School employees; reports of certain arrests and convictions.
HB2063 updates Virginia’s school-safety reporting laws to require faster and more standardized notification when certain school employees are arrested or convicted of serious offenses. The bill amends multiple Code of Virginia sections so that law-enforcement officers, court clerks, and probation and parole officers must report qualifying arrests or felony convictions involving school employees to the relevant school division safety official and, in some cases, the Superintendent of Public Instruction. It also requires reports to be sent by specified methods, including certified mail, fax, or email, and sets deadlines such as 48 hours after arrest and seven days after a conviction order is signed.
The bill also revises the school safety audit and emergency planning statute to strengthen the role of the division safety official and to ensure school divisions maintain current contact information for receiving these reports. It clarifies that each school division superintendent must annually designate an employee to receive arrest and conviction reports and must keep that contact information updated quickly. The measure also retains and reinforces existing school safety audit, crisis planning, and emergency response requirements, including annual audits, review by local safety partners, and school administrator safety training.
HB2063 primarily affects school divisions, law-enforcement agencies, court clerks, probation and parole officers, and the Virginia Department of Education by tightening reporting procedures for arrests and convictions involving school employees and certain adult students. It amends sections 19.2-83.1, 19.2-291.1, 19.2-299.3, and 22.1-279.8 to create clearer timelines, designate a specific school division safety official as the recipient of reports, and require updated mailing, phone, fax, and email contact information. The bill also preserves the use of these reports for school employment-related actions under other statutes and reinforces the school safety audit and emergency planning framework already in state law.
The bill appears to have received broad, unanimous support throughout the legislative process. It was reported favorably by a House subcommittee, advanced out of the House Courts of Justice Committee, passed the House 96-0, and then passed the Senate 40-0 after additional committee action. The voting history suggests a strong consensus that the bill is a practical school-safety and administrative improvement rather than a controversial policy change.
There is little evidence of substantive opposition in the available record, and no committee transcript excerpts are provided showing debate. Any likely points of concern would center on administrative burden, privacy, and the handling of arrest information for school employees and older students, especially the requirement to transmit reports quickly and maintain detailed contact information. The bill also touches on sensitive school safety materials, but it continues existing authority to withhold security plans and vulnerability assessments, which likely reduced contention.