Fairfax County Public Schools, Office of Government Relations

Final Report - Instruction and Assessment 

This report describes all the Instruction and Assessment-related legislation considered during the 2024 General Assembly Regular and Special Sessions.  Bills are listed as “Passed”, “Failed” or “Continued to 2025”.

Passed legislation will go into effect on July 1, 2024, unless otherwise specified in the legislation itself.

Bills identified as Continued to 2025 are no longer active for the 2024 Session but can be picked back up by the continuing committee where they were left off in the legislative process during the 2025 Session.  While possible, it is rare for a continued bill to be picked back up. Typically, such legislation is simply reintroduced in the next Session.

UPDATED: 06/03/2024

Instruction and Assessment – Passed

Health education Standards of Learning; severe allergic reaction awareness training. HB 121 (Sullivan) requires the Board of Education to include in the Standards of Learning for health education for grade nine and grade 10 an in-person or online severe allergic reaction awareness training that includes certain topics enumerated in the bill. The bill requires each school board to incorporate such severe allergic reaction awareness training into any health education instruction provided at grades nine and 10 beginning with the school year following the Board of Education's adoption of the revised Standards of Learning for health education for grades nine and 10 incorporating such severe allergic reaction awareness training and directs the Board to, in the intermediary time, develop and post on its website guidance documents for the purpose of making such severe allergic reaction awareness training available to school boards.

Opioids; DOE to develop education materials concerning risks HB 134 (Convirs-Fowler) requires the Department of Education, in consultation with such stakeholders and experts as it deems necessary or appropriate, to develop and submit to the Chairs of the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health by November 1, 2024, (i) age-appropriate and evidence-based education materials concerning the risks to health and safety that are posed by opioids and (ii) guidelines for school boards for incorporating such education materials into instructional programs for students enrolled in the local school division.

Title IX and sexual harassment prevention training modules; 9th/10th grade students;  HB 215 (Watts) requires the Department of Education to develop culturally appropriate, age appropriate, and trauma-informed Title IX and sexual harassment prevention training modules concerning Title IX rights and protections, consent, and sexual harassment prevention and reporting and to make such training modules available to each school board for the education of ninth and tenth grade students. The bill also requires the Department to revise these training modules no later than December 31 of each year to ensure that such training modules comply with applicable state and federal law. The bill also permits each school board to (i) adopt policies to require all students in the ninth and tenth grades to complete the sexual harassment training modules, (ii) allow all such students to opt-out of participation in the completion of such training modules by request of the student's parents if such student is under the age of 18, or by request of the student if such student is 18 years of age or older, and (iii) ensure that all such students are provided information about school counseling services and the supportive measure and formal complaint procedures that are available to them. Finally, the bill requires (a) the Department to develop and make available to each school board such training modules by July 1, 2025; and (b) each school board to adopt policies to implement such training modules by the beginning of the 2025–2026 school year.

Child day programs; use of office buildings, waiver of zoning requirements HB 281 (Reaser) and SB 13 (Favola) permit any locality to by ordinance provide for the waiver of any requirements for zoning permits for the operation of a child day program in an office building, as defined by the bill, provided that such facility satisfies the requirements for state licensure as a child day program. 

Voluntarily registered family day homes; safe sleep practices; checklist HB 358 (Simonds) requires the Department of Education to update its Voluntary Registration Health and Safety Checklist for any voluntarily registered family day home to include safe sleep practices.

Child Care Subsidy Program; categorical eligibility for certain families HB 407 (Hernandez) provides that any family that receives public assistance through Medicaid or the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children shall be deemed to categorically satisfy income eligibility requirements to receive assistance through the Child Care Subsidy Program

Early childhood care and education system; need- and demand-based funding HB 419 (Bulova) and SB 54 (Locke) require, for the purpose of addressing family demand and preferences for affordable, high-quality early childhood care and education services, state general funds to be provided to support the provision of services to families for early childhood care and education, as specified in the general appropriations act. The bills require the Department of Education to report each year by November 15 on the projected general funds needed for the upcoming two fiscal years based on cost of quality rate per child in order to (i) maintain the current number of slots at early childhood care and education programs, (ii) increase the number of slots using a projected growth report, and (iii) increase the number of slots to fully accommodate parent demand and eliminate waitlists. The bills require such projected general funds to be based on the annual per-child cost, determined as set forth in the bill, for the Virginia Preschool Initiative, the Mixed Delivery Program, and the Child Care Subsidy Program, the current eligibility criteria for such programs, and maximization of certain regularly recurring federal funds. The bills require each regional entity established by the Board of Education pursuant to applicable law, each local school division, and each locality to annually indicate the number of slots needed, respectively, in the region for the Mixed Delivery Program, the local school division for the Virginia Preschool Initiative, and the locality for the Child Care Subsidy Program. The bills require the Department of Education to (a) reallocate by July 1 any slots with available funding from the Child Care Subsidy Program and the Mixed Delivery Program, (b) make adjustments based on family preferences following the fall enrollment periods, and (c) first expend all current-year state general funds in providing funding for slots.

