VASSP Law Conference
June 28, 2015
Roger Jones, EdD
Dean, School of Education, Leadership Studies, and Counseling
Lynchburg College
Director, VFEL/VASSP Center for Educational Leadership
jones@lynchburg.edu
TOP LEGAL ISSUES FOR VIRGINIA SCHOOL
ADMINISTRATORS
A-F BILL
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Repeals the A-F school grading system
Requires the Board of Education (Board), in consultation with the
Standards of Learning (SOL) Innovation Committee, to redesign the
School Performance Report Card no later than July 1, 2016, to make
it more effective in communicating to parents and the public the
status and achievements of the public schools and local school
divisions.
Requires the Board to:
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provide notice and solicit public comment on the redesign by October 1,
2015;
submit a summary of its redesign to the Chairmen of the House
Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and
Health by December 1, 2015;
provide a redesigned report card for all schools and divisions by October
1, 2016, and each October 1 thereafter.
SOA

Requires the Board to amend the Standards of
Accreditation (SOA) by the 2016-2017 school
year to establish additional accreditation
ratings that recognize the progress of schools
that do not meet accreditation benchmarks but
have significantly improved their pass rates, are
within specified ranges of benchmarks, or have
demonstrated significant growth for the
majority of their students.
INFORMATION ON THE FOLLOWING SIX SLIDES
BASED ON THE FOLLOWING:

Presentation to the Virginia Board of
Education’s Committee on School and Division
Accountability on January 21, 2015
TRANSITION TO PROGRESS (VALUES) TABLES
The progress table model, which replaces student
growth percentiles, accounts for student success
in closing the achievement gap, is more
understandable, and is available for more
students.
 In the progress table model, student growth is
determined by comparing the student’s test score
in the current year to his/her prior test score.
 VDOE plans to transition to the use of progress
tables as a growth measure in the 2015-2106
school year.

INITIAL FOUR LEVELS
Virginia Reading SOL Cut Scores
Grade Below Basic
3
4
5
6
7
8
0-309
0-302
0-294
0-316
0-314
0-316
Basic
Proficient
Advanced
310-399
303-399
295-399
317-399
315-399
317-399
400-499
400-499
400-499
400-499
400-499
400-499
500-600
500-600
500-600
500-600
500-600
500-600
SUB-LEVELS
Grade
3
4
5
6
7
8
Below Basic
Low
High
0-280 281-309
0-277 278-302
0-270 271-294
0-291 292-316
0-291 292-314
0-293 294-316
Basic
Low
310-361
303-359
295-360
317-364
315-365
317-366
High
362-399
360-399
361-399
365-399
366-399
367-399
Proficient
Low
High
400-438 439-499
400-438 439-499
400-438 439-499
400-440 441-499
400-440 441-499
400-439 439-499
Advanced
Low
High
500-511 512-600
500-512 513-600
500-512
513-600
500-511 512-600
500-511
512-600
500-507 508-600
DETERMINING GROWTH
Growth is measured by the number of
performance sub-levels a student advances
toward demonstrating proficiency of the state
standards.
 For example, a student whose grade 3 Reading
SOL score was in the “Below Basic – High”
performance sub-level and whose grade 4 Reading
SOL score was in the “Basic – High” performance
sub-level improved by two sub-levels.

PROGRESS TABLE GROWTH LABELS
Growth is classified into four categories for
students who have not demonstrated proficiency
of the state standards. The Growth Labels are as
follows:
 •Blue: increased three performance sub-levels
 •Yellow: increased two performance sub-levels
 •Green: increased one performance sub-level
 •Gray: maintained the same sub-performance
level or did not show growth

POTENTIAL APPLICATION TO ACCREDITATION

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In the current calculation of the accreditation pass rate,
a passing student counts as “one passer” in the
numerator of the pass rate. In order to account for
students working toward demonstrating proficiency,
partial credit could be awarded for sub-level growth.
For example, partial points for growth could be awarded
for student progress as shown below:
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–a student who fails but progresses three sub-levels would
count as 0.75,
–a student who progresses two sub-levels would count as
0.5, and
–a student who progresses one sub-level would count as
0.25.
JOINT RESOLUTION: CHARTER SCHOOLS

