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HB290 • 2026

False statements as to school division or attendance zone residency; penalty.

An Act to direct the Department of Education, in consultation with the Virginia State Crime Commission, to evaluate and make recommendations on compliance with and enforcement of the statutory prohibition on knowingly making false statements concerning a child's residency in a particular school division or school attendance zone for school enrollment.

Children Crime Education
Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor
Anderson
Last action
2026-05-14
Official status
Acts of Assembly Chapter
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not specify the exact penalties for violations or the extent of financial losses to schools from false residency claims.

Evaluating False Residency Statements for School Enrollment

This law requires the Department of Education to study how people make false statements about where their children live to enroll them in certain schools and suggest ways to improve enforcement while ensuring penalties match the seriousness of breaking residency rules.

What This Bill Does

  • The Department of Education must work with the Virginia State Crime Commission to evaluate compliance with and enforcement of laws that prohibit knowingly making false statements concerning a child's residency for school enrollment purposes.
  • They need to collect data on how often these violations occur, what penalties are imposed, and whether schools can recover tuition lost due to false statements.
  • The Department must ask school boards and public school administrators for their thoughts on the problem and possible solutions.
  • By November 1, 2026, the Department has to give a report with findings and recommendations to improve enforcement while ensuring penalties match the seriousness of violations.

Who It Names or Affects

  • The Virginia Department of Education
  • School boards and public school administrators in Virginia

Terms To Know

Residency requirements
Rules that say a child must live in a certain area to attend schools there.
Class 4 misdemeanor
A minor crime with a small punishment, like a fine or short jail time.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill does not specify what the penalties for false statements will be.
  • It is unclear how much money schools lose due to false residency claims.
  • The exact recommendations and enforcement methods are yet to be determined by the Department of Education.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

HB290G

2026-04-13 • Governor

Governor's Recommendation

Plain English: (HB246) GOVERNOR'S RECOMMENDATION I approve the general purpose of this bill, but I am returning it without my signature with the request that the attached Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute (26110415D) be accepted.

  • (HB246) GOVERNOR'S RECOMMENDATION I approve the general purpose of this bill, but I am returning it without my signature with the request that the attached Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute (26110415D) be accepted.
HB290H1

2026-04-14 • Governor

Governor Substitute

Plain English: 2026 SESSION HOUSE SUBSTITUTE 26110415D HOUSE BILL NO.

  • 2026 SESSION HOUSE SUBSTITUTE 26110415D HOUSE BILL NO.
  • 290 AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE (Proposed by the Governor on April 13, 2026) (Patron Prior to Substitute—Delegate Anderson) A BILL to direct the Department of Education, in consultation with the Virginia High School League, to evaluate and make recommendations on compliance with and enforcement of the statutory prohibition on knowingly making false statements concerning a child's residency in a particular school division or school attendance zone for school enrollment.
  • Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia: 1.
  • § 1.

Bill History

  1. 2026-05-14 Governor

    Approved by Governor-Chapter 1110 (effective 7/1/2026)

  2. 2026-05-14 Governor

    Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP1110)

  3. 2026-04-23 House

    Communicated to Governor

  4. 2026-04-23 Governor

    Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., May 23, 2026

  5. 2026-04-23 House

    Passed by for the day

  6. 2026-04-22 House

    Passed by for the day

  7. 2026-04-13 Governor

    Approved by Governor-Chapter 543 (effective 7/1/2026)

  8. 2026-04-13 Governor

    Governor's recommendation received by House

  9. 2026-03-14 House

    Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 14, 2026

  10. 2026-03-14 Governor

    Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026

  11. 2026-03-12 House

    Signed by Speaker

  12. 2026-03-11 Senate

    Signed by President

  13. 2026-03-11 House

    Enrolled

  14. 2026-03-11 House

    Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB290ER)

  15. 2026-03-11 House

    Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB290)

  16. 2026-03-04 House

    Senate substitute agreed to by House (82-Y 14-N 0-A)

  17. 2026-03-03 Education and Health

    Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB290)

  18. 2026-03-02 Senate

    Read third time

  19. 2026-03-02 Senate

    Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute

  20. 2026-03-02 Education and Health

    Committee substitute agreed to (Voice Vote)

  21. 2026-03-02 Senate

    Passed Senate with substitute Block Vote (40-Y 0-N 0-A)

  22. 2026-02-27 Education and Health

    Committee substitute printed 26108311D-S1

  23. 2026-02-27 Senate

    Rules suspended

  24. 2026-02-27 Senate

    Passed by for the day

  25. 2026-02-27 Senate

    Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) (37-Y 0-N 0-A)

  26. 2026-02-27 Senate

    Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)

