Roanoke is remembering former superintendent Rita Bishop, who led the school division for 13 years and made lasting changes along the way.
She died Friday, Roanoke schools confirmed in a statement.
Bishop began her career as an English teacher in the 1960s. She joined Roanoke city schools in the mid-1990s and was assistant superintendent of instruction when she left in 2004 for a superintendent role in Pennsylvania. She returned to Roanoke as superintendent in 2007.
Bishop retired in 2020.
One of Bishop’s early achievements was the establishment of Forest Park Academy, a high school program focusing on students at risk of dropping out.
When Bishop started as superintendent, the division-wide graduation rate was just 59%, according to the division’s release following her death. In 2018 — the first year all division schools were fully accredited by the state — the graduation rate reached a record-high 90%.
For 2024, the graduation rate was about 87%, according to Virginia Department of Education data.
“She was a bold leader and committed to serving our students,” school board chair Eli Jamison said in a statement. “I was honored to first be appointed to the School Board during her tenure, and I witnessed her dedication to equity and innovation. Her impact is still felt in the opportunities our students have today.”
During her tenure, the division created RCPS+, a summer program open to all K-8 students to prevent their academic skills from fading over the summer months.
That program still exists, recently rebranded as the STAR (Students Thriving and Rising) Program. A recent change in state requirements for the program’s grant funding limits the summer program to rising third- through eighth-grade students who need additional academic support.
The city will continue offering additional enrichment programs to all students.
During Bishop’s tenure, the city changed its funding formula in 2011 to commit 40% of all tax revenues to the school division. The city council voted to change that formula in 2024 to exclude the division from additional funding if city tax revenue exceeds projections. They changed it again this year to cap school funding at a maximum of 40% of tax revenue, after a fierce debate over how to balance the city’s budget.
Former City Manager Chris Morrill came to Roanoke in 2010, in the throes of the Great Recession. He said that he and Bishop didn’t click initially in their first interactions amid the city’s budget crisis that reflected nationwide economic challenges.
Bishop was a fierce advocate for children, and that passion could be polarizing, Morrill said. “Sometimes that could conflict with other community goals or other things.”
Over time, he said, he and Bishop learned to collaborate and compromise.
“She could be off-putting initially, but if you sat down with her you understood how committed she was,” Morrill said. “Anyone who spent time with her would want to work with her.”
Bishop was eager to share resources, Morrill said. When the division launched RCPS+, it worked with the public library system and recreation programs to ensure that summer students had additional support beyond the classroom, he said.
During the recession, the city looked at increasing the meals tax and dedicating those funds solely to schools. “It didn’t go over well at first,” Morrill said. “It was a time when nobody was raising taxes.”
Together with the school division, the city branded and marketed the tax as the “Eat for Education” campaign. The city regularly reported how much money had been collected, and the schools showed how the money had been spent, Morrill said. Efforts like that one “got the whole community to focus on schools and education,” said Morrill, who left the city manager role in 2017.
Darlene Burcham, who preceded Morrill as city manager from 2000 to 2010, said she and Bishop formed a mutual respect for each other “almost immediately.”
She recalled frequent meetings she and Bishop held with a rotating cast of school board and city council members to get to know each other better, and “to talk about issues in their infancy as opposed to when a big decision was being made.”
Bishop returned to the division as superintendent around the same time newly built campuses opened for William Fleming and Patrick Henry high schools in Roanoke, each with its own stadium. Burcham had received some criticism in the media for how much the city spent on those schools. But Burcham said Bishop recognized how new features, including individual stadiums for each school, could boost morale among students.
“She was tough,” Burcham said. “But she was fair. And I believe she always had the best interest of children at the forefront of her efforts.”
Bishop was known for her appreciation for the role of the arts in education. Cyrus Pace, arts coordinator for the division from 2008 to 2010, said there was “an arts renaissance” in the district during her tenure.
“She believed the arts were an integral part of retaining students and keeping them engaged,” said Pace, who’s now executive director of the Jefferson Center performing arts venue.
Under Bishop’s guidance, the Roanoke schools won a grant from VH1’s Save the Music Foundation in 2008 that provided more than $500,000 worth of new instruments and teaching materials to city elementary schools.
In order to receive the funding, the city schools committed to providing dedicated music instructors and classroom space. Over the five-year grant period, the instrumental program expanded to every elementary school.
Pace said he was lucky to work for the school division during a time when its arts programs were being rebuilt.
