2021 General Assembly Update
Key Education-Related Subjects
Week ending Friday, January 22, 2021
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.

Friday January 22 was the last day for members of the General Assembly to introduce legislation, so all bills to be considered during this Session have been released.  Based on the General Assembly’s current calendar, “crossover” – the date by which each chamber must complete work on its own legislation – will be Friday, February 5^th.

K-12 Education Related Bills

Academic Year Governor’s Schools,  Board of Education guidance HB 2305 (Tyler) would require the Board of Education to issue guidance on the governance of academic year Governor's Schools, including communication and outreach practices, admissions policies, and guidelines on diversity, equity, and inclusion training. The bill would require such guidance to focus on the importance of increasing access to Governor's Schools for historically underserved students and to include best practices on (i) conducting information sessions about the school and the availability of gifted, advanced, and specialty education program opportunities for feeder public middle schools; (ii) strengthening the student pipeline in feeder public middle schools, prioritizing the most underserved and underrepresented students and public middle schools; and (iii) conducting programs related to and evaluations of diversity, equity, and inclusion. The bill would require the Board of Education, in developing such guidance, to collaborate with relevant stakeholders, including local school boards, Regional Governor's School boards, and Governor's School directors.

Virginia Freedom of Information Act; Record Exclusion for Personal Contact Information Provided to a Public Body HB 2025 (Gooditis)  would provide that personal contact information provided to a public body or any of its members for the purpose of receiving electronic communications from the public body or any of its members would be excluded from the mandatory disclosure provisions of FOIA if the recipient of such electronic communications has requested that the public body not disclose such information.  Note the bill passed the House General Laws Committee for consideration by the House.

Virginia Freedom of Information Act; Meetings Held Through Electronic Communication Means During a State of Emergency SB 1271 (McPike) would allow a public body, or a joint meeting thereof, to meet by electronic communication means without a quorum of the public body physically assembled at one location when a locality in which the public body is located has declared a local state of emergency, provided that the catastrophic nature of the declared emergency makes it impracticable or unsafe to assemble a quorum in a single location and the purpose of the meeting is to provide for the continuity of operations of the public body or the discharge of its lawful purposes, duties, and responsibilities. Finally, the bill would require public bodies meeting through electronic communication means during a local or state declaration of a state of emergency to make arrangements for public access to such meeting through electronic communication means, including videoconferencing if already used by the public body, and  provide the public with the opportunity to comment at such meetings when public comment is customarily received.  Note:  The General Laws and Technology Committee reported this bill for consideration by the Senate.

School Meal Debt; Enforcement HB 2013 (Roem) would require each school board to adopt a policy that prohibits the board from filing a lawsuit against a student's parent because the student cannot pay for a meal at school or owes a school meal debt.  Note: This bill was amended to include the prohibition from filing a lawsuit against the student or his parents.  The Pre K-12 Subcommittee reported the bill for consideration by the House Education Committee.

Workforce Development; Data Sharing HB 1876 (Subrmanyan) would expand the type of workforce development data that state agencies may share with the Virginia Workforce System. The bill would remove the requirements that personal information be removed from the data and encrypted before being shared among other state agencies and with the Workforce Development System and instead would require participating agencies to enter into the memorandum of understanding supporting the Virginia Workforce Data Trust. 

Virginia Human Rights Act; Nondiscrimination in Employment; Sexual Harassment and Workplace Harassment HB 2155 (Watts) and SB 1360 (McClellan) would clarify, by defining sexual harassment and workplace harassment, what constitutes an unlawful employment practice if engaged in by an employer. The bill would also provide a nonexhaustive list of factors to consider when determining whether certain conduct constitutes workplace harassment, that a person claiming to be aggrieved by an unlawful discriminatory practice may file a written complaint with the Division of Human Rights within two years after the occurrence of the alleged unlawful discriminatory practice, and (iii) that an aggrieved person who has been provided a notice of his right to file a civil action for such grievance may do so within one year of receiving such notice and may be awarded reasonable attorney fees, including costs and reasonable litigation expenses if the court or jury finds in his favor.

Prohibited Discrimination; Status as Active Military or a Military Spouse HB 2161 (Tran), and SB 1410 (Bell, J.) would prohibit discrimination in public accommodations, employment, and housing on the basis of a person's status as active military or a military spouse.

