Virginia Beach School Board convenes closed session to discuss superintendent evaluation, certifies compliance with FOIA

The Virginia Beach School Board on June 3, 2025, voted unanimously to enter a closed session to consider personnel matters related to the superintendent's evaluation and contract, citing the exemptions in the Code of Virginia that permit deliberation on personnel matters.

Vice Chair Weems moved that the board convene in closed session under Code of Virginia § 2.2-3711(a)(1) to discuss "discussion, consideration, or interviews of prospective candidates for employment, assignment, appointment, promotion, performance, demotion, salaries, disciplining, or resignation of specific public officers, appointees, or employees" and specifically to deliberate on the superintendent's evaluation and related contract matters. The motion was seconded by Ms. Dwyer; the clerk announced an 11-0 vote to enter closed session.

After the closed session, the board reconvened in open session and moved to certify that the closed meeting had been conducted in conformity with Virginia law. The certification motion was moved by Ms. Melnick and seconded by Ms. Dwyer; the clerk reported an 11-0 vote to adopt the certification. The board's certification cites Code of Virginia § 2.2-3712 and states that, to the best of each member's knowledge, only matters lawfully exempted from open meeting requirements were discussed and only those matters identified in the motion were considered.

The meeting record does not disclose the substance of the closed-session deliberations; the board's public action was limited to entering the closed session under the cited statutory exemption and later certifying compliance with the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.