TITLE 22.1. EDUCATION.

§§ 2.2-3309.1 and 22.1-17.4 amended.
Virginia Korean War Veterans Appreciation Week; certain honorary high school diplomas. Establishes the first full week in November as the Virginia Korean War Veterans Appreciation Week and provides for the application for and award of honorary state high school diplomas by the Board of Education if the veteran served in any branch of the United States Armed Forces during the years between 1950 and 1953, the veteran was drafted or did enlist while still enrolled as a secondary school student in any school in any state or territory of the United States or any school located on or associated with a United States military base or embassy and the veteran was unable to resume his secondary education upon returning to civilian life. Upon filing the required application, the Board of Education will award the veteran a Commonwealth of Virginia Korean War Veteran Honorary High School Diploma during the appreciation week. SB 365; CH. 162.

§ 22.1-18 amended.
Standards of Quality; reporting. Directs the Board of Education to include, in its annual fall report on public education needs and schools failing to meet the Standards of Quality (SOQ), a complete listing of the current SOQ, justification for each standard, how long each such standard has been in its current form, and whether the Board recommends any changes to the SOQ. HB 884; CH. 253/ SB 350; CH. 159.

§ 22.1-18.01 added.
Standards of Quality revisions. Requires, to ensure the integrity of the standards of quality, the Board of Education to exercise its constitutional authority to determine and prescribe the standards, subject to revision only by the General Assembly, by (i) reviewing the standards and (ii) either proposing amendments to the standards or (iii) making a determination that no changes are necessary. In any odd-numbered year in which the Board proposes changes to the standards of quality, the budget estimates that are statutority required to be reported pursuant to § 2.2-1504 must take into consideration the Board's proposed standards of quality. Prior to 1984, the Board was required to revise the standards every two years in the odd-numbered year. With the codification of the standards in 1984, this requirement was removed. SB 201; CH. 498.

§ 22.1-26 amended.
Joint schools. Clarifies that school boards may operate comprehensive schools offering all-day academic programs and career and technical education as joint schools. Regional career and technical education centers are most often operated on half-day rotations, with students being transported to the career and technical school for their training while receiving academic programs in another school for the other portion of the day. HB 334; CH. 366.

§ 58.1-3703 amended; § 22.1-26.1 added.
Satellite public education facilities. Authorizes school boards to enter into agreements with private business and industry for the establishment, installation, renovation, remodeling, or construction of satellite classrooms for grades kindergarten through three on a site owned by the business or industry and leased to the school board at no cost. The local school board may adopt procedures for the enrollment of children of employees of the private industry who reside outside the attendance zone for such classrooms. Such procedures shall be designed to ensure compliance with all federal and state laws and regulations and constitutional provisions prohibiting discrimination that are applicable to public schools and with any court-ordered desegregation plan in effect for the school division. Agreements for such satellite classrooms, shall include, among other things, (i) a detailed description of the satellite site, the site development necessary for new construction, remodeling, or renovation for the accomplishment of the project, and any facility to be constructed; (ii) a plan for the reimbursement of the school division by the private industry or business upon premature termination of any such lease agreement; (iii) an enrollment plan, including grade levels to be served; and (iv) a description of any waivers to be requested from the Board of Education for the operation of such satellite classrooms. This bill also authorizes in the tax code the relevant local government, by ordinance, to provide an exemption, in whole or in part, from the licensure tax for private businesses and industries entering into these agreements. HB 755; CH. 717.

§§ 22.1-30 and 22.1-287. See § 63.1-1.1; SB 303.

§ 22.1-32 amended.
School board salaries. Provides that any elected school board may pay each of its members an annual salary that is consistent with the salary procedures and no more than the salary limits provided for local governments in Article 1.1 (§ 15.2-1414.1 et seq.) of Chapter 14 of Title 15.2 or as provided by charter. The specific salary limits that are currently provided for most school boards in Virginia are eliminated for elected school boards; however, for appointed school boards the specific salary limits are retained. Title 15.2 sets specific salary caps for city councils and boards of supervisors by population brackets; town councils may set their own salary levels. This bill also provides that the annual amount a school board, whether elected or appointed, may pay its chairman will be increased from $1,100 to $2,000 and retains the restriction that no school board can be awarded a salary increase, unless a specific salary increase is approved by affirmative vote of that school board. The salary of the Isle of Wight County School Board is addressed in the second enactment because, in November 2001, voters approved a referendum for an elected school board; however, no election will take place until 2003. The Isle of Wight school board is required to adhere to its current cap until such time as its members are elected and duly sworn into office. HB 1141; CH. 733.

