WJCC to Discuss Leadership, Budget on Tuesday

By Amber Lester Kennedy Monday, January 02, 2012

The Williamsburg-James City County School Board will have its annual organizational meeting to select leadership on Tuesday.

The board will choose its chair, vice-chair and parliamentarian at the meeting, which begins at 7 p.m. in the Stryker Building. James Nickols, Ruth Larson and Joe Fuentes served in those roles, respectively, during 2011.

The board will also discuss the process to appoint a new member to the Jamestown District seat, recently vacated by Larson, who won the Berkeley District seat in November. She was drawn out of her district when the county adjusted its voting district boundaries last summer. Jim Kelly, who most recently served as the Berkeley District representative and now lives in the Jamestown District, has confirmed he will seek appointment to the open seat.

Fuentes’ home was also redistricted to the Jamestown District, but he intends to complete his term for the Powhatan District. The School Board has 45 days from Jan. 1 to define a process and appoint a qualified Jamestown District representative.

At the same meeting, the board will begin its budget discussions. At its Dec. 6 special call meeting, the board defined its priorities as exploring opportunities to enhance career and technical education; improving grade level reading ability, with a focus on third and sixth grades and with special attention to subgroup achievement gaps; exploring opportunities for alternative education needs; promoting staff development opportunities and identifying best practices; implementing more recommendations from last year’s compensation study; improving shared data environments; and developing a comprehensive public relations plan.

Gov. Bob McDonnell released his biennial budget proposal on Dec. 19, calling for an increased investment from localities to teachers’ retirement plans. Between the increased costs and loss of federal stimulus funding, Assistant Superintendent for Finance & Operations Scott Burckbuchler has estimated the division faces a budget shortfall of $5.5 million (read more here).

The Superintendent’s Proposed Budget will be officially presented to the School Board in February, and the board will approve its proposed FY 2012-13 budget by April 1.

Finally, the board will discuss a proposal to create a Student Advisory Committee, on which the School Board would appoint students to share their perspective and give advice. The WJCC administration proposes the committee should be composed of the Superintendent, two school board members and 12 students, including four from each high school.

The high schools will develop and implement a uniform selection process for students to serve on the committee, according to the proposal. Each May, high schools will select the upcoming year’s representatives. The same selection process will be held in September for each freshman class to select its representative. Once appointed by the School Board, the committee will serve for one academic year, from October to June.

An initial meeting of representatives from the upper grades will be held in September, followed by a full committee meeting with ninth-graders in November. Three additional meetings will be held in January, March and May, with agendas organized by the Office of the Superintendent.