Summary: Education Savings Account Program established; EducationImprovement Scholarships Tax Credits. Establishes the Education SavingsAccount Program, to be administered by the Department of Education, whereby theparent of any individual who is a resident of the Commonwealth and who iseligible to enroll in a public elementary or secondary school may apply for anEducation Savings Account for his child into which the Department of Educationdeposits certain state and local funds and from which the parent makes certainenumerated qualifying expenses to educate his child in a setting and a mannerother than full-time education in a public school. The bill requires theProgram to be fully implemented prior to the beginning of the 2023–2024 schoolyear.The bill also increases the value of the Education ImprovementScholarships income tax credit for a donation to a scholarship foundation from65 percent to 100 percent of the donation. The bill removes the aggregate limiton tax credits per year, which under current law is $25 million, and removesindividual minimum and maximum required donation amounts.The bill raises the threshold for students to qualify forscholarships from 300 percent of the current poverty guidelines to 1,000percent of free or reduced-price lunch standards or, for eligible students witha disability, from 400 percent of the current poverty guidelines to 1,200percent of such standards. The bill grants scholarship foundations thediscretion to determine what expenses may be funded by tax-credit-subsidizedscholarships. Under current law, such expenses are limited by statute. The billexpands eligibility for scholarships to any student who is a resident of theCommonwealth and eligible to enroll in a public elementary or secondary schoolin the Commonwealth. Current law restricts eligibility to certain categories ofstudents.The bill removes the requirement that scholarship-fundedschools report test results of scholarship-funded students. The provisions ofthe bill pertaining to the Education Improvement Scholarships income taxcredits apply starting with taxable year 2023.

Summary: Education Savings Account Program established; EducationImprovement Scholarships Tax Credits. Establishes the Education SavingsAccount Program, to be administered by the Department of Education, whereby theparent of any individual who is a resident of the Commonwealth and who iseligible to enroll in a public elementary or secondary school may apply for anEducation Savings Account for his child into which the Department of Educationdeposits certain state and local funds and from which the parent makes certainenumerated qualifying expenses to educate his child in a setting and a mannerother than full-time education in a public school. The bill requires theProgram to be fully implemented prior to the beginning of the 2023–2024 schoolyear.The bill also increases the value of the Education ImprovementScholarships income tax credit for a donation to a scholarship foundation from65 percent to 100 percent of the donation. The bill removes the aggregate limiton tax credits per year, which under current law is $25 million, and removesindividual minimum and maximum required donation amounts.The bill raises the threshold for students to qualify forscholarships from 300 percent of the current poverty guidelines to 1,000percent of free or reduced-price lunch standards or, for eligible students witha disability, from 400 percent of the current poverty guidelines to 1,200percent of such standards. The bill grants scholarship foundations thediscretion to determine what expenses may be funded by tax-credit-subsidizedscholarships. Under current law, such expenses are limited by statute. The billexpands eligibility for scholarships to any student who is a resident of theCommonwealth and eligible to enroll in a public elementary or secondary schoolin the Commonwealth. Current law restricts eligibility to certain categories ofstudents.The bill removes the requirement that scholarship-fundedschools report test results of scholarship-funded students. The provisions ofthe bill pertaining to the Education Improvement Scholarships income taxcredits apply starting with taxable year 2023.

Summary: Student immunization requirements; parentalopt-out. Permits any parent of a child who attends any publicor private preschool, nursery school, licensed child care center,or elementary or secondary school or who is school-aged but receiveshome instruction or is exempted or excused from school attendancepursuant to relevant law to elect for his child not to receive anyimmunization otherwise required by the State Board of Health. Undercurrent law, such a parent is only permitted to make such an electionif he (i) objects on the grounds that the administration of immunizingagents conflicts with his religious tenets or practices or (ii) presentsa statement from a physician licensed to practice medicine in Virginia,a licensed nurse practitioner, or a local health department thatstates that the physical condition of the child is such that theadministration of one or more of the required immunizing agents wouldbe detrimental to the health of the child.

Summary: Student records; name change; court order required. Prohibits any school board member or school board employee from changingthe name of a student enrolled in the local school division on anyeducation record relating to such student unless the member or employeereceives a change of name order for such student that was issuedin accordance with relevant law.

