Williamsburg-James City County Schools’ top administrator supports the proposed redistricting maps released in August as the division rezones ahead of opening new pre-K centers next year.
Superintendent Daniel Keever told the School Board on Tuesday he didn’t believe the division could adjust the boundaries to support one of the principles guiding the redistricting without compromising others.
“Although we recognize the personal connections that people have to their schools, we must also consider the needs of the school division as a whole,” Keever said.
The board will hold a public hearing on Oct. 6 before voting at its Oct. 20 meeting. WJCC will also have more details on its transition plan by October, a preview of which was shared earlier in September.
If approved, 16% of students will change schools, not including students graduating or transitioning to the middle or high school level. WJCC will allow seniors in the class of 2028 to remain at their high schools if they choose and will provide transportation for classes and extracurriculars.
Nearly two dozen parents spoke against the proposal. They were concerned about transportation, the loss of friends and less financial support from fractured PTAs.
Multiple parents are also concerned about concentrating students of color, economically disadvantaged and those with learning disabilities in some schools.
Under the proposed maps, for example, Matthew Whaley Elementary would go from 47% to 59% students of color and James River from 54% to 60%. They would also see more economically disadvantaged students.
Alex Joosse, a William & Mary public policy professor and parent of three WJCC students, said research points to the potential for that to lead to problems.
“When low-socioeconomic people and high-socioeconomic people form connections, it is the No. 1 indicator of economic mobility,” she said. “By concentrating need in certain schools, we are going to end up with bad long-term outcomes in terms of economic mobility.”
Keever, however, said the maps create a reasonable balance of school populations; he said the maps improve school feeder patterns and reduce the number of small cohorts that don’t follow their classmates to the higher school levels.
“James Blair, for example, would receive students from three elementary schools rather than six,” Keever said. The maps don’t “eliminate every single split, but it significantly reduces the fragmentation.”
Keever also said administrators would use the 2027-28 budget process to allocate staffing and resources to meet all students’ needs.
“Staffing and student supports must follow the students,” he said.
Board Member Randy Riffle said the transition plan, as it’s fleshed out, will need to be equity-based in order to respond to community concerns. Member Amy Chen asked to consider some residents’ recommendations, such as lowering elementary class sizes from 19-to-1 to 15-to-1 in some cases.
Member Tyler Hodges cautioned against catastrophizing about the worst-case scenarios of redistricting.
“The thing you were fearing is almost never as bad as you were expecting,” he said. “I don’t say that to say that these maps are perfect.”
“But what I am saying is this: With change, there are often tremendous opportunities for growth that we might not see at first and previously wouldn’t have thought possible.”
Chair Andrea Donnor encouraged families to also consider ways they can help improve support for students and promote diversity in the division as it grapples with change.
“I always ask the question of who’s in your backseat when you talk about those interconnectedness,” Donnor said. “How diverse is your backseat and what are you doing to proactively kind of reach out and have those connections with families that are different from yours?”
“There are things that, as individuals, people can step into to really embrace this and make this successful across the division.”
WJCC is a member of HRETA, which owns WHRO’s broadcast license.