Proposes an amendment to the Constitution of
Virginia to grant the Board the authority,
subject to criteria and conditions prescribed by
the General Assembly, to establish charter
schools within the school divisions of the
Commonwealth.
CTE
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Permits each local school board to enter into agreements for
postsecondary credential, certification, or license attainment
with community colleges or other public institutions of higher
education or educational institutions that are established
pursuant to Title 23 of the Code of Virginia (Educational
Institutions) that offer a career and technical education
curriculum.
These agreements must specify:
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(i) the options for students to take courses as part of the career
and technical education curriculum that lead to an industryrecognized credential, certification, or license concurrent with a
high school diploma;
(ii) the credentials, certifications, or licenses available for such
courses.
CTE CREDENTIAL
Creates an alternative to the current requirement
that, in order to receive a standard diploma, a
student must earn a CTE credential.
 This alternative would apply when a CTE credential
in a particular subject area is not readily available
or appropriate or does not adequately measure
student competency, in which case the student
must receive competency-based instruction in the
subject area to satisfy the standard diploma
requirements.

BI-LITERACY DIPLOMA SEAL

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Directs the Board to establish criteria for awarding a diploma seal of
biliteracy to any student who demonstrates proficiency in English and at
least one other language for the Board.
The bill requires the Board to consider criteria, including the student's:
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(i) score on a College Board Advanced Placement foreign language examination;
(ii) score on an SAT II Subject Test in a foreign language;
(iii) proficiency level on an ACTFL Assessment of Performance toward Proficiency
in Languages (AAPPL) measure or another nationally or internationally
recognized language proficiency test; or
(iv) cumulative grade point average in a sequence of foreign language courses
approved by the Board.
The bill requires the Board to establish criteria for awarding a diploma seal of
biliteracy in time for any student graduating from a public high school in the
Commonwealth in 2016 to be awarded such a diploma seal.
APPLIED STUDIES DIPLOMA

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Specifies that students identified as disabled who complete
the requirements of their individualized education programs
(IEPs) and meet certain requirements prescribed by the
Board pursuant to regulations, but do not meet the
requirements for any named diploma, shall be awarded
Applied Studies diplomas by local school boards.
The term special diploma is eliminated pursuant to this bill,
and the term Applied Studies diploma replaces it in the
Code.
Currently, the Code provides that students identified as
disabled who complete the requirements of their IEPs shall
be awarded special diplomas by local school boards.
ALTERNATIVE TO SEAT TIME

Permits local school divisions to waive the
requirement for students to receive 140 clock
hours of instruction to earn a standard unit of
credit upon providing the Board with
satisfactory proof, based on Board guidelines,
that the students for whom such requirements
are waived have learned the content and skills
included in the relevant SOL.
HEALTH ISSUE

Provides that in cases in which a school board
employee is directly exposed to body fluids of a
minor student in a manner that may transmit
HIV or the hepatitis B or C virus, the minor
student's parent or guardian shall be notified
prior to initiating testing of such minor student
for infection with such viruses.
DIVISION BUDGET
Requires each local school division to publish
the annual school budget in line item form on
its Web site.
 Current law does not require the published
budget to be in line item form.

EXPEDITED RETAKES
Directs the Board to promulgate regulations to
provide the same criteria for eligibility for an
expedited retake of any SOL test, with the
exception of the writing SOL tests, to each
student regardless of grade level or course.
 State Board Resolution 2015-11 implemented
process for 2014-15

INTEGRATED ASSESSMENTS (INNOVATION
COMMITTEE)

Provides that the required end-of-course or
end-of-grade assessments for English,
mathematics, science, and history and social
science (including the completion of the
alternative assessments implemented by each
local school board) may be integrated to
include multiple subject areas.
SECLUSION AND RESTRAINT
Requires the Board to adopt regulations on the
use of seclusion and restraint in public elementary
and secondary schools in the Commonwealth.
 The bill requires that such regulations are
consistent with certain existing guidance
documents; include definitions of terms, criteria
for use, restrictions for use, training requirements,
notification requirements, reporting requirements,
and follow-up requirements; and address
distinctions between certain student populations.

