2020 General Assembly Update
Key Education-Related Subjects
Week ending Friday, February 21, 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.

Biennial Budget

The House and Senate have adopted their proposed amendments to the Governor’s Introduced biennial budget for Fiscal Years 2021-2022.  The last day for each chamber to complete work on the Budget Bill and revenue bills of the other house is midnight February 26th.   This is also the date and time that the budget conferees tasked with resolving differences between the two proposals will be appointed.  Final work on the budget is scheduled to be completed by the end of the Session, currently scheduled for Saturday, March 7^th.

The amendments build on the base created by the Governor’s Introduced budget.  The following describes House and Senate amendments of interest to FCPS, including where they may differ from the Governor’s Introduced budget and from each other.  Some of the amendments listed will have financial impact for FCPS, while others may have only policy implications.  The fiscal implications of each budget proposal for FCPS are covered in the Brabrand Briefing from 02/21/2020.

Both budget committees maintain full funding for the biennial re-benchmark of Basic Aid education funding as proposed by the Governor’s budget and retain many of the proposals from the Introduced budget. 

Salary

H: Compensation Supplement Item 145 #3h would provide the state share of funding for SOQ instructional and support position salary increases of 2% in each of FY21 and FY22, which would reduce the salary increase proposed in the Governor’s Introduced Budget from 3% to 2% in FY22.

S: 3 % Teacher Bonus Item 145 #10s would provide the state share of funding for SOQ instructional and support positions to receive a one-time bonus payment in FY 21 equal to 3% of base pay as of December 1, 2020.  Current understanding is that such funds could only be used for a bonus and not be counted toward local salary increases. 4% Teacher Salary Increase Item 145 #11s would provide funding to increase the salary increase proposed in the Governor’s Introduced Budget from 3% to 4% in FY 22.

Counselors

H: School Counselor Ratio Item 145 #7h would retain the same staffing ratios as in the Governor’s Introduced for FY21, would set the ratio for school counselors to students at 325 to 1 in FY 22, pursuant to passage of HB 1508. 

S: School Counselors Item 145 #5s retains the same staffing ratios as in the Governor’s Introduced for FY21, would set the ratio for school counselors to students at 300 to 1 in FY 22. 

English Learner Staffing Ratios

H: English Learner Teacher Ratio Item 145 #6h would phase-in increased funding for English Language Learner student-teacher ratios, setting the ratio at 18.5 English learner teachers per 1,000 EL students in FY21 and at 20 per 1,000 for FY22, pursuant to HB 975. 

S: The Senate’s proposed budget does not change English learner funding from levels proposed by the Governor’s Introduced Budget (20 English learner teachers per 1,000 EL students in both FY21 and FY22.

At Risk Add On

H & S: Both budgets would retain the Governor’s proposed shift of some existing lottery per pupil funding to the at risk add on program.

H: Increase Support for At-Risk Students Item 145 #8h would reallocate funding proposed in the Governor’s Introduced budget to intended to allow local school divisions to reduce or eliminate the cost of school breakfast and lunch for students eligible for reduced price meals, and allocate that funding to increase the maximum add-on percentages under the At-Risk Add On program. 

Games of Skill

H: Adjust Supplemental Per Pupil Payments Item 145 #9h would remove the revenues associated with the Governor’s Introduced Games of Skill Per Pupil allocation, while at the same time adjusting supplemental per pupil payments based on lottery revenue projection changes in Item 0 #1h, adjustments based on the prohibition on Games of Skill machines pursuant to HB 881,  and the implementation of lottery ticket sales over the internet pursuant to HB 1383. 

S: Games of Skill Per Pupil Allocation Item 145 #9s would eliminate the revenues associated with the Governor’s Introduced Budget proposal for a “Games of Skill” per pupil funding allocation.  Item 0 #1s and Item 145 #8s taken together would increase the Lottery Proceeds forecast contingent with the passage of SB 971 banning “Games of Skill” machines and SB 922 which would repeal the prohibition of online lottery ticket sales. This amendment would also reflect a general fund offset to help backfill the estimated decline in the Lottery Proceeds forecast.

