General Assembly>Division of Legislative Services>Publications>Session Summaries>2003>Education


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Education

Passed

P HB1404

School board salaries; Southampton County. Corrects the school board salary statute by reinserting the Southampton County school board salary cap, which was inadvertently eliminated from statute by HB 1141 in 2002. In addition, the salary cap is increased from $2,400 to $5,000. Pursuant to HB 1141, only appointed school boards must seek General Assembly action for an increase in their respective salary caps. The 2002 Session adopted legislation providing that any elected school board may pay each of its members an annual salary that is consistent with the salary procedures and no more than the salary limits provided for local governments in Article 1.1 (§ 15.2-1414.1 et seq.) of Chapter 14 of Title 15.2 or as provided by charter. The specific salary limits that are currently provided for most school boards in Virginia were eliminated for elected school boards; however, for appointed school boards the specific salary limits were to be retained. Title 15.2 sets specific salary caps for city councils and boards of supervisors by population brackets; town councils may set their own salary levels.
Patron - Councill

P HB1464

General achievement diploma. Directs the Board of Education, by September 1, 2003, to develop, by regulation, requirements for the award of the general achievement diploma to students (i) passing the GED examination; (ii) successfully completing an education and training program designated by the Board; and (iii) satisfying other requirements the Board may establish. A second enactment authorizes emergency regulations.
Patron - Carrico

P HB1493

Standards of Quality; appropriate learning environment. Amends Standard 1 of the Standards of Quality to express the belief of the General Assembly and the Board of Education that the quality of public education is dependent upon an appropriate learning environment designed to promote student achievement. Standard 1 currently acknowledges the need for quality instruction as supported by appropriate benefits and compensation and the adequate commitment of other resources.
Patron - Amundson

P HB1498

Character education; Virginia Statement of Values. Modifies the current character education requirement to include instruction in Virginia's civic values--the principles articulated in Article I of the Virginia Constitution (Bill of Rights) and the ideals reflected in the Seal of the Commonwealth.
Patron - Lingamfelter

P HB1503

High school diplomas; civics education seal. Directs the Board of Education, by July 1, 2003, to establish criteria for awarding a diploma seal for excellence in civics education and understanding of the state and federal constitutions and the democratic model of government for the standard and advanced studies diplomas. The Board must consider criteria for (i) successful completion of history, government, and civics courses, including courses that incorporate character education; (ii) voluntary participation in community service or extracurricular activities; and (iii) related requirements as it deems appropriate.
Patron - Landes

P HB1518

School board policies; equal access. Prohibits local school boards providing access and opportunity to use school facilities or to distribute literature from denying equal access or fair opportunity to use such school facilities or to distribute literature, or from otherwise discriminating against the Boy Scouts of America or the Girl Scouts of the USA. Nothing in the measure is to be construed to require any school or school division to sponsor the Boy Scouts of America or the Girl Scouts of the USA or to exempt any such group from school board policies governing access to and use of school facilities and distribution of literature.
Patron - Black

P HB1716

Student social security numbers. Authorizes the division superintendent or his designee to assign another identifying number to students who are ineligible to obtain a federal social security number or if the student's parent is unwilling to present such number or waive the requirement. Currently, a student enrolled in the public schools must provide a federal social security number within 90 days of his enrollment. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Plyler v. Doe, 457 U. S. 202 (1982), that the withholding of state funds for the education of undocumented children or denying such children enrollment in the public schools violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. This decision affords undocumented students the right to attend public schools and participate in all school activities. School officials may not require children or their parents to prove that they are in the country legally through evidence such as green cards, citizenship papers or social security numbers. Pursuant to § 22.1-260, the division superintendent or his designee may waive the social security number requirement. However, in practice, the division superintendent or his designee is allowed, pursuant to guidance from the Department of Education, to assign another number for identification purposes to students who are ineligible to obtain a federal social security number. This bill authorizes that practice.
Patron - Hogan

P HB1757

Remediation for certain students. Requires school boards to provide programs of prevention, intervention, and remediation for students failing an end-of-course test required for the award of a verified unit of credit needed by the student for graduation, however, these students are not required to participate in such programs. School divisions are to add these students to their existing remediation report requirements. Currently, required remediation targets students who are "educationally at risk including, but not limited to, those whose scores are in the bottom national quartile on Virginia State Assessment Program Tests and those who fail to achieve a passing score on any Standards of Learning assessment in grades three, five, and eight."
Patron - Amundson

P HB1790

Timelines for decisions and appeals of teacher grievances. Clarifies that a school board has 10 business days to (i) initiate another hearing after receipt of a fact-finding panel's decision; (ii) determine grievability after the following of a grievance; and (iii) transmit a notice of appeal of its decision on grievability to the clerk of the relevant court. The bill also clarifies that the teacher has 10 business days after the school board makes its decision on grievability to file an appeal with the court and 10 business days to request a hearing before the school board after receiving the findings of fact and recommendations of a fact-finding panel. In addition, this provision clarifies that the court must sit to hear an appeal of grievability within 10 business days from receipt of the appeal. Currently, the relevant laws are silent as to whether "ten days" means 10 calendar days or 10 business days. Because school boards do not meet every week, 10 business days will provide some relief in the turnaround time of the school board's decisions and the teacher's determination to appeal, and the court will have 10 business days in which to hear an appeal of grievability.
Patron - Tata

P HB1834

Scoliosis screening for public school students. Directs each school board to provide parent educational information or, within the time periods specified in Board of Education regulations, to implement a program of regular screening for scoliosis for pupils in grades 5 through 10, unless such students are pupils admitted for the first time to a public school and have been tested as part of the required comprehensive physical examination, or the parents of such students have indicated their preference that their children not participate in such screening. Local school boards are to develop procedures for parents to indicate their desire to "opt out." The Board of Education is to promulgate regulations for the implementation of the screening program, which shall address, but shall not be limited to, requirements and training for school personnel and volunteers who may conduct such screenings; procedures for the notification of parents when evidence of scoliosis is detected; and such other provisions as the Board deems necessary. Local divisions may seek volunteers from among health care professionals.
Patron - Reese

P HB1896

School board employees; compensation schedule. Requires school boards receiving a waiver from the Board of Education and setting the school calendar so that the first day students are required to attend occurs before August 15 to establish a compensation schedule ensuring that all contract personnel are compensated for time worked within the first month of employment. This bill is identical to SB 717.
Patron - Stump

P HB1907

Student expulsions; possession of air rifle or BB gun. Modifies the "Gun-Free Schools" statute to add possession of an air rifle or BB gun on school property or a school-sponsored activity to those firearms-related offenses for which school boards are to expel students for one calendar year, unless the school board determines that "special circumstances exist and no disciplinary action or another disciplinary action or another term of expulsion is appropriate." The current weapons, firearms, and destructive device definitions in the Gun-Free Schools and criminal statutes do not clearly address air rifles or BB guns. Under current law, students are to be expelled (unless "special circumstances" exist) for possession of "firearms," defined in the Gun-Free Schools statute as "any destructive device," and those weapons that may "expel a projectile by the action of an explosive," those weapons prohibited on school property or at school-sponsored activities in § 18.2-308.1." Section 18.2-308.1, in turn, cross-references and incorporates the definition of "weapons" listed in § 18.2-308 A, which includes various knives as well as "any pistol, revolver, or other weapon designed or intended to propel a missile of any kind by action of an explosion of any combustible material." The measure does not alter the definition of "firearm" in the criminal statutes or within the Gun-Free Schools provision.
Patron - Almand

P HB2091

Drug testing in public schools. Requires the Board of Education to include policies addressing voluntary and mandatory drug testing, in accordance with the most recent enunciation of constitutional principles by the Supreme Court of the United States of America, in its guidelines for student conduct policies and student searches. The bill states that its provisions must not be construed to require any school board to adopt policies requiring drug testing; however, school boards may require drug testing in accordance with the Board's guidelines. Most recently, the U. S. Supreme Court upheld, in Board of Education of Independent School District No. 92 of Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma et al. v. Earls et al., random drug testing of public school students as a condition of participation in competitive extracurricular activities. A previous decision allowed for testing of athletes involved in competitive sports. The Board's standards for school board policies on alcohol and drugs and search and seizure must include guidance for procedures relating to voluntary and mandatory drug testing in schools, including, but not limited to, which groups may be tested, use of test results, confidentiality of test information, privacy considerations, consent to the testing, need to know, and release of the test results to the appropriate school authority. To avoid the costs of printing and mailing, the Board of Education must issue the revisions to its guidelines and model student conduct policies relating to school board policies on alcohol and drugs and search and seizure and for student searches in electronic format only. The revisions may be transmitted to the division superintendents and the public via any electronic media, including by posting the revisions to the Department of Education's website.
Patron - Joannou

P HB2124

Governor's Schools; selection of fiscal agent. Allows two or more school boards operating an academic-year Governor's School to select the fiscal agent for the school from among the treasurers of the participating localities by agreement and with the approval of the respective local governing bodies. Current law provides that the treasurer of the locality in which a joint school (a school operated by two or more school divisions) will serve as fiscal agent for the joint schools. The Governor's Schools program was first established in 1973 by Governor Linwood Holton. Supported by legislative appropriation, the initiative includes summer residential schools, summer regional schools, and 16 academic-year schools (three of which are full-day programs) and is administered by the Department of Education Programs for the Gifted cooperatively with local school divisions, colleges, and universities. The academic-year Governor's Schools are operated as joint schools, and provide special studies in sciences, mathematics, technology, and the arts for high school students. The remainder of the student's instruction may be provided by the student's home school or by the Governor's School. These programs receive funding from the Department of Education and participating school divisions. Additional contributions to Governor's Schools are made by local school divisions, institutions of higher education, foundations, and communities.
Patron - Reid

