Virginia Senate Bill 265

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Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)
Status: Introduced on January 12 2026 - 25% progression, died in chamber
Action: 2026-02-16 - Continued to next session in Courts of Justice (9-Y 6-N)
Text: Latest bill text (Comm Sub) [HTML]

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.

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

Sen. William Stanley [R]

2026-02-16 - Senate - Continued to next session in Courts of Justice (9-Y 6-N) (Y: 9 N: 6 NV: 0 Abs: 0) [PASS]
2026-01-29 - Senate - Rereferred from Education and Health to Courts of Justice (15-Y 0-N) (Y: 15 N: 0 NV: 0 Abs: 0) [PASS]

Date	Chamber	Action
2026-02-16	Senate	Continued to next session in Courts of Justice (9-Y 6-N)
2026-02-16	Senate	Senate committee offered
2026-02-04	Senate	Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB265)
2026-01-29	Senate	Rereferred from Education and Health to Courts of Justice (15-Y 0-N)
2026-01-22	Senate	Assigned Education sub: Public Education
2026-01-12	Senate	Referred to Committee on Education and Health
2026-01-12	Senate	Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26100204D

Type	Source
Summary	https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/SB265
Text	https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/SB265/text/SB265
Text	https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/SB265/text/SB265SC1
Supplement	https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1127910.PDF
Roll Call	https://lis.virginia.gov/vote-details/SB265/20261/S4V785
Roll Call	https://lis.virginia.gov/vote-details/SB265/20261/S13V1644