# Virginia HB116: School board employee grievance procedure; timing of dispute resolution.

Virginia HB116, School board employee grievance procedure; timing of dispute resolution., is a 2026 Regular Session House bill sponsored by Jeion A. Ward (Democratic); status signed, last action 2026-04-06 (Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0067)); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-12).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB116-2026
- As of: 2026-10-12
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: Virginia HB116
- State: Virginia
- Session: 2026 Regular Session
- Title: School board employee grievance procedure; timing of dispute resolution.
- Status: signed
- Chamber: House
- Introduced: 2026-01-02
- Last action: 2026-04-06, Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0067)
- Sponsor: Jeion A. Ward (Democratic)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Touches household money: yes
- Roll calls: 7 (213 yes, 8 no in all)
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 1

## Summary

School board employee grievance procedure; timing of dispute resolution. Requires the grievance procedure for certain school board employees to afford a timely and fair method of the resolution of disputes arising between the school board and such employees before dismissal or other disciplinary actions, excluding suspensions. Current law requires such procedure to afford a timely and fair method of the resolution of disputes arising between the school board and such employees regarding dismissal or other disciplinary actions, excluding suspensions, but is silent on the timing of such dispute resolution. This bill is identical to SB 824.

## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read

- School employees get timely workplace dispute resolution: benefit, low. Virginia school boards without a grievance process before January 1, 1991, must provide timely, fair dispute resolution for eligible employees. Their deadline to establish the process was July 1, 1992. Disputes must be resolved before dismissal or other discipline, but this timing rule does not app…

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: Jeion A. Ward (Democratic), House

## Roll call votes

| Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026-02-23 | Senate | Passed Senate Block Vote | pass | 38 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-20 | Senate | Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) | pass | 40 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-20 | Senate | Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote) | pass | 0 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-19 | Senate | Reported from Education and Health | pass | 12 | 0 |   |
| 2026-01-27 | House | Read third time and passed House | pass | 93 | 6 |   |
| 2026-01-21 | House | Reported from Education | pass | 20 | 2 |   |
| 2026-01-20 | House | Subcommittee recommends reporting | pass | 10 | 0 |   |

## Actions (26)

- 2026-04-06: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0067) (Governor)
- 2026-04-06: Approved by Governor-Chapter 67 (effective 7/1/2026) (Governor)
- 2026-03-10: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 (Governor)
- 2026-03-10: Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 10, 2026 (House)
- 2026-02-25: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB116) (House)
- 2026-02-25: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB116ER) (House)
- 2026-02-25: Enrolled (House)
- 2026-02-25: Signed by President (Senate)
- 2026-02-25: Signed by Speaker (House)
- 2026-02-23: Passed Senate Block Vote (38-Y 0-N 0-A) (Senate)
- 2026-02-23: Read third time (Senate)
- 2026-02-20: Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote) (Senate)
- 2026-02-20: Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A) (Senate)
- 2026-02-20: Rules suspended (Senate)
- 2026-02-19: Reported from Education and Health (12-Y 0-N) (Senate)
- 2026-01-28: Referred to Committee on Education and Health (Senate)
- 2026-01-28: Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading) (Senate)
- 2026-01-27: Read third time and passed House (93-Y 6-N 0-A) (House)
- 2026-01-26: Read second time and engrossed (House)
- 2026-01-23: Read first time (House)
- 2026-01-21: Reported from Education (20-Y 2-N) (House)
- 2026-01-20: Subcommittee recommends reporting (10-Y 0-N) (House)
- 2026-01-19: Assigned HED sub: K-12 Subcommittee (House)
- 2026-01-08: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB116) (House)
- 2026-01-02: Referred to Committee on Education (House)
- 2026-01-02: Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26103123D (House)

## Bill text

- Chaptered, 2026-04-06: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1216203.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1216202.PDF)
- Enrolled, 2026-02-25: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1177883.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1177882.PDF)
- Introduced, 2026-01-02: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1082449.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1082448.PDF)

## Related bills

- HB5: Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties. (signed)
- SB199: Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties. (signed)
- HB95: Va. Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; landlord remedies, noncompliance with rental agreement. (signed)
- HB1393: Electric utilities; pilot program for energy assistance and weatherization for certain individuals. (signed)
- HB834: Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; fire or casualty damage, termination by landlord. (signed)
- HB675: Protection of employees; coercion or threat based on immigration status, civil penalty. (signed)

## Sources
- [Chaptered (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1216203.HTML)
- [Chaptered (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1216202.PDF)
- [Enrolled (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1177883.HTML)
- [Enrolled (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1177882.PDF)
- [Introduced (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1082449.HTML)
- [Introduced (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1082448.PDF)

## Related
- [HB5: Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB5-2026)
- [SB199: Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-SB199-2026)
- [HB95: Va. Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; landlord remedies, noncompliance with…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB95-2026)
- [HB1393: Electric utilities; pilot program for energy assistance and weatherization for…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB1393-2026)
- [HB834: Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; fire or casualty damage, terminat…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB834-2026)
- [HB675: Protection of employees; coercion or threat based on immigration status, civil…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB675-2026)
- [Virginia bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/virginia/bills)
- [Virginia state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/virginia)
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Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB116-2026 (as of 2026-10-12).