Del. Marcus Simon
Sponsored bills
Requires local school boards to provide (i) a minimum of 680 hours of instructional time to students in elementary, except for students in half-day kindergarten, in the four academic disciplines of English, mathematics, science, and history and social science and (ii) a minimum of 375 hours of instructional time to students in half-day kindergarten in the four academic disciplines of English, mathematics, science, and history and social science. The bill authorizes local school boards to include and requires the Board of Education to accept, elementary school, unstructured recreational time that is intended to develop teamwork, social skills, and overall physical fitness in any calculation of total instructional time or teaching hours.
Provides lot owners the right to be informed of the count and outcome of a vote on any matter requiring a vote by a property owners' association's membership in proportion to the lot owner's ownership interest. The bill removes the requirement that a recording of a meeting of the board of directors by a lot owner be by audio or visual means.
Designates the third full week of March, in 2018 and in each succeeding year, as Women Veterans Week in Virginia.
Reduces the maximum length of a long-term suspension from 364 calendar days to 45 school days. The bill permits a long-term suspension to extend beyond a 45-school-day period, not to exceed 364 calendar days, if (i) the offense involves weapons, drugs, or serious bodily injury or (ii) the school board or division superintendent or his designee finds that aggravating circumstances exist, as defined by the Department of Education. The bill requires the Department of Education's definition of aggravating circumstances to include consideration of a student's disciplinary history.