---
type: "Bill"
title: "Local school divisions; availability of virtual and in-person learning to all students."
description: "Local school divisions; in-person learning.Requires each local school division to make in-person learning availableto all students by choice of the student's parent or guardian. Thebill contains an emergency clause."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "SB 1303"
citation: "Virginia SB 1303 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Siobhan S. Dunnavant"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 45
vote_count: 9
first_action: "2021-01-12"
last_action: "2021-03-30"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/2e26b039-eaee-4ed1-9138-612c22afd3b2"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+sum+SB1303"
source_hash: "bf9bd3c10cb4f67cafef8d109c99da81d68ef6d2276004a0e0182358118d6366"
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 SB 1303 (2021) — Local school divisions; availability of virtual and in-person learning to all students.

Local school divisions; in-person learning.Requires each local school division to make in-person learning availableto all students by choice of the student's parent or guardian. Thebill contains an emergency clause.

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0456** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+CHAP0456)
2. **Committee substitute printed 21200505D-H1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+SB1303H1)
3. **Prefiled and ordered printed with emergency clause; offered 01/13/21 21102517D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+SB1303)
4. **Printed as engrossed 21102517D-E** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+SB1303E)
5. **SB1303ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+SB1303ER)

## Votes

- Reported from Education with substitute (17-Y 3-N) — **17–3** (pass) · lower
- VOTE: Pass By (51-Y 47-N) — **50–47** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (35-Y 0-N) — **35–0** (pass) · upper
- Continued to Special Session 1 in Education — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- Read third time and passed Senate (26-Y 13-N) — **26–13** (pass) · upper
- House substitute agreed to by Senate (36-Y 3-N) — **36–3** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Passage (88-Y 9-N) — **87–9** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Education and Health (8-Y 7-N) — **8–7** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (8-Y 0-N) — **8–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Siobhan S. Dunnavant — primary (person)
- Bill DeSteph — cosponsor (person)
- Bryce E. Reeves — cosponsor (person)
- Frank M. Ruff, Jr. — cosponsor (person)
- J. Chapman Petersen — cosponsor (person)
- Jason S. Miyares — cosponsor (person)
- Jennifer A. Kiggans — cosponsor (person)
- Joseph D. Morrissey — cosponsor (person)
- Todd E. Pillion — cosponsor (person)
- William M. Stanley, Jr. — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-01-12** Prefiled and ordered printed with emergency clause; offered 01/13/21 21102517D `introduction`
- **2021-01-12** Referred to Committee on Education and Health `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-13** Assigned Education sub: Public Education `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-14** Senate subcommittee amendments and substitutes offered
- **2021-01-28** Reported from Education and Health (8-Y 7-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-01-29** Constitutional reading dispensed (35-Y 0-N)
- **2021-02-01** Senate committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
- **2021-02-01** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2021-02-01** Reading of amendments waived
- **2021-02-01** Amendments by Senator Dunnavant agreed to `amendment-passage`
- **2021-02-01** Engrossed by Senate as amended SB1303E
- **2021-02-01** Emergency clause deleted
- **2021-02-01** Printed as engrossed 21102517D-E
- **2021-02-02** Read third time and passed Senate (26-Y 13-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-02-05** Placed on Calendar
- **2021-02-05** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2021-02-05** Referred to Committee on Education `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-05** Impact statement from DPB (SB1303E)
- **2021-02-08** Continued to Special Session 1 in Education
- **2021-02-13** Assigned Education sub: SOL and SOQ `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-15** House subcommittee amendments and substitutes offered
- **2021-02-15** Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (8-Y 0-N)
- **2021-02-22** House committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
- **2021-02-22** Reported from Education with substitute (17-Y 3-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-02-22** Committee substitute printed 21200505D-H1 `substitution`
- **2021-02-23** Impact statement from DPB (SB1303H1)
- **2021-02-23** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2021-02-24** House committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
- **2021-02-24** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2021-02-24** Committee substitute agreed to 21200505D-H1
- **2021-02-24** Motion to pass by floor amendment offered by Delegate Avoli agreed to (51-Y 47-N)
- **2021-02-24** VOTE: Pass By (51-Y 47-N)
- **2021-02-24** Engrossed by House - committee substitute SB1303H1
- **2021-02-24** Pending question ordered
- **2021-02-24** Passed House with substitute (88-Y 9-N) `passage`
- **2021-02-24** VOTE: Passage (88-Y 9-N)
- **2021-02-25** House substitute agreed to by Senate (36-Y 3-N)
- **2021-02-25** Title replaced 21200505D-H1
- **2021-03-09** Enrolled
- **2021-03-09** Impact statement from DPB (SB1303ER)
- **2021-03-09** Signed by President
- **2021-03-11** Signed by Speaker
- **2021-03-15** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on March 15, 2021
- **2021-03-15** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 31, 2021
- **2021-03-30** Approved by Governor-Chapter 456 (effective 7/1/21) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/2e26b039-eaee-4ed1-9138-612c22afd3b2`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).