2019 General Assembly Update
Key Education-Related Subjects
Week ending Friday, January 18, 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.

New Fairfax Delegation House Education Committee Member
Fairfax County Delegation member Richard “Rip” Sullivan has been named a member of the House Education Committee.  He filled the vacancy that occurred when Jennifer B. Boysko was elected to the Senate.  

K-12 Related Bills

High School Graduation Requirements; Work Experience; Capstone Project HB 2662 (Landes) would direct the Board of Education, in establishing high school graduation requirements, to require students to complete a work experience such as an internship, an externship, or another work-based or service-based learning experience during eleventh or twelfth grade and a capstone project that aligns with and further develops the knowledge and skills attained through such work experience.

Modernization of Public School Buildings and Facilities SB 1331 (Stanley) would establish standards for the design, construction, maintenance, and operation of public school buildings and facilities and allows for a local school division to enter into a lease agreement with a private entity to meet such standards. The bill would allow for net energy metering in public school buildings and facilities. The bill would also authorize the Virginia Resources Authority to provide partial funding for school modernization projects, effective January 1, 2020.

School Bus Operators; Training SB 1713 (Vogel) would require the Board of Education to include in its training program for school bus operators safety protocols for responding to adverse weather conditions, unsafe conditions during loading and unloading of students, students on the wrong bus, and other circumstances, as determined by the Board, where student safety is at risk.

Standards of Quality; Reading Diagnostic Tests SB 1718 (Black) would require that the first reading diagnostic test administered in the school year to a student in kindergarten through grade three include a rapid automatized naming component and that local school divisions report the results of reading diagnostic tests, including subset scores, to parents.

Alternative Accountability Process Involving Assault or Assault and Battery Without Bodily Injury SB 1545 (Sturtevant) would allow a school board to adopt an alternative accountability process to provide a principal and parties involved in an incident involving assault or assault and battery without bodily injury that occurs on a school bus, on school property, or at a school-sponsored event an option to enter into a mutually agreed upon mediation process between the involved parties as an alternative to reporting such incident to law enforcement. The bill would require a principal in a school division with such a process to attempt to engage the parties involved in such an incident in the alternative accountability process prior to reporting such incident to the local law-enforcement agency. The bill would prohibit a principal from reporting such an incident when the parties successfully complete the alternative accountability process.

Public School Security Equipment Grant Act of 2013; Eligible Security Equipment HB 2720 (Gooditis) would specify that, for the purpose of eligibility for grants for security equipment through the Public School Security Equipment Grant Act of 2013, security equipment includes building modifications and fixtures, such as security vestibules.

Adult Education Programs; Year-Round Operation HB 1877 (Convirs-Fowler) would require year-round operation of adult education programs by local school divisions. 

Class Size Limits HB 2646 (Hugo) would reduce from 29 to 28 the maximum class size in kindergarten; from 30 to 28 the maximum class size in grades one, two, and three; and from 35 to 29 the maximum class size in grades four, five, and six.

Standards of Learning Assessments; Reduction in Total Number and Type SB 1525 (Sturtevant) would reduce the total number and type of required Standards of Learning assessments to the minimum requirements established by the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, P.L. 89-10, as amended. The bill would require the Department of Education to calculate any potential or realized savings from the implementation of the bill and to report the amount of such savings to the Governor and the Chairmen of the House Committee on Appropriations and Senate Committee on Finance by November 1, 2020. Such amount would be included in the total for Direct Aid to Public Education in any general appropriation act for fiscal years 2022 and 2023.

