Sen. Ghazala Hashmi

Celebrating the life of Edward Andrews.

Celebrating the life of Herbert Allen DabneyIII.

Celebrating the life of Dolson Barnett Anderson,Jr.

Celebrating the life of Thomas Henry Francis.

Celebrating the life of Officer Brian DavidSicknick.

Celebrating the life of the Honorable RobertLathan Calhoun.

Celebrating the life of Michael Wayne Woods.

Commending Major Wayne R. Lee, Jr., USA, Ret.

Nursing home standards of care and staff requirements; regulations. Requires the State Board of Health to establishstaffing and care standards in nursing homes to require a minimumof direct care services to each resident per 24-hour period as follows:(i) a minimum of one registered nurse or licensed practical nurseper 15 patients and one certified nursing assistant per eight patientsduring the daytime; (ii) a minimum of one registered nurse or licensedpractical nurse per 20 patients and one certified nursing assistantper 12 patients during the evening; and (iii) a minimum of one registerednurse or licensed practical nurse per 30 patients and one certifiednursing assistant per 15 patients during the nighttime. Such requirementsmay not apply during a health crisis, emergency, or during an outbreakof a communicable disease of public health threat. The bill requires nursing homes to complete a criminal background check on each employeeprior to the start of employment and every five years thereafterthat the employee remains employed. The bill also requires nursinghomes to provide quarterly staff training on first aid, medicationadministration, and compliance with nursing home policies and procedures.

School Equity and Staffing Act; Standards of Quality; work-based learning; teacher leaders and mentors; principal mentors; certain personnel positions and initiatives. Makes several changes to the Standards of Quality, including requiring the establishment of units in the Department of Education to oversee work-based learning and principal mentorship statewide in Standard 1 and requiring the Board of Education to establish and oversee the local implementation of teacher leader and teacher mentor programs in Standard 5. The bill also makes several changes relating to school personnel in Standard 2, including (i) establishing schoolwide ratios of students to teachers in certain schools with high concentrations of poverty and granting flexibility to provide compensation adjustments to teachers in such schools; (ii) requiring each school board to assign licensed personnel in a manner that provides an equitable distribution of experienced, effective teachers and other personnel among all schools in the local school division; (iii) requiring each school board to employ teacher leaders and teacher mentors at specified student-to-position ratios; (iv) requiring state funding in addition to basic aid to support at-risk students and granting flexibility in the use of such funds by school boards; (v) lowering the ratio of English language learner students to teachers; (vi) requiring each school board to employ reading specialists and establishing a student-to-position ratio for such specialists; (vii) requiring school boards to employ one full-time principal in each elementary school; (viii) lowering the ratio of students to assistant principals and school counselors in elementary, middle, and high schools; and (ix) requiring each school board to provide at least four specialized student support positions, including school social workers, school psychologists, school nurses, licensed behavior analysts, licensed assistant behavior analysts, and other licensed health and behavioral positions, per 1,000 students.