Gov. Abigail Spanberger has signed a series of bills aimed at strengthening Virginia’s schools and setting students up for long-term success.
The new laws focus on several key areas, including expanding career and technical education in high schools, streamlining the financial aid process, increasing parental involvement in course selection, and improving school construction and modernization planning.
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These legislative actions follow Spanberger’s first-day executive order, which also prioritized the improvement of K-12 schools and higher education institutions, as well as student achievement.
“The strength of public schools is personal for me — both as someone who grew up in Virginia public schools and as a parent of three school-aged daughters,” said Spanberger. “Parents deserve to know that their students are receiving an education that allows them to reach their full potential.”
Spanberger continued, “I am signing this legislation into law to help make sure every student is set up for success — whether they enter straight into the workforce, pursue an apprenticeship, join the military, or attend a community college or four-year university. Over the next four years, I will continue to work with anyone who wants to deliver results for parents, students, and families.”
Here’s a look at the bills that were signed into place:
- SB592 (Senator Lamont Bagby). Aligning career and technical education course offerings with emerging industry and workforce needs. Passed unanimously.
- HB211 (Delegate Debra Gardner). Studying barriers to Head Start and Early Head Start participation in Virginia. Passed with bipartisan support.
- HB924 (Delegate Sam Rasoul). Directing the Board of Education and Superintendent of Public Instruction to support the improvement of low-performing schools. Passed with bipartisan support.
- SB817 (Senator David Suetterlein). Empowering parents by requiring schools to notify parents of student course enrollment deadlines and the process for requesting changes to course selection. Passed unanimously.
- HB1243 (Delegate Israel O’Quinn). Ensuring state accountability ratings accurately reflect student achievement growth. Passed unanimously.
- HB647 (Delegate Hillary Kent). Helping more career and technical education instructors get licensed. Passed unanimously.
- HB206 (Delegate Karen Keys-Gamarra). Giving parents additional information about the administration of college partnership laboratory schools. Passed with bipartisan support.
- SB108 (Senator Stella Pekarsky). Making clear the prohibition on student cellphone and smart device use on school property from bell to bell, helping public school students learn in a distraction-free environment during class time and focus on social interaction during lunch. Passed with bipartisan support.
- SB245 (Senator Christopher Head). Prohibiting schools from using social media as the sole method of communicating with students about school-related extracurricular activities. Passed unanimously.
- HB1086 (Delegate Amy Laufer). Encouraging K-12 schools to purchase fresh school meal ingredients from Virginia farmers and producers. Passed unanimously.
- HB832 (Delegate Kimberly Pope Adams). Assisting Governor’s Schools in increasing meal offerings available to all students. Passed with bipartisan support.
- HB957 (Delegate Elizabeth Guzman). Ensuring school divisions have information about the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline in K-12 schools. Passed unanimously.
- HB971 (Delegate Cia Price). Protecting student-athlete’s biometric data. Passed with bipartisan support.
- SB529 (Senator Danny Diggs). Focusing the training of school security officers on emergency procedures and responding to behavioral threats in schools. Passed unanimously.