VHSL reclassification

[tornado99]

1 hour ago, Fairlawncat said:

And it's not Lebanon's fault. The VHSL sets the cutoff numbers just like the other 49 states set their cutoff numbers. There are going to be teams in every class in Va and the rest of the country that hover right around that cutoff year in and year out, and just like Lebanon and others in Virginia and the other 49 states, you are going to have those schools that bounce up or down a level. The statements that bother me that I heard about Radford years ago was, "Radford is chicken shi$, and they dropped down to Class 1." We dropped because our numbers were Class 1. We went back up to Class 2 because our numbers became Class 2. 

I think some of the criticisms in the past came from how and what numbers counted when the Pioneers were on a run of good talent in football, but not Graham level. Lebanon has always floated along that line for legitimate reasons. At Class 1 especially, like Radford, it can be a huge advantage when part of that field contains the smallest of the small. No judgement here. That’s just how it goes. Good for them. That said, I’m curious to who else drops. I know Graham and Tazewell were very close to Lebanon in enrollment, though slightly bigger. That Honaker-Lebanon rivalry will take on new meaning with playoff implications.

[Bluebird]

I’m guessing that the principals and ADs know what is going to happen with reclassification for the next cycle and are going thru the appeals to finalize the districts but the VHSL hasn’t updated the website.  I don’t know but this is just my guess.  

[Union_Fan]

1 hour ago, Fairlawncat said:

And it's not Lebanon's fault. The VHSL sets the cutoff numbers just like the other 49 states set their cutoff numbers. There are going to be teams in every class in Va and the rest of the country that hover right around that cutoff year in and year out, and just like Lebanon and others in Virginia and the other 49 states, you are going to have those schools that bounce up or down a level. The statements that bother me that I heard about Radford years ago was, "Radford is chicken shi$, and they dropped down to Class 1." We dropped because our numbers were Class 1. We went back up to Class 2 because our numbers became Class 2. 

I don't blame Lebanon at all or any school for that matter. The numbers are the numbers.

I do not, however, like the deliberate manipulation of zones to keep schools in certain classifications like Augusta Co does.

[tornado99]

Going back to my own post because Honaker often makes it tough on Lebanon, but that enrollment difference can really put Honaker and everyone else in 1D a really tough draw to get out of the Region.

[Real Sasquatch]

Graham and Tazewell may legitimately have the #s to drop to 1A next cycle.

[tornado99]

Can you imagine what Graham would look like in Class 1 as currently constructed? I wonder if they could have a Riverheads run in football?

[1inStripes]

Graham may have a better chance of making that run in basketball even than football although both could be very likely. 

[1inStripes]

2 hours ago, Bluebird said:

I’m guessing that the principals and ADs know what is going to happen with reclassification for the next cycle and are going thru the appeals to finalize the districts but the VHSL hasn’t updated the website.  I don’t know but this is just my guess.  

Pretty sure everything has been discussed for close to a year already preparing for this.

[VHSLhelper]

On 7/16/2026 at 11:23 AM, Fairlawncat said:

And it's not Lebanon's fault. The VHSL sets the cutoff numbers just like the other 49 states set their cutoff numbers. 

Except they don't. Last time they did was over 40 years ago.

[Fairlawncat]

On 7/16/2026 at 12:17 PM, SXSW said:

I do not think that Scott County will ever consolidate the county is just too big (539 sq. miles) there is no place you can put a school that wouldn't make transportation a logistical nightmare. You could theoretically consolidate GC and RC the easiest but that is a big ask. The population of Scott County is around 22,000 and 75% live within 10 miles of Gate City.  I may have to eat my words one day and apologize but I am 57 and I don't think it will happen in my lifetime.  

If Virginia was smart (and it's not), it will use consolidation for multiple counties. Wisconsin and Illinois in it's rural areas and parts of New England have been doing it for decades. South Carolina has pending legislation, as well as Alabama.