Remedial Education Reporting Requirements

H: Utilization of Remedial Education Payments Item 145 #5h would require school divisions to report on the uses of Prevention, Intervention and Remediation, At-Risk Add-On, and Early Reading Intervention Payments.

S: Early Reading Intervention Item 145 #1s would require school divisions receiving early reading intervention funds to report to the Department of Education the individual use of these funds.

Learning Management System

H: Virginia Learner Equitable Access Platform (VA LEAP) Item 141 #3h would require an evaluation and cost-benefit analysis of various approaches to implementing a single statewide learning management system, due no later than December 1, 2020. 

S: Learning Management Plan Item 141 #1s would direct the Department of Education to present a plan on the development and implementation of a statewide learning management system by October 1, 2020.

Virginia Preschool Initiative (VPI) Mixed Delivery Grants

H: Virginia Early Childhood Foundation Mixed-Delivery Slots Item 144 #10h would provide $3.0 million each year from the general fund to support mixed-delivery of pre-kindergarten slots for at least 300 at-risk three- and four-year-olds.  Note this is a substantial reduction from the Governor’s Introduced Budget, which originally allocated $10M per year for this initiative (reduction taken in Item 145 #12h).  Item 145 #19h would ensure that the amount of the $2,500 mixed-delivery gap incentive proposed in the early childhood reform package varied by region, to allow incentives greater than $2,500 in areas where the gap between VPI per pupil amount and preschool market rates is wider, and incentives lower than $2,500 where the gap is smaller. 

S: VPI Mixed Delivery Preschool Grant Item 145 #7s would provide $8.0 million each year to support mixed-delivery prekindergarten slots to at-least 800 at-risk three and four-year-olds, a reduction from the Governor’s Introduced Budget allocation of $10M each year.

Virginia Preschool Initiative (VPI) Maximize Use of Head Start Funds

H and S: Item 145 #13h and Item 145 #6s would clarify that communities would be required to maximize the use of Head Start funds prior to accessing state funds for the Virginia Preschool Initiative.

Unique to House

H: Cost of Competing Adjustment Item 145 #2h Fairfax would gain $3.3M in each of FY 21 and FY 22 from the partial restoration of support Cost of Competing Adjustment (increase from 10.6% to 16%, but would still be less than the pre-recession 24.61% rate)

H: Reduce Amortization Period for Retiree Health Care Credits Item 145 #14h would lower the Virginia Retirement System amortization period by five years by adjusting the Retiree Health Care Credit (RHCC) rate calculation.  Item 477 #2h would concurrently increase the teacher RHCC rate from 1.21% to 1.36%. 

H: Joint Subcommittee for Early Childhood and Education Item 1 #1h would rename the Joint Subcommittee for the Virginia Preschool Initiative to the Joint Subcommittee for Early Childhood and Education. The renamed subcommittee would oversee the implementation of reforms to Virginia's early childhood education and child care licensure system and consider further changes throughout the implementation process.  Child Care Development Fund Grant Plan Workgroup Item 137 #2h would include the same participants from the work group that would be established pursuant to House Bill 1012 to oversee the planning and implementation of the statewide unified early childhood care and education system.

H: Children’s Ombudsman Office Item 52 #1h would fund the Children’s Ombudsman Office, pursuant to the passage of HB 1301

H: Collective Bargaining Item 57 #2h and Item 120 #2h would fund the Public Employee Labor Relations Board, pursuant to the passage of HB 582

H: Reading Diagnostic Tests Item 137 #1h would fund pilot reading diagnostic tests that include rapid automatized naming components, and professional development on structured literacy instruction for teachers in participating schools, pursuant to the passage of HB 332.

H: History/Social Science High School Verified Credits Item 139 #1h would make technical amendments related to the use of performance assessments used to earn verified credits in history and social studies to clarify that successful completion of assessments could include state-developed performance tasks scored locally in accordance with Board guidelines using state-developed rubrics.

