2022 General Assembly Weekly Update

2-25-2022

2022 General Assembly Update
Week ending February 25, 2022
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 House and Senate have both approved their own sets of recommendations for changes to the budget bills HB 30 (Knight) and SB 30 (Howell).  Each chamber has until Wednesday, March 2nd to act on the Budget and revenue bills of the other chamber and appoint conferees. It is the responsibility of the conference committee of House and Senate members to reconcile the bills into a final budget, hopefully by the projected March 12 end of Session. Note that as of this writing, comprehensive financial impact information regarding the specific impact that each set of proposed amendments would have on FCPS was not available.

Education-related House bills that have passed in the Senate have been included in this update.  Committee action on most Senate education-related bills was delayed in the House, so information regarding the status of these bills will appear in next week’s Update. Next week is likely the last week for committee action on bills.  Bills that have passed in each chamber in different forms will each go to conference committees (usually made up of only about 3 members from each chamber) to resolve differences between versions.  Conference reports go directly to the floor for up or down votes.  Bills that pass in both House and Senate are forwarded to the Governor for his signature, proposed amendments, or veto.

House Proposed K-12 Related Budget Amendments

  • 4% Salary Increase and 1% Bonus - Item 137#3h This amendment would provide $247.0 million the first year and $453.6 million the second year from the general fund to provide the state share to two 4.0 percent salary increases and two 1.0 percent bonuses, provided on July 1, 2022, and July 1, 2023.  Language would provide local flexibility by permitting school divisions to access a prorated share of the salary increase funds to provide increases smaller than 4.0 percent provided at least 2.5 percent increases are given apply first year increases in excess of 4.0 percent toward the second-year increase and provide an additional 1.0 percent salary increase in lieu of a 1.0 percent bonus. (The introduced budget proposed two 5 % increases each year for $247.0 million the first year and $508.8 million the second year.)
  • One Full-Time Principal – Item 137 #16h This amendment would provide $10.0 million the first year and $10.2 million the second year from the general fund for the state share of one full-time school principal position for each elementary school.
  • Assistant Principals – Item 137 #17h This amendment would provide $40.9 million the first year and $42.5 million the second year to amend staffing standards for assistant principals to provide one position for every 500 students.
  • Reading Specialist – Item 137 #18hThis amendment would provide $32.0 million each year to provide on reading specialist for every 550 students in kindergarten through third grade and provides flexibility for school divisions to employ other instructional staff working toward obtaining the training and licensure requirements prescribed in HB 319 that will become effective in 2024-2025 school year.
  • At-Risk Add-On – Item 137 #9h This amendment would provide $28.8 million the first year and $29.5 million the second year to increase the At-Risk Add-On maximum add-on percentages from 26.0 percent to 31.0 percent beginning in fiscal year 2023.  (The introduced budget proposed increasing the maximum add-on to 49.5 percent in fiscal year 2023 and 36.0 percent in fiscal year 2024 for $194.2 million the first year and $74.2 million the second year.  This amendment is net of these actions.)
  • English Learner (EL) Teachers – Item 137 #10h This amendment would maintain the current English learner (EL teacher ratio of 20 such teachers per 1,000 identified EL students).  (The introduced budget proposed increasing the staffing standard to 20 EL teachers per 1,000 EL students, for an additional $10.3 million the first year and $11.7 million the send year.)
  • School Construction Loan Rebate Program – Item 137 #19h This amendment would provide $291.7 million the first year from the general fund and $250.0 million the first year from the Literary Fund to establish the School Construction Loan Rebate Program, to provide competitive loan rebate grants for school construction project, and interest buydown grants to provide zero-interest financing for another $1 billion in conditions, commitment and need for projects finance through the Virginia Public School Authority pooled bond program or pursuant to the Public-Private Education Facilities and Infrastructure Act of 2002.  (The grant program would be lieu of the school construction cash grants and Literary Fund proposals included in the introduced budget.)
