Department of Education; assessment; certified student support agencies; report. Requires the Department of Education (the Department) to assess the impact of developing a program to provide student support programs to students enrolled in a public elementary or secondary school through certified student support agencies, as defined in the bill. The bill requires the Department, in conducting such assessment, to consider (i) a framework by which a certified student support agency would enter into a memorandum of understanding with a school board for the purpose of providing student support programs, as defined in the bill, and suggested components of such memorandums of understanding, such as (a) documentation establishing the organization's nonprofit status, (b) a description of each student support program that such organization provides, (c) policies and procedures relating to privacy, background checks, mandated reporting, and the transmission, collection, use, and disposal of student personal information, and (d) consent forms and procedures to be used by such student support programs to obtain the necessary consent from the parent of any student under 18 years of age; (ii) the feasibility of establishing and administering a certification process for certified student support agencies; (iii) potential compliance monitoring and enforcement mechanisms and subsequent penalties for noncompliance to ensure that each certified student support agency complies with such program; (iv) policies and procedures for the secure disposal of a student's personal information upon such student's withdrawal from a student support program, upon the cessation of any such program, or upon such student's graduation or transfer from the school division; and (v) cost estimates, including staffing needs, for the development and implementation of such program. The bill requires the Department to submit a report on its findings to the Chairs of the Senate Committees on Finance and Appropriations and Education and Health and the House Committees on Appropriations and Education no later than November 1, 2026. This bill is identical to SB 190.
Department of Education; assessment; certified student support agencies; report. Requires the Department of Education (the Department) to assess the impact of developing a program to provide student support programs to students enrolled in a public elementary or secondary school through certified student support agencies, as defined in the bill. The bill requires the Department, in conducting such assessment, to consider (i) a framework by which a certified student support agency would enter into a memorandum of understanding with a school board for the purpose of providing student support programs, as defined in the bill, and suggested components of such memorandums of understanding, such as (a) documentation establishing the organization's nonprofit status, (b) a description of each student support program that such organization provides, (c) policies and procedures relating to privacy, background checks, mandated reporting, and the transmission, collection, use, and disposal of student personal information, and (d) consent forms and procedures to be used by such student support programs to obtain the necessary consent from the parent of any student under 18 years of age; (ii) the feasibility of establishing and administering a certification process for certified student support agencies; (iii) potential compliance monitoring and enforcement mechanisms and subsequent penalties for noncompliance to ensure that each certified student support agency complies with such program; (iv) policies and procedures for the secure disposal of a student's personal information upon such student's withdrawal from a student support program, upon the cessation of any such program, or upon such student's graduation or transfer from the school division; and (v) cost estimates, including staffing needs, for the development and implementation of such program. The bill requires the Department to submit a report on its findings to the Chairs of the Senate Committees on Finance and Appropriations and Education and Health and the House Committees on Appropriations and Education no later than November 1, 2026. This bill is identical to HB 178.
Department of Education; artificial intelligence system use in instructional settings; development of AIS safety guidance required; AIS Innovation in Education Pilot Program established; report. Requires the Department of Education, in consultation with school divisions and other relevant stakeholders, to compile information on current uses of artificial intelligence systems (AIS) for student instruction in public schools in the Commonwealth and to establish and post in a publicly accessible location on its website guidance for the safe, ethical, and equitable use of AIS in instructional settings in public elementary and secondary schools. The bill requires each school board to establish, implement, and enforce policies consistent with the guidance developed by the Department in accordance with the provisions of the bill. The bill also directs the Department to establish and oversee the AIS Innovation in Education Pilot Program for the purpose of funding, evaluating, and scaling innovative uses of AIS in public elementary and secondary schools by providing support to school divisions in piloting AIS applications for instruction, tutoring, student engagement, operational efficiency, and teacher support and to submit an annual report to the Chairs of the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health by December 1. The Pilot Program has an expiration date of July 1, 2030. This bill is identical to SB 394.
Voter registration; list maintenance; third-party data exchanges; approval by State Board of Elections. Requires the Commissioner of Elections, prior to entering into or terminating a memorandum of understanding or modifying the terms of an existing memorandum of understanding with any third party for the exchange of voter registration data, to submit the proposed memorandum of understanding, the reason for termination, or the proposed modifications, as appropriate, to the State Board of Elections for review and approval. Approval shall require a vote of two-thirds of the State Board. The bill also requires the Commissioner of Elections to apply for, enter into, and maintain membership for the Commonwealth in the Electronic Registration Information Center.
Joint Commission on Technology and Science; artificial intelligence; independent verification organizations. Directs the Joint Commission on Technology and Science (JCOTS) to evaluate the feasibility and impact of developing a framework for any person or entity seeking to act as an independent verification organization that assesses artificial intelligence models' or applications' adherence to standards reflecting best practices for the prevention of personal injury and property damage. The bill directs JCOTS to submit a report with its recommendations and any findings to the Chairs of the Senate Committees on Finance and Appropriations and General Laws and Technology and the House Committees on Appropriations and Communications, Technology and Innovation by November 1, 2026. This bill is identical to SB 384.
Use of unmanned aircraft systems by law-enforcement officers; search warrants; model policy. Expedites the issuance of a search warrant for unmanned aircraft systems by law-enforcement officers upon a finding of reasonable and probable cause by an authorized judicial official, as defined in the bill, and permits the use of unmanned aircraft systems without a search warrant when law enforcement is surveying the scene of a crime or to respond to a public safety call for service when such crime scene or call for service is located on public property, to locate a person when such person has fled the offense location during the initial response to an incident, or to provide real-time aerial observation to increase on-scene safety and security. Such provisions are subject to a reenactment clause. The bill also requires the Department of Criminal Justice Services, in consultation with the Virginia Indigent Defense Commission and the Virginia Association of Commonwealth's Attorneys, to establish a model policy for the use of unmanned aircraft systems by December 1, 2026. This bill is identical to HB 1219.
School boards; student cell phone and smart device possession and use policies. Amends the requirements for the student cell phone and smart device possession and use policies that each school board is required to develop and each public elementary and secondary school is required to implement pursuant to applicable law to require such policies to, except as provided in applicable law, restrict student cell phone and smart device possession and prohibit student cell phone and smart device use on school property from bell to bell. Current law only requires such policies to restrict student cell phone and smart device possession and use on school property from bell to bell.
Public schools; student instruction; addictive potential of time spent using certain electronic devices. Requires instruction concerning time spent using electronic devices such as computers, cell phones, and other smart devices and the addictive potential thereof to be provided by the public schools as prescribed by the Board of Education. This bill is identical to HB 1486.
Student instruction; internet safety; certain topics. Requires the internet safety component that is integrated into each school division's instructional program as required by its acceptable internet use policy to include instruction on key modern digital safety topics, including online scams, misinformation, and content generated by artificial intelligence.
Elections; political campaign advertisements; synthetic media; penalty. Prohibits electioneering communications containing synthetic media, as those terms are defined in the bill, from being published or broadcast without containing the following conspicuously displayed statement: "This message contains synthetic media that has been altered from its original source or artificially generated and may present conduct or speech that did not occur." The bill creates a civil penalty not to exceed $25,000 for a violation of such prohibition and a Class 1 misdemeanor for a willful violation. The bill permits any registered voter who receives an electioneering communication in violation of this requirement to institute an action for preventative relief to prohibit the publication or dissemination of such electioneering communication, including an application for a permanent or temporary injunction.
