Patrick Henry and Grayson County are moving up.
Appeals denied, for now.
Alleghany, James River, Marion and Nelson County are staying put.
Appeals denied, for now.
Liberty-Bedford, Smith Mountain Lake Christian and Lebanon will have new district homes.
Appeals upheld.
And also of significance, seven schools, including Liberty Christian Academy of Lynchburg, won their bids to “play up,” meaning they can compete in a higher classification than their enrollment would normally allow.
Those were among the highlights released Tuesday from the Aug. 25 decisions handed down by the Virginia High School League’s Alignment Committee meeting in Charlottesville.
The committee released in July its original alignment plan to take effect in the 2027-28 school year, placing the VHSL’s 318 member schools into classifications, regions and districts.
Classifications were based on each school’s student enrollment (March 31 average daily membership numbers submitted to the Virginia Department of Education) in grades 9 through 11, with the VHSL strictly dividing its six classifications into equal groupings of 53 schools.
Schools were allowed to appeal the assignments on Aug. 25 during a 10-minute, in-person meeting with the five division superintendents who comprise the alignment committee: Tony Brads (Culpeper County), Jeffrey Cassell (Waynesboro), Mike Goforth (Wise County), Dan Hornick (Orange County) and Major Warner (Fauquier County).
Schools still wishing to appeal the Aug. 25 vote have one more opportunity to plead their case before the 38-member VHSL Executive Committee later in September.
Patrick Henry, with a submitted ADM of 1,538 students in grades 9-11, was assigned by the committee to Class 6, the highest of the VHSL’s six classifications. PH was 47 students above the largest Class 5 school.
Patrick Henry was placed in Region 6A, which includes six schools from Richmond and five from the Tidewater area. PH’s current home is Region 5C, which includes local rivals William Fleming and Franklin County along with 12 schools from the Richmond area and one from Charlottesville.
PH made a hardship appeal largely based on the possibility of extreme travel to the Tidewater schools for regional events.
The committee rejected the appeal by a 5-0 vote, citing the rationale of “not meeting guideline criteria to move to lower classification.”
Grayson County fell one student above the cut line between Class 2 and Class 1 with 344 students, resulting in its placement in Class 2. The school was the VHSL Class 1 state football runner-up in 2025.
The committee rejected Grayson County’s appeal by a 4-1 vote.
Alleghany, James River, Marion and Nelson County all made appeals to drop to a lower division than the committee assigned each school.
James River made an appeal to drop to Class 1 and the Pioneer District from its current home in Class 2 and the Three Rivers District. James River’s ADM of 381 students is 38 more than the largest Class 1 school in the alignment plan.
The committee rejected the appeal by a 4-1 vote, citing “undue hardships placed upon [other] small class schools.
Alleghany’s appeal to drop to Class 2 and Region B was denied by a 5-0 vote.
The committee denied Marion’s request to move from Class 2 to Class 1 by a 3-2 vote. Marion also sought to remain in the Southwest District instead of its new assignment to the Hogoheegee District.
Nelson County requested to move from Class 2 and Region C to Class 1 and Region B. The appeal was denied by a 5-0 vote.
The committee denied appeals by 12 of the 13 schools that sought to remain in or move to a lower classification.
The lone exception was Sherando High in Frederick County. Sherando was allowed to remain in Class 4 after its original assignment in Class 5.
Liberty-Bedford, which lost 39 consecutive Seminole District football games from 2021-25 and is the smallest public school in the eight-team league, won its appeal to leave the district.
The committee voted 5-0 to assign Liberty to the Dogwood District, whose other schools will include Altavista, Appomattox County, Chatham, Dan River, Galileo Magnet, Gretna, Nelson County and William Campbell.
Smith Mountain Lake Christian, beginning its second year as the second private school to join the VHSL, won its appeal to a 5-0 vote to leave the Dogwood District and join the Pioneer District.
The other Pioneer teams are Bath County, Craig County, Eastern Montgomery, Highland, Narrows and Parry McCluer.
Lebanon won its appeal by a 5-0 vote to move from the Southwest District to the Hogoheegee District. Lebanon will be a Class 1 school in 2027.
The committee also broke ranks with current VHSL policy of not allowing schools to compete in a higher classification than their enrollment mandates.
Liberty Christian, which had been ticketed to drop to Class 2, appealed to remain in Class 3 where the school won VHSL football state titles in 2023 and 2024 and was state runner-up in 2021.
The committee voted to allow six other schools to “play up:” Hartwood, Menchville and North Stafford to Class 6; Norview to Class 5; and Loudoun County and Loudoun Valley to Class 4.
SUMMARY OF VHSL APPEALS
Alleghany — Committee voted 0-5 to deny request to move down to Class 2 Region B instead of their alignment assignment to Class 3 Region C. Rationale: Based on being more than the 1% allowance and the digital academy participation being a school-based decision.
