Building a Better Tomorrow, Brick by Brick: Stanley Prioritizes Student Success in 2024

Moneta, Virginia – Senator Bill Stanley, R-Franklin, continues to champion the modernization of Virginia’s education system, both fundamentally and through improving the physical infrastructure of our public school buildings. In his career in the Virginia Senate, he successfully passed groundbreaking legislation to begin the lengthy process of modernizing the physical infrastructure in which students obtain their education; he has also continued to fight for parents’ rights and their role in the education system. And for the 2024 General Assembly Session, education will not be excluded from his legislative agenda. 

Stanley commented, “As we prepare for the next legislative session, I feel confident that my colleagues on both sides of the isle will be able to work together to better the constitutionally mandated public education system for Virginia’s most precious natural resource, our children.” 

Stanley has submitted bills this year related to K-12 education to the Clerk of the Senate for consideration during the 2024 Virginia General Assembly Session. One of the bills he has introduced is Senate Bill (SB) 5, which aims to establish the STEM+C Competition Team Grant Program and Fund. This program will provide funding scholarships to public schools in the rural and inner-cities of Virginia to support the development and maintenance of extracurricular Robotics teams focused on science, technology, engineering, math, and computing (STEM+C). The primary objective of this program is to encourage more students to take an interest in these subjects and work collaboratively on projects outside of regular classes. This will help them acquire the necessary skills and knowledge to secure high-paying jobs in a rapidly growing field. 

He commented, “I proposed this robotics scholarship legislation as a one-year pilot program in the past, and it was enormously successful in starting up robotics competition programs in school divisions in economically distressed areas.  This new legislation will make this funding program permanent, so that all children, no matter where they live can participate in this very valuable educational program.”  

The City of Martinsville has witnessed some impressive achievements in their STEM+C teams lately. Two teams from the area have recently managed to secure state championships in this field. The Tree Huggers, a division one team, secured the top position in their division for their outstanding performance in Core Values and Absolute Zero. Another team, representing Martinsville Middle School, won the first prize in their division for their innovative project. These achievements showcase the exceptional talent and capabilities of the robotics teams across the Commonwealth. 

He continued commenting, “I am very proud of the teams in Martinsville. Their hard work clearly paid off, and I want to make sure that we provide them with the financial resources to continue promoting their programs, as well as giving other students in the Commonwealth the same opportunity.” 

Senator Stanley has introduced two additional bills related to public education: Senate Bill 27 will establish a special fund and program encouraging public schools to offer industry certification and vocational tech programs. Schools can either reintroduce these programs in high schools or initiate them in middle schools to pique students’ interest at an early age. 

Stanley commented, “With the shortage of skilled tradesmen nationwide, we must step away from the recent theory that in order to be successful in a 21st century economy, you must have a college degree. SB 17 aims to give students more career options after high school by preparing them for skilled trades careers that are not only high paying jobs but also desperately needed as a part of the 21st-century workforce.”  

Finally, Stanley has introduced SB 28, giving individual school boards the power to decide whether cell phones and other handheld devices (such as tablets, game consoles, etc.) should be permitted during regular school hours. While several school boards across the state have been implementing similar policies, Stanley noted, “This bill will place the policymaking decisions over electronic devices to each locality under Virginia’s Dillon Rule.”  

Stanley commented on the bill, stating, “The point of the bill is to allow kids to focus on their education, and not be distracted by their cell phones, which I have seen firsthand when I have visited our schools in my region.  Both parents and teachers that I have talked with also are very concerned about the impact of a cell phone when it comes to bullying and physical altercations in our schools.  This bill will allow school divisions to ban the use of cell phones during school hours that are often used by students to video fights and posting them online (which only serves to encourage more fights) and will go a long way to reducing bullying and cyberbullying in our school buildings.” 

Senator Stanley noted that as the General Assembly Session begins, his office will continue to update the constituents of the seventh Senate District as to the status of each of these bills as they move through both chambers of the assembly.