TANF; child care services; reporting; repeal HB 472 (Gardner) repeals the requirement that the Department of Social Services (i) identify strategies for Virginia to obtain the maximum amount of federal funds available for child care services for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program recipients and families whose incomes are at or below 185 percent of the federal poverty level and (ii) provide an annual report on these strategies to the Chairmen of the House Committees on Appropriations and on Health, Welfare and Institutions and the Senate Committees on Finance and Appropriations and on Rehabilitation and Social Services.

Public elementary and secondary schools; health instruction, certain topics relating to mental health. HB 603 (Price) requires health instruction provided to elementary and secondary school students to include certain topics relating to mental health that are enumerated in the bill, including (i) general themes of life skills, including self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision making, relationship skills, and social awareness; (ii) signs and symptoms of common mental health challenges; and (iii) mental health wellness and healthy strategies for coping with stress and negative feelings, including conflict resolution skills.

Virginia STEM Education Advisory Board; purpose and duties, historically underrepresented students HB 615 (Price) expands the purpose of the Virginia Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education Advisory Board to include promoting the participation of historically underrepresented students, as defined in the bill, in primary and secondary schools in STEM education. The bill expands the duties of the Board to effectuate this additional purpose. 

Public education; student literacy measures HB 647 Coyner and SB 624 (Lucas) clarify several provisions of the Virginia Literacy Act (the Act), enacted during the 2022 Regular Session of the General Assembly and effective with the 2024-2025 school year, including (i) clarifying that the term "evidence-based literacy instruction" does not include practices that instruct students to gain meaning from print through the use of (a) three-cueing, which includes semantic, syntactic, and graphophonic cues; (b) meaning, structure, and visual cues; or (c) visual memory for word recognition; (ii) removing the option to use a literacy screener approved by the Department of Education for certain purposes enumerated in the Act; (iii) requiring the Department to develop a list of core literacy curricula for students in kindergarten through grade five and supplemental instruction practices and programs and intervention programs for students in kindergarten through grade eight that consist of evidence-based literacy instruction aligned with science-based reading research; and (iv) requiring each divisionwide literacy plan to address how the local school board will align (a) core reading and literacy curriculum for students in kindergarten through grade five and (b) screening, supplemental instruction, and interventions for students in kindergarten through grade eight with evidence-based literacy instruction practices aligned with science-based reading research. 

Public high schools; SOL curriculum guidelines for research-based hazing prevention instruction HB 719 (Reaser) and SB 379 (Boysko) require the Board of Education to develop Standards of Learning and curriculum guidelines for research-based hazing prevention instruction to be provided as a part of physical or health education instruction provided to students in grade nine or 10. The bills require such hazing prevention instruction to include age-appropriate, extensive, and current education about hazing, including (i) examples of hazing; (ii) the dangers of hazing, including the consequences of alcohol intoxication; and (iii) school policies and laws related to hazing, including criminal penalties and bystander intervention. The bills require such research-based hazing prevention instruction to be offered in-person but requires each school board to provide options for virtual participation for any student who is enrolled in an online or virtual physical or health education program. Finally, the bills require each school board to provide such research-based hazing prevention instruction beginning with the school year following the Board's adoption of revised Standards of Learning for physical and health education for grades nine and 10 incorporating such research-based hazing prevention instruction and directs the Board to, in the intermediary time, develop and post on its website guidance documents for the purpose of making such research-based hazing prevention instruction available to local school boards.

Early childhood care and education; exemption from licensure for certain child day programs HB 739 (Sewell) and SB 702 (Subramanyam) exempt from licensure by the Superintendent of Public Instruction any child day program that (i) serves only dependent children of military personnel and (ii) (a) is located on a military base or federal property or (b) is certified as a family child care provider by a branch of the Armed Forces of the United States and provides that any branch of the Armed Forces of the United States or its agent, including an installation commander of a military base on which a child day program is located, may assume responsibility for approving or determining which children may be served by the program that is so exempted from licensure.  Note that HB 739 incorporated HB 146 (Tata) and SB 702 incorporated SB 75 (Durant).

