BILL AS INTRODUCED H.480
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H.480 1
Introduced by Committee on Education 2
Date: 3
Subject: Education 4
Statement of purpose of bill as introduced: This bill proposes to make 5
miscellaneous amendments to education law, including (1) amendments to 6
2023 Acts and Resolves No. 29, An act relating to school safety; (2) 7
amendments to the list of postsecondary schools accredited to operate in 8
Vermont; (3) excluding contracts for the purchase of food made from a 9
nonprofit school food services account from the requirements of 16 V.S.A. 10
§ 559 (public bids); (4) adding a section to the flexible pathways chapter in 11
Title 16 to codify the virtual learning pathway; (5) amendments to the BOCES 12
grant program; (6) a requirement for school districts to include military-related 13
options in career development and postsecondary planning resources as part of 14
the Flexible Pathways Initiative and a student’s personalized learning plan; and 15
(7) amendments to the Secretary of Education search process. 16
An act relating to miscellaneous amendments to education law 17
It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont: 18 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.480
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* * * School Safety * * * 1
Sec. 1. 2023 Acts and Resolves No. 29, Secs. 5 and 6 are amended to read: 2
Sec. 5. BEHAVIORAL THREAT ASSESSMENT TEAMS; 3
IMPLEMENTATION 4
* * * 5
(c) The Agency of Education shall establish guidelines necessary to collect 6
the data required pursuant to 16 V.S.A. § 1485(e). Each supervisory union, 7
supervisory district, and independent school using behavioral threat assessment 8
teams as of July 1, 2023 shall comply with the data collection requirements 9
under 16 V.S.A. § 1485(e) beginning in the 2023–2024 school year. 10
[Repealed.] 11
* * * 12
Sec. 6. EFFECTIVE DATES 13
* * * 14
(c) Sec. 2 (16 V.S.A. § 1480) shall take effect on July 1, 2024 2025. 15
(d) Sec. 4 (16 V.S.A. § 1485) shall take effect on July 1, 2025 2027. 16
* * * Postsecondary Schools Chartered in Vermont * * * 17
Sec. 2. 16 V.S.A. § 176(d) is amended to read: 18
(d) Exemptions. The following are exempt from the requirements of this 19
section except for the requirements of subdivision (c)(1)(C) of this section: 20
* * * 21 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.480
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(4) Postsecondary schools that are accredited. The following 1
postsecondary institutions are accredited, meet the criteria for exempt status, 2
and are authorized to operate educational programs beyond secondary 3
education, including programs leading to a degree or certificate: Bennington 4
College, Champlain College, College of St. Joseph, Goddard College, Green 5
Mountain College, Landmark College, Marlboro College, Middlebury College, 6
New England Culinary Institute, Norwich University, Saint Michael’s College, 7
SIT Graduate Institute, Southern Vermont College, Sterling College, Vermont 8
College of Fine Arts, and Vermont Law and Graduate School. This 9
authorization is provided solely to the extent necessary to ensure institutional 10
compliance with federal financial aid-related regulations, and it does not affect, 11
rescind, or supersede any preexisting authorizations, charters, or other forms of 12
recognition or authorization. 13
* * * 14
* * * Nutrition Contracts and Public Bids * * * 15
Sec. 3. 16 V.S.A. § 559 is amended to read: 16
§ 559. PUBLIC BIDS 17
* * * 18
(e) Application of this section. Any contract entered into or purchase made 19
in violation of the provisions of this section shall be void; provided, however, 20
that: 21 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.480
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(1) The provisions of this section shall not apply to contracts for the 1
purchase of books or other materials of instruction. 2
(2) A school board may name in the specifications and invitations for 3
bids under this section the particular make, kind, or brand of article or articles 4
to be purchased or contracted. 5
(3) Nothing in this section shall apply to emergency repairs. 6
(4) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit a school board 7
from awarding a school nutrition contract after using any method of bidding or 8
requests for proposals permitted under federal law for award of the contract. 9
Notwithstanding the monetary amount in subsection (a) of this section for 10
which a school board is required to advertise publicly or invite three or more 11
bids or requests for proposal, a school board is required to publicly advertise or 12