Summary: Board of Education; special education and relatedservices; certain deadlines. Requires the Board of Educationto amend certain regulations to (i) permit local educational agenciesto shorten the deadline of 65 business days from the date of receiptof referral for an initial evaluation or a reevaluation of a childto determine eligibility for special education and related servicesand (ii) extend the deadline by which local educational agenciesare required to ensure that an individualized education program is developed from 30 calendar days from the date of an initial or subsequent determination that a child is in need of special education and relatedservices to 30 business days from such date.

Summary: Compensation of public school teachers and other Standardsof Quality-funded positions; competitive rate. Requires the Commonwealth tocompensate its public school teachers at a rate that is competitive, defined incurrent law as at or above the national average teacher salary, in order toattract and keep highly qualified teachers. Current law declares it the policyof the Commonwealth to compensate public school teachers at such competitiverate but does not require it. The bill requires the Department of Education toconduct an annual calculation to determine the estimated national averageteacher salary for each year of the current budget biennium that relies on themost up-to-date data from the source of the 50-state average salary of K-12teachers in public school set forth in the annual Virginia Compared with theOther States report published by the Joint Legislative Audit and ReviewCommission. The bill permits the Department, in making such calculation, to usethe trends of the percent change for the national average teacher salaries inthe two to four years prior to project averages in each year of the current andupcoming biennia. The bill requires the results of such calculation to bereported to the Governor, the General Assembly, and the Board of Education byJune 1 of each year. The bill also requires state funding to be providedpursuant to the general appropriation act in a sum sufficient to fund a certainflat percent annual pay increase for each individual employed in a Standards ofQuality-funded position. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2024.

Summary: Public elementary and secondary schools; development of theSafety While Accessing Technology education program; annual instructionrequired. Directs the Board of Education, in collaboration withlaw-enforcement agencies, criminal justice agencies, and other nongovernmentalorganizations with experience in child online safety issues and humantrafficking prevention, to develop an age-appropriate Safety While AccessingTechnology (SWAT) education program and permits the Board to develop andprovide age-appropriate instructional materials and resources to assist localschool boards in establishing and implementing the SWAT education program. Thebill requires that the SWAT education program include instruction on (i) safeuse of social networking websites and other modes of online communication; (ii)the risks of transmitting personal information on the Internet; (iii) copyrightlaws on written materials, photographs, music, and videos posted or sharedonline; (iv) the importance of establishing open communication with responsibleadults about any online communications or activities; (v) recognizing,avoiding, and reporting suspicious, potentially dangerous, or illegal onlinecommunications, including solicitation by sexual predators, unsolicited ordeceptive communications, harassment, and cyberbullying; and (vi) resources andassistance programs available for any child or parent who may have encounteredonline solicitation by sexual predators or other illegal online communicationsor activities. The bill also requires each local school board to adopt policiesrequiring all elementary and secondary schools to provide such SWAT educationprogram at least once each school year to students in grades three through 12and to permit a parent to opt his child out of participating in such SWATeducation program. Finally, the bill requires the Board to make the SWATeducation program and any accompanying instructional materials and resourcesavailable to all local school boards before the start of the 2024–2025 school yearand requires each local school board to implement such SWAT educational programbeginning with the 2024–2025 school year. 

Summary: Public schools; unscheduled remote learningdays. Provides that when severe weather conditions or other emergencysituations have resulted in the closing of any school in a schooldivision for in-person instruction, the school division shall declarean unscheduled remote learning day whereby the school provides instructionand student services that are consistent with guidelines establishedby the Department of Education to ensure the equitable provisionof such services, provided, however, that no school division claimsmore than 10 unscheduled remote learning days in a school year unlessthe Superintendent of Public Instruction grants an extension. Under current law, such unscheduled remote learning days are permissiverather than mandatory.

Summary: Child day programs; exemption from licensure;certain programs offered by local school divisions. Exempts fromthe requirement to be licensed by the Board of Education any childday program offered by a local school division that is operated forno more than four hours per day on full instructional days or formore than four hours per day on shortened instructional days or noninstructionaldays, staffed by local school division employees, and attended bychildren who are at least three years of age and are enrolled inpublic school or a preschool program within such school division. Under current law, only a child day program offered by a local schooldivision that is operated for no more than four hours per day, staffedby local school division employees, and attended by children whoare at least three years of age and are enrolled in public schoolor a preschool program within such school division is eligible tobe exempt from licensure.

