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2001 SESSION

014319668
HOUSE BILL NO. 2590
Offered January 10, 2001
Prefiled January 10, 2001
A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding sections numbered 22.1-85.1 and 22.1-254.3, relating to financial assistance to certain students for Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate examinations.
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Patron-- Christian
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Referred to Committee on Education
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Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That the Code of Virginia is amended by adding sections numbered 22.1-85.1 and 22.1-254.3, as follows:

§ 22.1-85.1. Financial assistance to certain students for Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate examinations; school board policy for implementation and notice required.

A. With such funds as may be available from the College Board and as may be appropriated for this purpose, a school board shall provide financial assistance to (i) students who are enrolled full-time in the public schools, have been assigned to or meet the qualifications for placement in Advanced Placement courses or International Baccalaureate programs, and are eligible for free or reduced lunch, and (ii) such full-time students who are ineligible for free or reduced lunch, but who have been identified by a teacher, school principal, guidance counselor or other school personnel as unable to afford the costs of Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate examinations due to the unemployment of a parent, the serious or life-threatening illness of an immediate family member, the inability of a parent to afford the costs of such examinations for more than one eligible student, or other substantiated family financial exigency.

B. The school board shall apply on behalf of eligible students for financial assistance to the College Board and use any such funds made available by the College Board to aid financially needy students in covering the costs of Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate examinations, before applying for funds allocated for this purpose in the appropriations act by the General Assembly. At the end of each school year, any school board which has applied for and received funds on behalf of eligible students either from the College Board or from funds appropriated by the General Assembly, or both, shall report the number of eligible students served, the number of eligible students who could not be served due to the depletion of available resources, the type of examination taken by and the score credited to each student, and the total costs of all such examinations to the Department of Education. Such information shall be used by the Department to develop a profile of eligible students, and baseline data to calculate state expenditures and the projected need for state funding to aid eligible students requiring financial assistance for such examinations.

C. A school board shall establish a policy governing the implementation of the provisions of this section, which shall include a requirement for written notice to the parents of students who meet the criteria for financial assistance, concerning the availability of financial assistance to cover the costs of such examinations.

§ 22.1-254.3. Students eligible to receive financial assistance for Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate examinations.

A student shall be eligible to receive financial assistance from the local school board to cover the costs of Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate examinations, if (i) the student is enrolled full-time in the public schools of the school division, (ii) has been placed in or meets the qualifications to be placed in Advanced Placement courses or the International Baccalaureate program, and (iii) satisfies the criteria for financial assistance, as described in § 22.1-85.1.