The Washington County School Board voted unanimously to approve revisions to the division's six-year comprehensive plan after hearing updated enrollment projections and progress reports on learning and school improvement programs.

Superintendent Dr. Perrigan highlighted recent reading data and staff training efforts before the board reviewed the plan's four priority goals: student learning; instruction; culture, climate and safety; and family engagement and communication. "All 7 of our elementary schools are well above that line. 4 of our 7 elementary schools are actually, they got the exceptional rating because they're in the top 5% in the entire Commonwealth Of Virginia," Dr. Perrigan said while summarizing a national reading dataset with local drilldowns.

Assistant Superintendent Mister Lambert and staff presented enrollment projections produced by the Weldon Cooper Center. The board reviewed three projection series: a short-term series based on the most recent three years, a midterm series (used for planning), and a long-term series using pre-pandemic baselines. Under the midterm projection the division expects a decline of about 85 students by 2030 and roughly 272 students by 2035. Staff noted Washington County's current elementary enrollment of 2,804 students, which the report projects could fall to about 2,630 by 2035 under the chosen scenario.

Board members asked for additional zone-level detail and for multi-year cohort comparisons to show how changes in birth rates and migration affect future enrollment. Mr. Lambert said Weldon Cooper had been asked to provide zone-level numbers but that some historical data were not recoverable after a server change; staff will bring supplemental analyses to future meetings.

Doctor Frederick moved to approve the revisions, Mister Henderson seconded and the motion passed 7-0.

What happened next: staff said the division will continue work on transportation-zone adjustments (staff-level meetings are under way and building-level staff and parents will be invited before the December meeting) and will return with more detailed enrollment and scenario analyses to support capacity and boundary decisions.