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2024 SESSION

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Senate Committee on Education and Health
Subcommittee Public Education

VanValkenburg (Chair), Locke, Peake, Pekarsky, Craig

Clerk: Hobie Lehman
Staff: Julia Bergamini, Hannah Yates
Date of Meeting: February 15, 2024
Time and Place: 30 mins after the Senate Adjourns / Senate Room C, 3rd Floor GAB
https://virginia-senate.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=3

H.B. 66

Patron: Campbell

Public schools; fire drills; timing and frequency. Requires every public school to hold fire drills during the school session in accordance with the requirements of the Statewide Fire Prevention Code. Current law requires such fire drills to be conducted at least twice during the first 20 school days of each school session and at least twice more during the remainder of the school session.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 22.1-137 of the Code of Virginia, relating to public schools; fire drills; timing and frequency.

24105455D

H.B. 98

Patron: Green

Public secondary schools; satisfaction of physical education requirements; participation in Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps. Requires each local school board to accept participation in the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps as fulfillment of any physical education requirements applicable to students in grades nine through 12.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 22.1-253.13:1, as it shall become effective, of the Code of Virginia, relating to public secondary schools; satisfaction of physical education requirements; participation in Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps.

24101212D

H.B. 121

Patron: Sullivan

Board of Education; health education Standards of Learning; severe allergic reaction awareness training. Requires the Board of Education to include in the Standards of Learning for health education for grade nine and grade 10 an in-person or online severe allergic reaction awareness training that includes certain topics enumerated in the bill.

A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 22.1-274.2:1, relating to grade nine and grade 10 health education Standards of Learning instruction; severe allergic reaction awareness training.

24106350D

H.B. 131

Patron: Convirs-Fowler

Department of Education; learning needs dashboard. Requires the Department of Education to continue to maintain until July 1, 2029, a learning needs dashboard that includes an interactive bar chart feature to compare annual pass rates and an interactive scatterplot feature to compare changes in pass rates between select years on history and social sciences, mathematics, reading, science, and writing Standards of Learning assessments on a statewide basis and for specific local school divisions, public elementary and secondary schools, and student subgroups.

A BILL to require the Department of Education to maintain a learning needs dashboard.

24105560D

H.B. 166

Patron: Keys-Gamarra

Department of Education; guidance and resources; composting programs in local school divisions. Requires the Department of Education to develop, post in a publicly accessible format and location on its website, and make available to any school board, upon request, guidance and resources relating to the establishment of local experiential learning programs on the composting of organic material, including food waste, for sustainable purposes such as horticulture or micro-farming, including guidance and resources on available grants and other sources of funding for such programs.

A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 22.1-212.1:3, relating to Department of Education; guidance and resources; composting programs in local school divisions.

24101864D

H.B. 168

Patron: Keys-Gamarra

Department of Education; resource document on supports and services for homeless students. Requires the Department of Education to develop and make available to each school board a resource document containing guidance and best practices for providing the necessary supports and services to homeless students, including guidance and best practices relating to (i) decisions regarding whether and when such a student should remain enrolled in a school in a previous school division of residence, (ii) wrap-around supports and services for such students that include the parents when they are available and specific wrap-around supports and services for such students who may have experienced additional trauma prior to becoming homeless, and (iii) any other means by which such students can be best served and protected, particularly those homeless children and youths at risk of becoming victims of human trafficking.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 22.1-3 of the Code of Virginia, relating to Department of Education; resource document on supports and services for homeless students.

24101865D

H.B. 224

Patron: Henson

Public schools; teachers and other relevant personnel; mental health awareness training. Requires each teacher and other relevant personnel, as determined by the applicable school board, employed on a full-time basis to complete mental health awareness training that addresses the needs of youth populations that are at a high risk of experiencing mental health challenges and disorders. Current law requires such teachers and personnel to complete mental health awareness training but does not contain any requirements relating to the specific topics such training must address.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 22.1-298.6 of the Code of Virginia, relating to public schools; mental health awareness training and instruction; requirements.

24105961D

H.B. 253

Patron: Cole

School boards; meetings; public comment or citizen participation; enrolled students. Requires each school board to permit any student enrolled in a public elementary or secondary school in the local school division who provides acceptable proof of identification, if requested, and who signs up in accordance with the sign-up procedures for the respective school board meeting or is physically present at a school board meeting to submit oral comments during any public comment portion of such meeting.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 22.1-79 of the Code of Virginia, relating to school boards; meetings; public comment or citizen participation; enrolled students.

24101889D

H.B. 358

Patron: Simonds

Voluntarily registered family day homes; safe sleep practices; checklist. Requires the Department of Education to update its Voluntary Registration Health and Safety Checklist for any voluntarily registered family day home to include safe sleep practices.

A BILL to require the Department of Education to update its Voluntary Registration Health and Safety Checklist.

