2019 General Assembly Update
Key Education-Related Subjects
Week ending Friday, January 11, 2019
Fairfax County Public Schools, Office of Government Relations

Additional information regarding the education-related legislation described below, as well as for all other bills related to education can be found in the thirteen subject categories located on the web pages of the FCPS Office of Government Relations at https://www.fcps.edu/about-fcps/departments-and-offices/government-relations/virginia-general-assembly.  Bills in these categories are linked to the Virginia Division of Legislative Services web pages, which provide up-to-date summary, fiscal impact and bill status information.

The 2019 Session of the Virginia General Assembly convened on Wednesday, January 9.  As of this report approximately 1,850 pieces of legislation, including the biennial budget, have been introduced for consideration during the 45-day session. A substantial number of these bills are directly related to public K-12 education.  These numbers will increase as the final day for filing bills and joint resolutions is not until Friday, January 18th.  

Education Related Committee Assignments

There are two members of the Fairfax County House of Delegates delegation on the House Education Committee: Delegates David Bulova, and Mark Keam.  Jennifer Boysko will be leaving this Committee following her recent election to the Senate.   Subcommittee assignments should be announced during the Committee’s first meeting scheduled for Monday, January 14th.  The Fairfax Delegation will have two of its members serving on the House Appropriations Committee, Delegates Mark Sickles and Paul Krizek. 

Four members of the Fairfax County Senate delegation continue to serve on the Senate Education and Health Committee:  Senators Richard Saslaw, Janet Howell, George Barker and Chap Peterson.  Senator Howell also serves on the Public Education subcommittee.  The Senate Finance Committee continues to include three members from the Fairfax delegation:  Senators Richard Saslaw, Janet Howell, and George Barker.

Governor’s Introduced Budget for K-12 Education

Prior to the start of this year’s session, the Governor proposed the following education-related budget amendments, for consideration by the General Assembly:

Teacher Salaries – adds raising teacher salaries by an additional 2 percent as of July 1, 2019.  This is on top of the 3 percent raise adopted by the General Assembly in the budget that the Governor signed earlier in the year.

School Counselors – begins to increase the number of school counselors by providing $36 million to reduce the ratio of counselor to student from 1 to 425 to an eventual goal of 1 to 250. 

Virginia Pre-School Initiative Plus Program – Proposes almost $10 million to continue the funding for the VPI Plus program because its federal funding source is running out.  This funding will sustain available slots for early childhood education.

At-Risk Add-On and Supplemental Lottery Per Pupil Allocation – adds nearly $70 million to boost the At-Risk Add-On and Supplemental Lottery Per Pupil Allocation, with half allocated to each. The At-Risk Add-On program targets state support to schools with the highest concentrations of students eligible for free lunch, while the Supplemental Lottery allocation is made on a per pupil basis to school divisions as a supplement to Basic Aid.

School Construction Loans – provides $80 million through the Literary Fund for school construction loans to cover all outstanding Literary Fund requests.  

K-12 Related Bills

School Calendar HB 1652 (Robinson) and SB 1005 (Chase) would make local school boards responsible for setting the school calendar and determining the opening day of the school year and eliminates the post-Labor Day opening requirement and "good cause" scenarios for which the Board of Education may grant waivers of this requirement. The bill would require local school boards that set the school calendar with a pre-Labor Day opening date, except those schools that were granted a "good cause" waiver for the 2018-2019 school year, to close all schools in the division from the Thursday immediately preceding Labor Day through Labor Day or the Friday immediately preceding Labor Day through the Tuesday immediately succeeding Labor Day.  HB 2140 (Thomas) would permit the Board of Education to waive the requirement to set the school calendar so that the first day students are required to attend school must be after Labor Day for any school board that certifies to the Board of Education that the school division is entirely surrounded by school divisions that each have an opening date prior to Labor Day in the school year for which the waiver is sought.  SB 1074 (Howell) and SB 1113 (Favola) would provide that the local school board of a school division located in Planning District 8 shall be responsible for setting the school calendar and determining the opening day of the school year. 

Safety Devices for Electronic Room Partitions HB 1753 (Sickles) would prohibit school boards from installing an electronic room partition in any school building unless such partition includes a contact pressure-sensitive safety edge whereby the partition automatically stops when it senses contact with any object other than the adjoining wall.
Permitted Student Fees and Charges in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools 
HB 2319 (Bell, Richard P.) would prohibit school boards from levying fees and charges on students, with the limited exception of charging tuition under certain circumstances.

