County school board, with a new chair, move ahead with elementary expansions and more lab schools

By Charlotte Matherly, contributor

With Sara Horst taking over as chair of the Rockingham School Board, former chair Matt Cross didn’t address why he vacated that position but on Monday noted that the board “faced a lot of difficulties and challenges” last year.

The school board selected Horst, who served last year as vice chair, during a special meeting Jan. 3. Ashley Burgoyne will serve as the new vice chair. Cross wasn’t present at that meeting. 

Cross chaired the board over the last two years, which included the decision last January to temporarily ban 57 books from RCPS libraries and classrooms and, later, the creation of a policy prohibiting books with “sexually explicit content.” The board also adopted Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s model policies on transgender students and gender notification requirements, which prompted heated debates, including among community members, parents, students and school staff during public comment periods.

A committee is still reviewing the books that were removed from shelves over a year ago. The board has returned some books to shelves and, often in contradiction to the committee’s recommendations, voted to permanently ban about a dozen. About half the books have yet to be voted on, and the board has not addressed any since October.

With the new leadership, public comment was moved back to the beginning of meetings. Horst opened the floor for both a public hearing on the 2025-26 budget and a more general public comment period before considering other agenda items. No one spoke.

Cross had shifted public comment to the end of meetings in 2024 after tense exchanges between members of the public and the school board over its new library book policies.

“We couldn’t have a board meeting without a lot of yelling and screaming,” Cross said. “We wanted to get our working meeting through before we had a bunch of the argument that was going on, so I did change that.”

Redistricting down the line, but for now, school expansions

More redistricting could be on the way for Rockingham County schools. While the school system just went through the redistricting process early in 2024 to adjust to expected population growth in the eastern part of the county, school board members said there could be more to come.

For now, however, the board unanimously approved support for construction additions to Pleasant Valley and McGaheysville elementary schools. Both schools were already set to be renovated.

“While we’re doing this work, let’s look [at] adding some more capacity to this school as well,” Shifflett said. “Do we need it immediately? Well, it depends on the growth and how quickly things happen and change, but it allows us to have room for growth.”

Each school holds between 350 and 380 students. The renovations would add classrooms to bring each school to about 500 students, and Shifflett said it wouldn’t delay other building projects.

Redistricting will be needed in the future, Shifflett said, but he doesn’t think it’s needed before the 2025-26 school year. Board members acknowledged the challenges associated with redrawing district lines but said it might be necessary to accommodate new developments.

Cross said the board has a duty to be fiscally responsible with county tax dollars.

“I would much rather move a line than add a $40 million-plus school and then an extra five more million for all the [employees] for that school as well,” Cross said. “I know it’s not popular … but at the end of the day, I 100% support this, that we have great schools no matter what schools you go to.”

Board member Hollie Cave said the board members haven’t yet discussed what lines might change if they do decide to redraw those lines.

Lab schools to double next year

Two new lab schools will open for the 2025-26 school year, making it available at every high school in the county. Broadway and East Rockingham high schools experimented with lab schools this year, which administrators have given a glowing review. The program is expected to grow to 600 students in the next four years.

The project is meant to prioritize innovative, hands-on learning and provides an opportunity for high-school students to earn college credits at James Madison University or Blue Ridge Community College, which help run the lab school.

Donica Hadley, the lab school’s executive director, also said the lab schools have fostered more student connections, even among those from different schools. Once, when students from the two high schools got together, they asked the administrators if they could do more activities together.

“Our model is all about pushing into the high schools, where a lot of the other models are pulling students out of the high schools,” Hadley said. “It really gives students their sense of community … This has been a really nice bridge.”

Five-year plan approved

The school board voted unanimously to approve its comprehensive plan, with a few additions. After Horst had requested an external review, Superintendent Larry Shifflett said he added student learning scores to the plan.

Rockingham County students scored below the state average in math, reading and writing, with the largest gap among students with disabilities. The district is mostly on par with the rest of Virginia in science and history.

The comprehensive plan lays out the district’s biggest priorities through 2029, which include more police presence in schools, looking ahead to the future of artificial intelligence and addressing the county’s impending population increase.

Updates to cell phone policy

A potential policy change will restrict students from using cell phones on school field trips unless the principal gives permission beforehand.

Shifflett said it won’t be a blanket ban. He said understands students may want to use their phone to take pictures on a field trip to Washington, D.C., but other activities, like going to see a play where pictures aren’t allowed, won’t warrant that.

“Trying to work with principals to build some parameters for that, I think, would allow us to have some consistency but also recognize there may be times when students would need to use their cell phones on particular field trips,” Shifflett said.

The policy could also be updated to include elementary school students. The board will vote on the changes at its next meeting.

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