Summary: Public elementary and secondary school teachers;certain training activities; frequency; report. Prohibits anypublic elementary or secondary school teacher from being requiredto participate more frequently than once every five years in anytraining relating to the etiology, prevention, transmission modes,and effects of blood-borne pathogens; treating students with seizuresand seizure disorders, including information about seizure recognitionand related first aid; the appropriate management of student conductand student offenses in violation of school board policies; or secure mandatory test violations. The bill requires each such teacher whocompletes any such training to sign a written attestation that theteacher has been trained in and understands the relevant subject matter. The bill requires each local school board to report to the Boardof Education and the General Assembly no later than October 1, 2023,on the frequency with which each public elementary and secondaryschool teacher in the local school division participates in eachrequired training or professional development activity.

Summary: Length of employment for certain temporarilyemployed teachers; short-term extension permitted. Provides that,notwithstanding the relevant provision of law that permits a schoolboard to employ a temporarily employed teacher to fill a teachervacancy for a period of time not to exceed 90 days during one schoolyear unless otherwise approved by the Superintendent of Public Instructionon a case-by-case basis, during the 2023 - 2024 and 2024 - 2025 schoolyears, any school board may employ such a temporarily employed teacherto fill such a vacancy for a period of time not to exceed 180 daysduring one school year. The bill requires each such temporarily employedteacher to be at least 18 years of age and hold a high school diplomaor have passed a high school equivalency examination approved bythe Board of Education but provides that no such teacher shall berequired to be employed pursuant to a written contract or to holda license issued by the Board of Education.

Summary: Family life education curriculum guidelines;human reproduction; viewing of ultrasound video recording. Requiresthe instruction on human reproduction contained in the Board of Education'sfamily life education curriculum guidelines to include the viewingof a video recording of an ultrasound of a live unborn human in theuterus.

Summary: Virginia student environmental literacy; plan; grant fund and program. Requires the Board of Education, in consultation with the Office of Environmental Education at the Department of Conservation and Recreation, The Science Museum of Virginia, any other stakeholder that it deems appropriate, and the public, and in order to assist each local school board in developing and implementing a program of instruction for grades kindergarten through 12 that is aligned to the Standards of Learning and emphasizes environmental literacy as an essential skill and concept of citizenship that is necessary for responsible participation in American society and in the international community, to establish and update at least once every five years a Virginia student environmental literacy plan (the plan) that includes certain descriptions and (i) prepares students to understand, analyze, and address the major environmental challenges facing the Commonwealth and the United States; (ii) provides field experiences as part of regular school curricula and creates programs that contribute to healthy lifestyles through outdoor recreation and sound nutrition; and (iii) creates opportunities for the enhanced and ongoing professional development of teachers that improves teachers' environmental subject matter knowledge and pedagogical skills in teaching about environmental issues, including the use of interdisciplinary, field-based, and research-based learning and innovative technology in the classroom. The bill establishes the Virginia Student Environmental Literacy Plan Grant Fund and Program, to be administered by the Department of Education, for the purpose of awarding grants on a competitive basis to any local school board that seeks assistance to initiate, expand, or improve teacher professional development opportunities or student environmental education programs that align with the content and objectives of the plan.

Summary: School boards; Teacher Reengagement Program established. Establishes the Teacher Reengagement Program for the purpose of addressing instructional personnel shortages and COVID-19 pandemic-related student learning loss. The bill permits any school board to hire an individual pursuant to the Program, subject to the following conditions and limitations: (i) the individual works on a part-time basis; (ii) the individual is compensated with part-time pay, with any health, dental, and vision insurance coverage that is available to full-time school board employees, or with some combination of such pay and coverage; (iii) in the case of an individual who holds a renewable or provisional teaching license issued by the Board of Education, the individual's duties consist of teaching students, providing one-on-one tutoring services to students, or mentoring teachers, or some combination thereof; (iv) in the case of an individual who does not hold a renewable or provisional teaching license issued by the Board, the individual has professional experience or expertise in a certain subject matter area and the individual's duties consist of providing one-on-one tutoring services to students in such subject matter area; and (v) the individual complies with all laws, regulations, and school board policies and procedures applicable to part-time school board employees. The bill requires any school board that hires any part-time employee pursuant to the Program to annually report to the Department of Education such data on the implementation of the Program that the Department deems necessary to evaluate its continued effectiveness at addressing instructional personnel shortages and student learning loss. The foregoing provisions of the bill expire on July 1, 2028. The bill requires the Department to submit to the General Assembly no later than October 1, 2027, its recommendation for preserving, extending, or eliminating such expiration date.