For example, Gate City and Twin Springs don't absolutely have to be together under consolidation. Twin Springs and Castlewood? Possibly. Want to be really creative? Build a HS in Copper Creek. Add Lebanon, Holston, Twin Springs, Castlewood, Eastside. So many different counties! How do we divide up the money for funding as it's so complex! LOL. We walked on the moon. We can figure out how to fund the money from different counties appropriately. Other states have done it for a few decades. It can be done 

[Wolf1207]

2 hours ago, Fairlawncat said:

If Virginia was smart (and it's not), it will use consolidation for multiple counties. Wisconsin and Illinois in it's rural areas and parts of New England have been doing it for decades. South Carolina has pending legislation, as well as Alabama.

For example, Gate City and Twin Springs don't absolutely have to be together under consolidation. Twin Springs and Castlewood? Possibly. Want to be really creative? Build a HS in Copper Creek. Add Lebanon, Holston, Twin Springs, Castlewood, Eastside. So many different counties! How do we divide up the money for funding as it's so complex! LOL. We walked on the moon. We can figure out how to fund the money from different counties appropriately. Other states have done it for a few decades. It can be done 

Everything you said is correct. The dividing of the monies would be the biggest stumbling blocks. 

In an efficient world. Pound kids would go to Ridgeview and Central would absorb kids from Coeburn and Norton (some going to Union). St. Paul kids to the school you mentioned in Copper Creek.

[Hokiebird7]

5 hours ago, Fairlawncat said:

If Virginia was smart (and it's not), it will use consolidation for multiple counties. Wisconsin and Illinois in it's rural areas and parts of New England have been doing it for decades. South Carolina has pending legislation, as well as Alabama.

For example, Gate City and Twin Springs don't absolutely have to be together under consolidation. Twin Springs and Castlewood? Possibly. Want to be really creative? Build a HS in Copper Creek. Add Lebanon, Holston, Twin Springs, Castlewood, Eastside. So many different counties! How do we divide up the money for funding as it's so complex! LOL. We walked on the moon. We can figure out how to fund the money from different counties appropriately. Other states have done it for a few decades. It can be done 

Like in giles county? Lol

[Fairlawncat]

31 minutes ago, Hokiebird7 said:

Like in giles county? Lol

Narrows with Bland. 

[Bluebird]

Start building prep schools in SS Virginia.  

[MMcMahon26]

8 hours ago, Fairlawncat said:

If Virginia was smart (and it's not), it will use consolidation for multiple counties. Wisconsin and Illinois in it's rural areas and parts of New England have been doing it for decades. South Carolina has pending legislation, as well as Alabama.

For example, Gate City and Twin Springs don't absolutely have to be together under consolidation. Twin Springs and Castlewood? Possibly. Want to be really creative? Build a HS in Copper Creek. Add Lebanon, Holston, Twin Springs, Castlewood, Eastside. So many different counties! How do we divide up the money for funding as it's so complex! LOL. We walked on the moon. We can figure out how to fund the money from different counties appropriately. Other states have done it for a few decades. It can be done 

I think consolidation should only be treated as a last resort, and even then, I’m not sure it fixes the problems it aims to. On the education side of it, I personally think bigger schools are a disaster. I don’t think I’m alone in appreciating the tradition and identity that comes with schools we have now, even if they’re small and out of the way. Bigger doesn’t always mean better. Tradition, identity, and community are worth something as well.

[Fairlawncat]

5 minutes ago, MMcMahon26 said:

I think consolidation should only be treated as a last resort, and even then, I’m not sure it fixes the problems it aims to. On the education side of it, I personally think bigger schools are a disaster. I don’t think I’m alone in appreciating the tradition and identity that comes with schools we have now, even if they’re small and out of the way. Bigger doesn’t always mean better. Tradition, identity, and community are worth something as well.

I agree. Schools are becoming more online. Many assume in swva that the school numbers drop is all about job losses and people moving. For sure, a significant portion of it is, BUT there is a growing portion that is NOT. Just like in NOVA or the cities, swva isn't immune from home schooling and online schooling. More and more kids will continue with online and home schooling and that number will continue to trend up across the country with some locations being less prone and some being more prone, but as a whole, it's going up.

I question what percent of the actual number of junior high and high school age students will physically travel to a brick and mortar school in the USA in 15 years. 