§ 22.1-32 amended.
School board salaries. Increases the maximum annual salary for school board members in the County of Appomattox, from $3,000 to $5,000; in the County of Fluvanna, from $2,400 to $3,400; in the County of York, from $4,000 to $6,000; and in the City of Newport News, from $5,000 to $12,000.
Under current law, no school board can request the General Assembly to consider an increase in its annual salary limit unless the school board has taken an affirmative vote on the requested increase. Further, no school board whose membership is elected in whole or in part can be awarded a salary increase unless a specific salary increase is approved by affirmative vote by that school board. No salary increase may become effective during an incumbent member's term of office; however, this restriction will not apply if the school board members are elected or appointed for staggered terms. HB 1272; CH. 739.

§ 22.1-32 amended.
School board salaries. Increases the salary limits of several school boards, as follows: the Chesapeake School Board from $5,000 to $10,000; the Fredericksburg School Board from $3,600 to $7,500; and the Newport News School Board from $5,000 to $12,000. City school boards are required to establish salary increases prior to December 31 in any year preceding an election or appointment of the members. This measure is similar to HB 1272. SB 200; CH. 669.

§ 22.1-36.1 amended.
School board composition. Provides that when a county contains a town that is a separate school division, the county school board will have no member representing the town. Instead, the county school board will be comprised of one member elected or appointed from all of the election districts except those districts having more than five percent of town residents and an additional member elected or appointed at large from the entire county, excluding the town. This bill applies solely to Westmoreland County and the Town of Colonial Beach, and King William County and the Town of West Point. HB 1338; CH. 269/SB 160; CH. 146.

§ 22.1-57.3:1 amended.
Staggered terms for elected school board members; Bath County. Provides, subject to adoption of an authorizing local ordinance, that the elected school board in Bath County shall serve for staggered terms following the November 2003 election with three members elected for four-year terms and two members elected for two-year terms. Under general law, elected school board members must serve the same terms as the members of the local governing body, and the entire Bath County Board of Supervisors is elected every fourth year. Other local school boards exempted from the general law requirement and permitted to have staggered terms are Rockbridge County, pursuant to 1993 legislation, and Loudoun and Pulaski Counties pursuant to 1994 legislation. SB 191; CH. 74.

§ 22.1-60 amended.
Employment of division superintendents. Prohibits school boards from renegotiating a superintendent's contract during the period following the election or appointment of new members and ending on the date such new members are qualified and assume office. HB 434; CH. 374/SB 439; CH. 165.

§ 22.1-72 amended.
Annual organizational meetings of school boards. Requires the school board serving a city or town constituting a school division to hold its annual organizational meeting in January or July, if its members are appointed or elected or any combination thereof. HB 991; CH. 222/SB 279; CH. 231.

§ 22.1-79.3 amended.
School board policies; student surveys. Requires local school boards to develop and implement policies to prohibit the administration of questionnaires or surveys to public school students during the regular school day or at school-sponsored events without written, informed parental consent for the student's participation in such questionnaire or survey when participation may subsequently result in the sale for commercial purposes of personal information regarding the individual student. HB 357; CH. 160.

§ 22.1-115 amended.
System of accounting in public schools. Establishes contingency reserves as a major classification of school funds. SB 604; CH. 470.

§ 22.1-116.1 added.
School board receipt of payment by credit card. Authorizes school boards to receive payment for services and goods by credit or debit cards. School boards accepting credit or debit card payments may, in addition to any penalties and interest, add to such payment a sum as a service charge for the acceptance of such method of payment. HB 695; CH. 238/SB 373; CH. 164.

§ 22.1-205 amended.
Driver education; organ and tissue donor awareness. Adds organ and tissue donor awareness to the topics that must be included in instruction for driver education. Currently, the Board of Education's standardized program for driver education must include instruction regarding alcohol and drug abuse, aggressive driving, and motorcycle awareness. The Department of Health is added to those entities cooperating in the development of the curriculum. HB 686; CH. 386.