Summary: Dangers and victims of communism; recognition;Standards of Learning and programs of instruction. Requires theGovernor to annually issue a proclamation setting the seventh dayof November as Victims of Communism Day and requiring such day tobe suitably observed in each public elementary and secondary schoolin the Commonwealth as a day honoring the approximately 100 millionindividuals who have fallen victim to communist regimes around theworld and to be suitably observed by a public exercise in the Capitoland elsewhere as the Governor may designate in such proclamation.The bill also requires the Board of Education to include in the historyand social science Standards of Learning and each school board toemphasize in its Standards-aligned program of instruction the studyof the dangers of communism.

Summary: Child care; background checks. Allows applicantsfor employment and applicants to serve as volunteers to work in certainchild day centers, family day homes, and family day systems pendingthe results of a full background check, provided that (i) the applicanthas received qualifying results on a fingerprint-based backgroundcheck through the Central Criminal Records Exchange or the FederalBureau of Investigation and (ii) the applicant is supervised at alltimes by a person who received a qualifying result on a full backgroundcheck within the past five years.

Summary: Board of Education; Standards of Learning; revision; consultation. Requires the Board of Education, at least 30 daysprior to the public hearings that it is required to hold prior toestablishing revised Standards of Learning, to publish on its websitein a publicly accessible format a list of each individual and organizationthat has been consulted regarding the revision of such Standardsof Learning and the amount paid by any state agency or entity forany such consultation, if applicable.

Summary: Virginia Museum of Transportation; established.Establishes the Virginia Museum of Transportation as a publicentity and educational institution under the Commonwealth. The billprovides that the Museum is governed by a 15-member board of trustees.

Summary: Board of Education; students with disabilities;assessment frequency. Requires the Board of Education to permitstudents with disabilities to take Standards of Learning assessmentsor alternative assessment methods on a less frequent basis than isotherwise required in order to provide such students with additionaltime for personalized instruction on practical skills, provided thatan eligible student's Individual Education Program team makes thefinal determination as to whether such a reduction in frequency ofsuch assessments is appropriate for the student.

Summary: School boards; websites; posting of certaininformation required. Requires, prior to the start of each schoolyear, each school board to post on its website in a prominent location and in a format that is easily accessible to the public (i) a listof each textbook to be used in any elementary or secondary schoolin the local school division during that school year and (ii) theStandards of Learning and any associated curriculum framework thatcorrelate with any course or class to be offered in any elementaryor secondary school in the local school division during that schoolyear or a link to another source that contains such information.

Summary: Tuition Assistance Grant Program; eligible institutions; proprietary private institutions of higher education. Declareseligible for participation in the Tuition Assistance Grant Programproprietary private institutions of higher education whose primarypurpose is to provide collegiate, graduate, or professional trainingor education and not to provide religious training or theologicaleducation and that meet certain other criteria, including maintaininga principal place of business in the Commonwealth and maintainingaccreditation. Under current law, eligibility is limited to nonprofitprivate institutions of higher education whose primary purpose isto provide collegiate, graduate, or professional training or educationand not to provide religious training or theological education and that meet certain other criteria, including maintaining a principalplace of business in the Commonwealth and maintaining accreditation.

Summary: Public schools; staffing ratios; school counselorswith training or experience in mental health. Requires each schoolboard to employ, in addition to the school counselors that it employs as otherwise required by law, at least one full-time school counselorwith specialized training or experience in mental health per 1,000students in grades kindergarten through 12.

Summary: School boards; interdivision enrollment policies; funding. Requires each local school board to establish, annually update, post on its website, and make available to the public upon request policies relating to the interdivision enrollment in the local school division of students who do not reside in the local school division. The bill requires each such set of local school board policies to clearly state whether or not the local school board permits the interdivision enrollment in the local school division of students who do not reside in the local school division, and if the local school board does permit such interdivision enrollment, the bill requires such policies to include (i) methods for determining available slots by grade, school, and program, including career and technical education, hybrid, and virtual programs; (ii) enrollment criteria; (iii) application procedures and timelines; and (iv) a transparent and fair method to address enrollment requests beyond capacity. The bill requires the Department of Education to compile and post publicly and prominently on its website a database of each such set of school board policies. The bill provides that each local school board that accepts for enrollment a student who resides outside of the local school division is entitled to receive from the Commonwealth an amount equal to the greater of all applicable Standards of Quality per pupil state funds for the student or the state average of such funding and that each such student shall be excluded from the required local effort and the required local match of the receiving local school division.

