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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.
2014 SESSION
Chairman: L. Louise Lucas
Clerk: Patty Lung, Wesley Bland
Staff: Thomas Stevens, Ryan Brimmer
Date of Meeting: January 30, 2014
Time and Place: 8:30 a.m. - Senate Room B
Patron: Edwards
The University of Virginia; board of visitors. Changes the composition of the Board of Visitors of the University of Virginia from 17 visitors appointed by the Governor to 13 visitors appointed by the Governor and four visitors directly elected by the alumni of the University of Virginia.
Patron: Edwards
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; preservation of Stadium Woods property. Prohibits the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Board of Visitors from transferring, building on, or otherwise disposing of the property known as Stadium Woods that includes 11.3 acres of old growth white oak forest owned and possessed by the University and that is adjacent to the east side of Lane Stadium.
Patron: Newman
Acute psychiatric bed registry. Directs the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to establish an acute psychiatric bed registry that will provide real-time information on the availability of beds in public and private psychiatric facilities and residential crisis stabilization units for individuals who meet the criteria for temporary detention.
Patron: Miller
Public schools; physical activity requirement. Requires at least 30 minutes of physical activity per day during the regular school year for students in grades kindergarten through eight. This requirement becomes effective beginning with the 2016-2017 school year.
Patron: Black
Emergency custody; time limit. Extends the time that a person may be held pursuant to an emergency custody order to 24 hours. Currently, a person may be held pursuant to an emergency custody order for up to four hours, with an additional two-hour extension available upon a finding by a magistrate that good cause exists for an extension.
Patron: Howell
Temporary detention order; facility of detention. Provides that in cases in which a facility for temporary detention has not been identified prior to the running of the time for emergency custody, the magistrate shall issue the temporary detention order if the person meets the criteria for temporary detention and the community services board certifies that it will continue to make good faith efforts to identify the facility of temporary detention until such time as a facility is identified or the temporary detention order expires for lack of execution.
Patron: Carrico
Public schools; withholding child from custodial parent. Makes it a Class 3 misdemeanor for any principal, assistant principal, or supervisor employed by a local school board who fails to or refuses to release a child into the custody of the child's custodial parent or other legal custodian, unless such failure or refusal is necessitated by a critical event or emergency governed by the school crisis, emergency management, and medical emergency response plan.
Patron: Deeds
Emergency custody; time limit. Extends the time that a person may be held pursuant to an emergency custody order to 24 hours. Currently, a person may be held for up to four hours, with an additional two-hour extension available upon a finding by a magistrate that good cause exists for an extension.
Patron: Deeds
Acute psychiatric bed registry. Directs the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to establish an acute psychiatric bed registry that will provide real-time information on the availability of beds in public and private psychiatric facilities and residential crisis stabilization units for individuals who meet the criteria for temporary detention.
Patron: Favola
Charter schools; enrollment. Authorizes the local school board to require that current students of an existing public school that is to be converted into a public charter school and their siblings be given enrollment priority over the open enrollment lottery. This bill contains an emergency clause.
EMERGENCY
Patron: Carrico
Visually impaired students; Braille. Requires each visually impaired student to be evaluated by a certified Teacher of the Visually Impaired and requires the student to receive instruction in Braille or the use of Braille unless the team responsible for developing the student's IEP (IEP team) or the team responsible for developing the student's plan pursuant to § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (504 team) determines that instruction in Braille or the use of Braille is not appropriate to the student's educational needs. Current law requires a determination of the appropriateness of Braille but does not require the evaluation. The bill allows IEP teams and 504 teams to provide other specialized educational services and assistive technology devices in addition to Braille. The bill disallows the presence of some residual vision from precluding instruction in Braille and the use of Braille. The bill permits IEP teams and 504 teams to provide blind students with instruction in Nemeth Braille and the use of Nemeth Braille in addition to Braille.
Patron: Miller
Public schools; individual school performance grading system. Delays from October 1, 2014, to October 1, 2017, the date by which the Board of Education is required to implement the A to F individual school performance grading system. The bill requires the Board to provide a clear series of A to F grades for schools and to take into account certain factors in assigning grades including all state mandated assessments; any assessment developed or approved for use by the relevant local school board; student mobility; the experience and qualifications of staff; total cost and funding per pupil; extracurricular activities and the number of participants in such activities; and parental engagement and satisfaction levels. The bill also requires the Board to make the system and grades available to the public in a format which allows for a comparison of similarly situated schools in terms of percentage of students who qualify for free or reduced lunch, percentage of English language learners, local funding beyond what is required by the composite index, student mobility, and any other category the Board deems appropriate.
