Governance committee pauses on student-discipline policy, sends revisions back to staff for full redline

The governance committee of the Fairfax County School Board on Monday discussed proposed changes to Policy 2611, Procedures for Hearings and Appeals to the School Board, and voted to send the policy back to staff for a full redline and clearer organization.

The committee focused on a substantive clarification in subsection f about attendance at hearings. "For those hearings that are... on appeal on the written record, such attendance by parents or guardians, is not provided," said Mr. Foster, a staff member who walked the committee through the proposed edits. Foster told members the changes were intended "to be consistent, my reading, with the Virginia code" and to distinguish between evidentiary hearings that include live testimony and written-record appeals.

The committee also raised multiple organizational and clarity concerns: members said the redline they received was a partial extract rather than a complete redline of the six-page policy, definitions for terms such as "long-term suspension," "expulsion," and "exclusion" are needed, timelines and the meaning of "workdays" should be consistent, and the policy should make clear which appeals are decided on the written record.

Lisa Forrest, director of the hearings office, answered a substantive question about suspension timing: "It's for suspension days that are consecutive, not cumulative," she said, confirming that the 10-school-day threshold in the policy refers to consecutive days.

Multiple board members said the document as circulated created confusion because the excerpted redline left out context. "This is not acceptable," said one committee member, adding that the committee's practice is to review a complete redline so members can see every change in context. Several members recommended adding a definitions section, clearer communications steps for parents, and a consistent organization that separates expulsions, reassignment, and long-term suspensions.

After discussion, the committee voted to send the policy back to staff for a full redline and revision reflecting the committee's concerns. Committee members requested that staff return the redlined policy promptly; meeting notes recorded a request for a timeline of no more than 30 days for staff to return the revised draft.

The committee also requested that staff clarify how three-member hearing committees are selected and that the policy explain when matters will be handled by a three-member committee versus in writing by the full board.

Next steps: staff will produce a complete redline of Policy 2611 that incorporates the committee's requested clarifications and will return it to the governance committee for further review.