  • Virginia Literacy Act – Item 129 #8h This amendment would provide $6.8 million the first year and $6.6 million the second year to support implementation of House Bill 319, the Virginia Literacy Act, and to prepare for the implementation of science-based literacy instruction beginning in fiscal year 2025.  This amendment would also direct the University of Virginia’s Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning to create a technical support center to assist in implementing the Virginia Literacy Act.
  • Virginia Preschool Initiative – Cost of Competing Adjustment – Item 137 #11h This amendment would save $2.0 million the first year and $2.0 million the second year from the general fund by implementing biennial re-benchmarking of Virginia Preschool Initiative per-pupil payments while excluding Cost of Competing Adjustments (COCA) as the introduced budged proposed.  The Local Composite index is capped at .5000 for VPI payments, rather than the traditional .8000 cap, meaning many of the same jurisdictions that would benefit from the application of COCA to VPI payments already benefit from the reduced LCI cap.
  • Virginia Preschool Initiative – At-Risk Three-Year Olds – Item 137 #13h This amendment would capture $6.0 million the first year and $13.4 million the send year by delaying an increase to the number of three-year old slots provided for the Virginia Preschool Initiative program.
  • Virginia Preschool Initiative – Flexible Funds – Item 137 #14h This amendment would capture savings the second year from the general fund by eliminating $5.4 million in flexible early childhood funds that were provided to allow the Virginia Preschool Initiative and various early childhood expansion initiatives to be responsive to demand among each of the initiatives. 
  • College Partnership Laboratory Schools (CPLS) – Item 137 #22h This amendment would deposit $150.0 million the first year into the CPLS Fund.  This amendment would provide that the required local spending for students would be provided through disbursements from the CPLS Fund rather than the local school division.  The amendment would further clarify that for the purposes of determining per pupil funding amounts for CPLS students, such students shall be considered to be enrolled in their school division of residence.
  • Parental Choice Education Savings Accounts - Item 135 #1h This amendment would provide $417,502 the first year and $367,502 the second year to support costs associated with the implementation of Parental Choice Education Savings Accounts, pursuant to the passage of House Bill 1024.
  • School Resource Officers – Item 408 #1h This amendment would provide $25,800,000 from the general fund additional funding for School Resource Officer Incentive Grants.
  • Earmarking Infrastructure and Operations Per Pupil Payments – Item 137 #21h This amendment would add $29.5 million each year from the Lottery Proceeds Fund to increase the Infrastructure and Operations Per Pupil Payments by approximately $43 each year.  A like amount of general funds offsets the costs of other lottery-funded programs.  This action ensues that 40 percent of lottery proceeds are returned to school divisions to address infrastructure and operations costs. In addition, this amendment would increase the minimum amount of these funds that school divisions must expend on non-recurring uses from 40% to 50%, completing the three-year phase-in of this requirement.
  • Pilot Expansion of the Virginia Kindergarten Readiness Program – Item129#4h This amendment would provide $650,000 the first year and $875,000 the second year to support development of a pilot expansion of the Virginia kindergarten Readiness Program assessment to grades 1-3 which would be known as PALS +.    
  • Advanced Placement Computer Science Enrollment – Item #136 #8h This amendment would provide $2.0 million each year to support Advance Placement computer science enrollment and student success. (This represents an increase of $1.5 million each year from the amount proposed in the introduced budget.)
  • Trades Incentive Fund and Program – Item 136 #11 h This amendment would deposit $3,000,000 each year from the general fund into the Public Schools Trades Incentive Fund and Program to provide grants on a competitive basis to school boards who want to restore programs that teach students skill trades that lead to earning industry-recognized certifications or credentials, pursuant to HB 1064.
  • Increase Restraint and Seclusion Training Support Item 130 #1h would provide $440,000 each year from the general fund to increase support for statewide training programs for school division staff to implement regulations related to the use of restraint and seclusion of students in public schools. This would increase total support for such training to $932,755 annually.

 Children Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing - Resources for Parents and Educators – Item 130 #2h would provide $170,000 the first year and $70,000 the second year from the general fund to support language development resources for families and educators working with children who are deaf or hard of hearing, pursuant to House Bill 649.

