Good morning, Madam Chair and members of the subcommittee. My name is Will McLauchlin, and I am a resident of Fairfax County. I am on the autism spectrum, and SB 21 is an important step toward ensuring people with disabilities can have easier access to accomodations in higher education. I want to be clear that while I support the bill, I strongly preferred the original version before it was amended to a study. I want to thank Delegate Cohen for introducing the House's version of the bill, HB 509, which was identical to the original Senate bill before it was amended to a study as well. I recognize that there is not enough support in the Senate for the original form of the bill to pass, but I would like to suggest that if possible, the committee please offer an amendment that changes this bill back to its original form, so that it can at least have more discussion in a potential committee of conference. Either way, I support the bill. Thank you.

Support. Virginia’s Standards of Quality funding formula underestimates staffing needed to serve Virginia’s students, uses recession-era caps to limit funding, and fails to adequately account for the higher costs of educating students at-risk due to poverty, special education or English learner needs. Virginia PTA urges the General Assembly to implement the high-priority recommendations made by JLARC.

Support. Recent OSEP and JLARC reports documented significant problems in ensuring that Virginia’s special education students have consistent access to education services under IDEA. They also identified insufficient state-level monitoring, supervision, and support for school divisions. This bill's comprehensive approach directly takes steps to reform special education services in Virginia. Developing a statewide IEP will create consistency and transparency in IEP writing, implementation, and monitoring and enable our military-connected special education students to easily transition between school divisions. To improve services to special education students we also support improved data reporting with a focus on disaggregated data based on student disabilities, and enhanced professional development, and family engagement resources.

Support. Research indicates that strong firearm child access prevention laws decrease unintentional shootings, suicides, and school shootings. States with secure storage or child access prevention laws had the lowest rate of injury or death from unintentional child shootings. Virginia PTA supports annual parent notification, and work to raise awareness of safe firearm storage practices.

I am a member of Virginia Moms for Change. We support SB225 and schools providing parental notification of the responsibility of safe storage of firearms. We support SB484: Community violence prevention program for 8th graders in Roanoke City Public Schools and Petersburg City Public Schools."

I am a member of Virginia Moms for Change and we support SB225 and schools providing parental notification of the responsibility of safe storage of firearms. Expanding awareness and education around safe storage has the potential to prevent accidental shootings by children as well as reduce child and adolescent suicide. The responsibility to keep children safe from firearms in the home falls on adults. Responsible gun owners should support this measure.

I am a member of Virginia Moms for Change. We support SB225 and schools providing parental notification of the responsibility of safe storage of firearms.

I support SB225 and think that schools should notify parents and remind them of their responsibilities to safely store firearms. Research from a 2019 study shows that 1 and 3 youth suicides and unintentional deaths can be prevented by securely storing guns. I support SB484 and programs that help prevent violence in our communities.

I am part of Virginia Moms for Change, a gun violence prevention organization. We are HUGE fans of safe storage and this bill. It is a phenomenal way to share life-saving information. We support this bill!!

Support. Farm to School Programs strengthen our local farm economies, improve child nutrition, and provide valuable applied learning opportunities. Virginia PTA strongly supports work to develop a Farm to School Task force and an expansion of programs that enable schools to procure and serve more locally grown food and provide hands-on learning in school gardens.

PLEASE GO TO HENRICO SCHOOL BOARD MEETING MARCH 14, 2024 LINK BELOW. READ THE LAST COMMENT ON PAGE 9 AND THE THIRD COMMENT ON PAGE 27. THIS IS WHY MARIJUANA SHOULD NOT BE LEGAL https://go.boarddocs.com/vsba/henrico/Board.nsf/files/D3CJHX4D404E/$file/Written%20Comments%203-14-24.pdf

Support. Opioid use is quickly becoming an epidemic across the Commonwealth and our schools. Notifying parents of drug related incidents at school while also providing them with credible resources for education, empowers parents to have informed conversations with their students. Without shared facts, parents are often in the dark about the scope of drug problems in their schools and students are left to social media fueled speculation about incidents in their buildings. We support parental notification and education while still providing the highest levels of protection and anonymity for the students involved. This is currently happening effectively across the state, and is enabling the entire community to work together address this issue.

