School Board of the City of Virginia Beach
Policy 7-1

COMMUNITY RELATIONS

Relations with the Public

            The School Board recognizes citizens' right to participate in educational decisions and their right to be informed about how pupils are being educated and how school funds are spent. The School Board endorses an affirmative public communication policy and accepts responsibility for keeping the community informed about schools. In cooperation with administrators and teachers, it seeks opportunity to inform individual citizens and organizations about educational services, initiatives, accomplishments, needs, challenges, costs, revenues, expenditures and other pertinent topics.

            The School Board and administration seek and welcome individual and group opinions, suggestions, and questions regarding school affairs. Regular School Board meetings shall be open to the public and to the news media. Closed executive sessions shall be held only in compliance with state law.
           
            School Board members, administrators, teachers, and staff recognize the news media, VBTV – the municipal cable television channel - and the school division’s Internet Web site to be important means of keeping people informed about school-related news and information. They welcome the interest and assistance of publishers, editors, station managers, and reporters. School Board members, administrators, teachers and staff desire to provide representatives of all news media with available non-confidential facts about schools. All news releases prepared by school personnel shall be made available to all media at as nearly the same time as possible.

            The Superintendent is authorized and directed to prepare publications needed to keep citizens informed about educational services, initiatives, achievements, needs, costs, challenges, revenues, and expenditures and other pertinent topics. The Superintendent is directed to provide parents, guardians and students at the beginning of each school year the academic objectives, standards of learning, and requirements for graduation as required by the Regulations Establishing the Standards for Accrediting the Public Schools in Virginia. The Superintendent will ensure that each school provides to the parents of children attending the school and to the school community a written School Performance Report Card that complies with the Regulations Establishing the Standards for Accrediting the Public Schools in Virginia.

            All School Board employees and volunteers shall seek to maintain positive relationships with pupils, parents, organizations, and news media, thus helping implement the above policy.

Editor's Note:

See also School Board policy 7-10 and any implementing regulations.

 

Legal References:

Code of Va., §22.1-253.13:7, as amended, Standard 7. School board policies.

Virginia Department of Education Regulations Establishing the Standards for Accrediting the Public Schools in Virginia, 8 VAC 20-131-270, as amended.

 

Adopted by School Board:     October 21, 1969
Amended by School Board:   November 18, 1986
Amended by School Board:   August 21, 1990
Amended by School Board:   July 16, 1991
Amended by School Board:   October 20, 1992
Amended by School Board:   September 15, 1998
Amended by School Board:   May 25, 2004
Amended by School Board:   May 9, 2006