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2006 SESSION

060260466
HOUSE BILL NO. 274
Offered January 11, 2006
Prefiled January 4, 2006
A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 22.1-60, 22.1-293, 22.1-294, 22.1-298, and 23-9.2:3.4 of the Code of Virginia and to repeal § 22.1-59 of the Code of Virginia, relating to licensure of school administrators.
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Patrons-- Poisson and Ware, R.L.
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Referred to Committee on Education
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Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1.  That §§ 22.1-60, 22.1-293, 22.1-294, 22.1-298, and 23-9.2:3.4 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 22.1-60. Appointment and term of superintendent; certain contractual matters.

A. The division superintendent of schools shall be appointed by the school board of the division from the entire list of eligibles certified by the State Board. All contract terms for superintendents shall expire on June 30. The division superintendent shall serve for an initial term of not less than two years nor more than four years. At the expiration of the initial term, the division superintendent shall be eligible to hold office for the term specified by the employing school board, not to exceed four years.

The division superintendent shall be appointed by the school board within 180 days after a vacancy occurs. In the event a school board appoints a division superintendent in accordance with the provisions of this section and the appointee seeks and is granted release from such appointment prior to assuming office, the school board shall be granted a 60-day period from the time of release within which to make another appointment.

A school board that has not appointed a superintendent within 120 days of a vacancy shall submit a written report to the Superintendent of Public Instruction demonstrating its timely efforts to make an appointment.

B. No school board shall renegotiate a superintendent's contract during the period following the election or appointment of new members and the date such members are qualified and assume office.

C. Whenever a superintendent's contract is being renegotiated, all members of the school board shall be notified at least 30 days in advance of any meeting at which a vote is planned on the renegotiated contract unless the members agree unanimously to take the vote without the 30 days notice. Each member's vote on the renegotiated contract shall be recorded in the minutes of the meeting.

D. The Board of Education shall make no regulations prescribing mandatory qualifications for the position of division superintendent of schools.

§ 22.1-293. School boards authorized to employ principals and assistant principals; powers and duties.

A. A school board, upon recommendation of the division superintendent, may employ principals and assistant principals. Persons employed in these positions shall hold licenses as prescribed by the Board of Education. The Board of Education shall not require licensure of principals, assistant principals, and supervisors. "Supervisor" means a person who holds a supervising position as specified in the regulations of the Board of Education.

B. A principal shall provide instructional leadership in, shall be responsible for the administration of and shall supervise the operation and management of the school or schools and property to which he has been assigned, in accordance with the rules and regulations of the school board and under the supervision of the division superintendent.

C. A principal may submit recommendations to the division superintendent for the appointment, assignment, promotion, transfer and dismissal of all personnel assigned to his supervision. Beginning September 1, 2000, (i) principals must have received training, provided pursuant to § 22.1-253.13:5, in the evaluation and documentation of employee performance, which evaluation and documentation shall include, but shall not be limited to, employee skills and knowledge and student academic progress, prior to submitting such recommendations; and (ii) assistant principals and other administrative personnel participating in the evaluation and documentation of employee performance must also have received such training in the evaluation and documentation of employee performance.

D. A principal shall perform such other duties as may be assigned by the division superintendent pursuant to the rules and regulations of the school board.

§ 22.1-294. Probationary terms of service for principals, assistant principals and supervisors; evaluation; reassigning principal, assistant principal or supervisor to teaching position.

A. A person employed as a principal, assistant principal or supervisor, including a person who has previously achieved continuing contract status as a teacher, shall serve three years in such position in the same school division before acquiring continuing contract status as principal, assistant principal or supervisor.

B. Each local school board shall adopt for use by the division superintendent clearly defined criteria for a performance evaluation process for principals, assistant principals, and supervisors that are consistent with the performance objectives set forth in the Guidelines for Uniform Performance Standards and Evaluation Criteria for Teachers, Administrators, and Superintendents as provided in § 22.1-253.13:5 and that includes, among other things, an assessment of such administrators' skills and knowledge; student academic progress and school gains in student learning; and effectiveness in addressing school safety and enforcing student discipline. The division superintendent shall implement such performance evaluation process in making employment recommendations to the school board pursuant to § 22.1-293.