Children's Services Act; Special Education Programs HB 1619 (Thomas) would expand eligibility for services under the Children's Services Act to students who transfer from an approved private school special education program to a public school special education program established and funded jointly by a local governing body and school division located within Planning District 16 for the purpose of providing special education and related services when the public school special education program is able to provide services comparable to those of an approved private school special education program and the student would require placement in an approved private school special education program but for the availability of the public school special education program.  SB 1576 (Suetterlein) would require the Department of Education and relevant local school boards to develop and implement a pilot program for up to four years in two to eight local school divisions in the Commonwealth. In developing the pilot, the Department would be required to partner with the appropriate school board employees in each such local school division to identify the resources, services, and supports required by each student who resides in each such local school division and who is educated in a private school setting pursuant to his Individualized Education Program; study the feasibility of transitioning each such student from his private school setting to an appropriate public school setting in the local school division and providing the identified resources, services, and supports in such public school setting; and  recommend a process for redirecting federal, state, and local funds, including funds provided pursuant to the Children's Services Act, provided for the education of each such student to the local school division for the purpose of providing the identified resources, services, and supports in the appropriate public school setting. The bill would require the Department of Education to make a report to the Governor, the Senate Committees on Education and Health and Finance, and the House Committees on Education and Appropriations on the findings of each pilot program after two and four years.

High School Family Life Education Curricula; Students with Intellectual or Developmental Disabilities HB 1693 (Rodman) would require any high school family life education curriculum offered by a local school division to include, at least four times during grades 11 and 12, instruction for students with intellectual or developmental disabilities on a variety of topics, including social skills, self-esteem, sexuality, and rights and responsibilities.  SB 1595 (Dunnavant) would require the Board of Education to adapt its family life education Standards of Learning and curriculum guidelines, as necessary, to meet the needs of students in special education. The bill would also require a local school board offering a family life education curriculum to ensure that students in special education receive appropriate instruction consistent with any such adaptations.

Tobacco Products and Nicotine Vapor Products SB 1056 (Marsden) would require each school board to develop and implement a policy to prohibit the use of tobacco products and nicotine vapor products on a school bus, on school property, or at a school-sponsored activity and include in its code of student conduct a prohibition against possessing tobacco products or nicotine vapor products on a school bus, on school property, or at a school-sponsored activity.  HB 2384 (Hope) and SB 1295 (Spruill) would require each school board to develop and implement a policy to prohibit the use and distribution of tobacco products and nicotine vapor products on a school bus, on school property, or at an on-site or off-site school-sponsored activity and include in its code of student conduct a prohibition against possessing tobacco products or nicotine vapor products on a school bus, on school property, or at an on-site or off-site school-sponsored activity. The bill would require such policy to include adequate provisions for enforcement among students, employees, and visitors, including the enumeration of possible sanctions or disciplinary action consistent with state or federal law, and referrals to resources to help staff and students overcome tobacco addiction. The bill would provide such policies may include procedures for effectively communicating the policy to students, their parents and families, school personnel, visitors on school premises, and local residents, groups, businesses, and other organizations served by the school.

Instruction on the Hazards of Nicotine Vapor Products HB 1881 (Keam) would require instruction concerning the health and safety risks of using nicotine vapor products to be provided in public schools.

Health Insurance Credits for Retired Employees HB 1857 McQuinn) would require school divisions to provide a health insurance credit of $4 per year of service to all retired members of local school divisions with at least 15 years of total creditable service. An enactment clause provides that this measure would not apply to any local school division employee who retired on disability prior to July 1, 2019, if this measure would reduce the monthly credit currently payable to such former member. Eligible employees who retired prior to July 1, 2019, but who did not receive a health insurance credit prior to that date will only receive the $4 per year of service health insurance credit prospective HB 2152 (Ingram) and SB 1122 (Ruff) would increase annually the amount of the health insurance credit for retirees who rendered at least 30 years of creditable service in the Virginia Retirement System. The bill would increase the credit by the same percentage as any annual post-retirement supplement that is calculated for employees hired on or after July 1, 2010.

Parental Review of Certain Anti-Bullying and Suicide Prevention Materials HB 2107 (Ransome) would require local school boards to develop and implement policies that ensure parents the right to review any audio-visual materials that contain graphic sexual or violent content used in any anti-bullying or suicide prevention program. Such policies would require that prior to using any such material, the parent of the child participating in such a program would be provided written notice of his right to review the material and his right to excuse his child from participating in the part of such program utilizing such material.

