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ACROSS SESSIONS
- Subject Index: Since 1995
- Bills & Resolutions: Since 1994
- Summaries: Since 1994
Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.
2004 SESSION
Chairman: H. Russell Potts, Jr.
Clerk: Thomas C. Gilman
Date of Meeting: February 19, 2004
Time and Place: 8:00 a.m., Senate Room B, General Assembly Building
Patron: Cosgrove
Feticide. Provides that any person who unlawfully, willfully, deliberately, maliciously and with premeditation kills the fetus of another is guilty of a Class 2 felony. The bill also provides that any person who unlawfully, willfully, deliberately and maliciously kills the fetus of another is guilty of a felony punishable by confinement in a state correctional facility for not less than five nor more than 40 years, and that any person who unlawfully, willfully and deliberately, without malice, kills the fetus of another is guilty of a Class 5 felony.
Patron: Kilgore
University of Virginia's College at Wise; reduced tuition. Allows the University of Virginia's College at Wise to charge reduced tuition to any person enrolled at the College who lives within a 50-mile radius of the College, is domiciled in, and is entitled to in-state tuition charges in Tennessee institutions. In addition, the College and its partners or associates offering programs jointly at a regional off-campus center may also charge reduced tuition to any Tennessee resident enrolled in such joint programs who lives within a 50-mile radius of the College and is entitled to in-state tuition charges in Tennessee institutions of higher learning. Any such respective partners or associates shall establish and charge separately tuition rates for their independent classes or programs at such regional centers.
This provision grants authority similar to that already granted to College at Wise students residing in Kentucky; however, the reduced tuition for Kentuckians is contingent upon reciprocal reduced tuition arrangements offered by Kentucky for Virginians.
Patron: Reid
Vital records; filing of death certificates. Specifies that only a licensed funeral director, funeral services licensee, office of the state anatomical program, or the next of kin can file the death certificate with the registrar of vital records. The bill addresses the problem encountered by the registrar under the present law when transportation companies or persons not licensed by the Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers fail to file the death certificate with the registrar.
Patron: Shuler
Medical assistance services; marriage and family therapy. Mandates Medicaid reimbursement to licensed marriage and family therapists for services covered by the State Plan.
Patron: Morgan
Certain vocational rehabilitation counselors. Authorizes employees or independent contractors of the Commonwealth's agencies and sheltered workshops, who are currently exempt from obtaining Virginia certification as rehabilitation counselors unless they are providing vocational rehabilitation services through workers' compensation, to use the title "rehabilitation provider" or another similar title and to deliver vocational rehabilitation services under workers' compensation if they have obtained certification by the Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification (CRCC) as certified rehabilitation counselors (CRC). At this time, there is a disconnect between the required federal standard for delivery of services under the federal Rehabilitation Act through the Department of Rehabilitative Services (DRS) and the Department for the Blind and Vision Impaired (DBVI) and the Virginia workers' compensation program. Federal authorities recognize national or state certification and Virginia workers' compensation law presently requires state certification for reimbursement. Thus, at this time, Virginia's public employees who hold national certification and work to assist individuals with disabilities to become employed or to maintain employment, cannot provide services to workers' compensation recipients unless they hold state certification. This provision eliminates this dual requirement. There are several technical amendments.
Patron: Cox
Supplemental compensation; teachers called to active duty. Provides that public school teachers and administrators whose active military duty during a defense crisis has required their absence from their full-time employment in a school division will receive supplemental pay as determined by and from the relevant local school division if the military compensation of such teacher or administrator is less than the regular salary paid to such teacher or administrator by the school division.
Classified state employees receive a similar benefit pursuant to Executive Order 44, issued March 26, 2003.
Patron: Lingamfelter
Charter School Excellence and Accountability Act. Amends the charter schools statute to (i) require public charter schools to maintain high standards for teachers and administrators; (ii) allow charter schools to contract with private institutions of higher education for school facilities, services, and other undertakings, including construction; (iii) add evidence of the support of school division residents for a charter school to those items that may be included in proposed charter agreement materials; (iv) allow charter applicants to submit the proposed charter agreement to the Board of Education for review and comment, and to require inclusion of the Board's findings in the charter application to the local school board; (v) delete the authority of school boards to limit the number of charter schools within the division and the statutory cap on the maximum number of charter schools (two schools or not more than 10 percent of the total number of schools in the division, whichever is greater); (vi) delete the requirement that half the charter schools in the division be designed to benefit at-risk pupils, and instead direct school boards to give priority to applications designed to benefit these students, particularly those at-risk students currently served by schools that have not achieved full accreditation; (vii) direct the Board to report annually to the General Assembly the number of public charter school applications granted and denied, and the reasons for any such denials; (viii) increase the maximum charter term from three to five years; (xi) amend the State and Local Government Conflicts of Interests Act to allow the governing body, administrators, and other personnel within a public charter school to have an ownership or financial interest in renovating, lending, granting, or leasing public charter school facilities, provided such interest has been disclosed in the public charter school application.
The measure includes a July 1, 2009, sunset on these new provisions. HB 845 was rolled into this measure.
