Required Notifications

Each school division must notify parents, employees, and other building occupants about asbestos inspections, response actions, and post-response action activities, including periodic reinspection and surveillance activities that are planned or in progress.

View the division's annual Asbestos Notification (September 28, 2022).

Each school division must notify the public that current copies of all division policies and regulations are available on the division's website. The notice should also inform citizens without online access that printed copies are available upon request.

Employees and the public can access all school board-approved policies and regulations via the “Policies & Regs” link on the division’s ElectronicSchoolBoard website. Those without online access can request printed copies by contacting the school division.

Policy Reference: BFB, Board Policy Manual

After the school division’s budget is approved by the appropriating body each year, the school board must publish the approved budget on the division's website. Printed copies must also be made available for citizens upon request.

For an overview of the annual budget planning process and community engagement opportunities, visit our Budget Information site. The 2024-25 Adopted Budget and a full archive of budget documents, reports, and presentations dating back to 2008-09 are available on our Historical Budget Documents page. A detailed line-item view of the 2024-25 Adopted Budget ("School Fund Summary") can be found on page A-27 of Section A.

To view the budget in hard copy, citizens can visit the County Office Building at 401 McIntire Road, 3rd Floor, Charlottesville.

Each division is required to notify parents and the public about the Free and Reduced Price Meals program at the start of each school year. This notification must include eligibility criteria, application procedures, and assurances that no child will be discriminated against based on race, sex, color, national origin, age, or disability.

Additionally, schools must inform families about their rights to appeal application decisions, the automatic eligibility for certain children, and provide information about meal charge policies and food safety inspections. Virginia law mandates that schools also distribute information on SNAP benefits and free or reduced-price meal applications to students and parents during back-to-school events.

Families may apply online for free and reduced price meal benefits, as well as access information and a link to apply for SNAP benefits, through the Child Nutrition Program website. A printed Household Application for Free and Reduced Price Meals is included in every student's annual registration packet and is available at each school office. More information, including the annual Letter to Households, can be found on the division's Free-Reduced Meal Information page. 

Each ACPS cafeteria undergoes at least two inspections per year, with the most recent inspection posted publicly in the school cafeteria.

Policy Reference: BBA, Role, Qualifications, and Appraisal of the School Board; EFB, Food Services

Each school division must provide parents of enrolled students with the following: a notice of parental responsibility and involvement requirements; the division's standards of student conduct; and a copy of the compulsory school attendance law with enforcement procedures and policies.

At the beginning of each school year, ACPS shares this information about Parental Responsibility and Involvement Requirements with parents/guardians through the online student registration/verification form. Parents must confirm receipt of these materials, while expressly reserving their constitutional rights and the right to express disagreement with school policies or decisions.

Policy Reference: JFC, Student Conduct; JEA, Compulsory Attendance; JEG, Exclusions and Exemptions from School Attendance; JED, Student Absences/Excuses/Dismissals

The school division is required to publish the estimated average per pupil cost of public education for the upcoming school year, along with actual per pupil expenditures from state and local sources for the previous school year.

View ACPS Per Pupil Expenditures.

Policy Reference: DIA, Reporting Per Pupil Costs.

Schools are required to notify parents each year about the academic and career guidance, as well as personal and social counseling programs, available to students. This notification must explain the purpose of the programs, how parents can review the materials used, and the process for limiting their child's participation in these programs.

The school division's School Counseling web page provides details about our counseling program, including links to each school's counseling page and brochures by grade level: Elementary, Middle and High. Each brochure includes the following statement:

Families may review materials to be used in any school counseling program by contacting the school counselor. Families who object to the participation of their child in the personal/social counseling program must notify the school principal in writing if the child is not to participate in any counseling program.

Policy Reference: IJ, School Counseling Program

Each school division must notify the parents of rising juniors and seniors about (1) graduation requirements according to the standards for accreditation, and (2) any remaining requirements for their child to complete before graduation. Parents of students who fail to graduate or meet graduation requirements, and who are under 20 years old as of August 1 of the school year, must also be informed of their child's right to a free public education. For English Learners, this notification includes information about their right to a free public education, in accordance with state law.