SEX OFFENDER ON SCHOOL PROPERTY
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Provides that a sex offender who is prohibited from entering
upon school or child day center property who petitions the
circuit court for permission to enter such property must
cause notice of the time and place of the hearing on his
petition to be published once a week for two successive
weeks in a newspaper of general circulation.
The newspaper notice must contain a provision stating that
written comments regarding the petition may be submitted
to the clerk of court at least five days prior to the hearing.
The bill also requires that for a public school the petitioner
must provide notice of his petition to the chairman of the
school board in addition to the Superintendent of Public
Instruction.
QUESTIONNAIRES
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Requires each school board, in any case in which a questionnaire or survey
requesting that students provide sexual information, mental health information,
medical information, information on student health risk behaviors, other information
on controlled substance use, or any other information that the school board deems
to be sensitive in nature is to be administered, to give the parent 30 days' electronic
notice if the school division uses such a system and written notice by regular mail of
the nature and types of questions, the purposes and age-appropriateness of the
questionnaire or survey, how such information will be used, who will have access to
such information, the steps that will be taken to protect student privacy, and whether
and how any findings or results will be disclosed.
The bill gives the parent the right to request that a copy of the questionnaire or
survey be sent to him through regular mail or by email, to review the document in
person at the school, and to exempt his child from participation.
In addition, the bill provides that in any case in which a questionnaire or survey is
required by state law or is requested by a state agency, the relevant state agency
must provide the school board with all information required to be included in the
notice to parents.
FUNDRAISERS
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Requires the Board to promulgate regulations that
permit each public school to conduct on school grounds
during regular school hours no more than 30 schoolsponsored fundraisers per school year during which
food that does not meet the nutritional guidelines for
competitive foods may be sold to students.
(ALMOST ONCE A WEEK)
"Competitive food" is defined in current law as any food,
excluding beverages, sold to students on school grounds
during regular school hours, which is not part of the
school breakfast or school lunch program.
KNOWINGLY POSSESSING WEAPONS
Amends statute that makes it a crime to
possess a firearm, stun weapon, knife, and
certain other weapons on school property to
require that the person must have knowingly
possessed the firearm or other weapon.
 Legislation does not appear to require local
school boards to change their policy of how
they deal with such possession in their
discipline policies.

SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER
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Prohibits the VDOE and each local school board from requiring any
student enrolled in a public elementary or secondary school or
receiving home instruction or his parent to provide the student's
federal social security number.
Bill requires the department to develop a system of unique student
identification numbers and requires each local school board to
assign such a number to each student enrolled in a public
elementary or secondary school. The student identification number
shall not be derived from the student’s social security number.
Bill requires each student to retain his student identification number
for as long as he or she is enrolled in a public elementary or
secondary school in Virginia.
Provisions become effective on August 1, 2015.
FERPA

Requires the VDOE to develop and make publicly available on its Web site
policies to ensure state and local compliance with the federal Family
Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and state law applicable to
students' personally identifiable information, including policies for:
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(i) access to students' personally identifiable information; and
(ii) the approval of requests for student data from public and private entities and
individuals for the purpose of research.
The bill further requires VDOE or the local school division to notify, as soon as
practicable, the parent of any student whose personally identifiable information
could reasonably be assumed to have been disclosed in violation of FERPA or
state law applicable to such information.
Such notification shall include:

(i) the date, estimated date, or date range of the disclosure;
(ii) the type of information that was or is reasonably believed to have been disclosed; and
(iii) remedial measures taken or planned in response to the disclosure.
COURSEWORK FOR LICENSE RENEWAL

