Prince William County Public Schools staff on Oct. 1 presented the division's legislative priorities for the upcoming General Assembly session and urged caution on changes being considered by the Virginia Department of Education.

Chief Government Relations and Communications points were presented by Matt Guilfoyle, identified in the meeting as the division's chief information officer, and Jim Council, the division's longtime Richmond representative. Guilfoyle said the full legislative priorities document is on BoardDocs and highlighted three main themes: strengthening the teacher pipeline, ensuring competitive salaries and incentives (including support for affordable housing for staff), and asking for careful consideration of proposed changes to SOL cut scores and school performance measures.

"What we are advocating this year though, is that as the state is considering these changes, that they take the time to actually ensure that they have fully thought it through," Guilfoyle said, referring to pending VDOE adjustments to cut scores and performance metrics. He asked that any such changes be paused to allow time for proper implementation planning.

Council reviewed outcomes from the prior session and the funding environment. He said K-12 funding performed well in the last session after an approximately $1.1 billion surplus in the Commonwealth. Among the K-12 items he cited: a $1,000 per-teacher bonus (about $134 million statewide), additional special-education per-pupil funding, increased English-language learner funding, and the elimination of the state's support cap (a change that Council said added roughly $224 million across the state).

Council also warned that the coming session may face fewer surplus funds and noted that the General Assembly is already considering many substantive bills that affect school policy. He described several defeated proposals from the previous session, including measures on library content restrictions and parent 'bill of rights' concepts; he said some proposed bills were successfully kept from passage.

Board members asked questions about the distinction between VDOE rulemaking and legislative action, the JLARC study and funding formulas, and the mechanics of a "reenactment" provision for a bill that would require SOLs to be given in the final two weeks of the school year. Council explained the reenactment clause requires the General Assembly to pass that provision again in the next session for it to take effect.

During the Q&A, members also discussed telehealth funding and prior sessions' actions on telehealth mental-health services; Council and staff said Prince William and other divisions are already operating telehealth services and that further advocacy could seek state reimbursement.

No formal board vote was taken on the legislative priorities during the Oct. 1 meeting; Guilfoyle said staff and the board will continue to monitor developments and that board members and staff plan advocacy visits to Richmond in January.