WJCC Board Dismisses Idea to Build Additions to Middle Schools

By Amber Lester Kennedy Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Less than a year after redistricting its middle schools, Williamsburg-James City County’s School Board is already having to reconsider its strategy as enrollment projections trend upward.

At Tuesday’s work session, the topic of overcrowding in middle schools was brought back to the forefront during a presentation of a draft of the Capital Improvement Plan. The proposed CIP, which outlines a total $56 million in construction projects and refurbishment plans through 2017, included the costs to build additions to Berkeley and Hornsby Middle Schools.

The board members uniformly disagreed with the proposal to build additions, with member Jim Kelly saying, “Middle school decisions shouldn’t come out of the CIP discussion.” The ongoing potential for overcrowding was discussed at the Nov. 9 meeting, where Acting Superintendent Scott Burckbuchler presented projections that show enrollment could outpace middle school capacity by fall 2012.

Burckbuchler presented both low and moderate projections, using numbers from an enrollment projection report produced by planning service Dejong Healy. The conservative estimate projects WJCC’s middle schools will be over capacity by 42 students in the 2012-13 school year; the moderate estimate projects they’ll be over capacity by 76 students. If growth continues at that pace, the middle schools could be over capacity by 148 students in 2017, according to the low estimate.

Overcrowding at the middle school level is originally what pushed the division to construct a fourth middle school. But by the time Lois Hornsby Middle School was under construction, enrollment projections had slipped as new home construction declined due to the recession, and the division decided four middle schools wouldn’t be needed. Last year, the board approved a plan to close James Blair Middle School and convert it temporarily to a central office for the school administration, with the intention of reopening the school when capacity became an issue again.

When Burckbuchler presented the growth projections in November, he informally proposed building additions to Berkeley and Hornsby middle schools to add 250 spots for students. At the time, the board members immediately had concerns about that plan, questioning whether Berkeley has the infrastructure to support an addition and whether Hornsby might already be too full. They said they’d be more comfortable using trailers to get by until a fourth middle school is needed.

They had the same reaction Tuesday when they saw the additions included on the proposed construction report. Multiple members mentioned using trailers instead, and member Denise Koch said rezoning might have to happen because Toano Middle School is under capacity. “I’d like to see those possibilities explored as opposed to building permanent additions for $3.4 million,” she said.

The division would have to purchase trailers because it sold seven trailers over the summer. Vice Chair Ruth Larson was critical of the way that sale was handled, saying the board members were not aware such a sale was going to take place and that it was as though the Operations department had sold classrooms. “I sat up here and approved a parking lot for Operations to store the trailers we owned,” she said, adding it would have been nice to know the division doesn’t own the trailers anymore.

Member Joe Fuentes pointed out that when the board approved the plan to convert James Blair, it was under the impression that a permanent central office would be built down the line. “We made a commitment to have an exit strategy, that the administration were not going to become squatters,” he said. “That was the plan we sold to everybody.”

The CIP plan is divided into four tiers, addressing health and safety issues, growth and maintenance, projects that support and/or enhance the learning process, and other projects important to the mission of the division’s schools. Other major projects included on the proposed CIP include the refurbishment of the heating and cooling system at Berkeley Middle School, the replacement of Berkeley’s drop-off loop, the replacement of James River Elementary’s sprinkler system, the redesign of D.J. Montague Elementary’s playground and replacement of its heating and cooling system, and the redesign of the crosswalks near Warhill High School.

To see the draft version of the CIP plan, click here.