Behavior Supports & Code Of Student Conduct

Dear VBCPS parents and guardians:

As we enter the 2024-2025 school year, we would like to assure you that our division, administrators and dedicated team of educators stand ready to welcome your child to a safe, respectful and inclusive school environment. Knowing that classrooms are places where all children can thrive academically, we encourage families to partner with administrators and teachers to ensure learners are personally and socially responsible.

Please know that protecting the health and well-being of all students is of utmost importance to VBCPS. This is consistent with Goal 2 of Compass to 2025 – our strategic plan. To this end, I ask you and your child to read carefully through this Behavior Supports and Code of Student Conduct – a guide to ensure every school continues to offer all students a safe and productive environment, and most importantly, one that is free of disruptions. It also outlines our School Board policies and expectations for student conduct – whether that be in the classroom, on the bus or at any school-related activities. It is important to understand that anyone who disrupts our school day as described in this document, whether they are physically in a school building or not, will face disciplinary action as outlined in our Code.

An area of emphasis for us this year continues to be student use of technology. As a reminder, student use of personal cell phones, personal communication devices and accessories, such as ear buds or personal wireless headphones, are prohibited during instructional time and in instructional settings to ensure they are not a distraction from learning. Students must be cognizant of this with support from their teachers and parents or guardians.

In addition, social media and other technologies have expanded the learning environment far beyond our school grounds and well before or after school hours. Let’s continue to teach our children to apply digital citizenship wisely and sensibly. That, of course, is entirely in keeping with the division’s strategy of being social, being smart and being safe. The goal is to help our students and families understand what it means to be responsible digital citizens and realize that the impact of social media posts, regardless of whether they are deleted or not, can be life-altering. Please help your child understand that threats shared on social media are taken seriously and could end in a range of disciplinary actions, including expulsion from school, as well as potential legal action.

And finally, please remember that our schools are to be free of tobacco products, including electronic cigarettes and all vaping paraphernalia. To be clear, any vaping on school grounds violates this code, regardless of the substance.

Please read and discuss the Behavior Supports and Code of Student Conduct as a family. Afterward, please log into Parent VUE and complete the electronic Parent Acknowledgment Form by September 6, 2024. In addition, please note that the Behavior Supports and Code of Student Conduct is always available on vbschools.com, under the “Families” section of the menu on the homepage.

On behalf of our School Board, principals, teachers and staff, food service teams, bus drivers and everyone here at VBCPS, we thank you for your support and extend our best wishes for a school year that is safe and productive for your family. We can and will continue to do great work together!

Donald E. Robertson Jr., Ph.D.
Superintendent