The counseling office at each ACPS high school addresses these requirements on an individual basis with students and parents.

Additionally, parents of students with disabilities who have an IEP and fail to meet graduation requirements must be informed of their child's right to a free and appropriate education until age 21. This notification is included in each student's IEP as part of the required transition plan starting at age 13, along with annual notices of parental rights addressing eligibility.

Policy Reference: IKF, The Virginia Assessment Program and Graduation Requirements; IAA, Notification of Learning Objectives

Students and their parents must be notified of the availability of dual enrollment; advanced placement classes; career and technical education programs, including internships, externships, apprenticeships, credentialing programs, certification programs, licensure programs, and other work-based learning experiences; the International Baccalaureate program; and Academic Year Governor's School Programs.

The division publishes this information within the High School Program of Studies.

Students and parents also must be notified of the division’s agreement with a community college in the Commonwealth to enable students to complete an associate's degree or a one-year Uniform Certificate of General Studies concurrent with a high school diploma.

Beginning in the middle school years, students are counseled on opportunities for beginning postsecondary education and opportunities for obtaining industry certifications, occupational competency credentials, or professional licenses in a career and technical education field prior to high school graduation. Such opportunities will include access to at least three Advanced Placement courses or three college-level courses for degree credit. Students taking advantage of such opportunities are not denied participation in school activities for which they are otherwise eligible. Wherever possible, students are encouraged and afforded opportunities to take college courses simultaneously for high school graduation and college degree credit (dual enrollment).

Policy Reference: IGBJ, Advanced Placement Classes and Special Programs; LEB, Advanced/Alternative Courses for Credit

School boards are required to provide parents of students in grades 5-12 with information about eating disorders, in accordance with guidelines from the Virginia Department of Education.

View our Eating Disorders Awareness Guide for Families.

Each school's written procedures to follow in emergencies must be outlined in the student handbook and discussed with staff and students in the first week of each school year.

Individual schools within ACPS distribute student handbooks, and emergency procedures are discussed with students and parents during student orientation and Back-to-School events.

Policy Reference: EB, School Crisis, Emergency Management, and Medical Emergency Response Plan

School divisions receiving federal funds to provide a language instruction educational program must inform the parents of English Learners of the reasons for the identification of their child as an English Learner in need of placement in a language instruction program, as well as the details of the division's language instruction program and information pertaining to parental rights.

ACPS sends home a letter to all parents of ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) students including the details required by federal law, either in the first 30 days of school or within two weeks of entry into the program during the school year. For more information about our support programs for English Learners, please visit the International & ESOL Program homepage.

Policy Reference: IGBF, English Learners

The school division's policy regarding student fees and the fee schedule must be provided to parents.

The school board annually reviews and approves school fees. Through such review, the board tries to minimize the financial impact on students participating in specific courses or programs. Each year, school fees are reviewed and updated to reflect current program costs. Academic fees were eliminated in the 2018-19 fiscal year. Fees for the 2022-23 fiscal year remain the same as in 2021-22 except for a $1 increase in the maximum fee for Advanced Placement (AP) tests. View the 2022-23 Fee Schedule.

Policy Reference: JN, Student Fees, Fines, and Charges

Divisions must provide parents/guardians and adult students notice of their rights to inspect and review education records, amend education records, consent to disclosure of personally identifiable information in education records, and file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education.

School Board Policy JO, Student Records, details the rights of parents and eligible students under FERPA and defines the categories of information the school division designates as directory information. Additional resources include the U.S. Department of Education's FERPA Model Notification of Rights for Elementary & Secondary Schools and Model Notice for Directory Information (en español).

Policy Reference: JO, Student Records

Each school division is required to make its comprehensive plan for the education of gifted students available through the division's website.

View Albemarle County Public Schools' Local Plan for the Education of the Gifted, 2020-2025, which is available, along with additional information, on the division's Talent Development and Gifted Services web page.

Policy Reference: IGBB, Programs for Gifted Students

Every school must provide to students in all grade levels a notice of all requirements for Standard and Advanced Studies diplomas. The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) publishes graduation requirements (including minimum credit and course requirements) on their Profile of a Virginia Graduate web page.