H: School Division Vacancy and Teacher Preparation Program Data Collection Item 141 #1h would fund costs associated with the implementation of House Bill 376, which would require the department to collect and report information about (i) vacant positions in school divisions and (ii) the number of individuals graduating from education preparation programs, by endorsement area.

H: Virtual Virginia Expansion Item 141 #2h would provide 2,250 Virtual Virginia course seats free of charge to school divisions to accommodate the expansion of Virtual Virginia into middle schools. Currently, 6,000 seats are provided free of charge to accommodate high school students, at 15 seats per- high school, per-course. Language would direct the Department to revise the Virtual Virginia fee structure to minimize the number of divisions with low enrollment or low local composite index values that are required to pay for seats.

H: School Resource Officer Item 143 #1h would support a new position in the Department of Education to facilitate the collection of reported data related to incidents involving students and resource officers, pursuant to HB 271.

H: Retiree Health Credits for School Board Employees Other Than Teachers Item 145 #10h would provide the state share of funding to implement House Bill 1513, which provides a health insurance credit of $1.50 per year for services to retired non-teacher school division employees having at least 15 years of total creditable service, pursuant to the passage of HB 1513.

H: VPI Plus Consolidation Item 145 #16h would eliminate the Virginia Preschool Initiative Plus program and consolidate the funding for the program into the existing VPI program, holding current VPI+ participants harmless.

H: Retired Law-Enforcement Officers Employed as School SSOs Item 477 #4h would provide funding pursuant to the passage of HB 1495, which would allow retired law-enforcement personnel to return to work a school security officers.

H: Immunization of School Children Item 299 #1h would add funding each year for the Department of Health to reflect the fiscal impact of HB 1090, which would provide that the Board of Health's regulations related to vaccines for school children shall be consistent with the Recommended Immunization Schedule for Children and Adolescents Aged 18 years or Younger published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, with the exception of the seasonal influenza vaccine.

Unique to Senate

S: School Construction Grants Item #145 #15s would provide $27.5 million each year from the Lottery Proceeds Fund for grants to school divisions for the purpose of school construction, expenditures related to modernizing classroom equipment, school safety equipment, or school safety renovations and debt service payments on school projects completed during the last ten years.

S: Commission on School Construction and Modernization Item 27.10 #1s would fund the establishment of the Commission on School Construction and Modernization, pursuant to passage of SB 888.

S: Sixth Grade Science Curriculum Item 137 #1s would direct the Department of Education to update the "Window into a Green Virginia" curriculum for sixth grade science to include a unit on the benefits, including the energy benefits, of recycling and reuse.

S: Teacher Licensure Process Study Item 142 #1s would fund a study of the teacher licensure process and assessment requirements for any inherent biases that may prevent minority teacher candidates from entering the profession, pursuant to passage of SJ 15.

S: Mental Health Awareness Training Item 143 #1s would provide funding each year for the Department of Education to provide mental health awareness training to school divisions, pursuant to passage of SB 619.

S: Elementary Teacher Planning Time Item 143 #2s would direct the Department of Education to develop and administer a one-time collection of data from school divisions to determine the prevailing practice of planning time for elementary school teachers, to be completed no later than the beginning of the 2021 General Assembly Session.

S: Remove Private Day Rate Cap in FY 2022 Item 292 #3s would remove the two percent growth cap on private day rates.  Item 293 #1s would add additional evaluation requirements to the rate study for special education private day programs and move all the funding to the first year. In addition, it would direct the Office of Children's Services to implement statewide rate setting on July, 1 2021, and as such remove the two percent rate cap for that year in a companion amendment.

S: School and Child Care Lead Testing Item 304 #1s would fund the state fiscal impact of Senate Bills 392 and 393 that require local school divisions and child care centers to develop lead testing plans and to conduct testing in accordance with those plans.

S: Vaping Education and Marketing Item 476 #1s would direct the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth to prioritize in its marketing and education efforts information regarding the health effects of vaping by teens and young adults.