Virginia Law

A. All of the real estate and personal property now existing at the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind at Staunton and standing in the name of the Board of Education shall be transferred to and be under the control of the Board of Visitors of the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind. The Department of General Services shall cooperate with the Board in supervising the maintenance and repair of the real and personal property of the school.

B. Any gift, grant, devise or bequest made prior to July 1, 1984, to the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind at Staunton shall be held by the Board of Visitors of the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind for the school. The Board shall have the power to take, hold, receive and enjoy any gift, grant, devise or bequest made hereafter to the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind. Such gift, grant, devise or bequest shall be held for uses and purposes designated by the donor or if not designated for a specific purpose, for the general purposes of any programs of the school. The Board shall provide fiduciary administration of such funds, including investments, disbursements, accounting, and financial reporting. The Board shall also accept, execute and administer any trust in which it may have an interest under the terms of the instrument creating the trust.

C. The Board of Visitors of the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind shall be charged with the operational control of the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind at Staunton. In exercising this operational control, the Board shall include, in any budget recommendations to the Governor for state funding for the several school divisions which may be related to educational technology or other programs appropriate for implementation within the school, state funding for such programs to be provided to the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind. However, the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind shall not be defined as a school division for constitutional purposes. Supervision of the contracts and agreements of the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind are hereby transferred to the Board of Visitors of the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind.

The Board shall provide rules and regulations for the governance of the school. The Board shall administer, supervise and direct the activities and programs of the school pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Board. The Board shall appoint the officers and employees of the school subject to the provisions of Chapter 29 (§ 2.2-2900 et seq.) of Title 2.2.

1984, c. 413; 1998, c. 66; 2000, c. 285; 2009, c. 210.

Repealed by Acts 2009, c. 210, cl. 4, effective July 1, 2009.

A. As used in this section:

"Deaf" means having a hearing impairment so severe as to impair the individual from processing linguistic information through hearing, with or without amplification, that adversely affects such individual's educational performance.

"Hard of hearing" means having an impairment in hearing in one or both ears, with or without amplification, whether permanent or fluctuating, that adversely affects an individual's educational performance. "Hard of hearing" does not include "deaf."

"Vision impaired" means having an impairment in vision that, even with correction, adversely affects an individual's educational performance. "Vision impaired" includes both having partial sight and blindness.

B. There is hereby established the Board of Visitors of the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind (Board of Visitors), as a policy agency in the executive branch of state government under the name of the "Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind," for the purpose of governing the educational programs and services to deaf, blind, and multi-disabled students enrolled at the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind.

C. The Board of Visitors shall have a total membership of 15 members that shall consist of four legislative members and 11 nonlegislative citizen members. Members shall be appointed as follows: two members of the House of Delegates, to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Delegates in accordance with the principles of proportional representation contained in the Rules of the House of Delegates; two members of the Senate, to be appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules; and 11 nonlegislative citizen members, of whom two shall be parents of current students at the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind, of whom (i) one shall be the parent of a student who is deaf or hard of hearing and one shall be the parent of a student who is vision impaired and (ii) one shall represent the Eastern region of the Commonwealth and one shall represent the Western region of the Commonwealth, two shall be representatives of the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind Alumni Association who are deaf or hard of hearing, and two shall be representatives of the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind Alumni Association who are vision impaired, to be appointed by the Governor, subject to confirmation by the General Assembly. Nonlegislative citizen members of the Board of Visitors shall be citizens of the Commonwealth. Legislative members of the Board of Visitors shall serve terms coincident with their terms of office. After the initial staggering of terms, nonlegislative members appointed shall serve for four-year terms. Appointments to fill vacancies, other than by expiration of a term, shall be for the unexpired terms. Vacancies shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointments. All members may be reappointed. However, no House member shall serve more than four consecutive two-year terms, no Senate member shall serve more than two consecutive four-year terms, and no nonlegislative member appointed by the Governor shall serve more than two consecutive four-year terms. The remainder of any term to which a member is appointed to fill a vacancy shall not constitute a term in determining the member's eligibility for reappointment.

The Board of Visitors shall elect a chairman and vice-chairman from among its membership. The Board of Visitors shall elect a secretary, who shall keep an accurate record of the proceedings of the Board of Visitors and of the executive committee if one is created by the Board of Visitors, and such other officers as the Board deems appropriate. A majority of the members shall constitute a quorum. The Board of Visitors shall meet no less than four times each year. The meetings of the Board of Visitors shall be held at the call of the chairman or whenever the majority of the members so request. Notice of all meetings shall be made in accordance with the provisions of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (§ 2.2-3700 et seq.). Notice of meetings to the public shall, pursuant to subsection G of § 2.2-3707, state whether public comment will be received at the meeting and, if so, the approximate point during the meeting when public comment will be received. At any meeting at which public comment will be received, each speaker shall be allotted three minutes to speak. To ensure that all interested parties are given reasonable opportunity to be heard, the time allotted for each speaker to give public comment shall not be limited extemporaneously or without adequate notice prior to the date on which such meeting is scheduled.

