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2015 SESSION

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Senate Committee on Education and Health
Subcommittee Public Education

Carrico (Chairman), Howell, Locke, Smith, Cosgrove

Clerk: Patty Lung
Staff: Thomas Stevens, Ryan Brimmer
Date of Meeting: January 28, 2015
Time and Place: 8:00 a.m.- 4th Floor East Conference Room

S.B. 900

Patron: Barker

Public schools; Standards of Learning assessments. Requires the Board of Education to promulgate regulations authorizing local school divisions to determine the date for administering Standards of Learning assessments.

S.B. 980

Patron: Favola

Public schools; teacher grievance procedures. Gives a teacher who has been recommended for dismissal by the superintendent the option of requesting a hearing before a three person fact-finding panel consisting of one person chosen by the teacher, one person chosen by the superintendent, and one impartial third member, thus restoring this option for a fact-finding panel that was eliminated by act of assembly in 2013. The fact-finding panel conducts a hearing and presents findings of fact and recommendations to the full school board for a decision regarding the teacher's dismissal. The bill also requires the full school board to conduct a further hearing when its decision is at variance with the recommendation of the fact-finding panel.

S.B. 1021

Patron: Puller

Standards of Accreditation; instructional time. Authorizes local school boards to count up to 15 minutes per day of recess in their calculation of the required instructional hours for the standard school day at the elementary school level.

S.B. 1116

Patron: Barker

Standards of Learning; alternative assessment. Directs the Board of Education to adopt procedures under which an English language proficiency assessment may be used as an alternative to the eleventh grade Standards of Learning reading assessment for students with limited English proficiency.

S.B. 1145

Patron: Alexander

Local school board members; professional development. Requires each newly elected or appointed member of a local school board in a school division that contains one or more schools denied accreditation or accredited with warning for three consecutive years to participate, within one year of his election or appointment, in at least 15 hours of high-quality professional development training at the state, local, or national level on governance, including ethics, personnel policies and practices, and several other topics. The bill requires school board members who have completed one or more years of continuous service in such school divisions to participate annually in 12 hours of such training. The bill requires school board members in all other school divisions to participate annually in nine hours of high-quality professional development training and adds school financing and budgeting to the list of topics to be covered. Current law requires participation in high-quality professional development programs but with no specified time requirement.