Requires that the Board’s Licensure Regulations
for School Personnel include requirements that
every person seeking renewal of a license
complete all renewal requirements including
professional development in a manner prescribed
by the Board, except that no person seeking
renewal of a license shall be required to satisfy
any such requirement by completing coursework
and earning credit at an institution of higher
education.
SALE OF SCHOOL BUSES
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
Permits a local school board, notwithstanding any
regulation to the contrary, to sell or transfer any of its
school buses to another school division or purchase a
used school bus from another school division or a
school bus dealer as long as the school bus conforms to
specifications effective on the date of its manufacture
and meets other specified conditions.
The current Regulations Governing Pupil Transportation
require school buses to conform to the specifications
effective on the date of procurement. Thus, this
provision will override current Board of Education
regulations.
VIRGINIA VIRTUAL SCHOOL
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Establishes the Board of the Virginia Virtual School (VVS) as a policy
agency in the executive branch of state government for the purpose
of governing the online educational programs and services offered to
students enrolled in the Virginia Virtual School.
The Secretary of Education is responsible for the agency.
The 13-member Board is given operational control of VVS and
assigned powers and duties.
The bill requires VVS to be open to any school-age person in the
Commonwealth and provide an educational program meeting the
Standards of Quality (including the SOL and the Standards of
Accreditation) for grades kindergarten through 12.
Bill includes a second enactment clause, which provides that the
provisions of this act shall become effective on July 1, 2016 and only
if reenacted by the 2016 Session of the General Assembly.
VIRTUAL VIRGINIA PILOT PROGRAM
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Starting in the fall, about 100 Virginia high school students will have the
opportunity to take all of their classes online through a state-run virtual
school.
The Virginia Department of Education will offer the coursework through
Virtual Virginia, its online school.
2015-16 will be the first time Virtual Virginia offers all of the core
coursework Virginia students need to earn a high school diploma, including
English courses for all four grade levels and U.S. history. The program also
will offer a virtual physical education course where students can use a
fitness log to track their physical activity.
School districts will be responsible for furnishing technology and supplies for
high school students enrolled in the pilot program, including textbooks and
computers.
School districts with students enrolled in Virtual Virginia will get a state
allocation for them just as they would a traditional high school student.
OEI (STATE TAKEOVER OF FAILING SCHOOLS)

Repeals the provisions of Code that established
the Opportunity Educational Institution (OEI)
and eliminates the references to OEI in other
Code sections.
COLLEGE CREDIT AT STATE INSTITUTIONS
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Requires the State Council of Higher Education for
Virginia (Council), in consultation with the governing
board of each public institution of higher education, to
establish a policy for granting undergraduate course
credit to entering freshman students who have taken
one or more Advanced Placement, Cambridge Advanced
(A/AS), College-Level Examination Program (CLEP), or
International Baccalaureate examinations.
Bill repeals the current law under which such governing
boards individually implement such policies
Has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2016.
TRANSGENDER ISSUES
Stafford County Public Schools may be one of
the few Virginia school divisions publicly
dealing with the issue of a transgender student
 Others should be paying close attention to the
outcome.
 Legal rights for transgender people are being
expanded on a regular basis

