School board hears legislative update on SOL reform, 'bell‑to‑bell' cell phone law and school funding

Joel Andrus, a legislative consultant with Kimber Consulting, briefed the Virginia Beach School Board on June 9 about major education measures from the 2025 General Assembly that they said will affect local testing, school rules on student phones and state education funding.

The presentation summarized technical funding changes, policy measures enacted and items the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) and local divisions should watch as the 2025‑26 school year approaches. Andrus said the session was shortened by an early‑session water outage in Richmond and noted the state remains under divided government, which shaped both legislation and gubernatorial vetoes.

Andrus described several education provisions that the board should expect to implement or plan around. He said the SOL reform bill will: require Standards of Learning (SOL) results to count as 10% of students' grades where applicable; require some SOL administrations within the last two weeks of the school year; and adopt a 100‑point scoring scale for SOLs. The legislation, Andrus said, is delayed by one year and contains a reenactment clause requiring the General Assembly to vote again before it becomes final. "The legislation also does a lot of different things, including probably the thing you've heard about the most, which is requiring standards of learning to count as 10% of the grade," Andrus said.

Andrus also reviewed funding changes: state lawmakers funded the support cap for support positions and approved a special education add‑on for higher‑need students; lottery revenues and sales tax forecasts were stronger than earlier projections; and there was modest additional funding for school construction statewide. Andrus warned school divisions to watch how one‑time versus ongoing spending is treated at the state level. "The concern that is out there is if we continue to spend on ongoing costs, eventually our revenues and our spending will take up catch up with each other," he said.

On assessments and contracts, Andrus noted the state extended a contract for SOL testing through 2027 to allow the VDOE time to procure a new contract; Pearson currently holds the contract. He also highlighted a statewide math improvement initiative and changes to the statewide IEP work that will continue to evolve. "We need to as a DOE and as a state, need to really think about what we want our SOLs to look like moving into the future," he said.

Board members focused discussion on interpretation and implementation. Board member Callan asked about lottery revenues and whether they were returning to their original statutory intent to support K‑12; Andrus replied that lottery funds now "go to education" but often supplant rather than supplement general fund dollars and said he would research the historical deficit amount and follow up.

The board also spent substantial time on a new statewide requirement for local cell‑phone policies. Andrus described the new statutory language directing each school board to develop and implement "age‑appropriate, developmentally appropriate" policies to "restrict" student cell‑phone and smart device possession and use on school property "from bell to bell." He said the statute uses the word "restrict" rather than the word "prohibit," and local divisions and legal counsel disagree about whether "restrict" permits narrower restrictions or requires a near‑complete ban during the school day. The statute includes limited exceptions for certain special education students.

Board members were told there was no definitive VDOE guidance at the time of the meeting. A VDOE message read during the meeting described bell‑to‑bell policy as the statewide approach and referenced Governor Youngkin and Executive Order 33; the transcript read a VDOE passage saying, in part, "In a triumph of bipartisan good sense, Virginia has officially made bell to bell cell phone free education the law of the land." The board was advised to await formal VDOE implementation guidance expected later in the summer.

Andrus closed by noting other items the division should monitor, including continued JLARC study of education funding formulas, a new provisional CTE teaching license, and bills related to teacher training requirements and accountability. He told the board that some provisions (for example, the SOL reforms) will require further legislative action or VDOE guidance before divisions must change local policy.

No board action or formal vote was taken on the topics summarized; the presentation was informational and followed by Q&A.