General Assembly>Division of Legislative Services>Publications>Session Summaries>2006>Education

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Education

Passed

P HB19

Education; calculation of high school graduation rates. Directs the Board of Education to collect, analyze, and report high school graduation and drop out data using a formula prescribed by the Board. The measure contains a delayed enactment clause providing that the amendments to § 22.1-253.13:4 will take effect October 1, 2008. A second enactment clause, which will take effect on July 1, 2006, requires the Board of Education to report to the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and health by December 1, 2006, on the formula to be used for the uniform assessment of high school graduation rates. In developing the formula, the Board is also required to consider the 2005 Report of the National Governors Association Task Force on State High School Graduation Data.
Patron - Fralin

P HB20

Electronic storage of scholastic records. Allows local school divisions to electronically store and maintain student scholastic records. The amendment conforms to the definition of "record" in the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
Patron - Fralin

P HB58

Education; Internet safety instruction. Adds to the acceptable Internet use policies developed by the division superintendents a requirement that such policies include a component on Internet safety for students that is integrated in a division's instructional program. The measure contains an enactment clause providing that within 45 days of the enactment of the act, the Superintendent of Public Instruction must issue a superintendent's memorandum advising school divisions of the provisions in the act and encourage cooperation with local law enforcement agencies in its implementation.
Patron - Fralin

P HB95

Registration of new student. Requires a parent, guardian, or other person having control or charge of a child of school age to provide to a public school, upon registration of a student, information concerning certain criminal convictions or delinquency adjudications. When the registration results from foster care placement, the information shall be furnished by the local social services agency or licensed child-placing agency that made the foster care placement. This bill is identical to SB 656.
Patron - Lewis

P HB215

Elective course in comparative religion. Amends the statute authorizing comparative religion electives in grades nine through 12. Currently, the law states that local school boards must authorize such electives. The bill states that the Board of Education, rather than local school boards, must provide authorization for comparative religion classes and thereby gives discretion to local school boards to determine whether such elective courses will be offered in their school divisions. This bill is identical to SB 62.
Patron - Tata

P HB216

Standards for remediation programs; students required to attend summer school. Aligns language regarding the Standards of Learning assessments with amendments made to the Standards of Quality during the 2004 Session. The bill reflects the Commonwealth's decision to shift from testing in grades three, five, and eight to testing annually in grades three through eight.
Patron - Tata

P HB240

Education; no tuition charges for certain children of relocated military personnel. Provides that tuition shall not be charged to children of active members of the military who are ordered to locate to military housing located in a different school division than the one the child is attending at the time of the order to relocate. Such children shall be allowed to continue attending school in the school division they attended immediately prior to the relocation and shall not be charged tuition for attending such school. The school division in which such children are enrolled subsequent to their relocation to base housing are not responsible for providing for their transportation to and from school.
Patron - Suit

P HB347

General Educational Development Program. Allows participation in a general educational development program to be by court order and excludes from the compulsory school attendance requirements any child who has obtained a general educational development (GED) certificate. The bill also adds to the list of those persons who may participate in the GED testing program, the testing program through which persons may earn a high school equivalency certificate, (i) persons 16 years of age or older who have been expelled from school and (ii) persons required by court order to participate in the testing program.
Patron - Hamilton

P HB348

Test security procedures; violations. Authorizes the Board of Education to initiate a review of any alleged violation of its regulations by a local school board or local school board employee responsible for the distribution or administration of tests. The bill also allows the Board to recover the reasonable costs of any review or investigation conducted because of violations of test security from any person who violates test security procedures. This bill is identical to SB 39.
Patron - Hamilton

P HB349

Reduction of state aid when length of school term below 180 days or 990 hours. Defines "declared state of emergency" as the term is used elsewhere in the section. Additionally, the bill clarifies that the length of the school term shall be at least 180 teaching days or 990 teaching hours and that school divisions may make up missed time by adding teaching days to the school calendar or extending the length of the school day. The bill (i) revises the amount of time that must be made up when a school or schools have been closed for six or more days during the school term due to severe weather conditions or other emergency situations, (ii) spells out the procedures for requesting a waiver from the Board of Education for closings resulting from a declared state of emergency, and (iii) adds a provision about school calendars and teacher contracts. Finally, the bill requires the division superintendent and chairman of the local school board to certify the total number of teaching days and hours each year as part of their annual report to the Board of Education. This bill is identical to SB 66.
Patron - Hamilton

P HB350

Transfer of real property and consolidation plan for the Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind at Staunton and the Virginia School for the Deaf, Blind and Multi-Disabled at Hampton. Requires the residential programs of the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind at Staunton and the Virginia School for the Deaf, Blind and Multi-Disabled at Hampton to be modified. The Department of General Services (i) is authorized to enter into a comprehensive agreement for the necessary renovations, additions, and new facility construction at the Staunton Campus under traditional procurement or the Public-Private Education Facilities and Infrastructure Act of 2002 of the facility in Staunton; (ii) must develop a plan for disposing of buildings and property located on both campuses that are no longer needed for special education purposes; and (iii) must work with the Cities of Staunton and Hampton and the Department of Historic Resources when considering proposals that may transfer ownership to or establish long-term leases with private entities. The properties must be conveyed with appropriate historic easements at fair market value with the proceeds reverting to the general fund to offset the cost of construction of the new facility. The bill also authorizes the Governor to convey all real property, including all buildings and facilities located thereon, held in the name of the board of visitors of the Virginia School for the Deaf, Blind, and Multi-Disabled in Hampton to the New Horizons Regional Education Center, contingent on the two entities agreement on a facilities and land use plan. A second enactment clause declares that the funding for the new facility will be funded in accordance with the general appropriation act passed by the 2006 Session of the General Assembly, which becomes law. This bill is identical to SB 676.
Patron - Hamilton