invite three or more bids or requests for proposal for purchases made from the 13
nonprofit school food service account for purchases in excess of the federal 14
simplified acquisition threshold when purchasing food or in excess of 15
$25,000.00 when purchasing nonfood items, unless a municipality sets a lower 16
threshold for purchases from the nonprofit school food service account. The 17
provisions of this section shall not apply to contracts for the purchase of food 18
made from a nonprofit school food services account. 19
* * * 20 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.480
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* * * Virtual Learning * * * 1
Sec. 4. 16 V.S.A. § 948 is added to read: 2
§ 948. VIRTUAL LEARNING 3
(a) The Agency of Education shall maintain access to and oversight of a 4
virtual learning provider for the purpose of offering virtual learning 5
opportunities to Vermont students. 6
(b) A student may enroll in virtual learning if: 7
(1) the student is enrolled in a Vermont public school, including a 8
Vermont career technical center; 9
(2) virtual learning is determined to be an appropriate learning pathway 10
outlined in the student’s personalized learning plan; and 11
(3) the student’s learning experience occurs under the supervision of an 12
appropriately licensed educator and aligns with State expectations and 13
standards, as adopted by the Agency and the State Board of Education, as 14
applicable. 15
(c) A school district shall count a student enrolled in virtual learning in the 16
school district’s average daily membership, as defined in section 4001 of this 17
title, if the student meets all of the criteria in subsection (b) of this section. 18
Sec. 5. 16 V.S.A. § 942(13) is amended to read: 19
(13) “Virtual learning” means learning in which the teacher and student 20
communicate concurrently through real-time telecommunication. “Virtual 21 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.480
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learning” also means online learning in which communication between the 1
teacher and student does not occur concurrently and the student works 2
according to his or her own schedule an intentionally designed learning 3
environment for online teaching and learning using online design principles 4
and teachers trained in the delivery of online instruction. This instruction may 5
take place either in a self-paced environment or a real-time environment. 6
* * * BOCES Start-up Grant Program* * * 7
Sec. 6. 2024 Acts and Resolves No. 168, Sec. 4 is amended to read: 8
Sec. 4. BOCES GRANT PROGRAM; APPROPRIATION 9
(a) There is established the Boards of Cooperative Education Services 10
Start-up Grant Program, to be administered by the Agency of Education, from 11
funds appropriated for this purpose, to award grants to enable the formation of 12
boards of cooperative education services (BOCES) formed pursuant to 13
16 V.S.A. chapter 10 after July 1, 2024. BOCES Supervisory unions shall be 14
eligible for a single $10,000.00 grant after the Secretary of Education approves 15
the applicant’s initial articles of agreement pursuant to 16 V.S.A. § 603(b) two 16
or more boards vote to explore the advisability of forming a board of 17
cooperative education services pursuant to 16 V.S.A. § 603(a). Grants may be 18
used for start-up and formation costs and may include reimbursement to 19
member supervisory unions for costs incurred during the exploration and 20
formation of the BOCES and articles of agreement, including the development 21 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.480
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of proposed articles of agreement. Grants shall be awarded to only one 1
supervisory union within each group of supervisory unions exploring the 2
formation of a BOCES. 3
(b) Notwithstanding any provision of 16 V.S.A. § 4025 to the contrary, the 4
sum of $70,000.00 is appropriated from the Education Fund to the Agency of 5
Education in fiscal year 2025 to fund the Boards of Cooperative Education 6
Services Start-up Grant Program created in subsection (a) of this section. 7
Unexpended appropriations shall carry forward into the subsequent fiscal year 8
and remain available for use for this purpose. 9
* * * Military-related Postsecondary Opportunities * * * 10
Sec. 7. 16 V.S.A. § 941 is amended to read: 11
§ 941. FLEXIBLE PATHWAYS INITIATIVE 12
(a) There is created within the Agency a Flexible Pathways Initiative: 13
(1) to encourage and support the creativity of school districts as they 14
develop and expand high-quality educational experiences that are an integral 15
part of secondary education in the evolving 21st Century century classroom; 16
