School Board Divided on James Blair Conversion; Overcrowding on Horizon

By Amber Lester Wednesday, May 12, 2010

The WJCC School Board has approved a $1.6 million bid to convert James Blair Middle School into an administration building.

The bid was awarded at Tuesday's school board meeting to United Refrigeration and includes refurbishment of the school’s heating and cooling system, conversion into office space with temporary walls and renovation of the annex to become a home for the Academy for Life and Learning. The division originally anticipated the project to cost $2.9 million, but Assistant Superintendent of Operations Bob Becker said the division had benefited from a favorable bid climate.

The board voted 4-3 after an hour-long debate over the merits of the plan before them. Members John Alewynse, Elise Emanuel and Joe Fuentes dissented from the motion to move forward with the conversion; they based their decisions on new middle school capacity projections delivered to the board this week.

The new projections for next school year put Lois Hornsby Middle School over capacity, Berkeley Middle School at its capacity and Toano Middle School at 84 percent of its capacity. In previous years, the school division anticipated the middle school population would grow to demand four middle schools. By the time the school board approved construction of a fourth middle school, however, the slowing economy had affected growth in the county.

Meanwhile, the aging James Blair Middle School needs several upgrades to continue to function as a school. Adding to the pressure, the James City County government would like to use space in the county complex currently occupied by some of the school administration. Some of the administration is scattered throughout the county in leased office space, as well.

Last year, a plan was proposed to save money spent on rented office space and classroom trailers by converting James Blair into a temporary administration space while setting aside capital improvement funds to construct a permanent office building adjacent to Warhill High School in 2015.

In July, the board voted 5-2 to approve the conversion plan, but by January, members were already beginning to express serious concerns about moving forward. At that time, Elise Emanuel, who has voted against every motion to convert the school, asked if it would be possible to complete the HVAC upgrade while delaying the conversion.

At Tuesday’s meeting, the board weighed the pros and cons of several different options. Alewynse suggested tabling the issue, but his motion failed 4-3. Ruth Larson proposed waiting to make a decision until October, when the most accurate enrollment numbers are available. Denise Koch wanted to move forward with the plan, but mentioned spot redistricting might become necessary, to which Emanuel immediately said, “No spot redistricting!”

Fuentes proposed returning to a plan first suggested by James City County Board of Supervisors member Bruce Goodson. He had proposed closing the school for renovations for a year, saving the money that would usually be spent to run the school, and then reopening one to two years later. His main concern, Fuentes said, was that the schools would be overcrowded long before the division’s planned reopening date for James Blair of 2016.

“Spot redistricting is off the table and using trailers defeats the purpose,” he said, adding, “You need the bubble and we don’t have one now.”

The challenge in reverting to Goodson’s plan was that it only included the costs for the HVAC upgrade. If the building continued operating as a school, its cafeteria kitchen and locker room showers also need to be upgraded, according to Facilities Manager Alan Robertson. Those upgrades were not included on the request for proposals, which included only two scenarios: the conversion plan including the renovations for ALL or the conversion minus the renovations.

While the number of middle school students is increasing faster than anticipated, the schools would be under capacity if four were operated as early as next year. Some board members couldn’t justify the cost to operate a fourth middle school compared to the cost of the conversion, which will run about $150,000 (the HVAC upgrade takes up the majority of the budget).

“We can’t fund the middle school. Why are we holding out for Blair? We can’t fund it!” said James Nickols, chair of the board. “We need to have a building that’s being used.”

Acting Superintendent Scott Burckbuchler, who also serves as the assistant superintendent of finance for the division and its human resources director, said that financially, the division is not in a position to operate four middle schools next year, or even the following year. He did acknowledge, however, that the plan wasn’t perfect. Of the administration’s exit strategy to get out of Blair, he said, “Honestly, we do not have that tonight.”

Read previous articles about the plans to convert James Blair here and here.