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2016 SESSION

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Senate Committee on Education and Health
Subcommittee Public Education

Carrico (Chairman), Dunnavant, Garrett, Howell, Locke

Clerk: Patty Lung
Staff: Thomas Stevens, Ryan Brimmer
Date of Meeting: February 11, 2016
Time and Place: 30 Minutes After Adjournment - 3rd Fl. East Conf. Room

H.B. 241

Patron: Lingamfelter

Students with limited English proficiency; alternative to the eleventh grade Standards of Learning end-of-course English reading assessment. Requires the Board of Education to authorize the use of an English language proficiency assessment such as the WIDA ACCESS for ELLs assessment as an alternative to the eleventh grade Standards of Learning end-of-course English reading assessment for students with limited English proficiency.

H.B. 259

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 coincidentally is included in the standards referred to as the Common Core State Standards.

H.B. 263

Patron: Poindexter

Western Virginia Public Education Consortium; membership. Decreases from 34 to 33 the membership of the governing board of the Western Virginia Public Education Consortium by removing the legislative member representing the Tenth House District.

H.B. 357

Patron: Loupassi

Public schools; physical activity requirement. Requires at least 20 minutes of physical activity per day or an average of 100 minutes per week during the regular school year for students in grades kindergarten through five. This requirement becomes effective beginning with the 2018-2019 school year. The current requirement for a program of physical activity available to all students in grades six through 12 with a goal of at least 150 minutes per week on average during the regular school year is not changed.

H.B. 453

Patron: Hodges

Northern Neck-Middle Peninsula Public Education Consortium; regional boundaries and governing board. Adds King George County and King William County as member counties of the Northern Neck-Middle Peninsula Public Education Consortium and updates the list of senatorial and house districts represented by the legislative advisory members of the Consortium's governing board.

H.B. 516

Patron: Landes

Board of Education; policy on sexually explicit instructional material. Requires the Board of Education to establish a policy to require each public elementary or secondary school to (i) notify the parent of any student whose teacher reasonably expects to provide instructional material that includes sexually explicit content, (ii) permit the parent of any student to review instructional material that includes sexually explicit content upon request, and (iii) provide, as an alternative to instructional material and related academic activities that include sexually explicit content, nonexplicit instructional material and related academic activities to any student whose parent so requests.

H.B. 942

Patron: Wilt

School property; reasonable access by youth groups federally listed as patriotic and national organizations. Requires school boards to provide reasonable access to school property to any youth group listed as a patriotic and national organization in 36 U.S.C. Subtitle II, Part B, such as the Boy Scouts of America and the Girl Scouts of the United States of America, and their affiliated groups, councils, staffs, and volunteers in the Commonwealth, to provide written materials and speak to students at times other than instructional time during the school day to encourage such students to participate in the activities and programs provided by such organization.

H.B. 954

Patron: Keam

Local school divisions; "Return to Learn Protocol" for students who have suffered concussions or other head injuries. Requires each local school division's policies and procedures regarding the identification and handling of suspected concussions in student-athletes to include a "Return to Learn Protocol" that requires school personnel to be alert to cognitive and academic issues that may be experienced by a student who has suffered a concussion or other head injury, including (i) difficulty with concentration, organization, and long-term and short-term memory, (ii) sensitivity to bright lights and sounds, and (iii) short-term problems with speech and language, reasoning, planning, and problem solving, and to accommodate the gradual return to full participation in academic activities of a student who has suffered a concussion or other head injury as appropriate, based on the recommendation of the student's licensed health care provider as to the appropriate amount of time that such student needs to be away from the classroom. The bill also broadens the scope of the "Return to Learn Protocol" in the Board of Education's guidelines for school division policies and procedures on concussions in student-athletes to require school personnel to (i) be alert to cognitive and academic issues that may be experienced by a student who has suffered a concussion or other head injury and (ii) accommodate the gradual return to full participation in academic activities of a student who has suffered a concussion or other head injury. Under current law, the "Return to Learn Protocol" only imposes such requirements on school personnel with respect to student-athletes.