Use Sick Leave for the Care of Immediate Family Members SB 1159 (Favola) would require employers with a sick leave program to allow an employee to use his sick leave for the care of an immediate family member. The measure would apply only to employers that have 25 or more employees and that provide paid sick leave that allows an employee to be absent from work in the event of the employee's own incapacity, illness, or injury. The measure would apply only to employees who work at least 30 hours per week, and it caps the amount of sick leave that may be used for the care of immediate family members at five days per calendar year.

Special Education Regulations Amendment HB 2314 (Mugler) would require the Board of Education to amend a certain regulation relating to special education to remove the word "component" following the word "evaluation," thereby ensuring compliance with the relevant federal regulation and clarifying that the parent of a child with a disability has the right to an independent educational evaluation at public expense if the parent disagrees with an evaluation obtained by the local educational agency.

Special Education and Related Services for Students with Disabilities HB 2316 (Mundon King) would require the Department of Education to update its special education eligibility worksheets as necessary, including clarifying any ambiguity or vagueness in eligibility criteria, and provide to each local school division the appropriate level of guidance on eligibility determinations for special education and related services. The bill would require the Board of Education to amend its regulations to ensure that each education preparation program graduate in a K-12 general education endorsement area demonstrates proficiency in understanding the role of general education teachers on the individualized education program (IEP) team.

Special Education Duties of the Department of Education HB 2299 (Carr) would require the Department of Education to provide training and guidance documents to local school divisions on the development of Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) for children with disabilities, develop a training module for each individual who participates in an IEP meeting, with the exception of parents, annually conduct structured reviews of a sample of IEPs from a sufficiently large sample of local school divisions to verify that the IEPs are in compliance with state and federal laws and regulations and are of high quality, develop and maintain a statewide plan for improving its ongoing oversight of local practices related to transition planning and services for children with disabilities and technical assistance and guidance provided for postsecondary transition planning and services for children with disabilities, develop and maintain a statewide strategic plan for recruiting and retaining special education teachers, and conduct a one-time targeted review of the transition sections of a random sample of students' IEPs in each school division; communicate its findings to each local school division, school board, and local special education advisory committee; and ensure that local school divisions correct any IEPs that are found to be out of compliance no later than the end of the 2021-22 school year.

Get Skilled, Get a Job, Give Back (G3) Fund and Program established HB 2204 (Filler-Corn) and SB 1405 (Saslaw) would establish the Get Skilled, Get a Job, Give Back (G3) Fund and require the Virginia Community College System to establish the G3 Program for the purpose of providing financial assistance from the Fund to certain low-income and middle-income Virginia students who are enrolled in an educational program at an associate-degree-granting public institution of higher education that leads to an occupation in a certain high-demand field. The bill would contain provisions for student eligibility, financial assistance award amounts, and data reporting.

Broadband Services SB 1225 (Boysko) would authorize school boards to appropriate funds for the purposes of promoting, facilitating, and encouraging the expansion and operation of broadband services for educational purposes. The bill would authorize school boards to partner with private broadband service providers to promote, implement, and subsidize broadband for educational purposes to the households of students who would qualify for a child nutrition program or any other program recognized or adopted by the local school board as a measuring standard to identify at-risk students.

Asthma Inhalers, Cost-Sharing Payments for Prescription HB 1822 (Askew) would prohibit health insurance companies and other carriers from setting an amount exceeding $50 per prescription asthma inhaler that a covered person is required to pay at the point of sale in order to receive a covered prescription asthma inhaler. The measure would also prohibit a provider contract between a carrier or its pharmacy benefits manager and a pharmacy from containing a provision authorizing the carrier's pharmacy benefits manager or the pharmacy to charge, requiring the pharmacy to collect, or requiring a covered person to make a cost-sharing payment for a covered prescription asthma inhaler in an amount that exceeds such limitation. The provisions would apply with respect to health plans and provider contracts entered into, amended, extended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2022.

Assault and Battery or Threats of Bodily Injury; Sports Official; Penalty HB 1791 (McNamara) would provide that if any person commits a simple assault or assault and battery against another knowing or having reason to know that such other person is a sports official who is engaged in the performance of his duties as such during a sports event or on the premises where a sports event is held immediately preceding or following a sports event, such person is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill would also make it a Class 1 misdemeanor to orally make a threat to kill or do bodily injury to any sports official who is engaged in the performance of his duties as such during a sports event or on the premises where a sports event is held immediately preceding or following the sports event.