Summary: Department of Education; establishment of Farmto School Program Task Force. Requires the Department of Educationto establish and appoint such members as it deems necessary or appropriateto the Farm to School Program Task Force for the purpose of increasingstudent access throughout the Commonwealth to high-quality farm toschool programs, defined in the bill as programs (i) whereby publicschools purchase and feature prominently in school meals locallyproduced food or (ii) that involve experiential student learning opportunities relating to local food and agriculture, including school and communitygarden programs and local farm visits. The bill requires the TaskForce to collaborate with local school boards, community-based organizations,farmers, relevant state and local agencies, and other relevant stakeholdersto (a) assess existing farm to school programs within and outsidethe Commonwealth to identify and disseminate to each local schoolboard best practices for implementing and sustaining such programs,(b) establish and distribute to each local school board a guidancedocument for the establishment and operation of school garden programs,(c) provide information and resources to each local school board toassist it in leveraging grant funds to support farm to school programs,and (d) collect such data and make such policy recommendations to local school boards, the Board of Education, and the General Assemblyas it deems appropriate.

Summary: Advanced Placement/International BaccalaureateExam Fee Elimination Fund and Program established. Establishesthe Advanced Placement/International Baccalaureate (AP/IB) ExamFee Elimination Fund and Program, to be administered by the Departmentof Education, pursuant to which each local school board is entitledto an annual grant in a sum sufficient to cover all applicable feesassociated with taking an AP or IB examination for any public high school student in the local school division who is eligible to receivefree or reduced price lunch. The bill requires each local schoolboard to annually notify the parents of each public high school studentin the local school division who is eligible for free or reduced price lunch of the opportunity for the student to take an AP or IBexamination at no cost. The bill requires the Board of Educationto transfer any unspent and unobligated federal Elementary and SecondarySchool Emergency Relief (ESSER) state reserve funds to the AP/IB Exam Fee Elimination Fund.

Summary: Standards of Quality; funding to support achievementof at-risk students. Requires, in addition to the positions supportedby basic aid, state funding to be provided to support the achievementof at-risk students, based upon the concentration of students identifiedas eligible for federal free or reduced lunch, as provided in thegeneral appropriation act, in each school division.

Summary: Standards of Quality; work-based learning;teacher leaders and mentors; principal mentors; certain personnel positions and initiatives. Makes several changes to the Standardsof Quality, including requiring the establishment of units in theDepartment of Education to oversee work-based learning and principalmentorship statewide and requiring the Board of Education to establishand oversee the local implementation of teacher leader and teachermentor programs in Standard 5. The bill also makes several changesrelating to school personnel in Standard 2, including (i) requiringeach school board to employ teacher leaders and teacher mentors atspecified student-to-position ratios; (ii) lowering the ratio ofEnglish language learner students to teachers; (iii) lowering theratio of assistant principals to students in each elementary, middle,and high school; (iv) lowering the ratio of school counselors tostudents in grades kindergarten through 12; and (v) increasing therequired number of specialized student support positions from atleast three to at least four such positions per 1,000 students. Suchspecialized student support positions include school social workers,school psychologists, school nurses, licensed behavior analysts,licensed assistant behavior analysts, and other licensed health andbehavioral positions.

Summary: Early student literacy; school boards; submissionand posting of reading intervention materials. Requires eachlocal school board to submit to the Department of Education beforethe start of the school year, and to resubmit to the Department asnecessary to remain current, a description of the reading interventionmaterials and core reading curriculum to be used at each of the schoolswithin such local school division and the job description and contactinformation for each reading specialist and any dyslexia specialistemployed by such school division. The bill requires the Departmentto publicly post on its website such information submitted by eachlocal school board and update its website as necessary to ensurethat such information is easily accessible, accurate, and current.Finally, the bill requires each local school board to post, maintain,and update as necessary a link on its website to the page on theDepartment's website on which such information is posted.

Summary: Policies for the possession and administrationof epinephrine at early childhood care and education entities; scope.Limits, in the context of early childhood care and education entities,the requirement for the implementation of policies for the possessionand administration of epinephrine to child day centers. Under currentlaw, such requirement applies to all early childhood care and education entities, which include child day centers, family day homes, andfamily day systems serving children younger than the age of five.The bill also requires the Board of Education to amend its regulationsto require each family day home provider or at least one other caregiveremployed by such provider in the family day home to be trained inthe administration of epinephrine and to notify the parents of eachchild who receives care in such family day home whether the providerstores an appropriate weight-based dosage of epinephrine in the residenceor home in which the family day home operates.