ACPS publishes graduation requirements within the High School Program of Studies, under General Information > Graduation Requirements.

Further, each division shall provide guidance from the Virginia Department of Education to parents of students with disabilities regarding the Applied Studies diploma and its limitations at a student's annual individualized education program (IEP) meeting corresponding to grades 3-12 when curriculum or statewide assessment decisions are being made that impact the type of diploma for which the student can qualify.

ACPS provides such guidance on an individual student basis.

Policy Reference: IKF, The Virginia Assessment Program and Graduation Requirements.

For any high school credit-bearing course taken in middle school, parents may request that grades be omitted from the student's transcript and the student not earn high school credit for the course in accordance with policies adopted by the local school board.

The counseling office at each ACPS middle school addresses this requirement on an individual student basis.

Policy Reference: IKFA, Middle School Students Taking High School Credit Courses

Each division must provide public notice of the educational rights of homeless students enrolled in the division. The notice, which must be in a manner and form understandable to homeless students and their parents/guardians, shall be disseminated in places where homeless students receive services.

View the Educational Rights Poster for Youth (Información para los Jóvenes de Edad Escolar) and the Educational Rights Poster for Parents (Información para los Padres).

Policy Reference: JECA, Admission of Homeless Children

Every school division that has an Internet website must make its Internet privacy statement conspicuously available on its website.

The division's Privacy Policy can be accessed from the footer of every page of the ACPS website.

Every school must provide to parents the learning objectives to be achieved at their child's grade level.

In high school, this requirement is met by providing students with a syllabus for each of their courses. Parents also may find it helpful to view course descriptions detailed within our Academic Guides for middle and high school. ACPS curricula for all core instructional areas (grades PK-12) may be accessed through the Department of Instruction site.

Policy Reference: IAA, Notification of Learning Objectives

Prior to the administration of any NAEP assessment, ACPS will inform parents of children selected to participate in the assessment that their child may be excused from participation for any reason, is not required to finish any authorized assessment, and is not required to answer any test question. Further, the division will make reasonable effort to inform parents and the public of their right of access to assessment data, questions, and complete and current assessment instruments of any NAEP assessment, excluding personally identifiable information and questions that may be reused in the future.

Divisions must notify students, parents and others, including, in some instances, professional organizations that have contracts with the school board, that they do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, age, or genetic information.

The division's Nondiscrimination Statement (Declaración de No-Discriminación), which addresses Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972 and includes contact information for our Compliance Officers, can be accessed from the footer of every page of the division website.

Policy Reference: AC, Nondiscrimination; JB, Equal Educational Opportunities and JFHA, Prohibition Against Harassment and Retaliation (for students); GB, Equal Employment Opportunity and GBA, Prohibition Against Harassment and Retaliation (for employees)

Divisions and schools that receive Title I funds must distribute their parental involvement policy to parents of students in Title I programs.

Policy Reference: IGBC, Parent and Family Involvement

In accordance with school board policy, the superintendent or his/her designee will notify parents of ACPS students and students age 14 and older about School Board Policy EBAB, Possible Exposure to Viral Infections, at the start of each school year.

Policy Reference: EBAB, Possible Exposure to Viral Infections

The school division's Career & Technical Education (CTE) program must include notice on its website to enrolled high school students and their parents of (1) the availability of postsecondary education and employment data published by the State Council of Higher Education, and (2) the opportunity for such students to obtain a nationally recognized career readiness certificate at a local public high school, comprehensive community college, or workforce center. The VDOE's Career and Technical Education (CTE) site provides additional CTE resources.

Additionally, career and technical education programs incorporated into the K-12 curricula must include, as part of each student's academic and career plan, a list of the top 100 professions in the Commonwealth by median pay and the education, training and skills required for each such profession, as well as the top 10 degree programs at institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth by median pay of program graduates. ACPS shares this information with students in Middle School Advisory and High School Seminar.

The PPRA requires school divisions to provide notice of their policy controlling the administration of surveys on certain sensitive topics, including political or religious beliefs and behavior involving sex or illegal conduct. Divisions also must notify parents of the dates during which certain activities may occur, including activities involving the collection, disclosure or use of students' personal information; the administration of any survey concerning sensitive information; or any non-emergency, invasive physical examination, or screening.

