Summary: Public elementary and middle schools; student growth assessments. Requires the Board of Education, in implementing the through-year growth assessment system for the administration of reading and mathematics assessments in grades three through eight, to seek input and suggestions from each interested local school division in the Commonwealth regarding ways in which the administration of such assessments and the reporting of assessment results can be improved, and shall, to the extent possible, incorporate such input and suggestions into the through-year growth assessment system.

Summary: School boards and local governing bodies; unexpendedlocal funds; school maintenance, renovation, and construction.Encourages each school board to enter into a collaborative agreementwith the local governing body to set aside in a separate fund anysums appropriated to the school board by the local governing bodythat are unexpended by the school board in any year in order to usesuch sums to finance school maintenance, renovation, or constructionin the local school division. The bill declares any school board that fails to enter into such a collaborative agreement ineligibleto participate in any state grant, loan, or bond program that supportsschool maintenance, renovation, or construction. This bill is a recommendationof the Commission on School Construction and Modernization.

Summary: Department of Education; school division maintenancereserve tool. Requires the Department of Education, in consultationwith the Department of General Services, to develop or adopt and maintain a data collection tool to assist each school board to determinethe relative age of each public school building in the local schooldivision and the amount of maintenance reserve funds that are necessaryto restore each such building. The bill requires each school boardto provide to the Department of Education in a timely fashion thelocal data that is necessary to ensure that such tool remains relevantand useful for the determination of maintenance reserve needs. Thebill requires the Department of Education to consider converting or using as a template the Department of General Services' M-R FIXtool to meet the above requirement to maintain such a tool. This bill is a recommendation of the Commission on School Constructionand Modernization.

Summary: Literary Fund; loans; application process; maximum loan amounts; rates of interest; closing costs; waiting lists. Makes several changes to the provisions relating to loans from the Literary Fund to finance the construction and renovation of public elementary and secondary school buildings in the Commonwealth. The bill requires the Board of Education (the Board) to establish an annual open application process for Literary Fund loans to occur during the period that the Board deems most suitable. The bill increases from $7.5 million to $25 million the maximum Literary Fund loan amount and permits the Board to increase such maximum to up to $35 million for loans for any school construction or renovation project that facilitates the consolidation of schools. The bill requires the Board to fix the interest rate on all loans made from the Literary Fund at not less than one percent per year, not more than three percent per year, and at increments of one half of one percent per year between such minimum and maximum rates, payable annually, and to utilize a sliding scale based on the local school division's composite index of local ability to pay to determine the interest rate on each such loan. Under current law, such rates are required to be set between two and six percent per year. The bill requires the Board to establish a competitive program for the award of up to $25,000 to a school division that receives a Literary Fund loan for the purpose of subsidizing all or a portion of the closing costs for such loan. The bill also permits the Board to remove any project that has been inactive for at least five years from any Literary Fund loan project waiting list that it maintains. This bill is a recommendation of the Commission on School Construction and Modernization.

Summary: Virginia Literacy Act; early student literacy; evidence-based literacy instruction; science-based reading research. Makes several changes relating to early student literacy, including requiring (i) 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 individual seeking initial licensure with an endorsement in a certain area, including as a reading specialist, to demonstrate mastery of science-based reading research and evidence-based literacy instruction, as such terms are defined in the bill; (ii) the literacy assessment required of individuals seeking initial teacher licensure with endorsements in certain areas to include a rigorous test of science-based reading research and evidence-based literacy instruction; (iii) each local school board to establish a divisionwide literacy plan; (iv) each local school board to employ one reading specialist for each 550 students in kindergarten through grade three; and (v) each local school board to provide a program of literacy instruction whereby, among other things, (a) the program provides reading intervention services to students in kindergarten through grade three who demonstrate deficiencies based on their individual performance on the Standards of Learning reading assessment or an early literacy screener provided or approved by the Department of Education; (b) a reading specialist, in collaboration with the teacher of any student who receives such reading intervention services, develops, oversees implementation of, and monitors student progress on a student reading plan; and (c) each student who receives such reading intervention services is assessed utilizing either the early literacy screener provided or approved by the Department or the grade-level reading Standards of Learning assessment again at the end of that school year. The provisions of the bill become effective beginning with the 2024–2025 school year. This bill is identical to SB 616.

