The Richmond County School System in Augusta, Georgia, graduated 84.2% of its seniors this year, a district record and up from 81.7% in 2025. On Tuesday, voters decide who runs it next: five of the board’s 10 seats are on the ballot.
The district serves more than 29,000 students in 58 schools, and most of them are African American. That makes this vote a decision about how Black students in Augusta are taught, protected and funded, in an election that rarely draws the attention of the races above it.
The graduation number is the lead argument for continuity. It is the third straight year of record gains, and it passed the district’s own target of 83.7%, the local station WRDW reported. Josey High School posted the biggest jump, nearly 10 percentage points. Three magnet schools, including A.R. Johnson Health Science and Engineering, graduated every senior. Reading proficiency is still the district’s weak spot, as Capital B noted in its reporting on what Black Augusta voters want from the board.
What voters are raising instead is safety. On Oct. 17, three adults were shot in the parking lot of Lucy C. Laney High School after the homecoming game against Josey. The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office said no students were hurt. Two days later, deputies arrested a man after a gun was found at a Laney tailgate, and WRDW reported that questions remain about what security was in place at the event.
The seats up are Districts 2, 3, 5, 7 and 9. District 9 is the at-large “super district” and the most closely watched. Venus Cain, who sits on the board and is seeking a sixth term, faces Brad Owens, Thomas Gardiner and Delvin Howard. Cain told Capital B she prefers clear book bags to metal detectors. Howard said he wants to study the safety question and stresses parental involvement. In District 3, four candidates qualified: Carol Yancy, Bartley Payne, Janice Ramirez and Kenyatta Brown. Ramirez has spoken publicly about school closures.
The voters Capital B interviewed raised smaller, daily concerns too: access to after-school programs, mental health check-ins and how much homework keeps students up at night.
Early voting ended Friday. Polls are open Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. School board races in Georgia are nonpartisan, so the ballot carries no party label.
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