Summary: Department of Education; Teach for VirginiaLoan Repayment Assistance Fund and Program established. Establishesthe Teach for Virginia Loan Repayment Assistance Fund and Program,to be administered by the Department of Education, for the purposeof recruiting and retaining teachers in communities and subject areasin which they are needed the most by providing on a competitive basisan annual renewable grant of up to $5,000 toward loan repayment assistanceto any teacher licensed by the Board of Education who has certainstudent loan debt, who is currently employed by a local school divisionin the Commonwealth, and who, for at least one year immediately precedingapplication, has taught in a public elementary or secondary schoolin the Commonwealth in a critical shortage area identified by theSuperintendent of Public Instruction pursuant to relevant law or ina public elementary or secondary school in the Commonwealth in whichthe percentage of students eligible for free or reduced price lunchis higher than the statewide average percentage of students eligiblefor free or reduced price lunch.

Summary: Standards of Learning assessments; English languagelearner students; parental opt out; parental notification; translation;report. Requires each local school board to ensure that the parentof each English language learner student is notified of the optionto not have his child take any Standards of Learning assessment. The bill requires such notification to be made in the parent's preferredlanguage and, in the case of the parent of a high school student,to include a detailed explanation of the implications of such a decisionon the student's ability to satisfy high school graduation requirements.The bill also requires the Department of Education to review andmake recommendations on the feasibility of translating certain Standardsof Learning assessments into native languages predominantly spokenby English language learner students in the Commonwealth and administeringsuch translated assessments to certain English language learner studentsin lieu of the associated Standards of Learning assessments writtenin the English language and to submit to the Governor, the Boardof Education, and the General Assembly no later than November 1,2023, a report containing the findings of its review and its recommendations.

Summary: Public school pupil participation on certainteams and in certain clubs; parental consent and notification.Provides that the prior written consent of the parent of a publicschool pupil is required for the pupil to participate on any school-sponsoredathletic or academic team or in any extracurricular club that meetsbefore, during, or after regular school hours and that either isofficially recognized by the school or meets on school property.The bill requires the school to notify any such parent of any suchpupil when the pupil participates on any such team or in any suchclub without the required prior written consent of the parent.

Summary: Critical National Security Language Grant Fundand Program established. Establishes the Critical National SecurityLanguage Grant Fund and Program within the Department of Educationfor the purpose of awarding grants on a competitive basis to anyschool division that provides one or more foreign language coursesin a foreign language that is currently identified as critical bythe National Security Language Initiative for Youth scholarship program.The bill provides that such grants are limited to an annual amountsufficient to provide one or more full-time equivalent teaching positionsto provide one or more critical foreign language courses.

Summary: School counselors; staff time. Defines theterms "direct counseling" and "program planning and school support"for the purpose of the provision of law that requires each schoolcounselor to spend at least 80 percent of his staff time during normalschool hours in the direct counseling of individual students or groupsof students and clarifies that each school counselor may also spendup to 20 percent of his staff time during normal school hours on programplanning and support. This bill is a recommendation of the BehavioralHealth Commission and the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission.

Summary: Department of Criminal Justice Services; powersand duties; Secured Schools Program and Fund. Establishes theSecured Schools Program and Secured Schools Program Fund, establishedby and implemented by the Department of Criminal Justice Services(Department), as a comprehensive, prompt, and reliable first warning notification and emergency broadcast system for each PSAP in theCommonwealth to (i) allow elementary or secondary school facultyto alert the local PSAP of an imminent threat to public safety withinthe elementary or secondary school and (ii) alert administrationat each elementary and secondary school located within such PSAP'sservice area in the case of an imminent threat to public safety withinthe proximity boundary of the elementary or secondary school, as establishedby school administrators and local law enforcement. The bill allowssuch alerts to be issued by means of (a) website announcements;(b) email notices; (c) phone, cellular phone, or text messages; (d)alert lines; (e) public address systems; (f) panic buttons; or (g)any other means of communication. The bill directs the Departmentto adopt regulations governing the implementation of the SecuredSchools Program, in accordance with criteria provided in the bill,and establish criteria for funding the Program through disbursementsfrom the Secured Schools Program Fund.

