Bills concerning the education of children with disabilities are moving fast! Read about the updates here:
- SB 768 (Favola) requires the Department of Education to survey each local school regarding mental and behavioral health services. The Senate Committee on Education and Health will hear this bill.
- HB 1806 (Cohen) and SB 1126 (Boysko), as introduced would require every Individualized Education Plan (IEP) and Section 504 Plan (504 Plan) to have an addendum that describes a protocol for individualized accommodations and support for the student during emergencies at school. The Senate bill has been assigned to the Committee of Education and Health, which meets on Thursday mornings. The House bill was heard by the K-12 subcommittee of House Education Tuesday morning, where Delegate Cohen introduced an amendment like a substitute that requires IEPs, but not 504 plans, to have a section that addresses accommodations and supports for the student during emergency evacuations “as appropriate.” It also directs the Virginia Department of Education to guide supporting students with disabilities during emergencies, including information relevant to IEP and 504 teams. The substitute Bill was reported out of the House Education Committee by a vote of 21-0 on Wednesday morning.
- HB 2219 (Tran) and SB 1034 (Pekarsky) require documentation in the individualized education program of a student’s needs for augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) and require training of anyone involved in the instruction of such student. The House bill will be in House Education and the Senate bill in Senate Education and Health
- HB 1954 (Rasoul) establishes an At-Risk program in public schools, requires support services positions for special education services to be funded based on a calculation of prevailing costs, and prohibits support services positions from being subject to any method of funding calculation that caps the number of funded support services positions based on a ratio of such positions to students enrolled the local school division.
- HB 1945 (Reaser) encourages school boards to develop and implement policies for permitting public school students to access telehealth services on school property during regular school hours. This Bill was reported out of the House Education Committee on Wednesday Morning by a vote of 13-8 and rereferred to the House Appropriations Committee because of its fiscal impact.
dLCV’s mission is to advance independence, choice, and self-determination; protect legal, human, and civil rights; and eliminate abuse, neglect, and discrimination of people with disabilities through zealous and uncompromising legal advocacy and representation. We are available to educate policymakers about the potential impact of legislative proposals. Please let us know of any legislation you think we should be following, by emailing ga@dlcv.org.