Del. Debra H. Rodman

Requires the Board of Education, in establishing high school graduation requirements, to (i) provide for the substitution of computer coding course credit for any foreign language course credit required to graduate with a standard or advanced diploma for children with disabilities and (ii) permit any English language learner who previously earned a sufficient score on an Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate foreign language examination to substitute computer coding course credit for any foreign language course credit required to graduate, except in cases in which such foreign language course credit is required to earn an advanced diploma offered by a nationally recognized provider of college-level courses.

Requires the governing board of each public institution of higher education to implement guidelines for the adoption and use of low-cost and no-cost open educational resources and low-cost commercially published materials in courses offered at such institution.

Provides that a locality's comprehensive plan may consider strategies to provide broadband infrastructure that is sufficient to meet the current and future needs of residents and businesses in the locality. In the preparation of a comprehensive plan, broadband infrastructure shall be included among the matters that the local planning commission shall survey and study.

Creates the executive branch position of Special Assistant to the Governor for Coastal Adaptation and Protection (the Assistant). The bill provides that the Assistant shall be the lead in developing and in providing direction and ensuring accountability for a statewide coastal flooding adaptation strategy. The bill directs the Assistant to initiate and assist with economic development opportunities associated with adaptation, to advance academic expertise at the Commonwealth Center for Recurrent Flooding and Resiliency, and to pursue federal, state, and local funding opportunities for adaptation initiatives.

Requires paid income tax return preparers to notify the Department of Taxation within a reasonable time period if they discover that an unauthorized person has accessed a taxpayer's return information. The bill defines return information and provides that it does not include publicly available information. This bill is identical to

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.