SEARCH SITE

VIRGINIA LAW PORTAL

SEARCHABLE DATABASES

ACROSS SESSIONS

Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.

1994 SESSION


CHAPTER 276
An Act to amend and reenact §§ 9-145.30 and 22.1-350 of the Code of Virginia, relating to membership in certain regional education consortia.
[H 636]
Approved April 4, 1994

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §§ 9-145.30 and 22.1-350 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 9-145.30. Council established; duties.

The Blue Ridge Regional Education and Training Council is hereby established and shall be referred to in this chapter as the Council. For the purposes of this chapter and the work of the Council, the "Blue Ridge" region shall include the Counties of Alleghany, Amherst, Appomattox, Augusta, Bath, Bedford, Bland, Botetourt, Campbell, Craig, Floyd, Franklin, Giles, Highland, Montgomery, Nelson, Pulaski, Roanoke, and Rockbridge, and Wythe and the Cities of Bedford, Buena Vista, Clifton Forge, Covington, Lexington, Lynchburg, Radford, Roanoke, Salem, Staunton, and Waynesboro. The Council shall perform the following functions:

1. Provide general leadership in the region for education and business partnership programs and excellence in education;

2. Encourage and expand business participation and involvement in public education and to foster partnerships between the public and private sectors to enhance public education in the Blue Ridge region;

3. Collect, generate, and disseminate ideas and information regarding educational innovations and effective instructional practices pertinent to the Blue Ridge region;

4. Coordinate with business and industry throughout the region to ascertain those skills, education, and training that businesses seek from entry level workers;

5. Serve as a resource and referral center for area school divisions by maintaining and disseminating information on existing educational programs and resources;

6. Develop, in coordination with the Department of Education and local school boards, specific goals for public education in the Blue Ridge region and, to annually evaluate the local school boards' progress toward these goals, and to adjust local plans if the need arises;

7. Promote the coordination of elementary, secondary, and higher education and adult education and worker training;

8. Sponsor a series of seminars throughout the region to discuss, plan, and receive comments on how to upgrade the region's adult workforce;

9. Develop, in coordination with the Department of Education and local school boards, incentives for school systems that subscribe to integrated-applied educational programs which prepare students for post-high school education or employment;

10. Promote and expand, in coordination with the Department of Labor and Industry, apprenticeship training for youth and adults in the region; and

11. Investigate and formulate a model student volunteer program and assist school systems in developing and implementing such programs.

§ 22.1-350. Southwest Virginia Public Education Consortium created; region defined; governing board.

A. The Southwest Virginia Public Education Consortium is hereby established and shall be referred to in this chapter as the Consortium. For the purposes of this chapter and the work of the Consortium, "Southwest Virginia" shall include the Counties of Bland, Buchanan, Carroll, Dickenson, Grayson, Lee, Russell, Scott, Smyth, Tazewell, Washington, and Wise, and Wythe, and the Cities of Bristol, Galax, and Norton. The governing board of the Consortium shall consist of the school superintendents of the named localities; the chancellor or his designee of Clinch Valley College; the presidents or their designees of Emory and Henry College, Virginia Intermont College, Bluefield College, Mountain Empire Community College, Virginia Highlands Community College, and Southwest Virginia Community College, and Wytheville Community College; and the Director of the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center. The region's legislators shall serve as nonvoting, advisory members of the board.

B. Members of the board shall be reimbursed for their actual expenses incurred in the performance of their duties in the work of the Consortium, except that legislative members shall be reimbursed pursuant to § 14.1-19.1. The board shall elect a chairman and a vice chairman from among its members.