Farm to School Program Task Force; Department of Education to establish HB 830 (Cousins) and SB 314 (Roem) require the Department of Education to establish and appoint such members as it deems necessary or appropriate to the Farm to School Program Task Force for the purpose of increasing student access throughout the Commonwealth to high-quality farm to school programs, defined in the bill as programs (i) whereby public schools purchase and feature prominently in school meals locally produced food or (ii) that involve experiential student learning opportunities relating to local food and agriculture, including school and community garden programs and local farm visits. The bills require the Task Force to collaborate with local school boards, community-based organizations, farmers, relevant state and local agencies, and other relevant stakeholders to (a) assess existing farm to school programs within the Commonwealth to identify and disseminate to each local school board best practices for implementing and sustaining such programs, (b) establish and distribute to each local school board a guidance document for the establishment and operation of school garden programs, (c) provide information and resources to each local school board to assist it in leveraging grant funds to support farm to school programs, and (d) collect such data and make such policy recommendations to local school boards, the Board of Education, and the General Assembly as it deems appropriate.

Virginia Preservice Training for Child Care Staff; Department of Education shall review course HB 1024 (Wilt) requires the Department of Education to review its Virginia Preservice Training for Child Care Staff course for appropriateness based on the age range of children served by staff who are required to complete such course and to consider excluding portions of such course that are solely relevant to providing care for students in a certain age range for staff whose duties do not include the care of children in such age range.

Dolly Parton's Imagination Library of Virginia Program; established, report, sunset date HB 1075 (Coyner) establishes Dolly Parton's Imagination Library of Virginia Program for the purpose of promoting a comprehensive statewide initiative for encouraging preschool-age children to develop a love of reading and learning whereby one reading selection, as defined in the bill, is provided per month to each registered child from birth to age five in each participating county at no cost to the family of such child. The bill requires the Program to contribute to local programs a 50 percent match of funds, if available, required of such local programs participating in Dolly Parton's Imagination Library in the Commonwealth. The bill requires a nonprofit entity dedicated to statewide early literacy advocacy to serve as the program administrator and be responsible for the development, implementation, and administration of the Program. The bill sunsets on January 1, 2029.

Through-year growth assessment system, alternatives during 2024-2026 HB 1076 (Rasoul) and SB 435 (Suetterlein) require the Board of Education to permit school boards to administer, during the 2024-2026 school years, assessments as alternatives to the through-year growth assessment system established by the Board, provided that any such alternative assessment is aligned to the Standards of Learning.

VA Longitudinal Data System & VA Workforce Data Trust; work group to review current capabilities HB 1083 (Coyner) requires the Secretary of Education to convene a work group to review the current capabilities and future needs of the Virginia Longitudinal Data System (the System) and the Virginia Workforce Data Trust (the Trust) (collectively, the Databases) and, based on the results of such review, develop a work plan for improving the System. The goal of such work shall be to provide a best-in-class data analytics platform and to support evidence-based research and data-informed decision making by policy makers in the Commonwealth through the maintenance of datasets and the creation of public-facing dashboards regarding education, labor, and the workforce.  The Secretary shall deliver a report that includes a summary of the review and the proposed work plan by November 1, 2024.

College and Career Ready Virginia Program and Fund; established and created HB 1087 (Coyner) and SB 627 (Lucas) establish the College and Career Ready Virginia Fund and requires the Department of Education and the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) to establish the College and Career Ready Virginia Program whereby each school board is required to offer each qualified high school student in the local school division access at the high school to the dual enrollment courses that are sufficient to complete the Passport Program and the Uniform Certificate of General Studies Program at a public institution of higher education at no cost to such students. The bills establish several enumerated duties for the Department and the System in the administration of the College and Career Ready Virginia Program, including the establishment of a work group to make recommendations no later than November 1, 2024, on the incorporation of a career and technical education program of coursework into the College and Career Ready Virginia Program.  Note that provisions related to requiring each school board to offer each qualified high school student in the local school division access to courses at each high school that are sufficient to complete the Passport Program and the Uniform Certificate of General Studies Program at a public institution of higher education at no cost to such student; provisions requiring the VCCS and the Online Virginia Network Authority to offer each local school board access to courses at each high school, including virtual courses, that are sufficient for each local school board's qualified high school students to complete the Passport Program and the Uniform Certificate of General Studies Program at a public institution of higher education, at no cost to such local school board; and provisions related to transfer of any credit earned through successful completion of Passport Program and Uniform Certificate of General Studies Program courses through the Program to each public institution of higher education pursuant to §§ 23.1-905.1 and 23.1-907 shall become effective beginning with course registrations for the fall term of the 2025 academic year.

