Matthews County School Board moves into closed session citing personnel, student-discipline and litigation exceptions

The Matthews County School Board on July 21 moved into a closed meeting after a member made a motion citing exemptions in the Virginia Freedom of Information Act for personnel, student-discipline and litigation-related consultations.

A committee member recited the statutory grounds during the motion, saying the board should enter closed session “in accordance with the Virginia Freedom of Information Act section 2.2‑3711(A)(1) … discussion or consideration of personnel matters, professional staff appointment, fall coach volunteer appointments, winter coach appointments … admission or disciplinary matters concerning students … and consultation with legal counsel and briefings by staff members or consultants pertaining to actual or probable litigation.” The motion was seconded; the transcript records a second but does not clearly attribute which member seconded it.

Chair called the roll before the motion, naming Miss Bohannon Stewart, Missus Hodges, Miss Diggs, Mister Morgan and Doctor Gibbs; multiple members answered “Here.” The transcript logs the roll-call prompts and affirmative responses but does not reliably map each spoken “Here” to a distinct transcript voice. Following the second and with no further discussion recorded in the provided segments, the chair stated the board was entering closed session.

The public portion of the meeting ended with that announcement; the provided transcript does not include a recorded roll-call vote tally or any discussion from the closed session. The motion’s stated reasons—personnel actions, coach appointments, student disciplinary matters and consultation with legal counsel—align with the FOIA exemptions cited in the motion. The board did not specify in the public segments whether it anticipated any formal votes or public actions to follow the closed-session discussions.