Del. Israel O'Quinn

Commending the Honorable M. Kirkland Cox.

Charter; City of Bristol; powers and organization. Makes changes to various provisions of the charter for the City ofBristol, including: (i) removing the city's authority to adopt ordinancesto provide for the prevention of immorality and for the suppressionof gambling places and to authorize the appointment of law-enforcementofficers in exchange with the City of Bristol, Tennessee; (ii) changingfrom city council to the city attorney the authority to appoint assistantcity attorneys; (iii) removing the requirement that a citizen ownreal property to serve on the planning commission; (iv) aligningthe requirements for appropriations outside of the appropriationsordinance with provisions of the Code of Virginia; (v) authorizingthe city council to re-appropriate unexpended funds at the end ofthe fiscal year, regardless of whether obligated to an ongoing project;and (vi) authorizing the city attorney to make investigations intocity affairs and removing such authority from other officers of boardsand commissions. The bill contains technical amendments.

Standards of Learning assessments; reading and mathematics; grades three through eight; individual student growth. Requires the Board of Education to establish, in lieu of a one-time end-of-year assessment and for the purpose of providing measures of individual student growth over the course of the school year, a through-year growth assessment system, aligned with the Standards of Learning, for the administration of reading and mathematics assessments in grades three through eight. The bill requires such through-year growth assessment system to include at least one beginning-of-year and one end-of-year assessment in order to provide individual student growth scores over the course of the school year, provided that the total time scheduled for taking all such assessments shall not exceed 150 percent of the time scheduled for taking a single end-of-year proficiency assessment. The bill requires the Department of Education to ensure adequate training for teachers and principals on how to interpret and use student growth data from such assessments to improve reading and mathematics instruction in grades three through eight throughout the school year. The bill requires such through-year growth assessment system to be fully implemented in each local school division no later than the 2024-2025 school year.

Earned sentence credits; revocation of suspended sentence. Clarifies that sentences for certain crimes that as of July 1, 2022, will be subject to a maximum of 4.5 earned sentence credits for each 30 days served include a suspended sentence that is revoked for any such crime. This bill is declarative of existing law.

Virginia Employment Commission; communications with parties; report. Authorizes the Virginia Employment Commission to send notices and other communications related to claims brought under the Virginia Unemployment Compensation Act through email or other electronic means in lieu of mail if a party to the claim so elects. The bill requires the Commission, if an electronic communication fails to be transmitted successfully, to send a new notice by first-class mail to the party's alternative address on record. The bill directs the Commission to report the number of unemployment insurance claimants who elect to receive communications electronically, and the effect of this change on Commission operations, by December 31, 2022.

Disposition of property previously used by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services as the Southwestern Virginia Mental Health Institute. Authorizes the Governor to lease a portion of property previously used by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services as the Southwestern Virginia Mental Health Institute to Smyth County in as-is condition for a term of three years upon such terms and conditions as may be agreed by the parties, including, without limitation, Smyth County's responsibility for building or infrastructure refurbishments and operational expenses. The bill also corrects tax map references from a 2019 conveyance of property in Smyth County.

Standards of Learning assessments; reduction; report. Reduces the total number and type of required Standardsof Learning assessments to the minimum requirements established by the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, asamended. The bill requires the Department of Education to annuallyreport on the estimated projected and actual savings from the implementationof the bill and report the amount of such savings to the Governorand the Chairmen of the House Committee on Appropriations and theSenate Committee on Finance and Appropriations no later than the first day of each Regular Session of the General Assembly. The billalso requires that such amount be included in the total for DirectAid to Public Education in any general appropriation act.