P HB434

Education; maintenance of employee personnel records. Permits personnel files of school board employees to be produced and maintained in digital or paper format.
Patron - Griffith

P HB466

School board salaries. Increases from $2,400 to $3,600 the maximum salary to be paid members of the Hopewell school board. The bill also increases the maximum salary to be paid members of the Hanover school board, from $4,600 to $8,000.
Patron - Ingram

P HB493

Education; high school baccalaureate ceremonies. Includes baccalaureate ceremonies among the prayer-oriented school activities for which the Board of Education, in consultation with the Office of the Attorney General, must develop guidelines to promote compliance with constitutional restrictions and the observance of constitutional rights.
Patron - Frederick

P HB813

Standards of Quality; Standard 3, Standards of Learning and administration and use of SOL tests. Provides that the Board of Education may adopt special provisions related to the administration and use of any SOL test or tests in a content area as applied to accreditation ratings for any period during which the SOL content or assessments in that area are being revised and phased in. Prior to statewide administration of such tests, the Board of Education must provide notice to local school boards regarding such special provisions.
Patron - Fralin

P HB971

Opening of the 2006 school year at T.C. Williams High School. Authorizes, in a noncodified provision, the School Board of the City of Alexandria to set the 2006-2007 school calendar for T.C. Williams High School so that the first day students are required to attend the old T.C. Williams High School for the 2006-2007 school year will be prior to Labor Day of 2006 and the last day students are required to attend the old T.C. Williams High School will be at the end of May 2007. In setting its 2006-2007 school calendar for all other Alexandria schools, the School Board of the City of Alexandria must comply with the provisions of § 22.1-79.1, requiring the first day of the school year to be after Labor Day. The act will expire on January 1, 2007. This bill incorporates HB 391 and is identical to SB 366.
Patron - Ebbin

P HB1057

Education; revision of teacher licensure requirements and regulations governing teacher education programs. Revises statutes governing teacher licensure regulations and regulation of teacher education programs by repealing the current statutes and reenacting teacher licensure and teacher education program provisions. The bill provides that the Board of Education must prescribe, by regulation, the requirements for licensure of teachers and other school personnel. The Board's regulations must include requirements that a person seeking initial licensure complete professional assessments prescribed by the Board and complete study in attention deficit disorder, gifted education, and family involvement in student learning. In addition, every person seeking initial licensure or licensure by renewal must demonstrate proficiency in the use of educational technology and receive professional development in instructional methods promoting student academic progress and Standards of Learning assessments. Persons seeking initial licensure or first-time licensure renewal must complete prescribed study in child abuse. All persons seeking licensure with an endorsement as a teacher of the blind and visually impaired must demonstrate proficiency in reading and writing Braille. The Board's regulations must also provide for licensure of principals and assistant principals contingent upon a prescribed assessment; criteria to effectuate the substitution of experiential learning for coursework for those seeking initial licensure through an alternate route; and licensure by reciprocity. The Board's regulations may provide for provisional licensure valid for up to three years. The Board's regulations governing education preparation programs must provide for such programs offered by institutions of higher education, Virginia public school divisions, and certified providers for alternate routes to licensure and must prescribe an assessment of basic skills for individuals seeking entry into an approved education preparation program and accountability measures for approved education programs. Education preparation programs must meet the Board's requirements for accreditation and program approval. This bill is identical to SB 74.
Patron - Reid

P HB1058

Standards of quality; biennial review. Moves the biennial review of the standards of quality conducted by the Board of Education from the odd-numbered years to the even-numbered years. This bill also contains a technical amendment. This bill is identical to SB 71.
Patron - Reid

P HB1059

Standards of Learning; release of assessments. Adds a condition to the release of Standards of Learning assessments by the Board of Education that the release of such assessments to the public may not limit the ability to test students on demand and provide immediate results in the web-based assessment system. This bill is identical to SB 34.
Patron - Reid

P HB1109

Background checks for public school contract employees; penalty. Provides that, prior to awarding a contract for the provision of services that require direct contact with students, a school board shall require the contractor and, when relevant, any employee who will have direct contact with students, to certify (i) that he has not been convicted of a felony or any offense involving the sexual molestation or physical or sexual abuse or rape of a child; and (ii) whether he has been convicted of a crime of moral turpitude. Any person making a materially false statement regarding any such offense shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. The fact of such conviction will be grounds for the revocation of the contract and, when relevant, revocation of the person's license to provide such services. Schools boards will not be liable for materially false statements regarding the required certifications. "Direct contact with students" is defined as "being in the presence of students during regular school hours or during school-sponsored activities."
Patron - Athey

P HB1222

Education; tuition liability for false statements of residency within a school division; penalty. Provides that any person who knowingly makes a false statement concerning the residency of a child for the purpose of avoiding tuition charges shall be liable to the school division in which the child was enrolled as a result of such false statements for tuition charges for the time the student was enrolled in the school division.
Patron - Barlow

P HB1242

Administration of surveys and questionnaires to public school students. Prohibits local school boards from administering questionnaires or surveys requesting sexual information to public school students unless the parent is notified in writing of the administration of the questionnaire or survey at least 30 days in advance to its administration. The notice must inform the parent of the nature and types of questions included in the questionnaire or survey, the purposes and age-appropriateness of the survey, and whether and how any findings or results will be disclosed. The bill provides parents the right to review the questionnaire or survey and to exempt their child from participating in the survey. No questionnaire or survey requesting sexual information of a student may be administered to any student in kindergarten through sixth grade and, unless required by federal or state law or regulation, school personnel administering any such questionnaire or survey shall not disclose personally identifiable information.
Patron - Hugo