Behavior Analysts HB 2508 (Pogge) and SB 1134 (Favola) would include licensed behavior analysts and licensed assistant behavior analysts as support services positions in a local school division for the purposes of Title 22.1 (Education) of the Code of Virginia.   SB 1258 (Dunnavant) would amend the Standards of Quality and require local school boards to employ one full-time equivalent licensed behavior analyst or licensed assistant behavior analyst per five schools in the school division.   

Dual Enrollment; Teacher Licensure; HB 2589 (Tran) would require the Board of Education (the Board) to provide for the issuance of three-year licenses to teach, either full time or part time, dual enrollment courses at high schools in specific subject areas to an individual who submits an application to the Board, in the form prescribed by the Board, that includes a recommendation for such a license from the local school board; meets certain basic conditions for licensure as prescribed by the Board; holds at a minimum, a baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited institution of higher education and has completed coursework in the subject area in which the individual seeks to teach or the required professional license in the specific subject area in which the individual seeks to teach, where applicable; has at least four years of full-time work experience or its equivalent in the subject area in which the individual seeks to teach; and if appropriate, has obtained qualifying scores on the communication and literacy professional teacher's assessment prescribed by the Board. The bill would require the employing school board to assign a mentor to supervise an individual issued such a license during his first two years of teaching. The bill would also contain provisions relating to the extension of such licenses.  SB 1575 (Ebbin) would permit any school board to employ any individual, who is employed by an accredited institution of higher education as an instructor, to teach career and technical education courses or dual enrollment courses in the local school division, regardless of whether such individual holds a license issued by the Board of Education.

Alternative Education Programs HB 2387 (Bulova) would require local school boards to provide alternative education programs for suspended students and assign licensed instructional personnel for such programs in a manner that produces division wide ratios of students in average daily membership to full-time equivalent teaching positions that are not greater than 10 to one. The bill would also require the Board of Education to establish quality standards for such alternative education programs. The bill would provide that the above mentioned provisions shall become effective after the rebenchmarking of the direct aid to public education budget for the 2020-2022 biennium.  HB 1985 (Bell, R.P.) and SB 1298 (Barker) would require the Department of Education to annually collect from each school board and publish on its website various enrollment and achievement data on alternative education programs for students who have been suspended, expelled, or otherwise precluded from attendance at school. The bill would require such data to be published in a manner that protects the identities of individual students and disaggregated by local school division and by student race, ethnicity, gender, and disability.

Disorderly Conduct by Enrolled Students HB 1685 (Bourne) would provide that no enrolled public school student who disrupts the operation of the school at which he is enrolled or any activity conducted or sponsored by the school at which he is enrolled on school grounds during normal school hours is guilty of disorderly conduct.  HB 1688 (Mullin) SB 1107 (McClellan) would provide that a student at any elementary or secondary school shall not be guilty of disorderly conduct in public places if the disorderly conduct occurred on school property or a school bus.  

Student Suspension; Sufficient Cause HB 2041 (Kory) would provide that in no cases shall sufficient cause for student suspensions include only instances of cell phone use or only instances of dress code violations. 

Standards of Learning Assessments HB 2338 (Landes) and SB 1218 (Newman) would require the Standards of Learning assessments administered to students in grades nine through twelve to include reading, writing, mathematics, science, and Virginia and U.S. history. The bill would require each such Standards of Learning assessment to consist of a Board-developed end-of-course assessment and prohibits such from being performance-based. The bill would require each school board to annually certify that it has provided instruction and administered an alternative assessment, consistent with Board guidelines, to students taking other high school courses in reading, writing, mathematics, science, and history and social science. The bill would require such Board guidelines to ensure that such assessments produce quantifiable metrics and performance measures that are comparable across school divisions and years. The bill would require the Department of Education to perform reviews and performance audits on such locally administered alternative assessments for high school courses. The bill would require the Board, in its graduation requirements, to require students to earn a verified unit of credit in reading, writing, mathematics, science, and Virginia and U.S. History. The bill would require each such verified credit to be earned only by the successful completion of a Board-developed end-of-course Standards of Learning assessment; achievement of a passing score on a Board-approved standardized test administered on a statewide, multistate, or international basis that measures content that incorporates or exceeds the Standards of Learning content in the course for which the verified credit is given; or achievement of criteria for the receipt of a locally awarded verified credit from the local school board in accordance with criteria established in Board guidelines when the student has not passed the corresponding Standards of Learning assessment.

Children with Disabilities; Due Process Hearings; Burden of Proof HB 2463 (Tran) would specify that, in any due process hearing before a hearing officer to resolve certain disputes relating to the education of children with disabilities, the local school division has the burden of proof, including the burden of production and the burden of persuasion, provided that in any due process hearing brought by a parent, the parent shall establish a prima facie case before the burden of persuasion falls on the local school division and in any dispute in which a party seeks tuition reimbursement for a unilateral placement, such party seeking tuition reimbursement has the burden of production and the burden of persuasion solely on the issue of the appropriateness of the unilateral placement. 

