A Virginia Senate subcommittee in Richmond voted to recommend a draft bill directing school boards to adopt diabetes-management policies and asking the Virginia Department of Education, in collaboration with the Department of Health, to develop and post guidance for school divisions while removing detailed, prescriptive medical language from the measure.

Committee members said the draft blends a short “one-and-a-half page” bill that would require school boards to have a policy with a more expansive, directive alternative. The subcommittee agreed to keep the proposed code change in lines 1–70, retain a directive enactment clause that provides guidance to school divisions, require a biannual review, and stop the third enactment clause after the phrase “type 1 and type 2 diabetes,” striking later, more prescriptive language.

The change means the bill would codify a requirement that school boards adopt a diabetes-management policy while directing VDOE to prepare a guidance manual and post it in an accessible location for school divisions and the public. The committee agreed the guidance should be reviewed every two years rather than annually. The motion to send the recommended draft to the full committee was approved by voice vote; one committee member said she would vote against the recommendation and asked for more time to review.

Committee members debated the level of medical detail appropriate for school policy. Several speakers said schools are educational institutions, not medical providers, and warned that overly prescriptive enactment language — for example listing specialist referrals or risk-factor detail — could place expectations on school staff that local divisions cannot meet. A staff member from the Virginia Department of Education said the draft intentionally does not amend the section of current law that permits school boards to adopt policies for possession and administration of nasal or injectable glucagon; "this version of the draft does not even amend or reference that provision of current law," she said, referring to Section 22.1‑274.2 of the Code of Virginia.

The committee discussed relying on existing materials from organizations such as the American Diabetes Association and indicated a preference for VDOE to post an up‑to‑date manual or links to existing resources rather than embedding a long list of medical instructions in statute. Members also noted VDOE’s limited staffing for school health (one school health specialist was mentioned) as a practical constraint when drafting implementation guidance.

Final language agreed by the subcommittee: keep the substantive code changes (lines 1–70), retain a directive enactment clause to guide VDOE and school divisions, require the guidance to be posted in an accessible location and reviewed every two years, and truncate the third enactment clause after “type 1 and type 2 diabetes” to avoid prescribing clinical details. The subcommittee voted to forward the recommended bill to the full committee; the vote was taken by voice and carried.

The recommendation must still be sponsored as legislation and proceed through the General Assembly process in both chambers; committee members noted that the exact wording could change during that process.