republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2026/hb-957.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Public elementary & secondary schools; use 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline to address bullying, etc."
description: "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."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2026"
identifier: "HB 957"
citation: "Virginia HB 957 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Elizabeth R. Guzman"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 32
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2026-01-13"
last_action: "2026-04-06"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/737bb428-cd23-491f-9c86-cb66b8a9f3c4"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB957"
source_hash: "89abb006bad223640d2d71ac272ab562c9c5f4cc10f543fa07481f7b399dec13"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
---

# Virginia HB 957 (2026) — Public elementary & secondary schools; use 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline to address bullying, etc.

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.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1086671.PDF)
2. **Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1217069.PDF)
3. **Early Childhood and Innovation Subcommittee Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1128458.PDF)
4. **Education Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1134305.PDF)
5. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1194348.PDF)

## Votes

- Reported from Education with substitute — **21–0** (pass) · lower
- Passage R — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Education and Health — **15–0** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading) — **37–0** (pass) · upper
- H VOTE: — **96–0** (pass) · lower
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute — **10–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Elizabeth R. Guzman — primary (person)
- Charlie Schmidt — cosponsor (person)
- Irene Shin — cosponsor (person)
- Joshua G. Cole — cosponsor (person)
- Kimberly Pope Adams — cosponsor (person)
- Margaret A. Franklin — cosponsor (person)
- Nadarius E. Clark — cosponsor (person)
- Rozia A. Henson, Jr. — cosponsor (person)
- Virgil Thornton — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2026-01-13** Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26104766D `filing, introduction`
- **2026-01-13** Referred to Committee on Education `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-30** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB957)
- **2026-01-30** Assigned HED sub: Early Childhood and Innovation `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-04** House subcommittee offered
- **2026-02-04** Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute and referring to Appropriations (10-Y 0-N) `substitution`
- **2026-02-09** Reported from Education with substitute (21-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-09** Committee substitute printed 26107076D-H1 `substitution`
- **2026-02-09** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB957)
- **2026-02-11** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2026-02-12** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2026-02-12** committee substitute agreed to `substitution`
- **2026-02-12** Engrossed by House - committee substitute `substitution`
- **2026-02-13** Read third time and passed House (96-Y 0-N 0-A) `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-02-16** Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading)
- **2026-02-16** Referred to Committee on Education and Health `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-19** Assigned Education sub: Public Education `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-26** Reported from Education and Health (15-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-27** Rules suspended
- **2026-02-27** Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) (37-Y 0-N 0-A)
- **2026-02-27** Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
- **2026-03-02** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2026-03-02** Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N 0-A) `passage`
- **2026-03-09** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2026-03-09** Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB957ER) `passage`
- **2026-03-09** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB957)
- **2026-03-09** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2026-03-09** Signed by President `passage`
- **2026-03-10** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 10, 2026 `enrolled, executive-receipt`
- **2026-03-10** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 `executive-receipt`
- **2026-04-06** Approved by Governor-Chapter 246 (effective 7/1/2026) `executive-signature`
- **2026-04-06** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0246)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/737bb428-cd23-491f-9c86-cb66b8a9f3c4`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).