| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | |
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1 | Bill | VATLL/VASCD Position | STATUS | TOPIC | SUMMARY | DESCRIPTION | PATRON (S) |
2 | UPDATED 2/2/25 | HOUSE | |||||
3 | HB 1548 | Oppose | Referred to Committee; Fiscal Impact Stateent | Naturalization Test | High school graduation; requires passing score on select questions from U.S. Naturalization, etc. | High school graduation requirements; passing score on select questions from U.S. Naturalization Test. Requires the Board of Education, in establishing high school graduation requirements, to require, except in the case of a high school student whose individualized education program indicates otherwise, each high school student to take and correctly answer at least 70 percent of the questions on a test composed of at least 25 but not more than 50 of the questions on the civics portion of the U.S. Naturalization Test in order to graduate high school with a standard or advanced studies diploma, provided that such student may take such test at any time during grades nine through 12 and as many times during such period as necessary to achieve the minimum 70 percent passing score. | Ware |
4 | HB 1594 | Support | Fiscal Impact Statement | Teacher Salary | Teachers; timeline and process for increasing salaries to at least national average. | Average teacher salary in the Commonwealth; national average. Requires the Governor's introduced budget bills for the 2026 and 2027 Regular Sessions of the General Assembly to propose funding for, and state funding to be provided pursuant to the general appropriation act enacted during any regular or special session of the General Assembly during 2026 or 2027 to fund, the Commonwealth's share of compensation supplement incentives for Standards of Quality-funded instructional and support positions sufficient to increase the average teacher salary in the Commonwealth to at least the national average teacher salary by the end of the 2026-2028 biennium and establishes a detailed timeline and process for satisfying such requirement. | Clark |
5 | HB 1626 | Support | Passed the House, in Senate | Teacher Training | Public elementary & secondary school teachers; training activities, requirements & limitations. | Public elementary and secondary school teachers; certain training activities; requirements and limitations. Prohibits any public elementary or secondary school teacher from being required to participate in any non-academic training activity, as that term is defined in the bill, more frequently than once within six months of employment with the applicable school board and once every five years thereafter, except in the case of certain training relating to secure mandatory test violations upon determination by the school board or division superintendent that additional training is necessary. The bill also provides that the total frequency and duration of non-academic training activities in which each such teacher is required to participate pursuant to (i) state law or regulation shall not exceed 15 hours every five years and (ii) policy or regulation of the school board shall not exceed three and a half hours every three years. The bill also directs the Department of Education to (a) conduct a survey of each school board every five years to identify each non-academic training activity in which public elementary and secondary school teachers employed by such school board are required to participate; (b) develop, post on its website, and annually review and update as necessary to ensure accuracy a list of all non-academic training activities that each public elementary and secondary school teacher in the Commonwealth is required to complete pursuant to state or federal law or regulation; and (c) develop and implement a comprehensive, statewide database designed to provide each school board access to and permit each public elementary and secondary school teacher to track his progress in completing each non-academic training activity in which each public elementary and secondary school teacher is required to participate pursuant to state or federal law. Finally, the bill repeals the provision of law requiring each teacher and school board employee holding a license issued by the Board of Education to complete cultural competency training at least every two years. | Thomas |
6 | HB 1656 | No Action | Passed by for the day | Interscholastic athletics | Public secondary schools; interscholastic athletics; certain recruitment policies and practices prohibited | Prohibits any school board employee, including any interscholastic athletics coach or director, from implementing any policy or engaging in any practice whereby the employee (i) designates any secondary school student-athlete as homeless pursuant to the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, as amended, solely for the purpose of recruiting such student-athlete to transfer to the local school division to participate in interscholastic athletics or (ii) receives money or other things of value from any individual or entity, including any institution of higher education or any intercollegiate athletics program at such an institution, solely for the purpose of recruiting a secondary school student-athlete to participate in intercollegiate athletics. | Helmer |
7 | HB 1674 | Watch | Passed the House, in Senate | Endorsements | Board of Education; accreditation requirements for professional education programs; exemption for professional education programs leading to certain endorsements. | Directs the Board of Education to amend its regulations relating to accreditation requirements for professional education programs in the Commonwealth to require the Department of Education to grant a written exemption from such accreditation requirements for any professional education program that leads to certain administration and supervision and support personnel endorsements and has a secured specialty area accreditation from a specialized accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. | Laufer |
8 | HB 1678 | No Action | Passed the House, in Senate | Firearms in the home | School board policies; parental notification; safe storage of prescription drugs and firearms in the household. | Requires each local school board to develop and implement a policy to require the annual notification of the parent of each student enrolled in the local school division, to be sent by email and, if applicable, SMS text message within 30 calendar days succeeding the first day of each school year, of (i) the importance of securely storing any prescription drug, as defined in relevant law, present in the household and (ii) the parent's legal responsibility to safely store any firearm present in the household. The bill requires each school board to make such parental notification available in multiple languages on its website. | Cohen |
9 | HB 1679 | Support | Passed with substitute | SOL Tests - Native Language | Standards of Learning assessments; availability in native language for certain English language learners | Requires each Standards of Learning assessment to be made available in the most commonly spoken native language in the Commonwealth other than English to any English language learner who speaks such language natively. | Cohen |
10 | HB 1783 | No Action | Passed Committee, with House | CTSOs | Department of Education; career and technical education; definition of "career and technical student organization"; establishment of chapters of career and technical student organizations; requirements | Clarifies the criteria for establishing a chapter of a career and technical student organization, as that term is defined in the bill, in any public middle or high school by providing that any such public middle or high school may establish a chapter of a career and technical student organization, provided that such chapter (i) is established in compliance with and meets any criteria set forth in any applicable Board of Education regulations and policies and (ii) meets any requirements set forth in the regulations, bylaws, or constitution of the applicable state or national unit for such career and technical student organization. | Orrock |
11 | HB 1788 | Support | Incorporated into HB 1769 | Chronic Absenteeism | Board of Education; School Performance and Support Framework; readiness indicator; chronic absenteeism calculation; certain excused student absences excluded. | Provides that in any case in which a student experiences an unexpected excused absence of any length based on extenuating circumstances, any such period of excused absence shall be excluded from the calculation of chronic absenteeism for the purpose of the readiness indicator in the Board of Education's school accountability system known as the School Performance and Support Framework or any successor school accountability system. | Orrock |
12 | HB 1805 | No Action | Reported from Appropriations | SWD in Higher Ed | Public institutions of higher education; policies; individuals with disabilities; postsecondary transition planning and services; documentation or evidence; report. | Requires any individualized education program (IEP) meeting for any student with a disability held for the purpose of postsecondary transition planning and consideration of postsecondary transition services to include, consistent with the guidance developed by the Department of Education pursuant to applicable law, consideration and documentation of any information relating to such student's postsecondary transition planning and service needs that may be necessary or relevant to coordinating and facilitating the successful and efficient transition of such student from secondary school to an institution of higher education. The bill directs the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia to study and make recommendations in a report by November 1, 2025, on improving and standardizing the quality and consistency of IEPs or sections of IEPs developed and implemented for students with disabilities dedicated to postsecondary transition planning and services for students with disabilities by public institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth. | Cohen |
13 | HB 1806 | No Action | Passed the House, in Senate | IEPs and 504s | Students with individualized education programs or Section 504 Plans; emergency protocol and guide. | Requires each individualized education program implemented for a public school student with a disability in accordance with the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and each Section 504 Plan implemented for a public school student in accordance with ยง 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to contain an addendum that has been reviewed and signed by the student's parent and that includes a protocol for individualized accommodations and supports for the student during emergency situations at school and a step-by-step guide on how to execute such protocol. The bill requires such addendum to be provided to all of such student's teachers for implementation. | Cohen |
14 | HB 1809 | Watch | Fiscal Impact Statement | Student Participation in Women's Sports | K-12 schools and institutions of higher education; student participation in women's sports; civil cause of action | Requires each interscholastic, intercollegiate, intramural, or club athletic team or sport sponsored by a public school, or any other school that is a member of the Virginia High School League, or by a public institution of higher education to be expressly designated as one of the following based on the biological sex of the students who participate on the team or in the sport: (i) males, men, or boys; (ii) females, women, or girls; or (iii) coed or mixed if participation on such team or sport is open to both males and females. The bill requires that the biological sex of any student seeking to participate on such an expressly designated team be affirmed by a signed physician's statement. The bill prohibits any such team or sport that is expressly designated for females from being open to students whose biological sex is male. The bill prohibits any government entity, licensing or accrediting organization, or athletic association or organization from entertaining a complaint, opening an investigation, or taking any other adverse action against any such school or institution of higher education based on a violation of the provisions of the bill and creates a cause of action for any school or institution of higher education that suffers harm as a result of a violation of the bill. Finally, the bill creates a civil cause of action for any student who suffers harm as a result of a knowing violation of a provision of the bill by a school or institution or as a result of the student's reporting a violation of a provision of the bill by a school, institution, athletic association, or organization. | Oates |