P HB1279

Notification to school principals of students charged with committing certain crimes. Amends the requirement that principals or their designees receive notification from local law-enforcement authorities when students in their school commit certain crimes to require that such notification be given, whether the student is released to the custody of his parent or, if 18 years of age or more, is released on bond. The bill further requires that any school superintendent who receives notification that a juvenile has committed an act that would be a crime if committed by an adult pursuant to subsection G of § 16.1-260 must report such information to the principal of the school in which the juvenile is enrolled.
Patron - Barlow

P HB1340

Requirements for home instruction of children. Modifies the criteria that a parent must meet to provide home instruction to their children, by providing that a parent who holds a high school diploma, rather than a baccalaureate degree, meets the requirements. This bill is identical to SB 499.
Patron - Bell

P HB1427

No Child Left Behind; elimination plan. Directs the Board of Education to develop a plan to eliminate initiatives or conditions that are currently being funded by No Child Left Behind, unless such initiatives or conditions are an integral and necessary component of the Commonwealth's own Standards of Quality, Standards of Accreditation, or Standards of Learning. Upon the development of the plan, the Office of the Attorney General must provide the Board and the General Assembly an estimate of the costs for providing legal services in the event that the elimination of any initiatives or conditions results in withholding of Title I funds. The Board of Education must report its plan to the Senate Committee on Education and Health, the House Committee on Education, the Senate Committee on Finance, and the House Committee on Appropriations by October 1, 2006.
Patron - Landes

P HB1428

No Child Left Behind; waiver and exemption requests. Provides that, in calendar year 2006, the President of the Board of Education shall request certain waivers and exemptions from regulatory and statutory requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act from the U.S. Department of Education. The President of the Board of Education is directed to submit a report on the status of all such requests for waivers and exemptions to the chairmen of the Senate Committee on Education and Health and the House Committee on Education and the chairmen of the Senate Committee on Finance and the House Committee on Appropriations. If the report indicates that the response from the U.S. Department of Education to requests for waivers and exemptions is unsatisfactory, then the President of the Board of Education must make recommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly regarding additional actions that could be taken by the Commonwealth regarding No Child Left Behind requirements.
Patron - Landes

P HB1482

School records of missing children; local law-enforcement cooperation. Enhances current procedures for notation in school records of missing children and local law-enforcement cooperation with the schools by mandating that, (i) within 24 hours of the missing child report, local law enforcement must notify the principal of the school where the missing child is or was most recently enrolled of the report so that the school can mark the student's record; and (ii) upon notification that the marked child's record has been requested, the Superintendent of State Police must immediately initiate an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the request. Additionally, the bill defines the term "mark" as an electronic or other indicator that is readily apparent on the student's record.
Patron - Shannon

P HB1483

Requirements for home instruction of children. Amends the requirements for home instruction to provide that parents may home school their children if they: (i) provide a program of study or curriculum, which, in the judgment of the division superintendent, includes the standards of learning objectives adopted by the Board of Education for language arts and mathematics, or (ii) provide evidence that the parent is able to provide an adequate education for the child. Currently, parents choosing to home school a child must provide the child a program of study or curriculum that includes the standards of learning objectives adopted by the Board of Education for language arts and mathematics. The bill further provides that a parent who elects to home school a child must provide the division superintendent with evidence that the child has attained a composite score in or above the fourth stanine of any nationally normed standardized achievement test rather than the current requirement that such child receive a score in or above the fourth stanine on a battery of achievement tests that have been approved by the Board of Education for use in the public schools.
Patron - Tata

P HB1516

Possession of certain weapons on school property; expulsion. Requires a school board to expel from school for at least one year a student who possesses certain weapons on school property or at a school-sponsored activity. Current law relates to "bringing" weapons to school.
Patron - Tata

P HB1588

Declaration of policy; requirement for home instruction of children. Requires that school boards implement a plan to make PSAT examinations available to students receiving home instructions.
Patron - Moran

P SB34

Standards of Learning; release of assessments. Ensures that the timely release of the Standards of Learning assessments to the public will not limit the Department of Education's ability to test students on-demand and provide immediate results in the web-based assessment system. This bill is identical to HB 1059.
Patron - Reynolds

P SB39

Test security procedures; violations. Creates a limited exemption from the Freedom of Information Act, for records furnished to or prepared by the Board of Education in connection with the review or investigation of any alleged breach in security, unauthorized alteration, or improper administration of tests by local school board employees responsible for distribution or administration of the tests. However, the exemption does not prohibit the disclosure of records to (i) a local school board or division superintendent for the purpose of permitting such board or superintendent to consider or to take personnel action with regard to an employee or (ii) any requester, after the conclusion of a review or investigation, in a form that (a) does not reveal the identity of any person making a complaint or supplying information to the Board on a confidential basis and (b) does not compromise the security of any test mandated by the Board. Also, the bill authorizes the Board of Education to initiate a review of any alleged violation of its regulations by a local school board or local school board employee responsible for implementing the regulations of the Board, including the distribution or administration of tests. The bill also allows the Board to recover the reasonable costs of any investigation conducted because of violations of test security from any person who violates test security procedures. This bill is identical to HB 348.
Patron - Reynolds

P SB62

Comparative religion as elective course. Reallocates the duty to authorize a comparative religion class from local school boards to the Board of Education. In the process of revising the Standards of Quality, language was inadvertently altered during the 2004 Session. This bill is identical to HB 215.
Patron - Whipple