24106148D

H.B. 360

Patron: Simonds

Superintendent of Public Instruction; duties; fixed and actual school staffing ratios. Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to biennially calculate, compare, and report to the Board of Education and the General Assembly the differences between the fixed staffing ratios in the Standards of Quality funding formula and the actual staffing ratios in local school divisions in the Commonwealth so that such fixed staffing ratios can be regularly adjusted as needed to more closely approximate such actual staffing ratios.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 22.1-23 of the Code of Virginia, relating to Superintendent of Public Instruction; duties; fixed and actual school staffing ratios.

24100395D

H.B. 407

Patron: Hernandez

Child Care Subsidy Program; categorical eligibility for certain families. Provides that any family that receives public assistance through Medicaid or the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children shall be deemed categorically eligible to receive assistance through the Child Care Subsidy Program.

A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Article 1 of Chapter 14.1 of Title 22.1 a section numbered 22.1-289.08:2, relating to Child Care Subsidy Program; categorical eligibility for certain families.

24104498D

H.B. 501

Patron: Cohen

School building evacuation plans, policies, and protocols; students with mobility impairments. Requires any divisionwide or public elementary or secondary school-specific school building evacuation plan, policy, or protocol to include provisions that seek to maximize the opportunity for students with mobility impairments to evacuate the school building alongside their non-mobility-impaired peers.

A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 22.1-137.4, relating to school building evacuation plans, policies, and protocols; students with mobility impairments.

24101047D

H.B. 508

Patron: Cohen

Department of Education; background checks for child day program employees and volunteers; dissemination of information in certain circumstances. Requires the Department of Education, upon receiving a written request for such a written certification from an individual, to provide written certification to an entity designated by the Department that provides staffing for child day programs that such individual satisfies all requirements set forth in relevant law and is eligible to serve as an employee, temporary employee, or volunteer in a child day program. The bill further provides that (i) each such written certification shall also state the date by which the individual is required to complete a new background check in accordance with the periodic requirement for such background checks, (ii) no such written certification shall reveal the nature of any disqualifying barrier crime committed by or founded complaint of child abuse or neglect against the individual, and (iii) any such written certification may be shared among child day programs for the purpose of facilitating the creation and maintenance of a child day program substitute staff pool system.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 22.1-289.035 of the Code of Virginia, relating to Department of Education; background checks for child day program employees and volunteers; dissemination of information in certain circumstances.

24102635D

H.B. 599

Patron: Simonds

School boards; unexpended local funds; capital reserve fund permitted. Permits any school board, with the concurrence of the local governing body, to establish a capital reserve fund as a savings account into which it exclusively deposits the local operating funds that remain unexpended at the end of the year for future school division capital expenditures at no additional cost to local taxpayers, subject to certain conditions enumerated in the bill.

A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 22.1-100 and 22.1-100.1 of the Code of Virginia, relating to school boards; unexpended local funds; capital reserve fund permitted.

24102222D

H.B. 603

Patron: Price

Public elementary and secondary schools; health instruction, certain topics relating to mental health. Requires health instruction provided to elementary and secondary school students to include certain topics relating to mental health that are enumerated in the bill, including (i) general themes of social and emotional learning, including self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision making, relationship skills, and social awareness; (ii) signs and symptoms of common mental health challenges; and (iii) mental health wellness and healthy strategies for coping with stress and negative feelings, including conflict resolution skills.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 22.1-207 of the Code of Virginia, relating to public schools; health instruction; certain topics relating to mental health.

24106110D

H.B. 615

Patron: Price

Virginia STEM Education Advisory Board; purpose and duties; historically underrepresented students. Expands the purpose of the Virginia Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education Advisory Board to include promoting the participation of historically underrepresented students, as defined in the bill, in primary and secondary schools in STEM education. The bill expands the duties of the Board to effectuate this additional purpose. Finally, the bill increases from 16 to 23 the nonlegislative citizen membership of the Board and provides that the seven additional members be appointed by the chairmen of the Virginia African American Advisory Board, Virginia-Asian Advisory Board, Latino Advisory Board, Council on Women, Virginia LGBTQ+ Advisory Board, Office of New Americans Advisory Board, and Virginia Board for People with Disabilities, with each chairman appointing one member representing the population served by his advisory board subject to the approval of a majority of the members of his advisory board.

A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 22.1-364, 22.1-365 and 22.1-367 of the Code of Virginia, relating to the Virginia STEM Education Advisory Board; purpose and duties; historically underrepresented students.

24106463D

H.B. 675

Patron: Runion

Board of Visitors of the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind; authority to establish campus police department. Permits the Board of Visitors of the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind to establish a campus police department, in compliance with the provisions of law relating to campus police departments established by institutions of higher education, and to employ campus police officers therein.

A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 22.1-346.2 and 23.1-812 of the Code of Virginia, relating to Board of Visitors of the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind; authority to establish campus police department.

24101897D

H.B. 777

Patron: Callsen

Enrollment of and provision of free public education for certain students; kinship care and foster care. Provides that in the event that a student in a kinship care arrangement moves into a different school division during the school year as a result of safely returning home, being emancipated, or transitioning to a new kinship care arrangement, such student shall be deemed to continue to reside in the previous school division of residence for the remainder of the school year for the purpose of tuition-free enrollment and attendance. The bill also provides that certain provisions of law relating to continuity of public school enrollment and attendance for students in foster care apply to a student who has transitioned out of foster care and whose custody has been transferred to the student's parent or prior legal guardian or who has been emancipated.

