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Highland County 8/15/24

Your HEAV school board monitor team found a concern in the district’s most recent religious exemption (RE) policy draft. The policy draft would have required parents who have already received an RE to resubmit a request annually to the superintendent by mail or in the school board office.
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HEAV reached out to the school board chair regarding this policy draft. We explained the historical and state-wide practice for processing REs as an exemption from compulsory attendance law. Highland County now understands that the RE law does not include an annual notification.
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We are pleased to report Highland County promptly responded, and our concerns were immediately addressed during the following school board meeting. The policy of concern has been removed.
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We are thankful to Highland for taking quick and corrective action to achieve this positive resolution.

What You Should Know:

The policy language proposed originates from policy samples offered by the Virginia School Board Association (VSBA). Most of the 131 public school districts invest in VSBA’s policy services at a cost to taxpayers.
Unfortunately, it is common for school boards to adopt VSBA policy samples without having direct knowledge of the law and historical practices.

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