Localities and School Divisions; Posting of Register of Funds Expended HB 1907 (VanValkenburg) and SB 1262 (Sturtevant) would require every locality with a population greater than 25,000 and each school division with greater than 5,000 students to post quarterly on the public government website of such locality or school division a register of all funds expended, showing vendor name, date of payment, amount, and a description of the type of expense, including credit card purchases with the same information. The bill would allow any locality or school division to exclude from such posting any information that is exempt from mandatory disclosure under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, any personal identifying information related to a court-ordered payment, and any information related to undercover law-enforcement officers. The bill would have a delayed effective date of July 1, 2020. 

Local Government Taxing Authority HB 2189 (Kilgore) and SB 1127 (Favola) would equalize municipal taxing authority and county taxing authority by granting a county the same authority available to a municipality through the uniform charter powers. The bill would have a delayed effective date of July 1, 2020, prior to which the Division of Legislative Services is directed to convene a working group to develop recommendations as to what additional legislative changes would be needed to effectuate the provisions of the bill. 

Equal Rights Amendment HJ 577 (Rasoul) HJ 579 (Caroll-Foy) HJ 583 (Ward), SJ 270 (Saslaw) and SJ 284 (Sturtevant) would ratify the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution of the United States that was proposed by Congress in 1972. The joint resolutions would advocate the position that the 1972 Equal Rights Amendment remains viable and may be ratified notwithstanding the expiration of the 10-year ratification period set out in the resolving clause, as amended, in the proposal adopted by Congress.  HJ 692 (Cole) would memorialize the Congress of the United States to submit a new Equal Rights Amendment, with language that addresses the concerns over religious and privacy rights, to the states for ratification.

Proffers HB 1801 (Ware) SB 1143 (Peake), SB 1373 (Favola) and SB 1524 (Black) would make extensive changes to conditional zoning provisions first enacted in 2016. Specific amendments would include provisions stating that no locality shall "require" any unreasonable proffer. Final enactments would state that the bill shall be effective as to any application for a rezoning or proffer condition amendment filed on or after July 1, 2019, or to certain other pending applications, and an applicant with a pending application for a rezoning or proffer condition amendment that was filed prior to July 1, 2016, may elect to proceed under the law as it existed prior to that date, and an applicant with a pending application for a rezoning or proffer condition amendment filed on or after July 1, 2016, but before July 1, 2019, may elect to proceed under the law as it existed during that period.  HB 2276 (Murphy) would make changes to conditional zoning provisions first enacted in 2016 by including a provision that may allow certain localities to opt out of the provisions in their entirety by, in part, establishing a stakeholder advisory committee. HB 2342 (Thomas) would make extensive changes to conditional zoning provisions first enacted in 2016. Specific amendments would include provisions stating that no locality shall "require" any unreasonable proffer. Subsequent enactment clauses state that the bill shall be effective as to any application for a rezoning filed on or after July 1, 2019, or for a proffer condition amendment amending a rezoning which was filed on or after July 1, 2019, or to any then pending rezoning application in which the applicant elects to proceed hereunder, by amendment of that pending application, and an applicant with a pending application for a rezoning or proffer condition amendment that was filed prior to July 1, 2016, may continue to proceed under the law as it existed prior to that date, and an applicant with a pending rezoning application filed after July 1, 2016, but before July 1, 2019, or proffer condition amendment application amending a rezoning for which the application was filed after July 1, 2016, but before July 1, 2019, may continue to proceed under the law as it existed during that period.   SB 944 (Stuart) would remove various provisions granting localities authority to accept cash proffers as part of the conditional rezoning process. The bill would repeal provisions that limit existing impact fee authority to localities that have established an urban transportation service district and areas outside of such service districts that are zoned for agricultural use and that are being subdivided for by-right residential development. The effect of the repeal would be to make the existing impact fee provisions available for use by any locality that includes within its comprehensive plan a calculation of the capital costs of public facilities necessary to serve residential uses.

School Safety Procedures; Emergency Situations; Annual Training HB 1732 (O’Quinn) and SB 1220 (Newman) would require each public elementary and secondary school principal to develop and deliver to each student and employee in the school at least once annually training on safety procedures in the event of an emergency situation on school property.  

Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety; Threat Assessment; Case Management Tool HB 1734 (Marshall) and SB 1213 (Newman) would require the Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety to develop a case management tool for use by public elementary and secondary school threat assessment teams and requires such threat assessment teams to use such tool to collect and report to the Center quantitative data on its activities. 