15 | HB 1824 | Support | Reported from Committee, with the House | H/SS Graduation Requirements | High school graduation requirements; history and social studies credits; certain substitutions permitted. | Requires the Board of Education, in establishing high school graduation requirements, to permit any student to substitute the African American History course or the Advanced Placement African American Studies course for the Virginia and U.S. History course for the purpose of satisfying the history and social studies credit requirements, provided that enrollment in such an African American History course or Advanced Placement African American Studies course is available to the student. | Reid |
16 | HB 1829 | Support | Reported from Appropriations with Substitute | Math | Public elementary and secondary education; Office of Mathematics Improvement established; mathematics improvement and advancement policies and programs. | Establishes several new programs and policies for the purpose of improving mathematics instruction and student learning outcomes in public elementary and secondary schools in the Commonwealth, including (i) directing the Department of Education (the Department) to establish the Office of Mathematics Improvement (the Office) as an office within the Department; (ii) directing the Director of the Office, in collaboration with the Department, to establish an Elementary School Mathematics Advisory Task Force, a Middle School Mathematics Advisory Task Force, and a High School Mathematics Advisory Task Force; (iii) creating several grant programs aimed at incentivizing, encouraging, and expanding opportunities for improving mathematics instruction for educators and mathematics learning outcomes for students, including the Summer Mathematics Intervention Grant Program, the Advance Placement Mathematics Exam Fee Elimination Fund and Program, the Mathematics Improvement and School Support Grant Program, and the Advanced Mathematics Teacher Incentive and Support Grant Program; (iv) making several changes to staffing requirements relating to teachers providing mathematics instruction, including creating a mathematics specialist microcredential program and establishing staffing ratios for mathematics specialists in public schools and permitting schools to use state funding appropriated to support meeting such staffing ratios to support teachers in completing the professional development or training necessary to receive the requisite licensure or endorsements; and (v) requiring the Department to expand the advanced mathematics courses offered through Virtual Virginia, as established pursuant to applicable law, for the purpose of ensuring that students attending public schools across the Commonwealth have access to a full range of advanced mathematics courses. The bill also (a) directs the Board of Education (the Board) to modify its regulations to increase the flexibility of receiving an Algebra I add-on endorsement for teachers; (b) directs the Board, in collaboration with the Office, to develop and approve a Geometry add-on endorsement for teachers; (c) requires the development and dissemination of various guidance documents for school boards and school counselors and online training programs and modules for educators relating to expanding and encouraging mathematics instruction and education, particularly advanced mathematics instruction and education; and (d) requires the Department to compile and post in a publicly accessible location on its website by August 1 of each year a report detailing the impact of the provisions of the bill on expanding mathematics offerings and improving mathematics learning outcomes in public schools across the Commonwealth. The bill provides timelines for modifying regulations to implement the provisions of the bill. | Simonds |
17 | HB 1831 | Support | Incorporated into HB 1954 | SOQ Calculations | Public schools; Standards of Quality; certain calculations; support services | Requires the Department of Education, (i) in calculating the deduction of federal funds in the Standards of Quality funding formula, to examine actual school division spending on support costs as a percentage of actual school division spending on all public education costs, with certain exceptions such as food service, and (ii) in calculating the costs in the Standards of Quality funding formula beginning with fiscal year 2029, to include all employee benefit costs incurred by a majority of school divisions, including costs related to retirement, health care, life insurance, and payout of earned but unused leave. The bill also requires support services positions to be funded based on a calculation of prevailing costs and prohibits such positions from being subject to any method of funding calculation that caps the number of funded support services positions based on a ratio of such positions to students enrolled in the school division, with the exception of certain support services positions enumerated in the bill. | Simonds |
18 | HB 1840 | No Action | Layed on the table | Student Online Data | Department of Education; school boards; student online activity; data collection, monitoring, and restrictions. | Requires the Department of Education to establish reporting expectations for school divisions that collect student online activity data and provides that if no school within a school division does so, the school board, upon submission of written documentation to the Department stating that no school within the school division collects student online activity data, shall be deemed to have satisfied such reporting expectations. The reporting expectations include: (i) making certain disclosures to parents, including what online activity is being tracked, monitored, and collected when using school devices on school property and what types of student online activity or online activity data would create an alert; (ii) including in the school division's acceptable use policy for the Internet that student online activity is being tracked and data collected; (iii) providing, to the extent available for the school division, parents the ability to access any collected student online activity data; (iv) notifying the parent of a student for whom an alert is created or an action taken on such student's online activity or associated data before the student is notified, except as provided in the bill; (v) prohibiting the inclusion of student online activity data in a student's permanent record except in the most severe cases, as defined, set forth, and made publicly available by the Department. The bill requires the Department to create and distribute to each school board (a) a template for making the required parental disclosures and (b) best practices for deleting student online activity data. | Oates |
19 | HB 1880 | No Action | Passed the House, in Senate | Military Children - SWD | Public schools; enrollment of certain military children with disabilities; provision of special education services and accommodations. | Provides that whenever a child of a service member who enrolls in a school division in accordance with applicable law is also a child with disabilities, the school board of the school division is required to, upon receipt of documentation from the service member parent or an official letter from the service member's command indicating such service member's relocation to such school division, coordinate with such child's parent and such child's previous school division to facilitate the prompt provision of comparable special education services and accommodations for such child. | Sewell |
20 | HB 1890 | Support | Layed on the table | Teacher Supplemental Pay | Public school teachers; teacher compensation; Professionally Licensed Teacher Supplemental Pay Program established. | Establishes the Professionally Licensed Teacher Supplemental Pay Program (the Program) for the purpose of addressing shortages of professionally licensed teachers and reducing reliance on provisionally licensed teachers in public schools in the Commonwealth by providing, with such funds as are appropriated for such purpose, an annual supplemental payment to each professionally licensed teacher, as that term is defined by the bill, employed in any high-vacancy public school in the Commonwealth, defined as any public school that, based on the most recent data in the positions and exits collection, has a teacher vacancy rate that places it in the top 10 percent of public schools with the highest teacher vacancy rates in the Commonwealth. The bill directs the Department of Education to administer and oversee the Program and, in doing so, requires it to (i) identify and develop a list, every four years, of each high-vacancy public school in the Commonwealth; (ii) ensure that, each year, such funds are disbursed in a timely manner and in an amount sufficient to provide the supplemental payment to each professionally licensed teacher employed in a high-vacancy public school in each school division; and (iii) annually submit to the Governor and publish on its website a report detailing the effect of the Program on recruitment and retention of professionally licensed teachers and the overall success of the Program in addressing teacher vacancy rates. | Feggans |
21 | HB 1892 | No Action | Passed Committee, with House | SWD | Children with disabilities; annual individualized education program planning process; dual enrollment courses; certain parental notification required. | Requires, during the annual individualized education program (IEP) planning process prior to any year in which a child with a disability who is enrolled at a public high school is entering the eleventh grade or twelfth grade, the IEP team to provide to the parent of such student written notification of the student's rights and obligations relating to dual enrollment courses, including detailed information on the process for ensuring that the student is receiving both a free and appropriate public education pursuant to the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act as a student enrolled in a public high school and the necessary educational accommodations pursuant to the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 as a student enrolled in a comprehensive community college. | Seibold |
22 | HB 1954 | Support | Passed the House, in Senate | Equity in Funding, Add-Ons | Equity in public school funding and staffing; special education students; at-risk students; English language learner students; support services positions; report. | Requires state-funded add-ons to be provided to support special education students that are calculated by multiplying weights set forth in the general appropriation act by the relevant basic aid per-pupil amount for each such student. The bill establishes the At-Risk Program for the purpose of supporting programs and services for students who are educationally at risk, including prevention, intervention, or remediation activities required pursuant to relevant law, teacher recruitment programs and initiatives, programs for English language learners, the hiring of additional school counselors and other support staff, and other programs relating to increasing the success of disadvantaged students in completing a high school degree and providing opportunities to encourage further education and training. The bill also contains provisions relating to certain funding requirements for the At-Risk Program. The bill requires support services positions to be funded based on a calculation of prevailing costs and prohibits support services positions from being subject to any method of funding calculation that caps the number of funded support services positions based on a ratio of such positions to students enrolled the local school division. The bill also requires the Department of Education to develop and implement a data collection process related to English language learner expenditures and student English proficiency levels and identify other options to support English language learners and provide a status report to the Joint Subcommittee on Elementary and Secondary Education Funding on its implementation and data collection efforts by September 1, 2025. Finally, the bill requires the Department of Education, in collaboration with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services or any other relevant stakeholders with expertise in special education as the Department of Education deems appropriate, to develop a plan for revised special education staffing requirements that addresses the staffing needs of each special education program in each school division as determined by the specific educational and behavioral support needs of students who receive special education and aims to improve special education teacher recruitment and retention and to report its findings to the Joint Subcommittee on Elementary and Secondary Education Funding by November 1, 2025. The bill is a recommendation of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission. | Rasoul |
