
WILLIAMSBURG — Public comments on whether Williamsburg should move forward with an independent school system were largely divided, City Council learned Monday.
There is also widespread agreement that city students need help with academic performance, a member of the team hired to study the feasibility of an independent school system said.
Kate Maxlow, who was part of the feasibility study team, presented summaries of public feedback on the study at City Council’s work session. Council agreed to have a more in-depth conversation at its meeting Thursday and decide on how to proceed with the information, although a decision is not yet anticipated.
City Council requested public input in March after releasing the results of a study commissioned to explore a possible split from James City County. The two localities have operated a joint system for decades. Among the things the study showed was a higher cost to city taxpayers than with the existing arrangement with James City County, along with a stark difference in achievement levels between city and county students.
Maxlow, the director of curriculum, instruction and assessment for Hampton City Schools, said public input was analyzed to discern two main themes of feedback — concerns and considerations; and potential next steps. There were three main categories for concerns and considerations: Williamsburg student achievement, splitting the resources of the current school system and budget concerns related to the city running an independent school district.
Maxlow said people were largely split on whether to move ahead with a new school system, but there was widespread agreement that Williamsburg students need academic help.
People are concerned about a possible shortage of educators and administrators as well as about transportation and food services, Maxlow said. There was also concern that there may be fewer academic options compared to a larger school system.
“There was some worry about the level of AP classes that may be offered,” she said. She said people also expressed concern about the feasibility of athletic programs.
Regarding budget concerns, Maxlow said some were strictly looking at the situation from a taxpayer point of view, and there was also concern about whether Williamsburg would be paying a disproportionate amount of taxes as the current school system expands.
Maxlow emphasized that responses were largely open-ended and were more qualitative than quantitative.
Most of the public input came from responses to the city’s website. Additionally, designated notetakers in breakout sessions at the public input session in March captured widely-expressed sentiments on the study.
There were 49 responses that came through the website — 26 from Williamsburg residents and 22 from James City County, and there was one response from someone in a different locality. The city also received 22 responses from the community at the public input session in March.
Mayor Douglas Pons said the final report “certainly leads to a host of other questions that need to be answered.”
“I think it’s a very good strategy, and I appreciated that your questions were open-ended,” council member Stacy Kern-Scheerer said. “It’s so much more important to understand what someone is thinking.”
The Williamsburg-James City County school district has operated as a joint system since 1955, teaching students from both localities and receiving proportionate amounts of funding from each. The district comprises 11,758 students, with 10% from Williamsburg. The city has cited expenses associated with future construction to allow for more students in the school system as a reason for looking into a split.
The study team didn’t make a recommendation, but, in a 273-page report, laid out what City Council would need to consider in determining whether to split.
No decision will be made at City Council’s regular meeting on Thursday, but council members could consider what kind of questions to ask the community next and how to increase community input.
Sam Schaffer, samuel.schaffer@virginiamedia.com