The split hurts students
WJCC Schools is ranked 10th in the state. Why would we want to leave a successful school district? To address the learning gaps more resources and personnel need to be directed to students struggling the most. A smaller school district would have less resources and funds to do this.
An independent city school system can’t support special education students! Special education needs would still need to be a joint program between the county and city due to the city's lack of resources. The feasibility study even admits there is not enough space or resources to meet all special education needs:
“[If] an elementary student with autism whose IEP indicates level II services and their LRE is a self-contained class, there is currently no such program at the only elementary school in the City of Williamsburg (Matthew Whaley Elementary School) Even if such a program were to exist, if the program is at maximum capacity when a newly identified or transfer student enrolls and requires that placement, the division will need to find a way to meet that students’ needs, most likely at further expense to the division.”[1]
Teacher and bus driver shortages guarantee under-staffing which hurts small school districts harder. WJCC schools reported 45 staff vacancies and 10 teacher vacancies in the 2023-2024 school year. A small school district would have less resources to attract and retain quality education professionals.
The split threatens gains that haven been made in post-COVID learning gaps. The split would force a major disruption to school operations and take resources away from the classroom as the division tries to inventory and determine logistics of the split.
Teachers say no to the split. A survey by the Williamsburg Education Association showed most teachers and support staff are against the split up. Most say it would heap more stress and anxiety on them when they are already struggling to meet students' needs post-pandemic.
Splitting up the school district would be a bureaucratic mess. According to the James City County Feasibility Study, the split up can not occur unless the WJCC school board votes in favor followed by votes in favor of a split up from the JCC Board of Supervisors and the Williamsburg City Council.[2] This would force the school board to take on an issue when they must be focused on the students.
Small school systems can't offer the same curriculum opportunities as a large school system due to smaller faculty size. An independent Williamsburg school system would not be able to offer the same AP, Honors programs, dual-enrollment, or early college programs as the current WJCC system is now providing.
City students would not have access to excellent extra-curricular and athletic programs. City students would not have an opportunity to play on championship soccer, track and field, and football programs. The number of clubs would be greatly limited due to the small facility pool to serve as sponsors.
City Residents would not be able to access new Pre-K Bright Beginnings programs which serve the high-needs Pre-K children.
The lack of a decision is preventing school district business. WJCC School board members are hamstrung in long-term planning due to not knowing if the school division will remain together.
Where the heck did this idea come from? The idea for the split up did not come from the community. City manager Andrew Trivette dubiously cited a survey which did not mention a school split as justification for the feasibility study to explore establishing an independent city school division.[3] In this survey, city residents voiced their support for more involvement of community organizations and institutions in the current joint system, not a split up of the school system. A FOIA request revealed that this survey’s “questions [asked] whether respondents prioritize education and whether or not they want to look at partnerships with Colonial Williamsburg or William & Mary.” In response to the release of the FOIA request, Mayor Pons claims unfairly and anecdotally that more city residents are for the split.[4]
High costs, poor results
An independent school system has a higher cost to barely maintain current services, let alone expanding programs to help city students’ outcomes. City’s own estimates say that the cost for an independent school system would be $2.4 million more from the annual budget just to keep the current services without including additional programs and special education needs.[5] The city would need to pay more for the same results and to make student outcomes better, they would need to pay even more than they would in the current joint system.
An independent school system will hurt residential property values. The city’s feasibility study showed that if the city had an independent school system which performed based on the current city student’s performance in the current joint system, none of the city’s schools would be fully accredited.[6] Research has shown that school quality is correlated to real property values. The quality of a school district is a top factor for young home buyers and homes sell faster in top performing districts. [7]
Economies of scale effect: small school systems are less efficient than larger ones. Large districts can achieve cost savings by buying supplies, services, and technology in bulk, which small districts may not be able to afford. The current Virginia school funding formula does not account for the inefficiencies of small school districts. City students would be around 25% more expensive just to keep the status quo in an independent school system with no guarantee of improving student achievement. These new expenditures will not be put in the classroom to better help students; they would be used to try to keep the same services.
