LYNCHBURG, Va. (WSET) — New state data for the 2025-26 school year shows LCS remains below Virginia’s statewide pass rate in all three tested subject areas.
Lynchburg City Schools students saw slightly lower pass rates in reading and math on the latest Standards of Learning tests, while science scores held steady.
The latest numbers mean 58% of LCS students passed reading SOL tests, a one-point drop from last year and a two-point decline over three years. Virginia’s statewide reading pass rate is 74%, putting Lynchburg 16 percentage points below the state average.
Math remains the division’s lowest-performing subject in the latest data. 51% of LCS students passed math SOL tests this year, down two points from the prior school year.
The statewide math pass rate is 73%, a 22-point difference.
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As for science, the division’s 60% pass rate matches last year’s result and is four points higher than it was in 2023-24. Still, it remains 11 percentage points below Virginia’s 71% statewide pass rate.
Lynchburg Councilman Dr. Sterling Wilder says the scores are both concerning and disappointing.
He says, it’s going to take a full community effort to reverse the trend.
“I don’t want to totally blame the school system or the school board or the superintendent,” said Wilder. “It’s all of our scores. So we as a community have to see how we can move that needle and make our school system better.”
Lynchburg City Schools says it is carefully reviewing the results and cautions that the SOL pass rates are only one measure of student and school performance.
ABC13 reached out to the LCS Superintendent and to school board members. They declined to interview, but released the following statement.
Lynchburg City Schools is carefully reviewing the recently released SOL score data. VDOE’s full School Performance and Support Framework results, expected in October, will provide additional context through a broader set of indicators, including mastery, student growth, readiness, and graduation rates. Once our review is complete and the full accountability information is available, we will share more about the division’s data, discuss the progress being made, identify areas where additional work is needed, and outline the next steps for continued improvement. This work is ongoing across LCS, and we know that meaningful improvement takes focus, consistency, and collaboration.
The SOL scores are part of the Virginia Department of Education’s School Performance and Support Framework, which gives school divisions a broader picture.
LCS says it will share more about its performance, progress, areas where additional work is needed and next steps once its review is complete in October.