Patron: Amundson
Certificate of public need for medical care facilities; criteria for determining need. Modifies the criteria relating to the extent to which the project will be accessible to all residents of the area proposed to be served by a medical care facility to require the Commissioner of Health to consider the effects on accessibility of any proposed relocation of an existing service or facility. The bill also requires the appropriate health planning agency to notify the local governing bodies in the planning district where the project is proposed to be located. Finally, the bill requires the health planning agency to consider comments from the relevant local governing bodies and all other public comments in making its decision, and stipulates that such comments shall be part of the record provided to the Department of Health.
Patron: Welch
Practice of podiatry; surgery. Increases the anatomical area of the foot where a podiatrist may perform amputations. The bill authorizes podiatrists to perform amputations proximal to the metatarsal-phalangeal joints in a hospital or ambulatory surgery center that has the appropriate statutorily required accreditation. The bill does not allow amputation of the foot proximal to the transmetatarsal level through the metatarsal shafts.
Patron: Brink
School board compensation; Arlington County. Authorizes the Arlington County School Board (an elected school board of a division comprised of a county having the county manager plan of government) to grant itself fringe benefits, expenses, and reimbursements, or any of them, as it deems appropriate, and in the manner and form as such are provided for school board employees, after satisfying notice and public hearing requirements.
Current law allows elected school boards to grant themselves salary increases pursuant to procedures and consistent with the limits set for local governing bodies in Title 15.2 or as provided by charter, or, in the case of the Arlington school board, consistent with § 15.2-702.1. That section provides for a maximum salary of $25,000, but also allows the board of supervisors to grant itself cost of living increases and other benefits that are granted to county employees.
Patron: Kilgore
Adult guardianship and conservatorship. Expands the ability to name standby guardians or conservatorships or both from situations in which a parent or legal guardian has made such a request for an incapacitated child to situations in which a child can make such request for an incapacitated parent. Under the current statute, only parents or legal guardians may seek standby guardianship.
Patron: Callahan
Certain certificate of public need for nursing facility or extended care services. Amends Chapter 912 of 2000 Acts of Assembly to authorize the Commissioner of Health to accept and approve a request to amend the conditions of a certificate of public need that was issued during the moratorium on nursing home beds that was in effect until 1996. This bill adjusts the previously amended certificate of public need for a facility located in Loudoun County to provide that the facility may continue to admit private-pay patients who are not contract holders if the facility was established for the care of retired military personnel and the facility's contract holder occupancy rate is less than 85 percent. This bill incorporates HB 684 (Rapp).
Patron: Hogan
Board of Dentistry; continuing education for dental hygienists. Eliminates the requirement that dental hygienists complete 15 hours of continuing education courses for license renewal or reinstatement after April 1, 1995. Under the bill, continuing education courses will still be required but the Board of Dentistry will set the requisite number of hours in regulation.
Patron: Hamilton
School closings; waiver of makeup days. Permits the Board of Education to waive the requirement that school divisions provide additional teaching days to compensate for school closings resulting from a declared state of emergency. If the Board grants such a waiver, there shall be no proportionate reduction in the amount paid by the Commonwealth from the Basic School Aid Fund. However, the local appropriations for educational purposes necessary to fund 180 teaching days shall not be proportionally reduced by any local governing body due any reduction in the length of the term of any school or school division permitted by such waiver.
Patron: Hamilton
Health professions; practice of midwifery. Provides for the licensure by the Board of Medicine of those persons who have obtained the Certified Professional Midwife credential to practice midwifery pursuant to regulations adopted by the Board of Medicine. The Board of Medicine shall adopt regulations, with advice from the Advisory Board on Midwifery established in this bill. The regulations shall (i) address the requirements for licensure to practice midwifery (ii) be consistent with the current job analysis for the profession; (iii) ensure professional autonomy; (iv) provide for an appropriate license fee; and (v) include requirements for licensure renewal and continuing education. The regulations shall not (a) require any agreement, written or otherwise, with another health care professional, or (b) require the assessment of a woman who is seeking midwifery services by another health care professional. Licensed midwives must disclose to clients certain background information, including their training and experience, a written protocol for medical emergencies, malpractice or liability insurance coverage, and procedures to file complaints with the Board of Medicine. The bill provides immunity to physicians, nurses, prehospital emergency personnel or health care institutions for acts resulting from the administration of services by any licensed midwife.
Patron: Janis
Emergency custody and temporary detention orders; transportation. Requires magistrates who issue emergency custody or temporary detention orders for persons with serious mental illness to specify the law-enforcement agency and jurisdiction that shall execute such orders and provide transportation. The bill gives direction to the magistrate on choosing the responsible law- enforcement agency and jurisdiction. This bill incorporates HB 588 (Janis) and HB 579 (Hamilton).
Patron: Carrico
Distance learning. Requires each public institution of higher education, effective January 1, 2005, to include in its strategic plan information indicating to what extent, if any, it will use distance learning to expand access, improve quality, and minimize the cost of education. For institutions using or planning to use distance learning in the future, such information shall include the degree to which distance learning will be integrated into the curriculum, benchmarks for measuring such integration, and a schedule for the evaluation of such courses. The State Council of Higher Education is to assist the governing boards in the development of such information.
In addition, community colleges are to maximize the availability and use of distance learning courses addressing workforce training needs.
