On Monday, SB490 passed the Virginia House of Delegates and as it previously passed in the Senate it is on the way to the Governor for his signature. This bill is one of the bills needed to fully fund public schools and makes several changes to the Standards of Quality, including requiring the establishment of units in the Department of Education to oversee work-based learning and principal mentorship statewide, requiring the Board of Education to establish and oversee the local implementation of teacher leader and teacher mentor programs, and requiring each school board to provide at least four specialized student support positions per 1,000 students. Under current law, each school board is required to provide at least three such positions per 1,000 students.
Last week, HB127 was reported out of committee to the full Senate, with a substitution. The original bill was stopped in the Senate Public Education Subcommittee that recommended the Education and Health Committee not report the bill to the Senate. Senator Chap Petersen introduced a substitution that dramatically reduced the restrictions in admissions processes for Governor’s schools but mandated that more advanced coursework be offered at middle schools that could feed Governor’s high schools. This bill has not gone through an appropriations committee, but instead is now being considered in the Senate floor. There is no information available on how this mandate would be funded.
Two other bills, HB4 and SB36, are basically the same bill that has passed both chambers. These bills require principals in public schools to report misdemeanors to law enforcement, where the current law requires that only felonies committed on school property be reported. Reconciliation of these bills is expected to be easy and the Governor is expected to sign.