For parents’ awareness, here are 14 new Virginia laws that may impact students with disabilities:
Physical and Mental Health:
- HB1945/SB1037 School boards; school-based telehealth and mental health teletherapy services, accessibility. This bill directs school divisions to consider providing students with telehealth services at school, including for mental health, with parental consent.
- HB2055 Student health and safety; responsibility to contact parent of student at imminent risk of suicide. This bill requires school personnel to contact parents as soon as practicable when there is reason to believe, as a result of direct communication with a student, that the student is at imminent risk of suicide.
- HB2104/SB1036 Seizure rescue meds.; administration by certain school employees, possession by certain students. This bill permits a medical provider to authorize trained public and private school employees to administer anti-seizure medication to a student experiencing a seizure, with the consent of the student’s parents, when a licensed health care provider cannot reach the student in time. The bill also protects school employees from liability for providing treatment and permits school divisions to adopt policies permitting students to self-carry seizure rescue medications.
- HB1695/SB817 Public elementary & secondary schools; cardiac emergency response or emergency action plans. This bill requires public elementary and secondary schools to develop an emergency response plan for sudden cardiac emergencies. The bill also requires school divisions to place AEDs in school buildings and provide evidence-based training in first aid, CPR, and use of AEDs for school staff.
- SB1303 Student diabetes medical management plans; School Health Services Committee to conduct a review. This bill does not require any action of school divisions at this time. It requires the Virginia School Health Services Committee to conduct a comprehensive review of the legislative proposal for student diabetes medical management plans contained in an amendment to this bill and to report recommendations by November 1, 2025.
Disabilities and IEPs:
- HB1892 Children with disabilities; annual individualized education program planning process; dual enrollment courses; certain parental notification required. This bill requires schools to provide written notification to families of 11th and 12th graders of their child’s rights and obligations regarding FAPE and accommodations for dual enrollment courses.
- SB1293 Autism spectrum disorder; school board employees, professional development and continuing education. This bill directs school divisions to provide an optional program of high-quality professional development to its employees who work with students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The training should include an overview of the characteristics of ASD, strategies for communicating, interacting, and supporting students with ASD, and best practices for responding to and de-escalating challenging behaviors.
- HB2219/SB1034 Students who need or use augmentative and alternative communication; documentation of needs. This bill requires school divisions to document students’ augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) access and support needs in their IEPs, including training to staff who instruct or support students who use AAC devices, to support students’ use of AAC and ensure access to instruction.
School Discipline and Threat Assessments:
- HB1961/SB738 Public elementary & secondary schools; bell-to-bell student cell phone & smart device possession. This bill directs school divisions to develop policies for possession and use of cell phones on school property during regular school hours, but permits students to use their personal devices pursuant to an IEP, Section 504 plan, or individualized health care plan, and prohibits schools from suspending or expelling students for violation of a cell phone ban.
- HB2679 School boards; threat assessment teams and procedures, etc. This bill directs school divisions to adopt policies and procedures for threat assessments consistent with the state’s model policies.
- SB908 Public schools; student discipline and codes of conduct, etc. This bill requires school divisions to include policies and procedures to prevent and prohibit cyberbullying in Student Codes of Conduct, including addressing incidents that occur off campus, providing protections so targets and witnesses are not deterred from reporting, and including a list of support services and resources.
School Facilities:
- HB1806 Students with disabilities; individualized accommodations and supports during emergency evacuations. This bill (which comes on the heels of legislation last year requiring schools to maximize opportunities for evacuation of mobility-impaired students during emergencies) permits IEPs to include language addressing individualized accommodations and supports for the student during emergencies. It also directs the Virginia Department of Education to develop guidance to school divisions on how to support IEP teams in this area.
- HB2278 School boards/division superintendent; review of accessibility challenges in local school division. This bill requires school divisions to conduct a review of: physical accessibility challenges and barriers for individuals with disabilities in public elementary and secondary school buildings and grounds, challenges in access to programming and supports, and plans to eliminate such barriers. The bill also requires each school board or division superintendent to report the findings of such review and any associated recommendations to the Chairs of the Senate Committee on Education and Health and the House Committee on Education no later than November 1, 2025.
- HB2618/SB1413 Public school buildings; indoor air quality, inspection and evaluation. This bill requires school divisions to regularly inspect and evaluate indoor air quality systems in public school buildings.
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