February 19, 2024 Dear Members of the House Education Committee, I am writing to urge your support for SB498, sponsored by Senator Carroll Foy. This legislation is crucial in preventing other families from enduring the heartbreaking loss that we grapple with every single day. It proposes that schools should be mandated to notify parents of any school-related overdoses, thereby enhancing transparency and ensuring the safety of our children. As a mother who unexpectedly had to bury her son on his 27th birthday in 2019 due to the horrible effects of this synthetic opioid. My son Joseph was a graduate of Great Bridge High School in Chesapeake VA, who left behind a legacy of passion and talent. He pursued his dreams at Tidewater Tech to earn his welding degree and showcased his skills in various industrial labor jobs. However, his true love lay in auto body mechanics, where he excelled in body painting, detailing, vehicle repairs, and music creation. He was a devoted father to his seven-year-old son, Joseph Michael Jr. I will continue to share my testimony to honor his memory and support other mothers who are grieving the loss of their children. My son was a loving brother and a cherished friend to many. Using my voice to spread awareness has become my passion, with the mission to save the lives of children and adults by educating them on the proper fundamentals of Fentanyl. Through my platforms, publications, and nonprofit organization (Support Joey's Heart), which delivers compassionate gestures to communities and contributes to mental health challenges, my purpose is to make a difference. We must prioritize safety by informing all parents firsthand of any overdose incidents occurring within our public-school systems. Thank you for your attention to this critical matter. Sincerely, Kimberly Y. Griffin Joseph M. Travieso’s Mom (Forever 27

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Hi I am writing to you on behalf of The Well Connection UK, a media and publishing company. We could easily get virginia.gov featured in various publications such as magazines, online blogs and news sites. This would undoubtedly help virginia.gov with publicity, reputation, domain authority and organic search engine rankings. We have a wide range of options including completely free collaborations, sponsored posts, guest posts and banner ads. If this sounds of interest, please reach out to the senior business development manager, Anita at info@thewellconnection.co.uk and whatsapp +447395206515 (GMT) Kind regards Clifton Junior Outreach Assistant

Thank you, Chairwoman Sewell, and distinguished members of the Subcommittee. My name is Nick Down, and I am a senior program officer with the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, or ACTA for short. I am here before you today to urge you to vote against moving Senate Bill 506 forward to the full committee. By way of background, ACTA is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization committed to preserving academic freedom, academic excellence, and accountability at four-year public and private colleges and universities across the U.S. Since 1995, ACTA has worked with over 23,000 higher education trustees across the country to ensure that students receive an intellectually rich, high-quality college education at an affordable price. We believe that the strength of America’s higher education system relies on engaged governing boards that appreciate their independent role. But this bill makes one crucial change to Virginia statute that would undermine this very idea. Title 23, section 1304 of the Code of Virginia makes clear that Boards of Visitors’ “primary duty [is] to the citizens of the Commonwealth.” Senate Bill 506 would replace this by reorienting Visitors’ primary duty to the university. Let me be clear—this would stand the idea of public oversight on its head. A corporate board has a duty to its shareholders—so such a public university board has a duty to its stakeholders, in this case the taxpayers of Virginia. When the interests of the university conflict with those of the public, the public’s needs must come first. And the job of determining that is that of the Boards of Visitors. ACTA understands the desire to protect Virginia’s boards of visitors from undue political interference, and we agree that for trustees to fulfill their fiduciary duties they MUST be independent actors. However, I urge you to consider an alternative way to secure trustees’ independence, as their duty to serve the Commonwealth should not be misconstrued as a duty to obey any political actor. Visitors serve the public by looking to the common good rather than merely the immediate interests of their institutions. For example, when a college administration proposes a tuition increase, it is the responsibility of visitors to determine whether it’s appropriate for the citizens of Virginia. By removing the duty of visitors to serve the citizens of the Commonwealth first, you are removing the only internal check against the narrow interest of each college or university, which weakens the ability of these institutions to self-regulate. Given that our surveys of public higher education show that Virginia’s institutions rate in the bottom third of the nation on several measures of access and cost, this legislation is something that the people of Virginia can ill afford. Again, I urge the Subcommittee to vote against SB 506 and I thank you for your time and the opportunity to appear before you today. I am happy to answer any questions.

Support. Community Schools provide students with the resources, opportunities, and support systems that make academic success possible while concurrently creating strong ties among families, students, schools, and community. The family and community engagement found in Community Schools is associated with positive student outcomes such as reduced absenteeism and improved academic outcomes. Additionally, this engagement can increase trust among students, staff and parents, which has additional positive effects on student outcomes.