Senate bill seeks to allow Virginia school boards to use state money for broadband expansion

(The Center Square) – Legislation that would allow school boards to appropriate money to fund broadband internet expansion to unserved areas has advanced past a second Virginia Senate committee.

Senate Bill 1225, sponsored by Sen. Jennifer Boysko, D-Herndon, advanced through the Education and Health Committee on Thursday with unanimous bipartisan support, 12-0. It previously passed the Committee on Commerce and Labor, 15-0.

No fiscal impact would be placed on the commonwealth because the bill does not allocate additional funds to school boards, but rather grants them additional flexibility with the state funds they already receive.

With some school districts in the state using entirely remote learning and other districts using a hybrid of remote and in-person learning, the bill would permit the school boards to allocate those funds for expanding broadband internet solely for educational purposes. It authorizes the boards to work with private broadband service providers to promote, implement and subsidize this broadband expansion within their jurisdiction.

To qualify for the broadband expansion, the students in the household would have to qualify for a nutritional program or any other program recognized by the school board to determine which students are at risk.

The committee also advanced legislation that would require the Virginia Department of Education and Board of Education to develop new policies and procedures to improve special education in the commonwealth.

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