(2) to promote opportunities for Vermont students to achieve 17
postsecondary readiness through high-quality educational experiences that 18
acknowledge individual goals, learning styles, and abilities; and 19
(3) to increase the rates of secondary school completion and 20
postsecondary continuation and retention in Vermont. 21 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.480
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(b) The Secretary shall develop, publish, and regularly update guidance, in 1
the form of technical assistance, sharing of best practices and model 2
documents, legal interpretations, and other support designed to assist school 3
districts: 4
(1) to To identify and support secondary students who require additional 5
assistance to succeed in school and to identify ways in which individual 6
students would benefit from flexible pathways to graduation;. 7
(2) to To work with every student in grade 7 seven through grade 12 in 8
an ongoing personalized learning planning process that: 9
(A) identifies the student’s emerging abilities, aptitude, and 10
disposition; 11
(B) includes participation by families and other engaged adults; 12
(C) guides decisions regarding course offerings and other high-13
quality educational experiences; and 14
(D) identifies career and postsecondary planning options using 15
resources provided pursuant to subdivision (4) of this subsection (b); and 16
(E) is documented by a personalized learning plan;. 17
(3) to To create opportunities for secondary students to pursue flexible 18
pathways to graduation that: 19
(A) increase aspiration and encourage postsecondary continuation of 20
training and education; 21 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.480
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(B) are an integral component of a student’s personalized learning 1
plan; and 2
(C) include: 3
(i) applied or work-based learning opportunities, including career 4
and career technical education and internships; 5
(ii) virtual learning and blended learning; 6
(iii) dual enrollment opportunities as set forth in section 944 of 7
this title; 8
(iv) early college programs as set forth in subsection 4011(e) of 9
this title; and 10
(v) [Repealed.] 11
(vi) adult education and secondary credential opportunities as set 12
forth in section 945 of this title; and. 13
(4) to To provide students, beginning no not later than in grade 7 seven, 14
with career development and postsecondary planning resources to ensure that 15
they are able to take full advantage of the opportunities available within the 16
flexible pathways to graduation and to achieve their career and postsecondary 17
education and training goals. Resources provided pursuant to this subdivision 18
shall include information regarding the admissions process and requirements 19
necessary to proceed with any and all military-related opportunities. 20 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.480
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(c) Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed as discouraging or 1
limiting the authority of any school district to develop or continue to provide 2
educational opportunities for its students that are otherwise permitted, 3
including the provision of Advanced Placement courses. 4
(d) An individual entitlement or private right of action shall not arise from 5
creation of a personalized learning plan. 6
* * * Secretary of Education Search * * * 7
Sec. 8. 3 V.S.A. § 2702 is amended to read: 8
§ 2702. SECRETARY OF EDUCATION 9
(a) With the advice and consent of the Senate, the Governor shall appoint a 10
Secretary of Education from among no not fewer than three candidates 11
proposed by the State Board of Education. The Secretary shall serve at the 12
pleasure of the Governor. 13
(1) The State Board shall begin a robust national search process not later 14
than 60 days after public notification of the resignation of a Secretary of 15
Education. 16
(2) The State Board may request from the Agency of Education the 17
funds necessary to utilize outside resources for the search process required 18
pursuant to this subsection. 19
(b) The Secretary shall report directly to the Governor and shall be a 20
member of the Governor’s Cabinet. 21 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.480
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(c) At the time of appointment, the Secretary shall have expertise in 1
education management and policy demonstrated leadership and management 2
abilities. 3
* * * Effective Dates * * * 4
Sec. 9. EFFECTIVE DATES 5
This act shall take effect on passage, except that Sec. 7 (military-related 6
postsecondary opportunities) shall take effect on July 1, 2025. 7