High school graduation requirements; satisfaction of elective course credits.

High school graduation requirements; satisfactionof certain course credits with workforce credentials; developmentand maintenance of list of accepted credentials. Requires theBoard of Education, in collaboration with the Virginia CommunityCollege System, to develop and maintain a current, comprehensive,and uniform list of industry-recognized workforce credentials thatstudents may take as a substitute for certain units of credit requiredfor graduation, including such credentials that are accepted as substitutesfor (i) laboratory science credits or (ii) electives credits. Thebill provides that such list uniformly applies across each localschool division and that each school board is required to accept as a substitute for a required credit any credential listed as anaccepted substitute for such required credit. The bill also requiresany College and Career Access Pathways Partnership entered into betweena school board and a comprehensive community college to specify,consistent with the list, industry-recognized credentials that areaccepted as substitutes for certain credits required for high schoolgraduation. Finally, the bill requires the Board, in establishinggraduation requirements, to permit any student to substitute (i)three standard units of credit and one verified credit in laboratoryscience or (ii) credits for electives for completion of any industry-approvedworkforce credential that is included on the list as an acceptedsubstitute for such credits.