P SB66

P SB67

Remediation programs. Amends the standards for remediation programs to require that data submitted to the Board of Education include the number of students failing any Standards of Learning assessments for grades three through eight. This bill also provides that students who fail the Standards of Learning assessments in grades three through eight, in addition to other factors that the division superintendent may use to determine the student's need for remediation, must attend summer school or after-school remediation programs. There are several technical amendments.
Patron - Whipple

P SB71

Biennial review of the Standards of Quality. Changes the Board of Education's required review of the Standards of Quality from odd-numbered years to even-numbered years, and provides that in any odd-numbered year following the year in which the Board proposes changes to the Standard of Quality, budget estimates required to be reported take such changes into consideration. This bill is identical to HB 1058.
Patron - Houck

P SB74

P SB75

School crisis, emergency management, and medical emergency response plan; required. Requires each school to implement a "medical emergency response plan" as part of their school crisis and emergency management plan. The Department of Education must provide assistance in the development of the plan in coordination with local emergency medical services providers, the training of school personnel and students to respond to a life-threatening emergency, and the equipment required for this emergency response. The Department must also prepare a model medical emergency response plan.
Patron - Houck

P SB97

Fire and evacuation drills prohibited in schools during periods of mandatory testing. Requires the Board of Housing and Community Development to promulgate regulations prohibiting fire and evacuation drills in schools during periods of mandatory testing required by the Board of Education. The bill includes an enactment clause requiring the promulgation of emergency regulations.
Patron - Blevins

P SB203

Virginia Public School Authority; pass-through of bond refunding savings. Authorizes the Virginia Public School Authority to implement a pass-through of refunding savings to a locality without requiring any further local legislative action on the part of the locality.
Patron - Blevins

P SB324

Teachers; compensation. Requires the Director of Human Resource Management to consider, in the biennial review of the compensation of teachers and other occupations requiring similar education and training the Commonwealth's compensation for teachers relative to member states in the Southern Regional Education Board. 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. Additionally, the bill provides that the evaluations must be maintained in the employee's personnel file.
Patron - Whipple

P SB366

P SB410

P SB499

P SB502

Election of school board members; appointment of tiebreaker. Authorizes a popularly elected school board, having an even number of members, to appoint a tiebreaker in case of a tie vote.
Patron - Puckett

P SB676

Transfer of real property and consolidation plan for the Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind at Staunton and the Virginia School for the Deaf, Blind and Multi-Disabled at Hampton. Requires the residential programs of the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind at Staunton and the Virginia School for the Deaf, Blind and Multi-Disabled at Hampton to be modified. The Department of General Services (i) is authorized to enter into a comprehensive agreement for the necessary renovations, additions, and new facility construction at the Staunton Campus under traditional procurement or the Public-Private Education Facilities and Infrastructure Act of 2002; (ii) must develop a plan for disposing of buildings and property located on both campuses that are no longer needed for special education purposes; and (iii) must work with the Cities of Staunton and Hampton and the Department of Historic Resources when considering proposals that may transfer ownership to or establish long-term leases with private entities. The properties must be conveyed with appropriate historic easements at fair market value with the proceeds reverting to the general fund to offset the cost of construction of the new facility. The bill authorizes the Governor to convey all real property, including all buildings and facilities located thereon, held in the name of the board of visitors of the Virginia School for the Deaf, Blind, and Multi-Disabled in Hampton to the New Horizons Regional Education Center, contingent on the two entities agreement on a facilities and land use plan. A second enactment clause declares that the funding for the new facility will be funded in accordance with the general appropriation act passed by the 2006 Session of the General Assembly, which becomes law. This bill is identical to HB 350.

Patron - Hanger

P SB683

High school diploma requirements and students with limited English proficiency. Requires the Board and Department of Education to collect certain statewide data on Virginia's public school students with limited English proficiency and school division programs for such LEP students, analyze the data, and recommend steps to resolve the issues relating to the requirements for obtaining a high school diploma and students with limited English proficiency that will retain high academic standards and accountability, while assisting such students in their endeavors to obtain an education and to become productive Virginians.
Patron - Colgan

P SB687

Approval of teacher education programs. Prohibits the Board of Education from conditioning full approval of teacher education programs provided by an institution of higher education on (i) the number of students in individual licensure programs, such as, but not limited to, prekindergarten-three, Spanish, music education, high school physics, or other disciplines, or (ii) documented efforts to increase enrollment in such programs.
Patron - Potts

P SB715

Temporary loans to school boards. Extends the length of a temporary loan for the purpose of financing new school buses to replace obsolete buses from five to 10 years.
Patron - Blevins

Failed

F HB51

Safety belts in school buses. Requires school buses purchased by, or for use by, any school or school division on or after July 1, 2006, to be equipped with safety belts or safety belts and shoulder harnesses of types approved by the Superintendent of State Police. The Board of Education must adopt policies, guidelines, and regulations to ensure that all passengers, including the driver, wear these belts or harnesses or both, whenever the bus is in motion. However, a school bus driver may not be held personally liable for the failure of passengers to wear safety belts as required by the Board's regulations.
Patron - Marshall, R.G.

