An Act to amend and reenact § 22.1-253.13:3, as it shall become effective, of the Code of Virginia, relating to Board of Education; Standards of Learning assessments and related assessment methods; development, administration, scoring, and release.
HB299 amends Virginia’s school accreditation statute to revise how the Board of Education develops, administers, scores, and releases Standards of Learning-related assessments and to strengthen the state’s oversight framework for school accreditation. The bill requires the Board to maintain regulations that are transparent and based on objective measurements, and it preserves the Board’s authority to hear accreditation appeals. It also directs the Board to review school accreditation annually, while allowing schools that have been fully accredited for three consecutive years to move to a three-year review cycle, with year-by-year review within that cycle.
The bill expands the corrective-action structure for schools and school divisions that do not meet accreditation standards. It requires local school boards to submit corrective action plans for schools that fall short, and if progress is insufficient, to enter into memoranda of understanding with the Board. Where the Board determines that division-level failures in implementing the Standards of Quality or other division-level actions or inactions are contributing to school performance problems, it may require a division-level academic review and a division-wide corrective action plan. The bill also requires public reporting of accreditation status and progress updates, and it preserves annual reporting obligations even for schools operating under multiyear accreditation statuses.
HB299 changes § 22.1-253.13:3 of the Code of Virginia, affecting the state’s accreditation and accountability system for public schools and public virtual schools under local school board authority. It gives the Board of Education more structured authority over accreditation review cycles, corrective action plans, memoranda of understanding, and division-level academic reviews, while also formalizing transparency requirements for public reporting and appeals. School boards, school divisions, and schools that fail to meet accreditation standards are the primary affected parties, as they may face additional oversight and mandated improvement measures.
Based on the bill’s enactment and the absence of recorded committee debate or vote details in the provided materials, the overall sentiment appears to have been favorable or at least sufficiently broad to secure passage. The bill was approved and enacted as Chapter 102, suggesting legislative support for strengthening the state’s school accountability and accreditation framework. No contrary statements or recorded opposition are included in the available context.
The main potential points of contention are the bill’s expanded state oversight of local school divisions and the increased consequences for schools that do not meet accreditation standards. Local school boards may view the required corrective action plans, memoranda of understanding, and possible division-level academic reviews as a significant state intervention in local governance. Another likely area of concern is the Board’s authority to return inadequate corrective action plans for revision and to impose multiyear corrective action structures, which could be seen as adding administrative burden and reducing local flexibility. No specific opposing stakeholders or arguments are documented in the provided transcripts.