P HB2140

Posting of Bill of Rights in public schools. Amends the two uncodified Acts of Assembly requiring the posting of the National Motto in public schools to add the required posting of the Bill of Rights of the Constitution of the United States. Currently, school boards, at their discretion, may accept contributions in cash or in-kind from any person to defray the costs of implementing this provision.
Patron - Brink

P HB2151

School funding; reporting of required local expenditure. Codifies and broadens existing budget language to direct the Department of Education to collect annually necessary data to make calculations at the beginning and end of each school year to ensure that each school division has appropriated sufficient funds to support its estimated required local expenditure for providing an educational program meeting the prescribed Standards of Quality (SOQ). The end-of-year calculations shall be designed to verify whether the locality has provided the required expenditure, based on average daily membership as of March 31 of the relevant school year. The Department is to report annually to the House Committees on Education and Appropriations and the Senate Committees on Finance and Education and Health the results of such calculations and the degree to which each school division has met, failed to meet, or surpassed its required expenditure. Similarly, the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) is to report annually to these committees the state expenditure provided each locality for an educational program meeting the SOQ. The Department and JLARC are to coordinate to ensure that their respective reports are based upon comparable data and are delivered together, or as closely following one another as practicable, to the appropriate standing committees. The calculations will assist the Board of Education and the Attorney General in the implementation of their existing enforcement authority, set forth in the amended section and in Standard 8 (§ 22.1-253.13:8) of the SOQ. The measure is based on 2002 Appropriation Act language (§ 1-54, Item 147 B7, B7e) and Recommendation 8 of the 2002 JLARC Review of Elementary and Secondary School Funding.
Patron - Rust

P HB2254

Notification of reduction in force for teachers. Removes a July 1, 2003, sunset provision to continue the current requirement that all school boards, within two weeks of approval of the school budget by the local governing body, but no later than June 1, notify those teachers who may be subject to a reduction in force due to a decrease in the school board's budget as approved by the appropriating body. The section and corresponding amendments from the 2002 Session that would have replaced the expiring provision on July 1, 2003, are stricken; that section would have directed the school boards of Arlington, Fairfax, Falls Church, and Prince William (identified by form of government or by population) to notify by May 15 those teachers who may be subject to a reduction in force. An emergency clause makes the bill effective upon its final passage.
Patron - Watts

P HB2428

Blue Ridge Regional Education and Training Council. Abolishes the Blue Ridge Regional Education and Training Council. The Council was established in 1992 to provide leadership and coordination for education and business partnership programs and excellence in education in the Blue Ridge region. Funding for the Council and staff have been eliminated. The primary purposes of the Council can be carried out by local workforce investment boards and other entities. This bill is identical to legislation recommended by the Joint Subcommittee Studying the Operations, Practices, Duties, and Funding of the Commonwealth's Agencies, Boards, Commissions, Councils, and Other Governmental Entities pursuant to HJR 159 (2002). This bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2004.
Patron - Hugo

P HB2437

School board salaries. Allows county school boards whose membership is elected or appointed for staggered terms to establish a salary increase prior to July 1 of any year in which at least 40 percent of its members are to be elected or appointed. Current law permits this to occur in a year in which 50 percent of such members are to be elected or appointed. In addition, a technical amendment clarifies that the salary procedures for Arlington County School Board must comply with the provisions of § 15.2-702.1 relating to salaries and expenses for board members under the county manager plan form of government. Arlington County is the only jurisdiction having the county manager plan form of government.
Patron - Dillard

P HB2442

Students with limited English proficiency; Standards of Quality. Amends the Standards of Quality to require school boards to identify students with limited English proficiency and enroll these students in appropriate instructional programs and to require state funding, pursuant to the appropriation act, for 10 full-time equivalent instructional positions for each 1,000 students identified as having limited English. The state share for this staffing requirement is currently funded at $8,822,504 and $10,428,613 in the first and second year of the 2002-2004 biennial budget, respectively (§ 1-54, Item 145 F). The Standards of Accreditation (8 VAC 20-131-70) state that "[i]nstruction shall be designed to accommodate all students, including those with disabilities, those identified as gifted/talented, and those who have limited English proficiency." This bill incorporates HB 2636.
Patron - Dillard

P HB2621

School safety audits. Directs local school boards to require schools to conduct school safety audits annually, requires the audits to include specific recommendations, and provides that the results of such school safety audits shall be made public within 90 days of completion. However, the local school board retains authority to withhold or limit the release of any security plans and specific vulnerability assessment components, which are provided a qualified exemption from the Freedom of Information Act. The exemption from the FOI will not be construed to prohibit the disclosure of records relating to the effectiveness of security plans after a fire, explosion, natural disaster or other catastrophic event, or after any person has been injured or threatened with personal injury. Current law defines the school safety audit as a written assessment of the safety conditions in each public school that identifies and develops solutions for various physical and personal safety and security concerns.
Patron - Sherwood

P HB2680

Reports of certain acts by school authorities. Clarifies and revises the requirements for principals' reports to local law enforcement of incidents occurring on school buses, school property or at school-sponsored activities by (i) restructuring the clusters of incidents to separate assault and assault and battery without bodily injury from the more serious incidents involving assault and battery with bodily injury, sexual assault, death, shooting, stabbing, cutting, or wounding and (ii) eliminating the mandate that principals report all incidents involving assault and assault and battery to local law enforcement. The principal must still notify the parents of the students involved and the division superintendent and still has the discretion to report assaults and assaults and batteries without bodily injury to local law enforcement.
Patron - Black

P HB2757

Data on convictions; school personnel. Clarifies and reinforces that, as a condition of employment for all of its public school employees, whether full-time or part-time, permanent, or temporary, every school board must require on its application for employment that the applicant certify whether he has been convicted of a crime of moral turpitude. The Virginia Supreme Court has stated that "[m]isdemeanor crimes of moral turpitude are limited to those crimes involving lying, cheating and stealing, including making a false statement and petit larceny." (Newton v. Commonwealth, 29 Va. App. 433 at 448, 512 S.E.2d 846 at 853(1999)). Current law requires that school board employment applications include certifications that the applicant has not been convicted of a felony, a crime of moral turpitude, or any offense involving the sexual molestation, physical or sexual abuse or rape of a child.
Patron - Rust

P HB2806

Four-day school week. Provides that local school boards may approve, pursuant to guidelines developed by the Board of Education, school-proposed alternative school schedule plans, including those providing for the operation of schools on a four-day weekly calendar, so long as a minimum of 990 hours of instructional time is provided for grades 1 through 12 and 540 hours for kindergarten. No alternative plan that reduces the instructional time in the core academics shall be approved. The Standards of Accreditation (SOA) (8 VAC 20-131-150) set the standard school year at 180 days, with the standard school day for students in grades 1 through 12 to "average at least 5-1/2 hours, excluding breaks for meals, and a minimum of three hours for kindergarten." The SOA permit school divisions to develop alternative schedules for meeting these requirements as long as a minimum of 990 hours of instructional time is provided for grades 1 through 12 and 540 hours for kindergarten. Such alternative plans must be approved by the local school board and by the Board of Education under guidelines established by it.
Patron - Saxman

P HJ608

Educational leader training. Requests the Board of Education and the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia to ensure that the performance and leadership standards described in the Board's Guidelines for Uniform Performance Standards and Evaluation Criteria for Teachers, Administrators, and Superintendents are reflected in preparation and training programs for principals and superintendents in institutions of higher education. This measure is a recommendation of the HJR 20/SJR 58 Commission to Review, Study, and Reform Educational Leadership.
Patron - Hamilton

P HJ613

Regret over 1959 school closures. Describes the events in Prince Edward County of the 1950s following the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education declaring segregated systems of public education to be "inherently unequal" and expresses the General Assembly's profound regret over the 1959-1964 closing of the public schools in Prince Edward County, Virginia. This resolution notes the 50th anniversary in 2004 of the Brown v. Board of Education decision and urges the people of Virginia to celebrate this anniversary by becoming knowledgeable of the benefits and fairness of equality and the past history of the massive resistance movement, in the belief that a more educated, enlightened, and tolerant population will learn from history and will reject absolutely any such discriminatory practices in the future.
Patron - Baskerville

P HJ642

Recognizing the efficacy and potential cost-savings of contracting for independent educational performance assessment services. Recognizes the efficacy and potential cost savings that contracting for independent educational performance assessment services can provide decision makers. Such services can provide decision makers comparable and contextual academic, financial, and demographic data to make consistent and clear information available for instructional and resource decisions and for ensuring accountability. This resolution notes the new data requirements of No Child Left Behind and that the development and implementation of new software to collect and analyze this new data could be costly and require months of work. Thus, the use of an existing, effective, and quality educational data system may save, in the long run, money and time.
Patron - Byron

P SB710

Standards of Quality; quality instruction. Amends Standard 1 of the Standards of Quality to express the belief of the General Assembly and the Board of Education that the quality of public education is dependent upon quality instruction that enables each student to become a productive and educated citizen of Virginia and of the United States. Standard 1 currently acknowledges the need for quality instruction as supported by appropriate benefits and compensation. The measure also reiterates the legislature's duty to fund public education as set forth in the Virginia Constitution.
Patron - Puller

