JAMES CITY COUNTY, Va. — The James City County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to pre-emptively terminate its contract with the City of Williamsburg in less than three years, opening the possibility of splitting Williamsburg-James City County Public Schools into two school divisions.
The possible split will take effect when the 2025-26 school year ends, allowing the county to prepare over the next few years and "meet its obligation to protect the education, health, welfare and safety" of students.
The board's vote comes over a month after the Williamsburg City Council unanimously voted to study the feasibility of creating a school system separate from James City County.
“They say they will have in September or October and then they take a month or two to evaluate it. And they give us a notice as late as June, we’d have to be out in 13 months,” said James City County Administrator Scott Stevens.
RELATED: Williamsburg City Council votes to study the feasibility of creating a separate school system
Stevens says if the two school systems split, the county would have to build a new middle school since two of four sit in Williamsburg. He said 13 months doesn’t give them enough time to do that.
“We’ve got about 6- to 700 middle school students that need a place. It will take three years to build a place,” Stevens said.
Despite the Board of Supervisors voting to terminate the contract, Stevens said breaking away from Williamsburg is still an "if."
"If we were to separate, we would lose two of our four middle schools because two of them are within the city," Stevens said. "And the way the contract works, they would get those buildings."
At the time, it was acknowledged that any changes made would be still years away, as the city is currently in year two of a five-year contract with James City County. Stevens said the contract states what facilities reside in the city will belong to Williamsburg should the split and vice versa.
"If the buildings are in the city and we put money into those, we'll get that back," he said. "So, there will be a balancing there and I believe that it's about a $10 million number that the city probably owes the county."
"The reason for this action is to ensure the County has as much time as possible to prepare for the implications of a system split brought on by the action of the City of Williamsburg in June," a press release from James City County said. "The Contract allowed the agreement between the City and the County to be terminated at any point by either party, effective at the end of the following school year."
Questions loom after the James City County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to terminate its joint school operations contract with the City of Williamsburg.
“I was a little confused at first. It didn’t really make sense,” said James City County Resident Domiana Johnson.
Johnson said although the split wouldn’t impact her child, she’s concerned about other children within the division.
“The kids that they went to school with in elementary school, they’re going to be split from their friends and the people they’ve been going through school with,” she said.
According to the news release, the James City County Board of Supervisors is open to negotiating a new contract if both sides think it's in the best interests of the students to stay under its current joint system.
The county added that the changes should preserve employment opportunities for all current teachers and staff. Though Marco Sardi, the president of the Williamsburg James City Education Association, said many educators aren’t happy with split divisions.
"There have been many concerns over what this means for their jobs," Sardi said. "There were a lot of concerns over how this will affect our students especially those in our most vulnerable populations...and how this will affect funding for special education and something as simple as transportation."
He said they fear their job position might change.
“Part of the teachers will leave if they feel their job is not what had signed up for,” Sardi said.
Stevens said there will be more outreach from the county to hear from the school community about the decision.
The City of Williamsburg released a statement:
We are aware of the decision made by the James City County Board of Supervisors regarding their intention to separate our joint school system. Obviously, separation is a possibility we have been studying, as announced in June, but we have not reached any final decisions regarding that issue.
While the County's action does not change the City's plan to thoroughly study the impacts of separation before making a decision, our study will now necessarily focus more acutely on what an independent school system may look like. Our intention continues to be to make a thoughtful and deliberate decision that puts the needs of students, families, and teachers first. That has always been our priority and will continue to be so as we move forward. It is important that everyone remember, as we stated when we launched our study in June, that no changes would occur prior to the 2025-2026 school year.
We understand as members of this community that parents, students, and teachers have many questions about what the future may hold. We want the community to be a part of this process, and the community will be a part of this process. That is the only way that this work can be successful, and we look forward to a robust conversation with our students, parents, teachers, and residents in the months to come.