Development and Review of School Crisis, Emergency Management, and Medical Emergency Response Plans HB 1737 (Wright) and SB 1220 (Newman) would require each school board to include the chief law-enforcement officer, the fire chief, the chief of the emergency medical services agency, and the emergency management official of the locality, or their designees, in the development and review of school crisis, emergency management, and medical emergency response plans.  

School Building Plans HB 1738 (Rush) would require the licensed architect or professional engineer who provides the required statement to accompany the school superintendent's approval on all plans and specifications for new or remodeled public school building construction to be trained and experienced in crime prevention through environmental design.  

Lock-Down Drills HB 1793 (VanValkenburg) would require every public school to provide the parents of enrolled students with at least 24 hours' notice before the school conducts any lock-down drill.  

School Boards; Local Law-enforcement Agencies; Memorandums of Understanding HB 1733 (Gilbert) and SB 1214 (Newman) would require the school board in each school division in which the local law-enforcement agency employs school resource officers to enter into a memorandum of understanding with such local law-enforcement agency that sets forth the powers and duties of the school resource officers. The bill would require each such school board and local law-enforcement agency to review and amend or affirm the memorandum at least once every five years. HB 2291 (VanValkenburg) and SB 1563 (Lewis) would requires the school board in each school division in which the local law-enforcement agency employs school resource officers to enter into a memorandum of understanding with such local law-enforcement agency that sets forth the respective roles and responsibilities of the school board and the law-enforcement agency and the roles and responsibilities of such school resource officers. The bill requires each such school board and local law-enforcement agency to (i) review the memorandum of understanding every two years or at any time upon the request of either party and may revise such memorandum at any time as agreed by the parties and (ii) ensure that all relevant personnel employed by either party are informed of and review the provisions of the memorandum of understanding, including any revisions to the memorandum of understanding. The bill also requires the Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety to develop a model memorandum of understanding that may be used by local school boards and local law-enforcement agencies to satisfy the new requirements put forth in the bill.  SB 1551 (Surovell) would require the school board in each school division in which the local law-enforcement agency employs school resource officers to enter into a memorandum of understanding with such local law-enforcement agency that sets forth the respective roles and responsibilities of the school board and the law-enforcement agency and the roles and responsibilities of such school resource officers. The bill requires that the memorandum of understanding be consistent with the model memorandum of understanding developed by the Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety. The bill requires that the model memorandum contain provisions that prohibit school resource officers from (i) conducting a search of a student's person or property while on school property unless such resource officer has probable cause to conduct such a search and either has a judicial warrant authorizing the search or has identified exigent circumstances necessitating a warrantless search; (ii) participating in any request for assistance from a federal agency without a subpoena or warrant; (iii) inquiring as to whether a student was born in a country other than the United States or is a citizen of a country other than the United States, unless such inquiry is in connection with an kidnapping or extortion investigation; and (iv) absent exigent circumstances, questioning any student without prior notification to the parent or guardian of such student's right to refuse to be questioned or searched. The bill also provides that the model memorandum of understanding shall contain provisions regarding the use of translators or appropriate guardians to assist students in responding to questions from a school resource officer. The bill requires each such school board and local law-enforcement agency to review the memorandum of understanding every four years or at any time upon request of either party and provides that the memorandum of understanding may be revised as agreed to by the parties. The bill provides that such memorandum shall be made available for public review and comment at least 30 days prior to its adoption. The bill also redefines school resource officer to specifically prohibit a school resource officer from investigating or enforcing violations of school board policies, including student conduct codes.

School Resource Officers; Training and Certification; Memoranda of Understanding SB 1130 (Locke) and SB 1299 (Barker) would require each school resource officer to be trained and certified by the Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety. The bill would expand the topics on which school security officers are required to be trained. The bill would also require any school board that agrees to place school resource officers in any school in the school division and the relevant local law-enforcement agency to establish and annually review and update a memorandum of understanding (MOU) governing the use and duties of school resource officers, and ensure that all relevant parties receive initial and ongoing training on the contents of such MOU.

School Resource Officers and School Security Officers; Data HB 1873 (Van Valkenburg) would require each local school board to annually collect and report to the Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety (the Center) and the Department of Education (the Department) data on the use of force against students, arrests of students, student referrals to court, and other disciplinary actions by school resource officers and school security officers and the Center, in conjunction with the Department, to collect, analyze, and disseminate such data.

