Compact to ease transitions for military children

Military children will now find it easier to transition into a new school when relocating to Virginia, thanks to the General Assembly.

Legislators last week unanimously approved signing on to The Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children, an agreement that standardizes how states deal with a host of school-related issues, including record transfers, enrollment, graduation requirements and extracurricular activities.

Virginia, which has the country’s second-largest military population, is the 12th state to sign on.

Del. Mark Cole, a Spotsylvania Republican, introduced the measure last year. It passed the House but stalled in the Senate because of concerns regarding state sovereignty and the potential effects on school districts. Cole reintroduced the measure this session, the Senate made several amendments, and passage followed.

The 2010 budget, which begins July 1, contains about $200,000 to fund the program. Cole said Friday that it actually should cost only about $75,000 to $80,000 to administer because the program won’t require a full-time staffer.

Now that Virginia is a compact member, one of the next steps will be to set up a state advisory council, said Marian Leverette, the school liaison officer for the Navy’s Mid-Atlantic Region.

As an early member of the council, she said, Virginia will be able to work with the other compact states to nail down governing guidelines on items from kindergarten enrollment to immunizations.

The matter is a personal one for Leverette. Her daughter, Kaléa, a Nansemond River High School sophomore, has endured years of complications as her father, a Navy officer, received orders and the family moved repeatedly.

Now those moves will be easier, she said. What’s more, she added, April is the Month of the Military Child.

“What a good beginning of a new year and a way to celebrate military children by getting this passed,” she said.

Matthew Jones, (757) 446-2949, matthew.jones@pilotonline.com