Goochland schools preview expansion of CTE, dual-enrollment and a proposed 3% staff raise

Dr. Andy Armstrong, superintendent of Goochland County Public Schools, used a District 5 town hall to highlight academic and career-education developments and to preview personnel funding in the division’s budget.

Armstrong said the division’s strategic plan (in place since 2012) will come to the school board for its third-iteration approval in April. He highlighted successes in dual-enrollment — saying roughly 100 of about 250 Goochland High School graduates this May will earn both a high-school diploma and an associate degree through a community-college partnership — and praised the district’s robotics, performing-arts and unified-sports programs.

On Career and Technical Education (CTE), Armstrong described existing programs including heavy equipment, culinary, nursing and carpentry. He said the division advertised for architecture and engineering services for a bond-funded addition that would relocate and expand CTE programs at the middle-high campus and create a flexible academy for robotics and mechatronics. Armstrong said the division hopes the facility will open in August 2028.

On compensation, Armstrong said the proposed budget includes a 3 percent pay raise for all school employees — teachers, drivers, custodians and other staff — and that the increase would offset health-premium changes. The superintendent framed the raise as a competitive measure in a region facing teacher and staff shortages.

Armstrong invited residents to engage with the schools and said he would accept questions after the presentation.