School State Policy Waivers
Governor Northam’s Executive Order Fifty-One (EO51), issued on March 12, 2020, declared a state of emergency in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and authorized heads of executive branch agencies to waive any state requirement or regulation on behalf of its regulatory board. Chapters 1283 and 1289 of the 2020 Acts of Assembly (part of the Appropriation Act), as signed by Governor Northam on April 27, 2020, gave the Superintendent of Public Instruction the additional authority to grant temporary flexibility or waivers for certain deadlines and requirements as provided in the Title 22.1 of the Code of Virginia and Appropriation Act that cannot be met for fiscal year 2020 (school year 2019-2020) or fiscal year 2021 (school year 2020-2021) due to the state of emergency and subsequent school closures.
This authority was further extended in Chapter 552 of the 2021 Acts of Assembly to allow the Superintendent of Public Instruction to grant temporary flexibility or waivers of certain deadlines and requirement as provided in the Title 22.1 of the Code of Virginia and Appropriation Act that cannot be met for fiscal year 2022 (school year 2021-2022) due to the state of emergency and ongoing pandemic conditions.
Per procedural requirements, any waiver or relief measure requested by the Superintendent of Public Instruction must also be reviewed and approved by the Secretary of Education before taking effect.
With the above authorities, the Superintendent of Public Instruction has provided a number of waivers and relief measures for state-level mandates that could not be resolved through existing pathways or flexibilities and where inaction would have caused irrevocable harm to students, families, and teachers.
State-Level Waivers and Relief Measures in Effect per Chapters 1283 and 1289-This is a Word document. provides an up-to-date list of such measures that were approved by the Secretary of Education and are in effect until June 30, 2021.
State-Level Waivers and Relief Measures in Effect per Chapter 552-This is a Word document. provides an up-to-date list of such measures that were approved by the Secretary of Education and are currently in effect through June 30, 2022. This list does include those waivers and relief measures that would have expired on June 30, 2021 but were renewed based on new authority. This document will be updated as new measures are approved.