[Unchained]

6 minutes ago, MMcMahon26 said:

I think consolidation should only be treated as a last resort, and even then, I’m not sure it fixes the problems it aims to. On the education side of it, I personally think bigger schools are a disaster. I don’t think I’m alone in appreciating the tradition and identity that comes with schools we have now, even if they’re small and out of the way. Bigger doesn’t always mean better. Tradition, identity, and community are worth something as well.

But the flip side is sometimes consolidated schools offer more opportunities. I have seen a lot of kids that come from tiny, very remote schools getting many more educational opportunities. Expanded college classes, schools that are much more structurally sound, climate controlled...etc. I guarantee the kids from Hurley and Twin Talley will quickly appreciate more aspects at Southern Gap than not. From a football standpoint they sure will. Poor Crigger never had enough at TV to run 11 on 11 practices:(

[MMcMahon26]

35 minutes ago, Unchained said:

But the flip side is sometimes consolidated schools offer more opportunities. I have seen a lot of kids that come from tiny, very remote schools getting many more educational opportunities. Expanded college classes, schools that are much more structurally sound, climate controlled...etc. I guarantee the kids from Hurley and Twin Talley will quickly appreciate more aspects at Southern Gap than not. From a football standpoint they sure will. Poor Crigger never had enough at TV to run 11 on 11 practices:(

Your upper level students certainly get more opportunities. The structure and climate control are positives as well, like you mentioned. I feel like with lower level students at bigger schools, it turns into more of a “get them in, get them out” type deal rather than taking the time to see if they’re actually performing well. Twin Valley is one that will probably end with a net positive from consolidation. I struggle to see where Lebanon and Eastside (mentioned in the original post I commented on) would benefit enough to justify it.

[Hokiebird7]

On 7/18/2026 at 4:39 PM, Fairlawncat said:

Narrows with Bland. 

Hahaha

[Gridiron60]

On 7/16/2026 at 2:08 PM, Real Sasquatch said:

Graham and Tazewell may legitimately have the #s to drop to 1A next cycle.

Graham is probably just a dozen or two from 1A enrollment numbers. They’ve been under 500 for a while unlike other schools in region D like Union and Richlands who have 600+. Besides Lebanon, Graham is near bottom of enrollment in region D for Class AA. 

[Real Sasquatch]

1 hour ago, Gridiron60 said:

Graham is probably just a dozen or two from 1A enrollment numbers. They’ve been under 500 for a while unlike other schools in region D like Union and Richlands who have 600+. Besides Lebanon, Graham is near bottom of enrollment in region D for Class AA. 

Tazewell and Graham both had 490 last year...

[Gridiron60]

3 hours ago, Real Sasquatch said:

Tazewell and Graham both had 490 last year...

Tazewell picked up some transfers, Graham lost some this upcoming year , Tazewell may squeeze past Graham in enrollment 😂😂😂😂. 

[Real Sasquatch]

20 minutes ago, Gridiron60 said:

Tazewell picked up some transfers, Graham lost some this upcoming year , Tazewell may squeeze past Graham in enrollment 😂😂😂😂. 

Maybe...lol...but Tazewell is losing enrollment at a greater rate.  Graham has seemed to have hung around the 500 mark for a while.

[tornado99]

This was part of my criticism of the system as it relates to SWVA and not the state. I don’t have the solutions, but my prior argument was that of Lebanon competing with Graham and Tazewell who are much more similar in size, rather than many of the Class 1 schools. Again, it wasn’t Lebanon’s fault. Also, I think previously the arguments were due to mid-cycle appeals when they had Reece and Co. The optics at the time just looked bad. I think we see many more dropping in the future anyway.

[Stelley]

1 hour ago, tornado99 said:

This was part of my criticism of the system as it relates to SWVA and not the state. I don’t have the solutions, but my prior argument was that of Lebanon competing with Graham and Tazewell who are much more similar in size, rather than many of the Class 1 schools. Again, it wasn’t Lebanon’s fault. Also, I think previously the arguments were due to mid-cycle appeals when they had Reece and Co. The optics at the time just looked bad. I think we see many more dropping in the future anyway.

The appeals weren’t solely because they’ve had their best football teams in well over a decade. Could have easily gotten 1-2 more state championships in baseball and competed pretty well in basketball