Virginia To Establish Guidance for Artificial Intelligence in Schools

Effective July 1, 2026, new Virginia laws require the Virginia Department of Education to develop statewide guidance for the use of artificial intelligence systems in elementary and secondary public schools, with local school boards required to adopt policies consistent with that guidance. The legislation also establishes the AIS Innovation in Education Pilot Program, supported by $2 million in the FY 2027–2028 budget, to help school divisions implement and evaluate AI tools while prioritizing educator training, student privacy, equity and responsible use.

New laws took effect on July 1, 2026 that will require Virginia to develop guidance for the use of artificial intelligence systems (AIS) in public elementary and secondary schools as well as establish the AIS Innovation in Education Pilot Program.

SB 394 (Pekarsky) and HB 1186 (Rasoul) direct the Virginia Department of Education, in consultation with local school divisions, to study current uses of AIS in schools and to establish guidance for the safe, ethical, and equitable use of AIS in public elementary and secondary schools. Local school boards will be required to establish, implement, and enforce AIS policies consistent with the Department of Education’s new guidance.

Per the new laws, such guidance shall address the following:

• Student data privacy and security in general and in the context of artificial intelligence systems, including compliance with the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. § 1232g) and the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (15 U.S.C. § 6501 et seq.), and any other applicable federal and state laws relating to student privacy;
• Resources and training for teachers;
• Transparency and explicability of the use of an AIS in instructional settings;
• Data privacy agreements with the applicable school division that prohibits the use of any division-level or student data for training or improving any external AIS models;
• Best practices for (i) guarding against bias and discrimination in the use of any AIS; (ii) developing clear protocols for AIS use by teachers and students in public elementary and secondary schools and embedded professional development resources designed to strengthen educator literacy in the ethical, responsible, and effective use of an AIS, including prohibitions on relying solely on an AIS to make certain high-stakes decisions, as defined by the Department; and (iii) ensuring the accessibility of and equitable access to AIS resources in the school setting; and
• How school divisions can ensure that any approved use of an AIS in instruction aligns with the Standards of Learning and supports use of high-quality instructional materials.

Additionally, the Department of Education shall include in their guidance suggestions for functional guardrails that prioritize the use of division-managed AIS platforms. They shall also ensure that any approved AIS platform will provide teachers and administrators with access to transcripts of student interactions and the ability to monitor the use of AIS.

In addition to this guidance, SB 394 (Pekarsky) and HB 1186 (Rasoul) also create the AIS Innovation in Education Pilot Program. This Pilot Program shall provide funding to public elementary and secondary schools looking to adopt AIS platforms and shall help schools in evaluating and scaling the safe use of AIS for instruction, tutoring, student engagement, operational efficiency, and teacher support.

The Department of Education is now tasked with developing guidelines for the administration of the Pilot Program. Per the laws, the Department shall prioritize proposals from school divisions serving diverse student populations (including high-poverty, rural, and under-resourced school divisions) and shall require any school division selected for participation to include professional development for educators on AIS literacy and responsible use and to develop and submit evaluation plans for measuring the impact of AIS use on student learning, teacher workload, and equity outcomes.

$2 million for the Pilot Program has been included in Virginia’s new FY 2027-FY 2028 biennial budget, which also took effect July 1, 2026.