Legislative record

SB 265STATE · VirginiaIntroduced

Elementary and secondary schools or higher educational institutions; bullying and cyberbullying.

Voted 7/21/2026View source

Summary

Autumn's Law; elementary and secondary schools; institutions of higher education; aggravated bullying and cyberbullying unlawful; policies and procedures; penalty. Makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor to commit an act of aggravated bullying or aggravated cyberbullying, as defined in the bill, against any student enrolled in any elementary or secondary school or institution of higher education. The bill requires the administrator of each elementary or secondary school and each institution of higher education, or his designee, to, upon receiving satisfactory proof of an incident of aggravated bullying by a student enrolled in such school or institution, address such incidents, discipline the student guilty thereof, and report such incidents to local law-enforcement. The bill also requires (i) reports to be made to the division superintendent and the principal or his designee on all incidents involving an act of aggravated bullying or aggravated cyberbullying occurring on a school bus, on school property, or at a school-sponsored activity; (ii) each principal to immediately report to the local law-enforcement agency any incident involving an an act of aggravated bullying or aggravated cyberbullying occurring on a school bus, on school property, or at a school-sponsored activity; and (iii) the Board of Education to include in its guidelines and model policies for codes of student conduct developed pursuant to applicable law standards for school board policies on aggravated bullying. Finally, the bill requires each school board to include in its code of student conduct policies and procedures prohibiting aggravated bullying and aggravated cyberbullying, including (a) a citation to the provision of the bill that makes committing an act of aggravated bullying a Class 1 misdemeanor; (b) detailed procedures for reporting any incident of aggravated bullying or aggravated bullying in accordance with the bill; (c) clear, escalating, and appropriate disciplinary procedures for addressing incidents of aggravated bullying; and (d) information and resources relating to any civil rights of action or remedies available to victims of an act of aggravated bullying or cyberbullying.

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Bill text

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Roll-call record

How representatives voted

0 yea·0 nay

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Docket history

Action history

  1. 7/21/2026Continued from last session
  2. 2/16/2026Continued to next session in Courts of Justice (9-Y 6-N)
  3. 2/16/2026Senate committee offered
  4. 2/4/2026Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB265)
  5. 1/29/2026Rereferred from Education and Health to Courts of Justice (15-Y 0-N)
  6. 1/22/2026Assigned Education sub: Public Education
  7. 1/12/2026Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26100204D
  8. 1/12/2026Referred to Committee on Education and Health