Senate panel creates work group to study homeschooling, religious-exemption rules and re-refers bill to finance

Senators on the Virginia Senate Education and Health Committee voted 9–6 to report a substitute to Senate Bill 1031 that establishes a stakeholder work group to study compulsory school attendance and the Code's religious exemption and re‑referred the measure to the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee.

The substitute, offered by Sen. Piekarski, directs the work group to review compulsory attendance requirements across the United States, consider how Virginia's rules compare, and provide recommendations about whether changes to compulsory attendance or the religious exemption are warranted. The substitute also specifies the group's membership and reporting requirements.

Sen. Piekarski, the bill's patron, said the draft grew from her experience as a school-board member and from accounts she described as victims whose children were not receiving education under current law. "It is legal for somebody not to educate their child," she said, adding that the work group is intended to bring stakeholders together and produce recommendations.

Opponents said the substitute risked targeting religious homeschoolers and reiterated a view that parents are the primary educators. "The responsibility of raising children and educating children really rests with the parents, period, full stop," Sen. Head said, explaining he would vote no. Sen. Peake said she would vote against the substitute because she feared it would single out families claiming religious exemptions.

Committee members sought details about the work group's composition. A staff member reading the posted substitute described the membership as 11 people: two local school board representatives chosen by the Speaker of the House of Delegates; two public school teachers chosen by the Senate Committee on Rules; two parents who provide home instruction (with one selected by the House Speaker and one by the Senate Committee on Rules); two parents of children exempt from compulsory attendance under the religious exemption (selected the same way); two adults who as children were exempt under that religious exemption; one representative from the Home Education Association of Virginia; and one representative from the Coalition for Responsible Home Education.

Sen. Favola said the substitute is not aimed at religious exemptions and described it as a forum to identify best practices and produce a report with recommendations to authorizing committees. Sen. Piekarski reiterated that the bill is intended to address accounts of children who may have been neglected or denied education under existing rules, not to penalize successful homeschoolers.

Because public testimony had already been heard on the legislation in prior hearings, the committee did not take public testimony during this meeting. After discussion, the committee first adopted the substitute and then voted to report and re‑refer SB 1031 to Senate Finance. The clerk recorded the motion to report as Ayes 9, No 6.

The substitute requires the work group to deliver recommendations to the General Assembly; the bill as reported is now scheduled for consideration by the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee.

Further procedural steps and any eventual statutory language changes will depend on the finance committee's review and any future legislation produced from the work group's recommendations.