Patron: O'Bannon
Ambulance permits to be consistent with certain federal requirements. Requires the Commissioner of Health to issue permits or licenses for emergency medical services agencies and vehicles as needed to ensure compliance with federal regulations relating to reimbursement of ambulance services pursuant to Medicare and Medicaid.
Patron: Abbitt
The Miller School of Albemarle. Reduces the appointment authority of the Governor and the Judge of the Circuit Court of Albemarle County for their respective appointments to the Board of Trustees of The Miller School of Albemarle from five to two members, and allows the Board to consist of as many as 23 trustees. The current Board, which already appoints five members of the currently 15-member Board, will appoint all remaining members. The number of consecutive terms is reduced from three to two. Persons serving as of July 1, 2004, may complete their respective terms.
The Miller School was created in 1874 by the General Assembly to "give effect to a compromise of the litigation in respect to the construction and effect of the will of Samuel Miller...." Located outside Charlottesville, The Miller School is not a public school, but is an independent coeducational institution, enrolling about 165 boarding and day students in grades six through 12.
Patron: Bell
Qualifications for providing home instruction. Requires persons providing home instruction to hold a high school diploma.
Under current law, such individuals must hold a baccalaureate degree.
Patron: Morgan
Filling and stocking of automated drug dispensing systems in hospital pharmacies by registered pharmacy technicians. Clarifies that the filling and stocking of automated drug dispensing systems in hospital pharmacies may be delegated to registered pharmacy technicians. A pharmacist will remain legally responsible for the proper and accurate stocking and filling of the automated drug dispensing system, i.e., either the pharmacist who is charged with filling and stocking the device or, if a registered pharmacy technician is delegated this task, the pharmacist-in-charge.
Patron: Ware, O.
Notice of proposals or initial applications for methadone clinics required. Requires the Commissioner of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services to notify the local governing body of the jurisdiction in which a provider of treatment for persons with opiate addiction is proposed within 15 days of receiving notice of a proposal or an application to obtain initial licensure to operate such facility. Local governing bodies may submit to the Commissioner comments on the proposals or applications within 30 days from the date of the notice, including the suitability of the proposed location of the clinic and its conformance with the locality's comprehensive plan and its compliance with relevant local ordinances. This bill incorporates HB 304 (Fralin).
Patron: Hurt
Career and technical education. Directs local school boards to include, within the currently required career and technical education program, curricula that promote knowledge of entrepreneurship and small business ownership. Current programs are to address "all types of employment opportunities," such as apprenticeships, the military, and career education schools.
Patron: Watts
Parenting programs; Department of Correctional Education. Requires the Department to arrange for noncustodial parent offenders committed to the custody of the Department of Corrections to be afforded the opportunity to participate in pre-release parenting programs that include parenting-skills training and anger management.
Patron: Brink
Children's Health Insurance Advisory Committee. Revises the name, purpose, membership, and responsibilities of the current Outreach Oversight Committee to Family Access to Medical Insurance Security (FAMIS) to create the Children's Health Insurance Advisory Committee and declares the purpose of the committee to be to assess policies, operations and outreach for FAMIS and FAMIS Plus (Medicaid for children) and to evaluate various enrollment, utilization, and outcomes of children for these programs. The committee's membership is limited to 20 members and will include the Joint Commission on Health Care, the Department of Social Services, the Department of Health, the Department of Education, the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services, the Virginia Health Care Foundation, various provider associations and children's advocacy groups, and other individuals with significant knowledge and interest in children's health insurance. The committee will make recommendations on FAMIS and FAMIS Plus to the Director of the Department of Medical Assistance Services and the Secretary of Health and Human Resources.
Patron: Baskerville
Brown v. Board of Education Scholarship Program and Fund. Creates the Brown v. Board of Education Scholarship Program for the purpose of assisting students who were enrolled in the public schools of Virginia between 1954 and 1964, in jurisdictions in which such public schools were closed to avoid desegregation, in obtaining a high school diploma, the General Education Development certificate, career or technical education or training, or an undergraduate degree from a public institution of higher education in Virginia. The State Council of Higher Education shall administer the Program. The Brown v. Board of Education Scholarship Awards Committee, established in the legislative branch of state government, is composed of legislators and nonlegislative citizen members appointed by the Joint Rules Committee and the Governor and is authorized to award the scholarships and govern the Program. The Brown v. Board of Education Scholarship Program Fund, a special nonreverting fund, is established on the books of the Comptroller to receive appropriations, gifts, grants, donations, and bequests for the Program. The bill also establishes student eligibility for such scholarships and stipulates that scholarships may be used only for payment of tuition charges. In addition, the bill provides that (i) the Program does not establish any legally enforceable right or entitlement on the part of any person or any right or entitlement to participation in the program; and (ii) scholarships must be awarded to the extent funds are made available or as directed by the appropriation act.
This bill also allows individuals entitled to an income tax refund to contribute a portion, at least $1, or all of the refund to the Brown v. Board of Education Scholarship Fund for taxable years beginning on and after January 1, 2004.
The second enactment clause provides that educational terms used in the act shall be construed as defined in Titles 22.1, 23, and 40.1.
This bill is supported by the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Commission.
Patron: Jones, S.C.