Income tax; Rate Increase; Funding for Schools and Law-Enforcement Officer Salaries SB 1286 (Deeds) would increase from 5.75 percent to 5.9 percent the income tax rate on income over $150,000. The bill would require revenue from the increase to be appropriated for nonrecurring capital expenditures of school divisions and salary increases for state and state-supported law-enforcement officers.

June Primary Election Date SB 1148 (Kiggans) would change the date of the primary election held in June from the second Tuesday in June to the third Tuesday in June.

Virginia Freedom of Information Act; charges for production of public records. HB 2000 (Roem) would have prohibited a public body from charging a requester for any costs incurred during the first two hours spent accessing or searching for requested records when such requester has made four or fewer individual records requests to such public body within 31 consecutive days and capped the per hour cost of any requests.  Note that while the legislation failed to report from the House General Laws Committee, it was referred to the Virginia FOIA Council for further consideration.

Eligibility for In-State Tuition HB 2123 (Lopez) and SB 1387 (Boysko) would provide that students who meet the criteria in the Code of Virginia that determines eligibility for in-state tuition regardless of their citizenship or immigration status shall also be deemed to be domiciled in the Commonwealth. The bill also would provide that all such students shall be afforded the same educational benefits, including access to state financial assistance programs, as any other individual who is eligible for in-state tuition. The bill would have a delayed effective date of August 1, 2022.  Note that HB 2123 was approved by the House Education Post-Secondary and Higher Ed subcommittee for consideration by the full House Education Committee while SB 1387 was approved by the Senate Education and Health Committee and referred to Senate Finance and Appropriations.

State and Local Building Standards HB 2001 (Helmer) would require that any executive branch agency or institution or locality entering the design phase for the construction of a new building greater than 5,000 gross square feet in size or the renovation of a building where the cost of the renovation exceeds 50 percent of the value of the building ensure that such building has sufficient zero-emission vehicle charging or fueling infrastructure and has features that permit the agency or institution to track the building's energy efficiency and carbon emissions. The bill would expand the definition of high performance building certification program to also include the LEED standard or “Green Globes” standards as qualifying programs. The bill would require agencies to annually report to the Governor the energy efficiency and carbon emissions metrics for each such building built or renovated and provide energy and carbon metric benchmarking data for any building built or renovated in prior years. The bill also would add a requirement for a new High Performance Building Program report, required to be published by January 1, 2022 and then every two years which would information about local policies and practices implemented to achieve compliance with high performance building certification programs, distinguishing policies and practices for K-12 schools from other local buildings.

The bill would require localities to design such building projects according to the same standards.

The bill would require that any exemption from the standards granted by resolution of the governing body of a locality be made in writing and explain the basis for granting the exemption. Localities are enabled by the bill to also exceed the standards of the bill.

Virginia Digital Equity Pilot Program and Fund SB 1462 (Mason) would require the Department of Social Services to establish a pilot program to provide a fixed reimbursement for the costs of broadband services to households currently participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The bill would have an expiration date of July 1, 2024.

K-12 Education Related Bills – Key Previously Reported Bills with Status Updates

Student Driver Education Program; Parent Participation Exemption HB 2119 (Keam) would exempt students who are at least 18 years old, emancipated minors, or unaccompanied minors who are not in the physical custody of their parent or guardian from the requirement that the student participate in the parent/student component of a school's driver education program.  Note:  This bill was reported by the House Education Pre-K-12 Subcommittee and will now be considered by the House Education Committee.

Definition of “Meeting;” Virginia Freedom of Information Act HB 1997 (Murphy) would increase from three to four the number of members of a public body meeting as an informal assemblage that constitutes a meeting under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.  Note:  The House General Laws - Open Government/Procurement Subcommittee failed to report this bill, but instead referred the subject matter to the Virginia FOIA Council.

Electronic Meetings: Virginia Freedom of Information Act HB 1931 (Levine) would authorize a public body to conduct through electronic communication means a meeting for which, on or before the day of the meeting, a member of the public body holding the meeting notifies the chair that such member is unable to attend the meeting due to a family member's medical condition that requires the member to provide care for such family member, thereby preventing the member's physical attendance. Note:  The General Laws Committee reported this bill for consideration by the House.

