Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 7, 1992 TAG: 9202070276
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Staff and wire reports
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
SCHOOL BOARD BILL OK'D
By more than a 3-to-1 margin, the House of Delegates advanced a bill Thursday that would allow voters to decide whether to elect their school boards.The House also gave final approval to a bill requiring parental notification when an unmarried minor seeks an abortion, and a Senate committee killed a measure to allow schools to open before Labor Day.
Del. David Brickley's elected school boards bill advanced on a 77-23 vote. Brickley, D-Woodbridge, has been pushing such legislation for a decade. A final vote is set today.
The House voted 63-36 to pass the parental notification abortion bill.
Del. Richard Cranwell, D-Vinton, said he supported the concept but could not vote for the bill because the House had eliminated a provision that would have allowed a minister to be notified instead.
In making the change, Cranwell said, "we are not doing anything but denying young girls the counsel and advice they should be able to receive."
Del. Roscoe Reynolds, D-Martinsville, sponsor of the bill, had touted it as an effort to enhance family communication.
The bill allows a girl to get an abortion without notifying her parents if a judge determines she is mature enough to give informed consent. A doctor may perform the procedure without notifying parents if there is reason to believe the child has been abused.
In other assembly action Thursday:
The Senate Education and Health Committee voted 8-7 to kill a bill sponsored by Sen. Bo Trumbo, R-Fincastle, that would have allowed schools to open before Labor Day. Public schools are required to open after the holiday unless they get an exemption.
Trumbo said he was concerned about the assembly "dictating to the school boards how to run their calendar."
The Senate Education and Health Committee killed a bill that would have allowed school systems statewide to offer before- and after-school day care.
The House Courts of Justice Committee endorsed a bill making it a felony to brandish or discharge a gun within 1,000 feet of school property.
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.