Adoption, Amendment, Repeal or Suspension - Policies 1-32

School Board of the City of Virginia Beach
Bylaw 1-32

SCHOOL BOARD BYLAWS

Adoption, Amendment, Repeal or Suspension - Policies

1. Approval for Content/Sufficiency

   When policies are submitted to the School Board for consideration, they shall first have been reviewed by a member of the School Administration designated by the Superintendent and familiar with or responsible for the aspect of school operations affected by the policy. The proposed adoption, amendment, repeal or suspension will have the signature of the person submitting the amendment. In the event the policy is recommended by School Administration, the administrator reviewing the policy shall sign the policy "approved for content" and date the signature. The Superintendent or designee may also represent to the School Board or a committee thereof that the policy is approved for content. Approving for content indicates that the School Administration agrees that the policy is workable for the School Division.

   Before a policy is presented to the School Board for adoption, it shall be submitted to School Board Attorney for legal review and, if the School Board Attorney finds it is legally sufficient, the School Board Attorney shall sign the policy as "legally sufficient" and date the signature. When the School Board Attorney signs a policy as “legal sufficient”, the School Board Attorney is certifying that the policy complies with applicable law, policy and regulation but is not indicating approval for content of the policy from an educational or business standpoint.

   All policies will be submitted to the Policy Review Committee for review and recommendation before being submitted to the School Board for approval.

2. Format for Presentation

   When policy revisions are submitted to the School Board for consideration, the draft presented shall show previous policy language proposed to be eliminated by strike-outs and proposed new language by underlining in order that language to be eliminated and added is clear. The Superintendent or designee is authorized to make scrivener’s changes to any Bylaw or policy or regulation when a mistake or grammatical error or formatting style is evident and such changes do not materially affect the content of the Bylaw or policy or regulation and will inform the Policy Review Committee of such Bylaw or policy changes.

3. Adoption, Amendment, and Repeal

   Requests to adopt, amend or repeal a policy that are not sent to the Policy Review Committee for review should be submitted to School Board Members and to the Superintendent or designee in writing prior to the School Board meeting at which such proposed action will be reviewed or discussed. A vote for adoption shall take place at a subsequent meeting of the School Board unless the School Board by a majority vote moves to approve the policy at that meeting. A majority vote of the School Board Members present at the meeting will be needed for the adoption, amendment, or repeal of a policy.

   1. Requests to adopt, amend or repeal a policy should be submitted to the Policy Review Committee for review or to the School Board Members and to the Superintendent or designee in writing prior to the School Board meeting at which such proposed action will be reviewed or discussed.
   2. A vote for adoption, amendment or repeal, shall take place at a subsequent meeting of the School Board. A majority vote of the School Board Members present at the meeting will be needed for the adoption, amendment, or repeal of a policy.
   3. The School Board may adopt, amend, or repeal a policy at the same meeting when first presented if there is an affirmative vote of seven of the School Board Members if there are eleven School Board Members present at the meeting or an affirmative vote of a majority plus one.
4. Suspension

   Policies may be suspended in whole or in part by the School Board upon a majority vote of the School Board Members present at the meeting when, prior to the start of the Informal/Workshop session of the Meeting or the Formal Meeting if there is no scheduled Informal/Workshop session, eight hours’ notice of the proposed suspension has been provided in writing or upon a unanimous vote of the School Board Members present at the meeting when no such written notice has been given.

Legal Reference

Code of Virginia § 22.1-253.13:7, as amended. Standard 7. Policy manual.

Code of Virginia § 22.1-78, as amended. Bylaws and regulations.

Code of Virginia § 22.1-253.13:7, as amended. Standard 7. School board policies

Adopted by School Board: July 21, 1992
Amended by School Board: August 17, 1999
Amended by School Board: February 20, 2001
Amended by School Board: December 2, 2008
Amended by School Board: August 2, 2016
Amended by School Board: September 28, 2021
Amended by School Board: October 26, 2021
Amended by School Board: December 13, 2022
Amended by School Board: April 4, 2023