Patron: Barker
Surgical technologists and surgical assistants. Requires certification for surgical technologists and licensure for surgical assistants and provides requirements for such certification and licensure. The bill creates the Advisory Board on Surgical Technology and Surgical Assisting to assist the Board of Medicine in the regulation of surgical technologists and surgical assistants.
Patron: Favola
Emergency custody and temporary detention. Extends the time that a person may be held pursuant to an emergency custody order to 12 hours. Currently, a person may be held for up to four hours, with an additional two-hour extension available upon a finding by a magistrate that good cause exists for an extension. The bill also provides that an individual for whom a temporary detention order is issued shall be detained in a state facility unless the state facility or an employee or designee of the community services board is able to identify an alternative facility that is able and willing to provide temporary detention.
Patron: Barker
Mandatory outpatient treatment. Specifies that upon motion and prior to the release date of (1) any person who has been the subject of a temporary detention order and voluntarily admitted himself or (2) any involuntarily admitted person, the judge or special justice shall order mandatory outpatient treatment for such person if he finds by clear and convincing evidence that (i) the person has a history of lack of compliance with treatment for mental illness and as a result of such noncompliance, on at least two previous occasions within 36 months preceding the date of the hearing, has been (a) involuntarily admitted pursuant to § 37.2-817 or (b) the subject of a temporary detention order and voluntarily admitted himself in accordance with subsection B of § 37.2-814; (ii) in view of the person's treatment history and current behavior, the person is in need of mandatory outpatient treatment following inpatient treatment in order to prevent a relapse or deterioration that would be likely to result in the person meeting the criteria for involuntary inpatient treatment; (iii) as a result of mental illness, the person is unlikely to voluntarily participate in outpatient treatment unless the court enters an order authorizing discharge to mandatory outpatient treatment following inpatient treatment; (iv) the person has agreed to abide by his discharge plan and has the ability to do so; (v) the ordered treatment will be delivered on an outpatient basis by the community services board or designated provider to the person; and (vi) the person is likely to benefit from mandatory outpatient treatment. The bill also specifies that a judge or special justice may authorize the treating physician to discharge the person to mandatory outpatient treatment under a discharge plan if the judge or special justice finds the same criteria as above. The bill also authorizes the judge or special justice to consider hearsay and other types of evidence when considering the history of lack of compliance of a patient.
Patron: Garrett
Public schools; appeal process for suspensions and expulsions. Requires that school board regulations outlining procedures for short-term suspensions, long-term suspensions, and expulsions allow an appeal to the full school board.
Patron: Obenshain
Emergency custody orders; duration; extension. Provides for a second two-hour extension of the time during which a person may be held pursuant to an emergency custody order upon a finding by the magistrate that the person continues to meet the criteria for emergency custody and the second two-hour extension is necessary to identify a suitable facility for temporary detention.
Patron: Barker
Facility of temporary detention. Provides that an individual for whom a temporary detention order is issued shall be detained in a state facility unless the state facility or an employee or designee of the community services board is able to identify an alternative facility that is able and willing to provide temporary detention.
Patron: Norment
Private institutions of higher education; certification. Increases, from 10 to 20, the number of years a private institution is required to have maintained a main or branch campus continuously in the Commonwealth under their current ownership and has been continuously approved or authorized to confer or grant academic or professional degrees by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, by the Board of Education, or by an act of the General Assembly in order to be exempt from the requirement to obtain another certification from the Council.
Patron: Hanger
Public schools; individual school performance grading system. Delays from October 1, 2014, to October 1, 2015, the date by which the Board of Education is required to (i) assign a grade from A to F to each public school in the Commonwealth; (ii) make both the system by which grades are assigned and the grade assigned to each school in the Commonwealth available to the public; and (iii) report to the General Assembly a summary of the system and the assigned grades. The bill also requires the Board of Education to evaluate the purposes of the A-to-F grading system for individual school performance and the results of other states that have implemented a similar grading system and to report its findings to the General Assembly no later than October 1, 2014.