Catoctin District and Dulles District — Committee voted 5-0 to approve Catoctin and Dulles districts’ request to combine the two districts under the Dulles District name. Rationale: Based on geography and the impact being limited to Loudoun County.
Central-Lunenburg — Committee voted 5-0 to deny request to move down to Class 1 instead of their assignment to Class 2 Region B. Rationale: Based on undue hardships placed upon smaller class schools.
Culpeper County — Committee voted 1-3-1 to deny request to move down to Class 3 Region B instead of their assignment to Class 4 Region D. Rationale: Based on regional balance and undue hardships placed upon smaller class schools.
Granby — Committee voted 0-5 to deny request to move down to Class 5 Region B from their assignment to Class 6 Region A. Rationale: Based on not meeting guideline criteria to move to lower classification.
Grayson County — Committee voted 1-4 to deny request to move down to Class 1 Region C instead of their assignment to Class 2 Region C. Rationale: Based on undue hardships placed upon smaller class schools.
Hartwood — Committee voted 5-0 to approve request to move up to Class 6 Region B from their assignment of Class 5 Region D. Rationale: Based on schools’ request to play up.
James River-Buchanan — Committee voted 1-4 to deny request to move down to Class 1 Region C Pioneer District instead of their assignment of Class 2 Region C Three Rivers District. Rationale: Based on undue hardships placed upon small class schools.
Lafayette — Committee voted 1-3-1 to deny request to move down to Class 3 Region instead of their assignment of Class 4 Region A. Rationale: Based on regional balance and undue hardships placed upon smaller class schools.
Lake Taylor — Committee voted 1-3-1 to deny request to move down to Class 3 Region A instead of their assignment of Class 4 Region A. Rationale: Based on regional balance and undue hardships placed upon smaller class schools.
L.C. Bird — Committee voted 0-5 to deny request to move down to Class 5 Region C instead of their assignment to Class 6 Region A. Rationale: Based on not meeting guideline criteria to move to lower classification.
Lebanon — Committee voted 5-0 to approve request to move from their assignment in the Southwest District to the Hogoheegee District. Rationale: Based on no opposition from other schools and keeping schools of the same class together.
Liberty-Bedford — Committee voted 5-0 to approve request to move from their assignment in the Seminole District to the Dogwood District. Rationale: Based on competitive hardship.
Liberty Christian — Committee voted 4-1 to approve request to move up to Class 3 Region C instead of their alignment assignment of Class 2 Region C. Rationale: Based on undue hardships on athletic offerings and the school’s request to play up.
Loudoun County and Loudoun Valley — Committee voted 5-0 to approve Loudoun Valley and the Loudoun County administration requests to move up to Class 4 Region C instead of their assignment to Class 3 Region B. Rationale: Based on schools’ request to play up.
Loudoun County and Independence — Committee voted 5-0 to approve Loudoun County request to move Rock Ridge from Dulles District to Potomac District and to move Independence from Cedar Run District to Potomac District. Rationale: Based on geography and the impact being limited to Loudoun County.
Marion — Committee voted 2-3 to deny request to move down to Class 1 Region and Southwest District instead of their assignment of Class 2 Region D and Hogoheegee District. Rationale: Based on undue hardships placed upon smaller class schools.
Menchville — Committee voted 5-0 to approve request to move up to Class 5 Region B instead of their assignment of Class 4 Region A. Rationale: Based on school’s request to play up.
Midlothian — Committee voted 0-5 to deny request to move down to Class 5 Region C instead of their assignment of Class 6 Region A. Rationale: Based on not meeting guideline criteria to move to lower classification.
Nelson County — Committee voted 0-5 to deny request to move down to Class 1 Region B instead of their assignment of Class 2 Region C. Rationale: Based on undue hardships placed upon smaller class schools.
North Stafford — Committee voted 5-0 to approve request to move up to Class 6 Region B instead of their assignment of Class 5 Region D. Rationale: Based on schools’ request to play up.
Norview — Committee voted 5-0 to approve request to move up to Class 5 Region B instead of their assignment of Class 4 Region A. Rationale: Based on school’s request to play up.
Patrick Henry-Roanoke — Committee voted 0-5 to deny request to move down to Class 5 Region C instead of their assignment of Class 6 Region A. Rationale: Based on not meeting guideline criteria to move to lower classification.
Princess Anne — Committee voted 5-0 to approve request to move up to Class 5 Region A instead of their assignment of Class 4 Region A. Rationale: Based on school’s request to play up.
Sherando — Committee voted 3-2 to approve request to move down to Class 4 Region C instead of their assignment of Class 5 Region D. Rationale: Based on school being within the 1% allowance and near future redistricting due to current new school construction.
Smith Mountain Lake Christian — Committee voted 5-0 to approve request to move to Class 1 Region C Pioneer District instead of their assignment of Class 1 Region B Dogwood District. Rationale: Based on district alignment and regional balance.
