2001 General Assembly Approved Legislation

Finance and Retirement

FINANCE:

HB 1855 and SB 810 exempt from the Public Procurement Act, purchases made by a school board through its public school foundation. (McQuigg, Chichester)

HB 1908 and SB 1033 codify Appropriations Act language authorizing the Virginia Public School Authority to pledge general funds to bonds and notes to be used for grants to local school boards, and requiring the governor’s budget bill to include sufficient appropriations for any shortfall on any debt service payment date on the bonds or notes. (Callahan, Chichester)

HB 1967 allows public bodies to enter into energy performance-based contracts in order to reduce facility energy and operating costs. (Kilgore)

HB 2583 permits individuals to designate their income tax refund or other donations to local school improvement or technology projects; effective through 2006. (Byron)

HB 2865 directs the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) to produce an annual report that analyzes state spending, including examination of state programs that have had the largest impact on the growth of state spending and those programs growing the fastest in percentage terms. (Rust)

RETIREMENT:

HB 252, HB 1589 and SB 954 allow retired Virginia Retirement System (VRS) members to be hired as teachers or administrators, under certain conditions, without interrupting their retirement benefits; employment must be in a critical shortage area identified by the State Superintendent; the length of break in service will be determined by VRS and JLARC; the bills take effect when signed and expire July 1, 2006. (Dillard, Hamilton, Couric)

HB 1741 clarifies that the election to be covered by the retirement system provided in the defined contribution plan for local school superintendents is available only for new school superintendents. (Moss)

HB 2629 and SB 843 provide for a partial lump-sum payment option for VRS members who remain in service at least three years after being eligible for retirement, thus encouraging such employees (e.g. teachers) to extend their work careers. (Tata, Stolle)

GOVERNANCE and OPERATIONS

HB 637 eliminates the statutory salary caps for members of elected school boards and allows such boards to establish member salaries consistent with salary-setting procedures and caps for local governing bodies; legislative approval still would be required for an appointed school board to increase its salary cap; also, the additional annual stipend that may be paid to the local school board chairman is increased from $1,100 to $2,000. (Dillard)

HB 1707 allows school boards to take civil action against a student for failing to return school property. (Amundson)

HB 1983 sets May 15, rather than April 15, as the date by which teachers in certain school divisions must be notified that they may be subject to a reduction in force due to a decrease in funding; this bill is effective upon passage and expires July 1, 2003. (Watts)

HB 2395 requires school boards to develop and implement a policy relating to commercial, promotional, and corporate partnerships and sponsorships involving its schools. (Tata)

HB 2401 allows school boards, when calculating class rankings, to consider whether a student has repeated a required class and has had any prior earned grade for such required class expunged. (Tata)

HB 2439 and SB 1393 clarify that a school board may alter its decision to accept or not accept charter school applications; all school boards had been required to decide whether to accept such applications by December 31, 2000. (Harris, Newman)

HB 2588 allows school boards to share results of a criminal history record report with another school board, provided the report was obtained within the previous 90 days, there is an existing reciprocity agreement and the applicant has requested and agreed to such exchange with another school board to which they have applied; this measure is designed to lessen the costs of obtaining such reports to both school divisions and to applicants seeking positions in more than one locality. (Christian)

HB 2786 revises to definition of “school board” to note that such body “governs” a school division and incorporates in the education title, the definition of “governing body” or “local governing body” as found in the counties, cities and towns title of the Code. (Blevins)

SB 1207 requires school boards to provide access to high school students by military recruiters, as it may do for other persons or groups for purposes of occupational, professional or educational recruitment. (Forbes)

Instruction

STANDARDS OF QUALITY, STANDARDS OF LEARNING, STANDARDS OF ACCREDITATION:

HB 2144 and SB 1324 prohibit colleges and universities from considering a high school’s accreditation status when making admissions decisions for students who have earned a diploma. (Drake, Stolle)

HB 2674 restores unintentionally deleted language in the version of the Standards of Quality (SOQ) that becomes effective in 2003, to state that the requirements for a standard diploma must include at least two sequential electives. (Orrock)

HB 2777 requires the Board of Education (BOE) to solicit public comment prior to revising or adopting Standards of Learning (SOL) resource guides. (Dillard)

SB 1056 authorizes the BOE to substitute industry certification and state licensure examinations for SOL tests for awarding verified units of credit for career and technical education courses. (Quayle)

OTHER:

