Loudoun County School Board reviews new policy on removing students from classrooms

The Loudoun County School Board took no vote Aug. 11 on new Policy 5340, governing the safe and supportive removal of students from the educational setting, after receiving it as an information item. Jon Pepper (Board member, Dulles District; chair of the Student Services Committee) presented the policy, describing it as a lengthy document assembled by his committee, which broke into work sessions with members of several board advisory groups and reviewed a draft from the Department of Student Services section by section. He noted an amendment is pending from a colleague, and the chair said the item would not be placed on a consent agenda because amendments are coming. ^{4:08:35 4:10:03}

Ms. Richardson, a staff member, said the policy grew out of incidents raised in spring 2025 while the board worked on Policy 5345 on restraint and seclusion — situations that did not rise to the level of seclusion but showed parents were not being told when their children were separated from the classroom. She said the policy sets expectations for trained staff, professional learning, a trauma-informed approach and notification of parents within 24 hours. ^4:10:37

Sumera Rashid (Board member, Little River District) asked who is responsible for discussing an incident with a parent and why demographic information is not part of the policy’s logging requirements. Ms. Richardson said the draft regulation, which will be finalized after the policy, assigns that call to the building administrator or designee and requires logging of the student’s name and identification number, date, location, timeframe, the staff member recording the incident, and the reason and duration of the removal. She said demographics could be added if the board directs it. ^{4:11:58 4:13:00}

Anne Donohue (Vice Chair; Board member, At-Large; chair of the Audit Committee) said she pushed for the policy as a former Student Services chair after hearing from parents whose children’s incidents fit no existing policy. She asked whether the definition of accommodations covers safety plans, flagged “should/will” language on scheduling parent meetings for cleanup, noted the absence of a cross-reference to Policy 5345’s staff-protection language, and asked how the three-removal administrative review threshold was set. Ms. Richardson said the threshold applies to an individual student and triggers a multidisciplinary review. ^{4:14:19 4:15:49 4:17:15 4:19:20 4:20:38}

Lauren Shernoff (Board member, Leesburg District) explained her proposed amendment requiring notification to families of other students when an entire class must be evacuated because a student in crisis cannot be safely moved. She said the situation falls through the cracks between Policy 3070 and the new policy. Vice Chair Donohue said she believed the scenario was already covered by Policy 3070; Ms. Richardson said that policy applies more to emergency drills affecting a whole school and that notifying affected classroom families is current practice, more often at the elementary level. ^{4:22:10 4:23:28 4:24:44 4:25:57 4:27:14}

Ross Svenson (Board member, Broad Run District; chair of the Legislative and Policy Committee) asked about adding an advisory committee’s recommended definitional language at line 17; Ms. Richardson said staff would not be opposed. Amy Riccardi (Board member, Sterling District) asked to track how many classroom evacuations occur and how many students are affected, broken out by grade level. Ms. Richardson said that could be tracked internally but cautioned against public reporting that could identify a school or student. Ms. Shernoff suggested the tracking details belong in regulation. ^{4:28:41 4:30:11 4:31:15 4:32:31 4:33:40}

Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) staff agreed to address the drafting items before the policy returns to the board for action, when the amendment can formally be made. ^{4:08:35 4:33:40}