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Dr. Barbara Johnson will step down as superintendent of Prince Edward County Public Schools, effective as of Monday, Sept. 30. That news was announced by Prince Edward School Board Chairperson Lucy Carson on Wednesday, as she thanked Johnson for her work with the district. 

“Dr. Johnson will leave the Prince Edward County School Division effective September 30, 2024,” Carson wrote. “We want to thank her for all she has done for our school district, and for always putting the social, emotional, and educational needs of our  students first.” 

No reason was given as to why Johnson is stepping down. In recent months, she’s faced increased questions from residents and supervisors alike about the inability of the district schools to reach full accreditation. While Prince Edward Elementary achieved it one year during her term, the other schools have not. Originally, chronic absences were blamed for the lower test scores. That built to a question and answer session during last month’s supervisors’ meeting, where Johnson was asked why test scores didn’t increase this past year, as attendance improved.

“Because of instruction, general instruction,” Johnson said. “We need to make sure that everyone in all of our schools focuses on the standards, understands the standards and teaches the standards and that did not happen across the board.”

She was asked at the time why that didn’t happen and Johnson gave several reasons.

“I think some people like to teach certain things and are accustomed to teaching them the way they’ve always taught them,” Johnson said. “I think some people don’t really understand the standards at the level they need to understand them.” 

Also of concern has been the fact 25% of students leave the district after finishing at the elementary school. The elementary school has roughly 800 children, but that number drops to between 500 to 550 by the time they reach middle school. When asked by supervisors if she’s talked to parents to find out why their kids are leaving, Johnson said no. 

A look at the Barbara Johnson timeline 

Johnson, who previously worked as the former executive director of instruction in the Baltimore school system, also served as an assistant superintendent of a division in Illinois and a principal in Washington, D.C., before coming to Prince Edward County. She began her career in Fairfax County as an English teacher.

She was hired by Prince Edward County Public Schools in July 2016. Dr. David Smith, Johnson’s predecessor, had served for six years, ending June 30, 2016. 

As part of her announcement on Wednesday, Carson applauded Barbara Johnson for her work since arriving.

“During her eight-year tenure, she has accomplished various initiatives that have propelled the school district forward,” Carson wrote, giving Johnson recognition for Prince Edward Elementary being fully accredited for at least one year in that time period. 

“Prince Edward County Public Schools (PECPS)  have historically battled to maintain accreditation, and with Dr. Johnson at the helm, consistent progress occurred at all three schools,” Carson wrote. 

Prince Edward Elementary received full accreditation without conditions in 2022, the first time since before the pandemic. Since then, the school has continued to grow on the educational side, but struggles with chronic absenteeism have kept them from repeating that accomplishment. 

Looking at the data

The latest SOL data from August shows some growth across the board, but it also highlights some of the challenges the district, and by extension Johnson, dealt with.
The problem is that the school only met the state standard in one of the categories. In math, 66% passed, while the state standard is 71%. When it comes to history, 69% of students passed, while the state standard is 65%. Meanwhile in reading, 63% passed, compared to the state standard of 73%.
Meanwhile at the middle school, most pass rates dropped from last year. Last year 66% of students at Prince Edward Middle passed their history SOL test. That dropped this year down to 43%. Reading SOL pass rates also saw a slight drop, from 59% to 56%, while science scores also fell, from 55% last year to 49% this time around. The one improvement for the middle school was in math, where scores bumped up from 49% to a 51% pass rate. All of those were significantly below the state standard in their category. 
Now there were some positives from the high school pass rates. A total of 47% of students at Prince Edward High passed their history test, compared to 30% last year. Math pass rates also improved, from 58% to 62% this year. Science scores, meanwhile, remained the same. A total of 54% passed last year and 54% passed this time. The only two declines came in writing and then a slight one in reading. Writing pass rates went from 67% last year to 55%, while reading dropped from 77% to 75%. 

Barbara Johnson works in the district

Carson applauded several projects Johnson put together in Prince Edward.

“From developing family  engagement centers at various schools, which provides the community of Prince Edward with essential educational and  communication resources, to hiring a family engagement coordinator, Dr. Johnson has made PECPS an integral part of  the community,” Carson wrote. “In addition, during her tenure, Dr. Johnson made it a priority to have a strong social media presence where community members could be updated on current events within the district. By incorporating a sense of community, Dr. Johnson was able to develop a consortium, the Bridge Builders program, between Prince Edward High School (PECHS), the Moton Museum, and Fuqua School. The goal of this partnership was to create educational  opportunities and innovative programming for the students of our county that at one time would have been inconceivable.” 

Carson also praised Johnson’s leadership, both in getting the district through the pandemic and helping prepare students for what comes next.

“PECPS increased the graduation rate by eight percentage points to 88%; increased our College, Career, and Civic Reading Indicators (CCCRI) by 10 percentage points to 86%; expanded our early childhood program by adding pre-kindergarten classes (from 5 to 8); and  strengthened our literacy and mathematics programing.” 

In addition, Carson pointed out, Johnson set up the “1 to 1” device policy, where students in Prince Edward Schools get a Google Chromebook and upon graduating, they are able to keep it.

Building for the future

Now, to answer the immediate questions. No, there is no person set to take her place yet. Carson wrote that “steps will be taken to find an interim superintendent for the school division.” Meanwhile, the school board will work to develop a search process and start the hunt for her permanent replacement. Those discussions about the search will start at the board’s next meeting, which takes place Wednesday, Oct. 9, beginning at 5 p.m.