Following months of delays and an outside audit, the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) finally released its 2024-25 accountability data last week.
Below, you’ll find a brief explanation of the new system, which was approved by the state board of education in July 2024, as well as a rundown of how each school division in the Fredericksburg region performed in 2024-25.
What’s changed
For the first time under a new framework, accreditation is no longer linked to student performance. Instead, schools are accredited based on compliance with state law and metrics such as staffing ratios.
Meanwhile, the new student performance and support framework (SPSF) takes into account student achievement in reading, math and science. It also factors in achievement gaps, chronic absenteeism and graduation rate using a 100-point performance scale.
The SPSF formula also varies by grade level. For example, high schools are judged based on “3E readiness,” namely the percentage of students who are either employed (CTE completion and participation), enrolled (either earning an associate’s degree or passing Advanced Placement or IB courses) or enlisted in the armed forces.
Schools scoring between 65-79 are designated “off track,” scores of 80-89 are considered “on track” and 90 and above are “distinguished.” Scores below 65 are considered “needs intensive support.”
However, schools that have been targeted for federal intervention among certain student populations — e.g., English Language Learners — are automatically knocked down one level if those populations don’t achieve certain “threshold scores.” For example, if a school scored 81.9, but its student performance among a federally-identified group doesn’t meet “threshold scores,” it would be considered off track despite its overall score.
In short, what was one system is now two.
Spotsylvania County
The VDOE awarded all 29 schools in Spotsylvania County with accreditation, but an issue with counselors left 13 of those schools accredited with conditions.
Cedar Forest, Courthouse Road, Livingston, and Salem Elementary schools as well as Battlefield, Chancellor, Post Oak, Spotsylvania, and Thornburg middle schools, and every high school except for Chancellor are all conditionally accredited.
Spotsylvania Superintendent Clint Mitchell said that’s because school officials answered “no” to a question regarding if every counselor in that building spends at least 80% of their time working directly with children.
The response flagged the county in the category of “leadership and staffing requirements,” leading to the conditional accreditation.
Mitchell said school officials are reviewing the data at those schools and are considering filing an appeal. He said the division was planning to address the issue at the end of the school year but did not realize it would trigger conditional accreditation status.
“It has nothing to do with leadership,” Mitchell said of the designation. “It has to do with the fact that a counselor at those schools did not spend 80% of their time working with kids. So, for the purpose of academic integrity, we answered that question and said, ‘no’ knowing we are working on it. However, what we didn’t know, and I don’t think it was ever explained to us as superintendents, is that answering one question on the checklist is an automatic drop from full accreditation to accredited with conditions. That was a surprise to all of us.”
Mitchell noted that question was one of 124. He said several other school divisions are dealing with the same issue. He said the division’s primary focus is on the fact that all the schools in the county are accredited.
Under the VDOE’s new accountability framework, 13 of those schools were identified as “on track,” 11 “off-track,” four “needs intensive support,” and one “distinguished.”
Spotsylvania High received the distinguished designation with Cedar Forest, Courtland, Spotsylvania and Wilderness elementary schools requiring intensive support.
“Anytime there is a change to the assessment and accountability framework, there will always be an adjustment period,” Mitchell said. “For the past year, our new Office of School Performance and Core Curriculum focus has been on building a strong foundation for sustainable improvement in SCPS schools. We are seeing improvements as a result of these efforts.”
Mitchell cited five middle schools in the county being identified as federal Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI) schools last year, but none this year. The chronic absenteeism rate improved across all levels, and the on-time graduation rate improved to 91.6% from 90.7% a year ago.
Caroline County
In Caroline County, the VDOE awarded all five schools full accreditation. Bowling Green Elementary School was identified as “needs intensive support,” with a framework score of 74.5, while Caroline Middle School is listed as “off track,” with a score of 78.2, just below the 80-point threshold. Caroline High School achieved “distinguished” status with a framework score of 92.9.
