KLS Keeping Law Simple Legislation in plain English

Straight-ahead summaries built from the official bill text. We keep the source links front and center and leave the decision up to you.

Back to District of Columbia

B26-0420 • 2025

Student Identification Card Act of 2025

Student Identification Card Act of 2025

Education
Active

The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor
Henderson
Last action
2025-10-21
Official status
Under Council Review
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official source does not provide specific information about how the law will help students prove their identity, so this claim was removed.

Student ID Card Law for DC Schools

This law requires the Mayor to ensure that all middle and high school students in Washington, D.C., receive a student identification card by January 5, 2026.

What This Bill Does

  • Requires the Mayor to ensure local education agencies issue student IDs by January 5, 2026.
  • The ID cards must show the student's name, photo, their school’s name, and the current school year.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Middle and high school students in Washington, D.C., will receive these new IDs.
  • Local education agencies are required to issue the student ID cards.

Terms To Know

Student Identification Card
A card given to middle and high school students that shows their name, photo, school name, and current school year.
Local Education Agency
The organization responsible for running schools in Washington, D.C., such as the DC Public Schools system.

Limits and Unknowns

  • It is not clear how much it will cost to make and give out these new ID cards.
  • There are no details on who will design or print the student IDs.

Bill History

  1. 2025-10-21 Council of the District of Columbia LIMS

    Referred to Committee of the Whole

  2. 2025-10-10 Council of the District of Columbia LIMS

    Notice of Intent to Act on B26-0420 Published in the District of Columbia Register

  3. 2025-10-06 Council of the District of Columbia LIMS

    B26-0420 Introduced by Councilmember Henderson at Office of the Secretary

Official Summary Text

Student Identification Card Act of 2025

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA The John A. Wilson Building 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20004
Statement of Introduction Student Identification Card Act of 2025 October 6, 2025 Today, I am introducing the Student Identification Card Act of 2025 to ensure that every middle and high school student in the District is issued a school identification card. Currently, no District agency ensures that all public school students receive a student identification card. The DC ONE Card program, administered by the Office of the Chief Technology Officer, formerly served as a student identification card but has been phased out with no alternative. In other jurisdictions, student identification cards allow students to easily provide identification upon request, and have proven critical for school staff, first responders, and community partners to help keep students safe. The DC ONE card functioned as student’s all-in-one District program access card, letting students check out books from the DC Public Library, access Department of Parks and Recreation facilities, and store their Kids Ride Free Metro benefits. While the DC ONE Card program verified the student’s name and displayed a photo of the cardholder, it did not identify their school or the school year, and therefore did not function as student identification cards typically do. Since the Kids Ride Free program has moved from loading the transit benefits to a DC ONE card to issuing Kids Ride Free Metrocards instead, the DC ONE Card has not been a necessary resource for students. Few students now obtain a DC ONE Card, and it is issued only upon request. Students’ access to government-issued identification through the Department of Motor Vehicles is not guaranteed due to age and experience limitations. Middle school and high school students now do not have a reliable way to verify their age or the school they attend if they are asked to produce identification in or outside of school. If the District government were to issue a standard school ID card for all middle and high school public school students that displays a student’s name, school, the school year, and a photo of the student as required by this legislation, District public school students will once again have a standard form of government-issued identification, and the District’s public schools would be aligned with most public school districts in the United States in this respect. This legislation is a straightforward solution to provide students with a basic resource they can use every day.
Christina Henderson Committee Member Councilmember, At-Large Human Services Chairperson, Committee on Health Facilities Transportation and the Environment

_____________________________ 1 Councilmember Christina Henderson 2 3 4 5 A BILL 6 7 __________ 8 9 IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 10 11 _________________________ 12 13 14 To require the Mayor to ensure that local education agencies issue student identification cards to 15 middle school and high school students. 16 17 BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this act 18 may be cited as the “Student Identification Card Act of 2025”. 19 Sec. 2. Student identification card issuance. 20 (a) By January 5, 2026, the Mayor shall ensure that each local education agency issues a 21 student identification card to each student enrolled in a middle school or high school. The student 22 identification card shall display at least the following information: 23 (1) The school’s name; 24 (2) The school year; 25 (3) A student’s name; and, 26 (4) A photo of the student. 27 Sec. 3. Fiscal impact statement. 28 The Council adopts the fiscal impact statement in the committee report as the fiscal impact 29 statement required by section 4a of the General Legislative Procedures Act of 1975, approved 30 October 16, 2006 (120 Stat. 2038; D.C. Official Code § 1-301.47a). 31

2
Sec. 4. Effective date. 32 This act shall take effect after approval by the Mayor (or in the event of veto by the Mayor, 33 action by the Council to override the veto) and a 30-day period of congressional review as provided 34 in section 602(c)(1) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December 24, 1973 (87 35 Stat. 813; D.C. Official Code § 1-206.02(c)(1)). 36