Prince George County Public Schools is the school district that provides schooling to the children in Prince George County, Virginia, United States. The school district also serves the military families who live on the U.S. Military base Fort Gregg-Adams. - .mil website.
The school division's boundary is that of the county. - Text list
History
2020 During the 2020–2021 school year, the Prince George County School Board had a meeting where they voted to close the William A. Walton Elementary School and build a replacement school due to mold inside the school. The new school will be called Middle Road Elementary School. The school opened during the 2022–2023 school year.
August On August 7, 2020, Prince George County Public Schools announced during the COVID-19 pandemic that they would opt into a hybrid instruction plan for the 2020–2021 school year. The county's parents and students were split on how they believed the schools should return to providing classes. In a district survey, 51% of parents preferred an all-virtual option while the remainder wanted to return in-person classes. The district then released their return to school plan that includes a hybrid education method. The plan states that half of the district can learn in school with social distancing and reduced class sizes in effect while the other half can learn virtually. The county's school district was the 3rd Tri-cities School district to opt to have in-person learning and virtual learning. In response to the survey, the School Board Chair, Chris Johnson, said that the teachers' survey responses were what stuck out to him the most when he was making his decision whether to allow in-person learning or just virtual learning. 78% of teachers in the survey wanted to return to teaching in-person rather than virtual.
On August 25, Prince George County public schools announced that they are having a school Chromebook shortage. The cause of the shortage is from the high number of students that are doing virtual learning due to the pandemic. It was also stated that a delivery of over 2,500 laptops would be delayed until December.
2024 February In February 2024, a 13-year-old boy at J.E.J Moore Middle School was arrested on school grounds for making threats to attack the school and harm students. The student was charged with 2 counts of threats to kill or injure people on school grounds.
July On July 31, former PGCPS Assistant Superintendent, William A. Barnes, Jr., 78, was charged with nine felonies, including aggravated sexual battery, indecent liberties with a minor and sexual assault by force or threat. The alleged incidents occurred more than three decades earlier in the 1980s when the retired school administrator was a junior high school guidance counselor.
August In August, parents criticized the school district for its handling of the allegations against the former assistant superintendent.
September In September, a state police investigation confirmed that the Prince George County School Board had learned of the decades old sex abuse allegations against the former administrator, however by the time Barnes was criminally charged he was no longer employed by the school district, having retired after a 50 year career as an educator. The former Superintendent of Schools in Prince George, Lisa Pennycuff, who had by then also retired and been appointed interim Superintendent of Schools in Hanover County, provided the Hanover School Board Chair with key dates about the timeline of the events concerning the allegations against Barnes.
October In October, a teacher at Harrison Elementary was arrested for possession of child pornography. It was not believed that they had any inappropriate pictures of students. The teacher was put on administrative leave pending the investigation results.
In response to a nationwide shortage of bus drivers, parents blamed the district's transportation department for students having lower grades. The district's transportation department said they are short 200 bus drivers and that the issue is caused by bus drivers having to do back-to-back routes causing students to arrive late at school. Prince George County Public Schools has over 1,000 bus routes to cover.
December There was a fundraiser to make blankets for a non-profit organization named Project ASK which is a childhood cancer foundation. The fundraiser was held to make blankets for kids with cancer in time for Christmas.
Fort Gregg-Adams The school district includes students from a U.S. military base Fort Gregg-Adams. According to the 2020 U.S. census, the county has gained 20% more students than in 2010. The population grew to 43,010 people which makes Prince George the 5th most populated county.
Critical Race Policy Prince George County Public Schools voted to not implement the critical race policy. The district's school board said that the policy looks like it is trying to divide people of the country and the schools. Some board members spoke out against the policy stating that the color of someone's skin should not dictate any divide in their lifestyle.
Transgender Policy Before the start of the 2021-2022 PGCPS School Board voted on the policies. The bathroom policy caused a huge discussion between parents during the public comment period of the meeting and from the school board members. The board implemented a gender neutral bathroom policy as a way to welcome trans students into a comfortable facility.
School board
Superintendent Douglas Lyle Jr. who was an educator in the state of Virginia for over 30 years was appointed by the school board to become the next superintendent of Prince George County Public Schools.
List of superintendents Name term James E. Rooks 1967-1993 (retired) Dorothea M. Shannon 1998-2006 R. Francis Moore 2006-2009 (retired)Bobby Browder 2009-2015 (resigned) Renee Williams 2015-2019 (retired) Lisa Pennycuff July 1, 2019 – July 23, 2024 (retired)https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20242/HR602/text/HR602ER Douglas Lyle Jr. September 10, 2024–present
School board members Name Robert Eley III Michelle Crist Jill Andrews Sherry Taylor Christopher Johnson
Demographics
By race As of the start of the 2024–2025 school year + Race percentage of students Race Total percentage of students White 47.1% Black 29.6% Hispanic 13.9% Asian 1.2% Other 8.3%
By gender As of the start of the 2024–2025 school year + Gender percentage of students Gender Total percentage of students Male 51% Female 49%
Other info The student to teacher ratio is: 15:1 Average percentage of certified teachers: 99.8% Average percentage of teachers with over three years of experience: 89.1% The total number of full time councilors that work for the district: 8
Academic success
Averages As of the end of the 2023–2024 school year + Test score average for students (overall of all grades and subjects) Below average Average Above average 29% 71% <1%
Graduation ranking Rankings are as of the start of the 2024–2025 school year + District rankings Ranking factors National rank State rank College Readiness Index Rank #9,889 #208 College Curriculum Breadth Index Rank #10,124 (tie) #226 State Assessment Proficiency Rank #8,478 #154 State Assessment Performance Rank #9,466 #172 Graduation Rate Rank #11,126 (tie) #172 (tie)
Test scores As of the end of the 2023–2024 school year + Test score proficiency (subject) School Math (percentage) English (percentage) Elementary 73% 78% Middle 61% 71% High 79% 89%
Financials Overall the district spends an average of $11,127 per student per year. The district's total revenue is $72,661,000.
Budget The 2024–2025 school year's general budget is $6,255,916 and that total is 7.13% over the given FY2024 adopted budget of $87,780,829.
Funding As of the start of the 2024–2025 school year + Funding From Amount (percentage of budget) State 60.8% Local 26.5% Federal 12.7%
Partnerships The school district partners with many colleges including the following: College of William and Mary Randolph-Macon College Richard Bland College Virginia Commonwealth Virginia State University Virginia Union University
Schools
Elementary schools LL Beazley Elementary North Elementary South Elementary Middle Road Elementary Harrison Elementary
Middle schools J.E.J. Moore Middle School
High schools N.B. Clements Jr High School Prince George High School
Optional high schools Rowanty Technical Center
Education centers Prince George Education Center
Former schools
Elementary schools William A. Walton Elementary School Burrowsville Elementary School Carson Elementary School Bessie Mason Elementary School
High Schools Disputanta High School J.E.J. Moore Junior High School
See also Prince George County, Virginia Prince George High School
References
External links