Bill Text: VA HJR108 | 2018 | Regular Session | Prefiled
Bill Title: Virginia Preschool Initiative programs; JLARC to study universal access.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-02-13 - Left in Rules [HJR108 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2018-HJR108-Prefiled.html
WHEREAS, the Virginia Preschool Initiative provides high quality preschool programs for at-risk four-year-olds in the Commonwealth; and
WHEREAS, many parents of four-year-olds in the Commonwealth who do not qualify for preschool through the Virginia Preschool Initiative nonetheless do not have the financial means to enroll their child in a high quality preschool program; and
WHEREAS, in order to ensure statewide equity in meaningful access to high quality preschool programs, it would be valuable for the General Assembly to study the feasibility of expanding access to high quality preschool programs through the Virginia Preschool Initiative to all four-year-olds in the Commonwealth; and
WHEREAS, a key component of a study of the feasibility of expanding access to high quality preschool programs through the Virginia Preschool Initiative to all four-year-olds in the Commonwealth is an analysis of the funding that would be required to achieve that goal; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission be directed to study the amount of funds required to make preschool available to each four-year-old in the Commonwealth through the Virginia Preschool Initiative.
In conducting its study, the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission shall project, on a school division-by-school division basis for the 2019–2020 school year, (i) Virginia Preschool Initiative program enrollments, (ii) total four-year-old student populations, and (iii) the state and local funds required to expand access to such programs to each four-year-old based on the current allocation formula for determining the state and local share of funding.
Technical assistance shall be provided to the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission by the Department of Education and each local school board in the Commonwealth. All agencies of the Commonwealth shall provide assistance to the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission for this study, upon request.
The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission shall complete its meetings by November 30, 2018, and the chairman shall submit to the Division of Legislative Automated Systems an executive summary of its findings and recommendations no later than the first day of the 2019 Regular Session of the General Assembly. The executive summary shall state whether the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission intends to submit to the General Assembly and the Governor a report of its findings and recommendations for publication as a House or Senate document. The executive summary and report shall be submitted 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.