HB 1882 requires instruction about the hazards and dangers of alcohol abuse, underage drinking, and drunk driving; materials are to be provided by the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. (Albo)

HB 2554 and SB 1329 direct the BOE to set the minimum number of miles to be driven during the behind-the-wheel portion of driver education programs; the bills also increase the minimum age for obtaining a learner’s permit or driver’s license and place several new restrictions on drivers under age 18. (O’Brien, Mims)

SB 1055 changes the name of vocational technical education in the Code to “career and technical” education. (Quayle)

SB 1144 authorizes school boards to establish optional programs for K-1 students who need special guidance, supervision, and discipline in a structured learning environment. (Lambert)

SB 1391 requires the BOE to authorize an elective high school course in comparative religion. (Potts)

Personnel

HB 1724 allows persons residing in an applicant’s community to sign a character reference statement required of applicants for school bus driver positions; current law limits such signatures to residents of the hiring school division. (Black)

HB 1862 and SB 1032 provide that school employees who are placed on probation as first-time drug offenders are not entitled to any escrowed salary or reinstatement. (McDonnell, Stolle)

HB 1866 clarifies, within the child abuse and neglect statutes, that school building-level employees are prohibited from administering corporal punishment, and enumerates actions or contact not deemed to be corporal punishment. (Orrock)

HB 1996 expands current law concerning criminal history checks on school board employees to include arrests and convictions on all Class 1 misdemeanors, rather than just for certain misdemeanors. (Parrish)

HB 2123 requires the BOE to provide an alternative for the Praxis I assessments required for initial licensure. (Darner)

HB 2514 and SB 1304 require new teachers, as a condition of achieving continuing contract status, to successfully complete training in instructional strategies and techniques for intervention for or remediation of students who fail or are at-risk of failing SOL tests; school boards are required to provide such training at no cost to teachers. (Reid, Newman)

HB 2589 moves provisions related to the Teacher Scholarship Loan Program to a different section in Title 22.1, and amends the provisions to require that information about the program be made available to parents, students, teachers, guidance counselors and others. (Christian)

STUDENTS

SCHOOL SAFETY:

HB 197 and SB 847 make it a Class 6 felony to knowingly communicate a written or electronic threat to kill or do bodily injury on school property or at a school event, regardless of whether the threat is actually received; an oral threat remains a Class 1 misdemeanor. (Sherwood, Couric)

HB 247 makes it a Class 4 felony to willfully discharge a firearm on public property within 1,000 feet of school property, unless engaged in lawful hunting or a school-sponsored program. (Dillard)

HB 1575 and SB 789 provide that a juvenile who makes a bomb threat shall be additionally punished with the loss of driving privileges for one year. (Orrock, Houck)

HB 1587 and SB 1334 require schools to submit school safety audits to the relevant school division superintendent, who in turn is required to submit them to the Virginia Center for School Safety. (Hamilton, Newman)

HB 1624 makes possession of all knives on school property or at a school-sponsored event, except for pocketknives with a folding metal blade less than three inches long, a Class 1 misdemeanor; current exemptions for food service and school programs are maintained. (Tata)

HB 1652 allows up to five percent of funds from the School Resource Officer Grants Program to be used for training of school resource officers. (Hamilton)

HB 1706 allows school boards to exclude a student expelled by another division, regardless of the offense for which the disciplinary action was imposed, upon a finding that the student presents a danger to other students or staff. (Amundson)

HB 2512 and SB 1359 reorganize the student discipline statutes of the Code, while making several substantive changes including the following: the various student disciplinary actions are defined; school boards are allowed to exclude students from school upon a finding that the student presents a danger to other students or staff; and schedules and conditions under which students may apply/reapply for readmission to school are established. (Reid, Rerras)

HB 2841 allows the chief law enforcement officer of a locality to disclose to school principals that a juvenile is a suspect in or has been charged with a violent juvenile felony, a crime involving arson or bombs, or a crime involving weapons. (Cox)

SB 1022 requires schools to institute tornado drills every school year. The definition of “school crisis and emergency management plan,” which each school is required to develop, is modified to include tornados among the natural disasters and severe weather conditions that must be considered. (Houck)

OTHER:

HB 1226 directs the BOE to disseminate to parents of special education students, information regarding current federal law and regulation addressing procedures and rights concerning placement and withdrawal of students in special education. (McEachin)