Policy Reference: KFB, Administration of Surveys and Questionnaires

Every school must provide to parents a copy of the division's promotion, retention and remediation policies.

Policy Reference: IKEB, Promotion/ Retention/Acceleration; IGBE, Remedial and Summer Instruction Program

School boards must provide information developed by the office of the Virginia Attorney General to students regarding laws governing the prosecution of juveniles as adults for the commission of certain crimes. Such information is addressed on the Office of the Attorney General's Virginia Rules website, specifically under the topic Criminal Law Basics.

Policy Reference: JFCL, Notification Regarding Prosecution of Juveniles as Adults

School boards must report to the public the actual pupil/teacher ratios, by school, in elementary, middle and high school classrooms across the division. ACPS annually reports class size data each fall. View the 2022-23 Class Size Report.

Divisions must notify parents that they will release the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of secondary students to all recruiters or institutions of higher education that request them unless parents (or eligible students) specifically request that this information not be released.

Regarding the release of student records to military recruiters, ACPS notifies parents of secondary students of the requirement and provides an "opt out" option through the annual Student Registration Verification process.

Policy Reference: JO, Student Records

Divisions that receive Title I funds must prepare and disseminate specified information to parents. While federal law refers to this information as a “report card,” the Virginia Board of Education uses the term “School Quality Profile.” The Virginia Department of Education posts the information required by federal law in online School Quality Profiles, which provide information about student achievement, college and career readiness, program completion, school safety, teacher quality, and other topics of interest to parents and the general public. View the division-level Albemarle County Public Schools Quality Profile or select an individual school.

Policy Reference: CMA, Quality Profiles

ACPS maintains all permanent academic records in accordance with the Virginia Board of Education’s regulations and guidelines, the Code of Virginia, and the Records Management Division of the Library of Virginia, which manages the retention and destruction of all public agency records. Certain records, including Special Education records, have a retention period of five years after a student moves to another school district, graduates, or (for special education records) stops receiving special education services. In accordance with the Library of Virginia schedule GS-21 disposition method, ACPS will shred expired records that are no longer educationally useful at the end of the five-year period. If parents wish to review and/or have a copy of this data, they must contact the individual schools before the end of the 5-year retention period.

For more information about the school division's records management practices, please visit our Records Management web page.

A copy of bus rider safety rules shall be sent to parents at the beginning of the school year. The information shall include a request that parents or their designee accompany their young children to and from the bus stop.

Annually, a link to the Parent's Guide to Transportation (Guía para Padres sobre el Transporte Escolar) is provided through the annual Student Registration Verification process.

Each school board shall provide educational information to parents or implement a program of regular screening for scoliosis for pupils in grades 5-10, unless such students are pupils admitted for the first time to a public school who have been so tested as part of a comprehensive physical examination or the parents of such students have indicated their preference that their children not participate in such screening.

Scoliosis is a physical condition that affects about 2-3% of all adolescents and causes a curvature in the spine. The division's Scoliosis Information for Parents was developed in consultation with the University of Virginia Department of Pediatric Orthopedics.

Each school board shall post information distributed by the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) describing educational and other services available through the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind, the Virginia Department for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing, and the Virginia Department for the Blind and Vision Impaired to the parents of those students who are identified as deaf or hard of hearing or visually impaired.

Such resources are available on the VDOE's Sensory Disabilities website.

Every school board must annually notify the parent of each student enrolled in the school division of the availability of information in the Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry and the location of the website. The Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry can be accessed online through the Virginia State Police website.

Policy Reference: KN, Sex Offender Registry Notification

Each division must conduct a public awareness campaign (also known as a child find program) to inform the community about special education programs and services.

The Albemarle County School Board maintains an active and continuing child find program designed to identify, locate and evaluate those children residing in the division (birth to age 21, inclusive) who are in need of special education and related services.

Policy Reference: IGBA, Programs for Students with Disabilities

Every school must provide to parents the Standards of Learning applicable to their child's grade or course requirements and the approximate date and potential impact of the child's next SOL testing.