CURRENT TRENDS
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Bruce/Caitlyn Jenner.
In recent years, physicians have become specialists in the field of gender dysphoria—the diagnosis for
people whose gender at birth is contrary to the one with which they identify. Surgeons have become
skilled in performing gender-changing operations and some law practices have become specialized in
the field of gender law.
One physician, Rachel Levine, 57, a transgender woman, is about to become the top public health
physician in Pennsylvania. During her nomination hearings to become physician general in that state,
no questions were asked by legislators about her transgender status.
Two branches of the military appear to be relaxing their attitudes toward transgender service
members, who previously were dismissed when their status become known.
The Air Force says now that transgender service members are recommended for dismissal only when
their gender identify interferes with their military duties. “Identification as transgender, absent a
record of poor duty performance, misconduct, or a medically disqualifying condition, is not a basis for
involuntary separation,” the statement said, according to a story in The Washington Post.
A similar decision in March by the Army
And the U.S. Department of Education has added transgender students as a protected class under
Title IX, the federal civil rights law that prohibits sex discrimination in any educational institution,
public or private, receiving federal funds.
STAFFORD COUNTY ISSUES
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Family of an Elementary School student has hired a lawyer to
represent a fourth-grader because of actions taken by the Stafford
County School Board.
The student, who was born male but identifies as a female, had at
first been allowed by school staff to use the female restroom. But
after the School Board faced some backlash from 15 speakers at a
meeting, the board reversed that decision in late March.
A month later a similar number of speakers urged the board to
accommodate the transgender student’s request to use the female
bathroom.
Restroom and locker room issues are sensitive ones where
transgender students are involved and no definitive legal guidelines
have been established.
GLOUCESTER COUNTY
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Gloucester County is facing a federal civil rights
complaint after adopting a policy in December 2014
limiting bathroom and locker facilities to students’
biological genders. Under the policy, transgender
students would use an alternative private facility.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed the complaint on
behalf of Gavin Grimm, a Gloucester High School
sophomore who is biologically female but identifies as a
male. Grimm had at one point been allowed to use the
boys restroom, according to the ACLU’s website.
NEWEST DEVELOPMENT IN GLOUCESTER
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The Washington Post reports that the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
has filed suit in federal district court against Gloucester County School
Board (GCSB) on behalf Gavin Grimm, a transgender student at Gloucester
High School, alleging that the board’s restroom policy is discriminatory. The
suit contends that the policy discriminates against transgender students,
such as Gavin, by forcing them to use “alternative” restrooms, not the
communal facilities available to their peers.
Joshua Block, an ACLU attorney who is representing Grimm, said, “Any
student, transgender or not, should be free to use single-stall restrooms if
they want extra privacy.” He added, “Instead of protecting the privacy of all
students, the School Board has chosen to single out transgender students
as unfit to use the same restrooms as everyone else.”
GCSB’s policy, which the board adopted in December 2014 amid growing
community pressure, limits the use of girls’ and boys’ bathrooms to
students of “the corresponding biological genders.” According to the
suit, after Grimm was diagnosed with gender dysphoria, he used the boys’
facilities for seven weeks without incident until the school board’s decision.
COUNTER POINT
South Dakota State Rep. Jim Bolin sponsored a
proposal in 2015 to void a S.D. high school
league decision to allow transgender students
to join teams based on their gender identity.
 Bolin said his concern is only regarding minors.
 It is unlikely that he would support any policy
that would allow minors to play on a team
different from the sex on their birth certificates,
which he stressed is an official state document.