Summary: Board of Education; high school graduation; alternative pathways to the advanced studies diploma. Directs the Board of Education to establish two pathways to the advanced studies high school diploma, and associated diploma seals for students who successfully follow and demonstrate excellence on such pathways: one pathway that requires advanced coursework in a career and technical education field but does not require coursework in world language and another pathway that requires advanced coursework in world language but does not require coursework in a career and technical education field.

Summary: Early childhood care and education; regionalentities; Child Care Subsidy Program Overpayment Fund established.Requires the Board of Education to establish a system of regionalentities that will be responsible for coordinating early childhoodcare and education services, guiding quality improvement of suchservices and coordinated access to such services for families, andimplementing the uniform measurement and improvement system. Thebill establishes the Child Care Subsidy Program Overpayment Fund,consisting of all overpayment moneys collected or recovered by theDepartment of Education or any state or local agency contracted toadminister the Child Care Subsidy Program, net of any refunds due to the federal government, to be used solely for the purpose ofcovering the cost of providing training and supports to early childhoodcare and education entities.

Summary: Public elementary and secondary education; at-risk add-on funds; Reading Recovery. Removes Reading Recovery from the list of programs and initiatives for which school boards may use at-risk add-on funds.

Summary: Institutions of higher education; education preparation programs; coursework; audit. Requires each education preparation program offered by a public institution of higher education or private institution of higher education that provides training for any student seeking initial licensure by the Board of Education to (i) include a program of coursework and require all such students to demonstrate mastery in science-based reading research and evidence-based literacy instruction and require such program of coursework and the student mastery required to be demonstrated therein to be consistent with definitions and expectations established by the Board of Education and the Department of Education after consultation with a commission consisting of independent literacy experts and stakeholders with knowledge of science-based reading research and evidence-based literacy instruction that has reviewed the relevant regulations and (ii) for any such student seeking initial licensure by the Board of Education as a teacher with an endorsement in early childhood, elementary education, or special education or with an endorsement as a reading specialist, ensure that reading course work and field practice opportunities are a significant focus of the education preparation program. The bill requires the Department of Education to audit at least once every seven years each education preparation program, in alignment with each program's accreditation cycle, for compliance with such requirements. The provisions of the bill become effective beginning with the 2024-2025 school year.

Summary: School boards; unexpended local funds; capitalprojects. Permits any school board to finance capital projectswith any funds appropriated to it by the local governing body thatare unexpended by the school board in any year. The bill is a recommendation of the Commission on School Construction and Modernization.

Summary: School counselors; staffing ratios; flexibility. Permits school boards to fulfill the staffing ratio requirements for school counselors by (i) employing, under a provisional license issued by the Department of Education for three school years with an allowance for an additional two-year extension with the approval of the division superintendent, any professional counselor licensed by the Board of Counseling, clinical social worker licensed by the Board of Social Work, psychologist licensed by the Board of Psychology, or other licensed counseling professional with appropriate experience and training, provided that any such individual makes progress toward completing the requirements for full licensure as a school counselor during such period of employment or (ii) in the event that the school board does not receive any application from a licensed school counselor, professional counselor, clinical social worker, or psychologist or another licensed counseling professional with appropriate experience and training to fill a school counselor vacancy in the school division, entering into an annual contract with another entity for the provision of school counseling services by a licensed professional counselor, clinical social worker, or psychologist or another licensed counseling professional with appropriate experience and training.

Summary: Board of Education; membership; qualifications. Requires the nine-member Board of Education, all of whom are appointedby the Governor, to include at least one member with experience orexpertise in local government leadership or policymaking, at leastone member with experience or expertise in career and technical education,and at least one member with experience or expertise in early childhoodeducation.

Summary: Board of Education; provisional teacher licensure; teachers licensed or certified outside of the United States. Permits the Board of Education to provide for the issuance of a provisional license, valid for a period not to exceed three years, to any individual who has held within the last five years a valid and officially issued and recognized license or certification to teach issued by an entity outside of the United States but does not meet the requirements for a renewable license if the individual's license or certification to teach has been evaluated and verified by an entity approved by the Department of Education. This bill is identical to SB 68.