Budget, Redistricting Dominate Weeks Ahead for WJC Schools

By Amber Lester Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Two important issues – the budget and redistricting – will dominate Williamsburg-James City County School Board meetings through March.

The budget will be discussed in a work session at 4 p.m. on Thursday in Building F at the James City County complex. Superintendent Gary Mathews’ proposal has been delayed repeatedly since its original release date of Feb. 16.

After successive budget proposals and education-related announcements have come from Gov. Bob McDonnell and the General Assembly in recent weeks, WJCC officials chose to delay the budget proposal. The General Assembly will vote on proposals from the House and Senate on Thursday; the Department of Education is expected to have detailed information on the budget proposals’ effects on each division by March 1.

The public can comment on Mathews’ proposal at a public hearing at 6 p.m. on March 2 in the boardroom at Building F. The board will meet for a special meeting to present the budget at 5:30 p.m. on March 10 in the Jamestown High School’s Lecture Hall.

The school board will meet with city and county officials, including financial officers, to discuss the budget. At that time, the city and county officials will share updates on their own ability to contribute to schools. The school board’s budget is submitted to the Board of Supervisors for final approval. The joint meeting will take place at 9 a.m. on March 16 at the Quarterpath Recreation Center.

Later on March 16, the board will meet for a work session, again to discuss the budget. The session will be at 7 p.m. in the boardroom in Building F at the county complex.

The school board will meet for a final special meeting on the budget at 5:30 p.m. on March 23 in the City Council chambers in the Stryker Building. The board will vote on the budget immediately following the special meeting.

As the board nears its decision on redistricting of the elementary and middle schools, it will host a public forum at 6:30 p.m. on March 11 in the boardroom of Building F. A work session to discuss redistricting is scheduled for 6 p.m. on March 25 in the work session room in Building F.

The newest drafts of the redistricting maps, created by Education Logistics, Inc., are available on WJCC’s site here. The board members decided a month ago to focus on the “B option” maps in the last group of drafts. The board spent three hours tweaking the maps on Feb. 9, shifting neighborhoods from school to school to meet their main criteria of capacity, distance and diversity. Read more about that meeting here.