HB 139 Virginia House of Delegates · 2026 Regular Session

School board policies; unpaid educational leave for certain employee association officers.

Summary
School board policies; unpaid educational leave for certain employee association officers; purchase of service credit. Requires each school board to adopt a policy to approve unpaid educational leave for school board employees who are state employee association executive officers and for up to two school board employees who are local employee association officers for a maximum of four years per officer. The bill permits employee association officers approved for such leave to purchase service credit with the Virginia Retirement System for such period of leave.
Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Feb 2026
House of Delegates Passage
Mar 2026
Senate Passage
Mar 2026
Signed into Law
Apr 2026
Introduced Jan 5, 2026 Signed Apr 13, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

Enrolled Chaptered · 1 edit
MINOR
This bill formally enacts the 2026 session of HB 139 into law by converting the enrolled text into a chaptered statute. The substantive policy content regarding school board payment schedules, sick leave policies, and the rules for purchasing retirement service credit remains unchanged from the previous version, with the only modifications being the addition of the official chapter number, the approval date, and the removal of the 'Enrolled' header.
TECHNICAL

The document header was updated to reflect the official chapter number (Chapter 563) and the specific approval date (April 13, 2026), while removing the 'Enrolled' status label to indicate the bill has become law.

Floor votes · Senate Feb 27, 2026 · House of Delegates Feb 3, 2026

How they voted

360
Passed · 3 other
Total votes 39
Feb 27, 2026
D Democratic20
18 Yea 2
90% Yea
R Republican19
18 Yea 1
94% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
31
Key actions
12
Committee
8
Amendments
2
Apr 13, 2026
Signed into law
Approved by Governor-Chapter 563 (effective 7/1/2026)
executive
Mar 6, 2026
Upper · Passed
Signed by President
upper
Mar 6, 2026
Lower · Passed
Signed by Speaker
lower
Mar 6, 2026
Lower · Passed
Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB139ER)
lower
Mar 2, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed Senate (21-Y 19-N 0-A)
upper
Feb 27, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
upper
Feb 26, 2026
Upper · Passed
Reported from Education and Health (9-Y 6-N)
upper
Feb 19, 2026
Committee
Assigned Education sub: Public Education
upper
Feb 4, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee on Education and Health
upper
Feb 3, 2026
Lower · Passed
Read third time and passed House (62-Y 35-N 0-A)
lower
Feb 2, 2026
Introduced
Engrossed by House as amended
lower
Feb 2, 2026
Lower · Passed
committee amendments agreed to
lower
Jan 28, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported from Education with amendment(s) (14-Y 7-N)
lower
Jan 28, 2026
Lower · Passed
House committee offered
lower
Jan 27, 2026
Lower · Passed
Subcommittee recommends reporting (7-Y 3-N)
lower
Jan 23, 2026
Committee
Assigned HED sub: K-12 Subcommittee
lower
Jan 5, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee on Education
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Shelly Simonds
Shelly Simonds
DDemocratic
VA
70