23 | HB 1957 | FLAG | Passed Committee, with House | Assessments | Board of Education; Standards of Learning assessments and related student assessment methods; assessment development, implementation, and administration reform. | Modifies provisions relating to assessment methods for determining the level of achievement of the Standards of Learning objectives by all students, including (i) requirements relating to assessment administration aimed at maximizing instructional time and optimizing time used for assessment administration; (ii) criteria and guidelines for the structure and content of Standards of Learning assessments and alternative assessments developed by local school boards, including criteria for the types of assessment items that shall be included; (iii) provisions relating to eligibility and timelines for students to retake assessments; and (iv) the scoring of Standards of Learning assessments and related assessments, including a requirement that all such assessments be scored on a 100-point scale. The bill requires the Board of Education to provide any teacher who participates in the scoring of Standards of Learning assessments professional development points toward renewal of his license for the time spent scoring such assessments. The bill also requires the Board of Education to develop and make available to each school board certain templates and guidelines relating to assessment content and structure and assessment scoring. | Helmer |
24 | HB 1961 | Watch | Passed Committee, with House | Cell Phones | Public elementary and secondary schools; student discipline; student cell phone possession and use policies; development and implementation. | Directs each school board to develop and each public elementary and secondary school to implement age-appropriate and developmentally appropriate policies relating to the possession and use of cell phones by students on school property during regular school hours. The bill requires such policies to (i) restrict, to the fullest extent possible, student cell phone possession and use in the classroom during regular school hours; (ii) aim to reduce or prevent any distraction in or disruption to the learning environment, including bullying or harassment, that could be caused or facilitated by student cell phone possession and use on school property during regular school hours; (iii) ensure that implementation and enforcement of the policy is the responsibility of the administration, minimizes, to the extent possible, any conflict with the instructional responsibilities of teachers or any disruption to instructional time, and does not involve any school resource officer; (iv) include exceptions to such policies permitting any student, pursuant to an Individualized Education Plan or Section 504 Plan or if otherwise deemed appropriate by the school board, to possess and use a cell phone on school property, including in the classroom, during regular school hours to monitor or address a health concern; and (v) expressly prohibit any student from being suspended, expelled, or removed from class as a consequence of any violation of such policies. Finally, the bill clarifies that (a) no violation of any such student cell phone possession and use policy shall alone constitute (1) sufficient cause for a student's suspension or expulsion from attendance at school or (2) disruptive behavior authorizing a teacher to remove a student from class and (b) that any such violation that involves, coincides with, or results in an instance of disruptive behavior, as that term is defined in applicable law, shall be addressed in accordance with the regulations on codes of student conduct adopted by each school board pursuant to applicable law. | Rasoul |
25 | HB 2009 | Support | Layed on the table | CTE | Board of Education; career and technical education courses, pathways, and credentials; biennial review; report | Requires the Board of Education and the Virginia Board of Workforce Development, with the assistance of the Department of Workforce Development and Advancement and the Virginia Office of Education Economics, the Department of Education, the Virginia Community College System, and the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, to conduct, beginning with the fiscal year starting July 1, 2025, and each odd-numbered year thereafter, a biennial review of all career and technical education course, pathway, and credential offerings available to public school students across the Commonwealth for the purpose of ensuring that all such career and technical education course, pathway, and credential offerings are (i) aligned with current and emerging industry and workforce needs, demands, and standards and (ii) designed to effectively prepare students for postsecondary success through gainful employment in a high-demand industry or field, enrollment in postsecondary education, or enlistment in the United States Armed Forces. The bill requires the Board of Education and the Virginia Board of Workforce Development to develop and submit to the Secretary of Education, the Secretary of Labor, and the chairs of the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health by October 1 of each odd-numbered year, beginning with October 1, 2025, a report on each such biennial review. | Campbell |
26 | HB 2018 | Watch | Passed House, with Senate | CTE Licensure | Board of Education; teacher licensure; career and technical education; alternative pathways. | Requires the Board of Education to establish additional pathways to renewable licensure as a teacher with an endorsement in the area of career and technical education, including (i) for individuals who have at least five years of relevant work experience, the substitution of experiential learning for coursework in classroom management, curriculum and instruction in career and technical education, and human growth and development, in accordance with an equivalency assessment framework established by the Board and defined in the bill and (ii) licensure by reciprocity with an endorsement in the area of career and technical education for individuals with out-of-state teaching licenses who have the work experience and experiential learning described in clause (i). The bill requires any such individual who seeks renewable licensure as a teacher with an endorsement in the area of career and technical education to complete training in classroom management, positive behavior interventions and supports, and culturally competent teaching practices as a condition of such licensure. | Anthony |
27 | HB 2032 | Support | Passed the House, in Senate | ELL Add-On | English language learner students; per-student funding add-on; report | Requires state-funded add-ons to be provided to support English language learner students and requires such add-ons to be calculated by multiplying (i) a weight set forth in the general appropriation act for each English language learner student by (ii) the basic aid per-pupil funding for each such student. The bill requires local funding obligations for such add-ons to be determined by the composite index of local ability-to-pay. The bill also requires the Department of Education to develop and implement a data collection process related to English language learner expenditures and student English proficiency levels and identify other options to support English language learners and provide a status report to the Joint Subcommittee on Elementary and Secondary Education Funding on its implementation and data collection efforts by September 1, 2025. | Reaser |
28 | HB 2044 | Watch | Layed on the table | SME Credentials | Teachers; employment and licensure; locally awarded subject matter expert teaching credentials. | Establishes, enumerates criteria for, and permits a division superintendent or a comprehensive community college to issue a locally awarded subject matter expert teaching credential, valid for a period not to exceed three years, to any individual who demonstrates expertise in content or subject matter area in order for such individual to provide instruction or coursework in a corresponding non-core subject or course, as that term is defined in the bill, in grades six through 12 at any public school in the Commonwealth or at a comprehensive community college in the Commonwealth, including dual enrollment or concurrent enrollment courses. The bill delineates the criteria for issuance of such locally awarded subject matter expert teaching credential. The bill also contains several provisions relating to the employment of individuals under a locally awarded subject matter expert teaching credential, including (i) permitting any school division or institution of higher education to hire any such individual on a full-time or part-time basis to teach a non-core subject or course; (ii) requiring any such individual to be subject to a background clearance check and the fingerprinting and criminal history records check requirements required as a condition of employment of any applicant who is offered or accepts employment at a school division pursuant to applicable law; (iii) requiring each employing school board to assign an individual employed by such school board as a mentor to supervise any individual issued a subject matter expert teaching credential; and (iv) permitting any division superintendent to renew an individual's locally awarded subject matter expert teaching credential for a period not to exceed three additional years, provided that such individual receives satisfactory performance evaluations for each year of the original three-year locally awarded subject matter teaching credential. Finally, the bill requires each school division to annually report to the Department of Education the number of locally awarded subject matter expert teaching credentials issued for part-time and full-time teaching positions. | Walker |
29 | HB 2053 | Watch | Passed Committee, with House | Baseline Report - VDOE | Department of Education; baseline audit of education preparation programs; student literacy instruction and the identification of students at risk for learning disabilities; report. | Requires the Department of Education, no later than July 1, 2026, to (i) conduct a baseline audit of each education preparation program offered by a public institution of higher education or private institution of higher education for compliance with requirements set forth in relevant law relating to coursework, student mastery, and field experience in student literacy instruction and the identification of students at risk for learning disabilities utilizing a rubric with metrics that analyze the degree to which each such education preparation program has met each such requirement and (ii) submit the results of such audits to the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health. | Reaser |
30 | HB 2072 | No Action | Layed on the table | Standards of School Safety | Board of Education; Standards of Quality; Standards of School Safety. | Requires the Board of Education, in collaboration with the Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety and such other stakeholders as it deems appropriate, to establish pursuant to regulation the Standards of School Safety for the purpose of assessing school safety in each local school division in the Commonwealth and each school building therein based on such objective, quantifiable measures of safety as the Board deems appropriate. The bill requires the Board to incorporate compliance with the Standards of School Safety as a school and school division accountability measure for the purposes of the Standards of Accreditation. | Garrett |
31 | HB 2103 | Watch | Passed Committee, with House | Licensure | Board of Education; Regulations Governing Allowable Credit for Teaching Experience; certain credit substitution allowance required. | Requires the Board of Education to amend its Regulations Governing Allowable Credit for Teaching Experience for the purpose of salary placement credit to provide that teachers in the field of career and technical education, where the licensure requirement calls for occupational work experience beyond the apprenticeship level, shall be allowed, at minimum, credit for one year of teaching experience for each two years of work experience and may be allowed credit for one year of teaching experience for each one year of work experience. The current regulation (i) permits but does not require the allowance of credit for such work experience, (ii) only permits credit for one year of teaching experience for each two years of work experience, and (iii) uses the outdated term "vocational education" instead of "career and technical education." The bill directs the Board of Education to adopt emergency regulations to implement the provisions of the bill. | Kent |
