General Assembly>Division of Legislative Services>Publications>Session Summaries>2005>Education

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Education

Passed

P HB1573

Education; gang-related activity in public schools. Directs the Board of Education to include provisions addressing gang-related activities in its model guidelines for codes of student conduct.
Patron - Albo

P HB1615

School safety audits. Directs the Superintendent of Public Instruction to prescribe a standardized report format for school safety audits, additional reporting criteria, and procedures for report submission, which may include instructions for electronic submission.
Patron - Fralin

P HB1685

Sale of school property; transportation purposes. Empowers a local school board of a school division comprised of a city having a population of 350,000 or more and adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean (Virginia Beach) to sell property to the Virginia Department of Transportation or the Commonwealth Transportation Commissioner (i) when the Commissioner has determined that such conveyance is necessary and (ii) when eminent domain has been authorized for the construction, reconstruction, alteration, maintenance, and repair of the public highways of the Commonwealth, and for all other purposes incidental thereto, including, but not limited to, the relocation of public utilities as may be required.
Patron - Tata

P HB1716

Reporting of offenses by school authorities. Provides that principals and division superintendents, in reporting certain serious incidents and crimes for annual recordation and publication by the Department of Education, shall accurately indicate any offenses, arrests, or charges as recorded by law-enforcement authorities and required to be reported by such authorities.
Patron - Fralin

P HB1743

Self-injected epinephrine; self-administration by students. Adds self-injected epinephrine to those medications that public school students diagnosed with asthma or anaphylaxis, or both, may self-administer under certain conditions. School and health department personnel supervising the administration of this medication are immune from civil liability. In addition, principals and school board employees are not liable for any civil damages for any injuries or deaths resulting from the misuse of such auto-injectable epinephrine. Additional amendments add auto-injectable epinephrine to current provisions addressing other self-administered medications.
Patron - Ward

P HB1762

Standards of Quality. Revises the Standards of Quality to require local school boards to (i) provide for data collection and analysis and to use such results in instructional program evaluation; (ii) implement any actions identified through the academic review of schools accredited with a warning; (iii) analyze and report annually the results of industry certification examinations; (iv) annually review their professional development programs; and (v) report compliance with the Standards of Quality annually to the Board of Education. In addition, the bill (i) increases from 10 to 17 the full-time equivalent instructional positions for each 1,000 students identified as having limited English proficiency; (ii) provides that teacher, administrator, and superintendent evaluations shall be consistent with the performance objectives included in the Guidelines for Uniform Performance Standards and Evaluation Criteria for Teachers, Administrators, and Superintendents developed by the Board of Education; (iii) replaces Board- and locally-adopted six-year statewide or divisionwide plans, as the case may be, (including those for educational technology) with "comprehensive" statewide or divisionwide plans; and (iv) replaces individual school six-year plans with "comprehensive" plans. The measure also includes a number of technical or clarifying amendments and additional cross-references for other Code sections. This bill is identical to SB 779.
Patron - Dillard

P HB1767

Home instruction; notification regarding examinations. Directs local school boards to implement a plan for the notification of students receiving home instruction and their parents of the availability of Advanced Placement (AP) and Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT) examinations and the availability of financial assistance to low-income and needy students to take these examinations. The definition of "parent" is deleted, as it is duplicative of the definition already set forth in § 22.1-1 as applicable to the entire title.
Patron - Dillard

P HB1769

Commission on Civics Education. Creates the 23-member Commission on Civics Education, comprised of the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, legislators, executive branch officials, and citizens. The Commission is to, among other things, (i) identify civic education projects in the Commonwealth and provide technical assistance as may be needed, (ii) build a network of civic education professionals to share information and strengthen partnerships, and (iii) make recommendations to the Board of Education regarding revisions to the Standards of Learning for civics and government.
Patron - Dillard

P HB1781

Critical teacher shortage areas. Extends from 2005 to 2010 the current sunset on the requirements that (i) division superintendents identify and report critical shortages to the school board, upon request (§ 22.1-70.3); and (ii) local school boards identify and report critical shortages to the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Virginia Retirement System (VRS)(§ 22.1-79). The measure does not address use of this reported information by VRS. Also sunsetting in 2005, and not included in this bill, is the requirement that the Superintendent of Public Instruction annually survey school divisions to identify critical teacher shortage areas and report these shortages to the Virginia Retirement System (§ 22.1-23). This bill is identical to SB 761.
Patron - BaCote

P HB1782

Critical teacher shortage areas. Extends from 2005 to 2010 the current sunset on the requirements that the Superintendent of Public Instruction annually survey school divisions to identify critical teacher shortage areas and report these shortages to the Virginia Retirement System (VRS) (§ 22.1-23). The measure does not address use of this reported information by VRS. Also sunsetting in 2005, and not included in this bill, are the requirements that (i) division superintendents identify and report critical shortages to the school board, upon request (§ 22.1-70.3); and (ii) local school boards identify and report critical shortages to the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Virginia Retirement System (§ 22.1-79).
Patron - BaCote

P HB1989

School board salaries. Increases from $3,600 to $4,800 the maximum salary to be paid members of the Salem school board.
Patron - Griffith

P HB2223

Expulsion of students; petition for readmission. Provides that the local school board, or a committee thereof, or the division superintendent may review petitions for readmission by expelled students. If the division superintendent or a school board committee denies the petition, the student may petition the full school board for review of the denial of readmission.
Patron - Rust