Health education; menstrual education instruction permitted HB 1221 (Seibold) permits health education instruction for students in grades four through eight to include menstrual education instruction.

Child care; background checks. HB 1277 (Laufer) allows applicants for employment and applicants to serve as volunteers to work in certain child day centers, family day homes, and family day systems pending the results of a full background check, provided that (i) the applicant has received qualifying results on a fingerprint-based background check through the Central Criminal Records Exchange or the Federal Bureau of Investigation and (ii) the applicant is supervised at all times by a person who received a qualifying result on a full background check within the past five years.

Standards of Learning; assessments, eligibility for expedited retakes HB 1451 (Phillips) requires the Board of Education to revise its regulations relating to student eligibility for an expedited retake of any Standards of Learning assessment, with the exception of the writing Standards of Learning assessments, to (i) provide that any student in grades three through 12 who scores in the 375 to 399 range, or an equivalent range on an alternative scoring scale, on any such Standards of Learning assessment shall be eligible to retake such assessment on an expedited basis at least once prior to the next scheduled assessment administration and (ii) establish guidelines for and require each eligible student to complete prior to retaking any Standards of Learning assessment on an expedited basis a comprehensive remediation program based on such student's particular educational needs as identified by such student's results on such assessment. The Board of Education shall submit to the Chairs of the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health by November 1, 2024, a report on its progress in revising its regulations in accordance with the provisions of this act. The Board of Education shall implement such revised regulations in accordance with the provisions of this act by January 1, 2025.

Fentanyl education and awareness informational one-sheet; Department of Education to develop HB 1473 (Clark) requires the Department of Education to develop, in collaboration with the Department of Health, a fentanyl education and awareness informational one-sheet designed to promote awareness of the dangers associated with and the prevalence of fentanyl and provide essential information on fentanyl overdose prevention and preparedness among high school-age students. The bill requires the Department of Education to make available to each school board and post in a publicly accessible location on its website such informational one-sheet and to annually review and update such informational one-sheet in collaboration with the Department of Health to ensure its currency and accuracy. The bill requires each public high school or secondary school that includes grades nine through 12 to annually distribute such informational one-sheet to each student in grades nine through 12 within the first two weeks of the school year. Note this legislation incorporates HB 1007 (Lovejoy).

Public schools; instructional time; competency-based education HB 1477 (Rasoul) Requires the Board of Education to provide local school boards maximum flexibility to waive existing instructional clock hour requirements by developing alternative instructional time models in accordance with the Board's regulations and guidelines relating to instructional time waivers. The bill directs the Board, when revising its regulations and adopting Standards of Accreditation, to provide flexibility for school boards to develop programs that provide for acceleration, remediation, and multiple pathways to graduation that permit students to demonstrate competency at different rates. The bill also requires the Board to update, by December 1, 2024, its Guidelines for Graduation Requirements: Local Alternative Paths to Standard Units of Credit (Alternatives to the 140-Clock-Hour Requirement) to include guidance regarding (i) waiver pathway options to allow students time within the school day to complete work-based learning opportunities; (ii) advanced learning opportunities focused on problem-solving, critical and creative thinking, communication, collaboration, and citizenship skills; (iii) content that provides technical knowledge, skills, and competency-based applied learning; (iv) a method for approving alternative programs, including dual enrollment courses as specified in the bill; (v) other instructional time models adopted to meet instructional hour requirements through a variety of learning modalities; and (vi) offering instructional and learning opportunities including innovative, advanced, and enrichment programs for the full school year. Finally, the bill requires the Board to submit to the Chairs of the Senate Committee on Education and Health and the House Committee on Education by November 1, 2024, a report on its progress in implementing the provisions of the bill. Note this legislation incorporates HB 663 (Tata) and HB 1081 (Coyner).

STEM+C Competition Team Grant Program; created SB 5 (Stanley) establishes the Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Computing (STEM+C) Competition Team Grant Program to encourage interest in STEM+C-related subject areas and support STEM+C-related extracurricular team-building activities in public schools in the Commonwealth by providing grants for use in establishing or supporting STEM+C competition teams.

Students with Limited and/or Interrupted Formal Education (SLIFE); Board of Education to develop and adopt policies related to supporting SLIFE students SB 433 (Suetterlein) directs the Board of Education to develop and adopt policies relating to supporting Students with Limited and/or Interrupted Formal Education (SLIFE students) in staying in and graduating from, or otherwise completing, high school in the Commonwealth and to develop formulas for calculating high school drop-out rates and graduation rates in the Commonwealth that do not include any SLIFE student who dropped out if such student had not yet been enrolled in a public high school in the Commonwealth for at least two semesters.