Summary: Certain federal pandemic relief funds for publiceducation; certain conditions; emergency. Requires any localschool division that, as of March 1, 2023, has available and unspentfederal (i) ESSER formula funds exceeding $5,000 or (ii) state set-asideESSER or GEER funds awarded to the local school division by the VirginiaDepartment of Education (the Department) to return such funds tothe Department no later than March 15, 2023, unless precluded byfederal law or regulation. The bill requires the Department to subsequentlyexpend any such returned funds for student instruction and remediation.The bill also requires each local school division to obtain the approvalof the local school board for its federal ESSER III spending plan, update such spending plan at least once every six months, and publishsuch spending plan in an accessible format on a publicly availablewebsite. The bill contains an emergency clause.

Summary: Board of Education; high school graduation; alternative pathways to the advanced studies diploma and associated diploma seals. 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. The bill requires such pathways and associated diploma seals to become effective for the 2024-2025 school year and to be available to any student, regardless of the school year during which the student enters ninth grade.

Summary: School boards; anonymous reporting system; assessmentof risk of violence and prevention of student harm to self or others. Encourages each school board to contract with a private nonprofitorganization to procure and make available an anonymous reportingsystem for the assessment of risk or violence and the preventionof student harm to self or others that includes the following featuresand components: (i) a secure platform for students to submit messagesand tips relating to violence or harm to self or others by telephone,website, and a multiplatform compatible mobile application; (ii)student access, 24 hours per day, seven days per week, and 365 daysper year, to a national crisis center that is staffed by a team ofhighly skilled and trained crisis counselors whose sole duty is torespond to messages and tips from students relating to violence orharm to self or others; (iii) ongoing program support; and (iv) trainingfor student and adult users.

Summary: Employment of school protection officers inpublic schools. Permits any local law-enforcement agency to employin any public elementary or secondary school in the local schooldivision, pursuant to an agreement with the local school board, a school protection officer, defined in the bill as a retired law-enforcementofficer hired by the local law-enforcement agency on a part-timebasis to provide limited law-enforcement and security services to public elementary and secondary schools in the Commonwealth. Thebill requires each such school board and local law-enforcement agencyto enter into a memorandum of understanding that sets forth the powersand duties of school protection officers. The bill requires the Departmentof Criminal Justice Services to establish compulsory training standardsfor school protection officers and requires the collection of certaindata relating to the activities of such officers.

Summary: Department of Education; statewide strategic plan; speech-language pathologists. Requires the Department to develop and maintain a statewide strategic plan for recruiting and retaining speech-language pathologists that, at a minimum, (i) analyzes data to determine the specific staffing needs of local school divisions on an ongoing basis; (ii) evaluates the potential effectiveness of strategies for addressing recruitment and retention challenges, including tuition assistance, differentiated pay for speech-language pathologists, and the expansion of speech-language pathologist mentorships; and (iii) estimates the costs of implementing each such strategy, including the extent to which federal funds could be used to support implementation. The bill requires the Department, no later than November 1 of each year, to update the Chairmen of the Senate Committee on Education and Health and the House Committee on Education on its progress in implementing such plan. The foregoing provisions of the bill have a delayed effective date of July 1, 2024. The bill also directs the Department of Education and the Board of Education, in consultation with each local school board, to (a) examine the caseloads and compensation of speech-language pathologists in each local school division, (b) compare such caseloads and compensation to those of speech-language pathologists in contiguous states, and (c) make recommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly no later than November 1, 2023, for such amendments to relevant law and the general appropriation act as may be necessary to effectuate a reduction in caseloads and increase in compensation that would facilitate stronger recruitment and retention of speech-language pathologists in public elementary and secondary schools in the Commonwealth.

Summary: Public elementary and secondary school teachers; certain training activities; frequency; report. Prohibits any public elementary or secondary school teacher from being required to participate more frequently than once every five years in any training relating to the etiology, prevention, transmission modes, and effects of blood-borne pathogens; treating students with seizures and seizure disorders, including information about seizure recognition and related first aid; the appropriate management of student conduct and student offenses in violation of school board policies; or secure mandatory test violations. The bill requires each such teacher who completes any such training to sign a written attestation that the teacher has been trained in and understands the relevant subject matter. The bill requires each local school board to report to the Board of Education and the General Assembly no later than October 1, 2023, on the frequency with which each public elementary and secondary school teacher in the local school division participates in each required training or professional development activity.