WJCC schools contract signed Friday after two years in limbo
Good morning! Williamsburg agrees to pay more of its share of the school system's costs, all parties agree future budgets will be tied to improved student performance
Williamsburg and James City County agreed to a new operating agreement for the joint school system Friday that shifts a greater portion of the schools’ funding to the city and gives the localities greater say in school funding.
James City County’s share of the next budget will be $104.5 million in Fiscal Year 2027, down $2.5 million from the current budget, while Williamsburg’s share goes up by $2 million, to $14.5 million, according to a comparison with the budget approved for the current fiscal year.
Local contributions will be adjusted each year based on their student enrollment. James City County has most of the students in the school system and pays about 90% of the local contribution.
Under the agreement, student performance at the division and community level will be used in determining budgets, so that funding is based on student outcomes.
The county got its way in spending for capital projects, with each locality agreeing to pay for construction within its borders and jointly paying for shared facilities like the school administration building.
The two local governments will now tell the schools up front what they can expect in contributions before the budgeting process begins, rather than waiting for the schools to build their budget and then negotiating specifics.
The county, city and the Williamsburg-James City County School Board signed the new agreement Friday morning.
The schools have been operating without a contract after Williamsburg complained that its students of color and low income were seeing significantly lower results than students in similar circumstances who lived in the county. The county, for its part, complained that Williamsburg was paying a disproportionately low contribution compared to its ability to pay as measured by the state.
“The Williamsburg City Council is proud to invest more money within a funding structure that better supports strategies to strengthen student performance,” Mayor Douglas G. Pons said Friday.
“After many months of discussion, we are pleased to have arrived at an equitable agreement that best serves students and their families, as well as the wonderful educators and support staff who are part of WJCC Schools,” said Jim Icenhour, chairman of the James City County Board of Supervisors.
York Schools prepare for superintendent search
York County’s school board begins a nationwide search for a new superintendent Nov. 10 – and they will perform background checks to avoid the embarrassment an Iowa city faced hiring a superintendent who is now accused of being in the country illegally.
Virginia’s education department gives school districts 180 days after a superintendent resigns to name a replacement, although extensions are routinely granted, representatives of the Virginia School Board Association told a work session of the school board Wednesday night.
Longtime York School Superintendent Victor D. Shandor’s retirement is effective Dec. 31. Chief Operations Officer James Carroll is serving as interim superintendent.
Under a timeline worked out with the school board, VSBA will begin advertising Nov. 10 for a new superintendent in a national search. Interested candidates have until Dec. 10 to apply. York schools are paying the organization $12,000 plus expenses to conduct the search, a school spokesperson said.
The school board then begins the process of reviewing applicants and starting job interviews, with a goal of selecting a finalist and negotiating a contract in the first quarter of 2026.
Samanta Bosserman, VSBA’s deputy executive director, cautioned board members that while the group performs reference checks, it does not conduct background checks. York school board members said the school division would handle that end.
The topic became national news last month when agents of the Immigrations Customs Enforcement service arrested the superintendent of the Des Moines, Iowa school district and charged him with being in the country illegally.
Ian Roberts, a native of Guyana, had served as superintendent of the Iowa city since 2023 and formerly served three years as superintendent of Millcreek Township, PA.
Scanners up at Sentara’s Williamsburg hospital
Airport terminals have them, courthouses have them, and now you have to pass through a security scanner to get into Sentara’s Williamsburg Hospital.
As of last month, patients staff and guests entering Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center need to walk between two stanchions that are about four feet high. A display alerts the security officer if a possible weapon is detected, in which case the officer can do a secondary screening with a wand.
The system detects firearms, knives, and other weapons.
“Given the national trends we are seeing, we are preemptively taking measures to keep weapons out of the hospital,” said Beth Cumbie, director of nursing and patient care services.
According to one study, about 70% of workplace violence occurs in healthcare or social service settings.
The rollout of a weapons detection system at the hospital’s main entrance follows the launch of a similar system at the Emergency Department entrance in the fall of 2024. All 12 Sentara hospitals are scheduled to have the systems at all entrances by early 2026.