Public middle schools and high schools; career and technical education organizations permitted SB 707 (Subramanyam) permits each public middle school and high school to establish career and technical education student organizations, regardless of whether such school offers career and technical education courses.

Instruction and Assessment – Continued to 2025 or Failed

Standards of Learning; programs of instruction, civics education on local government HB 41 (Green) would have required the Board of Education to include in the Standards of Learning for Virginia and United States Government for grade 12 and requires each school board to provide as a part of any Virginia and U.S. Government course or civic education course offered to students in grade 12 instruction on local government, including instruction on the types of localities in the Commonwealth and the structure and functions of local governments in the Commonwealth. The bill also would have required the Board to consider in its criteria for awarding a diploma seal for excellence in civics education and understanding of the state and federal constitutions and the democratic model of government the successful completion of government or civics courses that include instruction on the structures and functions of local government.  This legislation was Continued to 2025 in House Education.

Comprehensive community colleges and school boards; dual enrollment agreements, parameters HB 83 (Scott, P.A.)  would have required dual enrollment agreements between comprehensive community colleges and school boards to permit any student to complete an associate degree, the Passport Program, or a one-year Uniform Certificate of General Studies from a comprehensive community college concurrent with a high school diploma or high school equivalency program. Current law requires such agreements to specify options for students to complete an associate degree, the Passport Program, or a one-year Uniform Certificate of General Studies from a comprehensive community college concurrent with a high school diploma.

Audit of education preparation programs at public institutions of higher education; science-based reading research and evidence-based literacy instruction; frequency HB 211 (Martinez) would have changed from once every seven years to biennially the frequency with which the Department of Education is required to audit each education preparation program for compliance with the requirements set forth in relevant law relating to student coursework and mastery in science-based reading research and evidence-based literacy instruction.  This legislation was Continued to 2025 in House Education.

Regional workforce development and child care initiative; implementation in Southwest Virginia. HB 365 (Martinez) would have required the Department of Education and the Department of Workforce Development and Advancement to jointly establish and appoint such members as such departments deem appropriate to a work group to monitor the implementation of the regional workforce development and child care initiative being implemented by the United Way of Southwest Virginia, the Wellspring Foundation of Southwest Virginia, Food City, and the Town of Abingdon in Abingdon and in four other locations throughout the surrounding region. The bill would have required such work group to monitor the extent to which such initiative achieves its stated goals, including in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, teacher training, and access to child care, and to report its findings and any associated recommendations for the replication of such initiative in other regions of the Commonwealth no later than November 1, 2025.

Child Care Implementation and Substitute Employee Pool Grant Program; established HB 372 (Martinez) would have required the Department of Education, with such funds as may be appropriated for such purpose pursuant to the general appropriation act, to establish and administer the Child Care Implementation and Substitute Employee Pool Grant Program whereby any (i) existing child day program provider or group of such providers may apply for a grant, on a competitive basis, for the establishment of a substitute employee pool that, notwithstanding the provisions of relevant law relating to the disclosure of the results of background checks, enables such provider or providers to ensure efficient and effective staffing with qualified employees or (ii) prospective child day program may apply for a grant, on a competitive basis, to cover costs associated with implementing such program. This legislation was Continued to 2025 in House Appropriations.

Standards of Learning assessments; development and administration of assessments; assessments in languages other than English; requirements HB 500 (Cohen) would have required the Board of Education to develop all Standards of Learning assessments using Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles, as defined in the bill. The bill would also have required the Board to develop and implement policies providing for the development and administration of all Standards of Learning assessments in languages other than English that are identified as being present to a significant extent in the participating student population. The bill would have required such policies to provide that each local school board provide appropriate accommodations on such assessments for eligible students who are English language learners, including providing for administration of such assessments for any student who is an English language learner in grades three through eight who has been identified as having limited English proficiency and has participated in an English language proficiency program for no more than a total of three school years. The bill would have provided, however, that each local school board, on the recommendation of English language learner faculty that any such student has not yet reached sufficient English proficiency, may provide on an individual case-by-case basis for the administration of any such Standards of Learning assessment in one of such top three languages other than English for a period that does not exceed two additional consecutive years. The provisions of the bill would have been required to be implemented by the beginning of the 2025–2026 school year.  This legislation was Continued to 2025 in House Education.

Careers in Law Enforcement Incentive Grant Program; established HB 507 (Cohen) would have required the Department of Education, with such funds as may be appropriated for such purpose pursuant to the general appropriation act, to establish and administer the Careers in Law Enforcement Incentive Grant Program whereby any school board may apply for a grant in an amount up to $250,000, to be awarded on a competitive basis, with which to offer courses relating to criminal justice or law enforcement in at least one public high school in the local school division.