TEACHERS AND BULLYING
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The Press-Telegram reports that Amy Sulkis, a teacher
at Warren High School, has filed suit in Los Angeles Superior
Court against Downey Unified School District, alleging
that she was continually harassed by students on Twitter and
that the school district did not do enough to stop it. The suit
claims DUSD is liable for sexual harassment and failure to
prevent sexual harassment.
Sulkis’s suit also names a former student, Andrew Mejia, as
a defendant. She alleges that he posted an embarrassing
image on Twitter that made reference to her in a sexual way.
She is also suing him for defamation.
Ashley Greaney, the DUSD’s public relations coordinator, said
harassment is not tolerated in the district and that discipline
is imposed when warranted.
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According to the suit, Sulkis learned in March 2013 that a phony Twitter account had been created in
her name. “The fake account tweeted disparaging and sexually suggestive statements toward plaintiff
and responded to comments from those who gave a favorite rating to the account in a similarly
sexually suggestive manner,” the suit states. The same day Sulkis sent an email to Warren High
administrators and to Superintendent Wendy Doty telling them about the unauthorized Twitter
account.
That same month, another student posted threats on Twitter against Sulkis and used an image of an
AK-47 rifle after she reported the pupil’s poor work habits to a school counselor, the suit
states. Sulkis complained about the tweet to a Warren High vice principal, but he told her that
because the student was being transferred to a continuation school her only recourse against him
was to get a restraining order.
A senior student later confessed to creating the account and was given a two-day suspension that
was later negotiated by the administration to only a single day, the suit states. “Plaintiff was upset at
the light punishment given to the student considering the severity of her behavior and the
consequences that followed it,” the suit states. “Plaintiff continued to feel threatened and intimidated
by her senior students for the rest of the school year.”
Sulkis wrote a letter to the district’s assistant superintendent complaining about the harassing
student tweets and the one-day suspension of one of the offenders. No firm district policy addressed
cyber-bullying of teachers by students, so Sulkis and her lawyer urged that seminars be held advising
students on how to properly use social media and what the consequences were if they ignored the
rules, the suit states.
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The assistant superintendent responded by saying that the district “had investigated and considered
the rights of all involved and appropriate discipline had been implemented,” the suit states. Sulkis’
lawyer wrote the district again in May 2013 recommending that all incoming freshmen be told that
cyber-bullying of teachers was prohibited, the suit states. An attorney for the district responded by
saying that safe Internet use was already part of the district’s curriculum.
Sulkis began to fear that if she disciplined a student that same teen would then target her for Twitter
harassment because of the alleged lack of a firm district policy. The harassment continued and in
April 2014, a former student tweeted an image of Sulkis’ face with an offensive caption that linked
readers to a pornographic Twitter page, the suit alleges.
After a student tweeted that her class was “the definition of hell,” Sulkis again complained to the vice
principal, who told her that he had investigated the incident and had concluded that the student “did
not mean anything by it,” the suit states. It also states the DUSD has known of the problems facing
Sulkis and other teachers since at least March 2013 and yet administrators have not done what they
needed to do to address the problem. “District has failed, and continues to fail, to take adequate
measures to prevent the continued and repeated harassment of plaintiff and other teachers by
students, allowing it to propagate and grow,” the lawsuit states.
THE OTHER SIDE OF TEACHERS AND TECHNOLOGY
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NorthJersey.com reports that Yvette Nichols, a teacher in Wayne, New Jersey, had her teaching
license suspended for a year after she mocked a student’s name on Facebook because a syllable
sounded like a common curse word.
The school district found her comments violated the district’s harassment, intimidation and bullying
policy. A state panel suspended her teaching license for a year in a decision that the education
commissioner upheld earlier this month. “Regardless of whether or not she intended her comments
to be made public, [Yvette] Nichols’ conduct was immature and hurtful and falls below the ‘role
model’ status that is expected of teachers,” the state panel wrote in its initial decision.
Nationwide, teachers have faced suspensions, reprimands and firings because of online posts that
were discovered and found to be offensive or inappropriate. School officials say such teacher
behavior, even outside of school, can harm relationships and trust with students and parents who
look to teachers for leadership and authority.
Disrespectful and racist comments that at one time went unnoticed or ignored, now can end up
widely read and shared. “The First Amendment is certainly a strong privilege for all of us, but if it
impacts negatively on the work they do, there is obviously going to be consequences for that,” said
Richard Bozza, executive director of the New Jersey Association of School Administrators.
On the other hand, civil libertarians say schools have gone too far, infringing on teachers’ rights to
free speech and privacy. Teachers are held to a higher standard of behavior than individuals in other
professions because of their relationship to the community, officials say. New Jersey law grants the
state authority to revoke or suspend licenses for “conduct unbecoming a teacher.”
So where is the line between an insensitive comment and a punishable offense?
BULLYING STANDARD IN 4TH CIRCUIT
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A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
Fourth Circuit in Does v. Board of Education of Prince
George’s County, ruled that courts are required to apply the
deliberate indifference standard, to determine liability under
Title IX, rather than the negligence standard (reasonable
person doctrine) that the plaintiffs sought.
The panel’s decision is in alignment with the U.S. Supreme
Court’s 1999 decision in Davis v. Monroe County Board of
Education, which held that school districts may only be held
liable under Title IX for peer-on-peer sexual harassment if
school officials are actually aware of and act deliberately
indifferent to severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive
harassment.
MATH SOL REVIEW
Must be completed by October 2016
 Standards will change and assessments will
probably change