P SB717

School board employees; compensation schedule. Requires school boards receiving a waiver from the Board of Education and setting the school calendar so that the first day students are required to attend occurs before August 15 to establish a compensation schedule ensuring that all contract personnel are compensated for time worked within the first month of employment. This bill is identical to HB 1896.
Patron - Wampler

P SB756

School superintendent contracts. Requires that whenever a division superintendent's contract is being renegotiated, all members of the school board must be notified at least 30 days in advance of any meeting at which a vote is planned on the renegotiated contract unless the members agree unanimously to take the vote without the 30 days notice. Each member's vote on the renegotiated contract must be recorded in the minutes of the meeting. The local governing body, as the entity responsible for appropriating school board funds, must ultimately approve the local school board budget, pursuant to § 22.1-92.
Patron - O'Brien

P SB779

Student assessments. Provides that, for any grade level or course for which a Standards of Learning (SOL) assessment or other criterion- or norm-referenced assessment is administered, there shall be no required administration of the Stanford Achievement Test Series, Ninth Edition (Stanford 9) assessment, except as may be selected to facilitate compliance with the requirements for home instruction. The Standards of Quality (§ 22.1-253.13:3) currently direct the Board of Education to "(i) develop appropriate assessments, which may include criterion-referenced tests and alternative assessment instruments which may be used by classroom teachers and (ii) prescribe and provide measures, which may include nationally normed tests, to be designated as the Virginia State Assessment Program, which shall be used to identify students who score in the bottom quartile at selected grade levels." The Board adopted the Stanford 9 in 1996 as the norm-referenced test--one which compares the performance of Virginia students to that of students across the nation to be administered in mathematics, reading, and language at grades 4, 6, and 9. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is administered to samples of students from grades 4, 8, and 12 for periodic testing in reading, mathematics, science, writing, history and other fields. In 1998, NAEP covered reading, writing, and civics in grades 4, 8, and 12. In 2000, NAEP covered mathematics and science for grades 4 and 8 and reading in grade 4 only. Virginia has been participating in NAEP since 1990. Beginning in 2005-2006, the federal No Child Left Behind act will require annual testing in grades 3-8. The Commonwealth's SOL tests are administered in 3, 5, and 8 at the end of certain high school courses, but will be administered in grades 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 in mathematics and reading by the beginning of 2005-2006.
Patron - Blevins

P SB804

Virginia Advisory Council for Adult Education and Literacy. Abolishes the Virginia Advisory Council for Adult Education and Literacy. The Council recommends an integrated and coordinated multiagency approach for the delivery of quality adult education and literacy programs, services, and philosophies. The executive director position to the Council has been eliminated as a state position and the Council has met infrequently in recent years. The Board of Education has established the Subcommittee on Adult Education and Literacy which can fulfill the mission of the Council and have a greater local impact. This bill is a recommendation of the Joint Subcommittee Studying the Operations, Practices, Duties, and Funding of the Commonwealth's Agencies, Boards, Commissions, Councils, and Other Governmental Entities pursuant to HJR 159 (2002).
Patron - Martin

P SB987

School buses; display of American flag decals. Allows local school boards, notwithstanding any regulation to the contrary, to display decals depicting the flag of the United States on the sides and rear of school buses as long as any such decal does not obstruct the name of the school division or the number of the school bus and is no larger than 100 square inches. Current Board regulations (8 VAC 20-70-210) prohibit "use of posters, stickers, or advertising material of any kind" on school buses and provide for lettering for the identification of buses (8 VAC 20-70-1050).
Patron - Mims

P SB1099

Joint schools. Allows two or more school boards, with the consent of the State Board, to establish joint or regional high schools, including regional public charter schools, to offer, in addition to a comprehensive high school curriculum, specialized training to students desiring to pursue careers in law enforcement, fire fighting, emergency and rescue services, and other occupations addressing public safety and welfare. These schools may be designed to incorporate the instructional services of retired or disabled emergency, fire, rescue, and law-enforcement personnel and internships with local agencies and organizations providing such emergency, fire, rescue, and law-enforcement services.
Patron - Edwards

P SJ305

Ratios of students with disabilities to general student population. Requests the Department of Education to collect information regarding ratios of students with individualized education plans in Virginia school divisions to the general student population. Such information shall include a summary of current federal and state law and regulation governing requirements and standards for the issuance of such plans and the identification and classification of students with disabilities.
Patron - O'Brien

P SJ316

Coordinating the Brown v. Board of Education 50th Anniversary Celebration. Directs the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Commission to coordinate and plan the statewide commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision in the Commonwealth. The Commission shall (i) inventory the Commonwealth regarding planned commemorative events, (ii) confer and collaborate with the Brown v. Board of Education 50th Anniversary Commission, the Robert Russa Moton Museum, the Brown Foundation, the Secretary of Education, the Superintendent of Public Education, the State Council of Higher Education, the Virginia Community College System, the Office of the Attorney General, the judicial system, local school boards, institutions of higher education, local governments, legal and civil rights organizations, relevant federal agencies, the religious community, and other interested parties to plan, coordinate, and implement appropriate year-long activities and events leading to and following May 17, 2004, (iii) issue a calendar of events that includes all known national and statewide programs, activities, and events commemorating the 50th Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, and (iv) notify and seek the cooperation of all relevant parties regarding the provisions of this resolution. The Commission must submit its executive summary and progress report no later than the first day of the 2004 Regular Session of the General Assembly. Also, the executive summary and report must be posted on the General Assembly's website.
Patron - Marsh

P SJ318

Communication, collaboration, and cooperation among the public and higher education systems and the General Assembly. Requests the Secretary of Education to facilitate communication, collaboration, and cooperation among the public and higher education systems, and the Virginia General Assembly to establish a K-20 continuum. The Secretary of Education is also requested to apprise the Commission on access and diversity in higher education regarding progress toward accomplishing initiatives that promote the K-20 continuum, dialogue with citizens and the business community to strengthen support for public and higher education, and efforts to ensure better articulation and alignment of curricula between public and higher education. The Secretary must recommend to the Commission by November 30, 2003, any changes to existing state laws that may be necessary to assist public and higher education agencies in accomplishing their individual missions and the objectives of this resolution. This resolution, which was a part of the legislative initiatives of the Commission on Access and Diversity in Higher Education during the 2002 Session of the General Assembly, was favorably considered by the Commission this year.
Patron - Marsh

Failed

F HB1376

Board of Education; nonvoting student representative. Directs the Governor to appoint a nonvoting student representative to the Board of Education from among students enrolled in Virginia public schools. The student representative would serve in a nonvoting, advisory capacity for a term of one year and shall be eligible for reappointment. The student representative shall not be construed to be a Board member for any purpose, including, but limited to, establishing a quorum or making any official decision. The Board may exclude the nonvoting student representative from executive sessions or closed meetings pursuant to § 2.2-3711 of the Freedom of Information Act.
Patron - Landes

F HB1378

Local school boards; nonvoting student representatives. Requires school boards to adopt procedures for the appointment of one or more nonvoting student representatives to local school boards from among the students enrolled in the public schools in the division. A student representative will serve in a nonvoting, advisory capacity and will be appointed under such circumstances and serve for such terms as the board prescribes. The school board may exclude nonvoting student representatives from executive sessions or closed meetings pursuant to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. Student representatives must not be construed to be members of local school boards for any purpose, including, but not limited to, establishing a quorum or making any official decision. Under current law, this practice is permissive. Boards of visitors of Virginia public institutions of higher education are also authorized to appoint nonvoting student representatives (§ 23-9.2:5).
Patron - Landes

F HB1460

Independent analysis of school performance. Directs the Board of Education, to supplement and enhance the accreditation process, to contract with a person, organization, or corporation with expertise in school evaluation for the purpose of conducting an annual independent analysis and evaluation of school performance for each public school division in the Commonwealth. The contract for services shall provide for, among other things, (i) the use of performance variables that shall include various academic, financial, and demographic indicators; (ii) comparative benchmarks among school divisions; (iii) annual reporting to each school division of its performance and areas requiring improvement; (iv) identification of performance trends over time and best practices; and (v) recommendations for technical assistance, remediation, intervention, and other measures to improve school performance.
Patron - Purkey

F HB1482

Standards of Accreditation; multiple criteria. Directs the Board of Education, in establishing the Standards of Accreditation for elementary, middle, and high schools, to incorporate the use of multiple criteria in determining the accreditation status of schools. The criteria for the accreditation of all schools shall include results of the Standards of Learning (SOL) assessments, excluding the scores of students pursuing alternative education; improvement in SOL assessment scores; and student attendance rates. The criteria for accrediting all schools shall also provide for the awarding of additional credit to be counted toward attaining a particular accreditation status for (i) a disparity in the aggregated SOL assessment scores of majority and minority students of 10 points or fewer that results from increased assessment scores of all students and (ii) the percentage of teachers who are assigned to positions for which they have an endorsement. The Board shall assign a weight to each criterion to obtain a numerical rating for determining accreditation status; however, in no event shall the results of any SOL assessments account for more than three-quarters of a school's rating for accreditation purposes. In addition, the accreditation standards for high schools shall include, but not be limited to, school drop-out rates, with data distinguishing verified transfers and students participating in a GED program and the percentage of students who do not receive a diploma but either (a) pass an examination in a career and technical education field that confers certification from a recognized industry, or trade or professional association, or (b) acquire a professional license in a career and technical education field from the Commonwealth of Virginia. Additional criteria for the accreditation of middle schools shall include, but not be limited to, school drop-out rates, with data distinguishing verified transfers. Additional criteria for the accreditation of elementary schools shall include, but not be limited to, the number of students who have been retained for more than one year in grades 2 through 5. The criteria for accrediting elementary schools shall also include, as an additional credit that might be counted toward attaining a particular accreditation status, the percentage of students achieving above the fiftieth percentile on the Stanford 9 assessment. At the request of the relevant school board, alternative education schools and full-day programs designed to increase educational opportunities for at-risk students shall be evaluated pursuant to standards appropriate to such school or program and approved by the Board of Education. Each school's performance on the various criteria and any awards of additional credit shall be included in the School Performance Report Card required by the Standards of Accreditation.
Patron - Darner