Early childhood care and education; comprehensive review of certain findings and recommendations HB 535 (Keys-Gamarra) would have required the Division of Early Childhood Care and Education of the Department of Education, in consultation with the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation and such other stakeholders as it deems appropriate, to (i) conduct a comprehensive review of the findings and recommendations contained in the 2017 report of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, Improving Virginia's Early Childhood Development Programs, to determine what barriers, gaps, and deficiencies continue to exist in the provision of high-quality early childhood education and care in the Commonwealth, with a particular focus on gaps and deficiencies in the ongoing monitoring of Virginia Preschool Initiative program quality, including the collection and analysis of data relating to outcomes and kindergarten readiness, and (ii) report its findings and any associated policy recommendations to the Board of Education, the Governor, and the General Assembly no later than November 1, 2024.  This legislation was Continued to 2025 in House Education.

Virginia Student Environmental Literacy Plan Grant Fund and Program; established HB 538 (Cole) would have required the Office of Environmental Education within the Department of Conservation and Recreation (the Department), in conjunction with the Department of Education and any other stakeholder that it deems appropriate, to implement the Virginia Student Environmental Literacy Plan Grant Program and Fund for school districts to develop local student environmental literacy plans and, with consultation from the Department of Education, to maintain a state environmental literacy plan. The bill would have established the Program and Fund, to be administered by the Office, for the purpose of awarding grants on a competitive basis to any local school board that seeks assistance to initiate, expand, or improve teacher professional development opportunities or student environmental education programs that align with the content and objectives of the bill.

Internet Safety Advisory Council; extends sunset date HB 547 (Walker) would have extended from July 1, 2024, to July 1, 2025, the sunset date for the Internet Safety Advisory Council. The bill requires each school board, after considering the model policy, instructional practices, curricula, and other teacher resources that are developed, recommended, or designed by the Internet Safety Advisory Council, to adopt policies (i) requiring all elementary and secondary schools in the local school division to provide an Internet safety education program to each student in grades three through 12 at least once each school year but (ii) permitting the parent of any such student to opt his child out of participating in such program.

Sexually explicit content; policies on parental notification of instructional material HB 571 (Delaney) and SB 235 (Hashmi) would have provided that nothing in the law requiring the Department of Education to develop and make available to each school board model policies for ensuring parental notification of any instructional material that includes sexually explicit content and requiring each school board to adopt policies that are consistent with but may be more comprehensive than such model policies or that is in such model policies or school board policies shall be construed to permit the censoring of books in any public elementary or secondary school. Note that both HB 571 and SB 235 passed the General Assembly but were vetoed by the Governor.

Early childhood care; Child Care Subsidy Program expansion, provision of free child care HB 627 (Bennett-Parker) would have required the Child Care Subsidy Program, established pursuant to applicable regulations, to be expanded to assist employees of any licensed child care provider in the Commonwealth with the costs of child care by providing any such employee who meets the eligibility criteria set forth in the bill child care at no cost to and with no copayment required of such employee. The bill would have directed the Board of Education to adopt any regulations and the Department of Education to implement any policies and procedures necessary for the implementation and administration of the provisions of the bill.  This legislation was Continued to 2025 in House Appropriations.

Virginia Parent Data Portal; Board of Education to create and maintain HB 654 (Coyner) and SB 72 (McPike) would have required the Board of Education, on or before July 1, 2025, to create and maintain the Virginia Parent Data Portal that, among other things, (i) displays individualized student assessment data on all state-supported assessments, defined in the bill, (a) in a format that shows both current and cumulative data over time and (b) within 45 days of a state-supported assessment window closing for each state-supported assessment; (ii) provides (a) a description of the purpose of each state-supported assessment, (b) an explanation of how to interpret student data on each state-supported assessment, (c) a comparison of a student's performance on each state-supported assessment with the performance of the student's school, the student's school division, and the Commonwealth, and (d) guidance to support parents in understanding and addressing the specific academic needs of their students; (iii) is viewable from a mobile device in addition to a desktop computer; (iv) leverages existing school division user management to restrict user access to students and their parents; and (v) is compatible with each local school division's existing student information system to enable direct integration of state-supported assessment data into local school division parent portals.  The bill would have required the Board and the Department of Education to develop professional development for principals and teachers in encouraging and supporting parents to engage with, interpret, and use student assessment data available through the Portal to support their student's learning and requires each school board to annually provide such professional development to principals and teachers.  Note that SB 72 was Continued to 2025 in Senate Finance and Appropriations, while HB 654 failed.

