Supervisors, Council Critical of WJCC's Proposed Salary Changes, Middle School Additions

By Amber Lester Kennedy Thursday, February 24, 2011

Over the past year, the Williamsburg-James City County School Board members have wrestled with proposals to change the division’s pay structure, plan for possible overcrowding and close the Academy for Life and Learning.

In its annual joint meeting with its funding partners, the Williamsburg City Council and the James City County Board of Supervisors, the School Board heard many of the same arguments, but from new perspectives. The agenda of the joint meeting included updates about the budget, capital projects, enrollment projections, compensation and student performance.

Compensation Plan

Superintendent Steven Constantino’s proposed $110 million budget increased $675,550 over the current year’s budget, due to increases in state sales tax revenue and one-time money from the Federal Jobs Fund. The proposed budget provides for a 1 percent salary scale adjustment across the board, partly in response to recommendations from Evergreen Solutions, LLC, which just completed a compensation study for the division. Evergreen proposed WJCC adjust its salaries by 2 percent to remain competitive in hiring and keeping quality employees; Assistant Superintendent for Administrative Services Scott Burckbuchler said 2 percent wasn’t feasible right now.

The administration’s proposal to change the compensation plan also makes moves toward phasing out longevity pay supplements for teachers who have spent 20 years or more with WJCC. To facilitate the 1 percent base pay increase for everyone, teachers currently receiving those supplements would see them reduced by $490. School board members have expressed concern about the fairness of that suggestion.

Board member Joe Fuentes has also noted that while WJCC is one of the more generous divisions in compensation for experienced teachers, it is below the rest of the market in its pay for entry-level employees. City Manager Jack Tuttle questioned the logic of providing a 1 percent increase across the board if the division is not competitive in its salary for new employees.

“Some positions are 10 percent below the market (for salary),” he said. “Why, when you have an opportunity, wouldn’t you address your real problems rather than give money to people who are earning above the market?”

When Board of Supervisors Chair Mary Jones noted that the county was not going to be able to offer its employees bonuses or raises, Burckbuchler said the context is different for school divisions compared to localities. Supervisor Bruce Goodson disagreed.

“Your argument doesn’t support what we’re discussing,” he said. “Look at particular positions where we’re not competitive and target those. Instead of making us more competitive, you’re taking the easy way out and just doing 1 percent across the board.”

Overcrowding at Middle Schools

The government leaders also agreed with school board members who aren’t supportive of a suggestion to build additions to Berkeley and Hornsby middle schools. Toano Middle School is currently under capacity. Conservative enrollment estimates by Dejong Healy show enrollment could outpace middle school capacity by fall 2012.

The division has known for years that middle school enrollment was swelling, but the pace has slowed compared to earlier projections. A few years ago, the division appeared to be growing quickly enough to demand a fourth middle school and Lois Hornsby Middle School was planned. But it soon became clear the enrollment didn’t merit a fourth school at that time and WJCC also couldn’t afford the additional $2 million needed to run a fourth school.

Instead, the administration proposed closing its oldest middle school, James Blair. By closing the school, the division could refurbish its heating and cooling system, and also utilize the space as a central office. A plan to convert the school into an administration building was approved, based on the idea that the school could reopen to students by the time enrollment merited a fourth middle school.

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.

The administration included plans to build additions to Berkeley and Hornsby middle schools in its Capital Improvements Plan presented Wednesday. The additions would cost $1.4 million at Berkeley and $2 million at Hornsby, adding 250 available seats. Board members have said they’d prefer using trailers to get by until a full school is needed. They also want to avoid spot redistricting.

On Wednesday, their funding partners seemed to agree. Supervisor John McGlennon said he was concerned about changing the character of the schools by enlarging them permanently. Rather than redistrict to shift more students to Toano, McGlennon suggested the division create a magnet program that would draw students to the school and have some educational benefit. School Board member Joe Fuentes said magnet programs introduce new expenses that won’t go away, and Burckbuchler said the division has no plans to propose a magnet program at this time.

The Academy for Life and Learning

The middle school population will also be affected by the board’s likely decision to close the Academy for Life and Learning. In an effort to reach more students than the school’s current enrollment of 45, the administration has proposed adding four “student achievement coaches” to the middle schools – two at Berkeley, one at Hornsby and one at Toano. The coaches would serve as student advocates, and created Individualized Learning Plans to help guide students’ achievement toward their goals.

The plan to close the Academy for Life and Learning, which costs the division $570,000 a year, has met heavy criticism from community members. Their concerns were echoed by Council members on Wednesday. Scott Foster asked Constantino how shifting students from an off-site program back to their home schools will help.

“Philosophically, I think the direction we’re going is the direction we need to go,” Constantino said. He added that he hasn’t seen much evidence that pulling students out of their regular schools is advantageous in the long term, even if it delivers results in the short term.

Freiling said the community has been critical because of the impression that “something else is afoot besides the best interests of the students.” He suggested the division run both the ALL program and the coaches program for one year to test the approaches and see what works. “I still can’t grasp the idea of why we wouldn’t test the program and see how it will affect people before taking away a program that has meant so much to students,” he said. “Why can’t we make a philosophical decision to explore another alternative?”

Haulman agreed, noting that in the past decade, the division’s leadership has repeatedly taken new philosophical directions. “This is the first time I’ve heard some answers of why this might be the right one, but I’m still not convinced this is the right one for this community or that we’ll overcome the cynicism in the community,” he said.

Constantino said he couldn’t address what’s happened in the past and can’t predict the future, but felt the key to getting rid of cynicism is to make continuous improvement part of the foundation and show that the leadership is thinking strategically. “If, in fact, parents are the first and most important influence on a child’s education, we need to engage them,” he said.

To learn more about any of the issues discussed, read the presentations here.