P HB2266

School boards; policies on bullying. Directs the Board of Education to include bullying in its standards for school board policies on student conduct and requires school boards to include (i) instruction on the inappropriateness of bullying in their character education programs and (ii) bullying provisions in their student conduct codes. In addition, the measure requires the reporting of incidents of stalking to principals and division superintendents. Finally, except as may be prohibited by federal law, regulation, or jurisprudence, principals must report certain violent acts, stalking, and other conduct to parents of the minor student who is the target of the conduct; included in this report is disclosure that the incident has been reported to law enforcement, and that the parent may contact law enforcement for further information. This bill is identical to HB 2879 and incorporates HB 2171.
Patron - Bell

P HB2382

False statements; school division residency; penalty. Creates a Class 4 misdemeanor charge for knowingly making a false statement concerning the residency of a child in a particular school division or school attendance zone.
Patron - Barlow

P HB2602

No Child Left Behind Act; Board of Education to seek waivers. Directs the Board of Education to seek waivers from compliance with provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act that (i) are in conflict with Title IX, Section 9527 (a) of the federal Code, which prohibits federal authorities from mandating, directing, or controlling state or local allocation of resources and from mandating state or local expenditure of funds or incursion of any costs not paid for under the Act; (ii) are duplicative of the Standards of Quality, Standards of Learning, and Standards of Accreditation; or (iii) are lacking in effectiveness. Further, the Board must examine the fiscal and other implications for the Commonwealth and its local governments in the event that Virginia continues its compliance with, or withdraws from participation in, the federal No Child Left Behind Act. The Board must convey its findings from such examination to the House Committees on Education and Appropriations and the Senate Committees on Education and Health and Finance no later than October 1, 2005. This bill is identical to SB 1136 and incorporates HB 1592 and HB 2685.
Patron - Landes

P HB2790

Teacher licensure qualifications. Requires the Board of Education, in its regulations governing teacher licensure, to establish criteria and a procedure to allow persons seeking initial licensure as teachers through an alternative route as defined by Board regulations to substitute experiential learning in lieu of coursework. The bill also includes a technical amendment to provide appropriate cross references between relevant statutes.
Patron - Frederick

P HB2832

Interscholastic athletic ineligibility. Provides that the Virginia High School League must establish rules requiring that, upon disclosure, a public school student athlete who uses anabolic steroids during the training period immediately preceding or during the sport season of the school athletic team on which he is a member be ineligible to participate in interscholastic athletic competition for two years, unless the steroid was prescribed by a licensed physician for a medical condition. Student use of anabolic steroids during the training period immediately preceding or during the sport season of the school is required to be reported, unless the steroid was prescribed by a licensed physician for a medical condition. The bill also requires the Board of Education to suspend or revoke the administrative or teaching license of any person who knowingly and willfully with the intent to compromise the outcome of an athletic competition procures, sells, or administers anabolic steroids or causes these drugs to be procured, sold, or administered to students, or by failing to report student use of anabolic steroids.
Patron - Marshall, R.G.

P HB2879

Character education and student conduct codes; policies on bullying in schools. Directs the Board of Education to include bullying in its standards for school board policies on student conduct and requires school boards to include (i) instruction on the inappropriateness of bullying in their character education programs and (ii) bullying provisions in their student conduct codes. In addition, the measure requires the reporting of incidents of stalking to principals and division superintendents. Finally, except as may be prohibited by federal law, regulation, or jurisprudence, principals must report certain violent acts, stalking, and other conduct to parents of the minor student who is the target of the conduct; included in this report is disclosure that the incident has been reported to law enforcement, and that the parent may contact law enforcement for further information. This bill is identical to HB 2266.
Patron - Marshall, R.G.

P HB2912

Teachers; sick leave. Requires local school boards to adopt policies providing for leave without pay for school board employees with debilitating or life-threatening illness or injury, without regard to the employee's length of service with the school board.
Patron - Eisenberg

P SB761

Critical teacher shortage areas. Extends from 2005 to 2010 the current sunset on the requirements that (i) division superintendents identify and report critical shortages to the school board, upon request (§ 22.1-70.3); and (ii) local school boards identify and report critical shortages to the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Virginia Retirement System (VRS) (§ 22.1-79). The measure does not address use of this reported information by VRS. Also sunsetting in 2005, and not included in this bill, is the requirement that the Superintendent of Public Instruction annually survey school divisions to identify critical teacher shortage areas and report these shortages to the Virginia Retirement System (§ 22.1-23). This bill is identical to HB 1781.
Patron - Locke

P SB767

School board salaries. Increases from $3,600 to $4,800 the maximum salary to be paid members of the Salem school board and increases from $3,400 to $5,000 the maximum salary to be paid for members of the Richmond County school board.
Patron - Bell

P SB779

P SB949

Teacher licensure by reciprocity. Provides for teacher licensure by reciprocity for an individual who has obtained a valid out-of-state license that is in force at the time the application for a Virginia license is made. The individual must establish a file in the Department of Education by submitting a complete application packet, which shall include official student transcripts. No professional teacher's assessment or service requirements shall be imposed for these licensed individuals. Current Board of Education regulations (8 VAC 20-21-90) require a professional teacher's assessment (PRAXIS) for out-of-state applicants who (i) have completed a state-approved teacher training program through a regionally accredited four-year college or university, or (ii) hold a valid out-of-state teaching license in force at the time the license application is made. These persons must also provide student transcripts.
Patron - Potts