F HB1495

Education; funding for the state Standards of Quality. Provides that notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Commonwealth shall fund at least 55 percent of the total actual costs of public education. The Standards of Quality and the formulas used by the Commonwealth to distribute funds to localities to meet the Standards of Quality shall be reviewed and revised biennially to meet such requirement. Beginning with the budget for fiscal year 2005, the Governor shall include in his budget recommendations adequate funds to meet the requirements of this bill.
Patron - Amundson

F HB1497

Standards of Learning assessments. Provides that the results of any Standards of Learning (SOL) assessments cannot be considered in the promotion or retention of students, the awarding of diplomas, or in the accreditation of schools until the validity, reliability, and fairness of such assessments have been certified to the Board of Education by an independent assessment expert following appropriate field testing. In no case can the SOL assessment results constitute the primary basis for student promotion or retention. The current Standards of Accreditation (SOA) provide that results of SOL assessments in grades K-8 are a "part of a set of multiple criteria for determining the promotion or retention of students." The regulations are silent as to promotion and retention policies for grades 9-12, in which verified units of credit (earned by passing SOL assessments and successfully completing courses) are required for a diploma. The division superintendent must "certify to the Department of Education that the division's promotion and retention policy does not exclude students from membership in a grade or participation in a course in which SOL tests are to be administered," (8 VAC 20-131-30 A, B). The SOA do not specifically make the awarding of diplomas contingent upon the passage of SOL tests; however, the accumulation of a specific number of standard and verified units of credit will be required for standard and modified diplomas, beginning with the ninth grade class of 2001. The standard unit of credit is based on the minimum 140 clock hours of instruction and "successful completion of the requirements of the course." The verified unit of credit is awarded upon passage of the relevant SOL test, or additional tests approved by the Board of Education, as well as the course (8 VAC 20-131-110 A, B). During a transition period, beginning with the ninth grade classes of 2001, 2002, and 2003 (graduating classes of 2004-2006), students must earn 22 standard units of credit in specified courses, and two verified units of credit in English and four verified units "of the student's own choosing" to obtain a Standard Diploma. For the ninth grade class of 2004 (graduating class of 2007), receipt of a Standard Diploma will be based on 22 standard units of credit in specific courses, and six verified units--two in English, one each in mathematics, science, history, and one in a course of the student's choosing (8 VAC 20-131-50 B). The SOA state that schools shall be accredited based primarily on student achievement, as evidenced by SOL test scores (8 VAC 20-131-280 C). More specifically, accreditation ratings are based on "the percentage of students passing SOL tests or approved additional tests ... or on a trailing three-year average that includes the current year scores and the scores from the two most recent years in each applicable academic area, or the current year's scores, whichever is higher" (8 VAC 20-131-280 C 3). Special purpose schools are to be evaluated "on standards appropriate to the programs offered in the school and approved by the Board . . ." (8 VAC 20-131-280 D). After a transition period ending in 2009, schools will ultimately be awarded one of four accreditation ratings: Fully Accredited, Conditionally Accredited, Accredited with Warning, and Accreditation Denied, (8 VAC 20-131-300 A). Provisional accreditation benchmarks establish passing rates for schools through 2003.
Patron - Christian

F HB1574

Parenting programs; Department of Correctional Education. Requires the Department to arrange for noncustodial parent offenders committed to the custody of the Department of Corrections to be afforded the opportunity to participate in pre- and post-release parenting programs that include parenting-skills training, anger management, and literacy skills. This bill is identical to HB 2246.
Patron - Hamilton

F HB1606

Standards of Learning (SOL) assessments. Directs local school divisions to include in reports of student scores on the SOL assessments provided to parents the established margins of error for such assessments, score ranges, and explanations of such data.
Patron - Petersen

F HB1611

Administration of assessments for certain nonpublic school students. Requires students who are enrolled in any nonpublic school in the Commonwealth and who receive state funds supporting such enrollment, other than any state funds that may be associated with students who are enrolled as part of an individualized education plan or who participate in federal free and reduced meal programs, to participate in the Standards of Learning assessments prescribed by § 22.1-253.13:1. The Board of Education shall develop any additional procedures that may be required to facilitate the administration of such assessments.
Patron - Darner

F HB1638

Early completion of high school graduation requirements. Provides that effective July 1, 2004, each school board must establish and implement a procedure to allow a student to graduate from the public schools before the student's senior year by (i) completing the requirements for high school graduation before the student's senior year, or (ii) demonstrating exemplary performance on the Standards of Learning end-of-course tests. Such procedure must include a provision for providing a monetary award to such students, the amount to be determined by the school board. Students who complete the requirements for high school graduation before their senior year will be awarded either the standard or advanced diploma and such seals on the diploma as may be appropriate. Such students, regardless of age, will have satisfied compulsory school attendance requirements.
Patron - Marshall, R.G.

F HB1639

Overcrowding of public schools. Provides that effective July 1, 2004, each school board must establish a procedure to allow a parent to transfer a student to an educational program that complies with compulsory school attendance when the number of students attending the public school in which the student is enrolled exceeds the capacity for which the building was erected or when trailers must be used to accommodate the overflow of students and provide additional instructional space. Parents who elect to transfer a child to an approved educational program will be entitled to receive a monetary payment each year in an amount to be determined by the school board; however, the payment may not be less than $500 and or exceed the annual cost of average daily membership that the school division allocates for such student, to the extent permissible by federal and state law, and local ordinance. If overcrowding in the school persists the next school year, and a parent elects to transfer a student to an educational program, the parent will not be eligible to receive the monetary payment for the second or subsequent years unless the student can demonstrate continuous academic progress and proficiency on the relevant Standards of Learning tests for English and mathematics, or other appropriate tests selected by the division superintendent from among a list of tests approved by the Board of Education. The Board of Education must establish guidelines to assist school divisions with the implementation of the law. The guidelines must include, but not be limited to, a model procedure for allowing parents to transfer students to an educational program that complies with compulsory school attendance when the public school is overcrowded, eligibility for monetary payments, and a list of tests approved by the Board of Education to assess the academic progress of such students.
Patron - Marshall, R.G.

F HB1758

Virginia Public School Authority; School Construction Grant Act of 2003. Authorizes the Virginia Public School Authority to issue bonds to fund grants to local school divisions in the total amount of $1 billion to pay the costs of school construction, school renovation, and other school infrastructure projects. The schedule for the issuance of the bonds and the payment of the debt service on them shall be as provided in the general appropriation act. One-half of the grants ($500 million) shall be distributed to each school division in an equal amount of $3,676,471. The remaining one-half shall be distributed to each local school division on a set per pupil amount based on each school division's actual September 30, 2002, fall membership data as a proportion of total actual September 30, 2002, fall membership data for all school divisions. In implementing this bill, the Virginia Public School Authority shall not incur more than a total of $250 million in debt in any fiscal year.
Patron - Amundson

F HB1760

Standards of Quality; apportionment of state and local share. Directs the General Assembly, in apportioning the state and local share for the costs of meeting the Standards of Quality, beginning July 1, 2003, to annually increase the state share by four percent of the total costs, so that, by July 1, 2008, the local share shall not exceed 60 percent and the state share shall be equal to at least 40 percent of the total costs for localities whose local share is greater than or equal to 65 percent of the total costs in any fiscal biennium.
Patron - Amundson

F HB1794

Student directory information. Prohibits school boards from releasing student directory information (name, address, date and place of birth, etc.) for use by any political group, party, committee, or organization. The federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) permits school boards to release directory information without parental consent after providing notice of this practice. Federal regulations describe this information as that which "would not generally be considered harmful or an invasion of privacy if disclosed" (34 CFR § 99.3). Federal law allows parents to refuse to allow these routine disclosures.
Patron - Jones, D.C.

F HB1795

Social studies textbooks. Directs the Board of Education, in approving textbooks for social studies, to report to local school boards those textbooks that reflect the history of minorities in the Commonwealth, consistent with the requirement that the Standards of Learning for social studies be supplemented to ensure the study of contributions to society of diverse people, as required by Standard 1 of the Standards of Quality.
Patron - Jones, D.C.

F HB1798

School boards; rules governing outside discussion of closed meetings. Provides that a school board may, by agreement of a majority of its members, adopt a rule prohibiting and providing appropriate sanctions for the disclosure by any member of information discussed in a closed meeting of the school board lawfully convened in accordance with law until such time as the subject of the closed meeting is made public by the school board.
Patron - Jones, D.C.

