House Education Committee reports dozens of bills on early childhood, K–12 standards, school safety and student services

The Virginia House Committee on Education on the record session reported more than two dozen bills spanning early childhood care, K–12 standards and school operations, advancing multiple measures to the next stage of consideration.

Delegate Doug Figgins presented House Bill 2645, "which expands the Commission on Early Childhood Care and Education by adding a representative from the Department of Veterans Services to its non legislative citizen members," saying the change will ensure military and veteran families’ needs are included in early childhood policy. Figgins told the committee the bill "carries no fiscal impact." The committee voted to report the bill 17–0.

The hearing moved through a wide block of higher education and K–12 measures. Subcommittee chairs and bill patrons summarized changes and sponsors’ intent for each measure, and in many cases the committee adopted substitutes or committee amendments before reporting bills out. Several early childhood bills the committee advanced seek to change waiting-list priorities for childcare subsidies, create a phase-out model for subsidy eligibility, and establish a funding formula and a dedicated early childhood fund to calculate minimum slot allocations.

On K–12 policy, the committee approved measures including a two‑year pilot for alternative student transportation for smaller divisions; requirements for age‑appropriate cell‑phone policies; expanded rules on teacher hiring and temporary employees; a pilot restorative‑practice program; and new reporting obligations tied to overdoses and opioid-antagonist treatment at school sites. Other actions included a measure to allow local colleges and universities to establish campus food‑pantry grants, and a substitute that limits a proposed exemption from child‑day program licensure to small horseback‑riding programs with several guardrails.

The committee also addressed student privacy and safety in schools: a substitute for House Bill 2226 directs school divisions to accept a written request from custodial parents that their…