SB 563

Abstract

Department of Education; Virginia Community College System; regional career and technical education program. Directs the Department of Education, in collaboration with the Virginia Community College System, the Virginia Board of Workforce Development, the Board of Education, the school board and division superintendent of Tazewell County Public Schools, and representatives of the governing boards of comprehensive community colleges located in Tazewell County and contiguous counties to study the feasibility of and make recommendations on developing a plan for establishing a regional career and technical education program for all students in grade levels six through 12 who reside in Planning District 2.

Public education; dual enrollment and concurrentenrollment; high school graduation. Makes several changes relatingto graduation from a public high school in the Commonwealth, including (i) eliminating the requirement for a student to complete one virtualcourse in order to graduate from high school and (ii) specifyingthat various options and requirements relating to earning careerand technical education credentials for the purpose of satisfyinghigh school graduation requirements are required to be high-demandcareer and technical education credentials. The bill also definesand thereby distinguishes the concepts of dual enrollment and concurrentenrollment in the context of high school students' participation in college-level coursework and requires the agreements for postsecondary attainment between school boards and comprehensive community collegesto specify the credit available for dual enrollment and concurrentenrollment courses.