WJCC Admin Proposes Additions to Berkeley, Hornsby

By Amber Lester Kennedy Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Williamsburg-James City County’s three middle schools are predicted to be overcrowded by 2017. At a school board retreat on Saturday, WJCC’s administration presented several short-term and long-term options to address the problem.

Since November 2010, the school division has known that its middle schools could be over capacity by 2017. That year, planning service Dejong Healy’s enrollment projection report had moderate estimates showing that if growth continues at the same pace, the middle schools could be over capacity by about 148 students in 2017; on Saturday, a newer projection showed they will be over capacity by at least nine students.

The news was delivered to the board not long after middle schools had been redistricted in spring 2010, and the board dismissed proposals to build additions to Berkeley and Hornsby Middle Schools. But less than a year later, the administration is again proposing additions as the best long-term solution available in an era of decreasing funding.

New Capacity Projections

When Lois Hornsby Middle School was first designed, the division anticipated it would need four middle schools to accommodate the rising population. Enrollment didn’t match projections, however, and at the advent of the recession, it also became clear the division didn’t have the $2.1 million in annual costs it would take to operate a fourth middle school, according to Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Operations Scott Burckbuchler. If all four middle schools had been open, they collectively would have been under capacity by 700 seats.

In his presentation Saturday, Burckbuchler also noted the administration believed the Academy for Life and Learning would alleviate overcrowding. He said the program did not grow as anticipated; the division closed the program last year, partially because administrators wanted to keep students in their “home schools” than pull them out to attend a separate school.

In 2009, the administration pitched the idea to save money by closing James Blair Middle School, converting it into a central office. At the time, the administration was leasing two properties, one of which was at the James City County Complex on Mounts Bay Road. The county wanted to use that space again while it renovated or constructed a new building to replace Building C. In May 2010, the board agreed with the conversion plan, contingent on the idea the building could be reconverted into a middle school for $640,000 when necessary.

The reconversion of Blair would not be the total cost to reopen it as a school, however. Last spring, the board learned the firewall would need to be brought up to code, for $92,000. If the board wanted to make the school equitable with the other middle schools, the cafeteria, auditorium and classrooms would need to be renovated, the playing field would need to be upgraded and the bus loop would need to be repaired. A refurbished and renovated James Blair could cost up to $5.9 million (read more here).

In November 2011, the administration asked architects to review the middle school capacity. Their findings revised the capacity numbers WJCC used for years, and also showed the current cafeteria spaces at Berkeley and Hornsby middle schools weren’t large enough.

In 2004, a capacity study estimated Berkeley’s capacity at 884 students; the newer study lowered that number to 829. Hornsby’s capacity increased from the 2004 estimate, from 864 to 952. Toano Middle School’s capacity decreased, from 822 to 790. Berkeley is the only school currently over its capacity, with a September enrollment of 936 students, and a projected growth of approximately 50 students by 2016-17.

Short- and Long-Term Options

On Saturday, administrators laid out a series of short- and long-term solutions for the board to consider.

To alleviate the present capacity issues, the board could agree to:

• Reconvert and renovate James Blair Middle School and build a new Central Office, for a total of $29.4 million in construction costs, plus an additional $10.5 million in extra staffing costs. Accomplishing both would cost nearly $40 million.

• Construct a new middle school, for $45 million, plus $10.5 million in staffing costs, for a total of $56 million.

• Reopen James Blair or construct a middle school, and lease or buy a new central office. The costs of leasing or buying a new central office are unknown.

• Construct middle school cafeteria additions at Berkeley and Hornsby, for $3.3 million.

• Install temporary trailers, for an estimated $700,000.

• Spot redistrict to fill approximately 85 seats at Toano Middle School, which is currently under capacity, at no extra cost. That option could only work in the short-term.

Due to the lack of funding for major capital projects, the administration did not recommend constructing a new middle school. Superintendent Steven Constantino said the administration has worked with a realtor to locate spaces suitable to lease for a central office. The office would need to have 65,000 square feet to accommodate 125 staff members, Burckbuchler said. So far, only one warehouse space in the upper portion of the county came close to the administration’s needs.

Instead, the administrators recommended placing trailers at Berkeley for the upcoming school year until funding can be secured to build additions. “To be blunt, I’m looking for a short-term way out of this, which would buy time to come up with a longer term plan,” Constantino said.

As a long-term option, the administrators recommended putting whatever resources are available into schools, rather than administrative space. In a memo, Burckbuchler said of James Blair, “Given its condition and space limitations (it would be a small middle school, which means that a fifth middle school would be needed sooner), it is a good use of the building, and is considered the best option, both fiscally and programmatically.”

He said eventually a fourth middle school will be needed, and any money that would be spent to construct a central office should go toward that future project.

The school board members, who rejected the idea to build additions last year, were frustrated that Hornsby Middle School’s cafeteria was not built to handle a larger capacity.

“I thought it was built to be expanded,” Ruth Larson said. “Right now, we have kids eating lunch at 10:30…our cafeteria feeding times are driving our schedules.” Hornsby currently has three lunch periods.

Facilities Manager Alan Robertson said, “If we tell the architects up front, they will [build for future enrollment].” Burckbuchler added that class sizes have huge impacts on the capacity in the cafeteria, and change from year to year.

The funding for additions would have to be incorporated into the Capital Improvements Plan, which goes to the city of Williamsburg and James City County for approval.

See the middle school capacity presentation, with enrollment information, here.