The current Assessment Calendar for Albemarle County Public Schools is available on our Assessment web page, along with general information about SOLs and other assessments. (Please note that test administration varies by school. Parents can check with their child's school for specific testing dates and times.) State expectations for student learning and achievement can be accessed through the Virginia Department of Education's Virginia SOL Assessment Program website.

Policy Reference: IKF, The Virginia Assessment Program and Graduation Requirements

Schools that receive Title I funds must provide parents individual reports regarding their student's level of achievement and academic growth on the state's academic assessments, if applicable and available, as soon as practicable after the assessment is given.

ACPS handles such notifications on an individual student basis.

Executive Order 28, Parental Notification, Law Enforcement Collaboration, and Student Education to Prevent Student Overdoses, requires Virginia school divisions to notify all families in the division in the case of a student opioid overdose.

In the case of a student opioid overdose, ACPS will notify all families in the division via email. The notification will include access to information and resources about opioid use and drug prevention programs. To learn more, please visit our Executive Order 28 web page.

Divisions that receive Title I funds must notify the parents of each student attending any school receiving Title I funds that the parents may request, and the division will provide, information regarding the professional qualifications of their child's classroom teachers. Further, school divisions are required to send notifications to parents in Title I schools if their children are taught four or more weeks by a teacher who is not properly licensed in Virginia to teach the class to which the students are assigned.

ACPS handles all such notifications on an individual student basis. Information regarding the professional qualifications of the division's teachers may be obtained through Albemarle County Public Schools Human Resources.

Divisions that receive Title I funds shall notify the parents of each student attending any school receiving Title I funds that parents may request, and the division will provide, policy information regarding student participation in any assessments mandated by the state or division, including information about the parental right to opt a child out of an assessment, where applicable. Additionally, divisions that receive Title I funds will widely publicize information on each assessment required by the state or division.

ACPS handles all such notifications on an individual student basis. ACPS provides general information about assessments on our Assessment web page, along with a current Assessment Calendar. State expectations for student learning and achievement can be accessed through the Virginia Department of Education's Student Assessment website.

Policy Reference: IKF, The Virginia Assessment Program and Graduation Requirements

Every school division must annually provide educational information to parents of students in grades K-12 regarding the health dangers of tobacco and nicotine vapor products.

View the division's educational information for parents and students: Tobacco and Vapor Nicotine Products: Educational Information for Parents and Students

Policy Reference: GBEC, Tobacco Products and Nicotine Vapor Products; JFCH, Tobacco Products and Nicotine Vapor Products; KGC, Tobacco Products and Nicotine Vapor Products

Divisions that have 403(b) retirement plans must notify employees about the plan.

To learn more about retirement benefits for Albemarle County Public Schools employees, please contact Human Resources at 434-296-5827 or view the Retirement section of the Human Resources' Benefits web page.

Policy Reference: GBR, Voluntary Retirement Savings Program

Divisions must inform the public about the content and implementation of the local school wellness policy. Divisions must also inform the public about progress toward meeting the goals of the policy and compliance with the policy through a triennial assessment.

View the 2021 Triennial Wellness Assessment for ACPS.

Policy Reference: JHCF, Student Wellness

The school board must notify parents of each student enrolled in a middle or high school selected for participation in the survey of student health risk behaviors that their child may be randomly selected to participate in the survey unless the parent denies consent for the student's participation in writing prior to administration of the survey. Parents also have the right to review the survey prior to its administration.

ACPS will provide such notice at least 30 days prior to administration of the survey.

Policy Reference: KFB, Administration of Surveys and Questionnaires

Before the Albemarle County School Board approves its budget for submission to the appropriating body, the board must hold at least one public hearing to hear the views of the citizens. Public notice of the hearing must be given at least 10 days before the hearing in a newspaper having a general circulation in the division.

Public notice of the hearing will be given at least 10 days in advance in The Daily Progress newspaper.

School boards must provide notice that they provide alternatives to animal dissection.

ACPS provides such notice in relevant science course syllabi. Additionally, teachers bring attention to alternatives at relevant times during the school year.

All school boards in Virginia shall prominently post the Bill of Rights of the Constitution of the United States in a conspicuous place in each of their schools for all students to read.

