Meeting Summary
Virginia Board of Education
July 23, 2009
Guidelines and Standards of Learning for Family Life Education
The Board approved changes to the curriculum guidelines regarding Family Life Education to reflect legislative initiatives passed during the 2009 General Assembly Session. The guidelines now include language regarding marriage, as well as clarifications of when and how parents are to receive information about and have the right to review the family life curriculum.
Virginia Board of Education Advisory Committees
Dr. Bonita Moore, Director, Adult and Community Education was approved for a term on the Board’s Advisory Committee on Adult Education and Literacy, while Dr. Carol Horn, Coordinator of Gifted Programs, was approved for a term on the Virginia Advisory Committee for the Education of the Gifted.
Academic and Career Plans
The Board accepted on first review proposed guidelines for an Academic and Career Plan as required in Section 8 VAC 20-131-140 of the Regulations Establishing Standards for Accrediting Public Schools in Virginia. School divisions with existing programs (existing as of June 30, 2009) regarding academic and career plans are automatically grandfathered. The plans will be up for final approval at the Board’s September 17 meeting, but will not be required for seventh grade students until the beginning of the 2010-2011 academic year.
Textbook Procurement and Adoption
The Board accepted on first review proposed amendments to the Regulations Governing Local School Boards and School Divisions (8 VAC 20-720) with the simultaneous repeal of the existing Regulations Governing Instructional Materials – Selection and Utilization by Local School Boards (8 VAC 20-170), Regulations Governing Textbook Adoption State Level (8 VAC 20-220), Regulations Governing Textbook Adoption Local Level (8 VAC 20-230), and Regulations Governing Textbook Fund Management and Handling on Local Level (8 VAC 20-270).
The proposed regulations capture changes passed during the 2008 General Assembly regarding textbook purchasing, the approval of textbooks, basal textbooks, contacts with textbook publishers, the distribution of textbooks and consumable materials, and the selection of instructional materials by local school divisions. In addition, a number of provisions that are unnecessary, outdated, or are no longer required by the Code of Virginia would be deleted.
In 8 VAC 20-720-10 the term “textbook” is defined, consistent with the definition of textbook in § 22.1-238 of the Code of Virginia and the term “instructional materials” is also defined.
In VAC 20-70-160, language is added to provide parents with the right to inspect instructional materials used as a part of the educational curriculum as well as the procedure for granting a request to parents for such access. This language is consistent with the federal Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment, 20 U. S. C. § 123h and its implementing regulation 34 CFR 98.
In 8 VAC 20-720-170, the textbook selection process is streamlined, consistent with the 2008 legislation. School divisions purchasing textbooks approved by the Board of Education may either enter into a contract with the publisher or purchase on an as-needed basis. In accordance with § 22.1-241 of the Code of Virginia, the written contracts or purchase orders for textbooks approved by the Board are exempt from the Virginia Public Procurement Act, and the textbook price shall not exceed the lowest wholesale price at which the book or books involved in the contract are currently bid under contract anywhere in the United States.
Local school boards may continue to use textbooks not approved by the Board of Education, provided that they adopt procedures governing the selection process. The selection process must include the appointment of an evaluation committee, notice to parents and opportunities for consideration of public comment, and the use of selection criteria approved by the local school board. Textbooks not approved by the Board of
Education must be purchased in accordance with the Virginia Public Procurement Act or locally adopted procurement procedures or regulations that contain requirements for competitive purchasing.
Local school divisions would be required to certify annually that the textbooks are selected and purchased in accordance with the Code of Virginia and these regulations.
Rules Governing Fees and Charges
The Board accepted on first review proposed amendments to the Regulations Governing Local School Boards and School Divisions (8 VAC 20-720) with the simultaneous repeal of the existing Rules Governing Fees and Charges (8 VAC 20-370). The proposed regulation would be very specific about permissible and impermissible fees, policies regarding families who cannot afford fees, and actions permitted for the failure to pay fees.
The following changes related to policy are proposed:
• Local school boards that charge fees would be required to have a policy and a fee schedule that would be provided to parents annually and posted on the school division’s Web site.
• The policy would include a provision to waive or reduce fees for economically disadvantaged students and students whose families are undergoing economic hardships.
• The policy and fee schedule would be required to be consistent across the school division.
• No fees could be charged that had not been approved by the local school division.
The following changes related to fees and charges are proposed:
• Fees may not be charged as a condition of school enrollment unless the student is not of school age or does not live within the jurisdiction (§§ 22.1-1, 22.1-3, and 22.1-5, Code of Virginia).
• Fees may not be charged for textbooks or textbook deposits; however, § 22.1-143, Code of Virginia, permits local school divisions to assess a reasonable fee for lost or damaged textbooks.