School Counselors HB 1729 (Landes) would require each school counselor employed by a school board in a public elementary or secondary school to spend at least 80 percent of his staff time during normal school hours in the direct counseling of individual students or groups of students. HB 1791 (Van Valkenburg) would change the name of guidance counselors to school counselors.  HB 2053 (McQuinn) and SB 1406 (Dance) would change the name of guidance counselors to school counselors and would require school boards to employ school counselors in accordance with the following ratios:  effective with the 2019-2020 school year, in elementary schools, one hour per day per 75 students, one full-time at 375 students, one hour per day additional time per 75 students or major fraction thereof; in middle schools, one period per 65 students, one full-time at 325 students, one additional period per 65 students or major fraction thereof; in high schools, one period per 60 students, one full-time at 300 students, one additional period per 60 students or major fraction thereof; effective with the 2020-2021 school year, in elementary schools, one hour per day per 60 students, one full-time at 300 students, one hour per day additional time per 60 students or major fraction thereof; in middle and high schools, one period per 55 students, one full-time at 275 students, one additional period per 55 students or major fraction thereof; and effective with the 2021-2022 school year, in elementary, middle, and high schools, one hour per day per 50 students, one full-time at 250 students, one additional hour per day per 50 students or major fraction thereof. HB 2623 (Ransone) would prohibit a student from being required to receive personal or social counseling services without written parental consent. Provides that a parent of a student may, at his sole discretion, be present at any personal or social counseling service in which his child is required to participate. The bill requires parental notification for each instance a student is required to receive personal or social counseling services, which notification shall include information about the services that are scheduled for the student, the purpose and general description of the services, ways parents may review materials to be used, and the procedures by which parents may be present or limit or prohibit the student's participation.
Mental Health First Aid Training SB 1472 (Deeds) would require each school board to adopt and implement policies that require each teacher and other relevant personnel, as determined by the school board, employed on a full-time basis, to complete a Mental Health First Aid training or similar program. The bill would require each school board to provide such training and provides that a school board may contract with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, a community services board, a behavioral health authority, a nonprofit organization, or other certified trainer to provide such training.
Virginia Retirement System; Retired Law-Enforcement Officers Employed as School Security Officers HB 1631 (Leftwich), HB 1765 (Yancey), HB 2024 (Murphy), SB 1023 (Cosgrove), SB 1203 (Stewart) and SB 1582 (Suetterlein) would allow a retired law-enforcement officer to continue to receive his service retirement allowance during a subsequent period of employment by a local school division as a school security officer.

Renewable Energy HB 2329 (Keam) and SB 1456 (McClellan) would promote the establishment of distributed renewable solar and other renewable energy. The measure (i) would remove the one percent cap on the total amount of renewable energy that can be net metered in a utility's service territory, (ii) authorize third-party power purchase agreements for all customer classes throughout the Commonwealth, (iii) allow local governments and certain other public bodies to install solar or wind facilities of up to five megawatts on government-owned property and use the electricity for government-owned buildings, (iv) allow all net metering customers to attribute output from a single solar array to multiple meters, (v) allow the owner of a multi-family residential building or the common areas of a condominium to install a renewable energy generation facility and sell the electricity to tenants or condominium unit owners, (vi) remove the restriction on customers installing a net-metered generation facility larger than that required to meet their previous 12 months' demand, (vii) raise the cap for net-metered nonresidential generation facilities from one megawatt to two megawatts, and (viii) remove the ability of utilities to assess standby charges. The measure would also amend the Commonwealth Energy Policy to include provisions supporting distributed generation of renewable energy.

Dual Enrollment Tuition or Fees for Students Who Are Eligible For Free or Reduced Price Lunch HB 1837 (Marshall) would provide that no student who is eligible to receive free or reduced price lunch and who enrolls in a dual enrollment course shall be charged tuition or any other fee for such enrollment.

Dual Enrollment and Graduation Requirements; Postsecondary Credential, Certification, or License Attainment SB 1522 (Ruff) would require local school boards and comprehensive community colleges to enter into dual enrollment agreements for postsecondary credential, certification, or license attainment concurrent with a high school diploma. The bill would also require the Board of Education to include in its graduation requirements provisions for the award of standard units of credit for successfully completing such a program at a comprehensive community college through a dual enrollment agreement.  

