SEARCH SITE

VIRGINIA LAW PORTAL

SEARCHABLE DATABASES

ACROSS SESSIONS

Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.

2000 SESSION

006293724
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 223
AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE
(Proposed by the House Committee on Rules
on February 11, 2000)
(Patron Prior to Substitute--Delegate Diamonstein)
Continuing the Commission on Educational Infrastructure as the Commission on Educational Infrastructure and Technology.

WHEREAS, beginning in the 1980s and gaining momentum in the 1990s, school construction and technology issues have been paramount in the minds of many of Virginia's division superintendents, school boards, and local government officials; and

WHEREAS, originally established pursuant to House Joint Resolution No. 135 of 1998, the Commission on Educational Infrastructure was continued and expanded, with co-chairmen established in 1998; and

WHEREAS, over the last several years, the Commission has implemented study plans to collect data and background information on Virginia construction and educational technology programs and on the programs implemented in other states; and

WHEREAS, in the last two years, the Commission has received presentations on North Carolina, Ohio, and West Virginia, conducted a review of construction issues in other states in the Southern region, examined higher education methodology for determining space utilization, received data on the Commonwealth's student demographics and the effects of facility needs, and initiated its own survey of facilities' needs in Virginia; and

WHEREAS, during the 1999 interim--the final year of the twentieth century--the Commission continued to receive data on the Literary Fund and from the Virginia Public School Authority; and

WHEREAS, the primary 1999 focus of the Commission was on the school of the new millennium, studying what the school of the twenty-first century will look like and how technology will impact building design and curricula, school operations, teaching, student achievement, and student discipline; and

WHEREAS, in accomplishing this goal, the Commission has received presentations on several innovative, high-tech public school programs, such as the Henry County's Universal Laptop Initiative, a unique collaboration between the local governing body and the school board to place a laptop computer in the homes of every fourth and eighth grade student and to expand this access to technology by one grade each year until all students in grades four through 12 have access to this program; and

WHEREAS, the Commission also received a presentation and a virtual tour of the Center for Applied Technology and Career Exploration (CATCE) in Franklin County, a problem-based learning approach that includes the Socratic method, project-based education, and discovery-based education in a high technology, corporate-setting environment; and

WHEREAS, these presentations and the data received on Virginia's educational technology efforts have convinced the Commission of the importance and integral role of educational technology in this new century; and

WHEREAS, the Commission also received the final report on the survey of facilities needs that was initiated in 1998, learning that 128 school divisions responded to the survey, providing data that indicates structural problems in significant numbers of schools, with one-third of the respondents noting the need for attention in the near future, 12 percent noting significant deficiencies, and three percent noting serious inadequacies; and

WHEREAS, of the 87 school divisions having capital improvement plans (approximately 68 percent), over three billion dollars of construction needs are projected for five years between 1999 and 2003; and

WHEREAS, in addition to the almost $900 million in non-debt expenditures, the total outstanding indebtedness for school construction/infrastructure was reported as almost four billion dollars on June 30, 1998; and

WHEREAS, the Commission has recommended the authorization of an escrow account for local governing bodies to deposit the lottery funds appropriated in 1999 for education infrastructure in order to empower those school divisions who were not able to spend the money in this fiscal year to carry the funds forward; and

WHEREAS, the Commission has also recommended the codification of the lottery distribution procedure that was included in the 1999 budget; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House, the Senate concurring, That the Commission on Educational Infrastructure be continued as the Commission on Educational Infrastructure and Technology.

The Commission shall be composed of 34 members, which shall include 22legislative members, eight nonlegislative citizen members, and four ex officio members as follows: the Co-Chairmen of the House Committees on Appropriations, Finance, and Education, and six members of the House of Delegates, to be appointed by the Speaker, in accordance with Rule 16 of the Rules of the House of Delegates; the Chairmen of the Senate Committees on Finance and on Education and Health, and eight members of the Senate, to be appointed by the Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections; eight citizens, one each who shall have expertise in commercial communications technology, educational technology, school design and construction, and funding public school and capital construction, one licensed architect who specializes in school design, and one citizen at-large to be appointed by the Speaker of the House; one representative each of the Virginia Municipal League and the Virginia Association of Counties to be appointed by the Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections; the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia; the Secretary of Education; the President of the Board of Education; and the Superintendent of Public Instruction who shall serve ex officio with full voting privileges.

Staffing shall continue to be provided by the Division of Legislative Services, the House Committee on Appropriations, and the Senate Committee on Finance. In addition, all agencies of the Commonwealth shall provide assistance to the Commission, upon request.

The direct costs of this study shall not exceed $31,500.

The Commission shall complete its work in time to submit its written findings and recommendations to the Governor and the 2001 Session of the General Assembly as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for the processing of legislative documents.

Implementation of this resolution is subject to subsequent approval and certification by the Joint Rules Committee. The Committee may withhold expenditures or delay the period for the conduct of the study.