2020 General Assembly Update
Key Education-Related Subjects
Week ending Friday, February 7, 2020

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 week prior to Crossover is one of the busiest of Session, as both bodies must complete work on bills introduced in their chamber prior to February 11.  Each house is required to complete work on its own legislation, except the Budget Bill(s) by this Crossover date.  After February 12^th, each house may consider only legislation and amendments that have passed in the other chamber, except the Budget Bill(s).

Amended K-12 Education Legislation

Diploma requirements; dual enrollment and work-based learning options HB 516 (Bulova) and SB 112 (Suetterlein) as amended would require the Board of Education to include in its graduation requirements the options for students to complete a dual enrollment course or high-quality work-based learning experience to fulfill the current “advanced coursework” graduation requirement.

English language learner students; guidance, information, programs and policies HB 1139 (Keam) as amended would now require the Board of Education, as part of its current comprehensive review of its Regulations Governing Educational Services for Gifted Students (8VAC20-40-10 et seq.). to consider revisions to the process of screening and identifying students for eligibility for gifted and talented programs and referring students to such programs to improve the identification of student populations that are underrepresented in such programs, including economically disadvantaged students, English language learner students, and students with disabilities.  The Board of Education would also be required to consider revisions to the data collection requirements of the annual report required by such regulations to better inform equitable screening and identification for and access to gifted and talented programs for student populations that are underrepresented in such programs.

Public school buildings; testing for Legionella bacteria; review; report SB 410 (Hashmi) as amended would now require each school board to maintain a water management program for the prevention of Legionella at each public-school building in the local school division. Each school board would be required to validate each water management program on at least an annual basis to maintain the health and decency of such buildings. Each public school would also be required to maintain files related to its water management program, including the results of all validation and remediation activities, and make such files available for review. 

Reading diagnostic tests; intervention HB 332 (Hope) as amended would now require the Department of Education to develop a geographically representative pilot program that updates and enhances the Phonological Awareness and Literacy Screening (PALS) to add components of a rapid automatized naming test. The Department would be required to report to the Governor and the General Assembly on the outcomes of the pilot program and on the resources necessary for statewide implementation no later than December 1, 2022.

Department of Education; Holocaust and Genocide Education Advisory Committee HB 916 (Sickles) and Public schools; anti-hate instruction SB 853 (Boysko) as amended would both now require the Department of Education, in consultation with the Commonwealth's Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, to establish and appoint such members as deemed appropriate to the Culturally Relevant and Inclusive Education Practices Advisory Committee (the Advisory Committee) for the purpose of strengthening culturally relevant education practices and supporting anti-bias education and response in the Commonwealth. The bill would require the Advisory Committee to report its recommendations to the Board of Education, the Governor, and the Chairpersons of the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health no later than July 1, 2021, and to issue interim reports as it deems necessary. The bill would require the Advisory Committee to provide standards recommendations to the Virginia Department of Education, which shall be considered by the Board of Education during the 2021-2022 review of the history and social science Standards of Learning. The bill would require the Advisory Committee to provide recommendations on meaningful professional development with school personnel related to culturally relevant and inclusive education practices and to provide these recommendations to the Advisory Board on Teacher Education and Licensure and the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia in addition to the Board of Education, the Governor, and the Chairpersons of the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health.

High school graduation requirements; advanced diploma; standard units of credit; certain substitutions SB 323 (Barker) as amended would now require the Board of Education to permit any student who is pursuing an advanced studies diploma and whose individualized education program specifies credit accommodation for world language to substitute two standard units of credit in computer science for two standard units of credit in a world language. For any student that elects to substitute a credit in computer science for credit in world language, his or her school counselor must provide notice to the student and parent or guardian of possible impacts related to college entrance requirements.

"Students with limited or interrupted formal education;" DOE to develop statewide definition SB 933 (Favola) as amended would now require the Department of Education to develop and adopt a common statewide definition for the term "students with limited or interrupted formal education" and shall require local school divisions to report the number of students who fall under such definition as part of the required data collection and reporting on average daily membership for the purposes of documenting any changes in such numbers over time.  In addition, the Board would be required to evaluate the supports and programs available to "students with limited or interrupted formal education" in local school divisions to determine whether the calculations for the school quality indicators within the Board's Regulations Establishing the Standards for Accrediting Public Schools in Virginia (8VAC20-131-5 et seq.) are appropriate or whether changes in methodology could be made to more comprehensively measure the academic and nonacademic achievement of such student population. Such evaluation would be required to be completed in time to make any necessary revisions to impact the methodology for the calculation of school accreditation ratings for the 2021–2022 school year.

