8VAC20-390-80 provides:

It shall be the duty of the division superintendent to visit and inspect each school in his division. He shall inquire into all matters relating to the management of the school, the course of study, method of instruction, and use of textbooks, and shall give particular attention to the conditions of the school buildings.

Last year, I filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the Richmond Public Schools for all records for the past two years showing the required visits and inspections.  The response showed fire inspections, preventive maintenance of refrigeration equipment, kitchen inspections, and (in 2011 but not 2012) preventive maintenance of building systems.  Except for the fire inspections the records were not clear whether all schools had been inspected.  There was no indication that the Superintendent had conducted any of those inspections, and no mention whatever of inquiry into the "management of the school, the course of study, method of instruction, and use of textbooks" and no further mention of "particular attention to the conditions of the school buildings."

The notion that the Richmond Superintendent might conduct these inspections and not create any documentary record is beyond bizarre.  Moreover, in the absence of such records, the Richmond Superintendent is unable to demonstrate her compliance with the regulation.  Nonetheless, when I suggested to the State Superintendent that she fire the Richmond Superintendent for neglect of her duty under the regulation, the State Superintendent replied:

I am aware of no requirement in law of policy that superintendent visits to schools pursuanbt to 8 VAC 20-390-80 be documented.  The fact that such visits have not been documented by Richmond Public Schools therefore does not serve as evidence that the Superintendent has not complied with this regulation.

Thus, we have both the Richmond and State Superintendents grossly neglecting their duties.  Short of installing a State Superintendent who wishes to actually do her job, the only cure for this egregious nonfeasance is to fix the regulation to require that the Division Superintendent create records to demonstrate compliance with 9VAC20-390-80.  My petition requests that the Board of Education so amend the regulation.

The Orange County School Board opposes the petitioner’s request to change the wording of 8VAC20-390-80 and requests that no revision be made to the current language of the regulation.  The Orange County School Board believes that the local school board, and not the Commonwealth, should determine if the superintendent should engage in the detailed act of documenting his or her fulfillment of the duty described in the regulation.  The Orange County School Board believes very strongly that the superintendent is accountable to the local school board for any such activity.  Therefore, the Orange County School Board also opposes the petitioner’s request that local superintendents forward any record of such activity to the Virginia Department of Education.  The petition seeks an unnecessary expansion of state government authority.  Furthermore, the petition is impractical in large school divisions where the superintendent’s fulfillment of the expected duty depends heavily on his or her administrative designees.  The Orange County School Board asks the Virginia Board of Education to reject the petitioner’s request.  – Judy Carter, Chairman, Orange County School Board

The Clarke County School Board opposes the petitioner’s request to change the wording of 8VA20-390-80.  No revision should be made to the current language of the regulation.  Local school boards, not the Commonwealth of Virginia, should determine if and when the Superintendent should engage in detailed documentation of his or her fulfillment of the duties described in the regulation. Our Superintendent is accountable to our local school board for such activity.  As such, we also oppose the petitioner’s request that our Superintendent forward any record of such activity to the Virginia Department of Education.   The petition seeks an unnecessary expansion in the role of state government.  We request that the Virginia Board of Education reject the petitioner’s request.

Regarding the proposed amendment to 8VAC20-390-80 (Rules Governing Division Superintendent of Schools), please know that as a superintendent of a large school division, the petitioner’s request would impose an unnecessary burden on the Office of the Superintendent, the Division, the Virginia Department of Education, and the taxpayers of the Commonwealth.

Documenting each visit to my schools, with notations for the date and time of the visit, including a summary of the visit, would be improbable, if not impossible, given the realities of my responsibilities.  With 93 schools I could be documenting a half-dozen or more visits a day, or very few at all, as my responsibilities vary from minute to minute and day to day.  Please know that I am in touch with our staff, and in one or more of our schools, on a daily basis. In fact, since becoming Superintendent in 2005, I have visited every school each year because I am highly supportive of maintaining a high visibility with staff, students, and parents.

Furthermore, to retain such information, and then submit same to the Department of Education on an annual basis, constitutes not only an unfunded mandate, but a document retrieval and retention nightmare. Additional bureaucratic constraints and forms would not enhance my ability to make school visits.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have questions I might answer.

I encourage you to reject this petitioner’s request.

Prince William County Schools (PWCS) submits this comment in opposition to a proposed change to 8 VAC 20-390-80 to require that a record be made of a division superintendent’s visit to, and inspection of, each school within the division.  PWCS is in full agreement with the comments submitted by the Orange County and Clarke County Public Schools and particularly those by Orange County relating to the impractical burden such a reporting requirement would place upon larger school divisions.  Further, the Virginia Department of Education has made a concerted effort in recent years to reduce the reporting requirements placed upon school divisions.  Adoption of the proposed change to 8 VAC 20-390-80 would be counterproductive by adding a needless additional reporting requirement.  PWCS asks that the Virginia Board of Education reject the petitioner’s request.