This story has been corrected to fix a mistake in the 8th paragraph to clarify that it was the county, not the city, that faced building costs for a middle school
Negotiations between Williamsburg and James City County on a new operating agreement for the joint school system, which has been going on for a year and a half, are still hung up over the city’s desire to focus more resources on improving outcomes for its low income students, County Chair Jim Icenhour told a town hall last week.
“They wandered a little bit into the school board’s lane” because the local government’s role is to fund the schools, and leave actual educational decisions to the school board, Icenhour told a Town Hall he held for his constituents last Thursday.
Icenhour said the city’s goal of helping its lower income students was admirable, but “how do you administer money that goes to (city students) but not the other (county students)?”
A feasibility study conducted for the city two years …