---
type: "Bill"
title: "Public schools; lock-down drills, frequency, exemptions."
description: "Public schools; lock-down drills; frequency;exemptions. Requires every public school at which sixth gradeis the highest grade taught to hold at least one lock-down drillafter the first 60 days of the school session and every public schoolat which seventh grade or any grade above seventh grade is taughtto hold at least two lock-down drills after the first 60 days ofthe school session, in addition to the two lock-down drills requiredto be held during the first 20 days of the school session at eachsuch school. Current law requires each public school to hold at leasttwo lock-down drills after the first 20 days of the school session.The bill requires kindergarten students to be exempt from mandatoryparticipation in lock-down drills during the first 60 days of theschool session and requires the principal at each relevant school to implement such exemption by either (i) conducting teacher-onlydrills or otherwise providing suitable training for kindergartenteachers or (ii) notifying each parent of a kindergarten studentat least five school days in advance of each planned lock-down drilland permitting each such parent to opt his child out of participationin such lock-down drill."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "HB 402"
citation: "Virginia HB 402 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Mark L. Keam"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 44
vote_count: 10
first_action: "2020-01-02"
last_action: "2020-04-10"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/61191d1a-86e6-4dda-b1b2-5a1378b10651"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+HB402"
source_hash: "79806a36d0b17b8f7c74fcbf3a70c53d5d4ed68a31487cf6129b4b4baf88a901"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
---

# Virginia HB 402 (2020) — Public schools; lock-down drills, frequency, exemptions.

Public schools; lock-down drills; frequency;exemptions. Requires every public school at which sixth gradeis the highest grade taught to hold at least one lock-down drillafter the first 60 days of the school session and every public schoolat which seventh grade or any grade above seventh grade is taughtto hold at least two lock-down drills after the first 60 days ofthe school session, in addition to the two lock-down drills requiredto be held during the first 20 days of the school session at eachsuch school. Current law requires each public school to hold at leasttwo lock-down drills after the first 20 days of the school session.The bill requires kindergarten students to be exempt from mandatoryparticipation in lock-down drills during the first 60 days of theschool session and requires the principal at each relevant school to implement such exemption by either (i) conducting teacher-onlydrills or otherwise providing suitable training for kindergartenteachers or (ii) notifying each parent of a kindergarten studentat least five school days in advance of each planned lock-down drilland permitting each such parent to opt his child out of participationin such lock-down drill.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP1040)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP1040)
2. **Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB402ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB402ER)
3. **Engrossed by House as amended HB402E** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB402E)
4. **HB402H1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB402H1)
5. **Impact statement from DPB (HB402)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB402)

## Votes

- VOTE: Adoption (99-Y 0-N) — **98–0** (pass) · lower
- VOTE: REJECTED (0-Y 96-N) — **0–95** (fail) · lower
- Senate insisted on amendments (37-Y 0-N) — **37–0** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (32-Y 0-N) — **32–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Education and Health with amendments (15-Y 0-N) — **15–0** (pass) · upper
- Passed Senate with amendments — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting (7-Y 0-N) — **7–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Education with amendments (22-Y 0-N) — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- VOTE: (97-Y 0-N) — **96–0** (pass) · lower
- Conference report agreed to by Senate (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Mark L. Keam — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2020-01-02** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20100724D `introduction`
- **2020-01-02** Referred to Committee on Education `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-13** Impact statement from DPB (HB402)
- **2020-01-13** Assigned Education sub: Pre-K-12 `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-20** Subcommittee recommends reporting (7-Y 0-N)
- **2020-01-22** Reported from Education with amendments (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-01-24** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2020-01-27** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-01-27** Committee amendments agreed to
- **2020-01-27** Engrossed by House as amended HB402E
- **2020-01-27** Printed as engrossed 20100724D-E
- **2020-01-28** Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (97-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2020-01-28** VOTE: (97-Y 0-N)
- **2020-01-29** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2020-01-29** Referred to Committee on Education and Health `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-07** Impact statement from DPB (HB402E)
- **2020-02-11** Assigned Education sub: Public Education `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-20** Reported from Education and Health with amendments (15-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-21** Constitutional reading dispensed (32-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-24** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2020-02-24** Passed Senate with amendments `passage`
- **2020-02-24** Reading of amendments waived
- **2020-02-24** Committee amendments agreed to
- **2020-02-24** Engrossed by Senate as amended (40-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-26** Placed on Calendar
- **2020-02-26** Senate amendments rejected by House (0-Y 96-N)
- **2020-02-26** VOTE: REJECTED (0-Y 96-N)
- **2020-02-28** Senate insisted on amendments (37-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-28** Senate requested conference committee
- **2020-03-02** House acceded to request
- **2020-03-03** Conferees appointed by Senate
- **2020-03-04** Conferees appointed by House
- **2020-03-05** Amended by conference committee
- **2020-03-05** Conference substitute printed 20109604D-H1
- **2020-03-05** Conference report agreed to by House (99-Y 0-N)
- **2020-03-05** VOTE: Adoption (99-Y 0-N)
- **2020-03-07** Conference report agreed to by Senate (40-Y 0-N)
- **2020-03-18** Enrolled
- **2020-03-18** Signed by President
- **2020-03-19** Signed by Speaker
- **2020-03-20** Impact statement from DPB (HB402ER)
- **2020-03-20** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 20, 2020
- **2020-03-20** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 11, 2020
- **2020-04-10** Approved by Governor-Chapter 1040 (effective 7/1/20) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/61191d1a-86e6-4dda-b1b2-5a1378b10651`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).