Thank you for considering important legislation that would clarify that local school divisions have the power to adopt policies to protect students from harmful devices and online content during crucial classroom hours. At the ExcelinEd National Summit on Education last November, guests heard research from Dr. Jonathan Haidt who has extensively researched the impacts of phones and social media on kids and the impacts have been detrimental. Please see the attachment for research and information about the negative impacts of phone-based childhoods and distractions during the school day. Thank you for your consideration; ExcelinEd in Action supports this legislation.

The Virginia Council of Administrators of Special Education (VCASE)fully supports SB60 and appreciates Senator Favola's support for students with disabilities. A few years ago the General Assembly passed a bill mandating that IEP teams for students with developmental disabilities consider the need for age-appropriate and developmentally appropriate instruction related to sexual health, self-restraint, self-protection, respect for personal privacy, and personal boundaries of others. This bill only asks school divisions to post a notice of this requirement to provide greater awareness and more consistent implementation of this instruction that will keep students safe and assist them in developing appropriate boundaries pertaining to sexual health matters. Please approve this bill.

The Virginia Council of Administrators of Special Education (VCASE)fully supports SB60 and appreciates Senator Favola's support for students with disabilities. A few years ago the General Assembly passed a bill mandating that IEP teams for students with developmental disabilities consider the need for age-appropriate and developmentally appropriate instruction related to sexual health, self-restraint, self-protection, respect for personal privacy, and personal boundaries of others. This bill only asks school divisions to post a notice of this requirement to provide greater awareness and more consistent implementation of this instruction that will keep students safe and assist them in developing appropriate boundaries pertaining to sexual health matters. Please approve this bill.

As local divisions continue to face staffing challenges, providing increased flexibility in granting certifications. This bill is strong because it allows superintendents of local districts to provide an alternative pathway to receiving a teaching license through short-term certification; allows for renewal of the contract at the end of one year if the teacher receives a satisfactory performance review; and, provides a pathway toward a longer-term provisional collegiate professional or postgraduate professional license if the teacher meets qualifications for it at the end of the year. We are also supportive of the creation of a work group aimed at improving teacher recruitment and retention.

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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

Cardiac arrest is the leading cause of death in America. Cardiac arrest occurs when the heart malfunctions and stops beating unexpectedly. With its pumping action disrupted, the heart cannot pump blood to the brain, lungs and other organs. Each year, more than 350,000 people will experience a cardiac arrest away from a hospital. When seconds matter, only about 40% of those people will receive immediate help prior to the arrival of emergency responders, which brings the survival rate down to around 10%. It is estimated that this year in the United States, more than 23,000 children under the age of 18 will experience cardiac arrest outside of the hospital, with almost 40% of these cardiac incidents being sports-related. With over 1.2 million students enrolled in Virginia’s public schools as well as over 400,000 teachers and staff working in Virginia’s school buildings at any time, it is critically important for each school facility to have a plan in place to address cardiac emergencies and provide critical care when seconds matter. A Cardiac Emergency Response Plan or CERP is a written document that establishes clear and specific steps to reduce death from cardiac arrest. The second part of this bill proposes the creation of a grant program to support those school districts that may need financial support implementing these plans. Last year a budget amendment for $400K to fully fund the AED mandate did not make it into the final budget. Our proposed grant fund allows high need schools to apply for funds to help purchase and replace AEDs as needed. In closing when cardiac emergencies happen, seconds matter! About 9 out of 10 people who receive a shock from an AED within the first minute live. CPR given prior to EMS arriving can double and sometimes triple a person’s chances of survival.

In Favor of Senate Bill 283 Chair Rasoul, Vice Chair Simonds and Honorable Members of the House Education Committee: On behalf of the American Diabetes Association (ADA), thank you for your consideration of SB 283, which would improve student access to healthy, nutritious school meals by removing a provision related to a minimum student percentage eligibility threshold for schools to participate in the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP). Furthermore, the ADA is supportive of free school meals for students statewide and applauds the provision to develop a stakeholder workgroup exploring improvements to student school meal access. This bill clearly aligns with the mission of the ADA to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes. A healthy diet can help decrease the risk for obesity and chronic diseases like diabetes. According to the ADA’s Statement on Socioecological Determinants of Diabetes and Prediabetes, those with severe food insecurity have an approximately twofold risk of diabetes compared with those without food insecurity. For children who already have type 1 or type 2 diabetes, food insecurity can also increase the risk of complications. Missing meals, for example, can disrupt the child’s blood glucose (sugar) levels and put them at higher risk of hypoglycemia, or low blood glucose. On the other side, those with diabetes who consume only unhealthy food may have more frequent high blood glucose levels, or hyperglycemia, which can raise the risk of long-term complications. The increased incidence of diabetes in our children is truly alarming. According to the ADA’s Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes, the global standard for the management and treatment of diabetes, type 2 diabetes in youth has increased over the past 20 years. Researchers have projected that the prevalence of diabetes in those under 20 years of age could quadruple in 40 years. On behalf of your constituents with schoolchildren who are living with or at risk for diabetes, I urge you to support SB 283 as another tool to eliminate barriers and increase access to healthy school breakfasts and lunches - reducing their risk for developing diabetes. Thank you, Monica Billger State Government Affairs Director mbillger@diabetes.org

The disAbility Law Center of Virginia is grateful for work of the K-12 subcommittee this morning and their careful consideration of the issues raised by SB 575. We look forward to working with stakeholders as the bill is carried forward to 2025.

My name is Melissa Waugh, and I am a special education attorney practicing in Virginia for the past 14 years representing students with disabilities and their families as they navigate our state's special education system. This version of SB575 is a significant improvement over its sister bill (HB1017) which failed in the house. This bill as proposed does a much better job of protecting the privacy rights of minor students with disabilities by ensuring their parents control what protected health information ("PHI") is provided to a student's school upon discharge from one of the listed facilities. However, to make this bill stronger and to ensure these students with disabilities do not fall through the cracks when they return to school, the Senators should consider amending the bill to include a provision that upon discharge from one of the listed facilities the student's school will immediately call an IEP or Section 504 meeting to ensure that the student's IEP or Section 504 plan is appropriately addressing all of the student's current needs. For students without an IEP or Section 504 plan, the school will immediately conduct an expedited and comprehensive evaluation of the student to determine if the student is eligible for services and protection under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ("IDEA") or Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Expedited evaluations should be completed within 30 calendar days of the student's discharge (as opposed to the 65 school days required under Virginia special education regulations). Thank you for your consideration of this amendment which would go a long way to ensuring appropriate and timely educational and related services are provided to these most vulnerable children.

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

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