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Virginia school board elections, 2025
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Elections
The table below contains links to all school board elections covered by Ballotpedia in 2025 in this state. This list may not include all school districts with elections in 2025. Ballotpedia's coverage includes all school districts in the100 largest cities by population and the200 largest school districts by student enrollment.
Editor's note: Some school districts choose to cancel the primary election, or both the primary and general election, if the number of candidates who filed does not meet a certain threshold. The table below does not reflect which primary or general elections were canceled. Please click through to each school district's page for more information.
| 2025 Virginia School Board Elections | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| District | Primary | General Election | General Runoff Election | Regular term length | Seats up for election | Total board seats | 2022-2023 enrollment |
| Loudoun County Public Schools | N/A | 11/4/2025 | N/A | 4 | 5 | 9 | 81,678 |
Recall law
- See also:Recall campaigns in Virginia andSchool board recalls
| State | Specific grounds required? | Signature requirement | Petition circulation time | When recalls can start |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virginia | Yes: neglect of duty, misuse of office, incompetence, and upon conviction of certain crimes[1] | 10% of votes cast in the last election for the office | No time limit | Recalls can start at any time |
Academic performance
- See also:Public education in Virginia
The sections below do not contain the most recently published data on this subject. If you would like to help our coverage grow, considerdonating to Ballotpedia.
| Education terms |
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| For more information on education policy terms, seethis article. |
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NAEP scores
- See also:NAEP scores by state
The National Center for Education Statistics provides state-by-state data on student achievement levels in mathematics and reading in theNational Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The table below presents the percentage of fourth and eighth grade students that scored at or above proficient in reading and math during school year 2012-2013. Compared to three neighboring states (Maryland, North Carolina, and West Virginia),Virginia had the highest percentage of eighth grade students scoring at or above proficient in math. Both fourth and eighth grade students fell below those in Maryland in reading.[2]
| Percent of students scoring at or above proficient, 2012-2013 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Math - Grade 4 | Math - Grade 8 | Reading - Grade 4 | Reading - Grade 8 | |
| Virginia | 47% | 38% | 43% | 36% |
| Maryland | 47% | 37% | 45% | 42% |
| North Carolina | 45% | 36% | 35% | 33% |
| West Virginia | 35% | 24% | 27% | 25% |
| United States | 41% | 34% | 34% | 34% |
| Source:United States Department of Education, ED Data Express, "State Tables" | ||||
Graduation, ACT and SAT scores
The following table shows the graduation rates and average composite ACT and SAT scores for Virginia and surrounding states during the 2012-2013 school year. All statements made in this section refer to that school year.[2][3][4]
In the United States, public schools reported graduation rates that averaged to about 81.4 percent. About 54 percent of all students in the country took the ACT, while 50 percent reported taking the SAT. The average national composite scores for those tests were 20.9 out of a possible 36 for the ACT, and 1498 out of a possible 2400 for the SAT.[5]
Virginia schools reported agraduation rate of 84.5 percent during the 2012-2013 school year, second highest among its neighboring states.
In Virginia, more students took the SAT than the ACT in 2013, earning anaverage SAT score of 1528.
| Comparison table for graduation rates and test scores, 2012-2013 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Graduation rate, 2013 | Average ACT composite, 2013 | Average SAT composite, 2013 | ||||
| Percent | Quintile ranking** | Score | Participation rate | Score | Participation rate | ||
| Virginia | 84.5% | Third | 22.6 | 26% | 1528 | 71% | |
| Maryland | 85% | Second | 22.3 | 21% | 1483 | 73% | |
| North Carolina | 82.5% | Third | 18.7 | 100% | 1479 | 62% | |
| West Virginia | 81.4% | Third | 20.6 | 63% | 1513 | 15% | |
| United States | 81.4% | 20.9 | 54% | 1498 | 50% | ||
| **Graduation rates for states in the first quintile ranked in the top 20 percent nationally. Similarly, graduation rates for states in the fifth quintile ranked in the bottom 20 percent nationally. Sources:United States Department of Education, "ED Data Express" ACT.org, "2013 ACT National and State Scores" The Commonwealth Foundation, "SAT scores by state, 2013" | |||||||
Dropout rate
- See also:Public high school dropout rates by state for a full comparison of dropout rates by group in all states
The high school eventdropout rate indicates the proportion of students who were enrolled at some time during the school year and were expected to be enrolled in grades nine through 12 in the following school year but were not enrolled by October 1 of the following school year. Students who have graduated, transferred to another school, died, moved to another country, or who are out of school due to illness are not considered dropouts. The average public high school event dropout rate for the United States remained constant at 3.3 percent for both school year 2010–2011 and school year 2011–2012. The event dropout rate for Virginia was lower than the national average at 2.3 percent in the 2010-2011 school year, and 1.9 percent in the 2011-2012 school year.[6]
State profile
State profile
| Demographic data for Virginia | ||
|---|---|---|
| Virginia | U.S. | |
| Total population: | 8,367,587 | 316,515,021 |
| Land area (sq mi): | 39,490 | 3,531,905 |
| Race and ethnicity** | ||
| White: | 69% | 73.6% |
| Black/African American: | 19.2% | 12.6% |
| Asian: | 6% | 5.1% |
| Native American: | 0.3% | 0.8% |
| Pacific Islander: | 0.1% | 0.2% |
| Two or more: | 3.2% | 3% |
| Hispanic/Latino: | 8.6% | 17.1% |
| Education | ||
| High school graduation rate: | 88.3% | 86.7% |
| College graduation rate: | 36.3% | 29.8% |
| Income | ||
| Median household income: | $65,015 | $53,889 |
| Persons below poverty level: | 13% | 11.3% |
| Source:U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Clickhere for more information on the 2020 census andhere for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Virginia. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the censushere. | ||
Presidential voting pattern
Virginiavoted for the Democratic candidate in five out of the seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.