Patron: Hanger
Opportunity Educational Institution. Delays the initial transfer of supervision of certain public schools from the local school boards to the Opportunity Educational Institution by one year, from after the 2013-2014 school year to after the 2014-2015 school year.
Patron: Barker
Public schools; kindergarten instructional time. Directs the Board of Education to promulgate regulations, by July 1, 2016, establishing standards for accreditation that include a requirement that the standard school day for students in kindergarten must average at least 5.5 instructional hours in order to qualify for full accreditation. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2016.
Patron: Stuart
Care of students who have been diagnosed with diabetes. Requires the parents of any public school student who has been diagnosed with diabetes to designate in a diabetes care plan a delegated care aide to provide diabetes care for the student, including the administration of insulin and glucagon, when a school nurse or physician is not present in the school or at a school-sponsored activity. The bill also requires the delegated care aide to receive training in diabetes care and every school employee to receive basic training in responses to emergency situations and changes from one to two the minimum number of employees in a school that must be trained with regard to a student with diabetes who attends the school. The bill further allows a student to perform certain tasks in the management of his diabetes. The bill requires schools at which a student diagnosed with diabetes is in attendance, to possess an emergency supply of glucagon in addition to any glucagon provided to the school by the parent of such a student. The bill provides that no school board shall prohibit a student who has been diagnosed with diabetes from attending a school or a school-sponsored activity on the basis of his diabetes. Finally, the bill prohibits a school nurse or delegated care aide from being disciplined for ordinary negligence in acts or omissions made during the care of a student who has been diagnosed with diabetes. The bill contains technical amendments.
Patron: Black
Student discipline; modifying long-term suspensions and expulsions. Permits a school board or a committee thereof to reduce the long-term suspension or expulsion of a student or students who received a greater punishment in cases in which the school board or committee determines that (i) two or more students have engaged in closely related offenses arising out of the same incident or circumstances that lead to each student's expulsion or suspension, (ii) the cases resulted in highly disparate disciplinary decisions in which at least one student received a lesser punishment, and (iii) no rational basis exists for the disparate disciplinary decisions. The bill provides that such decisions of the school board or a committee thereof are not subject to judicial review.
Patron: Cosgrove
Student data; cloud computing. Requires each cloud computing service provider that enters into a contract with a local school board to provide services to only process and monitor student data according to the terms of its contract with the local school board. The bill prohibits cloud computing service providers from using cloud computing services for any secondary purpose that benefits the service provider or a third party, including online behavioral advertising, creating or correcting an individual household profile, the sale of student data for any commercial purpose, or any other similar for-profit activity.
Patron: Edwards
Higher education; tuition waiver for dependent children of faculty. Authorizes public institutions of higher education to grant full or partial tuition waivers to dependent students of faculty members employed by the institution, to be paid out of the institution's nongeneral funds. The bill would also authorize public institutions to enter into reciprocal agreements that would allow the dependents of faculty to use waivers at other public institutions that are party to the agreement.
Patron: Hanger
Board of Education; Standards of Learning assessments. Directs the Board of Education to review the Standards of Learning assessments and to develop a plan to reduce, by the 2015-2016 school year, the number of such assessments by at least 25 percent.
Patron: Black
DMAS; teledentistry pilot program. Directs the Department of Medical Assistance Services to create a two-year pilot program to provide dental services to school-age children who are eligible to receive pediatric dental services through the Smiles for Children program in school divisions in which at least 50 percent of the elementary students have not been examined by a dentist within the preceding 12 months or have no dental home of record. Participating dentists will provide supervision of dental hygienists through the use of teledentistry.
Patron: Obenshain
Involuntary commitment; appeal of order. Provides that upon a finding by the circuit court that the appellant no longer meets the criteria for involuntary commitment (or mandatory outpatient treatment), the court shall reverse the order of the district court but shall not dismiss the Commonwealth's petition.
Patron: Ebbin
Virginia community college mental health services pilot program. Requires the Virginia Community College System to create a pilot program to establish a plan or contract with community groups or both to provide mental health services to uninsured students and such other students as the System may identify at eight community college campuses in the Commonwealth, as determined by the System. The bill requires a central program manager for the pilot program. The bill provides that the provision of mental health services will continue through June 30, 2016, or until funds are no longer available, whichever occurs sooner.