Chesterfield school board upholds superintendent recommendations in multiple personnel and student-discipline cases

At its Jan. 15, 2025, meeting the Chesterfield County School Board voted to uphold the superintendent's recommendations in multiple personnel and student-discipline cases after meeting in closed session under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.

The board said it entered closed session under Code of Virginia § 2.2-3711(A) to discuss personnel and student-discipline matters and then returned to open session to certify the closed meeting before taking votes.

Board members recorded roll-call votes approving the superintendent's recommendations in the following matters: Case number 2024-25/13; and personnel cases recorded as 2024-25/36-HR, 2024-25/37-HR, 2024-25/38-HR, 2024-25/39-HR, 2024-25/40-HR, 2024-25/41-HR and 2024-25/42-HR. For each item the motion that the superintendent's recommendation be upheld was seconded and carried on roll-call votes. The clerk read the roll for each motion; the board recorded affirmative votes from Anne Coker, Dot Heffron, Dominique Chatters, Steven Pronto and Lisa Hudgins on the listed items.

The board also adopted a certification resolution after the closed session that stated, 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 convening the closed meeting were considered.

No additional details about the individual cases, specific disciplinary findings, or personnel actions were disclosed in open session; case identifiers and the board's unanimous upholding of the superintendent's recommendations were announced on the record.

The board moved on to its business meeting after completing the certification and votes on the closed-session matters.