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Board approves clearer rules for virtual instruction program
Summary
The Berkeley County Board of Education approved revisions to Policy IB to clarify eligibility, attendance and extracurricular rules for the district's virtual instruction program after legal review and staff recommendations.
The Berkeley County Board of Education on April 21 adopted revised language for Policy IB, the district's virtual instruction program policy, after staff and legal review.
Board members voted to accept the updated policy, which staff said was rewritten to be more specific about eligibility, attendance and participation in extracurricular activities for students enrolled in virtual instruction. Holly Branch, the district's virtual program coordinator, told the board the revisions reflect recommendations from the district's attorney and aim to make the policy more explicit.
"The lawyers looked at our 2020 policy and asked us to be more specific with several items, especially eligibility and attendance," Branch said. She told the board the document was reorganized and recategorized to improve flow and to add provisions the attorney recommended.
District staff said the most substantive changes clarify which students qualify for full-time virtual instruction, how attendance will be tracked for funding and instructional continuity, and how participation in extracurricular programs is handled for virtual-enrolled students.
Board members moved and seconded adoption of the revised policy; the motion passed on a voice vote. The board did not record a roll-call tally in the meeting minutes beyond the affirmative "Aye" responses the chair called for.
The revisions were presented as a redlined replacement of the existing policy, with black text showing retained language and red/underlined text marking edits recommended by counsel. Staff indicated the changes respond to questions that arise when parents and administrators interpret the policy in rostering and scheduling decisions.
The board directed staff to post the revised policy to the district website and to publish guidance for building administrators on implementation steps, including attendance coding and eligibility review processes.
The vote concludes a multi-stage review that staff said included the district attorney's input and a staff rewrite to make the program rules easier for parents and schools to apply.
Looking ahead, staff said they will collect implementation questions and return to the board only if further clarifications are necessary.
