# Virginia HB836: Public schools; right to free public elementary and secondary education, discrimination, etc. Virginia HB836, Public schools; right to free public elementary and secondary education, discrimination, etc., is a 2026 Regular Session House bill sponsored by Sam Rasoul (Democratic); status signed, last action 2026-04-13 (Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0680)); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-12). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB836-2026 - As of: 2026-10-12 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: Virginia HB836 - State: Virginia - Session: 2026 Regular Session - Title: Public schools; right to free public elementary and secondary education, discrimination, etc. - Status: signed - Chamber: House - Introduced: 2026-01-13 - Last action: 2026-04-13, Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0680) - Sponsor: Sam Rasoul (Democratic) - Cosponsors: 0 - Touches household money: yes - Roll calls: 12 (272 yes, 216 no in all) - Economic provisions PRIA read: 4 ## Summary Public schools; right to free public elementary and secondary education; discrimination based on immigration status prohibited; civil cause of action. Prohibits any child in the Commonwealth from being denied a free public education through secondary school on the basis of the actual or perceived immigration or citizenship status of the child or the child's parents, in accordance with the Constitution of Virginia and consistent with the requirements of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The bill also, among other things, prohibits any school board, public elementary or secondary school, school resource officer employed by a local law-enforcement agency in any public elementary or secondary school, or any individual who is an employee, contractor, or agent of a school board from engaging in certain enumerated actions and practices that involve or result in the denial of a free public education, or denial of the benefits or exclusion from participation in any program or activity thereof, of a child on the basis of the actual or perceived immigration or citizenship status of the child or the child's parents. The bill establishes a civil cause of action for violations of the foregoing prohibitions. The bill requires the Department of Education, in collaboration with the Office of the Attorney General, to develop and make available to each school board by August 1, 2026, guidance and resources on developing policies and procedures to implement the requirements set forth in the bill and requires each school board to develop and implement by December 31, 2026, such policies and procedures and to require each public elementary and secondary school principal and administrator in the school division to complete training on compliance with the provisions of the bill as soon as is practicable but not later than the beginning of the 2027–2028 school year, consistent with the guidance and resources developed and made available by the Department of Education. This bill incorporates HB 912 and is identical to SB 491. ## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read - Free K–12 school regardless of status: benefit, medium. The law guarantees free public K–12 education for every child who lives in a Virginia school division. Schools and school boards cannot deny enrollment or block programs because of a child’s or parent’s actual or perceived immigration or citizenship status. Staff and contractors also cannot set pol… - You can sue for school exclusion: benefit, medium. If your child’s rights under this law are violated, you can sue the school. You must send written notice to the division and allow 15 days to fix it, unless you need urgent relief. A court can issue immediate orders, stop unlawful actions, and award actual damages for willful violations. Courts mus… - School policies and training deadlines: benefit, low. The Department of Education and the Attorney General must provide guidance by August 1, 2026. Each school board must adopt compliant policies by December 31, 2026. Principals and administrators must finish training by the start of the 2027–2028 school year. Guidance covers how to handle judicial an… - School privacy on immigration info: mixed, medium. Schools and their staff cannot threaten to share or actually share a child’s or parent’s immigration or citizenship status. This applies to sharing with anyone, including law enforcement and immigration agencies, unless the law clearly allows it. The law keeps student-record rules in place and stil… ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: Sam Rasoul (Democratic), House ## Roll call votes | Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2026-03-13 | House | Conference report agreed to by House | pass | 62 | 34 | | | 2026-03-13 | Senate | Conference report agreed to by Senate | pass | 21 | 18 | | | 2026-03-06 | Senate | Senate insisted on amendments Block Vote | pass | 40 | 0 | | | 2026-03-04 | House | Senate substitute rejected by House | fail | 0 | 95 | | | 2026-03-02 | Senate | Passed Senate with substitute | pass | 21 | 19 | | | 2026-03-02 | Senate | Education and Health Substitute agreed to | pass | 0 | 0 | | | 2026-02-27 | Senate | Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) | pass | 37 | 0 | | | 2026-02-27 | Senate | Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote) | pass | 0 | 0 | | | 2026-02-26 | Senate | Reported from Education and Health with substitute | pass | 9 | 6 | | | 2026-02-17 | House | Read third time and passed House | pass | 61 | 34 | | | 2026-02-11 | House | Reported from Education with substitute | pass | 14 | 7 | | | 2026-02-10 | House | Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute and referring to Appropriations | pass | 7 | 3 | | ## Actions (47) - 2026-04-13: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0680) (Governor) - 2026-04-13: Approved by Governor-Chapter 680 (effective 7/1/2026) (Governor) - 2026-03-31: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB836) (House) - 2026-03-31: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 (Governor) - 2026-03-31: Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 31, 2026 (House) - 2026-03-31: Signed by Speaker (House) - 2026-03-30: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB836ER) (House) - 2026-03-30: Enrolled (House) - 2026-03-30: Signed by President (Senate) - 2026-03-13: Conference report agreed to by Senate (21-Y 18-N 0-A) (Senate) - 2026-03-13: Conference report agreed to by House (62-Y 34-N 0-A) (House) - 2026-03-12: Conference Report released - 2026-03-10: House Conferees: Rasoul, Cousins, Runion (House) - 2026-03-10: Conferees appointed by House (House) - 2026-03-10: Conferees appointed by Senate (Senate) - 2026-03-10: Senate Conferees: Pekarsky, Favola, Craig (Senate) - 2026-03-09: House acceded to request (House) - 2026-03-06: Senate insisted on amendments Block Vote (40-Y 0-N 0-A) (Senate) - 2026-03-06: Senate requested conference committee (Senate) - 2026-03-04: Senate substitute rejected by House (0-Y 95-N 0-A) (House) - 2026-03-04: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB836) (House) - 2026-03-02: Passed Senate with substitute (21-Y 19-N 0-A) (Senate) - 2026-03-02: Education and Health Substitute agreed to (Senate) - 2026-03-02: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB836) (House) - 2026-03-02: Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute (Senate) - 2026-03-02: Read third time (Senate) - 2026-02-27: Committee substitute printed 26108790D-S1 (Senate) - 2026-02-27: Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote) (Senate) - 2026-02-27: Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) (37-Y 0-N 0-A) (Senate) - 2026-02-27: Rules suspended (Senate) - 2026-02-26: Reported from Education and Health with substitute (9-Y 6-N) (Senate) - 2026-02-18: Referred to Committee on Education and Health (Senate) - 2026-02-18: Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading) (Senate) - 2026-02-17: Read third time and passed House (61-Y 34-N 0-A) (House) - 2026-02-16: Engrossed by House - committee substitute (House) - 2026-02-16: committee substitute agreed to (House) - 2026-02-16: Read second time (House) - 2026-02-13: Read first time (House) - 2026-02-11: Committee substitute printed 26107335D-H1 (House) - 2026-02-11: Reported from Education with substitute (14-Y 7-N) (House) - 2026-02-11: Incorporates HB912 (Lopez) (House) - 2026-02-10: House subcommittee offered (House) - 2026-02-10: Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute and referring to Appropriations (7-Y 3-N) (House) - 2026-02-05: Assigned HED sub: K-12 Subcommittee (House) - 2026-01-29: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB836) (House) - 2026-01-13: Referred to Committee on Education (House) - 2026-01-13: Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26104919D (House) ## Bill text - Chaptered, 2026-04-13: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1221708.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1221707.PDF) - Enrolled, 2026-03-30: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1213663.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1213662.PDF) - Conference Report, 2026-03-12: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1209241.HTML) - Substitute, 2026-03-12: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1209238.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1209237.PDF) - Substitute, 2026-02-27: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1185738.HTML), [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1186361.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1185737.PDF), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1186360.PDF) - Substitute, 2026-02-11: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1139930.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1139929.PDF) - Substitute, 2026-02-10: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1139144.HTML), [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1139411.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1139143.PDF), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1139410.PDF) - Introduced, 2026-01-13: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1086103.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1086102.PDF) ## Related bills - HB5: Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties. (signed) - SB199: Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties. (signed) - HB95: Va. Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; landlord remedies, noncompliance with rental agreement. (signed) - HB1393: Electric utilities; pilot program for energy assistance and weatherization for certain individuals. (signed) - HB834: Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; fire or casualty damage, termination by landlord. (signed) - HB675: Protection of employees; coercion or threat based on immigration status, civil penalty. (signed) ## Sources - [Chaptered (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1221708.HTML) - [Chaptered (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1221707.PDF) - [Enrolled (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1213663.HTML) - [Enrolled (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1213662.PDF) - [Conference Report (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1209241.HTML) - [Substitute (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1209238.HTML) - [Substitute (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1209237.PDF) - [Substitute (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1185738.HTML) - [Substitute (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1186361.HTML) - [Substitute (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1185737.PDF) - [Substitute (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1186360.PDF) - [Substitute (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1139930.HTML) - [Substitute (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1139929.PDF) - [Substitute (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1139144.HTML) - [Substitute (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1139411.HTML) - [Substitute (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1139143.PDF) - [Substitute (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1139410.PDF) - [Introduced (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1086103.HTML) - [Introduced (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1086102.PDF) ## Related - [HB5: Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB5-2026) - [SB199: Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-SB199-2026) - [HB95: Va. Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; landlord remedies, noncompliance with…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB95-2026) - [HB1393: Electric utilities; pilot program for energy assistance and weatherization for…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB1393-2026) - [HB834: Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; fire or casualty damage, terminat…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB834-2026) - [HB675: Protection of employees; coercion or threat based on immigration status, civil…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB675-2026) - [Virginia bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/virginia/bills) - [Virginia state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/virginia) - [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB836-2026 (as of 2026-10-12).