F HB84

Safety belts in school buses. Requires school buses purchased by, or for use by, any school or school division on or after January 1, 2007, to be equipped with safety belts or safety belts and shoulder harnesses of types approved by the Superintendent of State Police. The Board of Education must adopt policies, guidelines, and regulations to ensure that all passengers, including the driver, wear these belts or harnesses or both whenever the bus is in motion.
Patron - Spruill

F HB100

Private driver education programs. Provides that classroom training and behind-the-wheel instruction offered by the Association of Christian Schools International and the Virginia Council of Private Education will be acceptable means of receiving driver education if the classroom instruction is consistent in quality with instructional programs developed by the Board of Education for classroom training in public schools and the behind-the-wheel training is licensed by the Department of Motor Vehicles.
Patron - Cosgrove

F HB107

Drug-free school zones. Requires each public and private elementary, secondary, and post-secondary school and each public and private two-year and four-year institution of higher education to post signage indicating that school property and the area within 1,000 feet of such property is a drug-free school zone.
Patron - Purkey

F HB137

Standards of Quality; Standard 3, Standards of Learning assessments. Provides that the Board of Education must release the Standards of Learning assessments periodically, but not less than once every three years. Currently, the Board must release the assessments in a timely manner and as soon as practicable after the administration of such tests.
Patron - Tata

F HB163

Family life education; parent or guardian review. Emphasizes the right of parents and guardians to review family life curricula whether or not family life instruction is mandatory or optional. Further, the bill repeals § 22.1-207.1 that requires the Board of Education to establish guidelines for family life education and prescribes certain subject matter to be taught in family life education programs. The bill also contains a technical amendment to remove redundant language.
Patron - Lingamfelter

F HB230

Department of Corrections; eligibility for good conduct allowance; literacy and education. Requires that the Governor's appointees to the Board of Correctional Education include educators and a citizen with an immediate family member incarcerated in Virginia. The bill provides for good conduct allowance for prisoners depending on their performance and conduct in which escalating credits toward good conduct allowance are available in four class levels. The highest level available is 50 percent credit for those prisoners with exemplary behavior and who have earned or are making progress toward earning their general educational development (GED) certificate. The bill includes a literacy requirement for inmates, and allows for good conduct credits to be earned through reading.
Patron - Jones, D.C.

F HB273

Teacher salaries for critical shortage area teachers. Provides that, in order to assure the availability of highly qualified teachers in high-demand subject areas, the local school boards shall adjust their teacher salary schedules to provide for greater compensation for personnel who teach in a critical shortage area or discipline, as identified by the Board of Education's Regulations Governing the Determination of Critical Shortage Areas, than in areas in which there is no shortage of highly qualified teachers. The measure further provides that no teacher salary schedule adopted by a local school board shall establish a maximum salary that can be earned by teachers in a school division.
Patron - Poisson

F HB274

Licensure of division superintendents, principals, assistant principals, and school supervisors. Provides that the Board of Education shall make no regulations prescribing mandatory qualifications or licensure requirements for holding the position of division superintendent of schools, principal, assistant principal, and school supervisor.
Patron - Poisson

F HB275

Teacher education. Requires that all persons seeking licensure as a teacher obtain a degree in any branch of liberal arts, science, mathematics, social studies, or other specific subject area, but not a degree in pedagogy. The measure also establishes a teacher internship program in lieu of student teacher or clinical faculty programs that are currently administered by institutions of higher education in cooperation with public elementary and secondary schools. The Board of Education must develop and implement the teacher internship program to provide all graduates of an accredited degree-granting institution seeking licensure in Virginia with training in a classroom under the supervision of an experienced teacher. All graduates of a degree-granting institution seeking licensure in Virginia must complete a one-year paid internship at a public elementary or secondary school in the Commonwealth. At the completion of the internship, the principal of the school in which the internship was completed, in consultation with the intern's supervising teacher, must evaluate the intern's performance during the internship and determine whether the intern shall be certified for licensure by the Department of Education. Upon certification by a principal to the Department that an intern has successfully completed the internship program, the Board shall issue the intern a license if he has satisfied all other requirements for licensure by the Board.
Patron - Poisson

F HB276

Apportionment of state and local share; adjustments for English as a second language and special education programs. Directs that the General Assembly, in apportioning the state and local share for the costs of providing an educational program meeting the Standards of Quality shall, as provided in the appropriation act, modify the formula that determines each locality's ability to pay for its share of providing an educational program meeting the prescribed Standards of Quality to incorporate statewide average teacher salaries and to provide adjustments for the number of special education students and students receiving English as a second language instruction.
Patron - Caputo

F HB338

Annual body mass index assessments required for public school students. Requires the principal of each school, pursuant to regulations adopted by the Board of Education in consultation with the State Health Commissioner, to (i) provide an annual assessment of the body mass index (BMI) of each student in the school; (ii) notify the parent or guardian, in writing, of the annual BMI percentile by age for the relevant student; and (iii) provide the parent or guardian of the relevant student with information explaining the use of BMI in identifying underweight and overweight children and the potential health risks of various growth patterns.
Patron - Orrock

F HB391

F HB392

State funding for No Child Left Behind Testing. Provides that all costs incurred by localities resulting from student testing required by the federal No Child Left Behind Act must be paid by the Commonwealth. Beginning with the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2006, each locality must, in each even-numbered year, submit cost estimates of such testing to the Department of Education for review and certification by the Department. The Department must certify to the Governor all such costs incurred by localities from student testing and, beginning in 2007, the Governor must include an appropriation in the budget bill and the gubernatorial amendments thereto to fund all such costs.
Patron - Englin

F HB472

The Virginia Teaching Scholarship Loan Program. Amends provisions of the Virginia Teaching Scholarship Loan Program to make those who agree to teach special education in a private school in the Commonwealth eligible to participate in the loan program. Currently, only students who agree to teach in public schools in the Commonwealth are eligible to receive scholarships through the program.
Patron - Cosgrove