Local Composite Index - Local Use Value Assessment SB 1471 (Hanger) would require the General Assembly to modify the current standards of quality funding formula and the calculation of composite index of local ability to pay to incorporate within the real estate indicator of local wealth the land-use assessment value for those properties located within a land-use plan.  HJ 643 (Webert) would request the Department of Education to determine, for each of the 95 localities that have adopted ordinances to provide for the use value assessment and taxation of certain real estate, the use value of all applicable real estate devoted to agricultural use, horticultural use, forest use, and open-space use, as those terms are defined in the Code of Virginia, and  recalculate the composite index of local ability to pay for each such locality after taking into consideration such use values. 

Education Improvement Scholarships Tax Credits; Pre-Kindergarten Eligibility HB 2459 (Landes) would expand the Education Improvement Scholarships tax credits program by including, as eligible scholarship recipients, children enrolled in, eligible to attend, or attending nonpublic pre-kindergarten programs. The maximum annual scholarship that a child will receive is the lesser of the child's actual educational expenses or the state share of the grant per child under the Virginia Preschool Initiative for the locality in which the child resides. Eligible scholarship recipients would be students in grades K-12 with a finalized individualized education program (IEP) in place or whose annual household income is not in excess of 300 percent of the federal poverty guidelines. The bill would define an eligible pre-kindergarten child and a nonpublic pre-kindergarten program and include several other curriculum and administrative requirements that must be met by a nonpublic pre-kindergarten program in order for children attending the program to be eligible to receive scholarships under the tax credit program. Under the bill, the Virginia Council for Private Education, the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation, or the Virginia Department of Social Services would certify nonpublic pre-kindergarten programs meeting such curriculum and administrative requirements.  SB 1015 (Stanley) would contain the same proposed provisions as HB 2459 but would also reduce the penalty for failure to fully disburse all donations received from 200 percent of the difference between 90 percent of the value of the donations it received and the amount disbursed to 100 percent of the difference. 

Election Days; School Holidays HB 1752 (Krizek) would prohibit local school boards from requiring students to attend school on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November.  HB 1984 (Lindsey) and SB 1291 (Lucsas) would designate Election Day, the Tuesday after the first Monday in November, as a state holiday and removes Lee-Jackson Day as a state holiday. SB 1223 (Chase) would prohibit local school boards from requiring students to attend school on the second Tuesday in June or the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. The bill would also prohibit parent-teacher conferences and meetings from being held on those dates.  

Electives on the Hebrew Scriptures/Old Testament and the New Testament SB 1502 (Carrico) would require local school boards to offer as an elective in grades nine through 12 with appropriate credits toward graduation a course on the Hebrew Scriptures/Old Testament of the Bible or the New Testament of the Bible or a combined course on both. The bill would require the Board of Education to develop Standards of Learning and curriculum guidelines for such courses. The bill would provide that the purpose of such courses is to introduce students to biblical content, characters, poetry, and narratives that are prerequisites to understanding contemporary society and culture, including literature, art, music, mores, oratory, and public policy. The bill would prohibit students from being required to use a specific translation of a religious text when taking the courses and provides that such courses shall maintain religious neutrality and shall not endorse, favor, promote, disfavor, or show hostility toward any particular religion or nonreligious perspective.

Family Life Education Programs; Student Participation HB 2570 (LaRock) would prohibit any public elementary or secondary school student from participating in any family life education program without the prior written consent of his parent.

Family Life Education; Meaning of Consent HB 2205 (Filler-Corn) would require 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 law and meaning of consent. 

Family life Education; Human Trafficking SB 1141 (Favola) would require the Board of Education, in its curriculum guidelines for family life education, to include instruction on the prevention of human trafficking. Additionally, the bill would require any high school family life education program offered in a local school division to incorporate age-appropriate elements of effective and evidence-based programs on the prevention of human trafficking.