• Fees may not be charged for pupil transportation to and from school (Attorney General’s Opinion dated August 29, 2007), but may be charged for the student’s pro rata cost of providing for voluntary extracurricular activities (§ 22.1-176, Code of Virginia).
• Fees may be charged for summer school unless the summer school program is a remediation program required by the Standards of Quality (§ 22.1-253.13:1, Code of Virginia).
• Fees may be charged for class dues; however, class dues shall not be mandatory, and the school board must specify the kinds of programs and activities covered by class dues;
• Fees may be charged for nonmandatory services such as parking fees and locker fees (Attorney General’s Opinions dated November 8, 1991 and 1964-65 Att’y Gen. Ann. Rep. 294).
• Fees may be charged for consumable materials, such as workbooks, but the local school board must have a policy to ensure that these are furnished at a reduced price or free of charge to students who are unable to afford them (§ 22.1-243, Code of Virginia).
• Fees may be charged for the behind the wheel portion of the driver’s education program (§ 22.1-205, Code of Virginia).
• Fees may be charged for the preparation and distribution of official paper copies of the student’s transcript, provided that the school board first provides a reasonable number of copies for free. Official electronic copies of transcripts shall be provided at no cost.
The following additional provision related to nonpayment of fees is proposed:
• A student may not be suspended or expelled for nonpayment of fees and charges.
The Board heard testimony asking them to further strengthen the language regarding how information is provided to parents about fees and fee waivers, as well as about what sanctions are available for non-payment (e.g. no participation in graduation, withholding transcripts or grades, etc.) The Board may consider adding such language during the public comment period on the proposed Regulations.
Governor’s School @ Innovation Park
The Board approved a plan to create the Governor’s School @ Innovation Park to serve students from Manassas City, Manassas Park City and Prince William County. The program’s curricular focus will be on environmentally-based sciences and advanced mathematics.
The Governor’s Career and Technical Academy for STEM in Richmond
The Board approved a plan to create the Governor’s Career and Technical Academy for STEM in Richmond. The program’s two career pathways will focus on Engineering and Technology, as well as Therapeutic Services.
Curriculum Framework for 2009 Mathematics Standards of Learning
The Board accepted on first review proposed revisions to the Curriculum Framework for the 2009 Mathematics Standards of Learning. The major elements of the proposed revised Curriculum Framework for the 2009 Mathematics Standards of Learning include:
• Specificity and clarity of the scope and intent of each of the 2009 Mathematics Standards of Learning;
• Instructional focus for each strand in each grade K-8;
• Growth in the level at which content is presented and increased rigor in each of the six strands in K-8;
• Evidence of the path through K-7 to Algebra I;
• Continued growth from the Patterns, Functions, and Algebra strand in K-8 through Algebra I; Algebra, Functions, and Data Analysis; and Algebra II; and
• Increased emphasis on probability and statistics at the high school level in alignment with recommendations from Achieve, the College Board, ACT, and other organizations and current
The comment period on this Framework is currently scheduled to end August 24th, but the Department will hold open the comment period a few weeks longer, to allow for final passage in October.
Virginia Index of Performance
The Board approved revisions to Criteria for the Virginia Index of Performance, Virginia’s Incentive Program to Encourage and Recognize School Accountability Performance and Competence to Excellence. The revised criteria will be implemented in time for the 2009-2010 school year.
Student Conduct Policy Guidelines
The Board approved updates to the Virginia Board of Education’s Student Conduct Policy Guidelines to reflect 2009 legislative changes. The changes address a legislative prohibition on using suspension as a consequence solely for truancy, as well as the inappropriate use of electronic devices for causing harm via bullying, harassment, and intimidation.
Neighborhood Assistance Program for Education
The Board approved the proposed guidelines, which became effective July 1. The Act allocated $4.9 million for education proposals for approval by the Superintendent of Public Instruction. The Board of Education was authorized by the Act to adopt guidelines for the approval or disapproval of proposals by neighborhood organizations.
Review of the Direct Aid to Public Education Budget for the 2010-2012 Biennium
The Board received the first estimates of the cost of the biennial re-benchmark of education funding. Re-benchmarking is the process by which the state is supposed to capture the increased local costs of educational services within state educational funding formulas, which in turn determine state funding of education. This year, the Department was asked in the Appropriations Act to provide two separate cost estimates – one which included a legislative cap on support personnel staff funding and one which did not include such a cap.
The biennial cost of re-benchmarking with the cap in place would be just under $139M, while removing the cap would increase the total re-benchmark cost to almost $893M. These are preliminary figures, as the state does not have all the data required to fully calculate the re-benchmark, but historically this preliminary estimate provides a good rough estimate of the final total cost.