§§ 22.1-205 and 46.2-490 amended.
Driver Education. Adds instruction concerning distracted driving to the requirements for driver education in the public schools and requires the Department of Motor Vehicles' driver improvement clinic programs to include instruction concerning alcohol and drug abuse, aggressive driving, distracted driving, and motorcycle awareness. SB 597; CH. 177.

§ 22.1-207.1 amended.
Family life education; adoption. Adds instruction in the benefits of adoption as a positive choice in the event of an unwanted pregnancy to the family life education curriculum guidelines. In addition, this bill states that the Board of Education, in establishing requirements for appropriate training for teachers of family life education, must include training in instructional elements to support the various curriculum components. HB 1206; CH. 554.

§ 22.1-208.2:3 added.
Banking-at-School Partnership Program. Authorizes local school boards to establish a Banking-at-School Partnership Program, consisting of school banks or school credit unions on the premises of public schools within the school division that have been developed and are operated jointly by a public school and a financial institution licensed to conduct business in the Commonwealth. The Program will be designed to provide a multidisciplinary method to reinforce, augment, and support the objectives of the relevant Standards of Learning and career and technical education competencies through practical experiences that (i) allow students to apply mathematical concepts, communication and computer technology skills, and knowledge of economic principles; (ii) allow students to develop proficiency in basic life skills pertaining to money management, personal finance, banking, commerce and trade, and investments; (iii) facilitate financial literacy and an understanding of the American economic system, Virginia's economy, the global economic system, and the effect of personal finance decisions on the national and state economic systems; and (iv) permit students to explore entrepreneurships and career options in banking and finance. The Program will be funded solely by gifts, grants, donations, in-kind services, and bequests received by a public school from its licensed partner financial institution. The Department of Education is to develop guidelines for these programs in consultation with the State Corporation Commission's Bureau of Financial Institutions, the Virginia Bankers Association, and the Virginia Credit Union League. Parental permission is required for student participation in these programs. Schools with high concentrations of at-risk and disadvantaged studented will be encouraged to participate in the Banking-at School Partnership Program. Enactment clauses provide that this act will not affect the continuation or operation of any existing school bank or school credit union established, prior to its effective date, by public schools and licensed financial institutions in the Commonwealth, and also sunset this act on July 1, 2006. HB 966; CH. 774.

§§ 22.1-212.6 through 22.1-212.9, 22.1-212.11, 22.1-212.12, 22.1-212.14, and 22.1-212.15 amended.
Charter schools. Clarifies that institutions of higher education may submit applications to form charter schools, requires all school boards to accept and review public charter school applications, and requires the inclusion of charter school students in the fall membership for purposes of calculating the state and local shares for the Standards of Quality. SB 625; CH. 851.

§§ 22.1-212.8, 22.1-212.9, 22.1-212.11, and 22.1-212.15 amended; § 22.1-212.16 added.
Charter schools. Modifies the charter schools statutes by requiring the Board of Education to add the number of charters denied to its annual report to the Governor and the General Assembly and by clarifying that institutions of higher education may submit charter applications, and that the charter school and its governing body are entitled to immunity "to the same extent as a public school and its school board" and its employees and volunteers to such immunity "to the same extent as the employees and volunteers in a public school." HB 734; CH. 874.

§§ 22.1-227.1 and 22.1-253.13:3 amended.
Substitution of certain tests. Authorizes the Board of Education to substitute industry certification and state licensure examinations for Standards of Learning assessments for the purpose of enhancing the quality of career and technical education and awarding verified units of credit for career and technical education courses, where appropriate. This bill also amends Standard 3 of the Standards of Quality to allow the Board to provide, in the requirements for the verified units of credit stipulated for obtaining the standard or advanced studies diploma, that appropriate and relevant industry certification or state licensure examinations may be substituted for correlated Standards of Learning examinations and that students completing career and technical education programs that are designed to enable such students to pass such industry certification examinations or state licensure examinations may be awarded, upon obtaining satisfactory scores on such industry certification or licensure examinations, appropriate verified units of credit for one or more career and technical education classes into which relevant Standards of Learning for various classes taught at the same level have been integrated. Such industry certification and state licensure examinations may cover relevant standards of learning for various required classes and may, at the discretion of the Board, address various standards of learning for several required courses. A second enactment clause notes that this provision is not to be construed to restrict or change the authority and discretion of the Board for establishing school accreditation standards and the requirements for obtaining a diploma or to require the Board to authorize the award of verified units of credit for any specific industry certification or state licensure examination. SB 477; CH. 167.