Guidelines on Excused Student Absences; Civic or Political Engagement HB 1940 (Rasoul) and SB 1439 (McClellan) would require, subject to guidelines established by the Department of Education, any middle school or high school student who is absent from school to engage in a civic or political event to be granted an excused absence. Note:  HB 1940 was amended so that it would permit one school day-long excused absence per school year for any middle school or high school student in the local school division who is absent from school to engage in a civic or political event and may permit additional excused absences for such students who are absent for such purposes and was approved by the House.. SB 1439 was heard by the Public Education Subcommittee and reported to the Senate Education and Health Committee.

Lock-Down Drills; Annual Requirement HB 1998 (Murphy) would reduce from three to two the minimum number of mandatory annual lock-down drills in each public elementary and secondary school in the Commonwealth.  Note:  This bill was reported by the Pre-K-12 Subcommittee for consideration by House Education.

In-Person Learning SB 1303 (Dunnavant) would require each local school division to make in-person learning available to all students by choice of the student's parent or guardian. The bill contains an emergency clause. Note the bill was amended to require school divisions to provide either in person or virtual education upon a parent’s request and is still in the Senate Education and Health Committee for consideration.

Open Enrollment Policy Required SB 1317 (Dunnavant) would require all local school boards to establish and implement policies to provide for the open enrollment to any school of any student who is eligible to receive free or reduced lunch upon the request of a parent or guardian, subject to conditions and limitations established by the local school board.  Note: this bill was reported by the Senate Education and Health Public Education Subcommittee for consideration by the Senate Education and Health Committee.

Reading Intervention Services for Certain Students in Kindergarten through Grade 3 HB 1865 (Delaney) would require reading intervention services for students in kindergarten through grade three who demonstrate deficiencies based on their individual performance on the Standards of Learning reading test or any reading diagnostic test.  Note:  This bill was amended to require services would be evidence-based and grounded in the science of reading to include phonemic awareness, systemic phonics, fluency, vocabulary development, and text comprehension as appropriate based on the student’s demonstrated reading deficiencies.

Standards of Quality School Equity and Staffing Act; Work-Based Learning; Teacher Leaders and Mentors; Principal Mentors; Certain Personnel Positions and initiatives HB 1929 (Aird) and SB 1257 (McClellan) would fully fund the SOQ recommendations made by the Virginia Board of Education in 2019. Note: The House Education Committee passed HB 1929 and referred it to House Appropriations and the Senate Education and Health Public Education Subcommittee reported SB 1257 this bill to the Senate Education and Health Committee

Cultural Competency, Teachers and other Licensed School Board Employees HB 1904 (Jenkins) and SB 1196 (Locke) would require teacher, principal, and division superintendent evaluations to include an evaluation of cultural competency. The bills would require every person seeking initial licensure or renewal of a license from the Board of Education to complete instruction or training in cultural competency and with an endorsement in history and social sciences to complete instruction in African American history, as prescribed by the Board. The bills would also require each school board to adopt and implement policies that require each teacher and any other school board employee holding a license issued by the Board to complete cultural competency training, in accordance with guidance issued by the Board, at least every two years.  Note:  HB 1904 has passed the House and will be forwarded to the Senate for consideration.  The Senate Education and Health Committee passed SB 1196 and referred it to Senate Finance and Appropriations.

Standards of Learning Assessments, Growth Assessment System SB 1357 - Substitute (Dunnavant) would direct the Board of Education to establish, for the purpose of providing measures of individual student growth over the course of the school year, a through-year growth assessment system. The system would be required to provide an accurate measurement of a student's performance in each core subject to begin during the 2021–2022 school year administered through computer adaptive technology, using test items below, at, and above the student's grade level as necessary. Such through-year growth assessment system would be required to include diagnostic assessment each fall, and again in the winter, and one spring progress assessment.  Note:  A substitute, as described above, was reported from the Public Education Subcommittee.  This bill would centralize testing with 3 tests being required.   The Public Education Subcommittee reported this bill and it will now be considered by the Senate Education and Health Committee. 

Standards of Learning Assessments; Individual Student Growth HB 2027 (Coyner) would require the Board to establish, for the purpose of providing measures of individual student growth over the course of the school year, a through-year growth assessment system, aligned with the Standards of Learning, for the administration of reading and mathematics assessments in grades three through eight. The system would be required to provide accurate measurement of a student's performance, through computer adaptive technology, using test items at, below, and above the student's grade level as necessary. Such through-year growth assessment system shall include at least one fall and one spring assessment, but the total time scheduled for taking all such assessments shall not exceed 150 percent of the time scheduled for taking a single end-of-year proficiency assessment.  Note:  The House Education Committee reported the amended bill as described above and rereferred it to House Appropriations.