SB 1331 requires students to learn and demonstrate knowledge of the Pledge of Allegiance, and to recite the Pledge each school day; school boards also must ensure that an American flag is in place in each school classroom. (Barry)

MISCELLANEOUS

HB 1691 requires school divisions to select a software technology to filter or block Internet access to child pornography and obscenity (as defined in the Code) through the division’s computers. (Black)

HB 1887 stipulates that the Conflict of Interests Act does not prohibit a school board employee from accepting an award or payment in honor of meritorious or exceptional services. (Rhodes)

HB 2015 and SB 1190 require the Department of Health to coordinate with other agencies in developing a youth suicide prevention plan that promotes health development, early identification, crisis intervention and support to survivors. (Hamilton, Houck)

HB 2103 and SB 1222 allow uniformed school crossing guards to control traffic at all marked school crossings. (Darner, Whipple)

HB 2750 amends the Freedom of Information Act to allow discussion of matters that would involve the disclosure of scholastic record information in a closed meeting; presently, this exception is limited to discussion or consideration of student admission or disciplinary matters. (Blevins)

HB 2754 allows school buses to travel the posted speed limit on interstate highways. (Jackson)

SB 905 provides that for the purposes of being convicted of reckless driving or having a civil penalty imposed, the testimony of a school bus driver, school bus supervisor or law enforcement officer that the vehicle is yellow, conspicuously marked as a school bus, and equipped with proper warning devices is evidence that the vehicle is a school bus. (Mims)

SB 1057 clarifies that educational technology funds for academic programs also may be used for career and technical education, and that the Board of Education’s six-year technology plan must integrate the SOL into career and technical education programs. (Quayle)

2001 Studies and Resolution

HOUSE STUDY RESOLUTIONS

HJR 493 encourages the public display of the national motto, “In God We Trust,” in all public buildings, including the public schools.

HJR 542 requires the State Crime Commission to examine the role, responsibilities, training and authority of school security officers and school safety specialists.

HJR 548 requests the Departments of Health and for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing to develop an education program on prevention of hearing loss in conjunction with the duties related to required hearing tests for public school students.

HJ 571 urges local school divisions to work with their local communities, veterans’ groups and others to develop an educational program for students on military history.

HJR 608 requests the BOE to consider and act on findings and recommendations concerning remediation of students, as submitted by the Commission on Educational Accountability’s Task Force on Remediation.

HJR 640 requests the Board of Education to consider and act on certain findings and recommendations concerning minority students in special education programs, as submitted by the Joint Subcommittee Studying the Overrepresentation of African-American Students in Special Education Programs.

HJR 660 establishes a joint subcommittee to study, among other things, the effects of attention deficit disorder (ADD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) on student performance.

HJR 661 requests the Virginia School Boards Association (VSBA) and Virginia High School League (VHSL) to examine issues relating to commercial, promotional, and corporate partnerships and sponsorships with schools.

HJR 671 establishes a commission to study growth and economic development issues, including the adequacy of current revenues to meet existing and future infrastructure needs.

HJR 675 directs the Joint Subcommittee on Higher Education Funding Policies to examine in-state and out-of-state student enrollment practices at Virginia’s colleges and universities.

HJR 685 and SJR 387 establish a joint subcommittee to study revision of the state tax code, including current taxes, fees, deductions and credits as well as the rates of taxation, and current revenue capacity of localities and the sufficiency of their revenue tools.

HJR 688 requests implementation of previously-required pilot projects to recruit students for the teaching profession to address the shortage of classroom teachers.

HJR 773 directs JLARC to analyze growth in state spending over the past 20 years, including examination of state programs that have had the largest impact on the growth of state spending and those programs growing the fastest in percentage terms.

HJR 794 requests the Department of Education (DOE) and State Council of Higher Education to study the proficiency of school instructional personnel in teaching phonics and the local availability of phonics instructional materials.

HJR 802 requests the BOE to encourage a balanced curriculum for all students by providing opportunities for high school students to pursue both academic and career and technical skills.

HJR 808 urges the BOE to recognize, and to ensure students learn about, the role of America’s military and veterans in defending freedom during the Cold War.

SENATE STUDY RESOLUTIONS

SJR 385 continues the work of the Commission on Educational Accountability for an additional year. Three special task forces of the Commission, on educational needs for the 21st century, fiscal impact of the Standards of Accreditation and alternative testing for special education students, also are continued.

SJR 400 requests the DOE to study the feasibility of providing model school design plans for elementary, middle and high schools.

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