Family Life Education; Special Education SB 1595 (Dunnavant) would require the Board of Education to adapt its family life education Standards of Learning and curriculum guidelines, as necessary, to meet the needs of students in special education. The bill would also require a local school board offering a family life education curriculum to ensure that students in special education receive appropriate instruction consistent with any such adaptations.

Family Life Education; Female Genital Mutilation SB 1159 (Black) would require any family life education curriculum offered in any elementary school, middle school, or high school to incorporate age-appropriate elements of effective and evidence-based programs on the harmful physical and emotional effects of female genital mutilation, associated criminal penalties, and the rights of the victim including any civil action.

Home Instruction; Documentation HB 2654 (Head) would provide that, except as otherwise required by relevant law, no parent who provides home instruction for his child in lieu of school attendance shall be required to provide to the school board in the local school division in which his child resides any additional documentation relating to such home instruction.

Use of Cannabidiol Oil and THC-A Oil at School HB 1720 (Hurst) would permit any student who possesses a valid and unexpired written certification to use cannabidiol oil or THC-A oil that is issued by a licensed practitioner of medicine or osteopathy to possess and use cannabidiol oil or THC-A oil on school property, on a school bus, or at a school-sponsored activity. The bill would prohibit a school board from suspending or expelling from school attendance any such student who possesses or uses cannabidiol oil or THC-A oil on school property, on a school bus, or at a school-sponsored activity. SB 1632 (Sturtevant) would require local school boards to adopt and implement policies permitting a student who has been issued a valid written certification for the use of cannabidiol oil or THC-A oil to use such oils while at school. The bill would prohibit a school board from suspending or expelling such a student for such use. The bill would prohibit a school nurse employed by a local school board, person employed by a local health department who is assigned to the public school pursuant to an agreement between the local health department and the school board, or other person employed by or contracted with a local school board to deliver health-related services from being prosecuted for possession or distribution of cannabidiol oil or THC-A oil or for storing, dispensing, or administering cannabidiol oil or THC-A oil, in accordance with the policy adopted by the local school board, to a student who has been issued a valid written certification for its use. Finally, the bill would require the Department of Health Professions, in coordination with the Department of Education, to develop and make available to school boards, a standardized form to be completed by the certification issuing physician and the dispensing pharmaceutical processor.

Protective Orders Notification for School Students HB 1997 (Price) would require any circuit court, general district court, juvenile and domestic relations district court, or magistrate that issues a protective order for the protection of any child who is enrolled at a public elementary or secondary school in the Commonwealth to notify the relevant school principal that such protective order has been issued and each such school principal to subsequently notify certain school personnel that such protective order has been issued.

School Meal Policies HB 2376 (Roem) would require each local school board to adopt policies that prohibit school board employees from requiring a student who cannot pay for a meal at school or who owes a school meal debt to throw away a meal after it has been served to him. HB 2462 (Roem) would mandate that each local school board require the appropriate school board employee to inform the parent of any student who incurs a school meal debt of the amount of such debt no later than 20 days after it accrues and the consequences of such debt and the school board policy and procedure relating to such debt, including any requirement that such student be served an alternative meal or be required to dispose of meals served to him while such debt remains unpaid. HB 2400 (Roem) would require each local school board that collects information to determine eligibility for participation in the School Breakfast Program or the National School Lunch Program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to establish and post prominently on its website a web-based application for student participation in such program and to continue to provide a paper-based application. The bill would permit any school board in establishing such an application to adopt the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Web-Based Prototype Application for Free and Reduced Price School Meals or to digitize its existing paper-based application.

Study; Department of Education; Advancement Via Individual Determination Programs HJ 688 (Kory) would request that the Department of Education study the feasibility of substituting elective credit received for participation in Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) Programs for other course credit required for high school graduation.

Health Instruction; Mental Health SB 1440 (McClellan) would direct the Board of Education to review and update the health Standards of Learning for students in all grades to include mental health. 

