Their legislation would revamp a bill Simon introduced during the last General Assembly session that was sent to the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia for study. Simon initially proposed an authority that would facilitate refinancing loans to help borrowers take advantage of lower interest rates.

But the SCHEV report said that while some states have such refinancing programs, they are part of an existing student loan authority. The 25-page report outlined the complexities and risks associated with the plan and suggested additional options. 

• Cut the maximum long-term suspension from 364 calendar days to 45 school days (SB 995).
• Ban long-term suspensions and expulsions except in cases of physical injury or credible threats (SB 996).
• Ban suspension and expulsion for pre-kindergarten to fifth-grade students except in cases involving certain crimes (SB 997).

Stanley did not return calls requesting comment Monday.

The proposals come as school systems across the country reconsider discipline. Studies have suggested that out-of-school suspensions or expulsions might not improve behavior and are often handed down unevenly.

Fewer students mean less money from the state but rarely translate to significant savings elsewhere. It costs the same to send a bus up a mountain to fetch 20 students as it does 25, or to heat a classroom.

The enrollment losses have coalfield school districts in a panic.

Even before the drops, and the potential $4.5 million state cut accompanying them, the eight districts were squeezed beyond a measure seen in most districts across Virginia."

We thought it would be interesting to see what enrollment trends were for school systems throughout the commonwealth, both over the past year when enrollment statewide went up .3% or 3,801 students, to 1,288,481 (comparing this fall's membership numbers to the 2015-16 school year) and over the past decade, during which enrollment statewide increased 66,593 students or 5.5% (comparing to the 2006-2007 school year).  

These are somewhat familiar trends given recent attention to demographic shifts in Virginia that increased the clout of the I-95 corridor and reduced that of more rural areas.  What is perhaps less talked about in recent news reports is the pronounced drop in public school enrollment in the urban Tidewater area of Virginia.

We hope exploring the maps provides you with an insight or two as well.  As we wrap up this week's Compass Point, we wanted to share a couple links to analysis by Richmond Times Dispatch reporters about the likely General Assembly debates over K-12 education and higher education. 

Also, in keeping with the topic of school funding questions, we wanted to remind you to check out the third issue of our Education Law Newsletter for this school year. CEPI's Senior Fellow, Dr. Richard Vacca, reviews a range of court decisions that have impacted the parameters states and localities must follow in developing school funding mechanisms. That Education Law newsletter is available here. 

The House Education Committee is scheduled to meet on Mondays and Wednesdays during the session at 8:30 a.m. in House Room D. The Senate Education and Health Committee plans to meet on Thursdays at 8:00 a.m. in Senate Room B. Sub-committees will meet periodically throughout the session. Click here for the schedule of weekly meetings.

During the course of the session, legislative updates will be available weekly on the CEPI website at General Assembly Updates. Specific information about the General Assembly session, action on bills and resolutions, committee and subcommittee meetings, and information about legislators can be found here. If you have a question about a legislative issue during the session, please contact David Blount, CEPI Policy Associate, at dcblount2@vcu.edu.

Overview of Proposed Amendments to the 2016-2018 State Budget
Governor McAuliffe submitted proposed amendments to the 2016-2018 state budget to the General Assembly money committees in mid-December. As noted above, legislators will craft their own amendments to the current spending plan during the upcoming legislative session. Approval of the budget typically is one of the final acts taken by the legislature at the end of the session.

Current year state revenue collections are running well ahead of the interim (August) forecast of 1.7% growth for FY17. As a result, the governor’s introduced budget amendments increase the anticipated revenue growth rate to 3% percent for FY17, and propose a 3.2% percent hike for FY18, to yield an additional $451 million above the interim projections.

The governor’s proposal implements reductions revealed in October for the current fiscal year and incorporates more than one-half billion dollars in savings, the biggest chunk of that coming from what would have been the state’s FY18 costs of scuttled employee pay raises. The plan also contains another $103 million in targeted state agency reductions, pulls back about $76 million from state colleges and universities, and includes several proposed revenue enhancers that would yield more than $110 million for the state.