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Fluvanna superintendent outlines new accountability model, student performance trends and budget priorities
Summary
Superintendent briefed the school board on accreditation, achievement and attendance data, described plans to draft a cell-phone policy for November first reading, and urged alignment with the county on CIP and budget requests to support security and staffing needs.
Superintendent (title in transcript: “Superintendent/Doctor”) told the Fluvanna County School Board that all schools in the division are fully accredited this year and walked board members through new state accountability measures and where the division’s strengths and gaps lie. "We're very pleased that all of our schools are fully accredited this year," the assessment lead, Miss Suarez, said, presenting the results and subgroup breakouts.
The presentation emphasized chronic absenteeism, subgroup performance and science achievement as areas for focused attention. Suarez noted steady gains in reading and math at the elementary level and said chronic absenteeism has improved compared with last year but remains near federal benchmarks. She also flagged science and history performance as recovery areas since the pandemic-era curriculum shifts.
The superintendent described follow-up work tied to a statewide executive order on mobile devices and said staff are drafting a division policy for board review. "Elementary students in the guidelines are not allowed to use mobile devices on school grounds. Period," the superintendent said, explaining that the rules distinguish instructional time from non-instructional time and that the draft will be brought to the board for first reading in November so the division can meet the January implementation timeline.
Board members pressed for clarity on enforcement and family communication, with the superintendent noting students want consistent implementation and that some provisions (for example, elementary limitations versus secondary allowances for after-school use) will require local adaptation. The superintendent said staff will use community engagement (an Oct. 24 event was cited) and a linked survey to gather feedback.
On finances and capital needs, the superintendent reported a projected fund balance of roughly $425,000 and reviewed CIP priorities, including bathroom renovations, roof patching, gym-floor replacement and transportation needs. He described potential security options — from door-lock hardware to panic-button/staff-alert systems — and noted each option’s staffing and cost trade-offs. The board discussed staged uses of turnback/carryover funds rather than a single lump-sum allocation.
Board members suggested closer, more frequent communication with the Board of Supervisors and recommended packaging the division’s data and specific budget requests to support data-driven county funding decisions. The superintendent said staff will prepare materials, meeting notes and, where appropriate, vendor demonstrations (for example, for panic-button systems) to inform later budget deliberations.
The board did not take final action on policy or budget items at the meeting; the superintendent and staff signaled they will return with a draft phone policy, detailed cost proposals for security options, and CIP prioritization for the November meeting.
