Governor Abigail Spanberger signed HB 1186 (and its companion SB 394) into law in April 2026 as part of a package of more than 20 bipartisan education bills. The bills require the Virginia Department of Education to develop and maintain guidelines for the safe, ethical, and equitable use of AI systems in instructional settings for public school students and educators. HB 1186 also creates an AI Innovation in Education Pilot Programme, expiring 1 July 2030, to bolster local school divisions’ AI capabilities including new applications, tutoring support, and teacher tools.
The governor’s signature converts the legislation — which had already passed the House 95-0 and the Senate 38-1 — from an enrolled bill into binding law. The scores recorded for dim 1 and dim 2 in the initial filing (April 2026) already reflected the near-unanimous legislative passage; the signature confirms enactment but does not alter the scoring basis.
Who it affects: All Virginia public school students, educators, and local school divisions, which will receive mandatory guidance from the state DoE on responsible AI use for instruction.
What is notably missing: The law requires DoE to produce guidelines, not schools to follow a specific mandated curriculum. No dedicated funding mechanism or teacher training requirement is attached. The pilot programme scope and funding are yet to be detailed.