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Virginia Beach school board approves consent items, personnel actions and middle-school schedule; authorizes outside counsel after closed session
Summary
The school board approved routine consent agenda items and personnel actions, passed the middle-school master schedule by a 10–1 vote, and after a closed session authorized the board attorney to retain outside counsel to address a Virginia Employment Commission tax lien; several votes were unanimous or near-unanimous.
The Virginia Beach City School Board on Feb. 11 approved multiple routine items, acted on personnel appointments and passed a contested middle-school master schedule change, and authorized outside counsel after a closed session.
Votes at a glance - Adoption of the meeting agenda: moved by Mr. Cowan, seconded by Miss Rogers; vote recorded as 11–0 to adopt the agenda. - Approval of the Jan. 28, 2025 meeting minutes: moved by Dr. Green, seconded by Mr. Cummings; vote recorded as 11–0. - Consent agenda (textbook for licensed practical nursing; Bayside High School HVAC and scratch cooking improvements; Cox High School tennis court replacement; Lynnhorn Park Elementary roof replacement): moved by Mr. Callan, seconded by Mr. Cummings; vote recorded as 10–0 to approve the consent agenda. - Personnel report and administrative appointments (02/11/2025): moved by Miss Rogers, seconded by Miss Dwyer; vote recorded as 10–0 to approve. Appointments announced in open session included Leticia Bates as assistant principal at Renaissance Academy; Ricky Bettencourt as coordinator of secondary English; Christopher Harriman promoted to assistant director in food services; Lori Taylor to grant manager in budget development; and Gloria Ashley Williams to coordinator of academic support programs K–12. - Middle-school master schedule modification: moved by Miss Melnick, seconded by Miss Dwyer; vote recorded as 10–1 (one nay) and the motion passed. - School board committee assignments for term ending 06/30/2025: moved by Miss Melnick, seconded by Miss Rogers; vote recorded as 11–0.
Closed session and legal authorization The board recessed into closed session under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act exceptions cited on the record (Code of Virginia §§ 2.2-3711(a)(2), (7), (8)). After returning to open session the board certified compliance with the statute by an 11–0 vote on the certification.
Following certification, the board approved a motion — moved by Mr. Culpepper and seconded by Mr. Callan — authorizing the school board attorney to retain and work with outside legal counsel to address a Virginia Employment Commission tax lien. The motion passed by recorded count 10–1; the meeting minutes show one nay.
What this means Board actions on the consent agenda and personnel report advance routine repairs, facility upgrades and staffing changes the administration recommended. The middle-school master schedule modification passed with a single dissenting vote; the board did not detail the substance of the dissent during the roll call. The authorization to retain outside counsel follows closed-session discussion of pending litigation and administrative claims and directs staff counsel to pursue outside legal assistance on the VEC matter.
Direct quotes and formal attributions Superintendent Donald Robertson summarized personnel approvals in open session: "I'm pleased to note that tonight the board has approved our recommendation for Leticia Bates..." Robertson listed the approved appointments during his remarks.
Procedure notes Board members used the board's electronic voting process for several items; some recorded tallies showed 10–0 or 10–1 results, indicating one member was recorded absent or registered a different vote on certain items. When votes were tallied in open session the clerk announced the counts as shown above.