P SB950

Economics education and financial literacy in the public schools and institutions of higher education. Requires instruction in economics education and financial literacy in public middle and high schools. The Board of Education is required to develop and approve objectives for economics education and financial literacy in grades six through 12. The principles of the American economic system and financial literacy must also be systematically infused in the Standards of Learning, and in career and technical education programs. However, these objectives are not required to be included in the Standards of Learning assessments. In addition, to provide for experiential learning and practical application of economic and financial literacy principles, public schools may establish on-site banking programs for students. In addition, public institutions of higher education must make provisions for the promotion of the development of student life skills through inclusion of principles of economics education and financial literacy within an existing general education course, the freshman orientation process, or other appropriate venue. The provisions of §§ 22.1-200.02 and 22.1-208.2:3, which provide for instruction in certain mathematics and finance objectives, and the Banking-at-School Partnership Program, respectively, have been incorporated in this bill and have been repealed.
Patron - Potts

P SB969

Entrepreneurship Education Program. Creates the Entrepreneurship Education Program, consisting of grants administered by the Board of Education to public secondary schools to support innovative educational programs designed to assist students in the development of their entrepreneurial, academic, and life skills. The programs shall, among other things, (i) incorporate experiential learning; (ii) include partnerships with business and higher education; and (iii) assist students in practicing and mastering business concepts, such as negotiation, pricing, and the development and implementation of plans for individual student businesses. This act will expire on July 1, 2007, if no gifts, donations, bequests, or other funds effectuating its purposes are received by that date.
Patron - O'Brien

P SB981

Noncustodial parent as emergency contact. Provides that, unless a court order has been issued to the contrary, the noncustodial parent of a student enrolled in a public school or day care center must be included, upon the request of such noncustodial parent, as an emergency contact for events occurring during school or day care activities.
Patron - O'Brien

P SB1006

School enrollment of children placed in foster care. Requires that whenever a student has been placed in foster care and the social services agency is unable to produce the required documents for enrollment, the student must be immediately enrolled and the person enrolling the student must provide a written statement that, to the best of his knowledge, sets forth the student's age, compliance with notice requirements regarding good standing in the previous school, and that the student is in good health and is free from communicable or contagious disease. The sending and receiving school divisions must cooperate in facilitating the enrollment of the foster child across jurisdictional lines and may agree to allow the child to continue to attend the school in which he was enrolled prior to the most recent foster care placement, upon the agreement of the placing social services agency that such attendance is in the best interest of the child. If the student is allowed to continue to attend the previous school, the receiving school division will be accorded foster children education payments and may enter into financial arrangements with the sending school division. Local school divisions are required to expedite the transfer of the scholastic record of the student. Social Services agencies are required to notify, within 72 hours of placing a child in foster care placement, the principal of the school in which the student is to be enrolled and the superintendent of the relevant school division or his designee and to inform the principal of the status of the parental rights. The bill clarifies that no foster child can be charged tuition. However, the provisions relating to immediate enrollment and across jurisdictional placements will only apply to children who are subjects of foster care placements through entrustments or commitments to the local social services board or licensed child-placing agency and will not apply to children whose parents have an agreement with the local board or public agency through the community policy and management team where legal custody remains with the parents. The second enactment clause requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Commissioner of the Department of Social Services to issue a memorandum as soon as practicable after the enactment of this bill to inform local school division superintendents and local social services agencies of its provisions.
Patron - Hanger

P SB1045

Diplomas; student-selected verified credits. Directs the Board of Education to provide for the award of verified credits for passing scores on industry certifications, state licensure examinations, and national occupational competency assessments approved by the Board of Education. School boards shall report annually to the Board of Education the number of industry certifications obtained and state licensure examinations passed, and will include this number as a category on the school's achievement report card. Currently, the Standards of Accreditation (SOA) require the accumulation of a specific number of standard and verified units of credit for standard diplomas. The verified unit of credit is awarded upon passage of the relevant Standards of Learning (SOL) test (additional tests approved by the Board of Education), as well as the course (8 VAC 20-131-110 A, B). The Standard Diploma requires 22 credits, six of which must be verified units of credit, while the Advanced Studies Diploma requires 24 credits, with nine verified units. The SOA currently require verified units of credit in specific subjects, such as English, mathematics, science, history and social science. The Modified Standard Diploma is awarded to students with disabilities who are "unlikely to meet the credit requirements for a Standard Diploma" (8 VAC 20-131-50). School accreditation is based on pass rates for the SOL assessments (8 VAC 20-131-300).
Patron - Wagner

P SB1130

Elementary schools; physical education. Provides that physical education in elementary schools shall include activities such as, but not limited to, cardio-vascular, muscle building, or stretching exercises, as appropriate.
Patron - Lambert

P SB1136

P SJ428

Mathematics specialist endorsement; report. Requests the Board of Education to include the mathematics specialist endorsement in the Licensure Regulations for School Personnel. The Board must design the endorsement in a manner to facilitate and improve student achievement in mathematics, and include such endorsement in the current review and revision of the Licensure Regulations for School Personnel by its Advisory Board of Teacher Education and Licensure (ABTEL). The Board of Education shall submit an executive summary and report of its progress in meeting the request of this resolution to the 2006 Regular Session of the General Assembly.
Patron - Watkins

Failed

F HB1510

Virginia Public School Authority; grants for school construction. 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. One-half of the grants ($500 million) shall be distributed to each school division in increments 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, 2004, fall membership data as a proportion of total actual September 30, 2004, fall membership data for all school divisions.
Patron - Shuler

