Virginia Board of Education Resolution 1996-9
Establishing Policies Regarding In-service Training for Local School Board Members
Resolution Number 1996-9
November 18, 1996
WHEREAS Standard 5 of the Standards of Quality for Public Schools in Virginia requires that:
C. The Board of Education shall sponsor, conduct and provide advice on … (ii) in-service programs for school board members on personnel, curriculum and current issues in education; and
WHEREAS Standard 5 of the Standards of Quality for Public Schools also requires that:
D. Each local school board shall (i) require its members to participate annually in in-service programs on personnel, curriculum, and current issues in education as part of their service on the local board …; and
WHEREAS local boards are required to comply with these provisions, and the State Board is authorized to seek local board compliance with them; and
WHEREAS Superintendent’s Memorandum No. 2 dated January 18, 1989, stated in part “At the present time, the only approved way that a school board member will be in compliance with this requirement is to attend a VSBA School Board Academy Program”; alternative sources of training would qualify only upon a written request and with prior approval of the VSBA Academy Advisory Committee of the Board of Education, and the Superintendent of Public Instruction; and
WHEREAS the Virginia School Boards Association was identified as the entity responsible for monitoring events attended and certifying by an annual report to the state board the extent to which local board members had complied with the requirements of Standard 5.D; and
WHEREAS in June 1995, the President of the Board of Education, James P. Jones, received a letter from the President of VSBA and its Executive Director, conveying the Association’s decision to discontinue monitoring the status of local board members for compliance with the in-service provision; the reason given was the fact that “all other requirements as outlined in the Standards of Quality are reported directly to the state Superintendent of Public Instruction and Board of Education …,” and
WHEREAS according to the Virginia School Board Association, as of July 1, 1996, 62% of local school board members are now elected, rather than appointed, providing for direct accountability to the citizens of their locality; and
WHEREAS due to the above, it is the Board’s intention to propose eliminating this requirement when next the Standards of Quality are revised, now, therefore be it
RESOLVED that, for the purposes of compliance with the provisions of Standard 5.D, each local school board member shall choose their own annual in-service training on personnel, curriculum and current issues in education; and be it
FURTHER RESOLVED that, in the event of a dispute between a local school board and the member concerning the appropriateness of the in-service program for meeting Standard 5.D, the Board of Education will determine whether Standard 5.D has been or would be met by the chosen in-service program, and be it
FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board encourages local boards to make available to the public, upon request, information on such training as local boards choose, and be it
FURTHER RESOLVED that compliance with the requirement for in-service training for local school board members shall be certified to the state Board of Education in the same manner as are other provisions of the Standards of Quality.
Adopted in the Minutes of the Virginia Board of Education
November 18, 1996