Collaborative agreements between pharmacists and practitioners of medicine, osteopathy, or podiatry. Repeals the second enactment clauses of two 1999 Acts of Assembly to avoid the sunset date of July 1, 2004, and thereby continue the authority for pharmacists involved directly in patient care to participate with practitioners of medicine, osteopathy, or podiatry in collaborative agreements that authorize cooperative procedures related to treatment using drug therapy, laboratory tests or medical devices for the purpose of improving patient outcomes.
Patron: Jones, S.C.
Licensed nurse practitioners; forms and certificates. Provides that licensed nurse practitioners may sign various forms and certificates, and provide medical information or treatment in certain situations, including situations involving the immunization of children, examination of persons suspected of having tuberculosis, prenatal tests, nursing homes, release of certain privileged medical information, competency for driver licenses, release of certain veterinary records, and assisted living facilities. The bill also provides that whenever any law or regulation requires a signature, certification, stamp, verification, affidavit or endorsement by a physician, it shall be deemed to include a signature, certification, stamp, verification, affidavit or endorsement by a nurse practitioner. The bill contains an emergency clause requiring the Board of Nursing to amend its regulations within 280 days of enactment. Such amendments shall include provisions for nurse practitioners' authority for signatures, certifications, stamps, verifications, affidavits and endorsements in the written protocol between the supervising physician and the nurse practitioner.
Patron: Byron
Reporting of certain acts by school authorities to law enforcement. Expands the enumerated activities that school principals must report to local law enforcement by providing that reportable offenses involving "firearms" on school property address any weapon prohibited on school property or at a school-sponsored activity pursuant to § 18.2-308.1, as well as (i) any weapon, including a starter gun, that will, or is designed or may readily be converted to, expel single or multiple projectiles by the action of an explosion of a combustible material; (ii) the frame or receiver of any such weapon; (iii) any firearm muffler or firearm silencer; or (iv) any destructive device. "Firearm" shall not include any weapon in which ammunition may be discharged by pneumatic pressure. By linking the definition of "firearm" to the definition in § 22.1-277.07 (Gun-Free Schools), the measure captures possession of knives and other weapons.
Patron: Sickles
Location of licensed nursing homes and assisted living facilities; notification to electric utilities. Requires the State Health Commissioner to notify electric utilities in Virginia on a quarterly basis as to the location of all licensed nursing homes in the State, and requires the Commissioner of the Department of Social Services to do the same for assisted living facilities. The purpose of the bill is to facilitate the restoration of electrical service and prioritization of customers during widespread power outages. The requirement of a quarterly notification can also be met by the maintenance of an accessible electronic database.
Patron: Suit
Validity of septic tank permits. Grandfathers certain onsite sewage systems into the Board of Health's regulatory scheme. The bill provides that whenever any onsite sewage system is failing and the Board's regulations for repairing it impose (i) a requirement for treatment beyond the level of treatment provided by the existing onsite sewage system when operating properly or (ii) a new requirement for pressure dosing, the owner may request a waiver from such requirements. The Commissioner is required to grant such request, unless he finds that the failing system was installed illegally without a permit. Such waivers must be recorded in the land records of the clerk of the circuit court. Except between a husband and a wife, such waivers are not transferable and are null and void upon transfer or sale of the property. The owner of the property is required to disclose, in writing, to any and all potential purchasers or mortgage holders that any operating permit for the onsite sewage system that has been granted a waiver shall be null and void at the time of transfer or sale of the property and that the Board's regulatory requirements for additional treatment or pressure dosing are required before an operating permit may be reinstated.
Patron: Marshall, D.W.
Institute for Advanced Learning and Research. Increases the membership of the governing board of the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research from nine to 15 by adding six citizen representatives, two each appointed by the Governor, the Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections, and the Speaker of the House of Delegates.
Created by the 2002 Session, the Institute is located in Danville and was founded by Averett University, Danville Community College, and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. The Institute is authorized to enter into and administer agreements with institutions of higher education to deliver traditional and electronic education and is to diversify the region's economy by providing a site for the development of technology and a trained workforce and expanding access to higher education in Southside Virginia. This measure is identical to SB 570.
Patron: Marshall, D.W.
Institute for Advanced Learning and Research. Adds the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research to the list of those entities characterized as "educational institutions" and "governmental instrumentalities for the dissemination of education."
Created by the 2002 Session, the Institute is located in Danville and was founded by Averett University, Danville Community College, and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. The Institute is to diversify the region's economy by providing a site for the development of technology and a trained workforce and expanding access to higher education in Southside Virginia.
Current law designates as "educational institutions" the Commonwealth's four-year public colleges and universities, the Virginia Community College System, the Woodrow Wilson Rehabilitation Center, the Virginia Schools for the Deaf and the Blind, the Eastern Virginia Medical School, and the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center. This classification as an educational institution will enable the Institute to issue bonds with the approval of its governing board and the Governor (§§ 23-15 and 23-19), acquire property (§ 23-16), be eligible for its bonds to be purchased by the Virginia College Building Authority (§§ 23-30.24, 23-30.25, 23-30.27, and 23-30.28), establish a campus police department (§ 23-232), and authorize such campus police to purchase their service handguns (§ 23-232).
