Summary: Public schools; equal access; education employee associations. Requires school boards to adopt and implement policies to ensure that employees have equal access to education employee associations. The bill requires (i) the Department of Education to identify each education employee association operating in the Commonwealth and provide a list of such education employee associations to school boards and (ii) school boards to provide to each employee such list of available employee education associations and post such list on the school division website.

Summary: Department of Education; teacher employment data. Requires the Department of Education, upon the implementation of an automated teacher licensure and intake system, to aggregate and report to each education preparation program certain teacher employment data, as available, regarding such program's graduates.

Summary: School calendar; opening day of the school year. Requires each local school board to set the school calendar so that the first day students are required to attend school is no earlier than 14 days before Labor Day unless the Board of Education waives such requirement for good cause. Under current law, each local school board is required to set the school calendar so that the first day students are required to attend school is after Labor Day unless the Board of Education waives such requirement for good cause. The bill provides that in each school division in which the school board sets the school calendar so that the first day students are required to attend school is before Labor Day, such school board shall close each school in the school division from the Friday immediately preceding Labor Day through Labor Day. The bill exempts from certain requirements certain school boards that were previously granted good cause waivers by the Board of Education. This bill is identical to HB 1652.

Summary: Public institutions of higher education; tuition and fee increases; public comment. Requires the governing board of each public institution of higher education, prior to a vote on an increase in undergraduate tuition or mandatory fees, to permit public comment on the proposed increase at a meeting of the governing board. The bill requires each such governing board to establish policies for such public comment, which may include reasonable time limitations. This bill is identical to HB 2173.

Summary: School boards; local law-enforcement agencies; memorandums of understanding. Requires (i) the Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety to develop a model memorandum of understanding and (ii) the school board in each school division in which the local law-enforcement agency employs school resource officers to enter into a memorandum of understanding with such local law-enforcement agency that is based on such model and sets forth the powers and duties of the school resource officers. The bill requires each such school board and local law-enforcement agency to review and amend or affirm the memorandum at least once every five years or at any time upon the request of either party. This bill is identical to HB 1733.

Summary: Public institutions of higher education; governing boards; educational programs. Requires educational programs for the governing boards of public institutions of higher education to include presentations relating to (i) board members' primary duty to the citizens of the Commonwealth and (ii) student debt trends.

Summary: Length of school term; waiver for evacuation. Requires the Board of Education to waive the requirement that school divisions provide additional teaching days or teaching hours to compensate for school closings resulting from an evacuation directed and compelled by the Governor for up to five teaching days. The bill provides that there shall be no proportionate reduction in the amount paid by the Commonwealth from the Basic School Aid Fund or the amount paid by a local governing body. This bill is identical to HB 2124.

Summary: Department of Education; energy career cluster. Requires the Department of Education, in consultation with representatives from pertinent industries such as renewable energy, natural gas, nuclear energy, coal, and oil, to establish an energy career cluster. The bill requires the Department of Education to base the knowledge and skill sets contained in such energy career cluster on the energy industry competency and credential models developed by the Center for Energy Workforce Development in partnership with the U.S. Department of Labor. The bill further requires the Department of Education to report to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health no later than December 1, 2019, on its progress toward establishing such energy career cluster. This bill is identical to HB 2008.

Summary: Department of Education; establishment of microcredential program. Permits the Department of Education to establish a microcredential program for the purpose of permitting any public elementary or secondary school teacher who holds a renewable or provisional license or any individual who participates in any alternate route to licensure program to complete additional in-person or blended coursework and earn microcredentials in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) endorsement areas, including computer science, for which there is a high need for additional qualified teachers. The bill requires the Department of Education to direct the Advisory Board on Teacher Education and Licensure to convene a workgroup including pertinent education stakeholders to determine how any microcredential awarded pursuant to any such program will be used to award add-on endorsements and certifications for teachers in such STEM endorsement areas. The bill provides certain conditions in which in-person coursework in a microcredential program not contributing to an endorsement is eligible for professional development points towards the renewal of a teaching license. This bill is identical to HB 2217.

Summary: Board of Education; Career and Technical Education Work-Based Learning Guide. Requires the Board of Education to review and revise, in consultation with certain stakeholders and no later than December 1, 2019, its Career and Technical Education Work-Based Learning Guide to expand the opportunities available for students to earn credit for graduation through high-quality work-based learning experiences such as job shadowing, mentorships, internships, and externships. This bill is identical to HB 2018.

Summary: Advisory Board on Teacher Education and Licensure; teacher licensure; dual enrollment and career and technical education. Grants to the Chancellor of the Virginia Community College System voting privileges as a member of the Advisory Board on Teacher Education and Licensure (the Advisory Board). The bill requires the Advisory Board to report to the Board of Education and the Chairmen of the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health no later than December 1, 2019, recommendations relating to licensure qualifications for individuals employed by an institution of higher education to teach (i) career and technical education courses in a high school setting and (ii) dual enrollment courses in a high school setting. The bill also requires the Board of Education to provide for the issuance of a three-year license to solely teach career and technical education courses or dual enrollment courses at public high schools in the Commonwealth to any individual who is employed as an instructor by an institution of higher education that is accredited by a nationally recognized regional accreditation body, is teaching in the specific career and technical education or dual enrollment subject area at such institution in which the individual seeks to teach at a public school, and complies with certain additional requirements.

Summary: Virtual Virginia. Requires that the Virtual Virginia program be made available to all public schools. Currently, the program is available only to high schools. The bill requires the Department of Education (the Department) to utilize a learning management system for the purposes of implementing The bill also authorizes the Department to charge a per-student fee to school divisions for each student enrolled in a Virtual Virginia course beyond an initial allotment of 15 such students per school division and prohibits the Department from limiting the total number of such students by school division. The bill requires the Department to annually report on the Virtual Virginia program that includes student outcomes to the Chairmen of the House Committees on Appropriations and Education and the Senate Committees on Finance and Education and Health. The Department is required to make such report by November 1 of each year for the previous school year.

Summary: Virginia Public Procurement Act; public institutions of higher education; disclosure required by certain offerors; penalty. Requires every offeror who submits a proposal to a public institution of higher education for any construction project that (i) has a total cost of $5 million or more and (ii) uses a procurement method other than competitive sealed bidding to disclose any contributions the offeror or any affiliated entity, or any of their respective officers, directors, managers, or members, has made within the previous five-year period to the public institution of higher education or any private foundation that exists solely to support the public institution of higher education. Any person that knowingly fails to submit such required disclosure is subject to a civil penalty of $500 and is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.