The Powhatan County Public School division has been honored with a VIP Excellence Award by the Virginia Board of Education.

The school division was recognized as part of the Virginia Index of Performance, an incentive program for schools and school divisions created by the Board of Education to advance Governor Kaine’s “competence to excellence” agenda.

“We are pleased and honored to have been one of nineteen school divisions, out of 132, to be selected for the Board of Education’s VIP Excellence Award,” said Powhatan County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Margaret S. Meara, noting that four of the five schools in the county, including Pocahontas Elementary, Powhatan Elementary, Powhatan High School and Powhatan Junior High, had been selected individually as well.

The VIP award is presented to schools and divisions that have met all state and federal accountability benchmarks for at least two consecutive years and have made significant progress toward goals for increased student achievement and expanded educational opportunity set by Governor Kaine and the Board of Education. It is the second honor on a multi-tiered incentive program, with the Governor’s VIP Excellence Award being the highest honor.

Nineteen school divisions and 475 individual schools earned the honor, which includes a resolution of commendation from the Board of Education.

The Virginia Index of Performance was approved in 2007 in response to Governor Tim Kaine’s call for a system to recognize schools and school divisions that exceed minimum state and federal accountability standards.