Bill Text: VA SB608 | 2024 | Regular Session | Comm Sub
Bill Title: Community Schools, Office of; established within Department of Education.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Passed) 2024-04-17 - Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0797) [SB608 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2024-SB608-Comm_Sub.html
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §22.1-199.7 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§22.1-199.7. Community schools; interagency task force; Office of Community Schools at the Department; Community School Development and Implementation Planning Grant; state goal.
A. As used in this section:
"Identified student" and "identified student percentage" have the same meanings as provided in §22.1-207.4:1.
"Office" means the Office of Community Schools.
B. In order to remove nonacademic barriers to learning
as a means to enhance student academic success in public elementary and
secondary schools throughout the Commonwealth, the Department of Education
shall establish an interagency task force composed of state and local agencies
and entities in the areas of early childhood development, health, social
services, community engagement, family engagement, higher education,
communities in schools, and workforce development for the purpose of (i)
developing a program for the establishment of community schools whereby public
elementary and secondary schools serve as centers for the provision of such
community programs and services to students and their families as may be
necessary on the basis of unique needs of the student population to be served
and (ii) developing and providing to the Governor, the Secretary of Education,
local school boards, and other interested state, local, and private entities
policy recommendations relating to the coordinated delivery of community
services to students and their families and the operation of community schools
throughout the Commonwealth in accordance with the Virginia Community School
Framework.
B. C. The community schools program established
pursuant to subsection A B shall include a process by which
school boards and community partnerships consisting of school boards and other
community and service providers may apply to the Department of Education
to designate an elementary or secondary school in the local school division as
a community school. The application process shall include requirements for applicants
to provide a plan for the sustainability of the community school and for the
measurement of the success and effectiveness of the community school. The
Department of Education shall consult with the interagency task force
established pursuant to subsection A B in the selection of
applications and the designation of community schools.
D. The Department shall establish the Office of Community Schools as an office within the Department for the purpose of supporting the development and growth of community schools throughout the Commonwealth in accordance with the Virginia Community School Framework by collaborating with the interagency task force established pursuant to subsection B; administering state funds provided to school divisions to develop and sustain community school models; assisting school leaders in the application for federal grant funds for their community school models; and providing technical assistance to school personnel and contracted coordinators regarding effective practices and models for community schools and capital considerations relating to community schools, including site acquisition and building construction, renovations, and additions.
E. The Office shall establish and administer the Community School Development and Implementation Planning Grant for the purpose of providing grants to school boards that (i) seek to designate any school within the local school division as a community school and (ii) present a plan for the sustainable funding for such community school as part of the grant application to assist with the planning and implementation of such designation over a period of three to five years. In administering and awarding such funding pursuant to such planning grant, the Office shall offer such funding to applicants for any public elementary or secondary school that is in the top 20 percent of public elementary or secondary schools in the Commonwealth for highest identified student percentage based on data from the immediately preceding school year.
F. In recognition of the ability of community schools to properly meet the full spectrum of identified student needs in certain communities, it is the goal of the Commonwealth to prioritize funding for the initiatives and grants established in this section to enable their expansion to serve the top 33 percent of public elementary and secondary schools in the Commonwealth for highest identified student percentage based on data from the immediately preceding school year.