House Proposed K-12 Related “Language Only” Amendments

  • Governor’s School Statewide Study – Item 129 #2h This amendment would require the Department of Education to study options for expanding student access to Academic Year Governor's Schools and regional needs to establish additional programs.
  • Report Intended Uses of Federal ESSER Funds – Item 137 #2h would require school divisions to report their intended use of federal COVID-19 ESSER funds. Because information about the use of these funds is only collected at the time of reimbursement, little information is available about how school divisions plan to spend their remaining funds.
  • VRS Retirees Return to Employment – Item 137 #8h This language only amendment would reduce the break-in-service requirement from 12 months to six months for VRS retirees to return to employment to fill hard to staff positions in school divisions, the extent permitted by federal law
  • Elimination of Reading Recovery – Item 137 #1h would eliminate Reading Recovery intervention program as a permissible use of At-Risk Add-On Funds.  House Bill 418 amends a related section of the Code of Virginia.
  • Virginia Teaching Scholarship Loan Recipients – Item 136 #6h This language only amendment would clarify that Virginia Teaching Scholarship Loan recipients may teach in a Virginia public school program where 50 percent of students are eligible for free or reduced lunch to meet the teaching requirement to forgive such loans.  Current language does not address teachers teaching in programs as opposed to those teaching in traditional public schools.

Senate Proposed K-12 Related Budget Amendments

Note that the Senate retained a number of items included in the Governor’s Introduced Budget (e.g. salary, construction grants, English learner staffing), so certain key items are not identified as separate budget amendments on the Senate side.

  • Increase Funding for Support Positions – Item 137 #2s This amendment would provide $109.4 million the first year and $162.4 million to increase the number of funded support positions per 1,000 students to funded SOQ instructional positions to 20 support positions per 1,000 ADM to funded SOQ instructional positions in the first year and 21 support positions per 1,000 ADM to funded SOQ instructional positions in the second year.  This would increase state support for support positions and partially removes the funding cap placed on support positions beginning in FY 2010.
  • Reading Specialists – Item 137 #3s This amendment would provide $31.0 million the first year and $31.8 million the second year to provide one reading specialist per every 550 students in kindergarten through third grade.
  • ARPA – Teacher Recruitment Incentives - Item 486 #3s This amendment would provide $15.0 million non-general funds the first year from the federal State and Local Recovery Fund (SLRF) pursuant to the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 to support teacher recruitment incentive payments to fill unfilled instructional positions in the 2022-2023 school year.  Incentive payments would be based on $2,500 per position, or $5,000 per position for hard-to-schools and hard-to-staff positions.
  • School Health Services Committee - Item 6.20 #1s This amendment would provide funding in the amount of $28,040 each year for member compensation and meeting expenses associated with the establishment of the School Health Services Committee, pursuant to final passage of SB 62 (Favola). 
  • State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Funding – Item 36 #2s This amendment would provide $4.9 million GF in the first year to serve as the estimated total cost of state matching funds related to federal cybersecurity grant funding available to Virginia under the State and Local Cybersecurity Improvement Act subtitle of the Infrastructure and Jobs Act of 2021, and mandatory carry-forward language. The amendment also adds language directing the Virginia Information Technologies Agency (VITA) to take the steps necessary to obtain federal cybersecurity grant funding, comply with federal guidelines, and develop a related planning committee. There is a companion amendment to SB 29 that adds the same language directing the agency to take steps to obtain the federal funds and establish the planning committee.
  • DOE – Governor’s School Study - Item 129 #1s This amendment would propose $500,000 GF the first year to study options for additional virtual, online Governor's School opportunities across the Commonwealth.
  • Establishment of Advisory Committee for Language Development for Deaf and Hard of Hearing - Item 130 #1s would provide $170,250 GF the first year and $70,00 GF the second year to support the Department of Education, in coordination with the Department for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing, to establish an advisory committee that will develop a resource that parents of deaf or hard of hearing children, up to age five, may use to monitor the language development of their children, pursuant to passage of Senate Bill 265.
  • Dual Enrollment Credential Grant Development – Item 142 #6s would add $100,000 GF each year in the biennium to support the development of a new grant program within the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, with the goal of increasing the overall number of dual enrollment-credentialed high school teachers in Virginia public schools.

