Official Summary Text
Commission on School Construction and Modernization; revisions; elimination of sunset.
Eliminates the expiration date of the Commission on School Construction and Modernization, which, pursuant to current law, is set to expire on July 1, 2026. The bill also directs the Commission to (i) meet at least four times each year and post notice of the date, time, and location of each meeting on the central, publicly available electronic calendar maintained by the Commonwealth in accordance with applicable law; (ii) update annually the statewide needs estimate for construction and modernization of school facilities; (iii) develop and deliver by November 1, 2026, a 10-year capital roadmap; and (iv) collaborate with early childhood care and education Ready Regions and comprehensive community colleges in the Commonwealth to collect and evaluate data relating to Ready Region and comprehensive community college facility usage, availability, and needs. Finally, the bill directs the Department of Education, in order to assist the Commission with its work, to update and make available to the Commission an inventory of all public school facilities in the Commonwealth by September 1, 2026. This bill is identical to SB 498.
Current Bill Text
Read the full stored bill text
An Act to amend and reenact §§
30-386
and
30-388
of the Code of Virginia and to repeal §
30-390
of the Code of Virginia, relating to Commission on School Construction and Modernization; revisions; elimination of sunset.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §§
30-386
and
30-388
of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:
§
30-386
. (Expires July 1, 2026) Quorum; meetings; voting on recommendations.
A majority of the members shall constitute a quorum. The meetings of the Commission shall be held at the call of the chairman or whenever the majority of the members so request.
No recommendation of the Commission shall be adopted if a majority of the Senate members or a majority of the House members appointed to the Commission (i) vote against the recommendation and (ii) vote for the recommendation to fail notwithstanding the majority vote of the Commission.
The Commission shall meet at least four times each year. The Commission shall post notice of the date, time, and location of each meeting on the central, publicly available electronic calendar maintained by the Commonwealth in accordance with subsection D of §
2.2-3707
.
§
30-388
. (Expires July 1, 2026) Powers and duties of the Commission.
The Commission shall have the following powers and duties:
1. Assessing the Commonwealth's school facilities and determining school construction and modernization funding needs.
2. Identifying funding mechanisms and making recommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly.
3. Establishing best practices in school modernization and construction for school divisions.
4. Creating standardized construction designs and procurement practices to recommend and make available to local school divisions.
5. Identifying potential cost-saving measures for implementation by local school divisions to minimize construction and modernization costs where possible.
6.
Updating annually the statewide needs estimate and developing and delivering a 10-year capital roadmap, taking into consideration current and projected school enrollment trends.
7. Collaborating with early childhood care and education Ready Regions and comprehensive community colleges in the Commonwealth to collect and evaluate data relating to Ready Region and comprehensive community college facility usage, availability, and needs for the purpose of identifying (i) underutilized facility spaces that may be available for other education-related uses and (ii) facility needs, including needs relating to insufficient facility spaces and facility modernization.
8.
Submitting to the General Assembly and the Governor an annual report for publication as a report document as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for the processing of legislative documents and reports. The chairman of the Commission shall submit to the General Assembly and the Governor an annual executive summary of the interim activity and work of the Commission no later than the first day of each regular session of the General Assembly. The executive summary shall be submitted for publication as a report document as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for the processing of legislative documents and reports and shall be posted on the General Assembly's website.
2. That §
30-390
of the Code of Virginia is repealed.
3. That the Commission on School Construction and Modernization shall complete and deliver to the General Assembly by November 1, 2026, a 10-year capital roadmap, in accordance with subdivision 6 of §
30-388
of the Code of Virginia, as amended by this act.
4. That the Department of Education shall, in order to assist the Commission on School Construction and Modernization (the Commission) in its work in accordance with Chapter 61 (§
30-384
et seq.) of Title 30 of the Code of Virginia, as amended by this act, update and make available to the Commission an inventory of all public school facilities in the Commonwealth by September 1, 2026.