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

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.