“We are incredibly grateful for the dedication of our staff and students, whose collective efforts led to full accreditation based on 2024–2025 student performance,” Caroline Superintendent Sarah Calveric said. “We are especially proud of Caroline High School for being recognized as a Distinguished School under the state’s updated accreditation and accountability system.”
Madison and Lewis and Clark are on-track with performance scores of 84.1 and 85.1, respectively. Calveric said BGE was flagged for “subgroup performance for students with disabilities” and was designated a TSI school. Schools in that category must develop and implement improvement plans for those subgroups, with the plans being monitored by the state.
“Although we still have progress to make to ensure every CCPS student and school reaches Virginia’s newly outlined expectations, we remain confident in our team’s expertise, innovation and unwavering commitment to all Caroline learners,” Calveric said.
Calveric said if the division is to continue to improve, it must focus on “deepening family partnerships, attracting and retaining exceptional staff, and broadening differentiated supports and resources.”
“These collective efforts will equip CCPS to meet the diverse needs of each school and student group while fostering empowered scholars who are ready and excited to engage in meaningful learning,” she said.
Fredericksburg
All four of the city’s public schools (Gladys West Elementary School didn’t open until this fall) are fully accredited.
Hugh Mercer (72.7 framework score) and Lafayette Elementary Schools (74.8) were deemed “needs intensive support.” While those scores fall into the “off track” range, their performance among targeted student populations — Hispanic students, Students with Disabilities and English Language Learners at Hugh Mercer and Students with Disabilities at Lafayette — resulted in the lower classification.
Walker-Grant Middle School (78.2) and James Monroe High School (79.8) were listed as “off track.”
FCPS Deputy Superintendent Matt Eberhardt said it was heartening to see the number of student groups removed from TSI compared to previous years. He noted that Walker-Grant no longer has a single student group that warrants federal involvement.
“I do think that we’re swinging in the right direction, moving away from that federal push,” Eberhardt said.
Superintendent Marci Catlett said she wants to be cautious of “whack-a-mole” syndrome, in which the division devotes significant resources to elevate one student group, to the detriment of others.
She emphasized that school officials are still trying to make sense of the new system(s), and that true insights will take time to emerge.
“Whenever you start any new process, you have to treat it as a baseline,” Catlett said. “As we work toward getting it right — and we’re going to — this baseline provides us with a lot of information to continue moving in that direction.”
Stafford County
In Stafford County, all schools are fully accredited. Four of the division’s five high schools were designated as “distinguished,” with only Stafford High listed as “on track.”
In addition to Stafford High, 16 other schools were deemed “on track,” while seven were found to be “off track.”
Only two schools — Anne E. Moncure and Falmouth elementaries — received the lowest designation of “needs intensive support.”
About the designations overall, Superintendent Daniel Smith said: “We’re doing the right things. We’re going to continue to do the right things. We’re still focused on each and every kid, every day, making sure we’re maximizing their potential. We’re focused to make sure that there’s high-quality instruction in every classroom so that every kid can learn. And so we’re not going to waver in that approach. This is just another metric that the state wants to share, but we’re going to continue to focus on those things.”
Looking at grade levels, Margaret Brent Elementary was designated as “on track,” but it was only 0.5 point away from being “distinguished.”
Six other elementaries — Ferry Farm, Grafton Village, Hampton Oaks, Hartwood, Kate Waller Barrett and Widewater — are designated as “off track.” These schools logged scores that fall into the “on track” range, but they were dropped a level because they’re identified as TSI schools.
Likewise, Anne E. Moncure and Falmouth elementaries collected SPSF scores in the “off track” range, but they, too, were dropped a level because they are TSI schools.
Seven of Stafford’s eight middle schools were designated as “on track,” with Rodney E Thompson being only 0.7 point away from being “distinguished.” Shirley Heim was deemed “off track.”
And in high schools, Stafford was only 0.7 point away from being “distinguished.”
King George County
In King George County, all five of its schools are fully accredited. King George and Sealston elementary schools were designated as “needs intensive support,” while Potomac Elementary is “on track.” King George Middle is “off track” and King George High School is “distinguished” with a score of 97.4.