This designation will not empower the Institute to establish unfunded scholarships (§ 23-31), nor will it place the Institute under the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV), the coordinating council for two- and four-year public colleges and universities. In addition, the designation does not require the Institute to submit an annual report to SCHEV regarding financial statements (§ 23-1.01).
The term "educational institution" appears in a variety of contexts throughout the Code. The term, for purposes of § 23-14, does not necessarily include all entities described as "institutions of higher education" or "institutions of higher learning" elsewhere in the Code.
"Educational institution" is used broadly in Code provisions addressing matters such as employment, prohibited contracts, and certain field permits. "Educational institutions" may also sell real estate (§ 13.1-901); establish educational television stations (§ 15.2-966); have students excluded from certain toll payments (§ 22.1-187); and have governing board members reimbursed for travel expenses (§ 23-3). Public "educational institutions" receiving state funds may not discriminate against persons with disabilities (§ 51.5-43). Not referenced in § 23-14, nor subject to SCHEV as a coordinating council, are these designated "educational institutions": the Miller School of Albemarle, the Board of Regents of Gunston Hall, the Frontier Culture Museum, the Science Museum of Virginia, the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, and The Library of Virginia. The term has also been used in reference to private correspondence schools (§ 22.1-319). Designation as an "institution of higher education" has been applied to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, (which is not designated as an "educational institution") as well as the Science Museum of Virginia, and specifically makes these entities eligible to receive property and funds from localities (§ 23-3.1) and to maintain their state appropriations, despite any increases in endowment funds (§ 23-9.2).
Patron: Reese
School division consolidation. Directs the Board of Education, consistent with its authority pursuant to Article VIII, § 5 of the Constitution of Virginia to designate school divisions to promulgate regulations that provide for a process whereby school divisions may submit proposals for the consolidation of school divisions. Such regulations shall provide for, among other things, a public notice and hearing process to be conducted by the applicant school divisions.
School division proposals must include, among other things, (i) evidence of the cost savings to be realized by such consolidation; (ii) a plan for the transfer of title to school board property to the resulting school board; (iii) procedures and a schedule for the proposed consolidation, including completion of current division superintendent and school board member terms; (iv) a plan for proportional school board representation of the localities comprising the new school division, including details regarding the appointment or election processes currently ensuring such representation and other information as may be necessary to evidence compliance with federal and state laws governing voting rights; and (v) evidence of local support for the proposed consolidation.
For five years following completion of such consolidation, the computation of the state and local share for an educational program meeting the standards of quality for school divisions resulting from consolidations shall be the lower composite index of local ability-to-pay of the applicant school divisions, as provided in the appropriation act.
Patron: Reese
Conservators and guardians. Modifies definitions of "conservator" and "guardian" to include local and regional tax-exempt organizations established to provide conservatorial or guardian services to incapacitated persons. Currently, in addition to persons appointed by the court, local or regional programs designated by the Department for the Aging may serve as "public" conservators and guardians.
Patron: Hugo
Higher education; transfer of course credit. Directs the State Council of Higher Education (SCHEV), in cooperation with the governing boards of the public two- and four-year institutions of higher education, to develop a State Transfer Module that designates those general education courses offered within various associate degree programs at the public two-year institutions that are transferable for credit or admission with standing as a junior (third year) to the public four-year institutions.
The measure also directs SCHEV to (i) facilitate the development of dual admissions and articulation agreements between the public and private two- and four-year institutions; and (ii) develop and make available to the public information identifying all general education courses offered at public two-year institutions and designating those that are accepted for purposes of transfer for course credit. Any articulation agreements will be subject to admissions requirements of the four-year institutions.
Patron: Rust
Virginia Educational Ventures Consortium. Creates the Virginia Educational Ventures Consortium to facilitate the development of innovative and cost-effective distance learning instructional initiatives that address underserved constituencies. Comprised of participating public and private institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth, the Consortium is to (i) establish and administer agreements with public and private institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth and other entities to conduct studies examining the need for distance learning initiatives and to develop and execute, on a continuing basis, strategies to address such distance learning needs of underserved constituencies in the Commonwealth and (ii) enter into contracts for distance learning program development.
The gubernatorial-appointed 13-member Board of Trustees is comprised of eight members to be nominated by the participating institutions, five of whom shall represent participating members of the Consortium and three citizen members, all of whom shall have expertise in information technology systems or instructional systems design and delivery; the Director of the State Council of Higher Education, the Chancellor of the Virginia Community College System, the Secretary of Technology, and the Secretary of Education, as ex officio members with full voting privileges; and one non-voting representative of the Office of the Attorney General.
This measures expires on July 1, 2009.
Patron: Dillard
Standards of Quality. Reorganizes the Standards of Quality and makes substantive amendments that would (i) increase from one half-time to one full-time principal in elementary schools with fewer than 300 students; (ii) provide one full-time assistant principal for each 400 students in each school, regardless of grade level; (iii) require five elementary resource positions per 1,000 students in kindergarten through grade five for art, music, and physical education; (iv) lower the pupil-teacher ratio from 25:1 to 21:1 in middle and high schools, to ensure the provision of scheduled teacher planning time; (v) reduce the required speech pathologist caseload from 68 to 60 students; (vi) require one full-time reading specialist for each 1,000 students in average daily membership; (vii) require two technology support positions per 1,000 students in kindergarten through grade 12 divisionwide; and (viii) modify the current funding mechanism for remediation.