F HB1815

Commencement of school day in certain school divisions. Directs the school board of any county having the urban county executive form of government (Fairfax) to set the school day schedule to ensure that the commencement of the regular school day for students in middle and high schools begins no earlier than 8:00 a.m. A second enactment clause delays the bill's effective date until July 1, 2004.
Patron - Scott

F HB1837

School board employees; standard classifications. Directs the Board of Education to develop standard school board employee position descriptions, categories, and classifications for use by all school divisions in the Commonwealth. School boards are to use such descriptions, categories, and classifications in making any reports to the Board or other state agencies required by state law or regulation.
Patron - Reese

F HB1839

Division superintendent contracts. Requires local school boards to provide public notice of its intention to renegotiate, extend, or amend a division superintendent's contract at least 28 days prior to the date of school board action on such renegotiation, extension, or amendment. The public notice is to state the intended action.
Patron - Reese

F HB1843

Student drug testing; disclosure of test results. Provides that a school board may require a student who has been found to have been in possession of or to have used illegal substances on school property or at a school-sponsored event and for whom an evaluation for substance abuse has been required to disclose drug test results to the appropriate school administrative authority for the sole purpose of determining an appropriate school placement. Current law permits the school board to require a substance abuse evaluation for these students, and upon the recommendation of the evaluator, participation in a treatment program.
Patron - Reese

F HB2021

Elementary school teachers; planning time. Directs school boards to ensure that all elementary school teachers are provided at least one unencumbered planning period during the students' school week. The Commonwealth will bear the cost of the planning period, as provided in the appropriation act. Currently, the law directs school boards to "seek to ensure" that elementary school teachers receive at least three hours' planning time each week; the Standards of Accreditation (SOA) (8 VAC 20-131-230) provide middle school teachers with more than 25 class periods a week with one period of "unencumbered" class period daily; similarly, full-time high school teachers must receive "one class period each day, unencumbered by supervisory or teaching duties...for instructional planning." No similar requirement is stated for elementary school teachers. In addition, the SOA direct schools to report "the extent to which an unencumbered lunch is provided for all classroom teachers."
Patron - Bell

F HB2042

Virginia Educational Options Program. Provides parents of students enrolled in, attending, or assigned to public schools that have been accredited with warning in any specified academic area or areas or have had their accreditation denied for the past two consecutive years with the right to request transfers to comparable accredited public schools of their choice in the relevant school division. In those school divisions with only one school at the various educational levels, or in those instances in which the majority or all of the public schools are accredited with warning or have had accreditation denied, or the school division is unable to grant the transfer request because adequate space is not available in a comparable school of the parent's choice, the parent will have the right to request a school attendance voucher from the Board of Education to enroll the student in an accredited public school in another school division or in a participating nonsectarian private school. The vouchers will be in the amount of $2,000 or a sum equal to the required expenditure per pupil as set forth in the appropriation act for the relevant school division, whichever is less; however, vouchers cannot be for more than the tuition charges. The Board of Education will deduct the voucher amounts from the school division's basic aid appropriations and will promulgate regulations for the program, with the advice and consultation of the Office of the Attorney General. The legislation protects against shutout of students who reside in the various attendance zones and avoids construction of the new law to guarantee admission, attendance or full tuition payment for any student. The Auditor of Public Accounts will perform annual financial and performance evaluations, beginning in 2004.
Patron - Marshall, R.G.

F HB2043

Virginia Scholarship and Tutorial Assistance Program. Creates the Virginia Scholarship and Tutorial Assistance Program to provide state-funded scholarships directly to parents of low-income students in the Commonwealth that may be used to (i) pay the costs of tuition of eligible students in kindergarten through grade 8 attending an accredited public school in an adjacent school division or a participating nonsectarian private school in the school division where the student resides or in a school division adjacent thereto, or (ii) purchase tutorial assistance for such students who remain in the public schools, to assist the parents of these students in obtaining a high quality education. The Board must promulgate regulations for the governance and implementation of the Program, and must allocate appropriations for the Program equally so that one-half will be designated for scholarships and one-half will be designated for tutorial assistance grants. The bill also provides certain requirements for participating nonsectarian private schools.
Patron - Marshall, R.G.

F HB2098

Teacher compensation; national average. Establishes as a policy of the Commonwealth that the average salary for Virginia public school teachers equal or surpass the national average salary for public school teachers and directs the Board of Education and the General Assembly to implement this policy in prescribing and revising the Standards of Quality. The Director of Human Resource Management is to include in each biennial review of the compensation of teachers and other occupations requiring similar education and training the average salary for teachers in the Commonwealth, the national average salary for public school teachers, and the Commonwealth's national ranking for such salaries.
Patron - Plum

F HB2146

Uniform guidelines for care of students with diabetes. Directs the Board of Education, in consultation with the Department of Health, to develop guidelines for school boards for the development and implementation of individual diabetes care plans for public school students. The Board is to consider the guidelines recommended by the American Diabetes Association for the management of children with diabetes in the school and day care setting and recent resolutions by the United States Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights of investigations into complaints alleging discrimination against students with diabetes. The measure is similar to legislation adopted by the North Carolina General Assembly in August 2002. The guidelines are to include, but shall not be limited to, provisions addressing (i) procedures for the development of an individual diabetes care plan at the written request of the student's parent and the involvement of other appropriate educational and health care personnel; (ii) the regular review of individual care plans; (iii) information to be included in an individual diabetes care plan, including the responsibilities and appropriate staff development for teachers and other school personnel, an emergency care plan, the identification of authorized actions to be taken, the extent to which the student is able to participate in his own care and management, and other information necessary for teachers and other school personnel to offer appropriate assistance; (iv) information and staff development to assist teachers and other school personnel in addressing the care of such students; and (v) such other matters as the Board deems appropriate. Local school boards shall ensure that schools in which students with diabetes are enrolled adopt practices and procedures that meet or exceed the Board's guidelines and are to provide information and professional development opportunities to assist teachers and school personnel in managing the care of such students in accordance with their individual diabetes care plans. The Board must develop the guidelines for implementation by local school boards in the 2004-2005 school year. The Board's guidelines are not to be deemed to be regulations for purposes of the Administrative Process Act (§ 2.2-4000 et seq.); however, the Board shall provide for public review and comment in the development and revision of such guidelines.
Patron - Rust

F HB2189

Teacher licensure by reciprocity. Directs the Board of Education to provide for licensure by reciprocity with comparable endorsement areas for those individuals who (i) have successfully completed an out-of-state teacher preparation program approved by the relevant state authority and offered by an accredited institution of higher education and (ii) hold a valid and full out-of-state teaching license issued by the state approving such teacher preparation program. Current law and regulation provide for licensure by reciprocity for those individuals holding a valid out-of-state teaching license and national certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards or a nationally recognized certification program approved by the Board of Education (8 VAC 20-21-90). In addition, candidates seeking a Technical Professional License or the Pupil Personnel Services License are not required to take the professional teacher's assessment. Individuals who have "completed a minimum of two years of full-time, successful teaching experience in an accredited public or nonpublic school (kindergarten through grade 12) in a state other than Virginia are exempted from the assessment requirement" (8 VAC 20-21-40 B).
Patron - Saxman

F HB2243

Standards of Quality; apportionment of state and local share. Directs the General Assembly, in apportioning the state and local share for the costs of meeting the Standards of Quality, beginning July 1, 2004, to implement a formula that determines each locality's ability to pay based on the ratios of (i) the total value of real estate in the locality adjusted by the index used for the pay differential for state employees residing in that locality to the statewide value of real estate per person; (ii) the median value of residential real estate in the locality to the statewide median value of residential real estate; (iii) sales subject to the state sales tax in the locality to the statewide sales subject to the state sales tax per person; (iv) revenue collected from the local personal property tax to the revenue collected statewide from the local personal property tax, and (v) revenue collected from local lodging, local cigarette, and local meals taxes to the revenue collected statewide from these local lodging, cigarette, and meals taxes, as provided in the appropriation act. To determine each locality's composite index of ability-to-pay, (a) the sum of the ratios calculated on the basis of average daily membership for each locality shall be divided by the sum of the average daily membership ratios for all localities; (b) the sum of the ratios calculated on a per capita basis for each locality shall be divided by the sum of the average daily membership ratios for all localities; and (c) the locality's ratio calculated on the basis of average daily membership shall be multiplied by .66 and the locality's ratio calculated on a per capita basis shall be multiplied by .33. The sum of the two adjusted ratios in clause (c) shall be the local composite index of ability-to-pay. Tax values and population estimates used shall be those for the fiscal year ending one year prior to the fiscal year in which the distribution takes place.
Patron - Watts

F HB2246

Parenting programs; Department of Correctional Education. Requires the Department to arrange for noncustodial parent offenders committed to the custody of the Department of Corrections to be afforded the opportunity to participate in pre- and post-release parenting programs that include parenting-skills training, anger management, and literacy skills. This bill is identical to HB 1574.
Patron - Watts

F HB2348

Dual enrollment of home school students. Requires public two-year and four-year institutions of higher education to develop and implement policies that provide for the dual enrollment of students 16 years of age or older, who are home-schooled high school juniors or seniors within the Commonwealth, to allow such students to meet the requirements for high school graduation and, at the same time, earn college credits. These students must meet the academic requirements for admission of the institution, be eligible to attend as part-time or full-time students, and be subject to the same conditions and requirements imposed upon, and afforded the same privileges extended to, dual enrolled public school students. The policies must be effective by July 1, 2004.
Patron - Black

