Back to Virginia
HB1017 • 2026
School boards; excusing students from attendance at school, verified medical reasons.
<p class=ldtitle>A BILL to amend and reenact § 22.1-254 of the Code of Virginia, relating to school boards; excusing students from attendance at school; grounds; verified medical reasons.</p>
Education
Healthcare
Enacted
This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.
- Sponsor
- Tran
- Last action
- 2026-02-04
- Official status
- Continued
- Effective date
- Not listed
Plain English Breakdown
The official source material does not provide specific details on chronic absenteeism or the exact implementation by the Board of Education.
Excusing Students from School Attendance Due to Medical Reasons
This bill requires school boards to excuse students who are absent from school due to medical reasons verified by a healthcare provider for up to 30 days.
What This Bill Does
- Requires each school board to excuse any student who is absent from school for up to 30 days because of medical reasons, as verified in writing by the student's health care provider.
Who It Names or Affects
- Students who are absent from school due to medical issues
- School boards
Terms To Know
- Healthcare provider
- A doctor or nurse who gives medical care to patients.
Limits and Unknowns
- The bill does not specify what happens if a student needs more than 30 days off for medical reasons.
- It is unclear how the Board of Education will implement these changes in their rules and regulations.
Amendments
These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.
Plain English: The amendment requires the Board of Education to update regulations so that students excused from school due to verified medical reasons will not be counted as absent when calculating chronic absenteeism or other attendance-based indicators.
- Adds a requirement for the Board of Education to amend Virginia Administrative Code section 8VAC20-110-130, ensuring that students excused from school due to verified medical reasons will not be dropped from their roll and marked withdrawn after up to 30 days.
- Requires the Board of Education to adopt regulations stating that absences for verified medical reasons will not count towards a student's total absences when calculating chronic absenteeism or other attendance-based indicators used in the state accountability system.
- The exact details and timeline for how the Board of Education will implement these changes are not specified in the amendment text.
Bill History
-
2026-02-04
Education
Continued to 2027 in Education (Voice Vote)
-
2026-02-03
K-12 Subcommittee
Subcommittee recommends continuing to 2027 (Voice Vote)
-
2026-02-03
K-12 Subcommittee
House subcommittee offered
-
2026-01-30
K-12 Subcommittee
Assigned HED sub: K-12 Subcommittee
-
2026-01-30
House
Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB1017)
-
2026-01-14
House
Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26104891D
-
2026-01-14
Education
Referred to Committee on Education
Official Summary Text
School boards; excusing students from attendance at school; grounds; verified medical reasons.
Requires each school board to excuse from attendance any pupil who, for any continuous period of time not exceeding 30 school days in length, is absent from school for medical reasons as verified in writing by the student's health care provider.
Current Bill Text
Read the full stored bill text
HB 1017
SUBCOMMITTEE
1. After line 150, introduced
insert
2. That the Board of Education shall amend 8VAC20-
110-130
of the Virginia Administrative Code in accordance with the provisions of the first enactment of this act to provide that no student who, for any continuous period of time not exceeding 30 school days in length, is excused from attendance at school for medical reasons as verified in writing by the student's health care provider shall be dropped from the roll and marked withdrawn.
3. That the Board of Education shall adopt regulations to provide that no excused absence granted pursuant to the provisions of the first enactment of this act shall be counted toward the student's total absences for purposes of calculating chronic absenteeism or any other attendance-based indicator used in the state accountability system for public schools, including the School Performance and Support Framework.