  27. 2026-02-26 Education and Health

    Reported from Education and Health with substitute (15-Y 0-N)

  28. 2026-02-26 Senate

    Senate committee offered

  29. 2026-02-19 Public Education

    Assigned Education sub: Public Education

  30. 2026-02-11 Senate

    Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading)

  31. 2026-02-11 Education and Health

    Referred to Committee on Education and Health

  32. 2026-02-10 House

    Read third time and passed House (81-Y 17-N 0-A)

  33. 2026-02-09 House

    Read second time and engrossed

  34. 2026-02-06 House

    Read first time

  35. 2026-02-04 Courts of Justice

    Reported from Courts of Justice (15-Y 7-N)

  36. 2026-01-30 Criminal

    Subcommittee recommends reporting (8-Y 2-N)

  37. 2026-01-29 Criminal

    Assigned HCJ sub: Criminal

  38. 2026-01-28 Education

    Reported from Education and referred to Courts of Justice (21-Y 0-N)

  39. 2026-01-27 K-12 Subcommittee

    Subcommittee recommends reporting and referring to Courts of Justice (10-Y 0-N)

  40. 2026-01-23 K-12 Subcommittee

    Assigned HED sub: K-12 Subcommittee

  41. 2026-01-13 House

    Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB290)

  42. 2026-01-09 House

    Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26103091D

  43. 2026-01-09 Education

    Referred to Committee on Education

Official Summary Text

Department of Education; compliance with and enforcement of prohibition on false statements as to school division or attendance zone residency; evaluation; report.
Directs the Department of Education, in consultation with the Virginia State Crime Commission and such other stakeholders as the Department deems appropriate, to evaluate and make recommendations on compliance with and enforcement of the provisions of applicable law prohibiting any person from knowingly making a false statement concerning the residency of a child in a particular school division or school attendance zone for the purpose of improving the efficacy of enforcing statutory residency requirements for enrollment in a particular school division while ensuring consequences or penalties for violations of such requirements are commensurate with such violations. The bill directs the Department to submit to the Chairs of the Senate Committee on Education and Health and the House Committee on Education by November 1, 2026, a report on its findings and recommendations.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
An Act to direct the Department of Education, in consultation with the Virginia State Crime Commission, to evaluate and make recommendations on compliance with and enforcement of the statutory prohibition on knowingly making false statements concerning a child's residency in a particular school division or school attendance zone for school enrollment.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1.
§ 1. That the Department of Education (the Department), in consultation with the Virginia State Crime Commission and such other stakeholders as the Department deems appropriate, shall evaluate and make recommendations on compliance with and enforcement of the provisions of §
22.1-264.1
of the Code of Virginia prohibiting any person from knowingly making a false statement concerning the residency of a child in a particular school division or school attendance zone for the purpose of improving the efficacy of enforcing statutory residency requirements for enrollment in a particular school division while ensuring consequences or penalties for violations of such residency requirements are commensurate with such violations. In conducting its evaluation, the Department shall:
1. Collect and evaluate data on:
a. The prevalence of violations of §
22.1-264.1
of the Code of Virginia, including the number of violations that occur each school year in each school division;
b. The number of times the person identified as committing such violation is (i) charged with a Class 4 misdemeanor pursuant to §
22.1-264.1
of the Code of Virginia or (ii) not charged with a Class 4 misdemeanor and, for each such person, the consequence or penalty the school board imposed to enforce the applicable residency requirement instead; and
c. The rate of success of the applicable school division in recovering from such person, pursuant to §
22.1-264.1
of the Code of Virginia, the tuition charges for the time in which the student was enrolled in such school division on the basis of the false statement concerning the child's residency, for the school division as a whole and, if feasible, disaggregated by consequence or penalty imposed, as identified pursuant to subdivision b;
2. Solicit input from school boards and public school administrators on the prevalence of violations of and the efficacy of enforcing the provisions of §
22.1-264.1
of the Code of Virginia; and
3. Make recommendations on improving the efficacy of enforcing statutory residency requirements for enrollment in a particular school division while ensuring consequences or penalties for violations of such residency requirements are commensurate with such violations, including recommendations identifying any (i) effective enforcement mechanisms that could serve as alternatives to misdemeanor charges or criminal penalties, including civil penalties; (ii) amendments to §
22.1-264.1
of the Code of Virginia necessary or appropriate to achieve such objective; and (iii) other approaches or actions necessary or appropriate to achieve such objective.
The Department shall submit to the Chairs of the Senate Committee on Education and Health and the House Committee on Education by November 1, 2026, a report on its findings and recommendations in accordance with the provisions of this act.