We got another stinging set of numbers about the lack of results from Waynesboro Public Schools this week.
On Tuesday, the Virginia Department of Education released results from Standards of Learning assessments taken by Virginia students during the 2025-2026 school year.
Statewide, the data show small increases in proficiency from the prior school year, 0.4 percentage points in math and 0.4 points in reading, that were shared broadly across local school divisions, grade level tests and student groups.
Here are the passing grade numbers for Waynesboro for 2025-2026:
| English: Reading | 64.48 |
| English: Writing | 51.94 |
| History and Social Science | 62.60 |
| Mathematics | 57.59 |
| Science | 62.37 |
Now, to the 2024-2025 numbers:
| English: Reading | 60.99 |
| English: Writing | 55.40 |
| History and Social Science | 57.20 |
| Mathematics | 58.85 |
| Science | 53.17 |
Analysis: more kids passed the English: Reading test in the 2025-2026 school year, but the increase there was offset by the decrease in the number of our kids who passed the English: Writing test.
History and social science passing scores were up, mathematics was down.
Here are the statewide numbers for 2025-2026:
| English:Reading | 74.45 |
| English:Writing | 75.51 |
| History and Social Science | 69.60 |
| Mathematics | 72.91 |
| Science | 70.90 |
Yikes, are we way behind the statewide trend.
Now, relative to our local peers (numbers for the 2025-2026 school year):
Staunton
| English: Reading | 77.32 |
| English: Writing | 86.71 |
| History and Social Science | 61.00 |
| Mathematics | 75.81 |
| Science | 74.16 |
Augusta County
| English: Reading | 69.97 |
| English: Writing | 51.61 |
| History and Social Science | 71.85 |
| Mathematics | 70.14 |
| Science | 70.99 |
These data points reinforce another set of metrics from the Virginia Department of Education, which evaluates K-12 schools in the Commonwealth using a four-tier system that assesses student mastery, academic growth, readiness and graduation rates.
VDOE uses this four-tier system to assign schools one of the following ratings:
- Distinguished: Exceeds expectations
- On Track: Meets expectations
- Off Track: Does not meet expectations
- Needs Intensive Support: Significantly below expectations
The bad news for Waynesboro:
- Westwood Hills Elementary and Kate Collins Middle School rate as Needs Intensive Support.
- Our other schools – Berkeley Glenn Elementary, Wenonah Elementary, William Perry Elementary, and then Waynesboro High School, are all Off Track.
Relative to our neighbors:
- Augusta County: Four of the county’s five high schools are Distinguished, the other is On Track; three of the five middle schools are On Track, the other two are Off Track; one of the nine elementary schools is On Track, with five Off Track and three Needs Intensive Support.
- Staunton: The high school and McSwain Elementary are Distinguished; Bessie Weller Elementary is On Track; Ware Elementary is Off Track; the middle school Needs Intensive Support.
As I’ve written recently, it’s not that our school system has been underfunded, vis-à-vis our neighbors.
Each of our three localities here gets in the vicinity of 35 percent of its annual budget from local tax dollars.
Staunton commits a little bit more in local tax dollars per student – about 3.9 percent more than Waynesboro in the 2025-2026 school year, per my quick math.
But then, Waynesboro commits 15.6 percent more in local tax dollars per student than Augusta County does.
We’re just not getting the bang for our bucks here in Waynesboro.
This is why the pending retirement of Jeffrey Cassell, who has been the superintendent of Waynesboro Public Schools since 2013, is a blessing.
The Waynesboro School Board has an opportunity to start from scratch, hiring a superintendent with a track record of success either as the leader of another public school division, or as a top lieutenant in one.
I don’t like the apparent rush to judgment from the current School Board, which seems dead set on naming a new superintendent before the end of October, two months before Cassell’s retirement, which is effective Dec. 31.
The feeling among many on the inside at Waynesboro Public Schools is that the rush to get the position filled is oriented toward promoting someone from within.
This, simply, cannot be allowed to happen.
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Chris Graham
