Sen. John McGuire

Celebrating the life of the Honorable RobertTata.

Celebrating the life of Barry K. Jett.

Celebrating the life of the Honorable WilliamTayloe Murphy, Jr.

Commending the Honorable William C. Mims.

Commending Daphne Tamara Fulson.

Celebrating the life of the Honorable ArthurR. Giesen, Jr.

Commending the Honorable M. Kirkland Cox.

Child care providers; background checks; portability. Exempts prospective employees and volunteers of certain child welfare agencies from statutory background check requirements where the individual completed a background check within the previous five years, provided that (i) such background check was conducted after July 1, 2017; (ii) the results of such background check indicated that the individual had not been convicted of any barrier crime and was not the subject of a founded complaint of child abuse or neglect; and (iii) the individual is an employee or volunteer of any child welfare agency that is subject to background check requirements or has been separated from such employment or volunteer position for not more than 180 days. The bill requires such child welfare agencies, prior to hiring or allowing to volunteer any individual without the completion of a background check, to obtain written certification from the Department of Education that such individual satisfies all such requirements and is eligible to serve as an employee or volunteer at the child welfare agency. The bill also directs the Department of Education to establish a two-year pilot program for the purpose of stabilizing and improving the quality of child care services in the Commonwealth, which shall include payment of a fixed amount of funds to providers that have agreed to meet certain standards related to quality of care provided, to the extent allowed by federal law, and to report on the pilot program by December 1 of each year.

Workers' compensation; presumption of compensability for certain diseases. Provides that the occupational disease presumption for death caused by hypertension or heart disease will apply for salaried or volunteer emergency medical services personnel who have at least five years of service and are operating in a locality that has legally adopted a resolution declaring that it will provide one or more of such presumptions. This bill incorporates HB 2080.

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.