F HB1532

Education Improvement Act of 2005. Creates the Phonics Instruction Incentive Program and Fund to award grants on a competitive basis to public schools that have failed to achieve full accreditation due to poor student performance in reading to purchase materials using systematic and explicit phonics for kindergarten through grade two, and for related instructional training programs. In addition, the measure amends the Standards of Quality to provide that remediation programs addressing reading skills shall utilize research-based reading initiatives and to require all remediation programs to incorporate research-based curricula that have demonstrated success in improving student performance. Finally, the measure requires, on and after July 1, 2006, that persons seeking licensure renewal with endorsements as teachers in elementary grades, reading, or special education, demonstrate skills in reading instruction.
Patron - Frederick

F HB1541

Diploma requirements for certain students. Directs the Board of Education, in establishing diploma and graduation requirements, to provide waivers from Standards of Learning assessment and related units of credit requirements for children of those active duty members of the United States Armed Forces or the National Guard or other reserve component whose service has required their presence in the Commonwealth and has resulted in the transfer of such child to a public school in the Commonwealth within 24 months of the child's anticipated graduation.
Patron - Cosgrove

F HB1585

Alteration of student grades by principals. Prohibits principals and assistant principals from altering a student's grade for coursework or individual classroom assignments without the consent of the relevant classroom teacher.
Patron - Reese

F HB1589

Transportation services for nonpublic schools. Permits local school boards to enter into agreements with nonpublic schools in the school division to provide pupil transportation to and from the nonpublic schools under such terms and conditions as the school boards deem appropriate and responsible. This bill incorporates HB 1658.
Patron - Reese

F HB1592

No Child Left Behind Act; Board of Education to seek waiver. Directs the Board of Education to seek a waiver from compliance with those provisions of the federal No Child Left Behind Act that are duplicative of the Commonwealth's existing educational accountability system as set forth in the Standards of Quality, Standards of Learning, and Standards of Accreditation, or are lacking in cost effectiveness, and that already comply with the spirit and intent of the federal act. This bill has been incorporated into HB 2602.
Patron - Reese

F HB1658

Pupil transportation. Authorizes, but does not require, school boards to provide transportation to pupils residing in the relevant school division to any kindergarten, elementary, or secondary school in which the pupil is lawfully enrolled. However, the schools cannot be operated for profit, and, if located outside the relevant school division, must be at a distance not exceeding 10 miles by the nearest public thoroughfare. This bill has been incorporated into HB1589.
Patron - Lingamfelter

F HB1678

Free admission to public schools for children of certain military personnel. Provides that a child who (i) is the child of a parent called to active military duty and (ii) resides on a military or naval reservation located wholly or partly within the geographical boundaries of any school division, shall be admitted into the public schools of any adjacent school division and shall not be charged tuition.
Patron - Cosgrove

F HB1679

School attendance; children of military personnel. Prohibits the imposition of public school tuition charges for schoolchildren who (i) reside on a military or naval reservation located wholly or partly within the geographical boundaries of the school division, (ii) are domiciled residents of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and (iii) have been admitted for enrollment in a Virginia school division other than the one in which such reservation is wholly or partly located. The enrolling school division shall not be required to provide transportation to and from school and school-related activities for such students. The Commonwealth will provide the total per capita costs for these students; the local composite index does not apply.
Patron - Cosgrove

F HB1731

Nonpublic school students; participation in interscholastic sports. Directs the Virginia High School League (VHSL -- a "nonprofit corporation founded in Virginia in 1913 to organize and govern interscholastic activities among the public high schools") to provide an exception to its rules addressing enrollment and the eligibility of regular, bona fide students for participation in interscholastic activities. The exception shall provide eligibility for participation in interscholastic sports by any nonpublic school student who is eligible for free tuition in such public school pursuant to § 22.1-5 and shall be limited to participation in interscholastic activities at the school serving the attendance zone in which such student lives. Current VHSL rules restrict eligibility "to represent the school in any VHSL, Inc.-sponsored interscholastic contest "to a "bona fide student" who is a "full-time student who is in regular attendance and is carrying a schedule of subjects which, if successfully completed, will render him/her scholastically eligible for League participation the ensuing semester" (2004-2005 VHSL Handbook).
Patron - Cosgrove

F HB1766

Standards of Quality; speech-language pathologists. Amends the Standards of Quality to require local school boards to employ speech-language pathologists in sufficient numbers to ensure a caseload that does not exceed 60 students per position.
Patron - Dillard

F HB1768

Standard diploma; students with disabilities. Directs the Board of Education, in awarding verified credits required for a standard diploma for students who are subject to an individualized education plan (IEP), to establish procedures whereby such student may earn a verified credit based upon (i) receipt of a score on the relevant Standards of Learning assessment within 10 points of passing the assessment; and (ii) demonstration of the student's mastery of the required knowledge and skills through a portfolio of work or other assessment approved by the Board.
Patron - Dillard

F HB1770

Testing of students receiving home instruction. Requires the Department of Education to maintain a list of achievement tests, evaluations, and assessments that may be used to satisfy the requirement that the homeschooler's parent annually provide evidence of the student's academic progress. A technical amendment deletes the definition of "parent," as § 22.1-1 already sets forth this definition for the entire Title.
Patron - Dillard