C. Continuing contract status acquired by a principal, assistant principal or supervisor shall not be construed (i) as prohibiting a school board from reassigning such principal, assistant principal or supervisor to a teaching position if notice of reassignment is given by the school board by April 15 of any year or (ii) as entitling any such principal, assistant principal or supervisor to the salary paid him as principal, assistant principal or supervisor in the case of any such reassignment to a teaching position.

D. No such salary reduction and reassignment, however, shall be made without first providing such principal, assistant principal or supervisor with written notice of the reason for such reduction and reassignment and an opportunity to present his or her position at an informal meeting with the division superintendent, the division superintendent's designee or the school board. The principal, assistant principal or supervisor shall elect whether such meeting shall be with the division superintendent, the division superintendent's designee or the school board. The school board, division superintendent or the division superintendent's designee shall determine what processes are to be followed at the meeting. The decision to reassign and reduce salary shall be at the sole discretion of the school board.

The intent of this section is to provide an opportunity for a principal, assistant principal or supervisor to discuss the reasons for such salary reduction and reassignment with the division superintendent, his designee or the school board, and the provisions of this section are meant to be procedural only. Nothing contained herein shall be taken to require cause, as defined in § 22.1-307, for the salary reduction and reassignment of a principal, assistant principal or supervisor.

E. As used in this section, "supervisor" means a person who holds a supervisory position as specified in the regulations of the Board of Education and who is required to hold a license as prescribed by the Board of Education.

§ 22.1-298. Regulations governing teacher licensure.

A. The Board of Education shall, by regulation, prescribe the requirements for licensure of teachers. Regardless of the authority of any other agency of the Commonwealth to approve educational programs, only the Board of Education shall have the authority to license teachers to be regularly employed by school boards, including those teachers employed to provide nursing education.

B. Such regulations shall include requirements that:

1. Every teacher seeking initial licensure take a professional teacher's examination prescribed by the Board;

2. Persons seeking licensure on and after July 1, 2000, complete study in attention deficit disorder and gifted education, including the use of multiple criteria to identify gifted students;

3. Persons seeking initial licensure on and after July 1, 2002, complete study in, among other things, (i) methods of improving communication between schools and families; (ii) ways of increasing family involvement in student learning at home and in school; and (iii) the Standards of Learning;

4. Persons seeking licensure with endorsements as teachers of the blind and visually impaired on and after July 1, 2000, demonstrate proficiency in reading and writing Braille;

5. Persons seeking initial licensure on and after July 1, 2003, complete study in instructional methods tailored to promote student academic progress and effective preparation for the Standards of Learning end-of-course and end-of-grade assessments;

6. Persons seeking licensure renewal on and after July 1, 2004, receive training in instructional methods tailored to promote student academic progress and effective preparation for the Standards of Learning end-of-course and end-of-grade assessments;

7. On and after July 1, 2003, persons seeking initial licensure or license renewal as teachers demonstrate proficiency in the use of educational technology for instruction; and

8. On and after July 1, 2004, persons seeking initial licensure as teachers and persons seeking licensure renewal as teachers for the first time after such date complete study in child abuse recognition and intervention in accordance with curriculum guidelines developed by the Board of Education in consultation with the Department of Social Services that are relevant to the specific teacher licensure routes.

C. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the Board may provide for the issuance of a provisional license, valid for a period not to exceed three years, to any person who does not meet the requirements of this section or any other requirement for licensure imposed by law.

D. The Board's licensure regulations shall also establish criteria and a procedure to allow persons seeking initial licensure as teachers through an alternative route as defined in Board regulations to substitute experiential learning in lieu of coursework.

E. The Board's licensure regulations shall also require that licensure for superintendents and principals, on and after July 1, 2000, be contingent upon acquiring the skills established in the Board's leadership standards.