School Bus Video-Monitoring Systems; Release of Information by the Department of Motor Vehicles SB 1476 (Deeds) would authorize the Department of Motor Vehicles to release vehicle owner data of a vehicle that failed to stop for a stopped school bus upon request of a video-monitoring system operator or upon request of the authorized agent or employee of a video-monitoring system operator. SB 1520 (Carrico) would authorize the Department of Motor Vehicles (the Department) to release vehicle owner data of a vehicle that failed to stop for a stopped school bus upon request of a video-monitoring system operator or upon request of the authorized agent or employee of a video-monitoring system operator. The bill would expand the length of time for which a driver of a motor vehicle must remain stopped for a stopped school bus from when all persons are clear of the roadway to when the bus is back in motion. The bill would provide that any conviction for passing a stopped school bus imposed by mailing a summons will not be reported to the Department or made part of the operator's driving record. However, the bill would provide that if the conviction is imposed as a result of a law-enforcement officer personally issuing a summons at the time of violation the conviction shall be reported to the Department and shall result in the assessment of four demerit points to that person's driving record. The bill would provide that an ordinance enacted by a county regarding a video-monitoring system applies to infractions that occur within any town located within the county for which the county provides the public school system.

Passing a Stopped School Bus; Civil Penalty HB 1695 (Farris) would increase from $250 to $500 the civil penalty for passing a stopped school bus. HB 2273 (Webert) would increase the civil penalty for passing a stopped school bus from $250 to $300. The bill creates an increased penalty of $600 for any driver who passes a stopped school bus while holding or manually manipulating a handheld personal communications device.
Seat Belts on Public School Buses HB 1710 (Krizek) would require the Board of Education to make regulations to require each new public school bus purchased for the transportation of students to be equipped with a seat belt consisting of a lap belt and shoulder strap or harness in every seat. The bill would require each school board to ensure that no later than July 1, 2037, each school bus that it uses for the transportation of students. 
Student Offenses Reportable by Intake Officers to School Division Superintendents HB 1787 (Ransone) and SB 1381 (McDougle) would add threats of death or bodily injury to another person communicated in writing to such person or member of such person's family and threats to commit serious bodily harm to persons on school property to the listing of offenses that a juvenile intake officer is required to report to the school division superintendent, when a petition is filed alleging that a juvenile student committed such an offense. 

Commission on Student Behavioral Health HB 1735 (Robinson) would establish the Commission on Student Behavioral Health as a legislative branch commission. The purpose of the Commission would  be to assess the efficacy of developing and implementing a statewide behavioral health and suicide prevention hotline that students may use to report threats of violence or receive real-time counseling services; review the current school counselor-to-student ratio, and whether the realignment of counseling responsibilities proposed by the House Select Committee on School Safety is improving schools' ability to provide counseling services to students; review the current roles and responsibilities of school nurses, psychologists, and social workers in schools and determine whether a realignment of responsibilities could improve or streamline behavioral health services offered to students; evaluate the efficacy and costs of providing enhanced behavioral health services in schools delivered through partnerships established between school divisions and local departments of social services and community services boards; assess the effectiveness of de-escalation and other alternative disciplinary policies when interacting with students suffering from  behavioral health challenges; examine the value of additional teacher training requirements on student behavioral health, such as mental health first aid; and examine other topics related to student behavioral health identified by the Commission. The Commission shall consist of 12 members as follows: seven members of the House of Delegates, of whom two shall be members of the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions, two shall be members of the House Committee on Education, two shall be members of the House Committee on Appropriations, and one shall be a member at-large, to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Delegates; and five members of the Senate, of whom two shall be members of the Senate Committee on Education and Health, two shall be members of the Senate Committee on Finance, and one shall be a member at-large, to be appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules. The Commission could appoint, employ, and remove an executive director and such other persons as it deems necessary and determine their duties and fix their salaries or compensation within the amounts appropriated therefor. The Commission could also employ experts who have special knowledge of the issues before it. All agencies of the Commonwealth would be required to provide assistance to the Commission, upon request. The bill would have an expiration date of July 1, 2021.

Graduation Requirements; Credit for Work-Based Learning Experiences SB 1147 (Petersen) would require the Board of Education in its graduation requirements to permit students in locally approved internships, externships, apprenticeships, credentialing programs, certification programs, licensure programs, and other work-based learning experiences to receive credit, up to a full course load, based on time spent in such programs. The bill would also require the Board to permit students in grade twelve to earn the equivalent of a full course load and to substitute each credit earned in such a program for a standard unit of credit in English, mathematics, science, or history and social science.  

Clock Hours of Instruction; Certain Alternative Programs HB 2018 (Peace) and SB 1434 (McClellan) would require the Board of Education, in establishing high school graduation requirements, to permit time spent by students in locally approved courses aligned with the Standards of Learning, in service learning opportunities, and in career and technical workplace opportunities, including internships, externships, apprenticeships, credentialing programs, certification programs, licensure programs, and other work-based learning experiences, to be included in the 140 clock hours of instruction required for the relevant course.

