Virginia Law

A. The Western Virginia Public Education Consortium is hereby established and shall be referred to as the Consortium. For the purposes of this chapter and the work of the Consortium, "Western Virginia" shall include the Counties of Alleghany, Bath, Bland, Botetourt, Craig, Floyd, Franklin, Giles, Henry, Montgomery, Patrick, Pulaski, Roanoke, and Wythe, and the Cities of Covington, Martinsville, Radford, Roanoke, and Salem. The governing board of the Consortium shall consist of 33 members that include 14 legislative members and the 19 school superintendents of the named localities as follows: 10 members of the House of Delegates representing the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Eleventh, Twelfth, Sixteenth, Seventeenth, and Nineteenth House Districts; four members of the Senate representing the Nineteenth, Twentieth, Twenty-first, and Twenty-fifth Senatorial Districts, all serving as ex officio nonvoting members; and the school superintendents of Alleghany, Bath, Bland, Botetourt, Craig, Floyd, Franklin, Giles, Henry, Montgomery, Patrick, Pulaski, Roanoke County, Wythe, Covington, Martinsville, Radford, Roanoke City, and Salem.

B. Legislative members and school superintendents shall serve terms coincident with their terms of office. The board shall elect a chairman and a vice-chairman from among its members.

C. Members of the board shall serve without compensation. All members shall be reimbursed for all reasonable and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties in the work of the Consortium as provided in §§ 2.2-2813 and 2.2-2825. All such expenses shall be paid from existing appropriations to or received by the Consortium or, if unfunded, shall be approved by the Joint Rules Committee.

D. A majority of the members of the board shall constitute a quorum. The board shall meet at the call of the chairman or whenever a majority of the members so request.

E. The chairman of the board shall submit to the Governor and the General Assembly an annual executive summary of the interim activity and work of the board no later than the first day of each regular session of the General Assembly. The executive summary 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.

2000, cc. 105, 302; 2002, cc. 417, 465; 2003, c. 885; 2006, c. 861; 2016, c. 232.

The Consortium shall perform the following functions and duties:

1. Coordinate with organizations and agencies providing programs and services to Consortium school divisions to reduce duplication of effort and optimize the use of available resources;

2. Conduct ongoing assessments to identify needs of member school divisions and develop plans and programs responding to those needs;

3. Facilitate the coordination of programs in the Consortium region that affect K through 12 public education in career and technical education, workforce development, and other linkages between public schools, institutions of higher education, and business and industry;

4. Coordinate technology-related activities between Consortium members in areas of common concern, such as video conferencing and distance learning, including the acquisition and utilization of hardware and software for administrative and instructional purchases;

5. Develop and maintain linkages with schools and school divisions in Northern Virginia to promote enhanced usage of educational technology; and

6. Create the capacity for development within the Consortium of shared services and activities, including purchasing, facility planning, staff development, and special needs programming, and implementation of such shared services and activities as need is determined.

2000, cc. 105, 302; 2001, c. 483.

From such funds as may be appropriated or received, the board of the Consortium may appoint an executive director, who shall be authorized to employ such staff as necessary to enable the Consortium to perform its duties as set forth in this chapter. The board is authorized to determine the duties of such staff and to fix salaries and compensation from such funds as may be appropriated or received.

2000, cc. 105, 302; 2002, cc. 417, 465.

The Consortium is authorized to apply for, accept, and expend gifts, grants, or donations from public or private sources to enable it to carry out its objectives.

2000, cc. 105, 302.

All agencies of the Commonwealth shall cooperate with the Consortium and, upon request, assist the Consortium in the performance of its duties and responsibilities.

2000, cc. 105, 302.