Standards of Learning; instruction on dangers and victims of communism HB 669 (Freitas) would have required the Governor to annually issue a proclamation setting the seventh day of November as Victims of Communism Day and requiring such day to be suitably observed in each public elementary and secondary school in the Commonwealth as a day honoring the approximately 100 million individuals who have fallen victim to communist regimes around the world and to be suitably observed by a public exercise in the Capitol and elsewhere as the Governor may designate in such proclamation. The bill also would have required the Board of Education to include in the history and social science Standards of Learning in grades six through 12 and each school board to emphasize in its Standards-aligned program of instruction in grades six through 12 the study of the dangers of communism.

Public Instruction, Superintendent of; employment of certified school library specialists HB 677 (Simonds) would have required the Superintendent of Public Instruction to employ in the Department of Education at least one certified school library specialist who fulfills several duties enumerated in the bill, including providing leadership and technical assistance with the implementation and use of information literacy skills to support student achievement for local school divisions, Department staff, and other stakeholders and directing the implementation of state and national school library standards and consulting with and providing technical assistance to local school divisions relating to such standards.  This legislation was Continued to 2025 in Senate Finance and Appropriations.

Public secondary schools; Internet safety education required, report HB 706 (Webert) would have required the Board of Education to develop and approve objectives for Internet safety education at the middle and high school grade levels to be required of all students in grades six through 12, and to provide for the infusion of such objectives in the relevant Standards of Learning and in career and technical education. The bill also would have required the Board, in consultation with the Internet Safety Advisory Council or another appropriate entity, to develop a model curriculum for such Internet safety education. The bill would have required each public secondary school to provide instruction on Internet safety education in accordance with the educational objectives and model curriculum developed by the Board. The bill also would have required each public institution of higher education to provide instruction on the principles of Internet safety as a part of an existing general education course, a first-year orientation program, or another appropriate program or course and directs the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia to encourage private institutions of higher education to provide instruction on the principles of Internet safety.

Model policies on parental review of instructional material, local adoption HB 757 (Walker) would have required the Board of Education to adopt and distribute to each school board model policies requiring any instructional material used in any public elementary or secondary school in the Commonwealth to be open for inspection during normal business hours by the parents of students enrolled in the relevant public school, regardless of the copyright status of any such material. The bill would have required each school board to adopt policies that are consistent with such model policies adopted by the Board.

Public high school students; economics education and financial literacy, benchmark assessment HB 931 (Shin) would have required the Board of Education to develop and make available to each school board an economics education and financial literacy benchmark assessment and requires each school board to require each public high school student enrolled in the local school division, except in the case of a public high school student whose individualized education program indicates otherwise, to take such assessment at least once during grades nine through 12. The bill would have required the Board to annually report to the Governor and the General Assembly the state-level and school division-level student results on such benchmark assessment in order to aid decision-making regarding any policy changes that may be necessary to improve student learning in the relevant subject matter areas.

Early childhood care & education; expansion of Head Start prog. availability at community colleges HB 984 (Tran) would have required the Department of Education and the Virginia Community College System to convene a stakeholder work group to evaluate and provide recommendations to the Chairmen of the Senate Committee on Education and Health and the House Committee on Education by October 1, 2024, on expanding the availability of Head Start programs at comprehensive community colleges.

High school family life education curricula; programs on crime of sexual extortion HB 1020 (Wilt) would have required 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 the crime of sexual extortion.

Climate change and environmental literacy; instructional materials, model policies HB 1088 (Carr) would have required the Board of Education to make available to each local school board instructional materials on climate change and environmental literacy that are based on and include peer-reviewed scientific sources. The bill would have required the Board of Education to develop, adopt, and make available to each local school board model policies and procedures, based on peer-reviewed scientific sources, pertaining to the selection of instructional materials on climate change and environmental literacy, including a requirement for any such selected material to accurately portray changes in weather and climate patterns over time, the impacts of human activity on changes in weather and climate patterns, and the effects of climate change on people and resources. Note that HB 1088passed the General Assembly but was vetoed by the Governor. 

Obscene materials; modifies restrictions on purchase, distribution, exhibition, or loan HB 1206 (Scott, P.A.) would have modified the exceptions to restrictions on the purchase, distribution, exhibition, or loan of obscene materials by providing that schools supported by public appropriation are not subject to the exceptions and limiting the exception applicable to libraries supported by public appropriation only to obscene material that is available exclusively in a section of the library to which access is restricted by age.

