Administration Committee forwards revised staff evaluation forms and SOPs to full School Board

The Fairfax County School Board Administration Committee voted unanimously on March 4 to send a package of revised evaluation forms and standard operating procedures (SOPs) for school board office staff to the full School Board for consideration.

The package includes job‑specific evaluation rubrics for positions unique to the board office, updated role language for the clerk and deputy clerks, and minor text changes across director and aide job descriptions. The chair told colleagues the revisions were intended to replace a generic operational evaluation with reviews tailored to each job type while preserving consistency across the district: "Staff evaluations may appear different for each school board member driven by their unique expectations and management style," the chair said, noting the committee added language to allow flexibility while requiring the district‑provided evaluation for each job type.

Committee members agreed that the auditor general file would remain largely unchanged, with only the word "sample" added next to the performance rubric and indicators. The clerk's role was clarified to state the clerk "serves at the pleasure of the body of the school board and not for one specific board member," and two new standards were added to emphasize the clerk's role in onboarding new board office staff and managing orderly departures following board turnover.

On evaluations, members debated whether to retain numeric weighting (for example a 1.25 multiplier used elsewhere) or adopt equal weighting across standards. One board member said rubrics help supervisors understand performance; another argued equal weighting would simplify scoring. The committee agreed to present the revised language and the option to simplify weighting to the full board.

The committee also approved a set of related SOPs — including guidance on closed meetings, leave/overtime, professional development tracking and student discipline timelines — and directed staff to provide editable drafts in advance of the full board meeting. The committee chair said the clerk's office will circulate word processing versions for members to propose additional edits before the Board considers them.

The motion to forward the package carried unanimously among members present. The committee indicated it will revisit specific items (such as weighting and budget questions related to board member funds) at a future meeting or during the full board discussion.

Next steps: the package will be placed on the full School Board agenda for consideration; committee staff will circulate draft documents and a schedule for follow‑up meetings.