F HB481

Education; expenditures and reports on instructional spending. Requires each local school division to allocate 65 percent of its operating budget to instructional spending. Local school boards must report annually to the Board of Education the percentage of their operating budgets allocated to instructional spending. Any school division that fails to meet the 65 percent requirement must present a plan to the Board of Education to increase instructional spending by 0.5 percent in the following year. School divisions failing to submit such a plan must be audited by the Auditor of Public Accounts who in turn must submit recommendations to the Board including instruction on how such school divisions can increase their instructional spending to 65 percent. In addition, the Board must annually report to the Senate Committee on Finance and the House Committee on Appropriations the amount of spending allocated by the local school divisions to instructional spending based on the reports submitted annually by the local school boards.
Patron - Frederick

F HB507

Education; criminal records checks for school volunteers. Provides that if a local school division, in its discretion, requires fingerprinting or criminal records checks of school volunteers, all associated costs shall be paid by the school division or by the Commonwealth with such funds as may be appropriated for this purpose.
Patron - Armstrong

F HB537

Home instruction of children; requirements. Strengthens the requirements for parents providing home instruction, by (i) requiring the parents to notify the division superintendent of any changes in the curriculum during the school year; (ii) authorizing the division superintendent to terminate home instruction if a measurement of progress is not submitted by August 1, and no probationary year has been granted; (iii) authorizing the division superintendent to terminate home instruction if the remediation plan is not satisfactory or at any time if it is evident that no progress is being made; and (iv) raising the achievement test standard to the fifth stanine or higher.
Patron - Parrish

F HB582

Standards of Quality; Standard 2, pupil-teacher ratios. Changes the current pupil-teacher ratio in kindergarten through grade three from average daily membership of 24:1 to actual maximum daily membership of 26:1 in those grades. This bill also provides that the pupil-teacher ratio may not exceed 25:1 in average daily membership in grades four through six, and 24:1 in average daily membership in English classes in grades six through 12. The current pupil-teacher ratios are as follows: 24:1 in kindergarten with no class larger than 29 students, and if the average daily membership in kindergarten exceeds 24 pupils, a full-time teacher's aide must be assigned to the class; 24:1 in grades one through three with no class larger than 30 students; 25:1 in grades four through six with no class larger than 35 students; and 24:1 in English classes in grades six through 12.
Patron - Watts

F HB584

Education; 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 HB591

Education; calculation of high school graduation rates. Directs the Board of Education to collect, analyze, and report high school graduation rates using a standardized formula. In calculating graduation rates using the formula, the Board shall provide an exception for students enrolling in high school in Virginia for the first time who have limited English proficiency and have no transferable high school credits. This bill was incorporated into HB 19.
Patron - Lohr

F HB593

Education; English as a Second Language Grant Program. Establishes the English as a Second Language Grant Program for the purpose of providing grants to school divisions in which at least 25 percent of the student population receives English as a second language instruction. The program shall be administered by the Board of Education, and the Board must promulgate regulations governing the disbursement of such grants and provide rules and guidelines for the use of funds received by school divisions from the program. Each school division receiving such funds must submit a report to the Board specifying how the funds were used or are intended to be used in the school division.
Patron - Lohr

F HB780

F HB808

Teacher staffing ratios in under-filled and overflowing classes. Provides that, in order to maintain student-teacher ratios that provide for individualized instruction and promote the efficient use of school personnel, secondary school teachers may teach courses outside of their endorsement area to accommodate under-filled or overflowing classes.
Patron - Fralin

F HB815

Education; computation of composite index. Requires the General Assembly to modify the current Standards of Quality (SOQ) funding formula and calculation of composite index of local ability to pay that determines each locality's ability to pay for its share of providing an educational program meeting the prescribed SOQ to incorporate within the real estate indicator of local wealth the land-use taxation value for those properties within a land-use plan. Localities may adopt land-use plans and provide for the use value assessment and taxation of certain properties, such as those designated for agricultural, horticultural, forest, or open-space use. The current composite index of local ability to pay incorporates the "true value" of real property (rather than any special use assessed values) weighted 50 percent, with adjusted gross income weighted at 40 percent, and taxable retail sales weighted at 10 percent, as indicators of local wealth.
Patron - May

F HB905

Literary Fund; distributions. Raises the maximum limit for any loan from the Literary Fund from $7.5 million to $12 million.
Patron - Lohr

F HB966

Access to student records by military recruiters; notice to parents. Provides that the notice to parents or guardians required by federal law and regulations and the regulations of the Board of Education concerning the release of directory information shall be included on the emergency contact information form, which shall also include a statement printed in conspicuous, bold type that advises parents or guardians that giving consent for the release of the directory information concerning their child may result in release of such information to an official recruiting representative of the military forces of the Commonwealth or the United States. Such statement shall also advise parents or guardians of their right to (i) deny consent to release directory information concerning their child or (ii) limit the persons to whom such information may be released. Such statement shall also include the manner in which denial or limitation of consent may be effectuated.
Patron - Ebbin

F HB968

Membership of the Board of Correctional Education. Specifies that members of the Board of Correctional Education shall consist of the following: one educator with experience working in special education, two educators with experience working with specific learning disabilities, one elected official, and one citizen with an immediate family member incarcerated within the Commonwealth. The bill further directs the Governor, in making appointments to the Board, to select appointees of such qualifications and experience necessary to ensure that the membership of the Board includes persons suitably qualified to consider and act upon the various matters under the Board's jurisdiction. The bill places the Department of Correctional Education under the responsibility of the Secretary of Education. Currently, the Secretary of Public Safety is responsible for the Department of Correctional Education.
Patron - Ebbin

F HB1084

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 - Scott, J.M.