§ 22.1-238 amended.
Textbook selection. Directs the Board of Education, in approving basal textbooks for reading in kindergarten and first grade, to establish a minimum decodability standard based on words that students can correctly read by properly attaching speech sounds to each letter to formulate the word at seventy percent or above for such textbooks. HB 794; CH. 421.

§ 22.1-253.13:1 amended.
Career and technical education; annual plans. Modifies the existing requirement within the Standards of Quality for local school boards to develop plans for career and technical education to provide for the input of area business and industry representatives and local community colleges in the plan's development. In addition, the plan must be submitted to the Superintendent of Public Instruction in accordance with timelines set by federal law. SB 334; CH. 837.

§ 22.1-253.13:3 amended.
Standards of Learning; website for suggested improvements. Directs the Department of Education to make available and maintain a website, either separately or through an existing website utilized by the Department, enabling public elementary, middle and high school educators to submit recommendations for improvements relating to the Standards of Learning, when under review by the Board according to its established schedule and related assessments required by the Standards of Quality. HB 159; CH. 101.

§ 22.1-253.13:3 amended.
Standards of Quality; certain elementary school personnel. Amends the Standards of Quality to require, within the Standards of Accreditation, guidance counselors in elementary schools at the following staffing levels: one hour per day per 100 students, one full-time at 500 students, and one hour per day additional time per 100 students or major fraction thereof. In addition, elementary schools may employ one full-time reading specialist "at the discretion of the local school board." HB 1136; CH. 732.

§ 22.1-253.13:3 amended.
Standards of Quality; sequential electives. Directs the Board of Education to provide that the requirements for the standard high school diploma must include at least two sequential electives chosen from a concentration of courses selected from a variety of options that may be planned to ensure the completion of a focused sequence of elective courses. Students may take such focused sequence of elective courses in consecutive years or any two years of high school. Such focused sequence of elective courses must provide a foundation for further education or training or preparation for employment and must be developed by the school division, consistent with Board of Education guidelines and as approved by the local school board. HB 1277; CH. 656.

§ 22.1-274.3 added.
Policies regarding medication recommendations by school personnel. Requires the Board of Education to develop and implement policies prohibiting school personnel from recommending the use of psychotropic medications for any student. The policies will not prohibit school health staff from recommending that a student be evaluated by an appropriate medical practitioner, or prohibit school personnel from consulting with such practitioner, with the written consent of the student's parent. "Psychotropic medications" is defined as those medications the prescribed intention of which is to alter mental activity or state, including, but not limited to, antipsychotic, antidepressant, and anxiolytic medication and behavior-altering medication. Medications such as Ritalin (methylphenidate), Prozac (fluoxetine), and Paxil (paroxetine) would be included in this classification. HB 90; CH. 314.

§ 22.1-279.3:1 amended.
Reporting of certain acts to school authorities. Adds theft or attempted theft of student prescription medications to those incidents required to be reported to school authorities which, in turn, are to be reported to the division superintendent for annual reporting to the Department of Education. Principals are required to report the enumerated acts to law enforcement if constituting a criminal offense.
Current law limits these various reporting requirements to actions involving weapons, violence, and conduct involving alcohol, marijuana, a controlled substance, imitation controlled substance, or an anabolic steroid on a school bus, on school property, or at a school-sponsored activity.
This bill is a recommendation of the HJR 660 Joint Subcommittee to Investigate the Improper Prescription and Illegal Use and Diversion of Ritalin and OxyContin and to Study the Effects of Attention Deficit Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder on Student Performance. HB 692; CH. 388.

§ 22.1-279.8 amended.
School crisis and emergency management plans. Adds incidents involving acts of terrorism to those crises and events that must be addressed in the school crisis and emergency plan to be developed by each public school in the Commonwealth.
Currently, the crises and events to be addressed include various natural disasters; medical emergencies; student or staff member deaths; explosions; bomb threats; gun, knife or other weapons threats; spills or exposures to hazardous substances; the presence of unauthorized persons or trespassers; the loss, disappearance or kidnapping of a student; hostage situations; violence on school property or at school activities; and other incidents posing a serious threat of harm to students, personnel, or facilities. HB 46; CH. 235/SB 442; CH. 166.

