ChangeBridge / Virginia / SB685 Signed by Governor
SB685 Senate Bill
Signed by Governor
2026-03-30

School bd. policies; communication & language accessibility for limited English proficient parents.

School boards; language access plan for limited English proficient parents. Requires each school board to develop, implement, and post in a publicly accessible location on its website a language access plan consisting of policies and procedures designed to ensure meaningful communication with and informational accessibility for limited English proficient (LEP) parents, as that term is defined in the bill. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027. This bill is identical to HB 1278.

Bill Details

State

Virginia

Session

2026 Regular Regular Session

Chamber

Senate

Official Source

lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/SB685

LegiScan

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Sponsors

Stella Pekarsky (Sen - D)
Jennifer Carroll Foy (Sen - D)

Action History

2026-03-31 Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026
2026-03-31 S Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 31, 2026
2026-03-31 H Signed by Speaker
2026-03-31 S Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB685)
2026-03-30 S Signed by President
2026-03-30 S Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB685ER)
2026-03-30 S Enrolled
2026-03-14 H Conference report agreed to by House (64-Y 33-N 0-A)
2026-03-14 Conference Report released
2026-03-13 S Conference report agreed to by Senate (25-Y 14-N 0-A)
2026-03-11 H House Conferees: Reaser, Cohen, Tata
2026-03-11 H Conferees appointed by House
2026-03-10 S Senate Conferees: Pekarsky, Favola, Craig
2026-03-10 S Conferees appointed by Senate
2026-03-10 S Senate acceded to request Block Vote (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
2026-03-06 H House requested conference committee
2026-03-06 H House insisted on substitute
2026-03-04 S House substitute rejected by Senate (0-Y 40-N 0-A)
2026-03-02 H Passed House with substitute (66-Y 33-N 0-A)
2026-03-02 H Engrossed by House - committee substitute
2026-03-02 H committee substitute agreed to
2026-03-02 H Read third time
2026-02-27 H Read second time
2026-02-25 S Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB685)
2026-02-25 H Committee substitute printed 26108227D-H1
2026-02-25 H Reported from Education with substitute (15-Y 7-N)
2026-02-24 H Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (7-Y 3-N)
2026-02-19 H Referred to Committee on Education
2026-02-19 H Read first time
2026-02-19 H Placed on Calendar
2026-02-13 S Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB685)
2026-02-13 S Read third time and passed Senate (39-Y 0-N 0-A)
2026-02-12 S Engrossed by Senate as amended (Voice Vote)
2026-02-12 S Education and Health Amendments agreed to
2026-02-12 S Read second time
2026-02-11 S Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
2026-02-11 S Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 1st reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
2026-02-11 S Rules suspended
2026-02-10 S Reported from Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N)
2026-02-03 S Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB685)
2026-01-29 S Reported from Education and Health with amendments and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (14-Y 0-N 1-A)
2026-01-29 S Senate committee offered
2026-01-22 S Senate subcommittee offered
2026-01-22 S Assigned Education sub: Public Education
2026-01-14 S Referred to Committee on Education and Health
2026-01-14 S Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26104840D

Votes

2026-01-29 Reported from Education and Health with amendments and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (14-Y 0-N 1-A) Yea: 14 Nay: 0
2026-02-10 Reported from Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N) Yea: 15 Nay: 0
2026-02-11 Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 1st reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A) Yea: 40 Nay: 0
2026-02-13 Read third time and passed Senate (39-Y 0-N 0-A) Yea: 39 Nay: 0
2026-02-24 Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (7-Y 3-N) Yea: 7 Nay: 3
2026-02-25 Reported from Education with substitute (15-Y 7-N) Yea: 15 Nay: 7
2026-03-02 Passed House with substitute (66-Y 33-N 0-A) Yea: 66 Nay: 33
2026-03-04 House substitute rejected by Senate (0-Y 40-N 0-A) Yea: 0 Nay: 40
2026-03-10 Senate acceded to request Block Vote (40-Y 0-N 0-A) Yea: 40 Nay: 0
2026-03-13 Conference report agreed to by Senate (25-Y 14-N 0-A) Yea: 25 Nay: 14
2026-03-14 Conference report agreed to by House (64-Y 33-N 0-A) Yea: 64 Nay: 33

Committee Referrals

2026-01-14 S Education and Health
2026-01-22 S Education: Public Education
2026-01-29 S Finance and Appropriations
2026-02-19 H Education

Amendments

0000-00-00 Education and Health Amendment
0000-00-00 Education and Health Amendment

Bill Text Versions

2026-01-14 Introduced
2026-02-12 Engrossed
2026-02-24 Comm Sub
2026-02-25 Comm Sub
2026-03-30 Enrolled

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