students; use of unscented topical sunscreen.
HB 372 School calendar; opening day of the school year.
HB 388 Substitute teachers; duration of teaching period.
HB 390 High school graduation; certificates of program completion.
HB 420 Teachers; model exit questionnaire, statewide implementation.
HB 445 School principals; incident reports.
HB 496 Students who receive home instruction; participation in interscholastic programs.
HB 497 Students who receive home instruction; dual enrollment courses in local school division.
HB 521 Virtual Virginia; enrollment in online learning program during school year to be open, etc.
HB 576 High school graduation requirements; substitution of computer coding for foreign language credit.
HB 624 Teacher, counselor, principal, etc.; expenses tax credit.
HB 652 School Divisions of Innovation; performance-based assessments.
HB 688 Student discipline; alternative education programs.
HB 808 Standards of Learning assessments; scoring.
HB 831 Virtual Virginia; availability to all public middle and high schools.
HB 937 High school graduation requirements; Standards of Learning assessments.
HB 1119 School climate survey; Superintendent of Public Instruction to develop and make available annually.
HB 1176 Public Elementary and Secondary Education, Commission on the Future of; established, report.
HB 1278 School Divisions of Innovation; performance-based assessments.
HB 1320 Division-level performance assessments; DOE, to develop and distribute resource guide.
HB 1322 Dual enrollment agreements; scope.
HB 1346 Children’s Services Act; special education programs, expands eligibility for services.
HB 1380 Maximum class sizes; reduces from 35 to 29 class size in grades four through six.
HB 1434 Menstrual supplies; school board to make available in school buildings at no cost to students.
HB 1501 Standards of Learning Innovation Committee; adoption of recommendations.
HB 1575 High school apprenticeship; tax credit.
HB 1579 Public schools; no charge for online courses and virtual programs.
SB 80 State School Health Advisory Board; established, report.
SB 169 Public schools; robotics team competition program.
SB 302 School Divisions of Innovation; performance-based assessments.
SB 401 Sixth grade science; Department of Education, et al., shall update curriculum.
SB 491 Public schools; Standards of Learning assessments.
SB 516 Public schools; Board of Education to establish regional charter school divisions.
SB 713 Standards of Quality; mathematics intervention services.
SB 738 Public Elementary and Secondary Education, Commission on the Future of; established, report.
SB 785 Electronic textbooks; prohibits local school boards from requiring use in any course in grades 6-12.
SB 786 Public schools; fee for enrollment of certain students.
SB 865 Standards of Quality; reading diagnostic tests.
SB 936 Standards of Achievement Career and Technical Education Committee; established.
SB 937 High school apprenticeship; tax credit.
SB 969 SOL; verified credit.