PARENTS OPTING OUT OF SOL TESTING (STATE
SUPERINTENDENT’S MEMO #110-15)

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All students enrolled in Virginia public schools are expected to take the applicable state tests. The Virginia
Board of Education Regulations Establishing Standards for Accrediting Public Schools in Virginia, available
online at www.doe.virginia.gov/boe/accreditation/soa.doc, state: “In kindergarten through eighth grade,
where the administration of Virginia assessment program tests are required by the Board of Education, each
student shall be expected to take the tests” and “each student in middle and secondary schools shall take all
applicable end-of-course SOL tests following course instruction” (p. 9).
The regulations do not provide for what is sometimes referred to as an “opt out policy” for students regarding
the Virginia assessments. If, however, parents refuse to have their student participate in one or more of the
required Virginia assessments, the following procedures should be followed within the school division:
The parents should be informed that their student’s score report will reflect a score of “0” for any test that is refused.

The school is strongly encouraged to request a written statement from parents indicating the specific test(s) the parents
refuse to have their student complete. The document should be maintained in the student’s file as a record of the
decision.

To account for the student, a test record for the refused test(s) is to be submitted for scoring with a Testing Status 51
coded to indicate the parent refusal.
In situations where a student’s test attempt is coded with a Testing Status 51, the “0” score on the test is included in the
school and division pass rates calculated for the purpose of state accountability and for performance in federal accountability
(Interpretation for 2014-15) . Because the student receives a “0” score for the refused test, the school and division
participation rates for federal accountability are not affected.
If a parent or student refuses an opportunity to retake an end-of-course SOL test that the student previously failed, the
procedures for handling this situation would be somewhat different. No test record would be submitted because the student
was already accounted for by the initial end-of-course test attempt. The parent and student should be made aware, however, of
any potential impact that not earning a verified credit may have on the student’s attempt to graduate or meet specific diploma
requirements.
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OPT-OUT IN 2015-16
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Dr. Steve Staples, State Superintendent, stated
at Lynchburg College on June 18 that the Board
of Education was changing the regulations for
2015-16.
 The
“0” effect, where a student who opts out will
not be counted at all in accreditation scores, will be
for next year’s testing – the Board is adding it into
their accreditation changes in process.
OREGON AND OPT OUT
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The U.S. Department of Education (ED) has warned Oregon that it could lose
$140 million a year or more in federal funding if the state legislature votes
to enable parents to opt out of standardized testing more easily, says
the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
Oregon House Bill 2655 (HB 2655) has already received overwhelming
approval in the House. The bill’s supporters want schools to be required to
inform Oregon parents twice a year of their right to exempt children from
state reading and math tests for any reason.
Supporters also want schools where a lot of students go untested to be
protected from the normal consequence of having the school’s performance
rating downgraded a notch or two.
However, ED insists that testing all students promotes civil rights. Schools
need to give an honest accounting of how well they prepare students of all
backgrounds to meet state academic benchmarks, they argue, and
incomplete testing blurs those determinations.
Under the federal No Child Behind Act (NCLB), schools are required to test
at least 95% of
PRIVATE SCHOOLS AND VHSL
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Landscape of high school sports could change
VETOED LEGISLATION
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Legislation passed by the General Assembly would have
prohibited the Board from replacing the SOL with the
Common Core State Standards (CCSS) unless the Board
has the prior statutory approval of the General
Assembly. T
The House of Delegates voted to override Governor
McAuliffe's veto of the legislation, while the Senate
sustained the Governor’s veto.
Pursuant to Article V, Section 6, of the Constitution of
Virginia, if either house fails to override a Governor's
veto, the veto shall stand, and the bill shall not become
law.
VETOED LEGISLATION

The House of Delegates failed to override
Governor McAuliffe's veto of legislation that
would have required home schooled student
participation in interscholastic programs.