F HB2349

Standards of Quality; School Performance Report Card. Requires the Board of Education to include, in its regulation relating to the School Performance Report Card, requirements for each school to report, in addition to the Standards of Learning assessment scores and averages, each year's required test results, including nationally normed student test score averages on Virginia State Assessment Program tests, which may include the Stanford 9 test, analyzed by percentile data when available. Such reports must be made available to the public within three months of the receipt of the scores, disaggregated by gender and by race or ethnicity, and reported to the public for each school in the aggregate. These reports must also be posted separately from the Standards of Learning assessment data, on the portion of the Department of Education's website relating to the School Performance Report Card, in a standard, downloadable, importable spreadsheet format and in a manner that allows year-to-year comparisons. In addition, the reports must include, but not be limited to, the results from Virginia State Assessment Program tests, which may include the Stanford 9 and the National Assessment of Education Progress state-by-state assessment.
Patron - Hull

F HB2389

Standards of Quality; apportionment of state and local share. Directs the General Assembly, in apportioning the state and local share for the costs of meeting the Standards of Quality, beginning July 1, 2003, in any year in which general fund revenue growth is at least three percent greater than population and inflation growth combined for the previous year, to increase the state share by three percent of the total costs, so that, by full implementation of this measure, the local share shall not exceed 65 percent and the state share shall be equal to at least 35 percent of the total costs. Such increases in the state share shall be granted to those school divisions whose local share is greater than or equal to 65 percent of the total costs in any fiscal biennium. The per pupil costs of providing such required educational programs for school divisions whose local share as of July 1, 2002, was less than 65 percent of the total costs shall be the same as their final per pupil amount for fiscal year 2003. Until such time that no school division's local share exceeds 65 percent, no school division shall receive additional state funding for reductions in enrollment; however, funding may be adjusted to (i) ensure that the school division's final per pupil amount remains at the fiscal year 2003 level; and (ii) address inflation and the biennial recalculation of the costs of providing an educational program required to meet the Standards of Quality, as provided in the appropriation act. The measure also includes language citing "equal opportunity to a quality education in all areas of the Commonwealth" and stating that "funding formulas are the best and most equitable way for the Commonwealth to distribute the state's share of costs of educational programs."
Patron - Albo

F HB2403

School vending machines. Directs the Board of Education to develop guidelines for the use of food vending machines in public schools. The Board is to design the guidelines to promote the selection of nutritional products and to support the health and physical education curriculum. The guidelines are to address, among other things, suggested nutritional content of dispensed food and beverages, including guidelines for fat, sugar, sodium, and caffeine content, and such other matters as the Board deems appropriate.
Patron - Van Yahres

F HB2407

Student discipline; self-defense. Amends student suspension and expulsion requirements by prohibiting the imposition of disciplinary actions against any student, unless required to comply with federal Gun-Free Schools provisions, for reasonable actions taken to defend himself against an attack by another. No student who has received notice of an intended suspension or expulsion who asserts self-defense as justification for his action can be suspended or expelled until school administrators conduct a preliminary factual inquiry regarding the validity of such assertion. School boards shall adopt procedures consistent with due process requirements for the conduct of such inquiry. Such procedures may provide for expedited and summary administrative hearings, and may require the student to bear the burden of proof on all issues arising out of the assertion of self-defense.
Patron - Marrs

F HB2408

Student discipline. Amends student suspension and expulsion requirements by prohibiting the imposition of disciplinary actions against students, unless required to comply with federal Gun-Free Schools provisions, for possession of a bona fide eating utensil or personal grooming device unless such utensil or device is brandished or employed as a weapon or otherwise to effect or to threaten an act of violence or intimidation against another or against property. No student who has received notice of an intended suspension or expulsion who asserts the applicability of this section can be suspended or expelled until school administrators conduct a preliminary factual inquiry regarding the applicability of this provision. School boards shall adopt procedures consistent with due process requirements of this article for the conduct of such inquiries, which may include procedures for expedited and summary administrative hearings.
Patron - Marrs

F HB2409

Student discipline; possession and use of nonprescription medications. Amends student suspension and expulsion requirements by prohibiting the imposition of disciplinary actions against any student for possession or use of nonprescription medications, regardless of whether school personnel have knowledge of such possession or use, if such nonprescription medication is held with the prior knowledge and consent of the student's parent. No student who has received notice of an intended suspension or expulsion who asserts parental knowledge and approval as justification for his action can be suspended or expelled until school administrators conduct a preliminary factual inquiry regarding the validity of such assertion. School boards shall adopt procedures consistent with due process requirements for the conduct of such inquiry. Such procedures may provide for expedited and summary administrative hearings, and may require the student to bear the burden of proof on all issues arising out of the parental knowledge and approval assertion. The measure is not to be construed to limit or proscribe the discretion of school boards to adopt or enforce student conduct policies prohibiting or otherwise affecting the provision of nonprescription medications by a student to any other person while on school property.
Patron - Marrs

F HB2435

Standards of Quality; apportionment of state and local share. Directs the General Assembly, in apportioning the state and local share for the costs of meeting the Standards of Quality, beginning July 1, 2004, to annually increase the state share by five percent of the total costs, so that, by July 1, 2006, the local share shall not exceed 70 percent and the state share shall be equal to at least 30 percent of the total costs for those school divisions whose local share is greater than or equal to 70 percent of the total costs in any fiscal biennium.
Patron - Dillard

F HB2441

Standards of Learning assessments; limited English proficiency (LEP) students. Directs the Board of Education to provide, as necessary, alternative Standards of Learning assessments for students identified as having limited English proficiency (LEP). These alternative assessments must be designed to yield accurate and reliable information regarding these students' mastery of subjects other than English. The federal No Child Left Behind Act requires annual testing of all students--including LEP students--in grades 3-8 in mathematics and reading beginning in 2005-2006, with reasonable adaptations for LEP students and students with disabilities. The Act requires the testing of LEP students in school year 2002-2003 for English proficiency. The Standards of Accreditation (8 VAC 20-131-70) state that "[i]nstruction shall be designed to accommodate all students, including those with disabilities, those identified as gifted/talented, and those who have limited English proficiency." The SOA (8 VAC 20-131-30) also provide that "[p]articipation in SOL testing by students identified as limited English proficient (LEP) shall be guided by a school-based committee convened to make such determinations. In kindergarten through eighth grade, limited English proficient students may be granted a one-time exemption from SOL testing in each of the four core areas."
Patron - Dillard

F HB2478

Virginia Public School Authority; School Construction Grant Act of 2003. Authorizes the Virginia Public School Authority to issue bonds to fund grants to local school divisions in the total amount of $1 billion to pay the costs of school construction, school renovation, and other school infrastructure projects. The schedule for the issuance of the bonds and the payment of the debt service on them shall be as provided in the general appropriation act. One-half of the grants ($500 million) shall be distributed to each school division in an equal amount of $3,676,471. The remaining one-half shall be distributed to each local school division on a set per pupil amount based on each school division's actual September 30, 2002, fall membership data as a proportion of total actual September 30, 2002, fall membership data for all school divisions. In implementing this bill, the Virginia Public School Authority shall not incur more than a total of $250 million in debt in any fiscal year.
Patron - Crittenden

F HB2495

Textbook selection. Directs the Board of Education to develop lists of approved textbooks that correlate with the Standards of Learning and for which a correlation has been established between the use of such textbooks and improved student academic achievement as measured by performance on national standardized tests. The Board is to make such lists available to local school boards for review and reference.
Patron - Bolvin

F HB2496

Instructional materials in phonics. Directs local school boards to make available to all teachers employed in grades prekindergarten through second, special education, and in English as a second language, or as reading specialists, materials to assist in the provision of instruction in systematic and explicit phonics. The Standards of Learning for English require instruction in phonics at the second-grade level (Standards of Learning, English, 2.7).
Patron - Bolvin

F HB2501

Public school foundations. Modifies the definition of "public school foundation" to provide that these nonstock, nonprofit corporations may also be established to implement, in addition to public/private partnerships supporting public school improvement projects, other projects and programs that support or supplement the mission and goals of the school board, as may be approved by the local school board. This amendment is designed to enhance the use of the voluntary tax refund contribution ("check-off") available to public school foundations pursuant to § 58.1-346.17. Using similar definitional language, the measure broadens the definition of those nonstock, nonprofit corporations that may participate in vocational education projects with school divisions to include those foundations created to implement projects and programs that support or supplement the mission and goals of the school board, including the promotion of vocational education.
Patron - Griffith

F HB2553

Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind. Provides for the closure of the Virginia School for the Deaf, Blind, and Multi-Disabled at Hampton and the transfer of students, programs, and services to the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind at Staunton by the commencement of the 2003-2004 school year. The surviving school shall be renamed the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind. The Board of Education is to coordinate with the board of visitors of the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind at Staunton, the board of visitors of the Virginia School for the Deaf, Blind, and Multi-Disabled at Hampton, and the Advisory Commission on the Virginia Schools for the Deaf and the Blind to effectuate the closure of the School at Hampton and the transfer of students, programs, and services to the School at Staunton. The members of the Advisory Commission on the Virginia Schools for the Deaf and the Blind appointed and currently serving who are the parents of students who are attending or have attended the School at Hampton or who are former students of either school shall complete such term. For purposes of future appointments to the Advisory Commission for positions for students or parents of students who have attended the School, "School" shall be construed to include the School at Hampton. Currently, both schools offer services for deaf students in preK-12 and blind students in preK-12; the Staunton school provides services for preK-12 students who have "visual and sensory disabilities and who are identified as emotionally disturbed," while the Hampton school provides services for preK-12 students with sensory-impaired multiple disabilities.
Patron - Landes