Pivot Counties (2016)
Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted forDonald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting forBarack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won thesePivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, five are located in Virginia, accounting for 2.43 percent of the total pivot counties.[7]
Pivot Counties (2020)
In2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won asRetained Pivot Counties and those won byJoe Biden (D) asBoomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Virginia had five Retained Pivot Counties, 2.76 percent of all Retained Pivot Counties.
More Virginia coverage on Ballotpedia
- Elections in Virginia
- United States congressional delegations from Virginia
- Public policy in Virginia
- Endorsers in Virginia
- Virginia fact checks
- More...
Pivot Counties
Pivot Counties
- See also:Pivot Counties by state
Five of 133 Virginia counties—3.8 percent—arePivot Counties. Pivot Counties are counties that voted forBarack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012 and forDonald Trump (R) in 2016. Altogether, the nation had 206 Pivot Counties, with most being concentrated in upper midwestern and northeastern states.
| Counties won by Trump in 2016 and Obama in 2012 and 2008 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| County | Trump margin of victory in 2016 | Obama margin of victory in 2012 | Obama margin of victory in 2008 | ||||
| Buckingham County, Virginia | 11.28% | 2.43% | 0.87% | ||||
| Caroline County, Virginia | 5.02% | 8.24% | 11.97% | ||||
| Essex County, Virginia | 2.14% | 7.30% | 10.35% | ||||
| Nelson County, Virginia | 5.59% | 2.72% | 9.15% | ||||
| Westmoreland County, Virginia | 7.14% | 6.95% | 10.24% | ||||
Note: Although it is highlighted in the map above, the city of Chesapeake is not considered a county and not included in our calculations as such.
In the 2016 presidential election, Virginia was abattleground state.Hillary Clinton (D) wonVirginia with 49.7 percent of the vote.Donald Trump (R) received 44.4 percent. In presidential elections between 1900 and 2016, Virginia voted Democratic 56.67 percent of the time and Republican 43.33 percent of the time. In the five presidential elections between 2000 and 2016, Virginia voted Democratic three times (2008, 2012, and 2016) and Republican two times (2000 and 2004).
Additional elections
- See also:Virginia elections, 2025
Historical analysis
Ballotpedia covered school board elections for 23 seats in four school districts in Virginia in 2024. Below are some statistics about what happened in those elections. To read the full report on school board election analysis across the country in 2024,click here.
- 43 candidates ran for election, an average of 1.9 candidates per seat.
- 52% of school board incumbents ran for re-election, leaving 48% of the seats open for newcomers.
- 50% of incumbents were elected to new seats, winning 26% of the seats up for election.
- Non-incumbent candidates won 74% of the seats.
- 26% of seats up for election were unopposed.
See also
| Virginia | School Boards | News and Analysis |
|---|---|---|
 |  |  |
Footnotes
- ↑Code of Virginia, "§ 24.2-233. (Effective until January 1, 2024) Removal of elected and certain appointed officers by courts," accessed July 29, 2021
- ↑2.02.1United States Department of Education, ED Data Express, "State Tables," accessed May 13, 2014
- ↑ACT, "2012 ACT National and State Scores," accessed May 13, 2014
- ↑Commonwealth Foundation, "SAT Scores by State 2013," October 10, 2013
- ↑StudyPoints, "What's a good SAT score or ACT score?" accessed June 7, 2015
- ↑United States Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, "Common Core of Data (CCD), State Dropout and Graduation Rate Data File, School Year 2010-11, Provision Version 1a and School Year 2011-12, Preliminary Version 1a," accessed May 13, 2014
- ↑The raw data for this study was provided by Dave Leip ofAtlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
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