F HB1138

Instruction on drug use in public schools. Includes instruction on the dangers of methamphetamine and OxyContin use as topics to be covered under the requirement that the public schools provide instruction concerning drugs and drug abuse as prescribed by the Board of Education.
Patron - Cline

F HB1158

Teachers; sick leave. Requires local school boards to adopt policies providing for up to 12 weeks of 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. Such policies must provide for case-by-case determinations of leave granted that reflect the nature of the employee's illness or injury.
Patron - Eisenberg

F HB1308

School boards; authority to block use of school facilities by certain groups. Authorizes school boards, pursuant to and in compliance with 20 U.S.C. 4071(f), 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. The bill also provides that the Attorney General's Office may provide legal defense on behalf of the local school boards.
Patron - Lohr

F HB1408

Transportation services for nonpublic schools. Permits local school boards to enter into agreements with nonpublic schools in the school division to provide student transportation for a fee to and from the nonpublic schools.
Patron - Tata

F HB1450

Daily recess for elementary school students. Provides that local school boards shall prohibit the denial of daily outdoor recess or unstructured play to a student for disciplinary reasons, unless the parent of the student notifies the school principal in writing that the student may be excused from all or part of recess as a means to discipline the student.
Patron - Hull

F HB1590

Teacher quality. Teacher compensation; biennial review required; employment of teachers.
Patron - Tyler

F SB33

F SB61

Standards of Quality; Standard 2, support services staff ratios. Amends Standard 2 of the Standards of Quality to (i) provide the same staffing levels for elementary school principals as middle and high school principals, i.e., one each full-time to be employed on a 12-month basis; (ii) increase the staffing level for assistant principals to one full-time assistant principal for every 400 students to obtain the same staffing levels in elementary, middle, and high schools; (iii) require one reading specialist per 1,000 students in kindergarten through grade 12; and (iv) require speech-language pathologists to be employed in sufficient numbers to ensure a caseload that does not exceed 60 students per position. Current funding levels for these support staff positions are: one half-time principal per 299 students in an elementary school; one half-time assistant principal in an elementary school per 600 students, one full-time assistant principal in an elementary school per 900 students, and one full-time assistant principal in middle and high schools per 600 students; and one reading specialist per elementary school at the discretion of the local school board. Currently, speech-language pathologists are not required by statute. A second enactment clause requires that the provisions of this act will not become effective unless the 2006 appropriation act, as it becomes law, includes funding for such provisions.
Patron - Reynolds

F SB204

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 SB296

Setting of the school calendar. Provides that local school boards will set the school calendar to provide for the opening and closing of the school year in the school divisions. Currently, local school boards set the school calendar so that the first day of the school year begins after Labor Day and the Board of Education may waive this requirement on a showing of good cause by the school board. This bill also provides that the act will expire on July 1, 2011.
Patron - Cuccinelli

F SB411

No Child Left Behind; withdrawal. Directs the Commonwealth to withdraw from participation in the federal No Child Left Behind Act. The bill also directs the Board of Education and the Office of the Attorney General of Virginia to bring suit if Title I funds that are not related to NCLB are withheld.
Patron - Hanger

F SB440

Standards of Quality; Standard 1, Standards of Learning. Provides that the Board of Education require Standards of Learning assessments to reflect instruction related to the contributions of diverse people (e.g., consideration of disability, ethnicity, race, and gender) to society.
Patron - Lambert

F SB441

Board of Correctional Education. Changes the membership of the Board of Correctional Education to provide appointments of licensed teachers in the Commonwealth with endorsements in special education and experience in educating students with learning disabilities, an elected local official, and a nonlegislative citizen at large whose immediate family member is incarcerated in the Commonwealth. This bill provides that nonlegislative citizen members will serve four-year terms. Current members of the Board whose terms expire on June 30, 2006, June 30, 2007, and June 30, 2008, will continue to serve until the expiration of their terms. Thereafter, these vacancies must be filled in accordance with the new statutory provisions. The Governor will continue to appoint the nonlegislative citizen members of the Board. Persons serving ex officio will continue to serve. This bill also makes certain technical amendments.
Patron - Lambert

F SB709

Virginia Community College System; comprehensive, integrated workforce training system established. Recognizes the Virginia Community College System as the coordinator of workforce training, establishes a comprehensive, integrated workforce training system, and requires the appointment of regional workforce training boards to identify appropriate policies relating to workforce training for each of the community colleges and the school divisions within the relevant region. The regional workforce training boards will receive input from regional business and industry leaders; promote the development of cutting edge technology and workforce skills; advise local school boards, career and technical education teachers and administrators in public schools, and the community college on the design and implementation of workforce training classes to reflect changes in the workplace; and develop a plan of action to comply with federal Department of Labor and state policies vis-a-vis the federal Workforce Investment Act and any regulations promulgated pursuant to the Act.
Patron - Hawkins

Carried Over

C HB164

Emphasis of abstinence in family life curricula. Requires that any family life education course including a discussion of sexual intercourse emphasize that abstinence is the accepted norm and the only guarantee against unwanted pregnancy. The bill also requires that family life courses include materials that emphasize honor and respect for monogamous heterosexual marriage; provide information on the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases; inform students on laws addressing child support obligations and the unlawfulness of sexual relations between unmarried persons; and advise students on ways to avoid unwanted sexual advances and resist negative peer pressure. Further, the bill provides that students may opt out of family life courses if a parent or guardian submits a written objection and clarifies that parents have the right to review any family life curriculum, whether such curriculum is mandatory or optional.
Patron - Lingamfelter

C HB223

College Partnership Laboratory Schools. Establishes college partnership laboratory schools for the purpose of stimulating the development of innovative public education programs by providing opportunities for greater cooperation and coordination between institutions of higher education and K-12 education systems. The laboratory schools are created by a contract between the school and the Board of Education and operate much like public charter schools.
Patron - Jones, D.C.

