By Shirleen Guerra | The Center Square
(The Center Square) – Virginia’s attorney general is urging local school boards to update student conduct and discrimination policies following the commonwealth’s 2023 adoption of a definition of antisemitism into state law.
The office of Attorney General Jason Miyares sent guidance this week to school divisions across the commonwealth, asking boards to review their existing policies and adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism. The definition is intended to help schools identify antisemitic behavior and apply existing rules more consistently.
According to the attorney general’s office, the guidance aims to provide administrators with clearer direction on when harassment or discrimination becomes unlawful, while preserving students’ constitutional rights, including their right to free speech.
The request follows a sharp increase in reported hate crimes across Virginia.
While overall violent crime declined statewide in 2024, reported hate crimes rose by 25%, according to Virginia State Police data. Incidents involving anti-Jewish bias increased by more than 150% according to the report, while religion-based bias crimes also more than doubled during the same period.
Schools already have legal obligations to address discriminatory, hostile environments. Those requirements come from federal civil rights law, including Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars discrimination in federally funded programs, as well as the Virginia Human Rights Act, which provides similar protections under state law.
In 2023, lawmakers formally adopted the IHRA definition through Chapter 471 of the Acts of Assembly. The law allows the definition to be used as a reference for training, education, and the recognition and reporting of antisemitic discrimination or hate crimes, but does not create new penalties or override constitutional protections.
To help school boards implement the guidance, the attorney general’s office pointed to a model resolution developed after Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin issued Executive Order 48. The model outlines ways schools can incorporate the definition into student codes of conduct, handle antisemitic harassment using existing civil rights standards, and clearly state that First Amendment protections remain in place.
Education officials have also released classroom resources through the Virginia Rules program. The materials are designed to help students understand what antisemitism is, how it may appear in school settings, and when it crosses into unlawful harassment or discrimination.
“We cannot fight something we fail to define. By adopting this resolution, schools can meet their legal obligations while upholding constitutional principles and ensuring equal access to education for every student,” said Miyares in a statement.