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Editor’s note: Updated with comment from SPS Board Chair Karen Jenkins on Thursday, Aug. 22.

Following a closed meeting during their work session, the Suffolk School Board voted on a resolution for a unitary status petition.

During their Thursday, Aug. 15 board meeting at King’s Fork Middle School, the board voted to authorize the School Board Attorney to file a petition to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia Norfolk Division. The petition will ask the court to declare that Suffolk Public Schools and the School Board have achieved unitary status. Board Member Dr. Judith Brooks-Buck abstained while Board Member Tyron Riddick was not present during the vote.

The resolution follows much contention amongst the SPS community on rezoning seven elementary schools for the 2025-26 school year to achieve unitary status and remain in compliance with the United States Department of Justice’s desegregation requirements. During the board’s June 13 meeting, the board voted unanimously to table the final elementary rezoning decision until Thursday, Aug. 15’s work session. It is unclear what prompted the board’ decision to move forward without rezoning. 

In a statement, SPS Board Chair Karen Jenkins commented on the petition, noting that the division made “great strides” since the desegregation order was entered by the court in 1971.

“By seeking unitary status, we are asking that the judicial system take notice of the efforts made by this school division to remove all vestiges of a dual system of education in the City of Suffolk,” Jenkins said. “The court has previously ordered that the school division has achieved unitary status in the area of extra-curricular activities, facilities, transportation, and faculty and staff. The remaining area that the court needs to rule on before finding that the school division is fully unitary relates to student assignments.”