A second enactment clause provides that the amendments requiring additional state funding (such as increasing principals or lowering pupil-teacher ratios) will not become effective unless funded in the 2004 appropriation act.
The measure also includes a number of technical and editorial changes.
The Board of Education proposed and approved these changes on June 25, 2003. Because the Virginia Constitution grants the General Assembly "ultimate authority" over educational policy and provides that the Standards are to be "prescribed from time to time by the Board of Education" but are subject to revision "only by the General Assembly," legislation is necessary to enact the Board's proposals.
Patron: Dillard
Family life education. Adds steps to take to avoid sexual assault and the availability of counseling and legal resources, and, in the event of such sexual assault, the importance of immediate medical attention and advice, as well as legal requirements to those items that the Board of Education is to include in its curriculum guidelines for family life education. Pursuant to the Standards of Accreditation (8 VAC 20-131-170), local school boards are authorized to implement the Standards of Learning for the Family Life Education program promulgated by the Board of Education or a Family Life Education program consistent with the Board's guidelines, which shall have the goals of "reducing the incidence of pregnancy and sexually-transmitted diseases and substance abuse among teenagers."
Patron: Dillard
Alternatives to student dissection of animals. Requires school divisions to provide students with alternatives to animal dissection in relevant public school courses or curriculum and directs the Board of Education to develop guidelines for such alternatives addressing (i) the use of detailed models of animal anatomy and computer simulations as alternatives to dissection; (ii) notification of students and parents of the option to decline to participate in animal dissection; and (iii) such other issues as the Board deems appropriate.
Statutes addressing alternatives to animal dissection have been enacted in several states, including California, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, New York, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island.
Patron: Cole
University of Mary Washington. Changes the name of Mary Washington College to the University of Mary Washington.
The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) is not charged with responsibility for review and approval of a name change for a public institution of higher education; however, SCHEV is required, pursuant to § 23-9.6:1, to "study any proposed escalation of any public institution to a degree-granting level higher than that level to which it is presently restricted" and to review and approve any proposed modifications in institutional missions.
The Board of Visitors of Mary Washington College (MWC) approved the name change unanimously on November 22, 2003. This past year, the Carnegie Foundation, which certifies on a national basis the classification of all institutions of higher learning, reclassified MWC as a university, rather than a baccalaureate liberal arts college, based upon the number of graduate degrees awarded. This measure is identical to SB 464.
Patron: Saxman
Notice of duty to report child abuse or neglect. Each school board shall post in each of its schools a notice that: (i) any teacher or other person employed in a public or private school who has reason to suspect that a child is an abused or neglected child, including any child who may be abandoned, is required to report such suspected cases of child abuse or neglect to local or state social services agencies; and (ii) all persons required to report cases of suspected child abuse or neglect are immune from civil or criminal liability or administrative penalty or sanction on account of such reports unless such person acted in bad faith or with malicious purpose. The notice shall also include the Virginia Department of Social Services' toll-free child abuse and neglect hotline. The Office of the Attorney General shall prepare and distribute the notice to each school board.
Patron: Hamilton
Teachers; local eligibility license. Prohibits the issuance of local eligibility licenses to teachers providing instruction in special education, and limits the issuance of these licenses to those teachers providing instruction in courses that do not represent core academic areas as defined by P.L. 107-110 (the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB)).
The measure is designed to comply with NCLB provisions addressing "highly qualified" teachers. The 2002 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), NCLB requires, among other things, that schools receiving certain federal Title I funds ensure that "highly qualified" teachers are in place in all core academic subjects by 2005-2006. In addition, beginning with the 2002-2003 school year, all new hires must be "highly qualified." To satisfy the "highly qualified" classification, teachers must be fully licensed; emergency or similar temporary licensure will not suffice. In addition, new and current teachers must hold undergraduate degrees and meet various state testing and subject matter competency requirements.
Patron: Moran
Conservatorship. Eliminates the authority of a conservator for an incapacitated person to seek a divorce without prior court authorization. Guardians of incapacitated persons are prohibited from seeking a change in a person's marital status without prior court approval.
Patron: Moran
Department of Correctional Education. Provides that the Department of Correctional Education may operate schools within the Statewide Community-Based Corrections System, which is comprised of programs such as probation supervision, work release, home/electronic incarceration, and halfway houses for certain state-responsible offenders.
Patron: Weatherholtz
School board policies prohibiting firearms. Authorizes school divisions to establish disciplinary policies prohibiting the possession of firearms on school property, school buses, and at school-sponsored activities by students, and authorizes school divisions to take disciplinary actions against students who violate such policies. The measure indicates that the act is declaratory of existing law.
The measure would allow school boards to establish policies to discipline students who carry weapons on school property, including an unloaded firearm in a closed container.
An October 2003 opinion of the Attorney General indicated that a school board "has authority to discipline, in the context of the complete analysis of this opinion, a student whose action is in conformance with the language of Chapter 619 of the 2003 Acts of Assembly (the "2003 amendment"), which amends and reenacts § 18.2-308.1(B), pertaining to the possession of an unloaded firearm in a locked vehicle trunk." While noting that the "interaction between §§ 18.2-308.1(B) and 22.1-277.07(A) is not a model of clarity," the Attorney General stated that "[a]s long as the regulations of the school authorities are not inconsistent with the 2003 amendment, school authorities are authorized to promulgate reasonable regulations that may result in the discipline of a student whose action is in conformance with the language of the 2003 amendment pertaining to the possession of an unloaded firearm."
