SB 820 Virginia Senate · 2025 Regular Session

Virginia School Improvement Grant Program; established, report.

Summary
Public schools; Virginia School Improvement Grant Program established; report. Establishes the Virginia School Improvement Grant Program (the Program) for the purpose of providing additional support to public schools identified based on their school performance score as "off track" or "needs intensive support," as those terms are defined by the bill, by awarding three-year grants to eligible schools for the development and implementation of school improvement plans. The bill (i) provides that the Department of Education shall be responsible for the administration of the Program and that the Office of School Improvement shall be responsible for the implementation and oversight of the Program; (ii) provides that any public school identified as "off track" or "needs intensive support" is eligible to apply for such three-year grant disbursed in annual installments; and (iii) permits any participating school that is identified as "off track" or "needs intensive support" for the school year coinciding with or subsequent to such participating school's final year in the three-year grant period to reapply for another grant pursuant to the Program. The bill requires any eligible school, in order to receive any grant funds pursuant to the Program, to develop and submit a school improvement plan or, in the case of a participating school receiving a grant upon reapplication pursuant to clause (iii), a revised school improvement plan outlining specific strategies for improving academic outcomes and addressing identified performance gaps for such school.
Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Dec 2024
Committee Review
Floor Vote
Governor
Introduced Dec 31, 2024 Last action Feb 5, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced Education and Health Substitute · 4 edits
MODERATE
The bill was amended from its original introduction to a Senate substitute version, primarily changing how schools are defined as eligible for grants. The original version defined eligible schools as those 'off track' or 'needs intensive support,' while the substitute version broadens eligibility to include any school in the 'bottom two school performance categories or tiers.' This change expands the number of schools that could potentially receive funding.
Scope change
The bill's scope was expanded to include more schools by changing eligibility criteria from specific performance categories to the bottom two performance tiers.
ELIGIBILITY

Changed eligible school definition from schools identified as 'off track' or 'needs intensive support' to any school in the 'bottom two school performance categories or tiers,' potentially increasing the number of schools eligible for grants.

DEFINITION

Added new definition of 'bottom two school performance categories or tiers' to clarify the expanded eligibility criteria.

REQUIREMENT

Modified the requirement for collaboration with Office of School Quality to apply only to schools in the lowest performance category or tier rather than those 'needs intensive support,' narrowing the mandatory collaboration requirement.

TECHNICAL

Added metadata indicating this is a Senate substitute version proposed by the Senate Committee on Education and Health on January 23, 2025, with Senator Favola as the patron.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
8
Key actions
1
Committee
3
Jan 23, 2025
Upper · Passed
Reported from Education and Health with substitute and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N)
upper
Jan 16, 2025
Committee
Assigned Education sub: Public Education
upper
Dec 31, 2024
Committee
Referred to Committee on Education and Health
upper
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Barbara Favola
Barbara Favola
DDemocratic
VA
40