Dismissal of teachers; grounds; incompetency HB 570 (Guzman) and SB 167 (Favola) as amended would leave “incompetency” as a factor for establishing grounds for the dismissal of public-school teachers, but would remove the current definition of incompetency (currently defined as the receipt of one or more unsatisfactory performance evaluations).

Social-emotional learning and development, Standards of Learning HB 753 (Rasoul) as amended would now require the Department of Education to (i) establish a uniform definition of social-emotional learning and develop guidance standards for social-emotional learning for all public students in grades kindergarten through 12 in the Commonwealth; (ii) make such standards available to each local school division no later than July 1, 2021; and (iii) issue a report no later than November 1, 2021, on the resources needed to successfully support local school divisions with the implementation of a statewide social-emotional learning program.  

School counselors; minimum staffing ratio HB 1508 (McQuinn) as amended would now require local school boards to employ school counselors in accordance with the following ratios, effective with the 2020-2021 school year: in elementary schools, one hour per day per 75 students, one full-time equivalent 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 equivalent at 325 students, one additional period per 65 students or major fraction thereof; and in high schools, one period per 60 students, one full-time equivalent at 300 students, one additional period per 60 students or major fraction thereof. The bill also would require local school boards to employ one full-time equivalent school counselor position per 325 students in grades kindergarten through 12, effective with the 2021-2022 school year.

Poto speed monitoring devices; civil penalty HB 1442 (Jones) as amended would now authorize law-enforcement agencies and localities to operate handheld photo speed monitoring devices, defined in the bill, in or around school crossing zones and highway work zones for the purpose of recording images of vehicles that are traveling at speeds of at least 10 miles per hour above the posted school crossing zone or highway work zone speed limit within such school crossing zone or highway work zone when such highway work zone is indicated by conspicuously placed signs displaying the maximum speed limit and that such handheld photo speed monitoring devices are used in the area

Current Status of Collective Bargaining Legislation

HB 582 (Guzman) Collective bargaining for public employees; definitions, labor organization representation as amended would repeal the existing prohibition on collective bargaining by public employees. The bill would create the Public Employee Relations Board, which will determine appropriate bargaining units and provide for certification and decertification elections for exclusive bargaining representatives of state employees and local government employees. The measure would require public employers and employee organizations that are exclusive bargaining representatives to meet at reasonable times to negotiate in good faith with respect to wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment. The measure would repeal a provision enacted in 2013 that declares that, in any procedure providing for the designation, selection, or authorization of a labor organization to represent employees, the right of an individual employee to vote by secret ballot is a fundamental right that shall be guaranteed from infringement.  Amendments to the legislation would clarify that for any local school board or other public local educational agency, the use of the term “arbitration” under this legislation would mean the procedure whereby a third party provides advisory – not binding – recommendations to a school board. (Passed House)

SB 939 (Saslaw) Counties, cities, and towns; labor and employment, collective bargaining

as amended would permit counties, cities, and towns to adopt local ordinances authorizing them to (i) recognize any labor union or other employee association as a bargaining agent of any public officers or employees, including public school employees, and (ii) collectively bargain or enter into any collective bargaining contract with any such union or association or its agents with respect to any matter relating to them or their employment. (Awaiting full Senate action)

Current Status of City/County Taxing Authority Legislation

HB 785 (Watts) Local taxing authority; equalizes city and county taxing authorities as amended would equalize city taxing authority and county taxing authority by granting a county the same authority to impose taxes on cigarettes, admissions, meals, and travel campgrounds without limitation on the rate that may be imposed, including removing the requirement that a referendum be held before imposing a meals tax. The bill would authorize all counties to impose a transient occupancy tax with no limitation on the rate that may be imposed, however, any revenue from a tax rate above two percent up to five percent would be restricted to tourism purposes and tax rates above five percent may be used as general revenue, unless otherwise provided by law prior to January 1, 2020. The legislation would restrict the adoption of a meals tax in any county that held a defeated meals tax referendum prior to July 1, 2020 to six years after the date of such referendum. (Awaiting full House action)

SB 588 (Hanger) Tax authority of localities; parity between cities and counties as amended would grant counties taxing authority similar to that currently available to cities under uniform charter powers, but with some continued limitations.  A county could impose a transient occupancy tax up to 5%, but any revenue generated by a tax over 2% would have to be dedicated to tourism and travel initiatives.  A county could impose a tax on cigarettes equivalent to 40 cents per pack.  Food and beverage taxes would no longer require a referendum and could be up to 6%, however, any county in which a referendum was held on or after July 1, 2018, but before July 1, 2020 and in which such referendum was defeated would not be authorized to impose a tax pursuant to these provisions until July 1, 2022.  The provisions of the legislation related to tax authority would have a delayed effective date of July 1, 2021.  Finally, the bill would direct the Division of Legislative Services to convene a work group to develop recommendations as to any additional legislative changes that may be needed to effectuate the provisions of the bill. (awaiting full Senate action)

NOTE that if the House and the Senate pass different versions of bills in the same subject area (as would currently be the case with bills on both collective bargaining and local taxing authority, among others), they will be referred to a conference committee (made up of 3 members from each chamber) to resolve differences between the versions and send their proposed resolution to each chamber for a final vote.

