SB 817 Virginia Senate · 2026 Regular Session

School bds.; parental notification of course registration deadlines and processes required, policies.

Summary
School boards; public middle and high schools; parental notification of course registration deadlines and processes required. Requires each school board to develop and implement, by the start of the 2026-2027 school year, policies requiring each public middle and high school in the school division to provide, at least 30 days prior to the course registration deadline, parental notification by email or SMS text message to the parent of each student in the public middle or high school of course enrollment deadlines and the process for requesting changes to the student's course selection.
Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Mar 2026
Senate Passage
Mar 2026
House of Delegates Passage
Mar 2026
Signed into Law
Apr 2026
Introduced Jan 23, 2026 Signed Apr 8, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

Enrolled Chaptered · 2 edits
MINOR
The bill was formally enacted as Chapter 523 of the 2026 Virginia Acts of Assembly, replacing the placeholder 'CHAPTER' with the specific chapter number. The act's title was slightly modified to remove the word 'classes' from the description of the schools affected, though the core requirement for parental notification of course registration deadlines remains in place.
Scope change
The scope of the bill's applicability remains unchanged; it still applies to school boards and public middle and high schools.
TECHNICAL

The placeholder text 'CHAPTER' in the act's title was replaced with the specific enacted chapter number 'CHAPTER 523', and the approval date was added as April 8, 2026.

The word 'classes' was removed from the bill's title description regarding the schools affected, changing the phrasing from 'public middle and high schools; classes' to 'public middle and high schools'.

Floor votes · Senate Feb 13, 2026 · House of Delegates Mar 9, 2026

How they voted

350
Passed · 4 other
Total votes 39
Feb 13, 2026
D Democratic20
19 Yea 1
95% Yea
R Republican19
16 Yea 3
84% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
37
Key actions
12
Committee
9
Apr 8, 2026
Signed into law
Approved by Governor-Chapter 523 (effective 7/1/2026)
executive
Mar 13, 2026
Upper · Passed
Signed by President
upper
Mar 13, 2026
Lower · Passed
Signed by Speaker
lower
Mar 13, 2026
Upper · Passed
Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB817ER)
upper
Mar 9, 2026
Lower · Passed
Passed House (96-Y 0-N 0-A)
lower
Mar 4, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported from Education (21-Y 0-N)
lower
Mar 3, 2026
Lower · Passed
Subcommittee recommends reporting (10-Y 0-N)
lower
Feb 26, 2026
Committee
Assigned HED sub: K-12 Subcommittee
lower
Feb 24, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee on Education
lower
Feb 16, 2026
Upper · Passed
Read third time and passed Senate Block Vote (39-Y 0-N 0-A)
upper
Feb 13, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
upper
Feb 12, 2026
Upper · Passed
Senate committee offered
upper
Feb 12, 2026
Upper · Passed
Reported from Education and Health with substitute (15-Y 0-N)
upper
Feb 5, 2026
Upper · Passed
Senate subcommittee offered
upper
Feb 5, 2026
Committee
Assigned Education sub: Public Education
upper
Jan 23, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee on Education and Health
upper
Jan 23, 2026
Introduced
Presented and ordered printed 26105676D
upper
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of David Suetterlein
David Suetterlein
RRepublican
VA
4