Possession and Administration of Naloxone; School Nurses; Local Health Department Employees HB 2318 (McGuire) would add school nurses and local health department employees that are assigned to a public school pursuant to an agreement between the local health department and school board to the list of individuals who may possess and administer naloxone or other opioid antagonist, provided that they have completed a training program.  HJ 653 (Gooditis) would request the Department of Health to study the feasibility of expanding naloxone access through the placement of naloxone in automated external defibrillator (AED) cabinets across the Commonwealth.

Planning Time for Public School Teachers HB 2612 (VanValkenburg) would require each school board to ensure that each elementary school, middle school, and high school teacher in its employment is provided at least one 45-minute period per school day as planning time that is unencumbered and otherwise uninterrupted, except in the case of the emergency need for classroom support or another emergency situation. 

JLARC Study; Cost of Education SJ 307 (Lewis) would direct the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission to study the true cost of education in the Commonwealth and provide an accurate assessment of the costs to implement the Standards of Quality.

Student Journalists; Freedom of Speech and the Press HB 2382 (Hurst) would declare that, except in certain limited circumstances, a student journalist at a public elementary or secondary school or public institution of higher education has the right to exercise freedom of speech and the press in school-sponsored media, including determining the news, opinion, feature, and advertising content of school-sponsored media, regardless of whether the media is supported financially by the school board, supported through the use of school facilities in the school division, or produced in conjunction with a course or class in which the student is enrolled. The bill would define "school-sponsored media" as any material that is prepared, substantially written, published, or broadcast by a student journalist at a public elementary or secondary school or public institution of higher education under the direction of a student media adviser and distributed or generally made available to members of the student body.  HB 2250 (Roem) would provide that no newsperson engaged in journalism shall be compelled to testify about, disclose, or produce protected information, as defined in the bill, except when the court finds that the protected information is highly relevant and necessary to the proof of an issue material to an administrative, civil, or criminal proceeding; the protected information is not obtainable from any alternative source;  the Commonwealth or locality exhausted all reasonable methods for obtaining the protected information from all relevant alternative sources, if applicable; and there is an overriding public interest in the disclosure of the protected information, including preventing harm to or death of a person. The bill would further provide that any information obtained in violation of the provisions of the bill shall be inadmissible for any purpose in an administrative, civil, or criminal proceeding.

School Board Employees; Discipline; Private Reprimand HB 2325 (Thomas) would require the Board of Education to include in its regulations that prescribe the requirements for the licensure of teachers and other school personnel required to hold a license procedure for the private reprimand of such license holders. The bill would permit the Board of Education to issue private reprimand to any such license holder who knowingly and willfully commits a certain enumerated act relating to secure mandatory tests administered to students. The only express disciplinary actions that are permissible under current law in such a scenario are suspension or revocation of such individual's license. The bill would also permit a school board or division superintendent to issue private reprimand to a teacher who breaches his employment contract after the school board or division superintendent declines to grant such teacher's request for release from such contract on the grounds of insufficient or unjustifiable cause. The only express disciplinary action that is permissible under current law in such a scenario is revocation of such teacher's license.

School Divisions of Innovation; Performance-Based Assessments HB 2574 (LaRock) and SB 1138 (Favola) would allow a local school board, when applying for its school division to be designated as a School Division of Innovation, to apply to the Board of Education (the Board) to replace certain Standards of Learning assessments with performance-based assessments. The bill would require the Board to determine if the local school board has the capacity to administer and score performance-based assessments and provides criteria for such determination. The bill would require any proposed performance-based assessment to be an adequate replacement of the relevant Standards of Learning assessment and requires students to demonstrate the knowledge and skills required by the relevant Standards of Learning and one or more of critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, communication, or citizenship. The standards of learning assessments eligible for replacement are Virginia Studies, Civics and Economics, elementary school science, and middle school science. The bill would further require the Board to promulgate any necessary regulations and to submit to the U.S. Department of Education any necessary amendments to its consolidated state plan. 