Standards of Learning assessments; virtual assessment administration HB 1212 (Scott, P.A.) would have required the Board of Education to offer virtual assessment administration as an alternative method of Standards of Learning assessment administration for any student with an Individualized Education Program (IEP) who meets the criteria established by the Board to demonstrate achievement of the Standards of Learning. The bill would have provided that such virtual assessment administration shall be available at the option of such student and such student's parent subject to the final determination of such student's IEP team as to the virtual setting and conditions appropriate for such student. The bill would have further permitted the Board to adopt policies providing for such virtual assessment administration as an alternative for any student who does not receive special education or does not have an IEP, provided that such alternative is equally available to any such student subject to through-year growth assessment requirements. Finally, the bill would have required the Board to develop guidance to implement the provisions of the bill by January 1, 2025.

Early childhood care and education; publicly funded providers HB 1375 (Gardner) would have provided that any locality wishing to participate in the Virginia Preschool Initiative (VPI) must submit a proposal by May 15 of each year identifying a lead VPI agency responsible for developing a local plan for the delivery of preschool services to at-risk children. A local match based on the composite index of local ability to pay is required to fund such a proposal. The proposal must include the number of at-risk four-year-olds and three-year-olds to be served and eligibility criteria for participation. Upon acceptance, the Department will disburse state VPI funds to the lead VPI agency in such localities, which may be used with local matching funds to provide preschool education, health services, social services, parental involvement services, and transportation. The Department must establish academic standards for VPI programs that prepare students to successfully enter kindergarten. Full day VPI programs must operate for a minimum of five and a half instructional hours per day, while half day VPI programs operate for a minimum of three instructional hours per day. The bill would have required the Department of Education to collect information from VPI and the Mixed Delivery Grant Program to compile a comprehensive report on the use of state funds, including the number of slots and funding allocated to each local program or provider and the number of slots that have been filled.  The bill would have codified the Child Care Subsidy Program, which is currently established pursuant to regulations of the Board of Education, for the purpose of assisting families who meet certain eligibility criteria with the cost of child care provided by approved vendors. The bill would have required the Child Care Subsidy Program to be overseen by the Department of Education and permits the Department to contract with state and local agencies to administer the Program. The bill would have required the Department and Board of Education, as applicable, to establish rules, regulations, policies, procedures, and standards for the Program. The bill also would have codified the Mixed Delivery Grant Program, which is currently established pursuant to the general appropriation act, for the purpose of awarding grants on a competitive basis to local public entities that enter into partnerships with local private early childhood care and education entities and other community organizations, as applicable, to provide, under the direction and leadership of a lead agency identified in the grant proposal, high-quality care and education, either part time or full time, for at-risk infants, toddlers, and preschool-age children who reside in the locality. The bill would have required the Mixed Delivery Grant Program to be administered by the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation in partnership with the Department of Education and, consistent with any provisions relating to the Program in the general appropriation act, requires the Foundation and the Department to establish policies, procedures, and standards for the Program.  The legislation was Continued to 2025 in Senate Finance and Appropriations.

Virginia Freedom of Information Act; exclusions, apprenticeship programs HB 1378 (Kent) would have excluded from the mandatory disclosure requirements of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act any information in a public record regarding the participation of a minor in a program run by a state body, such as an internship, externship, or apprenticeship, except as otherwise prescribed by law.

Health education and family life education; certain videos and animations relating to human development HB 1516 (Earley) would have required health education instruction to include an oral, written, or digital lesson, lecture, or presentation about human biology relating to pregnancy and human development inside the uterus, including (i) a high-definition ultrasound video, at least three minutes in duration, showing the development of the brain, heart, sex organs, and other vital organs in early fetal development and (ii) a high-quality, computer-generated rendering or animation showing the process of fertilization and every stage of human development inside the uterus, noting significant markers in cell growth and organ development for each significant marker of pregnancy until birth. The bill would have required any family life education curriculum or similar curriculum offered by a local school division that includes any oral, written, or digital lesson, lecture, or presentation about sexual activity and pregnancy in the context of student health or healthy relationships to also include such a video and rendering or animation.

Public School Trades Incentive Fund and Program; created and established SB 27 (Stanley) would have established the Public School Trades Incentive Fund (the Fund) and the Public School Trades Incentive Program (the Program) for the purpose of providing grants on a competitive basis from the Fund to any school board that seeks to (i) restore high school programs that teach students skilled trades that lead to earning industry-recognized certifications or credentials or (ii) create or restore middle school programs that encourage and recruit students to participate in high school programs that teach students skilled trades that lead to earning industry-recognized certifications or credentials.