F HB2596

Annual teacher evaluations. Requires annual evaluations for all teachers, pursuant to Board of Education guidelines, and requires the dismissal of or return to a one-year probationary term of service for those teachers who have received two unsatisfactory annual evaluations in a three-year period. The Board of Education is to create guidelines for a review process whereby teachers may request a review of an unsatisfactory evaluation, including provisions addressing criteria by which the division superintendent may determine whether the evaluation is unfounded and time limitations for the various components of the review. No parties to an evaluation review shall be accompanied by legal counsel at any review proceedings. The teacher grievance procedure will not apply to the review of an unsatisfactory evaluation; however, a return to probationary status based on two unsatisfactory evaluations that have been reviewed and determined to be founded shall be grievable. Dismissals are already grievable under current law. Under current law, probationary teachers are to be evaluated annually (§ 22.1-303). The Code also directs the Board of Education to develop criteria for use by division superintendents and principals for the evaluation of instructional personnel; these criteria can be found in the Board's "Guidelines for Uniform Performance Standards and Evaluation Criteria for Teachers, Administrators, and Superintendents."
Patron - Brink

F HB2627

Standards of Quality; salaries of instructional personnel. Provides that, in determining the average statewide salary for instructional positions to be funded within the Standards of Quality, the Department of Education is to base such averages on the actual salary paid to individual positions equivalent to positions required by the Standards of Quality and the actual number of such positions. For the purposes of these statewide average salary calculations, "instructional positions" shall include elementary and secondary teachers, principals, assistant principals, instructional aides, counselors, and librarians.
Patron - Scott

F HB2633

School data. Directs the Department of Education to make available to school divisions in a format suitable for inclusion on school division websites (i) results of the annual school performance report cards required by the Standards of Accreditation; (ii) school and pupil data required to be reported pursuant to federal law and regulation for the purposes of improving school and student performance; and (iii) such other data as may be collected and released by the Department, including, but not limited to, data related to student disciplinary actions and student retentions. School divisions are to maintain such data on their respective websites. The federal No Child Left Behind Act reporting requirements addressing adequate yearly progress will already necessitate the collection of various data disaggregated on the basis of race, ethnicity, economic disadvantage, limited English proficiency, disability, gender, and migrant status. The Act also requires annual report cards for states and school divisions. The Standards of Accreditation (8 VAC 20-131-270) currently require the annual school performance report card to include, among other things: (a) SOL test scores; (b) performance of students with disabilities or LEP students on SOL tests and alternate assessments; (c) the school's accreditation rating; (d) student attendance rates; (e) school safety information; and (f) teacher qualifications. Secondary schools' report cards must include additional information such as advanced placement and International Baccalaureate data and percentages of students in academic year Governor's schools and of drop-outs.
Patron - Darner

F HB2636

Students with limited English proficiency; Standards of Quality. Amends the Standards of Quality to require school boards to identify students with limited English proficiency and enroll these students in appropriate instructional programs and to require state funding, pursuant to the appropriation act, for 10 full-time equivalent instructional positions for each 1,000 students identified as having limited English. The state share for this staffing requirement is currently funded at $8,822,504 and $10,428,613 in the first and second year of the 2002-2004 biennial budget, respectively (§ 1-54, Item 145 F). This is bill incorporated into HB 2442.
Patron - Van Landingham

F HB2646

Student records in private or independent schools. Requires every private or independent school in Virginia to develop and maintain written policies and procedures for the gathering, disseminating, maintaining, and protecting the confidentiality of student records. These policies and procedures must include a definition of "student record" and procedures for access to the records and the circumstances requiring parental consent for access to or disclosure of student information. These student record policies and procedures must be made available to any parent who has a child attending the school or who has a child that has attended the school. Private or independent schools that are required to comply with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. § 1232(g)) and related regulations because they accept public funds for placements of students will be deemed to be in compliance with the student record policy and procedure requirement. In the event that any private or independent school violates its student record confidentiality policy as established, the parent of the child whose records were the subject of the unauthorized disclosure shall be entitled to the return of any documents provided by the parent or child to the school. At the request of the parent, the school must destroy the original and any copies of the student record, with the following exceptions: (i) business records relating to the student's enrollment and (ii) documents relating to student achievement, such as report cards or progress reports, that are prepared in the ordinary course of instruction by school personnel. In any case in which a private or independent school violation of its student record confidentiality policy resulted from willful misconduct and such private or independent school subsequently fails to comply with the requirements for returning or destroying the documents, the parent whose student was the subject of the unauthorized disclosure shall be entitled to initiate an action in circuit court to recover damages or $500, whichever is greater. In addition, such person may also be awarded reasonable attorney's fees and court costs.
Patron - Bell

F HB2679

Special education. Directs school divisions to provide special education to children of school age who are Virginia residents and who reside in a facility dually licensed by the Departments of Health as a nursing facility and Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services as a residential care facility as of January 1, 2003, by adding these children to the definition of "children with disabilities, residing within its jurisdiction." In addition, Board of Education regulations will identify these children who are eligible to be placed in public school programs. Finally, the measure provides that the school division may charge tuition as provided in § 22.1-5.
Patron - Sears

F HB2768

Schools and libraries; Internet filtering. Directs division superintendents of public schools, chief administrators of private schools receiving federal funds for Internet access, and library boards and local governing bodies of localities that have not established library boards, to seek to ensure, to the extent practicable, that the currently required acceptable use policies and any selected filtering technology or software do not preclude access to material that is protected by the United States and Virginia Constitutions.
Patron - Brink

F HB2801

Virginia Public School Authority; School Construction Grant Act of 2003. Authorizes the Virginia Public School Authority to issue bonds to fund grants to localities in the total amount of $950 million to pay the costs of school construction, school renovation, and other school infrastructure projects. The schedule for the issuance of the bonds and the payment of the debt service on them shall be as provided in the general appropriation act. The $950 million in grants shall be distributed to localities according to the following formula (i) one-half based on the proportion of sales and use tax revenue generated in each locality; and (ii) the remaining one-half based on a set per pupil amount, based on the latest actual adjusted average daily membership, and adjusted by the locality's composite index of ability to pay. In implementing this bill, the Virginia Public School Authority shall not incur more than a total of $250 million in debt in any fiscal year.
Patron - Scott

F HB2821

Standards of Quality; Standard 3. Provides that student outcome measures of the Standards of Learning assessments and other Virginia State Assessment Program tests must be used for the purposes for which they have been designed and determined valid, reliable, and fair by the Standards of Learning Test Technical Advisory Committee, in accordance with accepted standards for educational testing. The Board of Education, in determining the validity of such tests, shall include Standards of Learning program effectiveness or consequential validity as recommended by the Standards of Learning Test Technical Advisory Committee. However, the results of Standards of Learning assessments and other Virginia State Assessment Program tests may not constitute the sole or primary basis for student promotion, retention, or the awarding or denial of diplomas or school accreditation.
Patron - Christian

F SB755

Standards of Quality; apportionment of state and local share. Directs the General Assembly, in apportioning the state and local share for the costs of meeting the Standards of Quality, beginning July 1, 2003, in any year in which general fund revenue growth at least three percent greater than population and inflation growth combined for the previous year, to increase the state share by three percent of the total costs, so that, by full implementation of this measure, the local share shall not exceed 65 percent and the state share shall be equal to at least 35 percent of the total costs. Such increases in the state share shall be granted to those school divisions whose local share is greater than or equal to 65 percent of the total costs in any fiscal biennium. The per pupil costs of providing such required educational program for school divisions whose local share as of July 1, 2002, was less than 65 percent of the total costs shall be the same as their final per pupil amount for fiscal year 2003. Until such time that no school division's local share exceeds 65 percent, no school division shall receive additional state funding for reductions in enrollment; however, funding may be adjusted to address inflation and the biennial recalculation of the costs of providing an educational program required to meet the Standards of Quality, as provided in the appropriation act.
Patron - O'Brien

F SB829

Cultural diversity policies for local school boards and institutions of higher education. Requires the Board of Education and public schools to promote the knowledge and appreciation of diverse racial and ethnic cultures, and language minority populations, particularly such cultures and populations represented in the public schools of the Commonwealth. The Board must establish guidelines to assist local school boards in implementing cultural diversity policies and must also identity best practices within and outside of the Commonwealth. The boards of visitors of each public institution of higher education in the Commonwealth and the State Board for Community Colleges must submit equal education opportunity plans to the State Council of Higher Education, the Governor, and the General Assembly on November 1 of each year. The plan requirements for the institutions of higher education will expire on July 1, 2008, the expiration date for the reporting and monitoring phase of the agreement signed by Governor Gilmore with the Office of Civil Rights of the United States Department of Education. This bill, which was a part of the legislative initiatives of the Commission on Access and Diversity in Higher Education in the 2002 Session, was favorably considered by the Commission this year. This provision provides that "cultural diversity policies" must not be construed to require mandatory training of students or school board employees concerning cultural diversity, or to require hiring quotas or the employment of persons on the basis of race or ethnicity.
Patron - Marsh