F HB1771

School operations and business managers. Amends the staffing requirements set forth in the Standards of Quality to require the employment of school operations and business managers at the following levels: in elementary schools, one full-time at 900 students; in middle schools, one full-time at 600 students; and in high schools, one full-time at 600 students. The school operations and business manager would be responsible for certain administrative functions at the school, including, but not limited to, facilities, security, personnel, student transportation, food services, purchasing, budget, and finance, and shall perform related duties as required.
Patron - Dillard

F HB1780

Virginia Educational Excellence Incentive Reward Program. Repeals the requirement that continuation of the incentive reward program be contingent upon funding for the 2004 or 2005 fiscal year. The 2004 Appropriation Act did not include funding for the initiative for 2004. This measure will remove the funding contingency completely. If funding is not provided for 2005 in the 2005 budget, passage of this measure ensures that the program remains in the Code.
Patron - Ward

F HB1870

Statewide assessment program for certain career and technical education courses. Requires the Board of Education to establish, in order to improve the Commonwealth's skilled workforce, a statewide assessment program for those career and technical education courses that do not lead to industry certification or state licensure, which incorporates existing standards of learning or competencies. Such statewide assessment program may utilize assessment instruments that are already available.
Patron - McDougle

F HB1906

Alternative education programs. Amends Standard 1 of the Standards of Quality to require school boards to establish alternative education programs for disruptive, suspended, and expelled students. The bill also requires appropriate state funding to support quality educational programs designed to accommodate the educational and support services needs of such students.
Patron - Baskerville

F HB1912

Pledge of Allegiance. Requires the Board of Education, in its guidelines for Pledge recitation in the public schools, to include provisions addressing parental notification for minor students who decline to stand or to recite the Pledge. Technical amendments remove reference to "legal guardian," as "parent," pursuant to § 22.1-1, includes guardians and other persons "having control or charge of a child."
Patron - Cole

F HB2075

Standards of Quality; average teacher salary. Requires that the state average teacher salary not be less than the annual national average teacher salary in order to ensure highly qualified instructional staff in the public schools.
Patron - Plum

F HB2140

Virginia Wellness-Related Fitness Test. Requires the local school boards of each school division to annually administer the Virginia Wellness-Related Fitness Test that must include an assessment of students' height and weight. Height and weight must be measured in grades K, 3, 7, and 10 unless students are admitted for the first time to a public kindergarten or elementary school and have been weighed and measured as part of the comprehensive physical examination. The Department of Education must enter into a memorandum of agreement with the Department of Health for the sharing of aggregate information on physical fitness, height, and weight from which personal identifiers have been removed.
Patron - Moran

F HB2157

School boards; transfer of vacant property. Amends the current surplus property procedures to require school boards to transfer real property that, for a period of six months, has been vacant or is no longer used for educational purposes, directly to the relevant local governing body. The property is automatically deemed surplus property upon expiration of the six-month period.
Patron - Nutter

F HB2171

Codes of student conduct; bullying, harassment, and intimidation. Adds bullying, harassment, and intimidation to the list of behavior that must be addressed in the Board of Education's model code of student conduct and in school divisions' required student conduct codes. This bill has been incorporated into HB 2266.
Patron - Johnson

F HB2202

Student discipline. Prohibits the imposition of disciplinary actions against students for possession of a bona fide eating utensil or personal grooming device unless the item is brandished or employed as a weapon, or otherwise used to effect or to threaten an act of violence or intimidation against another or against property.
Patron - Marrs

F HB2297

Charter school and home schooled students; participation in interscholastic activities. Directs the Virginia High School League (VHSL), i.e., a "nonprofit corporation founded in Virginia in 1913 that currently organizes and governs interscholastic activities among the public high schools," to provide an exception to its rules addressing enrollment and the eligibility of regular, bona fide students for participation in interscholastic activities. The exception must provide eligibility for participation in interscholastic sports by any student receiving home instruction pursuant to § 22.1-254.1 who has been receiving such home instruction for at least one year prior to such eligibility and is entitled to free tuition in such public school pursuant to § 22.1-5, and students enrolled in a charter school that does not sponsor or provide those interscholastic activities or teams in which the student desires to participate. The eligibility will be limited to participation in interscholastic activities at the school serving the attendance zone in which such student lives. Current VHSL rules restrict eligibility to participate in interscholastic activities to a "bona fide student" who is a "full-time student who is in regular attendance and is carrying a schedule of subjects which, if successfully completed, will render him/her scholastically eligible for League participation the ensuing semester" (2004-2005 VHSL Handbook).
Patron - Fralin

F HB2299

Defibrillators in public schools. Requires school boards to ensure that each high school in the division be equipped with an automated external defibrillator (AED). In addition, the measure requires schools to ensure that personnel have certification or training in the operation of an automated external defibrillator at specific staffing levels. The measure also sets forth school board immunity for ordinary negligence in acts or omissions resulting from the operation, testing, or maintenance of this device. Current law provides civil immunity for individuals operating an AED, absent "gross negligence or willful or wanton misconduct."
Patron - Fralin

F HB2323

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, 2005, in any year in which general fund revenue growth is at least three percent greater than the 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. 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 - Rust

F HB2332

Teacher licensure by reciprocity. Provides for teacher licensure by reciprocity for an individual who has completed a state-approved teacher training program through a regionally accredited four-year college or university and who has obtained a valid out-of-state license that is in force at the time the application for a Virginia license is made. The individual must establish a file in the Department of Education by submitting a complete application packet, which shall include official student transcripts. No professional teacher's assessment or service requirements shall be imposed for these licensed individuals. Current Board of Education regulations (8 VAC 20-21-90) require a professional teacher's assessment (PRAXIS) for out-of-state applicants who (i) have completed a state-approved teacher training program through a regionally accredited four-year college or university, or (ii) hold a valid out-of-state teaching license in force at the time the license application is made. These persons must also provide student transcripts.
Patron - Athey