D. Legislative members of the Board of Visitors shall receive such compensation as provided in § 30-19.12, and nonlegislative citizen members shall receive such compensation for the performance of their duties as provided in § 2.2-2813. All members shall be reimbursed for all reasonable and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties as provided in §§ 2.2-2813 and 2.2-2825. Funding for the costs of expenses of the members shall be provided from such funds as may be appropriated to the Board of Visitors, in accordance with the appropriations act.

E. The Superintendent shall designate a member of the staff of the Department to serve as a consultant to the Board of Visitors on matters pertaining to instruction, federal and state special education requirements, and school accreditation, and to provide technical assistance to assist the Board of Visitors in meeting specific instructional and school accreditation needs.

F. The Board of Visitors shall have the following powers and duties:

1. Establish such rules, policies, and regulations for the governance of the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind.

2. Prescribe the criteria and procedures governing admissions to the school, and the review of student placement, to ensure the appropriateness of the placement and instructional program of each student admitted to the school, pursuant to § 22.1-348 and in accordance with federal and state special education laws and regulations.

3. Establish a policy governing the transportation of students at the school to permit frequent home visits by students, and to provide to each student transportation to and from the school and the place of residence of such student's parent or guardian whenever the school is officially closed.

4. Prescribe and approve the education programs of the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind, in consultation with the Department, the Department for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing, and the Department for the Blind and Vision Impaired.

5. Appoint and supervise the superintendent, other officers, and the faculty of the school. The superintendent shall be appointed every two years and the other officers and faculty annually. However, the superintendent, with the approval of the chairman of the Board of Visitors, shall be authorized to fill vacancies in positions appointed by the Board of Visitors occurring between meetings of the Board of Visitors. The Board of Visitors may remove at any time the superintendent, other officers, faculty, and employees for cause, subject to the provisions of Chapter 29 (§ 2.2-2900 et seq.) of Title 2.2.

6. Establish the qualifications, duties, and compensation of the superintendent, other officers, faculty, and employees of the school.

7. Prepare and submit to the Governor and the General Assembly an annual report detailing the curricula and other educational programs and services of the school, including receipts and disbursements pertaining to the operation of the school for each fiscal year ending on June 30.

G. The Board of Visitors is hereby authorized to establish and maintain a campus security department and to employ campus security personnel therein.

2009, c. 210; 2011, cc. 691, 714; 2022, c. 355; 2023, c. 428; 2024, c. 351.

Repealed by Acts 2009, c. 210, cl. 4, effective July 1, 2009.

A. Persons from birth through age 21 shall be eligible for educational services provided by the school. The Department of Education shall be entitled to deduct annually from the locality's share for the education of pupils with disabilities a sum equal to the actual local expenditure per pupil in support of those students placed by the relevant local school division in the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind. The amount of the actual transfers shall be based on data accumulated during the prior school year. Fees for student activities may be charged at the Board's discretion.

B. From such funds as may be appropriated, the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind shall provide an educational program for children in preschool through grade twelve who are deaf, blind, or who may have sensory impairments and other disabilities, including intellectual disabilities.

The Board, from time to time, may approve additional programs as may be appropriate.

C. The Board shall prescribe procedures and criteria for determining admission to and the appropriate placement in the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind. The appropriateness of the placement of each student attending the school shall be reviewed at least annually.

1984, c. 413; 1993, c. 2; 1994, c. 259; 1999, cc. 427, 428; 2000, c. 285; 2009, c. 210; 2010, c. 666.

For the purpose of retirement and other statutory benefits, teachers employed as full-time instructional personnel by the Board of Visitors shall be deemed to be full-time state personnel and shall receive the same benefits as are accorded all other full-time state personnel. The Board of Visitors shall require the teachers at the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind to comply with the provisions of §§ 22.1-298.1, 22.1-299, and 22.1-303. The Board of Visitors shall require any applicant for employment as full-time instructional personnel or other position requiring as a condition of employment direct contact with students to submit to a fingerprinting and criminal history record check through the Central Criminal Records Exchange to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in accordance with the provisions of §§ 22.1-296 and 22.1-296.1. The Board of Visitors shall be deemed a governmental entity for the purpose of receiving from the Central Criminal Records Exchange any criminal history record information pertaining to an application for employment. Contracts for the employment of teachers shall be in the form prescribed by the school board of the school division in which the school is located. In cases of nonrenewal of contracts of probationary teachers, the decisions shall be appealable to the Board of Visitors. For all other purposes, the Virginia Personnel Act (§ 2.2-2900 et seq.) shall apply to the teachers of the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind.

The Board of Visitors shall establish salary schedules for all professional personnel that are competitive with those in effect for the school divisions in which the facility is located.

1984, c. 413; 1993, c. 2; 2006, cc. 27, 349; 2009, c. 210; 2023, c. 670.