C HB377

Removal and replacement of local school boards for cause. Requires the Board of Education to replace any school board, whether elected or appointed, for neglect of duty in any locality in which all elementary and secondary public schools fail to meet the requirements of the Standards of Accreditation for four consecutive years. Upon exercising its authority to replace an elected school board and before appointing new members for such school board, the Board shall hold a public hearing in the locality in which the school board was empaneled to receive the views and comments of citizens of the locality on the selection of new school board members. The Board may appoint new members to an appointed school board without holding a public hearing. The measure further provides that the composition of any local school board that has been removed for cause, whether serving by district or at large, and the terms of the members of such school boards shall be maintained when new members are appointed to the school board by the Board. The Board must replace all members of any school board removed by the Board within 60 days of the date such members are removed by the Board.
Patron - Dance

C HB384

Education; school tuition charges on certain military bases. Provides that any person of school age who resides on a military or naval reservation situated in the geographical boundaries of more than one school division shall be eligible to attend the public schools of any such school division and shall not be denied admission or charged tuition.
Patron - Suit

C HB492

Textbooks; availability for home use. Provides that each local school division shall, in providing textbooks and workbooks free of charge for each child attending public schools, ensure that such textbooks and workbooks are available in sufficient quantity to provide each student an individual copy that may be used at home unless all required course materials are available on school-issued computers that may be used by students at home.
Patron - Frederick

C HB838

Transfer of private school credits to public schools. Requires the Board of Education to promulgate regulations to ensure the transfer of credits from any private elementary, middle, or high school located in the Commonwealth to a public school in any Virginia school division.
Patron - Frederick

C HB1229

Education; expulsion of students. Amends the procedure for readmission of a student to school after expulsion to require that local school board regulations governing the readmission procedure ensure that any initial petition for readmission be timely reviewed by the school board, a committee of the school board, or the division superintendent in a manner that, if granted, would enable the expelled student to return to school no later than one calendar year from the date of the expulsion.
Patron - Jones, D.C.

C HB1442

Graduation requirements; standard diploma. Expands the requirements for earning a standard diploma to include one concentration in career and technical education.
Patron - Nutter

C HB1593

Childhood obesity. Requires the Board of Education to promulgate, in cooperation with the State Health Department, regulations establishing standards to facilitate the prevention and reduction of childhood obesity in the public schools. This bill also requires division superintendents to complete instruction concerning the causes and consequences of overweight and obese students, and the relationship between nutrition, health, and learning by July 1, 2008. The requirement for instruction may be satisfied by attendance at conferences, seminars, or in-service training.
Patron - Tyler

C SB205

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, be 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

C SB206

C SB241

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act; burden of proof. Places the burden of persuasion on the school division in an administrative hearing concerning the individualized education program of a child with a disability.
Patron - Ticer

C SB263

Triennial census or statistical survey of school-age persons residing in school divisions. Provides school divisions the option of choosing to conduct a statistical survey rather than the traditional census every three years. The statistical survey or census may be conducted by agents or contractors appointed by each school board on the recommendation of the division superintendent or pursuant to a contract for a statistical survey.
Patron - Bell

C SB442

Advisory Board on Teacher Education and Licensure. Changes the composition and tenure of and appointing authority for the Board of Education's Advisory Board on Teacher Education and Licensure. This bill provides that the nonlegislative citizen members of the Advisory Board on Teacher Education and Licensure will be appointed by the Governor, subject to confirmation by the General Assembly. This bill also reorganizes the Code section and makes technical amendments to comply with the change in the appointing authority for the Advisory Board and the Joint Rules Committee Legislative Guidelines. Currently, the members of the Advisory Board are appointed by the Board of Education. Members serve three-year terms.
Patron - Lambert

C SB545

Scholarship for Disabled Students Program; established. Establishes a scholarship program on behalf of disabled students in the Commonwealth to provide scholarships to a private school of choice for students with disabilities for whom an individual education plan has been written. The student's parent also has the option to enroll the student in another public school in the division, or in another public school in an adjacent division. Only nonsectarian private schools in Virginia holding a license to operate as a school for students with disabilities may participate in the Scholarship Program. The bill also requires the Board of Education to issue guidelines to aid local school divisions and private schools in the implementation of the Program.
Patron - Stosch

C SB599

Physical education. Requires school boards to implement a requirement for physical education to be taught in grades kindergarten through 12.
Patron - Potts

C SB710

K-14 educational partnerships. Requires that, in addition to any other programmatic requirements and for the purpose of complementing and strengthening existing dual enrollment programs, each local school board shall, by July 1, 2007, establish a regional K-14 educational partnership. Each regional K-14 educational partnership shall be developed in cooperation with one or more community colleges in the region and may include partners from the private sector. Regional K-14 educational partnerships shall (i) provide academically rigorous curricula that provide qualified students the opportunity to specialize in career and technical subjects; (ii) be designed to articulate a specific high school curriculum with an identified community college curriculum; (iii) be devised as a seamless system of education permitting students to matriculate from high school classes to appropriate community college programs without interruption, obtain an associate degree or other credential from a community college, and, if desired by the student, continue his education in a four-year institution; and (iv) be structured and funded as a regional program, in a manner similar to Governor's schools. The Community Colleges are required to participate in the regional K-14 educational partnerships. The State Council of Higher Education is required to facilitate the development of necessary articulation agreements.
Patron - Hawkins

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