Senate Proposed K-12 Related “Language Only” Amendments

  • Direct Aid - School Construction Grants Program - #137 5s This amendment would include language to allow local school divisions to use the School Construction Grants Program funds, as introduced, for debt service payments on school projects that have been completed or initiated during the last ten years and would clarify that funds shall not be used for parking lot repairs or replacement or for facilities that are predominantly used for extracurricular athletic activities.
  • School-Based Mental Health Task Force – Item 33 #1s This amendment would direct the Behavioral Health Commission to conduct a study of how to maximize school-based mental health services across the Commonwealth.
  • JLARC – Evaluate Cost of Competing Adjustment - Item 36 #2s This amendment would direct JLARC to review the cost of competing adjustment (COCA) in their review of SOQ standards and funding.
  • DOE – Student Growth System (ESSER) - Item 129 #2s This amendment would permit the Department of Education to use funds reserved by the agency from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund for the establishment of a system to assess student growth with a focus on learning loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Each school division in the Commonwealth would be required to implement the system and make reports from the system available to educators to allow them to address learning for their students.

House Bills - Passed the Senate - These bills will now be forwarded to the Governor for his approval, amendment, or veto.

Instruction

  • At-Risk Add-On Funds; Reading Recovery HB 418 (Delaney) would remove reading recovery from the list of programs and initiatives for which school boards may use at-risk add-on funds.

Student Discipline

  • Incident Reporting HB 4 (Wyatt) would require principals to report a broad array of school-based offenses to law enforcement than is currently provided for in law. Prior to passing this bill the Senate amended it to conform with SB 36 which would limit required reporting of threats only to “written” threats and create additional reporting exceptions for students with an Individualized Education Plan (IEP). 

Student Safety

  • Annual School Safety Audits – Building Blueprints HB 741 (Bell) would require each local school board, as part of each annual school safety audit, to create a detailed and accurate floor plan for each public school building that may be withheld from public disclosure.

Teacher Licensure Flexibility

  • Applications for Teacher Licensure Reciprocity; Military Spouses; Timeline for Determination HB 230 (Coyner) would require the Board of Education's licensure regulations to provide for licensure by reciprocity for any spouse of an active duty or reserve member of the Armed Forces of the United States or a member of the Virginia National Guard who has obtained a valid out-of-state license, with full credentials and without deficiencies.  SB 154 (Locke) is the companion to this bill.

Bills that FAILED during the week ending 02/25/22

Charter Schools

  • Regional Charter Schools HB 356 (Tata)

Collective Bargaining

  • Project Labor Agreements; Prevailing Wage; Collective Bargaining for Employees of Local Governments HB 883 (Byron)
  • Compensation for Union Activities HB 337 (Freitas)
  • Public Employees; Labor Union Dues Deduction Authorization HB 341 (Freitas)
  • Representative Certification HB 336 (Freitas)

Instructional/Library Materials Review

  • Policy on Sexually Explicit Instructional Material HB 1009 (Durant) – note however that SB 656 (Dunnavant) with similar provisions already passed in the Senate and is under consideration on the House floor.

Personnel

  • Minimum Wage; Definition of Wage HB 171 (Marshall) HB 296 (McNamara), and HB 320 (Freitas)

Retirement & Insurance

  • Unemployment Compensation; Disqualification for Benefits; Misconduct Does Not Include Refusing COVID-19 Vaccine HB 1201 (Byron)

School Board Governance

  • Fund to Assist Localities with Translation of Essential Information; Established HB 1070 (Cordoza)

Taxation

  • Sales tax; authorizes additional local tax for constructing, etc., schools in Isle of Wight County SB 37 (Norment)
  • Sales and use tax, local; additional tax in City of Charlottesville to support schools SB 298 (Deeds)
  • Retail sales & use tax, additional local; use of revenues for construction or renovation of schools SB 472 (McClellan)

Vouchers/Tax Credits/Education Savings Accounts

  • Education Improvement Scholarship Tax Credits; Eligible Students in Need of a Safer School Environment HB 294 (Freitas)