32 | HB 2118 | Watch | Fiscal Impact Statement | Delaying Implementatin of New Accountability System | Department of Education; public school accountability; delayed implementation and review of revised public school accountability system; report; emergency. | Directs the Department of Education to delay for a period of one year the implementation of the revised public school accountability system adopted pursuant to applicable Board of Education regulations in order to conduct a review of and establish a stakeholder advisory committee to solicit input on such revised public school accountability system for the purpose of ensuring that such accountability system is designed to achieve fair, transparent, and actionable results aimed at improving student growth and learning outcomes across the Commonwealth. The bill requires the Department to, by April 1, 2026, (i) publish a report on the process and findings of the review conducted in accordance with the provisions of the bill and (ii) submit to the Governor, the Senate Committee on Education and Health, and the House Committee on Education a plan for modifying and implementing the revised public school accountability system that incorporates the findings of the review conducted and the input from the stakeholder advisory committee established in accordance with the provisions of the bill. The bill contains an emergency clause. | Keys-Gamarra |
33 | HB 2164 | Support | Layed on the table | Funding Calculations | Public school funding; certain funding calculations. | Requires the Department of Education to calculate the composite index of local ability-to-pay for each school division by excluding the true value of real property that is eligible for certain disabled veteran and surviving spouse property tax exemptions in the locality. | Cole |
34 | HB 2190 | Watch | Layed on the table | Library Materials | Public schools; school libraries; catalog of print or digital materials available in school libraries and used as instructional materials; development, implementation, and maintenance. | Requires the principal of each public elementary or secondary school or his designee to develop, implement, and maintain in an electronic spreadsheet or substantially similar electronic format a catalog of all print or digital materials, as defined in the bill, available in the school library and all instructional materials, as defined in the bill, used as a part of the school curriculum. The bill requires such catalog to (i) be developed and posted in a publicly accessible location on the school website in a searchable and downloadable format; (ii) identify each item by the item's title, author, and, if applicable, International Standard Book Number, or such other identifying features or information as the principal or his designee deems appropriate; and (iii) be maintained and updated as necessary to accurately reflect all print or digital materials available in the school library and any instructional materials used as a part of the school curriculum. | Freitas |
35 | HB 2191 | Watch | Fiscal Impact Statement | Communism SOL | Dangers and victims of communism; recognition; Standards of Learning and programs of instruction. | Requires the Governor to annually issue a proclamation setting the seventh day of November as Victims of Communism Day and requiring such day to be suitably observed in each public elementary and secondary school in the Commonwealth as a day honoring the approximately 100 million individuals who have fallen victim to communist regimes around the world and to be suitably observed by a public exercise in the Capitol and elsewhere as the Governor may designate in such proclamation. The bill also requires the Board of Education to include in the history and social science Standards of Learning in grades six through 12 and each school board to emphasize in its Standards-aligned program of instruction in grades six through 12 the study of the dangers of communism. | Freitas |
36 | HB 2196 | Watch | Passed Committee, with House | Restorative Schools - Discipline | Public schools; student discipline; Restorative Schools in Virginia Pilot Program; established. | Establishes the Restorative Schools in Virginia Pilot Program (the Program), to be administered by the Department of Education (the Department), for the purpose of addressing school discipline issues and promoting evidence-based restorative practices, as that term is defined in the bill, in public schools in the Commonwealth by awarding grants to an eligible school in each superintendent's region in the Commonwealth to be used in developing and implementing a comprehensive plan to integrate evidence-based restorative practices in such schools in accordance with the provisions of the bill. The bill directs the Department to (i) develop the application process by which a school board may apply on behalf of an eligible school, as defined in the bill, in the applicable school division to receive funds pursuant to the Program; (ii) establish criteria for the selection and award of grants pursuant to the Program; and (iii) develop a process for evaluating the progress and performance of each eligible school selected to receive a grant pursuant to the Program in implementing such evidence-based restorative practices and satisfying the Program requirements set forth in the bill. The bill requires any eligible school selected to receive funds pursuant to the Program, in collaboration with the applicable school board, to (a) establish a learning collaborative for the purpose of developing a comprehensive plan for implementing evidence-based restorative practices in such school in accordance with the provisions of the bill and (b) submit to the Department by July 1 of each year immediately following any year for which such eligible school receives a grant a report on the school's progress in implementing such evidence-based restorative practices for the preceding school year. | McQuinn |
37 | HB 2201 | Watch | Passed Committee, with House | Sub Teacher Time Extension | Public schools; temporarily employed teachers; rules and requirements; extension of time limitation. | Extends from 90 to 180 days the maximum period of time during one school year for which a school board may employ a temporarily employed teacher, as defined in relevant law, to fill a teacher vacancy, unless otherwise approved by the Superintendent of Public Instruction on a case-by-case basis. The bill contains technical amendments. | McQuinn |
38 | HB 2244 | FLAG | Passed Committee, with House | Assessment Score Calculation | Standards of Quality; standards of accreditation; measurement of student educational performance and academic achievement; calculation of proportionality score required. | Directs the Board of Education (the Board), in consultation with the Department of Education (the Department), to establish and implement standards for determining and recognizing student educational performance and academic achievement in the form of a weighted proportionality score for each school, to account for no less than five percent of such school's accreditation rating score or metric under the current school accountability system, for the purpose of identifying, accounting for in determining accreditation ratings, and addressing disparities in access to educational resources across racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups in public schools in the Commonwealth. The bill requires the Department to (i) develop a metric for calculating the weighted proportionality score for each school using certain variables calculated by the Department, including (a) a variable based on the percentage of each racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic subgroup in such school as compared to the percentage of each such subgroup in the locality in which such school is located, (b) a variable based on access to certain educational resources associated with student educational performance and academic access for each subgroup identified, and (c) any such other variables deemed necessary by the Department; (ii) develop a metric for calculating the improvement of a school's proportionality score received year over year; (iii) assign for each school based on such school's proportionality score a proportionality designation of "highly proportional," "proportional," "somewhat disproportional," and "highly disproportional"; and (iv) require any school board that contains within the school division a school assigned a proportionality designation of "highly disproportional" to develop and submit to the Department a remediation plan detailing the actions such school board will take to reduce disparities in access to education resources. The bill contains provisions providing for the weighted proportionality score to be accounted for in the school accreditation process for each school, including the inclusion of such proportionality scores and associated data in any annual reports and considerations required as a part of the accreditation process. The bill directs the Board to submit to the U.S. Department of Education within 90 days of the effective date of the bill any amendments necessary to its state plan pursuant to the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended, that are necessary to implement the provisions of the act. Finally, the bill requires its provisions to be implemented beginning with the 2025-2026 school year. | Cousins |
39 | HB 2291 | FLAG | Incorporated into HB 2777 | Textbooks and HQIM | Public schools; textbooks and other high-quality instructional materials | Makes several changes relating to the textbooks and other high-quality instructional materials that are utilized as the curriculum basis for public elementary and secondary school student instruction, including (i) defining such term for the purpose of various laws and regulations relating to approval, procurement, and no-cost provision of such materials; (ii) requiring each local school board to adopt and implement textbooks and other high-quality instructional materials in English language arts for grades six through 12 and mathematics, science, and history and social studies for grades kindergarten through 12 and requiring the Department of Education to support such local adoption and implementation in several ways, including by consolidating and simplifying the applications for all state and federal programs that provide funding to local school boards into a single application; and (iii) requiring each education preparation program offered by a public institution of higher education or private institution of higher education or alternative certification program that provides training for any student seeking initial licensure by the Board of Education with an endorsement in early/primary education preschool through grade three, elementary education preschool through grade six, middle education grades six through eight, and secondary education grades six through 12 to include a program of coursework and clinical experience and require all such students to demonstrate mastery in identifying and implementing textbooks and other high-quality instructional materials. | Coyner |
40 | HB 2338 | Support | Fiscal Impact Statement | Concurrent Enrollment | Public education; concurrent enrollment; high school graduation | Makes several changes relating to graduation from a public high school in the Commonwealth, including (i) eliminating the requirement for a student to complete one virtual course in order to graduate from high school and (ii) specifying that various options and requirements relating to earning career and technical education credentials for the purpose of satisfying high school graduation requirements are required to be high-demand career and technical education credentials. The bill also defines and thereby distinguishes the concepts of dual enrollment and concurrent enrollment in the context of high school students' participation in college-level coursework and requires the agreements for postsecondary attainment between school boards and comprehensive community colleges and certain other educational institutions to specify the credit available for dual enrollment and concurrent enrollment courses. The provisions of the bill amending the requirements for such agreements and for certain parental notification plans have a delayed effective date of August 1, 2026. | Batten |
