Parents press for earlier after-school buses and weighted pre-IB credit; FOIA requester objects to fees

Several members of the public addressed the board during the Nov. 13 public-comment period on two routine-but-substantive topics.

Marquita Goodhope Colbert, a parent, said her son participates in non-athletic extracurricular activities but cannot remain on campus until the late bus arrives at 6 p.m. She asked the board to "consider funding an earlier and a later after school bus" or vary the late-bus schedule to accommodate non-athletic students. Goodhope also asked the board to restore weighted credit for her son's transferred pre-IB geometry course, saying she found no handbook policy that would justify the denial. "It is my position that whether Virginia Beach weighed the class is irrelevant," she said, and requested the district reconsider Dr. King's decision on weighting.

Janet McKinney spoke next about a Freedom of Information Act request, saying the district's fee estimates and charges felt punitive. McKinney said she revised an initial request and paid $673.40 for the revised version; she argued that a further reduction should have applied because her narrowed request would fall under the $200 threshold and that the district's posted FOIA fee guidance lacked sufficient detail on actual costs. She told the board she expected the records by close of business the following Monday.

Board members did not respond substantively to either public-comment request during the session but referenced the board policy that public-comment matters may prompt a superintendent investigation or staff follow-up.