Va. Code » Title 22.1. Education » Chapter 15. Teachers, Officers and Employees » Article 4. Suspension
Virginia Code

Va. Code Ann. § 22.1-315 (2026)

Grounds and procedure for suspension

✓ current as of May 2026
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A. A teacher or other public school employee, whether full-time or part-time, permanent, or temporary, may be suspended for good and just cause when the safety or welfare of the school division or the students therein is threatened or when the teacher or school employee has been charged by summons, warrant, indictment, or information with the commission of a felony; a misdemeanor involving (i) sexual assault as established in Article 7 (§ 18.2-61 et seq.) of Chapter 4 of Title 18.2, (ii) obscenity and related offenses as established in Article 5 (§ 18.2-372 et seq.) of Chapter 8 of Title 18.2, (iii) drugs as established in Article 1 (§ 18.2-247 et seq.) of Chapter 7 of Title 18.2, (iv) moral turpitude, or (v) the physical or sexual abuse or neglect of a child; or an equivalent offense in another state. Except when a teacher or school employee is suspended because of being charged by summons, warrant, indictment, or information with the commission of one of the above-listed criminal offenses, a division superintendent or appropriate central office designee shall not suspend a teacher or school employee for longer than 60 days and shall not suspend a teacher or school employee unless such teacher or school employee is advised in writing of the reason for the suspension and afforded an opportunity for a hearing before the school board in accordance with §§ 22.1-311 and 22.1-313, if applicable. Any teacher or other school employee so suspended shall continue to receive his then applicable salary unless and until the school board, after a hearing, determines otherwise. No teacher or school employee shall be suspended solely on the basis of his refusal to submit to a polygraph examination requested by the school board.

B. Any school employee suspended because of being charged by summons, warrant, information, or indictment with one of the offenses listed in subsection A may be suspended with or without pay. In the event any school employee is suspended without pay, an amount equal to his salary while on suspended status shall be placed in an interest-bearing demand escrow account. Upon being found not guilty of one of the offenses listed in subsection A or upon the dismissal or nolle prosequi of the charge, such school employee shall be reinstated with all unpaid salary and accrued interest from the escrow account, less any earnings received by the school employee during the period of suspension, but in no event shall such payment exceed one year's salary.

C. In the event any school employee is found guilty by an appropriate court of one of the offenses listed in subsection A and, after all available appeals have been exhausted and such conviction is upheld, all funds in the escrow account shall be repaid to the school board.

D. No school employee shall have his insurance benefits suspended or terminated because of such suspension in accordance with this section.

E. Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the authority of a school board to dismiss or place on probation a teacher or school employee pursuant to Article 3 (§ 22.1-306 et seq.).

F. For the purposes of this section, the placing of a school employee on probation pursuant to the terms and conditions of § 18.2-251 shall be deemed a finding of guilt.

G. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit a school board or division superintendent or the division superintendent's designee from placing an employee on administrative leave with pay.

Code 1950, §§ 22-72, 22-97, 22-217.8:1; 1954, cc. 289, 291; 1956, Ex. Sess., c. 60; 1959, Ex. Sess., c. 79, § 1; 1966, c. 691; 1968, c. 501; 1970, c. 71; 1971, Ex. Sess., c. 161; 1972, c. 511; 1975, cc. 308, 328; 1978, c. 430; 1979, c. 298; 1980, c. 559; 1987, c. 328; 1993, c. 498; 1996, c. 960; 1997, c. 721; 2001, cc. 430, 450; 2026, c. 233.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 6 cases, 1983–2014 · leading case: Wilkinson v. Sch. Bd. of Cnty. of Henrico, 566 F. Supp. 766 (E.D. Va. 1983).
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Wilkinson v. Sch. Bd. of Cnty. of Henrico, 566 F. Supp. 766 (E.D. Va. 1983). · cites it 31× “In their cross-motion for partial summary judgment, defendants seek to establish that failure to provide a hearing before suspending a teacher for five days without pay does not violate Va.”
Tazewell Cnty. Sch. Bd. v. Brown, 591 S.E.2d 671 (Va. 2004). · cites it 8× “We also include in our analysis the separate statutory provision dealing with suspension of public school employees, Code § 22.1-315. We turn first to the State Grievance Procedure mandated by the provisions of Code § 22.”
Schneeweis v. Jacobs, 771 F. Supp. 733 (E.D. Va. 1991). · cites it 8× “She also makes a pendant state law claim, namely that the failure of the defendants to provide her with a direct school board hearing violated Va.Code Ann. § 22.1-315 (1985) and F.C.P.”
Rasnick v. Dickenson Cnty. Sch. Bd., 333 F. Supp. 2d 560 (W.D. Va. 2004). “1-309 (Michie 2003), and may himself suspend a teacher for up to sixty days for sexually abusing a child, or indefinitely if the teacher is criminally charged with the abuse—subject in both cases to the right to a hearing before the school board, see § 22.1-315(A) (Michie 2003).…”
Williams v. Charlottesville Sch. Bd., 940 F. Supp. 143 (W.D. Va. 1996). · cites it 2× “Under Va.Code Ann. § 22.1-315, the School Board may suspend a teacher, without pay, so long as she is granted a hearing before the School Board if the teacher wishes to be heard.”
Payne v. Fairfax Cnty. Sch. Bd. (Va. 2014). · cites it 8× “Finally, Payne asserts in her third assignment of error that school boards have no authority to suspend non-teaching employees other than Code § 22.1-315 and her suspension therefore violates the Dillon Rule.”
Va. Code Ann. § 22.1-315(A): 3 cases
Wilkinson v. Sch. Bd. of Cnty. of Henrico, 566 F. Supp. 766 (E.D. Va. 1983). “In their cross-motion for partial summary judgment, defendants seek to establish that failure to provide a hearing before suspending a teacher for five days without pay does not violate Va.”
Rasnick v. Dickenson Cnty. Sch. Bd., 333 F. Supp. 2d 560 (W.D. Va. 2004). “1-309 (Michie 2003), and may himself suspend a teacher for up to sixty days for sexually abusing a child, or indefinitely if the teacher is criminally charged with the abuse—subject in both cases to the right to a hearing before the school board, see § 22.1-315(A) (Michie 2003).…”
Payne v. Fairfax Cnty. Sch. Bd. (Va. 2014). “Finally, Payne asserts in her third assignment of error that school boards have no authority to suspend non-teaching employees other than Code § 22.1-315 and her suspension therefore violates the Dillon Rule.”
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