# Virginia HB957: Public elementary & secondary schools; use 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline to address bullying, etc.

Virginia HB957, Public elementary & secondary schools; use 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline to address bullying, etc., is a 2026 Regular Session House bill sponsored by Elizabeth R. Guzman (Democratic); status signed, last action 2026-04-06 (Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0246)); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-12).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB957-2026
- As of: 2026-10-12
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: Virginia HB957
- State: Virginia
- Session: 2026 Regular Session
- Title: Public elementary & secondary schools; use 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline to address bullying, etc.
- Status: signed
- Chamber: House
- Introduced: 2026-01-13
- Last action: 2026-04-06, Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0246)
- Sponsor: Elizabeth R. Guzman (Democratic)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Touches household money: yes
- Roll calls: 7 (219 yes, 0 no in all)
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 1

## Summary

Student bullying and cyberbullying; resources. Requires the Department of Education to direct each school board to encourage each public elementary and secondary school in the local division to promote or utilize the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline to address student bullying and cyberbullying, as such terms are defined in relevant law.

## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read

- Public schools promote 988 for bullying: benefit, medium. The law requires the Virginia Department of Education to direct each school board to encourage every public K-12 school to promote or use the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Schools use it to address bullying and cyberbullying, using the state’s legal definitions. This applies to all public elemen…

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: Elizabeth R. Guzman (Democratic), House

## Roll call votes

| Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026-03-02 | Senate | Passed Senate Block Vote | pass | 40 | 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 | pass | 15 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-13 | House | Read third time and passed House Block Vote | pass | 96 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-09 | House | Reported from Education with substitute | pass | 21 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-04 | House | Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute and referring to Appropriations | pass | 10 | 0 |   |

## Actions (32)

- 2026-04-06: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0246) (Governor)
- 2026-04-06: Approved by Governor-Chapter 246 (effective 7/1/2026) (Governor)
- 2026-03-10: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 (Governor)
- 2026-03-10: Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 10, 2026 (House)
- 2026-03-09: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB957) (House)
- 2026-03-09: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB957ER) (House)
- 2026-03-09: Enrolled (House)
- 2026-03-09: Signed by President (Senate)
- 2026-03-09: Signed by Speaker (House)
- 2026-03-02: Passed Senate Block Vote (40-Y 0-N 0-A) (Senate)
- 2026-03-02: Read third time (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 (15-Y 0-N) (Senate)
- 2026-02-19: Assigned Education sub: Public Education (Senate)
- 2026-02-16: Referred to Committee on Education and Health (Senate)
- 2026-02-16: Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading) (Senate)
- 2026-02-13: Read third time and passed House Block Vote (96-Y 0-N 0-A) (House)
- 2026-02-12: Engrossed by House - committee substitute (House)
- 2026-02-12: committee substitute agreed to (House)
- 2026-02-12: Read second time (House)
- 2026-02-11: Read first time (House)
- 2026-02-09: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB957) (House)
- 2026-02-09: Committee substitute printed 26107076D-H1 (House)
- 2026-02-09: Reported from Education with substitute (21-Y 0-N) (House)
- 2026-02-04: Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute and referring to Appropriations (10-Y 0-N) (House)
- 2026-02-04: House subcommittee offered (House)
- 2026-01-30: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB957) (House)
- 2026-01-30: Assigned HED sub: Early Childhood and Innovation (House)
- 2026-01-13: Referred to Committee on Education (House)
- 2026-01-13: Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26104766D (House)

## Bill text

- Chaptered, 2026-04-06: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1217070.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1217069.PDF)
- Enrolled, 2026-03-09: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1194349.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1194348.PDF)
- Substitute, 2026-02-09: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1134306.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1134305.PDF)
- Substitute, 2026-02-05: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1128459.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1128458.PDF)
- Substitute, 2026-02-04: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1115842.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1115841.PDF)
- Introduced, 2026-01-13: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1086672.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1086671.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/1217070.HTML)
- [Chaptered (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1217069.PDF)
- [Enrolled (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1194349.HTML)
- [Enrolled (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1194348.PDF)
- [Substitute (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1134306.HTML)
- [Substitute (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1134305.PDF)
- [Substitute (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1128459.HTML)
- [Substitute (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1128458.PDF)
- [Substitute (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1115842.HTML)
- [Substitute (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1115841.PDF)
- [Introduced (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1086672.HTML)
- [Introduced (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1086671.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-HB957-2026 (as of 2026-10-12).