41 | HB 2341 | No Action | Passed the House, in Senate | Culturally Responsive | Department of Education; culturally responsive and language-appropriate | Requires, no later than October 1, 2025, the Department of Education to develop, adopt, and provide to each local school board guidance on the adoption of policies governing the provision of culturally responsive and language-appropriate mental health support and services for students in the local school division and requires each local school board, no later than January 1, 2026, to develop and adopt such policies in the local school division that are consistent with the guidelines adopted and provided by the Department. | Shin |
42 | HB 2360 | No Action | Passed the House, in Senate | Biliteracy Seal | High school diploma seal of biliteracy; designation as high-demand industry workforce credential for certain purposes. | Requires the Board of Education to include on its list of industry workforce credentials its diploma seal of biliteracy and to consider such seal to be a high-demand industry workforce credential for the purpose of satisfying graduation requirements and determining and calculating high school student readiness in its school accountability system. | Wilt |
43 | HB 2373 | Watch | Referred to Committee | Parents' Bill of Rights | Public elementary and secondary school students; parents' bill of rights established. | Establishes, consistent with ยง 1-240.1 of the Code of Virginia, several enumerated rights for the parents of each public elementary or secondary school student in the Commonwealth, including the right to review any books, curricula, or instructional materials being taught or made available to their child and the right to be notified of any situation that directly affects their child's safety at school. | Higgins |
44 | HB 2381 | Support | Layed on the table | NBCT Reward | National Teacher Certification Incentive Reward Program and Fund; eligibility; incentive grant awards. | Renames the National Teacher Certification Incentive Reward Program and Fund as the National Board Certification Incentive Reward Program and Fund, expands eligibility for incentive grant awards from such Fund pursuant to such Program from solely teachers who have obtained national certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards to (i) all public school staff who are candidates for initial national certification or maintenance of national certification to cover certain costs of obtaining or maintaining such certification and (ii) all public school staff who have successfully obtained or maintained such certification. The bill also declares as eligible for an annual incentive grant award in the amount of $7,500 all public school staff who have obtained or maintained such certification and an additional $2,500 in any year during the life of certificate in which the public school staff member is employed in a Title 1 school. Current law declares as eligible for an annual incentive grant award of $5,000 in the first year and $2,500 in each subsequent year all teachers who have obtained or maintained such certification. | Maldonado |
45 | HB 2400 | Watch | Layed on the table | Library Model Policies | Public elementary and secondary school libraries; model policies for review of print and audiovisual materials; sexually explicit visual content prohibited. | Requires the Department of Education to develop and make available to each school board model policies prohibiting any school library in any public elementary or secondary school from obtaining or possessing any print or audiovisual materials that contain sexually explicit visual content, as that term is defined in the bill. The bill requires such model policies to (i) require the review of any print or audiovisual material that is (a) made available to any such school for placement in any school library or (b) accessible to students in any school library for the purpose of determining whether such material contains sexually explicit visual content; (ii) provide for the removal or exclusion from any school library of any print or audiovisual material that, upon review, is determined to contain sexually explicit visual content; and (iii) establish guidelines for implementing such policies in accordance with the provisions of the bill to ensure compliance with the First Amendment to the Constitution of United States and Article 1, Section 12 of the Constitution of Virginia. The bill requires each school board to adopt policies that are consistent with but may be more comprehensive than the model policies adopted by the Department pursuant to the bill. Finally, the bill amends the exception in current law to the prohibition of certain sales and loans to juveniles for the purchase, distribution, exhibition, or loan of certain materials to schools to clarify that the exception does not apply in the case of public school libraries as provided in the provisions of the bill. | Scott |
46 | HB 2440 | No Action | Fiscal Impact Statement | Health and Family Life | Health education and family life education; certain videos and animations relating to human development inside the uterus. | Requires health education instruction to include an oral, written, or digital lesson, lecture, or presentation about human biology relating to pregnancy and human development inside the uterus, including (i) a high-definition ultrasound video, at least three minutes in duration, showing the development of the brain, heart, sex organs, and other vital organs in early fetal development and (ii) a high-quality, computer-generated rendering or animation showing the process of fertilization and every stage of human development inside the uterus, noting significant markers in cell growth and organ development for each significant marker of pregnancy until birth. The bill requires any family life education curriculum or similar curriculum offered by a local school division that includes any oral, written, or digital lesson, lecture, or presentation about sexual activity and pregnancy in the context of student health or healthy relationships to also include such a video and rendering or animation. | Scott |
47 | HB 2777 | Watch | Passed Committee, with House | HQIM Definitions | Public schools; textbooks and other high-quality instructional materials | Definitions for HQIM | Rasoul |
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50 | SB 738 | Watch | Passed Senate, to House | Cell Phone Discipline | Public elementary and secondary schools; student discipline; student cell phone possession and use policies; development and implementation. | Public elementary and secondary schools; student discipline; student cell phone possession and use policies; development and implementation. Directs each school board to develop and each public elementary and secondary school to implement age-appropriate and developmentally appropriate policies relating to the possession and use of cell phones by students on school property during regular school hours. The bill requires such policies to (i) restrict, to the fullest extent possible, student cell phone possession and use in the classroom during regular school hours; (ii) aim to reduce or prevent any distraction in or disruption to the learning environment, including bullying or harassment, that could be caused or facilitated by student cell phone possession and use on school property during regular school hours; (iii) ensure that implementation and enforcement of the policy is the responsibility of the administration, minimizes, to the extent possible, any conflict with the instructional responsibilities of teachers or any disruption to instructional time, and does not involve any school resource officer; (iv) include exceptions to such policies permitting any student, pursuant to an Individualized Education Plan or Section 504 Plan or if otherwise deemed appropriate by the school board, to possess and use a cell phone on school property, including in the classroom, during regular school hours to monitor or address a health concern; and (v) expressly prohibit any student from being suspended, expelled, or removed from class as a consequence of any violation of such policies. Finally, the bill clarifies that (a) no violation of any such student cell phone possession and use policy shall alone constitute (1) sufficient cause for a student's suspension or expulsion from attendance at school or (2) disruptive behavior authorizing a teacher to remove a student from class and (b) that any such violation that involves, coincides with, or results in an instance of disruptive behavior, as that term is defined in applicable law, shall be addressed in accordance with the regulations on codes of student conduct adopted by each school board pursuant to applicable law. | Pekarsky |
51 | SB 749 | Watch | Passed by indefinitely | Student Participation in Women's Sports | K-12 schools and institutions of higher education; student participation in women's sports; civil cause of action. | Requires each interscholastic, intercollegiate, intramural, or club athletic team or sport sponsored by a public school, or any other school that is a member of the Virginia High School League, or by a public institution of higher education to be expressly designated as one of the following based on the biological sex of the students who participate on the team or in the sport: (i) males, men, or boys; (ii) females, women, or girls; or (iii) coed or mixed if participation on such team or sport is open to both males and females. The bill requires that the biological sex of any student seeking to participate on such an expressly designated team be affirmed by a signed physician's statement. The bill prohibits any such team or sport that is expressly designated for females from being open to students whose biological sex is male. The bill prohibits any government entity, licensing or accrediting organization, or athletic association or organization from entertaining a complaint, opening an investigation, or taking any other adverse action against any such school or institution of higher education based on a violation of the provisions of the bill and creates a cause of action for any school or institution of higher education that suffers harm as a result of a violation of the bill. Finally, the bill creates a civil cause of action for any student who suffers harm as a result of a knowing violation of a provision of the bill by a school or institution or as a result of the student's reporting a violation of a provision of the bill by a school, institution, athletic association, or organization. | Mulchi |
52 | SB 753 | Support | Fiscal Impact Statement | Languages in SOL assessments | Standards of Quality; SOL assessments in languages other than English, development & administration. | Standards of Quality; Standards of Learning assessments in languages other than English; development and administration. Requires (i) the Board of Education to develop Standards of Learning assessments in native languages other than English that are most commonly spoken in the Commonwealth; (ii) each school board to make available any such native language assessment to any English language learner student who speaks any such language natively and is identified as having limited English proficiency; (iii) the English language learner faculty at any such student's school to make the final determination as to whether administration of any such native language assessment is appropriate; and (iv) the provisions of the bill to be implemented by the beginning of the 2025-2026 school year. Finally, the bill directs the Department of Education to submit to the U.S. Department of Education by August 1, 2025 any amendments to its consolidated plan under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act, that are necessary to implement its provisions. | Favola |
53 | SB 784 | Support | Passed Senate, Fiscal Impact Statement | Workplace Readiness Flexibility | Public school accountability system; BOE to revise its Three "E" Readiness Framework, etc. | Board of Education; public school accountability system; Three "E" Readiness Framework; include and incentivize work-based learning experiences. Directs the Board of Education to revise its Three "E" Readiness Framework: Employment, Enlistment, and Enrollment, adopted pursuant to the public school accountability system to measure high school student postsecondary readiness, to include as an indicator of postsecondary readiness and incentivize participation in and completion of work-based learning experiences. | Suetterlein |
