Buckingham school board approves handbooks, vendor bids and VSBA policy updates; forms handbook committee

Buckingham County Public Schools trustees approved a series of routine administrative items and policy updates during a public meeting that included presentations from central‑office staff and questions from board members.

The board unanimously approved committee rosters for the Facilities, CTE Advisory and Health & Safety committees; appointed Miss Bryant as the district delegate and Mr. Snoddy as alternate to the Virginia School Boards Association convention; and accepted bids naming United Dairy as the milk vendor and Standard Produce as the produce vendor for the 2025–26 school year.

Staff presented multiple handbooks for approval. Mrs. Haynes reviewed non‑Chromebook changes to the parent–student handbook, noting updates to directory items and the addition of a required geography course for high‑school graduates. Mr. Moore described a key technology change: the district is switching the Google‑account form from an opt‑out to an opt‑in consent. "We've changed that to an opt in just based on some of Google's different offerings that require some parental consent," Mr. Moore said.

Board members asked that clearer language on cell‑phone and smart device use be added to the handbook so parents can find rules in one place. The board voted unanimously to approve the parent–student handbook "as amended," directing staff to insert policy JFCM (the new student cell‑phone and smart‑device possession and use policy) verbatim into the handbook and to return with a full update at the next meeting.

Other approved items included the 2025–26 crisis plan (kept confidential for safety reasons), the agent‑of‑record vendor list and the 2025–26 testing calendar, adjusted to reflect House Bill 1957, which requires SOL testing for grades 7–12 to occur in the last two weeks of the school year. Trustees also approved the employee, substitute and student code‑of‑conduct handbooks after minor amendments.

On policy changes from VSBA, Mrs. Haynes summarized several of the new or revised policies and accompanying regulations, including EBBC (procedures for storage and use of opioid antagonists), JJAG (student‑athlete extreme heat safety) and local procedures for charter‑school applications. She described a six‑step emergency protocol for naloxone use and said the division modeled its language on peer districts, while noting she still hoped to have a nurse review the details for technical accuracy.

Votes at a glance: - Committee selections (Item 7.03): approved, unanimous. - VSBA delegate appointment (Item 7.05): Miss Bryant delegate, Mr. Snoddy alternate, approved unanimous. - Milk bid (Item 7.06): United Dairy approved, unanimous. - Produce bid (Item 7.07): Standard Produce approved, unanimous. - Surplus kitchen equipment (Item 7.08): declared surplus and assigned to JROTC, unanimous. - Crisis plan (Item 7.09): approved, unanimous. - Agent of record vendors (Item 7.10): approved, unanimous. - Parent–student handbook (Item 7.11): approved as amended, unanimous. - Student code of conduct (Item 7.12): approved as amended, unanimous. - Testing calendar (Item 7.13): approved, unanimous. - New Teacher Academy and teacher work week (Items 7.14–7.15): approved, unanimous. - Employee and substitute handbooks (Items 7.16–7.17): approved, unanimous. - Donation of obsolete textbooks to Central Virginia Christian School (Item 7.18): approved, unanimous. - VSBA clerk code of conduct (Item 7.19): approved, unanimous. - May VSBA policy updates (Item 7.20): adopted, unanimous.

Board members framed many approvals as routine work needed before the school year and emphasized that staff would return with clarified language where requested. The meeting ended after a longer discussion about school‑bus air conditioning and fleet costs (see separate article).