F HB2357

Computation of composite index. Codifies the current Standards of Quality (SOQ) funding formula and calculation of composite index of local ability-to-pay, and modifies the formula that determines each locality's ability to pay for its share of providing an educational program meeting the prescribed SOQ to (i) incorporate tax values and population estimates for the fiscal year ending one year prior to the fiscal biennium in which the distribution takes place; (ii) provide for a population density adjustment in certain localities; and (iii) incorporate median, rather than average, adjusted gross income. In addition, the respective weights granted to the various wealth indicators are updated to use 1997 figures. This measure reflects certain recommendations included in the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) Review on Elementary and Secondary School Funding (February 2002).
Patron - Watts

F HB2358

Standards of Quality; pupil-teacher ratios. Provides that local school boards shall assign instructional staff in a manner to establish a maximum class size of 24-to-one in kindergarten and grades one through three. If the average daily membership exceeds 24 students, a full-time teacher's aide must be assigned to the class. The divisionwide ratio shall not exceed 25-to-one in grades four through 12.
Patron - Watts

F HB2484

Kindergarten programs. Requires all school divisions to establish full-day kindergarten programs by July 1, 2008. This bill allows parents of children who are required or eligible to attend kindergarten programs to petition the division superintendent in their school division to enroll the child half-day in kindergarten. The division superintendent must grant the petition unless the division superintendent determines that attendance in a full-day kindergarten program would be in the best interest of the child. School division superintendents must also disseminate information to parents concerning their right to petition the division superintendent to enroll the child half-day in kindergarten. The bill also provides that funding for half-day kindergarten programs shall continue as currently constituted until July 1, 2008, the date on which all school divisions must have established full-day kindergarten programs. Other requirements pertaining to kindergarten programs have not been changed. This bill does not become effective unless funds are appropriated for the program by the 2005 Session of the General Assembly.
Patron - Petersen

F HB2541

Home instruction. Changes from August 1 to August 15 the date upon which parents must submit evidence of educational progress for their children receiving home instruction. Current law provides that parents must also file notice of intent to provide home instruction on August 15.
Patron - Jones, S.C.

F HB2558

School division purchasing. Directs the Secretary of Education to examine methods of promoting combined or cooperative purchasing arrangements to enhance savings and efficiencies among contiguous school divisions that have fewer than 5,000 students in average daily membership. The Secretary shall report any findings and recommendations by November 30, 2005, to the Governor and the General Assembly.
Patron - Cline

F HB2568

Educational benefits for military dependents. Provides that dependents of active duty military personnel residing in the Commonwealth who otherwise satisfy any relevant eligibility, participation, or admissions criteria shall be given priority consideration for placement for such admission, participation, placement, or enrollment in any special academic programs or opportunities offered by the public schools of the Commonwealth, regardless of whether such program (i) is offered by the school in the attendance zone in which the student resides or (ii) has reached maximum enrollment. Also, the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall facilitate the development and implementation of memoranda of agreement between school divisions and military installations that address strategies for assisting students who are the children of active duty military personnel in the transition to the Commonwealth's public schools.
Patron - Baskerville

F HB2610

Obesity, and health and physical education in the public schools. Amends §§ 22.1-207, 22.1-207.3, and 22.1-253.13:1 to update and strengthen the requirements for health and physical education instruction in the public schools, and to address the problem of obesity among students through required instruction concerning certain health issues and the health consequences of obesity. This bill requires a comprehensive health and physical education program in grade kindergarten through grade 12, and that the Board of Education prescribe the program in its Standards of Learning for Health and for Physical Education. However, the Board is not required to evaluate student achievement on these objectives in the Standards of Learning assessments. Also, the bill requires that school boards that choose to implement school breakfast programs comply with the National School Lunch Program's regulations governing Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and disseminate information concerning the health consequences of obesity to students, parents, teachers, school administrators, and school nurses. In addition, under the Standards of Quality, school boards are required to emphasize good nutrition and physical fitness and exercise in health and physical education programs in the middle and high school grades, as well as at the elementary level.
Patron - Baskerville

F HB2613

Surveys and questionnaires of public school students. Prohibits local school boards from administering questionnaires or surveys to public school students during the regular school day or at school-sponsored activities if such questionnaires or surveys seek disclosure of (i) the parents' political affiliations or beliefs; (ii) the social security numbers of the parents or student, except as may otherwise be required for admission and enrollment; (iii) the sexual behavior and attitudes of the student as well as his family members; or (iv) critical assessments of family members. However, local school boards may administer questionnaires and surveys to students during the regular school day or at school-sponsored activities when the questionnaire or survey (i) is designed to elicit information that will assist the school division in improving service to students within the division or within a particular school and (ii) does not include information that may personally identify the parent or student. Before administering any questionnaire or survey as permitted by this section, local school boards must make an affirmative finding as to the age-appropriateness of the questionnaire or survey.
Patron - Hugo

F HB2685

F HB2752

Medically fragile students; special education. Adds medically fragile students to those children with disabilities entitled to special education services in public schools. The Board of Education shall promulgate regulations defining "medically fragile" students to include, at a minimum, those students with a medical condition that (i) has been diagnosed by a licensed physician; (ii) is unstable, pervasive, intermittent, chronic, progressive, or degenerative; and (iii) affects the student's ability to access effectively the general curriculum. The Board shall promulgate regulations to implement the provisions of this act to be effective within 280 days of its enactment.
Patron - Petersen