54 | SB 820 | Support | Fiscal Impact Statement | Grants for Schools under Improvement | Virginia School Improvement Grant Program; established, report. | Public schools; Virginia School Improvement Grant Program established; report. Establishes the Virginia School Improvement Grant Program for the purpose of providing additional support to public schools identified based on their school performance score as "off track" or "needs intensive support," as those terms are defined by the bill, by awarding three-year grants to eligible schools for the development and implementation of school improvement plans. The bill (i) provides that the Department of Education shall be responsible for the administration of the Program and that the Office of School Improvement shall be responsible for the implementation and oversight of the Program; (ii) provides that any public school identified as "off track" or "needs intensive support" is eligible to apply for such three-year grant disbursed in annual installments; and (iii) permits any participating school that is identified as "off track" or "needs intensive support" for the school year coinciding with or subsequent to such participating school's final year in the three-year grant period to reapply for another grant pursuant to the Program. The bill requires any eligible school, in order to receive any grant funds pursuant to the Program, to develop and submit a school improvement plan or, in the case of a participating school receiving a grant upon reapplication pursuant to clause (iii), a revised school improvement plan outlining specific strategies for improving academic outcomes and addressing identified performance gaps for such school. | Favola |
55 | SB 822 | Support | In Committee with Substitute | Teacher Training | Public elementary & secondary school teachers; training activities, requirements & limitations. | Public elementary and secondary school teachers; certain training activities; requirements and limitations. Prohibits any public elementary or secondary school teacher from being required to participate in any non-academic training activity, as that term is defined in the bill, more frequently than once within six months of employment with the applicable school board and once every five years thereafter, except in the case of certain training relating to secure mandatory test violations upon determination by the school board or division superintendent that additional training is necessary. The bill also provides that the total frequency and duration of non-academic training activities in which each such teacher is required to participate pursuant to (i) state law or regulation shall not exceed 15 hours every five years and (ii) policy or regulation of the school board shall not exceed three and a half hours every three years. The bill also directs the Department of Education to (a) conduct a survey of each school board every five years to identify each non-academic training activity in which public elementary and secondary school teachers employed by such school board are required to participate; (b) develop, post on its website, and annually review and update as necessary to ensure accuracy a list of all non-academic training activities that each public elementary and secondary school teacher in the Commonwealth is required to complete pursuant to state or federal law or regulation; and (c) develop and implement a comprehensive, statewide database designed to provide each school board access to and permit each public elementary and secondary school teacher to track his progress in completing each non-academic training activity in which each public elementary and secondary school teacher is required to participate pursuant to state or federal law. Finally, the bill repeals the provision of law requiring each teacher and school board employee holding a license issued by the Board of Education to complete cultural competency training at least every two years. | VanValkenburg |
56 | SB 855 | FLAG | Fiscal Impact Statement | Assessments | Board of Education; Standards of Learning assessments and related student assessment methods; assessment development, implementation, and administration reform. | Modifies provisions relating to assessment methods for determining the level of achievement of the Standards of Learning objectives by all students, including (i) requirements relating to assessment administration aimed at maximizing instructional time and optimizing time used for assessment administration; (ii) criteria and guidelines for the structure and content of Standards of Learning assessments and alternative assessments developed by local school boards, including criteria for the types of assessment items that shall be included; (iii) provisions relating to eligibility and timelines for students to retake assessments; and (iv) the scoring of Standards of Learning assessments and related assessments, including a requirement that all such assessments be scored on a 100-point scale. The bill requires the Board of Education to provide any teacher who participates in the scoring of Standards of Learning assessments professional development points toward renewal of his license for the time spent scoring such assessments. The bill also requires the Board of Education to develop and make available to each school board certain templates and guidelines relating to assessment content and structure and assessment scoring. | VanValkenburg |
57 | SB 879 | Watch | Passed by for the day (1/31) | CTE Licensure | Board of Education; teacher licensure; career and technical education; alternative pathway to provisional licensure. | Requires the Board of Education to issue a provisional license to any person seeking an initial license in the Commonwealth with an endorsement in the area of career and technical education who has a high school diploma or a high school equivalency certificate and an industry-recognized credential, certification, or license in the area in which such person seeks an endorsement but has not completed all requirements specified in the Board's regulations for licensure to allow time for such person to complete, in lieu of the outstanding requirements specified in the Board's regulations for licensure, coursework in three areas specified in the bill. The bill directs the Board to amend its regulations as necessary in accordance with the provisions of the bill. | Ebbin |
58 | SB 898 | Watch | Failed to Report | SME Credential | Teachers; employment and licensure; locally awarded subject matter expert teaching credentials. | Establishes, enumerates criteria for, and permits a division superintendent or a comprehensive community college to issue a locally awarded subject matter expert teaching credential, valid for a period not to exceed three years, to any individual who demonstrates expertise in content or subject matter area in order for such individual to provide instruction or coursework in a corresponding non-core subject or course, as that term is defined in the bill, in grades six through 12 at any public school in the Commonwealth or at a comprehensive community college in the Commonwealth, including dual enrollment or concurrent enrollment courses. The bill delineates the criteria for issuance of such locally awarded subject matter expert teaching credential. The bill also contains several provisions relating to the employment of individuals under a locally awarded subject matter expert teaching credential, including (i) permitting any school division or institution of higher education to hire any such individual on a full-time or part-time basis to teach a non-core subject or course; (ii) requiring any such individual to be subject to a background clearance check and the fingerprinting and criminal history records check requirements required as a condition of employment of any applicant who is offered or accepts employment at a school division pursuant to applicable law; (iii) requiring each employing school board to assign an individual employed by such school board as a mentor to supervise any individual issued a subject matter expert teaching credential; and (iv) permitting any division superintendent to renew an individual's locally awarded subject matter expert teaching credential for a period not to exceed three additional years, provided that such individual receives satisfactory performance evaluations for each year of the original three-year locally awarded subject matter teaching credential. Finally, the bill requires each school division to annually report to the Department of Education the number of locally awarded subject matter expert teaching credentials issued for part-time and full-time teaching positions. | Craig |
59 | SB 908 | No Action | Passed Senate, to House | Discipline - Cyberbullying | Public schools; student discipline and codes of conduct; prevention of and response to cyberbullying; policies and procedures required. | Requires the Board of Education to include in its guidelines and model policies for codes of student conduct developed pursuant to applicable law standards for school board policies on cyberbullying, defined as bullying that occurs through the use of technology, including through cell phones and other electronic devices and technology capable of accessing the Internet. The bill requires each school board to expand on its policies and procedures relating to the prevention and prohibition of bullying that are included in its student conduct policies and procedures pursuant to relevant law by including policies and procedures that (i) address instances of cyberbullying that occur outside of school property between students enrolled in the school division; (ii) provide protections designed to ensure that any student who is a victim of or a witness to an instance of cyberbullying is not deterred from reporting or seeking support for such instance of cyberbullying by fears of retaliation, social alienation or rejection, or other negative treatment; and (iii) include a list of support services and resources available through each public school to any student who is a victim of cyberbullying relating to reporting and seeking support after experiencing an instance of cyberbullying. | Stanley |
60 | SB 915 | Watch | Passed by indefinitely | Partnerships with Private higher ed | School boards; private institutions of higher education; industry and trade dual-enrollment, education, and training opportunities; partnerships permitted. | Permits any school board, upon approval of a plan submitted to the Board of Education (the Board) in accordance with the provisions of the bill, to enter into a partnership with a private institution of higher education, as that term is defined by the bill, for the purpose of expanding industry and trade training and education opportunities for high school students by (i) establishing or expanding dual enrollment programs through which high school students may earn credit toward completion of undergraduate course credit or a degree relating to industry or trade, an industry-recognized credential, a career certificate, or a state licensure examination; (ii) expanding available course offerings relating to industry or trade; (iii) providing internship, externship, or job-shadowing opportunities for high school students in industry and trade; and (iv) establishing any other plan for such a partnership as may be approved by the Board. The bill directs the Board to develop and make available to each school board guidelines and policies for the (a) submission and approval of such plans to enter into partnerships with a private institution of higher education pursuant to the bill and (b) implementation and administration of any such partnerships. | Stanley |
61 | SB 955 | FLAG | Passed Senate, to House; Substitute | HQIM | Public schools; textbooks and other high-quality instructional materials. | Public schools; textbooks and other high-quality instructional materials. Makes several changes relating to the textbooks and other high-quality instructional materials that are utilized as the curriculum basis for public elementary and secondary school student instruction, including (i) defining such term for the purpose of various laws and regulations relating to approval, procurement, and no-cost provision of such materials; (ii) requiring each local school board to adopt and implement textbooks and other high-quality instructional materials in English language arts for grades six through 12 and mathematics, science, and history and social studies for grades kindergarten through 12 and requiring the Department of Education to support such local adoption and implementation in several ways, including by consolidating and simplifying the applications for all state and federal programs that provide funding to local school boards into a single application; and (iii) requiring each education preparation program offered by a public institution of higher education or private institution of higher education or alternative certification program that provides training for any student seeking initial licensure by the Board of Education with an endorsement in early/primary education preschool through grade three, elementary education preschool through grade six, middle education grades six through eight, and secondary education grades six through 12 to include a program of coursework and clinical experience and require all such students to demonstrate mastery in identifying and implementing textbooks and other high-quality instructional materials. | VanValkenburg |
