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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: February 16, 2015
Time and Place: 9:00 a.m. Third Floor East Conference Room

H.B. 1309 Local school boards; arming of school security officers.

Patron: Cole

Local school boards; arming of school security officers. Permits local school boards to arm school security officers with batons, stun weapons, or any spray device designed to incapacitate a person and to allow school security officers to use such devices under the appropriate circumstances.

H.B. 1320 Teacher licensure renewal; college credit.

Patron: Farrell

Teacher licensure renewal; college credit. Requires every teacher seeking licensure renewal to receive such professional development as may be prescribed by the Board but prohibits the Board from requiring such teachers to satisfy any such requirement by completing coursework and earning credit at an institution of higher education.

H.B. 1675 Graduation requirements; local alternative paths to standard or verified units of credit.

Patron: Greason

Graduation requirements; local alternative paths to standard or verified units of credit. Requires the Board of Education, in establishing course and credit requirements for a high school diploma, to permit local school divisions to waive (i) the requirement for students to receive 140 clock hours of instruction to earn a standard unit of credit or (ii) the requirement for students to achieve a satisfactory score on a Standards of Learning assessment or Board-approved substitute test to earn a verified unit of credit upon providing the Board with satisfactory proof, based on Board guidelines, that the students for whom such requirements are waived has learned the content and skills included in the relevant Standards of Learning. The provisions of clause (ii) have a delayed effective date of July 1, 2016.

H.B. 1698 Students; questionnaires and surveys requesting sexual information, etc.

Patron: Wilt

Student questionnaires and surveys; parental notification and consent. Requires each school board, in any case in a questionnaire or survey requesting that students provide sexual information, mental health information, medical information, information on student health risk behaviors, other information on controlled substance use, or any other information that the school board deems to be sensitive in nature is to be administered, to give the parent 30 days' written notice of the nature and types of questions, the purposes and age-appropriateness of the questionnaire or survey, how such information will be used, who will have access to such information, the steps that will be taken to protect student privacy, and whether and how any findings or results will be disclosed. The bill gives the parent the right to request that an advance copy of the questionnaire or survey be sent to him, to review the document in person at the school, and to exempt his child from participation. Under current law, (i) such written notice only applies to surveys or questionnaires on sexual information and information on student health risk behaviors, (ii) the detailed contents of the notice only apply to information on student health risk behaviors, and (iii) the parent has the right to review questionnaires and surveys but no right to request that a copy be sent to him.

H.B. 1752 Board of Education; Standards of Learning.

Patron: LaRock

Board of Education; Common Core State Standards. Prohibits the Board of Education from replacing the educational objectives known as the Standards of Learning with Common Core State Standards without the prior statutory approval of the General Assembly but permits the Board to continue or create an educational standard or assessment that is coincidentally included in the standards referred to as the Common Core State Standards.

H.B. 1753 Home instruction of children; requirements, year-end assessments, cutoff date.

Patron: LaRock

Children; receiving home instruction; one year probationary period; exemption. Eliminates the ability of the division superintendent to impose a one year academic probationary period on a child who begins home instruction on or after the first day of February of the school year and whose parent does not provide the required evidence of educational progress.

H.B. 2020 Licensed local school board instructional or administrative employees; service retirement allowance.

Patron: BaCote

Licensed local school board instructional or administrative employees; service retirement allowance. Extends the sunset date from July 1, 2015, to July 1, 2016 for provisions (i) requiring school boards, division superintendents, if so requested, and the Superintendent of Public Instruction to annually identify and report critical shortages of teachers and administrative personnel and (ii) permitting any person receiving a service retirement allowance who is hired as a local school board instructional or administrative employee required to be licensed by the Board of Education to elect to continue to receive the retirement allowance during such employment under certain conditions. The bill requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to prepare and furnish a report at least annually to the Virginia Retirement System that contains the names of (a) each school that has been identified as at-risk pursuant to criteria established by the Department of Education, including failure to achieve full accreditation and the percentage of students eligible for free or reduced lunch and (b) each at-risk school's respective school division. The bill permits a person receiving a service retirement allowance who is hired as a local school board instructional or administrative employee required to be licensed by the Board of Education in a school that has been identified as at-risk to elect to continue to receive the retirement allowance during such employment.

H.B. 2137 Teachers; initial licensure with an endorsement in the areas of career & technical education & math.

Patron: Yancey

Teacher licensure; career and technical education endorsement. Permits the Board of Education, upon request of the employing school division or educational agency, to issue a provisional license to a teacher seeking an initial license in the Commonwealth who has not attained an industry certification credential in the area in which the teacher seeks endorsement to allow time for the teacher to attain such required credential.