What are the options?

The consolidation agreement that created Rockbridge County High School officially ends in 2040. But negotiations between Lexington and Rockbridge County must begin by 2035. 

The terms of the consolidation agreement have always allowed Lexington to stop sending its students to Rockbridge County High School at any time. And, if Lexington stops sending students to the high school, the city can also stop sending money to the county. 

But community members hold different opinions about viable alternatives. The main options are adding a Lexington representative to the county school board, abandoning the consolidation, or merging the systems from K-12. 

Give Lexington a voice  

Marylin Alexander, Lexington City Council member and former city school board member, says she supports adding a Lexington representative to the county school board. 

“It is quite a slow burn to spend thousands of dollars a year to anything that you're involved in without having a voice or having some say so about what goes on,” Alexander said. 

Lexington City School Board Chair Tim Diette says putting a Lexington representative on the county school board would be complicated because it would give city parents power over what happens in county K-8 schools.  

David McDaniel, chair of the Rockbridge County Board of Supervisors, says he opposes giving Lexington a seat on the school board. 

“They’re paying for a service that we’re providing,” McDaniel said, referring to tuition that the city pays for students to attend Rockbridge County High School.  

Create a new Lexington high school

Lexington parent Patrick Rhamey said his biggest concern with the current school system is the lack of attention disadvantaged students get at Rockbridge County High School.   

“Students who have the greatest needs often get left behind,” he said.  

He says creating a new Lexington high school would give all students – both county and city – more attention, by splitting Rockbridge County High class sizes into two smaller schools. 

Lexington Mayor Frank Friedman said most advocates for a separate Lexington high school have “advanced degrees and very bright children.” 

“We need to make sure that we're looking out for all the children of our community,” Friedman said.  

The costs that come with building a new high school deter many city residents and leaders from adopting Rhamey’s vision.

David Sigler, a Lexington City Council member, said the city is not in a position right now to “spend a lot of energy and staff time and money going down that path” when resources could be better spent improving Rockbridge County High. 

High costs of building and operating a Lexington high school motivated the consolidation agreement that formed Rockbridge County High in the first place, former Lexington City Council Member Mary Harvey-Halseth said.  

“It wasn't economically feasible to educate 150 students from freshmen to seniors,” Harvey-Halseth said.  

And the tax burden of building a new high school would be “horrific” for Lexington residents, Reed said.  

Lexington Superintendent Rebecca Walters said she is worried that a Lexington high school, which would have only 160 students enrolled, would not be able to offer the same opportunities available to Rockbridge County High. 

“I think that would be really challenging, honestly, to try to run athletics and have the number of choices that kids have in the high school these days,” Walters said. 

Some Lexington parents, like Paul Hanstedt, argue against a new city high school because they want their children to interact with people outside of the “Lexington bubble.” 

“The ratio of PhDs in this town is insane. The amount of money in this town is insane,” Hanstedt said. “So, to have a kid grow up in that with no exposure to anything else, it's not really a positive thing.” 

Consolidate the full K-12 education systems 

Dan Lyons, the Lexington superintendent for 13 years, said he still believes that a full consolidation of the two education systems is the best option.  

“I'd like to see it because I think all kids can have access to the best of the best,” Lyons said. 

But he said he doubts such a complete merger will happen in his lifetime.  

James Bradford, superintendent of Buena Vista schools from 1969 until 2002, said that a full consolidation is not possible unless independent cities combine their governments with the county. 

But merged governments would “cause many problems in finance, curriculum, etcetera,” Bradford said. 

Lyons said a full consolidation of the city and county K-12 systems is not predicated on combining governments. Take nearby Alleghany County and Covington City as an example, he said. 

After decades of attempts to consolidate, officials in Alleghany County and Covington created the Alleghany Highlands Public Schools system out of their two separate education systems in June 2022. The city and county maintained independent governments.  

The first phase of the consolidation began in July 2022, when school administrators and school boards merged. The students and staff will merge in Fall 2023 to complete the process.

Marylin Alexander, former Lexington school board member, said Rockbridge County officials shut down talks of a combined K-12 education system around 2006.  

County leaders “had the impression that merging meant that they would take over our schools. So I said, ‘What if there were a merger so that Lexington can run the school systems?’” Alexander said. “To this day, I've never heard another word about it.”