WJCC schools pitch 13% hike from local taxpayers
Good morning. Updates today on school board budget request... Williamsburg park controversy...School Board chair won't say if she's running again.
The Williamsburg-James City County School Board made its pitch Friday for an extra $13.9 million in funding from local governments for the next fiscal year, saying it needed the money to make teacher pay more competitive and to help the growing number of students who don’t speak English or have other learning difficulties.
The $197.1 million proposed school budget for Fiscal Year 2026 is 9% higher than the current budget.
Although overall school enrollment has remained static at around 11,300 students, 35% of the students are now classified as economically disadvantaged, Acting Superintendent Daniel Keever told the James City County Board of Supervisors and the Williamsburg City Council at their joint meeting Friday.
The percentage of students who need help with English as a second language has grown by nearly half, to 9% of the school population, he added. The special education population has grown as well, he said.
Keever said state guidelines require more teachers to help those students.
Budget discussions are taking place before the state’s final contribution is locked down. And some of the supervisors expressed concern the Trump Administration’s ongoing changes to the Education Department may imperil more than $5 million in federal funding that has been allocated to the schools for special programs, but not yet paid.
“This budget ask is big,” Berkeley District Supervisor Ruth Larson said, adding she worried cuts to federal reimbursements might bring the schools back to the local taxpayers seeking more funding in the middle of next year.
Discussions are also taking place as the two localities continue to hash out an agreement for operating the joint school system. James City County has the majority of students and is being asked to pay 55% of next year’s budget. Williamsburg pays 6.3%. The balance of the proposed budget comes from the state and federal governments.
Budget discussions are also taking place as the impact of new, tougher state measures for school success are taking effect. Schools will no longer be certified as accredited or non-accredited but assigned one of five categories based on meeting educational and attendance criteria.
The school system is 100% accredited now. But if the stricter standards had been in place last year, 13 schools would be ranked as meeting state expectations, and three would be ranked “Off Track.” That designation would entitle them to be considered for additional state money.
“That was the result of last year’s testing rounds, this year there are different students being assessed,” Keever said.
School officials pointed to several positive steps in the local schools’ performance: on time graduation is expected to be the highest of all time, at 95.3 percent, and school absenteeism, at 10.1 percent, is 38 percent better than the state average.
City and county officials complimented the schools for their progress but made no promises at this stage of the budgeting game. They need to iron out their own final budgets before deciding if they can fund the school system’s request in full.
“I doubt we would be able to fund everything they’ve asked for,” James City County Chair Jim Icenhour said. “A lot of that depends on what happens with the federal money.”
Much also depends on the final resolution of the dispute between the General Assembly and Gov. Glenn Youngkin over how much to fund schools and whether to use more of Virginia’s $2 billion budget surplus. The governor proposes to return much of it to taxpayers in the form of refunds, while Democrats running the legislature want to see it used for K-12 public education, among other social programs.
Williamsburg park discussion surfaces generation gap
A generational gap surfaced over Williamsburg’s proposed children’s park, which would be located on the Peacock Hill pasture across from the main parking garage on N. Henry Street.
At its regular meeting Thursday, Williamsburg City Council heard from half a dozen residents who appeared to be in their retirement years (we didn’t think it polite to ask) protesting the plan for the children’s park. Residents complained the city would be removing an area that is unique to Williamsburg, adding there has been very little public information about the project itself.
But three residents who have young children stood up to speak in favor of the park as a valuable addition for young families.
“The heart of the city is a perfect place to have a park,” said Meaghan Steinman, who described herself as a mother of two children. She said Williamsburg was not just a museum but a place for adults to work and for kids to play.
David Trichler, who said he plans to move a company with nearly 60 employees to the city, told council that Williamsburg is a “demographic hourglass”, with young William & Mary students anchoring one end and retirees the other.
It’s important to the city’s future to build out the middle of its demographic landscape to welcome young families, Trichler said, adding the park “is one of the most exciting things I’ve heard in 15 years.”
City Councilwoman Barbara Ramsey conceded in a conversation with us that the city needs to offer more details about the children’s park, which she said first surfaced as an idea in 2022.
The city’s financial advisors discussed borrowing $6.5 million for the park as a bank loan this spring, until it floats a new bond issue. That discussion took place at the council’s budget retreat last month.
The presentation from Davenport Public Finance said “support has grown for a children’s park…(that) would include a splash pad that is public art, sand play, climbing centers, slides, and a carousel, all themed to Williamsburg’s historical context and design standards.” The presentation suggested the park would be completed by summer of 2026.
Comments about the park surfaced during the open forum section of the city council’s meeting Thursday, when citizens are invited to speak. There was no action on the park scheduled on the agenda
At the meeting the council voted unanimously to negotiate an interim agreement with Hourigan Construction for a new Williamsburg Regional Library. The next step in the public process would be meetings to solicit public input on key design questions, which will drive a final price estimate for the new library.
The council also voted unanimously to establish a Williamsburg Poet Laureate program, offering a $1,500 annual grant to an individual who will serve as the city’s official poet and create at least two original works on behalf of the city. The program will be administered by the Williamsburg Public Art Council.
WJCC Schools chair mum on running
Editor’s Note: We are correcting and updating this story to correct Stephen Hodges’ last name.
Williamsburg-James City School Chair Sarah G. Ortego declined to say Friday whether she will be running for re-election from the Jamestown district in November.
“I have not made an announcement one way or another,” she told us after the school’s budget presentation, when we asked if she would be running.
That leaves only 33-year-old Stephen “Ty” Hodges in the running for the seat currently, although there is still time for Ortega to announce and for others to jump in.
Hodges, who said he was recruited by the Historic Triangle Democratic Party, was the only certified candidate for any of the local races in the Powhatan and Jamestown Districts as of Friday, according to the James City County’s election office.
Party candidates have until the middle of this month to register with the county elections office, Director of Elections Dianna S. Moorman said, and independents have until 7 p.m. on June. 17.
Jim Brittain, chair of the Williamsburg-James City County Republican Committee, said Friday it had “short lists” for local seats coming up in November.
“We always want to have somebody running” for local races, he said.
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Passings
Kathryn “Kay” Ann Felton, 80, March 11.