SB1346: Virginia Opportunity Scholarship Grant Program; established.

Legislative Summary

Public schools; Virginia Opportunity Scholarship Grant Program established. Establishes the Virginia Opportunity Scholarship Grant Program, to be administered and managed by the Department of the Treasury pursuant to guidelines developed by the Board of Education in collaboration with the Department of the Treasury, for the purpose of ensuring that all children in the Commonwealth have access to quality educational opportunities by annually awarding a grant in the amount of $5,000 per eligible student, as that term is outlined in the bill, for up to 10,000 eligible students each year. The bill requires the grant funds awarded pursuant to the Program to be used to support qualified educational expenses of attending an accredited private school in the Commonwealth, as enumerated by the bill. The bill also (i) directs the Board of Education, in collaboration with the Department of the Treasury, to develop guidelines for the implementation and administration of the Program; (ii) requires the Board of Education to develop and make available to each school board and each school board to make available to parents at the start of each school year informational materials relating to the Program; and (iii) requires the Department of Education to annually collect data on and include as a part of the Board of Education's Annual Report on the Condition and Needs of Public Schools in Virginia the total student participation in the Program.