The 2003 amendment to subsection B of § 18.2-308.1 permits a student to possess a firearm that is unloaded and in a closed container, which "includes a locked vehicle trunk," on school property or at a school-sponsored activity.
Patron: McDonnell
Screening tests for infants. Directs that the physician or certified nurse midwife charged with an infant's care after delivery perform the screening test for inborn errors of metabolism rather than the physician, nurse or midwife in charge of the delivery of the baby.
Patron: Dillard
Rehiring of retired teachers; designation of critical need areas. Directs local school boards to annually survey their respective divisions to identify critical shortages of teachers and administrative personnel by subject matter, and report such critical shortages to the Superintendent of Public Instruction and to the Virginia Retirement System (VRS). The school board may delegate this duty to the division superintendent. Retired persons rehired as teachers and administrators for such identified shortage positions may elect to continue to receive VRS benefits.
Under current law, only the Superintendent of Public Instruction is empowered to identify the critical shortage areas; this authority expires on July 1, 2005. Similarly, additional enactment clauses create a corresponding July 1, 2005, sunset for this measure, and an emergency clause makes it effective upon final passage.
EMERGENCY
Patron: Bryant
Vaccines in certified nursing facilities and nursing homes. Requires, unless the vaccination is medically contraindicated or the resident declines the offer of the vaccination, that each nursing home and certified nursing facility provide or arrange for the administration to its residents of (i) an annual vaccination against influenza and (ii) a pneumococcal vaccination, in accordance with the most recent recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Patron: Jones, D.C.
Emergency plans for the safe handling of community public water supplies during any extended power outage. Authorizes the Board of Health to promulgate requirements and criteria for the development and maintenance of an emergency management plan for each community public water supply for the provision of pure water during any extended power outage.
Patron: Cline
Promotion of pharmaceutical assistance programs and pharmaceutical discount purchasing cards. Requires the Commissioner of Health and the Commissioner of the Department for the Aging to encourage pharmaceutical manufacturers to include application forms for pharmaceutical discount purchasing card programs on their respective websites in a format capable of being downloaded and printed by consumers. The bill requires the Commissioners to report to the Governor and the General Assembly on the feasibility of developing a single application form for Virginians to use to seek eligibility for the nearly 50 pharmaceutical assistance programs and pharmaceutical discount purchasing cards. In determining the feasibility, the Commissioners must obtain copies of the application forms used by such pharmaceutical assistance programs and pharmaceutical discount purchasing cards in Virginia, compile a list of the various information required to complete such application forms, identify common elements, and analyze the forms for readability and simplicity. The bill also requires the Commissioners, in coordination with the Virginia Area Agencies on Aging and other organizations to develop a strategy for training senior citizen volunteers to assist in completing applications for pharmaceutical assistance programs and pharmaceutical discount purchasing cards. In order to perform the duties provided in the new subsection, the Commissioners may appoint an advisory task force of stakeholders to assist them.
Patron: Hull
Standards of Quality; School Performance Report Card. Directs the Board of Education, in its requirements related to the School Performance Report Card, to require the reporting of the Standards of Learning assessment scores and averages for each year. The Board shall make such reports available to the public within three months of the receipt of the scores, which shall be disaggregated for each school by gender, and by race or ethnicity. These reports shall (i) be posted on the portion of the Department of Education's website relating to the School Performance Report Card, in a format and in a manner that allows year-to-year comparisons, and (ii) may include the National Assessment of Educational Progress state-by-state assessment.
Currently, the School Performance Report Card is required by the Board's Standards of Accreditation for Public Schools (8VAC20-131-270). The report card is to include information for the most recent three-year period that sets forth, among other things, (i) SOL test scores and scores on the literacy and numeracy tests required for the Modified Standard Diploma for the school, school division, and state; (ii) percentagesof students tested, as well as the percentage of students not tested, to include a breakout of students with disabilities and limited English proficient students; (iii) student attendance and dropout rates; (iv) school safety data; (v) teacher qualifications; and (vi) percentages of students in alternative programs that do not lead to a Standard, Advanced Studies, or Modified Standard Diploma and in academic year Governor's Schools
Patron: Van Landingham
School closings; make-up days. Clarifies the circumstances in which state basic aid funding will be reduced because of school closings due to severe weather conditions or other emergency situations. The bill defines "severe weather conditions or other emergency situations" as "those circumstances presenting a threat to the health or safety of students that result from severe weather conditions or other emergencies, including, but not limited to, natural and man-made disasters, energy shortages or power failures." The bill states that the length of every school's term in every school division must be 180 teaching days or 990 teaching hours and, if the length of the term is reduced, the amount paid by the Commonwealth will be proportionally reduced. However, a schedule of make-up days that will avoid reduction in funding is set out, i.e., for five or fewer missed days, make-up days according to Board regulations cannot exceed the days missed; for five missed days, but no more than 15 missed days, five make-up days plus one day for every two days in excess of the initial five, but no more than nine make-up days; for more than 15 days, at least 10 make-up days. School divisions to make up the missed teaching days by providing the students with instructional hours equivalent to the missed days. The Board's regulations may authorize the Superintendent of Public Instruction to approve reductions in school terms without reductions in funding. The Board is authorized, in a second enactment clause, to promulgate emergency regulations. Technical amendments are included to improve readability. This measure is identical to SB 452.
