Williamsburg council to hear schools report
Study on possible split with James City County due
WILLIAMSBURG — A report regarding the possibility of the city running its own school system will be presented today to the Williamsburg City Council.
The team studying the possibility of a Williamsburg-James
City County school system split will report its findings during an afternoon work session. No decision will be made, the city said.
The city said a public input process would follow in the weeks after the report’s release.
The report comes after the City Council voted in June 2023 to begin exploring the possibility of splitting the school division, which has operated as a joint system since 1955. That prompted James City County to vote to terminate the contract for the joint system, but left the door open to future talks.
Last year, the council hired Jeffery Smith, who was previously Hampton’s school superintendent, to lead a team of seven educators in completing the $135,000 study by January.
For decades, the city and county operated one school system jointly. The agreement was reviewed every five years with each maintaining the right to choose an alternative if that were deemed to better serve the community.
The city cited expenses associated with future construction to allow for more students in the school system as a reason for looking into a split.
“It is estimated that between fiscal 2024 and fiscal 2033 the Williamsburg-James City County School System will spend $135 million on new construction, primarily for purposes of creating additional capacity for an expanding student population,” the City Council said in an op-ed last year.
“Per the terms of our partnership, Williamsburg would be expected to contribute 10% of the total cost: approximately $13.5 million. While our city government consistently works hard to be more efficient and reduce costs, the simple truth is absent explosive economic growth in the city that revenue would likely have to be derived via higher taxes on Williamsburg residents.”
The city has said the earliest possible implementation of a change would be during the 2025-26 school year.
Among the many issues that could make a division split difficult: Two of the joint system’s three middle schools are inside the city, but all three high schools are not. James City County Administrator Scott Stevens said the county would need to build a new middle school if the split occurs.
Today’s work session is scheduled for 4 p.m. in the Stryker Center and will be streamed live on the city’s Facebook page and YouTube channel. The study team’s full report will be available on the city’s website on Monday.