A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 22.1-3 and 22.1-3.4 of the Code of Virginia, relating to enrollment of and provision of free public education for certain students.

24106309D

H.B. 919

Patron: Srinivasan

School boards; model memorandum of understanding; partnerships with certain mental health service providers; provision and expansion of virtual mental health services. Directs the Department, in consultation with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services and the Department of Medical Assistance Services, to develop, adopt, and distribute to each school board a model memorandum of understanding between a school board and a nationally recognized school-based telehealth provider that sets forth the parameters for the provision of mental health teletherapy to public school students enrolled in the local school division by such provider. Current law only requires the development, adoption, and distribution of a model memorandum of understanding between a school board and a public or private community mental health services provider. The bill also permits each school board to adopt policies and procedures to increase the accessibility of school-based mental health services for students enrolled in each school division that may not have access to mental health services otherwise by providing or expanding virtual mental health resources and establishing or expanding a partnership with a community mental health service provider or a nationally recognized school-based telehealth provider that provides mental health teletherapy to students.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 22.1-272.2 of the Code of Virginia, relating to school boards; model memorandum of understanding; partnerships with certain mental health service providers; provision and expansion of virtual mental health services.

24103336D

H.B. 963

Patron: Earley

Department of Education; survey; excess food donation; best practices. Requires the Department of Education to survey each school board to determine (i) whether it has an existing policy or practice relating to the donation of excess food, as that term is defined in relevant law, from public elementary or secondary schools in the local school division to local food banks or shelters that serve meals or otherwise provide food to individuals in need and (ii) if so, how such policy or practice is implemented and the impact that it has on the local community. The bill requires the Department of Education, after completing such survey, to compile in a guidance document or Superintendent's Memo and distribute to each school board a list of resources and best practices on the subject of excess food donation.

A BILL to require the Department of Education to survey each local school division to determine best practices relating to the donation of excess food.

24104117D

H.B. 1039

Patron: Bennett-Parker


Public elementary and secondary schools; possession and administration of undesignated glucagon; school board policies; donations. Permits any local school board to adopt and implement policies for the possession and administration of undesignated nasal or injectable glucagon in each public elementary or secondary school in the local school division, provided that such policies are consistent with the guidance outlined in the most recent revision of the Diabetes Management In School: Manual for Unlicensed Personnel published by the Department of Education and include guidance on several items enumerated in the bill. The bill also permits any public elementary or secondary school to maintain a supply of nasal or injectable glucagon in any secure location that is immediately accessible to any school nurse or other employee trained in the administration of nasal and injectable glucagon prescribed to the school by a prescriber. The bill requires any such school to ensure that such a supply consists of at least two doses. The bill permits any school nurse or other authorized employee who is trained in the administration of nasal and injectable glucagon consistent with the guidance outlined in the most recent revision of the Diabetes Management In School: Manual for Unlicensed Personnel published by the Department to administer nasal or injectable glucagon from undesignated inventory with parental consent and if the student's prescribed glucagon is not available on school grounds or has expired. The bill permits any school board to accept donations of nasal or injectable glucagon from a wholesale distributor of glucagon or donations of money from any individual to purchase nasal or injectable glucagon for the purpose of maintenance and administration in a public school in the local school division as permitted pursuant to the aforementioned provisions of the bill.

A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 22.1-274.2 and 54.1-3408 of the Code of Virginia, relating to public elementary and secondary schools; possession and administration of undesignated glucagon; school board policies; donations.

24104884D

H.B. 1277

Patron: Laufer

Child care; background checks. Allows applicants for employment and applicants to serve as volunteers to work in certain child day centers, family day homes, and family day systems pending the results of a full background check, provided that (i) the applicant has received qualifying results on a fingerprint-based background check through the Central Criminal Records Exchange or the Federal Bureau of Investigation and (ii) the applicant is supervised at all times by a person who received a qualifying result on a full background check within the past five years.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 22.1-289.035 of the Code of Virginia, relating to child care; background checks.

24106132D

H.B. 1473

Patron: Clark

Department of Education; development and distribution of fentanyl education and awareness informational one-sheet; requirements. Requires the Department of Education to develop, in collaboration with the Department of Health, a fentanyl education and awareness informational one-sheet designed to promote awareness of the dangers associated with and the prevalence of fentanyl and provide essential information on fentanyl overdose prevention and preparedness among high school-age students. The bill requires the Department of Education to make available to each school board and post in a publicly accessible location on its website such informational one-sheet and to annually review and update such informational one-sheet in collaboration with the Department of Health to ensure its currency and accuracy. The bill requires each public high school or secondary school that includes grades nine through 12 to annually distribute such informational one-sheet to each student in grades nine through 12 within the first two weeks of the school year. This bill incorporates HB 1007.

A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 22.1-206.01, relating to Department of Education; development and distribution of fentanyl education and awareness informational one-sheet; requirements.

24106748D