A site for a fourth middle school in Williamsburg-James City County Schools likely will not be identified until this fall — more than a year after the superintendent told the school board James Blair would be the division’s best bet for solving predicted overcrowding.
James City County Acting Administrator Doug Powell said at a Wednesday’s budget work session he is close to announcing the members of a new committee that will be tasked with identifying a site for the new school. If the committee follows the schedule Powell called “aggressive,” a selection from the seven or eight possible sites currently being considered may be announced by fall.
WJCC put together its own committee for the same purpose last year. That committee, which considered seven options, narrowed down their recommendation to three — all of which would in some way use the former James Blair Middle School site currently uses as the central office.
In March, the school board voted to approve a preliminary budget that included $52 million over two years for a 950-student middle school on the James Blair site and a new central office to be built on land owned by James City and Williamsburg near the courthouse.
The county’s Board of Supervisors on Wednesday sat down with representatives from WJCC and the school board to discuss the schools budget and projects requests for fiscal year 2015, including the new middle school.
Powell’s proposed budget includes placeholders for the new school of $4.5 million for planning in 2015 and $24 million for building costs in fiscal year 2016. Funding for a central office is not included in the county’s proposed budget.
No discussions have been held between the City of Williamsburg and James City County about a funding split for the school, said John McDonald, the county’s director of financial and management services. The discussion between the two localities would have to occur before James City could know its portion of the new school’s cost, he said.
With James City relaunching the process for picking a school site, the division may have to find a way to accommodate students in the 2017-18 school year, when capacity at the middle school level is predicted to reach a breaking point. School Board Chairwoman Ruth Larson (Berkeley) asked when land would be purchased and a hard decision made on a school site if a recommendation comes in the fall, but she was given no firm answer.
Supervisor Mary Jones (Berkeley), chairwoman, said she expects the process to move quickly after a site is selected.
Looking outside of the site issue, Supervisor Jim Kennedy (Stonehouse) drew attention to several options tossed around for a new school and asked whether the type of school – middle, high or other – has yet been determined. Supervisor Michael Hipple (Powhatan) said that is another decision that needs to be made.
“In my opinion we’ve got a cart out there and we have no horse on it. We need to get the horse in front of the cart,” Hipple said. “We’re almost [going to] have to just slow down a minute and evaluate what we have.”
From Larson’s perspective, the schools have the horse and the cart. Superintendent Stephen Constantino’s job is to make a recommendation from an educational perspective, which Larson said he did: a new middle school on the James Blair site.
“We can only stay in limbo for so long before we have to have a direction,” Larson said.
Hipple said his intent was not to say the schools “didn’t do their homework,” but to say the schools have come forward with a need and it is now the county’s job to figure out where to put a school and how to fund it.
“We’re not going to hit the bull’s-eye totally in the center, but at least we can get a dart on the board,” Hipple said.
Supervisor Kevin Onizuk (Jamestown) said as the schools’ fiscal agent the county is responsible for meeting obligations and managing debt.
“We are under very tight financial constraints,” Onizuk said. “Yes, we are being cautious with the dollars and that’s why we are hesitant to jump in with both feet and want to make sure we are doing proper research.”
Supervisor John McGlennon said he was concerned the new committee would be sent out to look into school site options and the board would further delay a new school. The board should move forward with satisfying a need rather than trying to get around providing funding for it, he said.
Jones said she wanted to see a public buildings master plan to accommodate future growth. Kennedy agreed he would like to see the schools needs for the next two to 10 years, and Constantino said much of that information is included in the schools’ five-year capital improvement plan, which addresses the schools’ high-dollar project needs. Constantino said he hoped to be able to look more seriously at a 10-year building plan to get a better picture of needs.
Ultimately, the county will wait to hear from this new committee before making a decision about what funding to allocate for a new school. McDonald recommended the county borrow about $4 million for short-term needs for the school, such as a land purchase, traffic study or engineering.
Related Coverage:
- Funding, Site for Fourth WJCC Middle School Still Uncertain
- WJCC School Board OKs Preliminary Budget with Placeholders for Middle School, Central Office
- JCC Supes to Wait Two Weeks Before Offering Opinion on Fourth Middle School, Central Office
- James Blair Still Recommended as Site for Fourth WJCC Middle School
- WJCC Superintendent’s Proposed Budget Gives Raise to Employees, Hires 16 Teachers
- WJCC to Wait on Population Projections Before Creating New Plan for Fourth Middle School
- JCC Committee Includes Fourth Middle School in List of Priority Projects
- WJCC Schools Plan to Keep James Blair as Office Space – For Now
- WJCC Board Asked to Delay Decision on Fourth Middle School for Further Planning
- City, JCC Outline Growth Areas to Help Determine Fourth Middle School Location
- WJCC Schools Seeking Public Input on Fourth Middle School
- WJCC Superintendent: Fourth Middle School Likely on James Blair Site
- WJCC Committee Has Started Researching Middle School Options