In accordance with the Acts of Assembly of 2002, the Bill of Rights is posted in a noticeable place in each Albemarle County school.

A notice must be posted in each school regarding suspicion of child abuse or neglect and subsequent reporting.

In each of its schools, ACPS posts the Virginia Department of Social Services (VDSS) poster, A Guide for School Employees to Recognize and Report Child Abuse, which includes the VDSS toll-free child abuse and neglect hotline.

Policy Reference: JHG, Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting

Prior to the adoption of the division’s comprehensive plan (referred to by ACPS as “strategic plan”) or revisions thereto, the plan or revisions must be posted on the division’s website, and a hard copy of the plan must be made available for public inspection and copying. Each school board must present a report to the public by November 1 of each odd-numbered year on the extent to which the objectives of the division’s comprehensive plan have been met during the previous two school years.

On July 8, 2021, ACPS adopted a new strategic plan, Learning for All. More information about the plan and its development process can be found on the division's Strategic Plan web page.

All employers covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), including school divisions, must post a notice explaining the Act in a conspicuous place in all of their establishments so as to permit employees to readily read it.

In each of its schools and facilities, ACPS posts a copy of the FLSA Minimum Wage poster, Employee Rights Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the contents of which are prescribed by the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S Department of Labor.

Each employer of 50 or more employees shall post, in conspicuous places on the premises of the workplace, a notice regarding Employee Rights and Responsibilities Under the Family and Medical Leave Act.​

Employers are required to post, in a conspicuous location in the workplace where notices to applicants and employees are customarily posted, a notice approved by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) regarding GINA, which protects employees from discrimination on the basis of genetic information.

ACPS posts the Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal poster, prepared by the EEOC, which summarizes the federal laws that protect employees from discrimination in employment. After June 27, 2023, the poster will be updated to reflect protections in the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, as follows: Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal.

Each employer must post, in conspicuous places on the premises of the workplace, a notice prepared or approved by the U.S. Secretary of Labor regarding the federal minimum wage law.

In each of its schools and facilities, ACPS posts a copy of the FLSA Minimum Wage poster, Employee Rights Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the contents of which are prescribed by the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S Department of Labor.

All school boards in Virginia shall prominently post the statement, “In God We Trust,” the National Motto enacted by Congress in 1956, in a conspicuous place in each of their schools for all students to read.

In accordance with the Acts of Assembly of 2002, the National Motto is posted in a noticeable place in each Albemarle County school.

Divisions must post information regarding online courses and programs available through the division on their website.

ACPS posts information about virtual learning opportunities on its Virtual Learning web page.

Policy Reference: IGBG, Off-Site Instruction and Virtual Courses

School boards must post in a conspicuous location, and include in any employee handbook, information concerning an employee’s rights to reasonable accommodation for known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. Such information must also be directly provided to new employees and to any employee within 10 days of such employee’s giving notice to the employer that she is pregnant.

View the Office of the Attorney General's Virginia Human Rights Act Reasonable Accommodations for Pregnancy.

Policy Reference: GCC, Leave Program

Virginia law requires employers to post in conspicuous locations, and include in employee handbooks, information concerning an employee’s rights to reasonable accommodations for disabilities. The Office of Civil Rights within the Office of the Attorney General authored the following notice for employers to use in order to meet this requirement: Virginia Human Rights Act Reasonable Accommodations for Disability.

ACPS provides this disability discrimination information directly to new employees at the beginning of their employment and to any employee within 10 days of the employee giving notice to the employer that the employee has a disability.

Employers are required to provide employees with notice of their rights, benefits and obligations under USERRA. Employers may provide the notice by posting Your Rights Under USERRA where employee notices are customarily placed, or employers may provide the notice to employees in other ways that will minimize costs while ensuring that the full text of the notice is provided.

All employers in Virginia, including school divisions, must post all notices related to unemployment insurance furnished by the Virginia Unemployment Commission. State law requires that such notice, in the form of the Virginia Employment Commission Notice to Workers, be posted in a place visible to all workers.

School divisions must post, at a location frequented by employees, the Workers' Compensation Notice prepared by the Virginia Worker's Compensation Commission as notice of compliance with the provisions of the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act.