F SB842

Planning time for elementary school teachers. Requires school boards to ensure that all elementary school teachers have a period of unencumbered planning time during each regular student school day. Currently, school boards are to "seek to ensure" that elementary school teachers have three hours of planning time each week. Pursuant to the Standards of Accreditation (SOA), middle school teachers with more than 25 class periods per week must have "one period per day unencumbered of any teaching or supervisory duties," and all full-time secondary school classroom teachers receive "one class period each day, unencumbered by supervisory or teaching duties... for instructional planning time." The SOA are silent as to planning time for elementary school teachers; however, schools are to report "the extent to which an unencumbered lunch is provided for all classroom teachers" (8 VAC 20-131-240 D, E, G).
Patron - Quayle

F SB885

Virginia Public School Authority; School Construction Grant Act of 2003. Authorizes the Virginia Public School Authority to issue bonds to fund grants to local school divisions in the total amount of $1 billion to pay the costs of school construction, school renovation, and other school infrastructure projects. The schedule for the issuance of the bonds and the payment of the debt service on them shall be as provided in the general appropriation act. One-half of the grants ($500 million) shall be distributed to each school division in an equal amount of $3,676,471. The remaining one-half shall be distributed to each local school division on a set per pupil amount based on each school division's actual September 30, 2002, fall membership data as a proportion of total actual September 30, 2002, fall membership data for all school divisions. In implementing this bill, the Virginia Public School Authority shall not incur more than a total of $250 million in debt in any fiscal year.
Patron - Puller

F SB923

Restrictions on vending machines in public elementary schools; Board regulations concerning middle and high school vending machines. Provides that no public elementary school in Virginia can contract for, allow, or continue the use of vending machines dispensing soft drinks or solid foods having empty calories, high fat, high sodium or caffeine content. Elementary schools may continue to use vending machines dispensing foods that are included in a healthy diet for young children. The Board of Education is directed to promulgate regulations relating to the use of vending machines in middle and high schools, which must address the foods that may be sold and appropriate student access to such machines.
Patron - Byrne

F SB975

Blue Ridge Regional Education and Training Council. Abolishes the Blue Ridge Regional Education and Training Council. The Council was established in 1992 to provide leadership and coordination for education and business partnership programs and excellence in education in the Blue Ridge region. Funding for the Council and staff have been eliminated. The primary purposes of the Council can be carried out by local Workforce Investment Boards and other entities. This bill is a recommendation of the Joint Subcommittee Studying the Operations, Practices, Duties, and Funding of the Commonwealth's Agencies, Boards, Commissions, Councils, and Other Governmental Entities pursuant to HJR 159 (2002).
Patron - Trumbo

F SB1050

Smaller school divisions; adjusted state share. Creates a mechanism whereby any school board of a school division in which fewer than 350 students (Highland County) were included in average daily membership for the preceding school year, upon entering into certain cost-savings agreements with a contiguous school division for the sharing of educational, administrative, or support services, shall receive the state share for basic aid computed on the basis of the composite index of local-ability-to-pay of the contiguous school division, calculated annually, for a period of 15 years. Board of Education eligibility criteria will address the cost-savings and service-sharing agreements and for the adjustment of the state share for basic aid, consistent with the appropriation act. The local school board receiving the adjusted state share cannot use the additional funds received to supplant local funds appropriated for education. In addition, the adjusted state share cannot be used to reduce local operating expenditures for public education from the prior fiscal year. However, no school division shall be required to maintain a per pupil expenditure for operations that exceeds the per pupil expenditure in the prior fiscal year. If any such contractual agreements between the relevant school divisions terminate prior to the end of the applicable period set forth above, the Commonwealth's obligation under this section shall cease. Pursuant to §§ 22.1-26 and 22.1-27, school boards are already empowered to operate joint schools and to make agreements with "adjacent" school boards "for furnishing public school facilities and for school services." This bill is effective January 1, 2005.
Patron - Hanger

F SB1054

Continuing the Commission on Educational Accountability. Continues the 18-member Commission on Educational Accountability (SJR 498-1999) to monitor the implementation of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, the Standards of Learning assessments, and the Standards of Accreditation, and such other matters affecting educational accountability in the Commonwealth's public schools as it deems appropriate.
Patron - Hanger

F SB1056

Student directory information. Provides that directory information shall only be released in compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. § 1232(g)).The federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) permits school boards to release directory information without parental consent after providing notice of this practice. Federal regulations describe this information as that which "would not generally be considered harmful or an invasion of privacy if disclosed" (34 CFR § 99.3). Federal law allows parents to refuse to allow these routine disclosures.
Patron - O'Brien

F SB1100

Character education; participation in community service. Provides that character education programs in the public schools may include opportunities for voluntary participation in community service activities pursuant to guidelines developed by the Board of Education.
Patron - Edwards

F SB1127

Standards of Quality; career and technical education. Expands the current Standards of Quality (SOQ) requirement that local school boards provide career and technical education programs to require school boards to establish as a priority the provision of those career and technical education courses for which verified units of credit may be earned through passage of a Standards of Learning assessment or through relevant industry certification or state licensure examinations as provided in Board of Education regulations. Standard 3 of the SOQ permits the Board of Education "to provide, in the requirements for the verified units of credit stipulated for obtaining the standard or advanced studies diploma, that appropriate and relevant industry certification or state licensure examinations may be substituted for correlated Standards of Learning examinations. The Board may also provide that students completing career and technical education programs designed to enable such students to pass such industry certification examinations or state licensure examinations may be awarded, upon obtaining satisfactory scores on such industry certification or licensure examinations, the appropriate verified units of credit for one or more career and technical education classes into which relevant Standards of Learning for various classes taught at the same level have been integrated." The Board of Education adopted Guidelines for Awarding Differentiated Numbers of Verified Credit for Career and Technical Education Certification and Licensure Examinations on June 27, 2002. According to Superintendent's Memo No. 45 (July 12, 2002), the guidelines state that "students who pass a board-approved certification or licensure examination would earn one or two student-selected verified credits in career and technical education, depending on the course of study taken in preparation for the examination. The division superintendent or his designee will determine whether an individual student earns one or two verified credits for each examination passed based on the application of Board of Education guidelines and criteria." Currently, verified units of credit may be earned through a variety of industry certifications and licenses, such as those for Air Conditioning Installation, Automotive Technician, Certified Computer Service Technician, Certified Internet Webmaster Application Developer, Nurse Aide, School Bus Technician, Cosmetologist, and Real Estate Salesperson.
Patron - Norment

F SB1171

Teacher compensation; national average. Establishes as a policy of the Commonwealth that the average salary for Virginia public school teachers equal or surpass the national average salary for public school teachers and directs the Board of Education and the General Assembly to implement this policy in prescribing and revising the Standards of Quality. The Director of Human Resource Management is to include in each biennial review of the compensation of teachers and other occupations requiring similar education and training the average salary for teachers in the Commonwealth, the national average salary for public school teachers, and the Commonwealth's national ranking for such salaries.
Patron - Puckett

F SB1213

Temporary teachers and the right to respond to students' or parents' complaints. Requires school boards to provide a temporarily employed teacher with an opportunity to present his position on a student's or parent's complaint in writing or orally to the school board chairman or his designee when (i) the temporarily employed teacher has worked for at least 90 cumulative days for the relevant school board in each of three or more consecutive years, and (ii) such complaint has resulted in the temporarily employed teacher being removed from the substitute list of, or being unable to be rehired as a substitute by, the relevant school board. This provision is only procedural in effect and must not be construed to require cause for dismissal or failure to rehire or approve any person as a temporarily employed teacher.
Patron - Newman

F SB1223

Special education; retention of counsel. Directs local school boards seeking legal counsel, in resolving disputes regarding the provision of special education and related services for students with disabilities, to strive first to use the services of existing local government counsel, and to consider the services of outside legal counsel as a second alternative. Special education services are primarily governed by the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA); State Board of Education regulations outline various due process and complaint procedures, consistent with federal requirements, and permit the award of attorney's fees to parents who prevail in a legal dispute. Current subsection B also directs the Board to include in its regulations provisions encouraging the use of mediation as an informal means of resolving disputes (8 VAC 20-80-74).
Patron - Williams

F SB1304

Standards of Quality; Standard 3. Provides that student outcome measures of the Standards of Learning assessments and other Virginia State Assessment Program tests must be used for the purposes for which they have been designed and determined valid, reliable, and fair by the Standards of Learning Test Technical Advisory Committee, in accordance with accepted standards for educational testing. The Board of Education, in determining the validity of such tests, shall include Standards of Learning program effectiveness or consequential validity as recommended by the Standards of Learning Test Technical Advisory Committee. However, the results of Standards of Learning assessments and other Virginia State Assessment Program tests may not constitute the sole or primary basis for student promotion, retention, or the awarding or denial of diplomas or school accreditation.
Patron - Lambert

F SJ425

Recognizing the impending crisis in public school construction needs. Expresses the sense of the General Assembly of Virginia that there is an impending crisis in public school construction needs. The resolution states that the General Assembly acknowledges that the Commonwealth must implement a revenue strategy to assist localities in funding their school capital needs, with the objective of funding 55 percent of school capital needs over the next five years without reducing or modifying other state aid to public education. The Clerk of the Senate will forward a copy of this resolution to the Governor so that he may be apprised of the sense of the General Assembly.
Patron - Reynolds

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