62 | SB 977 | Support | Passed Committee; referred to appropriations | SOQ Calculations | Public schools; Standards of Quality; certain calculations; support services | Requires the Department of Education (the Department) (i) in calculating nonpersonal costs in the Standards of Quality funding formula, to include the costs associated with work-related employee travel and leased facilities; (ii) in calculating the deduction of federal funds in the Standards of Quality funding formula, to examine actual school division spending on support costs as a percentage of actual school division spending on all public education costs, with certain exceptions such as food service; (iii) in calculating the costs in the Standards of Quality funding formula beginning with fiscal year 2029, to include all employee benefit costs incurred by a majority of school divisions; (iv) in calculating the cost of salaries under the Standards of Quality funding formula, to include facilities staff and transportation staff salaries in the calculation of any cost of competing adjustment to salaries for instructional and support positions; and (v) in estimating the cost of any compensation supplement for instruction and support positions under the Standards of Quality funding formula, to include and estimate the cost of such a compensation supplement for facilities staff. The bill also prohibits the Department from applying any cap on inflation rate adjustments to non-personal cost categories during the biennial process of re-benchmarking the aid to the public education budget. The bill (a) requires a per-pupil Standards of Quality funding add-on to be provided for each special education student; (b) requires support services positions to be funded based on a calculation of prevailing costs and prohibits such positions from being subject to any method of funding calculation that caps the number of funded support services positions based on a ratio of such positions to students enrolled in the school division, with the exception of certain support services positions enumerated in the bill; and (c) establishes the At-Risk Program for the purpose of supporting programs and services for students who are educationally at-risk, including programs and services of prevention, intervention, or remediation. | Hashmi |
63 | SB 978 | Support | Passed committee; to Senate | Math Bill | Public elementary and secondary education; Office of Mathematics Improvement established; mathematics improvement and advancement policies and programs | Establishes several new programs and policies for the purpose of improving mathematics instruction and student learning outcomes in public elementary and secondary schools in the Commonwealth, including (i) directing the Department of Education (the Department) to establish the Office of Mathematics Improvement (the Office) as an office within the Department; (ii) directing the Director of the Office, in collaboration with the Department, to establish an Elementary School Mathematics Advisory Task Force, a Middle School Mathematics Advisory Task Force, and a High School Mathematics Advisory Task Force; (iii) creating several grant programs aimed at incentivizing, encouraging, and expanding opportunities for improving mathematics instruction for educators and mathematics learning outcomes for students, including the Summer Mathematics Intervention Grant Program, the Advance Placement Mathematics Exam Fee Elimination Fund and Program, the Mathematics Improvement and School Support Grant Program, and the Advanced Mathematics Teacher Incentive and Support Grant Program; (iv) making several changes to staffing requirements relating to teachers providing mathematics instruction, including creating a mathematics specialist microcredential program and establishing staffing ratios for mathematics specialists in public schools and permitting schools to use state funding appropriated to support meeting such staffing ratios to support teachers in completing the professional development or training necessary to receive the requisite licensure or endorsements; and (v) requiring the Department to expand the advanced mathematics courses offered through Virtual Virginia, as established pursuant to applicable law, for the purpose of ensuring that students attending public schools across the Commonwealth have access to a full range of advanced mathematics courses. The bill also (a) directs the Board of Education (the Board) to modify its regulations to increase the flexibility of receiving an Algebra I add-on endorsement for teachers; (b) directs the Board, in collaboration with the Office, to develop and approve a Geometry add-on endorsement for teachers; (c) requires the development and dissemination of various guidance documents for school boards and school counselors and online training programs and modules for educators relating to expanding and encouraging mathematics instruction and education, particularly advanced mathematics instruction and education; and (d) requires the Department to compile and post in a publicly accessible location on its website by August 1 of each year a report detailing the impact of the provisions of the bill on expanding mathematics offerings and improving mathematics learning outcomes in public schools across the Commonwealth. The bill provides timelines for modifying regulations to implement the provisions of the bill. | Hashmi |
64 | SB 979 | Watch | Passed by for the day (1/31) | Delay Accountability Implementation | Department of Education; public school accountability; delayed implementation and review of revised public school accountability system; report; emergency. | Directs the Department of Education to delay for a period of one year the implementation of the revised public school accountability system adopted pursuant to applicable Board of Education regulations in order to conduct a review of and establish a stakeholder advisory committee to solicit input on such revised public school accountability system for the purpose of ensuring that such accountability system is designed to achieve fair, transparent, and actionable results aimed at improving student growth and learning outcomes across the Commonwealth. The bill requires the Department to, by April 1, 2026, (i) publish a report on the process and findings of the review conducted in accordance with the provisions of the bill and (ii) submit to the Governor, the Senate Committee on Education and Health, and the House Committee on Education a plan for modifying and implementing the revised public school accountability system that incorporates the findings of the review conducted and the input from the stakeholder advisory committee established in accordance with the provisions of the bill. The bill contains an emergency clause. | Hashmi |
65 | SB 1031 | No Action | Passed by indefinitely | Attendance Requirements | Public elementary and secondary schools; compulsory attendance requirements; religious exemption; requirements | Amends the provisions permitting any child and his parents to receive an exemption from school attendance by reason of bona fide religious training or belief, as defined in relevant law, to require the parent of any such child, in order to receive such exemption, to provide (i) evidence of the parent's ability to provide an adequate education for his child; (ii) notice to the division superintendent by August 15 of each year, or as soon as practicable in the event that such child and his parents move into the school division or seek to receive an exemption after the start of the school year, of such child and his parents' intention to receive such an exemption and certification that the child will receive an alternative form of instruction, including a description of the curriculum to be studied in the coming year; and (iii) evidence of the child's progress in accordance with the provisions of the bill. | Pekarsky |
66 | SB 1032 | Watch | Passed Senate | Teacher Employment - not continuing contract | Public elementary and secondary schools; teacher; terms of employment; reemployment of teacher who has not achieved continuing contract status; written notice required | Removes the requirement that, in the event of the noncontinuation of the contract of any teacher who is employed after a probationary period and entitled to a continuing contract pursuant to applicable law, either party provide written notice of such noncontinuation by June 15 of each year, and instead requires only such teacher to provide written notice of noncontinuation of the contract by June 15 of each year. | Pekarsky |
67 | SB 1034 | No Action | Passed Senate | IEP - Alternative Communication | Students who need or use augmentative and alternative communication; documentation of needs on individualized education program; staff training | Requires each school division to document on the individualized education program of a student with a disability who needs or uses augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) such student's AAC and communication access and support needs prior to the provision of instruction or support to such student, including any extended school year period. The bill defines AAC as any method or tool other than oral speech that an individual uses to communicate, including gestures, facial expressions, writing, and speech-generating devices. The bill also requires each school division to provide to each employee or contractor who provides instruction or direct support to a student with a disability who needs or uses an AAC individualized training as an assistive technology to support the student's use of AAC and to ensure that curricula and instruction are designed or adapted as necessary to accommodate the student's unique communication access needs. The bill also established a timeline for such training based on certain circumstances. | Pekarsky |
68 | SB 1048 | No Action | Passed Senate | Parent Notification - Firearms | School board policies; parental notification; safe storage of prescription drugs and firearms in the household | Requires each local school board to develop and implement a policy to require the annual notification of the parent of each student enrolled in the local school division, to be sent by email and, if applicable, SMS text message within 30 calendar days succeeding the first day of each school year, of (i) the importance of securely storing any prescription drug, as defined in relevant law, present in the household and (ii) the parent's legal responsibility to safely store any firearm present in the household. The bill requires each school board to make such parental notification available in multiple languages on its website. | Pekarsky |
69 | SB 1079 | Watch | Passed by indefinitely | Participation in Female Sports | Elementary and secondary schools; athletics; participation in female sports; civil cause of action | Requires each public elementary or secondary school and each private elementary or secondary school that competes in sponsored athletic events against such public schools to designate all athletic teams and intramural athletic teams sponsored by such school based on biological sex as follows: (i) for "males," "men," or "boys"; (ii) for "females," "women," or "girls"; or (iii) as "coed" or "mixed" if such team is open to participation by (a) males, men, or boys and (b) females, women, or girls. The bill prohibits any student whose biological sex is male and who has not physically transitioned to female prior to puberty from participating on any school athletic team or squad designated for "females," "women," or "girls." Finally, the bill creates a civil cause of action for students and schools that suffer harm as a result of a violation of the provisions of the bill, provided that such action is initiated within two years of the harm occurring. | Peake |
