No sooner had Fredericksburg City Schools Chief Academic Officer Lori Bridi wrapped up a comprehensive presentation on the division’s special education (SPED) needs, resources and progress than Ward 4 school board representative Malvina Rollins Kay asked her a question.
“When are we going to party about this?” Kay asked Monday. “We’re laid back about this, but this is incredible … I say congratulations to each and every one of you.”
What had FCPS staff in a particularly celebratory mood was the division’s progress from “needs intervention” status in 2022 to “meets requirements,” the highest Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) SPED performance standard, last year.
That scale takes into account compliance with state and federal regulations as well as “result criteria,” which include graduation rates, SOL test participation rates and SOL test scores. From 2022-24, FCPS’s results criteria rose from 10% to 75%.
Somewhat less congratulatory in tone was the discussion of SOL test scores at James Monroe High School from the 2024-25 academic year.
The number of high school students who earned verified credits in End of Course Reading (EOC reading), Biology and Algebra I all decreased compared to the previous year. While students took SOL tests in 12 subjects overall, explained JMHS Principal Marcus Petty, all students enrolled in those three classes are required to take SOL tests.
Petty said JMHS is “taking proactive steps” to improve performance, which include increasing the number of algebra academy sections, which are available to students with the greatest needs.
The division is also launching a new student support program called “Elevate.” The initiative, which will be launched as a pilot program for rising ninth-graders, includes workshops for students and parents focused on “essential academic and success skills,” such as note-taking and home study techniques.
“I look at it as a back-to-basics,” Petty said.
The principal noted that a shift in resources available to teachers was not implemented until late January, which may have affected SOL performance.
“I don’t feel like we had the same level of support this year as in past years,” Petty said.
At the middle school level, Walker-Grant Middle School students experienced growth in seven of 11 test subjects. Scores held steady in four subjects. Both of the city’s elementary schools — Hugh Mercer and Lafayette — saw growth in four out of eight subjects, decreases in three subjects and maintained scores in one subject.
More detailed SOL performance, broken down by school and by division, will be published on the VDOE website later this year.
In other business, the school board voted unanimously in favor of Head Start approvals for the upcoming school year. Previously, the division had received only 50% funding at 2024 levels. However, the package adopted at Monday’s meeting includes full funding for the preschool program, which serves at-risk families and students.
