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Board member raises concern over practice of not bringing resolutions to full Virginia Beach school board
Summary
Board member Melnick said she learned after the previous meeting that chair and vice chair would no longer bring resolutions to the full board and proposed a compromise to recognize community observances by name rather than formal resolutions.
Board member Miss Melnick said May 13 she was surprised to learn that the chair and vice chair had stopped bringing resolutions to the full Virginia Beach School Board and proposed a compromise to restore recognition of community observances without formal resolutions.
"I don't mind being on the losing side of a vote, but what I do mind is having my voice arbitrarily silenced," Miss Melnick said, speaking by Zoom. She told colleagues she contacted the superintendent and researched district practice, finding that acknowledging resolutions had been a Virginia Beach City Public Schools practice for more than 40 years.
To avoid contentious language that might split the board, Melnick suggested the board adopt a practice of saying that "VBCPS recognizes the following in the month of May" (for example, Mental Health Awareness, National Military Appreciation Month, Jewish Heritage Month and Asian and Pacific Islander Month), rather than passing binding resolutions. She said the change would allow the board to note community observances "in name only, not a resolution," preserving recognition while avoiding formal disagreement.
Melnick said her concern was procedural and about being informed: she said she had not been told the chair and vice chair planned to change the practice and asked the chair and vice chair to consider her compromise. The chair took no formal action on the request during the workshop portion of the meeting.
The remark came during the administrative matters and reports portion of the May 13 administrative informal and workshop meeting. The board did not vote on a change to its resolution or recognition procedures at that meeting.
