Students, advocates press subcommittee to modernize Type 1 diabetes care in schools; panel agrees to substitute

Senator McPike presented a substitute to update statutory language governing care for students with Type 1 diabetes, telling the subcommittee the bill narrows and modernizes code sections and incorporates health-subcommittee recommendations.

Multiple student witnesses described their daily realities with continuous glucose monitors and insulin pumps and urged passage so schools can better accommodate modern diabetes technology. "Diabetes care is nothing like it was before the turn of the century," Rustburg High senior Jillian Jurkow told the panel, and she asked lawmakers to "empower faculty and staff of Virginia's schools by passing Senate Bill 122." Several other students said the change would make schools safer and prevent penalties or missed opportunities for children who rely on devices.

Advocates and education groups — including the Virginia Professional Educators, Legal Aid Justice Center and local school divisions — supported the substitute as a collaborative, technical update that improves care and clarifies responsibilities. Senator McPike and the sponsor team said additional technical tweaks would be made before full committee consideration and that stakeholders would have another opportunity to testify when a new substitute is available.

Because many stakeholders had travelled to testify in person, the chair allowed those applicants priority for five-minute statements and committed to scheduling additional time for broader comment at full committee. After discussion, the subcommittee voted to recommend reporting S.B. 122 as substituted; the motion passed with 4 yeas, 0 nays and 2 abstentions recorded in the transcript.