Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Policy Updates topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board reviews dozens of VSBA policy updates including weapons, FMLA and parental-rights revisions
Summary
Board staff highlighted multiple Virginia School Boards Association policy revisions of note, including rewritten FMLA language, clarified weapons-on-property wording, consolidation of support-staff policies, updated gang-related definitions, and expanded parental-rights language for the board to review ahead of action.
Miss Rice briefed the Westmoreland County School Board on a package of VSBA policy updates and highlighted several that she recommended the board review more carefully before taking action.
Rice said the staff-weapons policy wording was changed to clarify that legal authority — not the superintendent — permits possession of a firearm on school property, and that similar wording changes were made in the student-weapons policy to emphasize application "on school property" (buses and school-sponsored activities are included). She described a comprehensive rewrite of the Family and Medical Leave policy (GCBE) to streamline the content and suggested the board consider whether to adopt a separate regulation for implementation details.
Other notable changes Rice flagged included consolidation of three support-staff policies into a single policy (GD), an update to gang-related activity language (JFCE) to align with a statutory code definition, and substantial additions to parental-rights and responsibilities (KP) for clarity.
Rice said most updates are cleanup but that some — notably KP and the FMLA rewrite — contain substantive wording changes or added detail the board should review. The board was asked to study the highlighted policies and prepare to address them at a future meeting.
No policy votes were taken at this session; Rice said the updates were presented for review and that the board will consider action where appropriate at subsequent meetings.
