K-12 Subcommittee

Tuesday, January 27, 2026·2h 7m·▶ Watch / Listen

The K-12 Subcommittee advanced over a dozen education bills, including contested measures on African American history instruction, January 6th curriculum guardrails, military family excused absences, and career coaches in every high school, while referring several spending-intensive bills to Appropriations over unfunded-mandate concerns.

Key Actions

·HB 333 – January 6th Instruction GuardrailsNo Vote

+ 12 more actions

Controversies

Mandatory vs. permissive leave for teacher association officers (HB 139)

Stacy Haney of the Virginia School Boards Association argued the bill mandates that every school board grant leave to association officers and that if collective bargaining legislation passes, every school division would be mandated to give up to four years of leave for any officer of the state or local association; she stated she would have 'absolutely no opposition' if the bill were permissive. Patron Shelly A. Simonds argued the bill creates an incentive for teachers to return by allowing them to buy back retirement service credits and addresses Virginia losing teachers to other careers.

+ 3 more controversies

Notable Quotes

“We're not mandating that anybody teach January 6th. I think local school boards ought to be able to determine the breadth of history covered in the school consistent with our code. On the other hand, we're saying that you are not entitled to your own facts. You can teach about those who are seeking to rewrite the history of January 6th. You can teach about the lies being spread about January 6th. You can talk about that. You just can't frame them as truth.”
Dan I. Helmer — Helmer was responding to opposition testimony claiming HB 333, which sets guardrails on how January 6th may be taught if a school board chooses to cover it, constitutes ideological indoctrination.

+ 3 more quotes

Votes

Report HB 333 – January 6th instruction guardrailsPassed

Report HB 182 as substituted – African American studies as history creditPassed

Report HB 201 – Parental notification on safe storage of firearms and prescription drugsPassed

Report HB 653 as substituted – Excused absences for military family deployment visitationPassed

Report HB 138 and refer to Appropriations – Career coaches in public high schoolsPassed

Report HB 139 – Unpaid educational leave for teacher association officersPassed

Report HB 416 – School bus use by local governing bodiesPassed

Report HB 382 – School board chair and vice chair salary capsPassed

Report HB 410 as substituted and refer to Appropriations – Statewide in-school SAT programPassed

Report HB 462 as substituted – Health care literacy instruction in grades 9-10Passed

Report HB 180 as substituted and refer to Appropriations – Work-based learning coordinator pilotPassed

Report HB 263 and refer to Appropriations – Statewide school library specialistPassed

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TranscriptPreview

Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. I would like to bring the K12 education subcommittee to order. Madam Clerk, you may take my role. You may close the roll. A quorum is present to conduct our business today. Thank you for joining us in person and online. We have a busy docket, so we will be moving at a brisk pace. We ask that you keep your testimony to less than 1 minute and address any comments to the chair. And please exercise decorum and respect for our members. First we will take testimony in person in favor. Then we will move to in person opposed. This will be followed by online to hear in person testimony in favor and then opposed for online testimony. Please keep your comments to less than one minute and turn your camera on, per the rules of the House of Delegates. You can also submit comments using hodspeak.house.virginia.gov. that being said and without objection, let's get started. First, we have a few general housekeeping items. We have a few patrons who have asked for their bills to go by. That is HB 478 from Chair Watts and also HB 195 from Chair McQuinn. Both…

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