Standards of Learning Assessments; Reduction HB 2094 (O’Quinn) and SB 1401 (Pillion) 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, as amended.  Note:  SB 1401 was reported by the Senate Public Education Subcommittee and will now be considered by the Senate Education and Health Committee.

Severe Weather Conditions and Other Emergency Situations; Unscheduled Remote Learning Days HB 1790 (McNamara) and SB 1132 (Suetterlein) would provide that when severe weather conditions or other emergency situations have resulted in the closing of any school in a school division for in-person instruction, the school division may declare an unscheduled remote learning day whereby the school provides synchronous or asynchronous instruction, or some combination thereof, to all students in the school in lieu of in-person instruction without a reduction in the amount paid by the Commonwealth from the Basic School Aid Fund, provided that the school division has established an unscheduled remote learning day plan that ensures that every student is provided instruction and services on such unscheduled remote learning day that are comparable in quality to the instruction and services provided to learners on any other remote learning day.  Note both bills were amended to require the Department of Education to develop guidelines to ensure that such remote services are provided equitably and capped the number of unscheduled remote learning days to 10 in a school year. HB 1790 passed House Education and awaits House floor consideration while SB 1132 has already passed the Senate.

Teachers' Licenses, Temporary Extension HB 1776 (Ward) would require the Board of Education to grant a two-year extension of the renewable license of any public-school teacher whose license expires in 2021 in order to provide the teacher with sufficient additional time to complete the requirements for re-licensure.  Note:  The House Education Committee reported and referred this bill to House Appropriations.  The Elementary and Secondary Education Subcommittee passed it by for the day to allow for further research.

School Nurses HB 1736 (Adams) – (substitute) now would limit the use of the title school nurse to registered nurses possessing an active license to practice in the Commonwealth. Note: the substitute  was reported from House Education for consideration on the House floor.  SB 1191 (Kiggans) would exclude school nurse positions from requirements for student support positions and instead requires each local school board to employ at least one full-time equivalent school nurse position in each elementary school, middle school, and high school in the local school division. The bill would also require the Department of Education to establish and administer a waiver process for local school boards for which the requirements of the bill create an undue hardship.   The Senate Education and Health Committee amended this bill to allow for a full-time licensed practical nurse to fulfill the requirement, and referred it to Senate Finance and Appropriations.

Possession and Administration of Undesignated Stock Albuterol Inhalers and Valved Holding Chambers HB 2019 (McQuinn) would require each local school board to adopt and implement policies for the possession and administration of undesignated stock albuterol inhalers and valved holding chambers in every public school in the local school division, to be administered by any school nurse, employee of the school board, employee of a local governing body, or employee of a local health department who is authorized by the local health director and trained in the administration of albuterol inhalers and valved holding chambers for any student believed in good faith to be in need of such medication. Note the bill was reported from the House Education Pre-K-12 Subcommittee for consideration by House Education.

JLARC Study of the Costs of Education SJ 294 (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. Note the bill was amended to push back the date of the final report to November 30, 2023 and was reported from Senate Rules for consideration on the Senate floor.

Seizure Management and Action Plans; Biennial Training SB 1322 (DeSteph) would provide for the submission and utilization of seizure management and action plans for students with a seizure disorder. The bill would require that school nurses and certain school division employees biennially complete Board of Education-approved training in the treatment of students with seizure disorders. The bill would provide immunity from civil liability for acts or omissions related to providing for the care of a student under a seizure management and action plan. Note the bill was amended such that the seizure management plan would only be submitted to the school division for review and was reported from the Senate Education and Health Committee for consideration by the full Senate.

Impact of COVID-19 on Virginia's Public Schools, Students, and School Employees; JLARC Study and Report HJ 549 (Guy) and SJ 308 (Lucas) would direct the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission to study the impact of COVID-19 on Virginia's public schools, students, and school employees.  Note HJ 549 passed the House Committee on Rules for consideration on the House floor and SJ 308 passed the Senate Rules Committee for Senate consideration.

Gun-Free Zone Establishment Permitted HB 1909 (Subramanyam) would permit any school board to deem any non-school zone property that it owns or leases as a gun-free zone and prohibit any individual from knowingly possessing any firearm designed or intended to expel a projectile by action of an explosion of a combustible material while such individual is upon such property, except certain individuals such as law-enforcement officers and qualified retired law-enforcement officers.  Note the bill was reported from House Public Safety for consideration on the House floor.