In addition, the Board's licensure regulations shall also require that, on and after July 1, 2005, initial licensure for principals and other school leaders, as may be determined by the Board, be contingent upon passage of the School Leader's Licensure Assessment.

F. Persons seeking initial licensure who graduate from Virginia institutions of higher education shall, on and after July 1, 2002, only be licensed as instructional personnel by the Board of Education if the endorsement areas offered at such institutions have been assessed by a national accrediting agency or by a state approval process, with final accreditation by the Board of Education.

GF. The Board shall prescribe a professional teacher's examination for administration by Virginia's public institutions of higher education as provided in § 23-9.2:3.4 to persons seeking entry into teacher education programs in such public institutions and shall establish a minimum passing score for such examination. The examination shall be sufficiently rigorous and the minimum score set as necessary to ensure that candidates have adequate academic and professional preparation to teach.

Candidates who fail to achieve the minimum score established by the Board shall not be denied entrance into the relevant teacher education programs solely on the basis of such failure and shall have the opportunity to address any deficiencies if enrolled in such program.

The Board of Education, in consultation with the State Council of Higher Education, shall develop guidelines for performance reports to be submitted by the public institutions of higher education pursuant to § 23-9.2:3.4. Such reports shall include annual data on the pass rates, by institution, of graduates of Virginia's institutions of higher education taking the state licensure examination and shall not include any information identifying individual graduates.

HG. The Board's licensure regulations shall also provide for licensure by reciprocity:

1. With comparable endorsement areas for those individuals holding a valid out-of-state teaching license and national certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards or a nationally recognized certification program approved by the Board of Education. The application for such individuals shall require evidence of such valid licensure and national certification and shall not require official student transcripts; and

2. For individuals who have obtained a valid out-of-state license that is in force at the time the application for a Virginia license is made. The individual must establish a file in the Department of Education by submitting a complete application packet, which shall include official student transcripts. A professional teacher's assessment for the purpose set forth in subsection G F of this section and service requirements shall not be imposed for these licensed individuals.

IH. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section and the Board's authority to license teachers, local school boards shall be authorized to issue valid three-year local eligibility licenses pursuant to § 22.1-299.3.

JI. Upon the expiration of a three-year local eligibility license, the holder of such license shall be eligible, as appropriate for the degree issued to such person, for a collegiate professional license or a postgraduate professional license to be issued by the Department of Education upon satisfaction of the following conditions: (i) recommendation by the division superintendent and the school board for such licensure; (ii) the completion of three successful years of teaching experience while holding a valid three-year local eligibility license as certified by the division superintendent and school board; (iii) achieving a satisfactory score on the professional teacher's examinations required by the Board; and (iv) such standards as may be prescribed by the Board of Education.

KJ. As used in this section and the Board of Education's regulations for the licensure of school personnel:

"Accredited institution" means an institution of higher education accredited by a national or regional accrediting agency recognized by the United States Department of Education, or by a state approval process.

§ 23-9.2:3.4. Teacher education programs; reporting requirements.

A. The boards of visitors of those public institutions of higher education providing teacher education programs shall administer the entrance examination prescribed by the Board of Education pursuant to § 22.1-298 to all persons seeking entry into such teacher education programs.

Notwithstanding any other provision of this title to the contrary, such boards of visitors shall not deny candidates who fail to achieve the minimum score established by the Board entrance into the relevant teacher education programs solely on the basis of such failure, and shall require achievement of such minimum passing score as a condition of completing any approved teacher education program. Students failing to achieve the minimum passing score shall have the opportunity to address any deficiencies while enrolled in such teacher education program.

B. All Virginia public institutions of higher education that offer teacher education programs, master's degree programs in education or master's degree programs in administration shall submit annual performance reports as set forth in Board of Education guidelines and as required by subsection G F of § 22.1-298. Such reports shall include annual data on the pass rates of graduates of such Virginia institutions of higher education taking the state licensure examination and shall not include any information identifying individual graduates.

2.  That § 22.1-59 of the Code of Virginia is repealed.