SURVEY OPPORTUNITY!
#TakeAction4Kids

Virginia PTA is collaborating with  Voices for Virginia's Children  and  Families Forward Virginia to conduct a survey on the challenges families are facing during the COVID-19 outbreak with respect to childcare, broadband access, and the overall health and wellness of your family.

Your answers will help policymakers and community leaders respond to the COVID-19 outbreak with a better understanding of some of the challenges families are facing and some of the choices they must make.

Please take a minute to answer the survey. We also encourage you to share the survey with your families on social media.

LETTER TO USDA ON NUTRITION ROLLBACKS

On April 22nd, Virginia PTA issued a letter to the USDA regarding their proposed roll-back of the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act standards that would result in a reduction of vegetable and fruit portions and expand ala carte sales.

Now, more than ever, we must ensure that our students have access to well balanced, healthy meals that meet the calorie and nutrition needs established under the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

🏛   GENERAL ASSEMBLY
2020 RECAP  

The 2020 General Assembly session included positive improvements for education, which has been largely underfunded since the 2009 recession. However, as a result the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting revenue loss;

📍 $ 490 million in K-12 education was un-alloted (or temporarily deferred) from the fiscal year 2021-2022 budget that the General Assembly adopted on March 12th. Funding for these items will be re-evaluated at a special general assembly session in late summer.


📍$50 million for School Counselors was tabled. This anticipated funding would have lowered the counselor to student ratio to one counselor for every 325 students beginning in the 2021-22 school year. The school counselor ratio as it now stands reverted back to what was funded in 2019-2020 (although this ratio was lower than what was required by the Virginia code). Those ratios are 1:455 for Elementary Schools, 1:370 for Middle Schools, 1:300 for High Schools.

Click below to see the status of individual bills we were following this session and to view our webinar recapping the 2020 General Assembly session and education funding.