Special Education Department of Education; SB 1288 (Dunnavant) would require the Department of Education and the Board of Education to develop new policies and procedures and effect numerous modifications to existing policies and procedures to improve the administration and oversight of special education in the Commonwealth.  Note:  This bill was amended to permit parents to consent to one part of an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) without agreeing to an IEP in its entirety.  The Senate Education and Health Public Education subcommittee reported the bill to the Senate Education and Health Committee.

Children's Services Act; Special Education Programs SB 1313 – Substitute (Mason) would require that funds for private special education services be expended on private educational programs that are licensed by the Department of Education.  The bill would further require that the Secretary of Education, in conjunction with the Office of Children's Services and the Department of Education, establish a work group (the Work Group) with appropriate stakeholders to develop a detailed plan to direct the transfer of Children's Services Act funds currently reserved for children requiring an educational placement in a private special education school or residential facility to the Department of Education. Work Group stakeholders would include representatives of the Department of Education; the Office of Children's Services; at least three private special education day school service providers, including at least one director of a private special education day school; local school districts, including at least one local Special Education Director; local governments; licensed behavioral analyst service providers; and organizations engaged in advocacy for the autism community. The Work Group would also include at least one parent of a child with an individualized education program currently enrolled in a private special education day program and may include up to two legislative members, including the legislative members of the Children's Services Act State Executive Council, with such legislative members requesting the Secretary of Education for an opportunity to participate. The Work Group's plan would have to include details on how to administer the transferred funding so that it ensures funds for services for students with the most severe disabilities who are at risk of being placed in an out-of-school placement or are in an out-of-school placement, is equally accessible to all school divisions, and to minimize the fiscal impact of the new funding policy on localities. This plan would need to further include the development of a standardized reporting process, template, and reporting requirement for private special education day school tuition rates to ensure that tuition rates can be accurately compared across schools and over time. Such plan would be required to also offer a review and analysis of different models of delivering special education and private day school services, including a review of specialty regional schools, in-school delivery of services by private special education program providers, and in-school delivery of services by the school division. This plan and further recommendations would be submitted to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Appropriations and Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations by November 1, 2021 and would include draft legislation and amendments to the general appropriation act that would allow the General Assembly to accomplish the plan's recommendations.  Note:  SB 1099 (Stuart) and SB 1114 (Peake) were rolled into the substitute for SB 1313 which was reported by the Senate Education and Health Committee and referred to Senate Finance and Appropriations.

Children's Services Act; Eligibility for State Pool of Funds; Pilot Program Related to Educational Placement Transition for Certain Students with Disabilities SB 1133 – Substitute (Suetterlein) would contain the same provisions for licensing as SB1313 (Mason). However, this bill would address services both before and after the transition and would allow for the flexibility of funds.  Costs for such services delivered in the public school would not be permitted to exceed the cost expended on a placement in a private school educational program. "Transition services" would include adequate staffing to meet the needs of the children, training or professional development to support students with significant disabilities or intensive support needs, an environment that is specific to the child, and individualized programming for the child, such as speech therapy, occupational therapy, behavioral health services, and applied behavior analysis or other services necessary for such transition over the 12-month period as identified in the child's individualized education program. The Department of Education (the Department) and the relevant local school boards would be required 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 program, the Department would 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 the least restrictive public school setting in the local school division as determined by his individualized education program team 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 (§ 2.2-5200 et seq. of the Code of Virginia.  This plan and further recommendations would be submitted to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Appropriations and Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations by November 1, 2021 and would include draft legislation and amendments to the general appropriation act that would allow the General Assembly to accomplish the plan's recommendations.  Note:  The Senate Education and Health reported this bill for consideration by the Senate.

Children's Services Act; Effective Monitoring and Implementation HB 2212 (Plum) would require the director of the Office of Children's Services to provide for the effective implementation of the Children's Services Act (§ 2.2-5200 et seq.) in all localities by regularly monitoring local performance measures and child and family outcomes; using audit, performance, and outcomes data to identify local programs that need technical assistance; and (iii) working with local programs that are consistently underperforming to develop a corrective action plan for submission to the Office and the State Executive Council for Children's Services.  Note the bill reported from the House Health Welfare and Institutions Social Services subcommittee for consideration by the full committee.