Alternative Pathway to the Advanced Studies Diploma HB 2125 (Davis) would direct the Board of Education to establish a pathway to the advanced studies high school diploma that requires advanced coursework in career and technical education in lieu of world language coursework and any other required course that the Board deems appropriate. The bill would require such pathway to become effective for the 2020-2021 school year and to be available to any student, regardless of the school year during which the student enters ninth grade.

School Health Advisory Committee SB 1142 (Favola) would require the Board of Education to establish the State School Health Advisory Committee, consisting of no more than 20 nonlegislative citizen members, to advise the Board, the Governor, and the General Assembly on the role of employees in public elementary or secondary schools in providing health care services at such schools and the need for any training associated with delivery of health care services.

Dress or Grooming Codes in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools HB 2104 (Carroll Foy) would require any dress or grooming code, which the bill defines as any practice, policy, or portion of a code of student conduct adopted by a school board that governs or restricts the attire of any enrolled student, to permit any student to wear any religiously, ethnically, or culturally specific or significant head covering or hairstyle, including hijabs, yarmulkes, headwraps, braids, dreadlocks, and cornrows; maintain gender neutrality by subjecting any student to the same set of rules and standards regardless of gender; be clear, specific, and objective and avoid any subjective term or standard such as "distracting," "provocative," or "inappropriate"; prohibit any school board employee from enforcing the dress or grooming code by direct physical contact with a student or a student's attire; and prohibit any school board employee from requiring a student to undress in front of any other individual, including the enforcing school board employee, to comply with the dress or grooming code. The bill would require the Board of Education to include in its guidelines and model policies for codes of student conduct standards for dress or grooming codes.

Participation in Interscholastic Programs (“Tebow Bill”) HB 2102 (Freitas) would prohibit public schools from joining an organization governing interscholastic programs that does not deem eligible for participation a student who receives home instruction; has demonstrated evidence of progress for two consecutive academic years; is in compliance with immunization requirements; is entitled to free tuition in a public school; has not reached the age of 19 by August 1 of the current academic year; is an amateur who receives no compensation but participates solely for the educational, physical, mental, and social benefits of the activity; complies with all disciplinary rules and is subject to all codes of conduct applicable to all public high school athletes; and complies with all other rules governing awards, all-star games, maximum consecutive semesters of high school enrollment, parental consents, physical examinations, and transfers applicable to all high school athletes. The bill would provide that no local school board is required to establish a policy to permit students who receive home instruction to participate in interscholastic programs. The bill would permit reasonable fees to be charged to students who receive home instruction to cover the costs of participation in such interscholastic programs, including the costs of additional insurance, uniforms, and equipment. The bill would have an expiration date of July 1, 2024.

Junior Reserve Officer Training Programs for Students Receiving Home Instruction SB 1275 (Black) would require any school board that offers a Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps program to make the program available to any student who receives home instruction and resides in the local school division. The bill would prohibit any such school board from requiring any such student to enroll on a full or part-time basis or to meet other eligibility requirements for such a program beyond those required of public school students. The bill would provide that such a student may demonstrate compliance with any academic achievement requirements for participation in such a program in any manner acceptable as evidence of progress under the home instruction provisions of the Code.

Use of Seclusion and Restraint in Public Schools HB 2599 (Bell, J.J.) would prohibit (i) any school board employee from restraining a student at school in a prone or facedown position and (ii) any student from being placed in seclusion at school unless the room or space in which he is secluded is free from all potentially dangerous or harmful materials or the student is continuously monitored in-person or with live video monitoring. The bill would require the principal or his designee to notify the parent of any student who is restrained or secluded at school of such incident on the day on which the incident occurs or as soon as practical after the incident occurs. The bill also would require each incident of seclusion or restraint to be documented in a manner that describes the incident with sufficient detail, including the employee's rationale for restraining or secluding the student and the methods employed, and such documentation to be provided to the school board, the principal, and the student's parent.

Virginia Preschool Initiative; Enrollment Funding HB 1646 (Bourne) would permit any local school board to offer any slots in its Virginia Preschool Initiative program that remain unfilled by at-risk students after initial enrollment to students who reside in the school division and meet the age requirements but do not qualify as at-risk and to charge a fee for such enrollment. The bill would permit any school board that charges a fee for such enrollment to use such fees for the purpose of meeting the required local match for its Virginia Preschool Initiative program.

Military Families; Relocation to the Commonwealth; Student Registration HB 1623 (Cole) HB 2628 (Freitas) and SB 1249 (Reeves) would permit any student whose parent has received orders to relocate to a duty station in the Commonwealth to register for courses and other academic programs and participate in the lottery process for charter schools and college partnership laboratory schools in the school division in which such student will reside at the same time and in the same manner as students who reside in the local school division. The bill would require each such student to provide to the school board proof of residency in the local school division no later than 10 days after his parent establishes such residency.

