Dozens of parents urged the Williamsburg-James City County School Board to postpone a decision on redistricting until the community can get more details on how the changes will affect student diversity and how the decisions were made.
School board members fretted that they needed to do more to retain community trust and make sure the redistricting works as intended.
School Superintendent Daniel Keever said redistricting will ensure schools have enough room to provide smaller class sizes at schools like Matthew Whaley, whose students need more help but currently have no space to move students into smaller class sizes.
Parents brought signs to the board’s work session at Berkeley Middle School Tuesday night complaining the new attendance zones are creating “de facto segregation of resources,” in the words of one parent.
Since the audience was not permitted to cheer or clap, supporters waved their hands silently while holding up placards opposing the changes.