Renewable Energy Power Purchase Agreements; Pilot Programs HB 1928 (Bulova) would increase the aggregated capacity of all solar-powered or wind-powered generation facilities that are subject to third party power purchase agreements from 50 megawatts to 150 megawatts in Dominion Energy's pilot program and from seven to 21 megawatts in Appalachian Power's pilot program. The measure would allow any public or private elementary or secondary school or any public or private institution of higher education to participate in Appalachian Power's pilot program.  The measure would increase the maximum generation capacity of an eligible solar-powered or wind-powered generation facility from one megawatt to three megawatts. The measure would also require the State Corporation Commission to update its guidelines for the pilot program and repeal the sunset clause applicable to the pilot program in effect for Dominion Energy.

Concussions in Student-Athletes; Guidelines, Policies, and Procedures HB 1930 (Bell, Richard P.) would requires the Board of Education to collaborate with various stakeholders to annually update its guidelines on policies to inform and educate coaches, student-athletes, and student-athletes' parents or guardians of the nature and risk of concussions, criteria for removal from and return to play, risks of not reporting the injury and continuing to play, and the effects of concussions on student-athletes' academic performance and each local school division to annually update its policies and procedures regarding the identification and handling of suspected concussions in student-athletes.

Health Insurance; Coverage for Autism Spectrum Disorder HB 2577 (Thomas) and SB 1693 (Vogel) would require health insurers, health care subscription plans, and health maintenance organizations to provide coverage for the diagnosis and treatment of autism spectrum disorder in individuals of any age. The provision would apply with respect to insurance policies, subscription contracts, and health care plans delivered, issued for delivery, reissued, or extended on or after January 1, 2020.

Energy Career Cluster HB 2008 (Garrett) and SB 1348 (Newman) would require the Department of Education, in consultation with representatives from pertinent industries such as renewable energy, natural gas, nuclear energy, coal, and oil, to establish an energy career cluster. The bill would require the Department of Education to base the knowledge and skill sets contained in such energy career cluster on the energy industry competency and credential models developed by the Center for Energy Workforce Development in partnership with the U.S. Department of Labor. The bill would further require the Department of Education to report to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health no later than December 1, 2019, on its progress toward establishing such energy career cluster.

Lead Testing SB 1629 (McPike) would require each local school board to submit its plan to test and remediate certain potable water sources and report the results of any such test to the Department of Health.

Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety; Guidelines on Information Sharing SB 1591 (Dunnavant) would direct the Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety (the Center) to convene a work group to develop guidelines and best practices for the sharing of information between a local school board or public institution of higher education and law enforcement regarding a student whose behavior may pose a threat to the safety of a school or institution or the community. Such guidelines and best practices would be required seek to balance the interests of safety and student privacy and shall be consistent with the provisions of the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, as applicable. The bill would require the Center to develop such guidelines and best practices, report to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health, and make such guidelines available to local school boards, public institutions of higher education, law enforcement, and the public by October 1, 2019.

Equal Access; Education Employee Associations and Professional Educator Liability Insurance Providers SB 1236 (DeSteph) would require school boards to adopt and implement policies to ensure employees have equal access to education employee associations. 

Teaching Licensure; Criteria; Assessments HB 2037 (Carroll Foy) and SB 1397 (Peake) would require the Board of Education to issue a license to an individual seeking initial licensure who has not completed the professional assessments prescribed by the Board, if such individual holds a provisional license that will expire within three months, is employed by a school board, is recommended for licensure by the division superintendent, has attempted, unsuccessfully, to obtain a qualifying score on the professional assessments prescribed by the Board, has received an evaluation rating of proficient or above on the performance standards for each year of the provisional license and such evaluation was conducted in a manner consistent with the Guidelines for Uniform Performance Standards and Evaluation Criteria for Teachers, Principals, and Superintendents, and meets all other requirements for initial licensure. The bill would remove the requirement that the Board of Education prescribe an assessment of basic skills for individuals seeking entry into an approved education preparation program and establish a minimum passing score for such assessment.