Scholastic records; disclosure of directory information HB 2449 (Wilt) would provide that a school or institution of higher education may disclose certain directory information of a student to certain internal persons for educational purposes or internal business if the student has not opted out of such disclosure. Under current law, such disclosures require written consent. The bill also provides an exception for state and federal law requirements from the prohibition of such disclosures.

Public Charter Schools HB 2416 (Davis) would establish yellow public charter schools as a category of public charter schools at which additional student services are provided, including health care, dental care, after-school support, and nutritional support. The bill permits a yellow public charter school applicant, following a local school board decision to deny a petition for the reconsideration of the denial of its application, to appeal such denial to the Board and requires the Board to review and approve or deny such application. The bill specifies that any yellow public charter school application so approved by the Board shall remain in effect for a period not to exceed 10 years.

Child Safety Savings Accounts HB 2568 (LaRock) would permit the parents of certain children who are victims of bullying, certain crimes, and certain other violent acts to apply to the school division in which the child resides for a one-year, renewable Child Safety Savings Account that consists of an amount that is equivalent to a certain percentage of all applicable annual Standards of Quality per pupil state funds appropriated for public school purposes and apportioned to the resident school division in which the student resides, including the per pupil share of state sales tax funding in basic aid and any state per pupil share of special education funding for which the student is eligible. The bill would permit the parent to use the moneys in such account for certain education-related expenses of the student, including tuition, deposits, fees, and required textbooks at a private elementary school or secondary school that is located in the Commonwealth. The bill also would contain provisions relating to auditing, rescinding, and reviewing expenses made from such accounts.

Virtual Virginia SB 1590 (Dunnavant) would require that the Virtual Virginia program, the statewide electronic classroom established by the Department of Education, be made available to all public schools. Currently, the program is available only to high schools. The bill would require the Department to utilize a learning management system for the purposes of implementing Virtual Virginia. The bill also would authorize the Department to charge a per-student fee to school divisions for each student enrolled in a full-time Virtual Virginia program beyond an initial allotment of 15 such students per school division and prohibit the Department from limiting the total number of such students by school division.

In-state Tuition; Domicile; Individuals Granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals SB 1055 (Marsden) would declare that, absent congressional intent to the contrary, any individual currently granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has the capacity to intend to remain in the Commonwealth indefinitely and is therefore eligible to establish domicile and receive in-state tuition charges at any public institution of higher education in the Commonwealth. HB 1882 (Keam) and SB 1148 (Marsden) would declare eligible for in-state tuition any individual who graduated from a public or private high school in the Commonwealth or passed a high school equivalency examination approved by the Board of Education;  registers as an entering student or is enrolled in a public institution of higher education; has submitted evidence that he or, in the case of a dependent student, at least one parent, guardian, or person standing in loco parentis has filed, unless exempted by state law, Virginia income tax returns for at least one year prior to the date of registration or enrollment; and provides an affidavit to the public institution of higher education in which he has registered as an entering student or is enrolled stating that he has filed an application to become a permanent resident of the United States and is actively pursuing such permanent residency or will do so as soon as he becomes eligible for such permanent residency.

Early Childhood Care and Education; Licensing. SB 1095 (Howell) and SB 1313 (Dunnavant) would require the Board of Education to establish a statewide unified public-private system for early childhood care and education in the Commonwealth to be administered by the Board of Education, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the Department of Education. The bill would transfer the authority to license and regulate child day programs and other early child care agencies from the Board of Social Services and Department of Social Services to the Board of Education and the Department of Education. The bill would maintain current licensure, background check, and other requirements of such programs. The bill would establish the Early Childhood Innovation Fund for the purpose of facilitating regional public-private collaboration and to field test innovative strategies and evidence-based practices that support a robust system of comprehensive early childhood care and education services to deliver measurable school readiness outcomes and meet regional workforce support needs. Such provisions of the bill would have a delayed effective date of July 1, 2021. The bill would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction to establish a plan for implementing the statewide unified early childhood care and education system and require the Department of Social Services and the Department of Education to enter into a cooperative agreement to coordinate the transition. The bill would provide that, beginning July 1, 2021, the Department of Education will be the lead agency for the administration of the Child Care and Development Block Grant and the Head Start Collaboration Office. Finally, the bill would require the Board of Education and the Board of Social Services to promulgate regulations to implement the provisions of the bill to become effective on July 1, 2021.