70 | SB 1102 | Watch | Reported with substitute; referred to finance and appropriations | Comprehensive Drug Education | Board of Education; programs of instruction; Safety First Comprehensive Drug Education Pilot Program established | Establishes the Safety First Comprehensive Drug Education Pilot Program, to be administered by the Department of Education, for the purpose of providing public school students scientifically accurate, interactive, and compassionate instruction relating to drugs by providing for the implementation of the Safety First: Comprehensive Drug Education and Intervention Curriculum developed by the Halpern-Felsher REACH Lab in the Department of Pediatrics at Stanford Medicine in each public secondary school located in Superintendent's Region 7. The bill requires the Department of Ed ucation to (i) coordinate with each school board that governs a school division located in Superintendent's Region 7 to implement such curriculum; (ii) develop guidelines to assist school boards, school administrators, and instructional personnel with the implementation of such curriculum in public secondary schools located in Superintendent's Region 7; and (iii) make available to each such school board any instructional materials, curriculum guidelines, or other resources developed by the Halpern-Felsher REACH Lab for the purpose of implementing and providing instruction based on such curriculum. Finally, the bill requires the Board of Education to amend its regulation relating to the provision of health education program instruction in drugs and drug abuse to require public schools to emphasize drug prevention, intervention, and harm reduction. The Program has a sunset date of July 1, 2027. | Hashmi |
71 | SB 1124 | Watch | Fiscal Impact Statement | Driver Ed | Board of Education; driver education programs; computer-based driver education courses; requirements | Requires the Board of Education to establish or approve and permits each school board that chooses to offer a program of driver education in the safe operation of motor vehicles pursuant to applicable law in order to provide, as an alternative to any classroom training portion, as that term is defined in the bill, of such program administered in person, a computer-based driver education course for any student who is enrolled in an online or virtual physical or health education program. The bill clarifies that the provision permitting any school board to provide to certain students a computer-based driver education course established or approved by the Board of Education as an alternative to any classroom training portion administered in person does not apply to the parent/student driver education component of the classroom training portion administered in Planning District 8 which, pursuant to applicable law, must be administered in person. The bill contains technical amendments. | Boysko |
72 | SB 1149 | Support | Passed by indefinitely | Public School Funding | Public school funding; composite index of local ability-to-pay; use value of real estate devoted to certain uses | Requires, for the purpose of determining the state and local shares of basic aid funding, that the composite index of local ability-to-pay utilize the use value of all applicable real estate (i) devoted to agricultural use, horticultural use, forest use, and open-space use in each locality that has adopted an ordinance by which it provides for the use valuation and taxation of such real estate and (ii) used in agricultural and forestal production within an agricultural district, forestal district, agricultural and forestal district, or agricultural and forestal district of local significance in each locality that provides for the use valuation and taxation of such real estate, regardless of whether it has adopted a local land-use plan or local ordinance for such valuation and taxation. | French |
73 | SB 1187 | Watch | Stricken | Higher Ed - Credit Transfer | Public institutions of higher education; certain transfer credit policy prohibited | Prohibits any public institution of higher education from adopting or implementing any policy that denies credit to transfer students based solely on the sending institution's accreditor, as long as such accreditor is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. | Pekarsky |
74 | SB 1247 | Watch | Passed by indefinitely | Higher Ed - Foreign Partnerships | Public institutions of higher education; certain grants from and partnerships and agreements with foreign countries of concern prohibited; report | Prohibits, except with the approval of the governing board of the institution of higher education or the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia under certain circumstances, any public institution of higher education from accepting any grant from or participating in any partnership or agreement with any foreign country of concern, as that term is defined in the bill. The bill requires the Council to establish and enforce mechanisms for compliance and penalties for noncompliance with such prohibition, which shall include civil penalties not to exceed $25,000 per offense and may include periodic institutional reporting until any such noncompliance is remedied by the institution. The bill requires each public institution of higher education, by December 1 of each year, to report to the General Assembly, the Governor, and the Council any grant that it accepted from or agreement or partnership in which it participated with a foreign country of concern during the previous fiscal year and the date on which such grant, agreement, or partnership is expected to terminate. | Durant |
75 | SB 1262 | No Action | Fiscal Impact Statement | Discipline - Restorative Schools | Public schools; student discipline; Restorative Schools in Virginia Pilot Program; established | Establishes the Restorative Schools in Virginia Pilot Program (the Program), to be administered by the Department of Education (the Department), for the purpose of addressing school discipline issues and promoting evidence-based restorative practices, as that term is defined in the bill, in public schools in the Commonwealth by awarding grants to an eligible school in each superintendent's region in the Commonwealth to be used in developing and implementing a comprehensive plan to integrate evidence-based restorative practices in such schools in accordance with the provisions of the bill. The bill directs the Department to (i) develop the application process by which a school board may apply on behalf of an eligible school, as defined in the bill, in the applicable school division to receive funds pursuant to the Program; (ii) establish criteria for the selection and award of grants pursuant to the Program; and (iii) develop a process for evaluating the progress and performance of each eligible school selected to receive a grant pursuant to the Program in implementing such evidence-based restorative practices and satisfying the Program requirements set forth in the bill. The bill requires any eligible school selected to receive funds pursuant to the Program, in collaboration with the applicable school board, to (a) establish a learning collaborative for the purpose of developing a comprehensive plan for implementing evidence-based restorative practices in such school in accordance with the provisions of the bill and (b) submit to the Department by July 1 of each year a report on the school's progress in implementing such evidence-based restorative practices for the preceding school year. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2027. | Pekarsky |
76 | SB 1264 | Watch | Passed committe; referred to appropriations | CTE Courses | Board of Education; career and technical education courses, pathways, and credentials; biennial review; report. | Requires the Board of Education and the Virginia Board of Workforce Development, with the assistance of the Department of Workforce Development and Advancement and the Virginia Office of Education Economics, the Department of Education, the Virginia Community College System, and the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, to conduct, beginning with the fiscal year starting July 1, 2025, and each odd-numbered year thereafter, a biennial review of all career and technical education course, pathway, and credential offerings available to public school students across the Commonwealth for the purpose of ensuring that all such career and technical education course, pathway, and credential offerings are (i) aligned with current and emerging industry and workforce needs, demands, and standards and (ii) designed to effectively prepare students for postsecondary success through gainful employment in a high-demand industry or field, enrollment in postsecondary education, or enlistment in the United States Armed Forces. The bill requires the Board of Education and the Virginia Board of Workforce Development to develop and submit to the Secretary of Education, the Secretary of Labor, and the chairs of the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health by October 1 of each odd-numbered year, beginning with October 1, 2025, a report on each such biennial review. | Bagby |
77 | SB 1346 | Oppose | Passed by indefinitely | Vouchers | Public schools; Virginia Opportunity Scholarship Grant Program established | Establishes the Virginia Opportunity Scholarship Grant Program, to be administered and managed by the Department of the Treasury pursuant to guidelines developed by the Board of Education in collaboration with the Department of the Treasury, for the purpose of ensuring that all children in the Commonwealth have access to quality educational opportunities by annually awarding a grant in the amount of $5,000 per eligible student, as that term is outlined in the bill, for up to 10,000 eligible students each year. The bill requires the grant funds awarded pursuant to the Program to be used to support qualified educational expenses of attending an accredited private school in the Commonwealth, as enumerated by the bill. The bill also (i) directs the Board of Education, in collaboration with the Department of the Treasury, to develop guidelines for the implementation and administration of the Program; (ii) requires the Board of Education to develop and make available to each school board and each school board to make available to parents at the start of each school year informational materials relating to the Program; and (iii) requires the Department of Education to annually collect data on and include as a part of the Board of Education's Annual Report on the Condition and Needs of Public Schools in Virginia the total student participation in the Program. | Jordan |
78 | SB 1370 | No Action | Passed Senate, to House | Counseling - Telehealth | Department of Education; model memorandum of understanding; counseling from school counselors by way of telehealth | Provides that the model memorandum of understanding developed by the Department of Education for partnerships with community mental health services providers or school-based telehealth providers shall include procedures allowing for students to receive counseling from school counselors by way of telehealth. This bill is a recommendation of the Joint Subcommittee to Study Pandemic Response and Preparedness in the Commonwealth. | Srinivasan |
79 | SB 1377 | No Action | Passed by for the day (1/31) | Mental Health First Aid | Department of Education; mental health first aid training program | Directs the Department of Education, in consultation with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, to develop a mental health first aid training program consisting of an adult component and an adolescent and youth component. This bill is a recommendation of the Joint Subcommittee to Study Pandemic Response and Preparedness in the Commonwealth. | Hashmi |
80 | SB 1380 | Watch | Passed by for the day (1/31) | Online learning | Department of Education; development of guidelines and information relating to virtual or online learning; public health emergencies | Provides for the Department of Education to develop and post on its official website guidelines and information relating to virtual or online learning. Such guidelines and information shall include (i) statewide policies relating to virtual learning, (ii) the availability of online or virtual learning options and pertinent information on such options, and (iii) guidelines for educators and schools relating to online or virtual learning policies and best practices. In addition, the bill requires each K-12 school in the Commonwealth to include as a component of its annual safety audit a review of the school's plan for school closures due to public health emergencies. This bill is a recommendation of the Joint Subcommittee to Study Pandemic Response and Preparedness in the Commonwealth. | Hashmi |
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