F HB2761

Student assessments; funding. Provides that no local funds shall be required to support federally-mandated student assessments that are not required by the Standards of Quality or the Standards of Accreditation. Funding for such assessments shall be provided by the Commonwealth through state appropriations or federal or private funds. The Standards of Quality and the Standards of Accreditation currently require Standards of Learning assessments in grades three, five, and eight, and certain end-of-course tests for high school. The federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) directs the states, commencing with academic year 2005-06, to test annually all students in grades three through eight in mathematics and reading. To meet this NCLB federal annual testing requirement, Virginia will add reading and math tests for grades four, six, and seven in the 2005-06 school year. Another NCLB-required (Section 1111 (b) (7)) test is a state-approved English language proficiency assessment for the 2004-2005 school year; Virginia has selected the Stanford English Language Proficiency (SELP) test to meet this requirement.
Patron - Van Landingham

F HB2868

School boards; authority to block use of school facilities by certain student groups. Authorizes local school boards to prohibit the use of school facilities by any student club or other student group that encourages or promotes sexual activity by unmarried minor students.
Patron - Weatherholtz

F HB2916

Daily recess for elementary school students. Authorizes the Board of Education, as part of its review and revision of the Standards of Accreditation for public schools in Virginia relating to recess in elementary schools, to consult with the Virginia PTA and other interested parties in its deliberations.
Patron - Hull

F HJ561

Waiver from federal No Child Left Behind Act. Requests the Board of Education to seek a waiver from compliance with those provisions of the federal No Child Left Behind Act that are duplicative of Virginia's pre-existing educational accountability system or lacking in cost effectiveness, and that already comply with the spirit and intent of the federal act.
Patron - Reese

F HJ645

Adequate funding in the Executive Budget to attain the national average for teacher salaries by 2010. Encourages the Governor to include adequate funding in the Executive Budget to attain the national average for teacher salaries by 2010, and to communicate the resolution to his successor in order that he may be apprised of the sense of the General Assembly of Virginia in this matter.
Patron - Plum

F HJ708

Congress to amend No Child Left Behind. Memorializes Congress to amend the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act immediately to include a mechanism for an automatic waiver from its provisions for school accountability for states, such as Virginia, that have successfully raised student achievement through their own standards and accountability reforms, and that this waiver be available to states so long as they maintain these proven standards and accountability programs.
Patron - Landes

F SB717

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

F SB731

Teacher qualifications. Allows local school boards, in staffing underfilled or overcrowded classes in secondary schools, to place licensed instructional personnel who do not hold an undergraduate degree in the relevant subject area but are actively enrolled in a program that leads to meeting such degree requirements within three years. "Active enrollment" shall mean earning at least six semester hours of credit per academic year. The Board of Education is to develop procedures, consistent with any federal requirements governing the employment of highly qualified instructional personnel, for implementation by local school boards employing such licensed personnel in underfilled or overcrowded classes in secondary schools. The procedures will establish criteria for determining underfilled or overcrowded classes and require local school boards to regularly report to the Board compliance with active enrollment requirements. The federal No Child Left Behind Act requires schools to employ in the core academic areas "highly qualified" teachers by the end of the 2005-06 academic year. Teachers must be fully licensed; new and current teachers must hold undergraduate degrees and meet various state testing and subject matter competency requirements. In response to these federal requirements, the Virginia Board of Education adopted on February 25, 2004, High Objective Uniform State Standard of Evaluation (HOUSSE) to address the placement of experienced teachers. To be "highly qualified," the experienced teacher has the option of (i) having an academic major or equivalent in the subject area(s) taught; (ii) completing an academic major, graduate degree, or coursework equivalent to an academic major, or advanced certification; or (iii) meeting the HOUSSE requirements, which may include, among other things, completion of three years of successful teaching experience and an academic major or equivalent in the subject areas the teacher teaches or a minimum of 24 semester hours in the areas taught.
Patron - Puller

F SB747

Childhood obesity. Requires the Board of Education to promulgate, in cooperation with the State Health Department, regulations establishing standards to ameliorate childhood obesity in the public schools. This bill also adds the improvement of school health as one of the criteria to be considered by local schools during the annual evaluation of division superintendents. Further, the bill requires division superintendents to complete instruction concerning the causes and consequences of overweight and obesity by July 1, 2006. The requirement for instruction may be satisfied by attendance at conferences, seminars, or in-service training.
Patron - Edwards

F SB770

Board of Education; annual salary. Institutes annual salaries of $6,000 for members of the Board of Education and $9,000 for the Board president, effective July 1, 2006. Members will no longer receive the $50 per diem currently authorized by § 2.2-2813, but will continue to receive reimbursement for expenses incurred in the performance of duties.
Patron - Bell

F SB880

Compulsory school attendance, truancy and chronic tardiness. Incorporates the concept of chronic tardiness into the reporting, recordkeeping, and enforcement provisions of the compulsory school attendance law and other enforcement provisions relating to the welfare of children, including the law relating to juvenile and domestic courts and the parental responsibility law relating to public education and discipline. This bill requires the Board of Education to promulgate regulations defining "chronically tardy" to identify those children who are in violation of compulsory school attendance by reason of being habitually and without justification absent from school for a significant portion of the day because of routine and substantial late arrival to school.
Patron - Obenshain

