Where can I find information about the School Board, its policies and the documents that they are considering?

The School Board has its own microsite via BoardDocs. It is located at http://www.boarddocs.com/vsba/chesterfield/Board.nsf/Public.

How can I view a School Board meeting if I can attend in person?

School Board meetings can be viewed real time online at http://chesterfieldschoolsva.swagit.com/. This site also has a library of past meeting footage as well. School Board meetings also are shown live on Comcast Channel 98 and Verizon Channel 28.

How can I provide feedback to the School Board?

Information about individual School Board members is available online at https://www.oneccps.org/page/school-board.

Why can’t my child attend kindergarten when I believe they are age-appropriate?

Children must be 5 years old on or before Sept. 30 of the school year to be eligible to attend kindergarten; there are no exceptions to this state requirement. Daylong prekindergarten programs for at-risk 4-year-olds are available at 20 elementary schools. Also, there is a prekindergarten program for children with disabilities who must be 2 years old by Sept. 30 to enroll.

I want to volunteer in school. What do I need to do?

Residents are required to fill out a volunteer application on submit it to the school at which they wish to volunteer. To keep students safe, the school system will check the names of volunteers against the Virginia Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry. Parents should be aware that the sex offender registry is online at sex-offender.vsp.virginia.gov/sor. Chesterfield County School Board policy 6133 about sex offenders is online at www.boarddocs.com/vsba/chesterfield/ Board.nsf/Public.

I believe that someone attending my child’s school does not live in the school’s attendance zone and has not applied for attendance through the waiver process. What do I do?

Please contact the administration at your child’s school and let them know of your concern. The school division has staff members who investigate residency issues.

Why do we make up snow days? Aren’t there enough days banked in the calendar?

Virginia public schools must be in session at least 180 days or a minimum of 990 hours each school year. Chesterfield County Public Schools’ 2016-17 calendar is 180 days long and meets the state’s minimum requirements for seat time.

No snow days are built into the school year. There haven’t been for a number of years.

The Code of Virginia requires that school divisions have a minimum of 990 “teaching hours” per school year. We do meet and exceed the minimum requirement, even minus the non-teaching time associated with daily student lunches. 

The school calendar is built based on the time needed to teach the required Standards of Learning. Each school division is required to certify through the Standards of Quality report that the SOLs have been taught.

I don’t want information about my student made available to the public. What information is legally required to give out?

Directory information — which includes student name, gender, address, telephone listing, date and place of birth, major field of study, participation in officially recognized activities and sports, the weight and height of members of athletic teams, dates of attendance, degrees or awards received and photographs (whether maintained by hard copy or in digital format, still or in motion) — may be made public unless a parent or eligible student notifies the principal of their wish not to disclose the information.

However, the school division typically does not provide this information unless it is contractually required to do so.

The names, addresses and phone numbers of 11th-and 12th-grade students are disclosed to military recruiters unless the school is notified by Oct. 1 to remove a student’s name. Students’ directory information will be used for armed services recruiting and for informing young people of scholarship opportunities.

What is the dress code for students?

Students are expected to dress appropriately. Clothing should fit, be neat and clean and conform to standards of safety, good taste, appropriateness and decency. Clothing that interferes with the educational environment is prohibited. School Board policy 4009 sets minimum expectations; individual schools may adopt more restrictive expectations.