The top priority of the Virginia Board of Education (the Board) this year has been continuing to combat COVID learning loss and re-establishing excellence in the Commonwealth. 2022 NAEP results showed Virginia’s 4th grade students exhibited the nation’s largest learning loss in reading and math. Students in grades 3-8 suffered significantly from lowered expectations and extended school closures. Since 2022, over $5.88 billion in new monies have gone to support K-12 public schools, outside of the nearly $4 billion one-time federal pandemic relief monies. In Fall 2023, the General Assembly and Governor Glenn Youngkin committed $418 million to support school divisions with K-12 attendance, 2023 ALL In results, Virginia Literacy Act implementation, and to accelerate learning in math and reading for grades 3-8. With such significant investments, the Board has been laser-focused on student outcomes, prioritizing resources for students and communities who need it, and creating the conditions for innovative practices and models to grow across the Commonwealth.

A hallmark of the Board’s activity in 2024 was maintaining high expectations and improving transparency with a revision of the existing accreditation system towards a new School Performance and Support Framework. This included changes to the Standards of Accreditation and the ESSA State Plan with a focus on student outcomes and establishing accreditation as financial and operations compliance only. This new accountability Framework will help spotlight distinguished models to learn from around the Commonwealth and identify which public schools need additional support and targeted resources to better serve their students and families. Virginia’s model also delivers on the Board’s commitment to Post-Secondary Readiness and redesigning high school, with an enhanced E3 Readiness Indicator, focused on college enrollment and earning credits in high school, enlistment and military preparedness, and employment with a high-demand career as defined by VOEE. The bar has been raised for students to not only explore careers and postsecondary options but also earn college credits, high-demand credentials, or valuable experiences that ensure every graduate in Virginia is ready for life.

To better empower teachers and ensure they have the best resources available, the Board approved multiple updated components of the Virginia Literacy Act and approved the revised K-12 ELA Standards of Learning to ensure alignment with the Virginia Literacy Act. The Board is also currently reviewing mathematics textbook and instructional materials that align to the more rigorous Fall 2023 adopted math standards for school divisions to adopt high-quality materials by Winter 2025. In addition, the Board approved the Computer Science Standards of Learning, which now incorporate data science, AI, and cybersecurity elements and prioritize skills and competencies that set students up for success in computer science pathways and careers.

One of the other priorities of the Board this year has been innovation and eliminating barriers for entrepreneurial-minded educators to redesign school. The Board initiated numerous regulatory actions to remove outdated language, update regulations to align with legislative requirements, and eliminate redundant chapters for school divisions to operate more easily. The Board oversaw the approval of 12 college partnership laboratory schools in 2024 which will provide more than 5,000 students from all regions of the Commonwealth with sustainable, innovative learning options that were designed in partnership with twenty higher education institutions, regional workforce and business systems, and early seventy K-12 school divisions. Virginia's 15 college partnership laboratory schools provide authentic, real-world experiences and career pathways for students in a wide variety of fields, including aerospace, health sciences, maritime trades, coding, education, computer science, and cybersecurity. These are early phase lab schools, and the Board will look to expanding in the future.

Another innovative priority for the Board was around seat time flexibility and competency-based models, one of the final SOQ prescriptions approved in December 2023. The General Assembly passed a bipartisan bill signed into law this spring, HB1477, that achieves the Board’s priority, and the Board is now updating guidance and guidelines to help interested school divisions rethink where, when and how learning occurs and to utilize competency-based approaches in their public schools. The Board unanimously updated its School Bus Regulations, which better clarify permissible modes of transportation and how to implement HB935 this year, a new law focused on innovative K-12 transit. Additionally, the Board has improved regulations to account for new alternative teacher licensure pathways. Finally, the Board reconstituted the public Charter School Standing Committee and its review processes which have not been active for three administrations. The Board will begin reviewing public charter applications at the December board meeting and through Winter 2025.

Finally, the Board has continued to focus on prioritizing resources to ensure every K-12 public school student has a high-quality education and access to a vibrant, safe learning community. The Board oversaw over $850 million for new competitive school construction grants and Literary Fund School Construction Loans, with a focus on high-need projects in school divisions with limited capacity to fund school construction. The Board will be reviewing CTE Technical Center application evaluation metrics at the December 2024 meeting, part of a new law from the 2024 legislative session. The Board updated the Early Childhood regulations through the extensive work of the Early Childhood Advisory Committee, with a focus on keeping infants and toddlers safe. The Board receives a monthly update on the Virginia Department of Education’s (the Department) Special Education Work Group and amended special education regulations to better comply with federal requirements. With new data on the impact of cell phones and social media on youth mental health, the Board updated the Model Internet Safety Policy for school divisions to use, which included a segment on screen time. Lastly, the Board continued to uphold a high bar for teacher conduct. One of the critical tasks of the State Board of Education is to review and hear cases of license holder misconduct received from school divisions, the general public, media reports, and social services. This review follows a review and subsequent recommendation from the Superintendent of Public Instruction's Investigative Review Panel.

During the 2024 calendar year, the Board met every month except February and November and held two special meetings on May 21 and August 28. Additionally, the Board incorporated student performances into its 2024 calendar year meetings to elevate the artistic achievements of the Commonwealth’s K-12 students.

Throughout the year, the Board also had multiple student fine arts presentations and school success presentations. During October 2024, exemplar models on reading improvements (Bath County Superintendent Dr. Rick Boling), math improvements (Brunswick Superintendent Dr. Kristy Somerville-Midgette), attendance improvements (Norton City Schools Principal Brad Hart), and overall school improvements (Dupont Elementary by Hopewell Superintendent Dr. Melody Hackney) were shared with the Board and livestreamed throughout the state. In addition, the Board had the opportunity to hear priorities from the Superintendent’s Teacher Advisory Council and the statewide Student Advisory Council.