F SB892

Dissemination of information regarding meningococcal meningitis. Requires school boards to ensure that all schools in the division include information regarding meningococcal meningitis and related vaccinations in those materials currently required to be distributed at the beginning of each school year to parents. This information is to address (i) the etiology, symptoms, transmission, and prevention of meningococcal meningitis; (ii) additional informational sources; and (iii) entities offering such vaccinations.
Patron - Mims

F SB948

No Child Left Behind; waiver applications. Requires the Board of Education to file an application for a waiver from a specified accountability provision included in No Child Left Behind when requested, by resolution adopted in open meeting by any of the eight superintendents' regions. The superintendents' regions must review the provisions of NCLB and may request the filing of an application for a waiver. This bill has been incorporated into SB 1136.
Patron - Potts

F SB952

Humane treatment of animals. Requires instruction relating to humane treatment of animals, including responsible pet ownership and care, to be taught in the character education program in public schools.
Patron - Potts

F SB958

Standards of Quality; speech-language pathologists. Requires local school boards to employ speech-language pathologists in a manner to provide a ratio of one full-time speech-language pathologist for every 60 students. The bill also requires that these positions be supported through state funding.
Patron - Potts

F SB964

Substitute teachers. Defines a long-term substitute as a teacher who is employed in the same position for more than 20 days. Current Board of Education regulations provide that substitute teachers "[b]e a minimum of 18 years of age (21 years of age preferred); [p]ossess good moral character; [h]ave earned a high school diploma or General Education Diploma (GED); and attend an orientation to school policies and procedures conducted by the local school division"(8 VAC 20-640-10). Currently, Virginia school divisions typically define "long-term substitute" in employment policy. The federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act directs states to ensure that, by the end of 2005-06, teachers in the core academic areas are "highly qualified." Ensuring accountability for highly qualified instructional personnel is a required annual "report card" from each state, detailing teacher qualifications and the percentage of classes not served by "highly qualified" teachers. Pursuant to Title I, Part A, of the Act, schools must give each parent timely notice when their child has been assigned, or has been taught for four or more consecutive weeks, by a teacher who is not highly qualified (Section 1111(h)(6)(B)(ii)). According to the U.S. Department of Education (No Child Left Behind: A Toolkit for Teachers (updated 2004)), while "short-term substitute teachers do not need to meet the highly qualified teacher requirements under No Child Left Behind, it is strongly recommended that a long-term substitute teacher meet the requirements for a highly qualified teacher as defined in the law. In addition, as states and districts establish a definition for "long-term substitute," they should bear in mind that the law requires parent notification if a student has received instruction for four or more consecutive weeks by a teacher who is not highly qualified."
Patron - O'Brien

F SB1214

Early childhood education. Requires, on and after July 1, 2010, all school divisions to provide early childhood education programs for four-year-olds and five-year-olds who are not eligible to attend kindergarten or at-risk early childhood education programs and whose parents voluntarily wish to enroll them in such programs. These mandated early childhood education programs must be coordinated with the current at-risk early childhood programs, consistent with the Department's guidelines for early childhood education, and meet the standards established by the Board of Education. The Board of Education is required to promulgate regulations to implement the orderly phase-in of the required programs with the current voluntary programs for at-risk four-year-olds and at-risk five-year-olds who are not eligible to attend kindergarten. An enactment clause provides that the implementation and funding of the required public school early childhood education programs will be as set forth in the appropriation act. The grants for the at-risk programs may continue to be funded in public schools or other local agencies; however, the Standards of Quality funding of early childhood education will only be provided to public schools.
Patron - Edwards

F SB1250

F SB1285

Teacher quality; evaluation and compensation. Establishes, as a goal of the Commonwealth, that the average salary for Virginia public school teachers equal or surpass the national average salary for public school teachers, and the Commonwealth's national ranking for such salaries. The bill also requires the evaluation of each teacher with continuing contract status at least once every three years. Such teachers who have an unsatisfactory evaluation must be evaluated the following year. Evaluations must be maintained in the employee's personnel file and copies of the evaluations must be made available to the Board of Education upon the request of the Board. Further, the Board of Education must establish guidelines for the evaluation of instructional personnel and for the review by the division superintendent or his designee of an unsatisfactory evaluation. 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 - Whipple

F SB1290

Compulsory school attendance. Provides that, unless a waiver applies, all children who will have reached their fifth birthday on or before July 31 of any school year and who have not passed their eighteenth birthday shall be enrolled in a public or private school or receive home instruction. Currently, compulsory school attendance is required for children who will have reached their fifth birthday on or before September 30 of any school year.
Patron - Hanger

F SB1318

Education; time release programs. Directs the local school boards to issue guidelines for time release programs in grades K-5 on a school-by-school basis. However, no time release program may be authorized unless two-thirds of the parents of children enrolled at a school vote in support of creating such program. The bill further prohibits the discontinuance of a time release program unless a majority of the parents of enrolled children vote in support of the discontinuance and provides for initiation of a vote to create or discontinue a time release program by petition.
Patron - Hanger

F SJ437

Memorializing Congress; No Child Left Behind Act. Urges Congress to amend the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act immediately to include a mechanism for an automatic waiver from its provisions for school accountability for states, such as Virginia, that have successfully raised student achievement through their own standards and accountability reforms, and that this waiver be made available to states so long as they maintain these proven standards and accountability programs. The resolution also requests that any further action anticipated to enforce the Act be deferred until full funding to implement the law has been authorized.
Patron - Hanger

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