Bill Commons

VA SB 563

Status unknown

Public elementary and secondary schools; parent's right to opt children out of certain ed. content.

Virginia · 2026 Regular Session · upper

Quick answers

Did VA SB 563 pass?

The current status of VA SB 563 is not known from the official record. Latest recorded action (2026-02-12): Passed by indefinitely in Education and Health (9-Y 4-N)

What is VA SB 563 about?

Parents of public elementary and secondary school children; fundamental right to opt children out of certain educational content. Provides that parents of public elementary and secondary school children have the fundamental right to opt their children out, without penalty, of any instruction, reading, discussion, presentation, including any audio-visual presentation, school assembly, or activity that includes any gender identity, sexual orientation, transgenderism, or drag show theme or content, and the elementary or secondary school shall make reasonable accommodations during such opt-out period. The bill also requires any public secondary school student who is 18 years of age or older to, by request of such student, opt-out, without penalty, of any such instruction, reading discussion, presentation, including any audio-visual presentation, school assembly, or activity, and requires the secondary school to make reasonable accommodations during such opt-out period.

Who sponsors VA SB 563?

Glen H. Sturtevant, Jr. is the primary sponsor of VA SB 563, joined by 1 cosponsor.

Description

Parents of public elementary and secondary school children; fundamental right to opt children out of certain educational content. Provides that parents of public elementary and secondary school children have the fundamental right to opt their children out, without penalty, of any instruction, reading, discussion, presentation, including any audio-visual presentation, school assembly, or activity that includes any gender identity, sexual orientation, transgenderism, or drag show theme or content, and the elementary or secondary school shall make reasonable accommodations during such opt-out period. The bill also requires any public secondary school student who is 18 years of age or older to, by request of such student, opt-out, without penalty, of any such instruction, reading discussion, presentation, including any audio-visual presentation, school assembly, or activity, and requires the secondary school to make reasonable accommodations during such opt-out period.

Introduced
2026-01-14
Latest action
2026-02-12 — Passed by indefinitely in Education and Health (9-Y 4-N)
Bill type
bill
Last updated

Sponsors

  • Glen H. Sturtevant, Jr.primary
  • Tammy Brankley Mulchicosponsor

Committees

Not provided by source.

Action timeline

  1. 2026-01-14

    Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26102633D

    filing,introduction

  2. 2026-01-14

    Referred to Committee on Education and Health

    referral-committee

  3. 2026-01-22

    Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB563)

  4. 2026-02-05

    Assigned Education sub: Public Education

    referral-committee

  5. 2026-02-12

    Passed by indefinitely in Education and Health (9-Y 4-N)

    deferral

Versions

Documents

Votes

  • Passed by indefinitely in Education and Health

    2026-02-12 · pass · 9-4

    Member-level votes (15)
    • Barbara A. Favola: yes
    • L. Louise Lucas: yes
    • Mamie E. Locke: yes
    • David R. Suetterlein: not voting
    • Mark J. Peake: no
    • Todd E. Pillion: not voting
    • Jennifer B. Boysko: yes
    • Lamont Bagby: yes
    • Christopher T. Head: no
    • Lashrecse D. Aird: yes
    • Schuyler T. VanValkenburg: yes
    • Tara A. Durant: no
    • Stella G. Pekarsky: yes
    • Christie New Craig: no
    • Russet Perry: yes

Related bills

No related bills recorded for this bill.

Official source

Attribution

Data from openstates_bulk_csv, retrieved 2026-07-24T05:35:59.552682Z

Inspect retained evidence for changes recorded after evidence tracking began:

Use this data

Every field on this page is available from the free public API — no key or licence required. Fetch this bill as JSON: GET /api/v1/bills?jurisdiction=VA&identifier=SB 563. See the API docs or the MCP server for AI assistants.

Known limitations

  • Sponsor party and chamber affiliation are not yet captured by this API.
  • Committee referrals are not yet captured.

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