Patron: Councill
Standard diploma; verified units of credit. Amends an uncodified act to direct local school boards to adopt procedures, pursuant to Board of Education guidelines, to award verified units of credit for standard diplomas to students who have (i) entered the ninth grade for the first time during the school years of 2000-2001, 2001-2002, and 2002-2003; and (ii) passed the relevant coursework.
The 2002 Session of the General Assembly directed the Board to develop guidelines for the award of verified units of credit for standard diplomas to these students.
An emergency clause makes the measure effective upon passage.
EMERGENCY
Patron: Morgan
Virginia Institute of Marine Science; library named. Designates the library at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) the William Jennings Hargis, Jr. Library. Dr. Hargis received the Virginia Life Achievement in Science award in 2003, and is the former VIMS director.
Pursuant to § 23-49.1:1, VIMS is subject to the supervision, management and control of the board of visitors of the College of William and Mary.
Patron: Marrs
Compulsory school attendance enforcement; parental responsibility; use of contempt power, summons; penalty. Strengthens the mechanisms for enforcement of the compulsory school attendance law. The bill removes the restriction on the court's use of contempt power in enforcing compulsory school attendance and parental responsibility provisions. The court's authority to order the child or the parent, or both, into programs, such as extended day programs and summer school or other educational programs and treatment, such as counseling, is clarified and reinforced. The court is given the authority to summon and force a parent to appear in court with the child. The parental responsibility and involvement statute is amended to include compliance with compulsory school attendance. The parent may be charged with a Class 3 misdemeanor for violating the provisions of the parental responsibility law.
Patron: Tata
Hazing; Board of Education's guidelines and model policies for and school boards' regulations on codes of student conduct. Requires the Board of Education to include hazing in its guidelines and model policies for codes of student conduct and school boards to prohibit hazing in their codes of student conduct. In addition, school boards must cite, in their standards for student conduct, the provisions of the criminal law prohibiting hazing, which renders convictions of violations a Class 1 misdemeanor, i.e., confinement in jail for not more than 12 months and a fine of not more than $2,500, either or both. In the past year, several high-profile and disturbing cases of hazing among high school athletic teams or cheerleaders have occurred in other states with devastating results to high school teachers, coaches, and administrators and the students and communities.
Patron: Parrish
Salaries of certain school boards. Increases the salary of the Manassas Park School Board from $1,800 to $3,000. The Manassas Park School Board's salary has not been increased for 13 years. This measure is identical of SB 644.
Patron: Griffith
School calendar. Adds to the "good cause" circumstances for which school divisions may be granted a waiver from the regular post-Labor Day school opening schedule a school division surrounded by a school division or divisions that have already received a waiver for other current "good cause" (severe weather, certain shared or innovative programs) and has at least 10 percent of its average daily membership comprised of nonresident students and shares program and curricula with other said school divisions.
Patron: Baskerville
Admission of certain persons to the public schools. Provides that students living with a parent (or guardian or other person have control or charge of the student), not solely for school purposes, pursuant to a Special Power of Attorney executed under §1044b of Title 10 of the United States Cod by the custodial parent while such parent is deployed outside of the school division as a member of the Virginia National Guard or as a member of the United States Armed Forces are entitled to free public education in the public schools of the division in which the student resides.
The bill is designed to addresses the problem created when a custodial parent receives orders to report for military service and the child out of necessity must live with the noncustodial parent or other legal guardian in a different school division, and is denied the right to continue his attendance in the public schools where he normally resides and is not eligible for or is denied admission to the public schools as a nonresident of the school division where the noncustodial parent resides. This bill also contains a technical amendment to correct the cross reference in § 22.1-270 to subdivision 6 in § 22.1-3.
Patron: O'Bannon
Communicable diseases of public health threat; quarantine and isolation. Sets out a procedure for the State Health Commissioner to issue orders of quarantine when a person or persons or an affected area in Virginia have been known to be exposed to or infected with or may reasonably be suspected to be exposed to or infected with a communicable disease of public health threat. The bill also sets out a procedure for the State Health Commissioner to prepare orders of isolation when he determines that a person or persons or an affected area have been infected or reasonable may be suspected to be infected with a communicable disease of public health threat and that exceptional circumstances exist rendering the isolation procedures that apply to communicable diseases of public health significance insufficient control measures to contain the communicable disease of public health threat. Amendments are provided to exempt the State Health Commissioner's records of findings for an order of quarantine or order of isolation from the Freedom of Information Act, to authorize disclosure of patient's health records to the State Health Commissioner or his designee, to coordinate any quarantine or isolation of an affected area with a declaration of a state of emergency by the Governor and to make certain cross-related sections consistent. The Board of Health is required to promulgate emergency regulations to implement this provision. Technical amendments to list definitions in alphabetical order and correct archaic syntax are also included.