STATUS OF BILLS CONTAINING MANDATES

This week’s Update contains information regarding action taken on previously reported mandate bills over this past week. 

Mandate Bills – Passed the House

• HB 271 (VanValkenburg) Public schools; school resource officers and school security officers; data (Amended)
• HB 273 (VanValkenburg) School boards; teachers; planning time and planning periods (Amended)
• HB 292 (VanValkenburg) School boards and local law-enforcement agencies; memorandums of understanding; frequency of review and public input – Incorporated HB 897(Guzman) and HB 1135 (Lopez)
• HB 351 (Bell) School bus drivers; critical shortages.
• HB 376 (Willet) Teacher and support staff shortages; data; reporting
• HB 405 (Keam) Menstrual supplies; certain school buildings (Amended)
• HB 410 (Delaney) Parental notice; literacy and Response to Intervention screening and services (Substitute)   
• HB 415 (Delaney) Discipline; suspension; access to graded work (Amended)
• HB 797 (Askew) Local school boards; lead testing; report; parental notification (Substitute)
• HB 916 (Sickles) Holocaust and Genocide Education Advisory Committee; report (Substitute)
• HB 1174 (Lopez) Public schools; possession of undesignated stock albuterol inhalers; administration by certain individuals (Substitute)
• HB 1208 (Tran) School boards; duties; assistance with student bus pass applications (Substitute)

Mandate Bills – Pending Final House Action

• HB 15 (Krizek) Public school buses; seat belts
• HB 74 (Kory) Mental Health First Aid Training (Substitute)
• HB 332 (Hope) Reading diagnostic tests; intervention. (Substitute)
• HB 624 (Hurst) Human Rights, Division of; annual survey of certain employers.
• HB 975 (Guzman) Standards of Quality; state funding, ratios of teachers to English language learners.
• HB 1139 (Keam) English language learner students; guidance, information, programs, and policies.
• HB 1276 (O’Quinn) School boards; career and technical education, academic and career plans, contents.
• HB 1419 (Jones) School resource officers and school security officers; training standards.
• HB 1426 (Roem) School boards; school meals, availability to students. (Amended)
• HB 1508 (McQuinn) School counselors; minimum staffing ratio (Amended)
• HB 1513 (McQuinn) Health insurance; credits for retired school division employees (Amended)

Mandate Bills - Failed to Report

• HB 231 (Freitas) Children with disabilities; alternative placements, state funds.
• HB 522 (Kory) "Students with limited or interrupted formal education;" DOE to develop statewide definition. (Substitute)
• HB 1122 (Robinson) Public schools; electives on the Hebrew Scriptures/Old Testament and the New Testament.
• HB 1732 (Miyares) Uniform Statewide Building Code; installation of key boxes of high-risk structures.

Mandate Bills – Passed the Senate

• SB 170 (Locke) School resource officers and school security officers; data (Amended)
• SB 171 (Locke) School resource officers and school security officers; training standards
• SB 324 (Deeds) School bus drivers; critical shortages
• SB 366 (Dunnavant) Learning management system
• SB 392 (McPike) Lead testing; report (Amended)
• SB 420 (DeSteph) Seizure treatment and training (Substitute)
• SB 463 (Reeves) Sudden cardiac arrest prevention in student-athletes (Amended)
• SB 845 (Ebbin) Local school boards; mold testing; parental notification (Substitute)
• SB 853 (Boysko) Public schools; anti-hate instruction (Amended)

Mandate Bills – Pending Final Senate Action

• SB 5 (Stanley) Board of Education; uniform minimum standards modern; public school buildings (Amended)
• SB 134 (Stuart) School boards; planning time and planning periods for elementary school teachers (Amended)
• SB 420 (DeSteph) Public schools; seizure management and action plan, training (Amended)
• SB 619 (Deeds) Teacher licensure; completion of mental health first aid program. (Amended)
• SB 728 (McClellan) Standards of Quality; work-based learning, teacher leaders and mentors, principal mentors. (Amended)
• SB 910 (Hashmi) Standards of Quality; state funding, ratios of teachers to English language learners. (Amended)
• SB 933 (Favola) "Students with limited or interrupted formal education;" DOE to develop statewide definition (Amended)

Mandate Bills - Continued to 2021 Session

• SB 367 (Dunnavant) Student growth measurement system; Department of Education to obtain an individualized system.
• SB 880 (Locke) School counselors; minimum staffing ratio