Summary: In-person instruction; education vouchers; emergency. Requires, in the event that any school board does not provide theoption of in-person instruction as the sole method of instruction for any enrolled student, the parent of any such student who withdraws his child from attendance to receive, upon request, an educationvoucher in an amount equal to a prorated share of the applicableStandards of Quality per-pupil state funds appropriated for publicschool purposes and apportioned to the school division, includingthe per-pupil share of state sales tax funding in basic aid and anystate per-pupil share of special education funding for which thechild is eligible, to cover the expenses of providing in-person instructionin an alternative setting. The bill permits the Department of Educationto establish rules, regulations, or procedures for the issuance ofsuch education vouchers. The bill contains an emergency clause.

Summary: Public education; student education accounts.Permits any school division to establish a program to create savingsaccounts for students to be used for alternative educational programs.The bill requires the Department of Education to establish policiesand procedures under which the parent of each student may use suchfunds on public or private educational programs.

Summary: Board of Education; temporary extension of certain teachers' licenses. Requires the Board of Education to granta two-year extension of the renewable license of any public schoolteacher whose license expires in 2021 in order to provide the teacherwith sufficient additional time to complete the requirements forrelicensure.

Summary: Public schools; severe weather conditions andother emergency situations; unscheduled remote learning days. Providesthat when severe weather conditions or other emergency situationshave resulted in the closing of any school in a school division forin-person instruction, the school division may declare an unscheduledremote learning day whereby the school provides synchronous or asynchronousinstruction, or some combination thereof, to all students in theschool in lieu of in-person instruction without a reduction in theamount paid by the Commonwealth from the Basic School Aid Fund, providedthat the school division has established an unscheduled remote learningday plan that ensures that every student is provided instruction and services on such unscheduled remote learning day that are comparablein quality to the instruction and services provided to learners onany other remote learning day.

Summary: Brunswick County school board; appointed schoolboard salaries. Removes the Brunswick County school board fromthe list of approved member salaries for appointed school boards.The Brunswick County school board is currently an elected schoolboard.

Summary: Public schools, child day programs, and certainother programs; carbon monoxide detectors required. Requireseach building that was built before 2015 and that houses any publicschool classroom for students, licensed child day program, or otherprogram that serves preschool-age children to be equipped with atleast one carbon monoxide detector.

Summary: Teachers and other licensed school board employees;cultural competency. The bill requires teacher, principal, and division superintendent evaluations to include an evaluation ofcultural competency. The bill requires every person seeking initiallicensure or renewal of a license from the Board of Education (i)to complete instruction or training in cultural competency and (ii)with an endorsement in history and social sciences to complete instructionin African American history, as prescribed by the Board. The billalso requires each school board to adopt and implement policies that require each teacher and any other school board employee holdinga license issued by the Board to complete cultural competency training,in accordance with guidance issued by the Board, at least every twoyears.

Summary: Teacher compensation; at or above national average.Requires that public school teachers be compensated at a rate thatis at or above the national average. Under current law, compensationat such rate is aspirational. The bill requires state funding tobe provided pursuant to the general appropriation act in a sum sufficientto fund a 4.5 percent annual increase for public school teacher salaries,effective from the 2022-23 school year through the 2026-27 schoolyear. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2022.

Summary: Student driver safety. Adopts measures aimedat improving student driver safety. The bill requires curriculumfor tenth grade health at public schools to include instruction onthe dangers of distracted driving and speeding, to be developed bythe Department of Education. Finally, the bill requires that a studentshow proof of a valid driver's license or driver privilege card before being issued a school parking pass at a public high school and thatschools use a common application for such parking passes.

Summary: Department of Education; guidelines on excusedstudent absences; civic or political engagement. Requires, subjectto guidelines established by the Department of Education, any middleschool or high school student who is absent from school to engagein a civic or political event to be granted an excused absence.