School division staff told the board that changes to Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) proficiency cut scores adopted by the state Board of Education will likely reduce local pass rates substantially unless the state phases implementation.

The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) adopted new, higher cut scores for reading and math after updating SOL items to align with more rigorous standards. Staff said the increases in proficiency thresholds ranged by grade and content and in some cases raised cut scores by 30–79 points on the SOL 600‑point scale.

Using VDOE modeling, CCPS staff showed that under the newly adopted cut scores nearly 60 percent of the Commonwealth’s third‑through‑eighth and 11th‑grade reading students and about half of math students would fall below the new “proficient” threshold. The division presented a modeled local impact that would create a new interim “approaching” category for students who would otherwise have been counted as proficient under the old scale.

CCPS staff recommended the board ask the state Board of Education to adopt a multiyear phased implementation and to treat 2025–26 as a “year zero” to allow time for growth models and supports. Staff also asked for temporary use of an “approaching” indicator during the phase‑in and urged that current high school students continue under the cut scores in place when they entered ninth grade (a protection referenced in Virginia law). Division staff said the current state growth‑eligibility rule that requires three prior SOL results should be loosened to two so more students can qualify for growth calculations during the transition.

The division noted several practical concerns: VDOE must produce a transparent implementation plan and a functioning growth model before secondary testing begins, and staff said secondary testing windows near the end of the year complicate accelerated retesting or remediation without undercutting grading and end‑of‑year activities.

Division leaders said they prepared draft messaging for families, have provided regional input to VDOE and are ready to submit an expedited board letter for the state Board of Education’s workshop and vote. Administrators offered to produce a board‑level comment letter quickly and requested rapid board review to submit input before the state board meets later this week.

Ending: Division officials asked the school board to review and authorize a short comment letter to the state Board of Education and to support a phased statewide implementation rather than immediate adoption of the higher cut scores.