§ 22.1-279.8 amended.
School crisis and emergency management plans. Directs the Virginia Center for School Safety, the Coordinator of Emergency Management, and the Board of Education to include, within the model school crisis and emergency management plan for public schools, effective procedures and means by which parents can contact the relevant school or school division regarding the location and safety of their schoolchildren and by which school officials may contact parents, with parental approval, during a critical event or emergency. HB 886; CH. 221/SB 230; CH. 229.

§§ 9.1-101, 9.1-102, 9.1-110, 9.1-184, 15.2-1737, and 19.2-13 amended; § 22.1-280.2:1 added.
School safety personnel. Defines a school resource officer as a trained, certified law-enforcement officer hired by a local law-enforcement agency to provide law-enforcement and security services to Virginia public elementary and secondary schools and a school security officer as an individual who is employed by the local school board for the singular purpose of maintaining order and discipline, preventing crime, investigating violations of school board policies, and detaining and apprehending students violating the law or school board policies on school property or at school-sponsored events and who is responsible solely for ensuring the safety, security, and welfare of all students, faculty, staff, and visitors in the assigned school. The measure also directs the Department of Criminal Justice Services, in consultation with the Department of Education and the Virginia State Crime Commission, to establish compulsory minimum standards for employment and job-entry and in-service training curricula and certification requirements for school security officers; the training and certification will be administered by the Virginia Center for School Safety. School security officers are precluded from appointment as conservators of the peace and as special police officers. A second enactment clause provides that the training and employment standards will be applicable to persons employed as school security officers on and after September 15, 2003. HB 498; CH. 868/SB 295; CH. 836.

§ 22.1-290.01 amended.
Virginia Teaching Loan Scholarship Program. Extends eligibility for the Virginia Teaching Loan Scholarships to students identified by a school board to teach in a discipline or at a grade level within the school division in which a shortage of teachers exists, as defined in Board of Education regulations, and to students enrolled in any area of an approved teacher education program seeking endorsement in elementary or middle school education. This bill also clarifies that the Board of Education defines critical teacher shortage areas in the Regulations Governing the Determination of Critical Teacher Shortage Areas and that increasing the number of students seeking endorsements in elementary and middle school education and in critical teacher shortage areas and disciplines is among the purpose of this program. This bill is the companion legislation to a budget amendment that makes language, pertaining to the Virginia Teaching Loan Scholarship Program, in the appropriations act for the 2002-2004 biennium, consistent with § 22.1-290-1, the applicable statute. HB 1346; CH. 889.

§ 22.1-296.3 amended.
Criminal records checks; private school employees. Expands the list of crimes for which criminal records must be searched for persons seeking employment in a private school by referencing those crimes to any offense set forth in §§ 63.1-198.1 or 63.1-248.7:2--barrier crimes for child welfare agencies, private child-placing agencies, and juvenile residential facilities. HB 435; CH. 528.

§ 22.1-298 amended.
Teacher licensure. Requires persons seeking initial licensure or license renewal as teachers on and after July 1, 2004, to complete study in child abuse recognition and intervention. Curriculum guidelines for this study are to be developed by the Board of Education, as relevant to specific teacher licensure routes, in consultation with the Department of Social Services. SB 92; CH. 493.

§ 22.1-298 amended.
Licensure of school personnel. Defines the term "accredited institution" for the purposes of the law and the Board of Education's regulations on licensure of school personnel to mean an institution of higher education accredited by a national or regional accrediting agency recognized by the United States Department of Education, or by a state approval process. Presently, the Board's regulations are keyed to only regional accrediting agencies recognized by the United States Department of Education. SB 236; CH. 128.

§ 22.1-304 amended.
Notification of reduction in force for teachers. Directs all school boards, within two weeks of approval of the school budget by the local governing body, but no later than June 1, to notify those teachers who may be subject to a reduction in force due to a decrease in the school board's budget as approved by the appropriating body. An emergency clause makes this measure effective upon passage and the measure expires in one year on July 1, 2003. Current law authorizes the school boards of Arlington, Fairfax, Falls Church, and Prince William to provide this notification by May 15. HB 696; CH. 714 (effective 4/6/02).

§§ 22.1-354.1 and 22.1-354.3 amended.
Western Virginia Public Education Consortium. Adds the Counties of Bath, Henry and Patrick and the City of Martinsville to the Western Virginia Public Education Consortium and deletes the requirement that the Consortium's offices be housed at Radford University. HB 710; CH. 417/SB 559; CH. 465.

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