Board approves December claims and technology purchases; member raises concern over 1:1 student devices

At the Jan. 28 special meeting the York County School Board approved certified claims for payment for December 2025 and a resolution authorizing procurements over $100,000 and change orders over $50,000. The financial report detailed instructional expenses (~$761,000), technology-related payments (~$703,885), operations and maintenance (~$887,835), and CIP payments (~$1,465,400).

Speaker 1 reviewed major vendors and amounts cited in the claims: New Horizons (tuition for special education) — $107,900; CSA tuition — $276,000; CDW — $563,000 for projector replacements; Virginia Business Systems — $80,535 for copier services; Dominion Energy — $298,000 for utilities; Hollow Automotive — $125,900 for two cargo vans; Treasurer of York County — $182,170 for fuel, extra duty for deputies and sewage utilities; Granger — $33,100 for custodial supplies; Brown Edwards CPAs — $13,700 for audit services; Sunny Merryman — $182,900 for bus transportation; Sodexo — full payment for nutrition services. Staff also noted state revenue for December 2025 was roughly $4.6 million higher than December 2024, and operating expenditures were roughly $2.6 million higher.

A motion to approve the financial matters (introduced in connection with Resolution 26-04) was made and seconded. Votes recorded: Mister Schafer—Yes; Missus Fairman—No; Mister Richardson—Yes; Mister Pfeiffer—Yes. The motion passed 3–1.

Missus Fairman questioned whether the 1:1 device replacement was already budgeted or an additional expense. Staff said the expense comes from the technology reserve fund created to cover device replacements. Fairman said she was "very concerned" about screen time and said she would prefer classroom sets that students could check out as needed rather than each student having a device all the time: "I'm very concerned in reading the reports and how damaging it is." Staff and the chair clarified the fund and policy basis for the purchases; the board carried the measure despite the objection.

What this means
The board approved the district's December vendor payments and authorized the listed procurements; funding for the 1:1 device replacements was reported as coming from the division’s technology reserve fund. One board member recorded a dissenting vote based on policy concerns about student screen time.