Williamsburg-James City County Schools selected a firm to craft a redistricting plan.
The School Board awarded MGT Impact Solutions, a California-based planning and technology consultant, a contract of more than $150,000. The company has previously worked in the region, conducting a study into procurement disparities for Portsmouth Public Schools.
MGT will create plans for all school levels, but WJCC’s focus is on its elementary schools. According to the division, many are at or over capacity.
The division reported a fall 2024 enrollment of 11,379 K-12 students in its 16 schools. More than 4,900 are K-5 students at nine elementary schools. Five elementary schools have preschool classrooms, which serve 363 students.
WJCC is consolidating its preschool programs into two new centers. Groundbreaking is set for spring, and the division plans to have them ready by August 2026. They'll be able to hold more than 100 more pre-K students than are currently enrolled.
The administration expects the move to ease some of the strain at the elementary level, though it won’t be uniform. The preschool centers will open space at some but not all schools. The freed space would allow for moving students out of schools at or over capacity.
The reorganization would also allow the division to remove temporary classroom trailers from most schools and possibly improve school transportation.
In December, now-retired Superintendent Olwen Herron said students’ distance to schools could be more central to the discussion if changes are considered at the middle school level.
WJCC redistricted middle schools in 2018 before opening the new James Blair Middle School. At the time, the division sought to make the schools more balanced socioeconomically and considered that alongside proximity to schools.
“But we didn’t have the transportation challenges at that moment in time that we have now,” Herron said.
WJCC reported more than three dozen driver vacancies in January. That month, the school board voted to increase bus driver pay, which is part of a trend among school divisions struggling to recruit and retain drivers.
In 2017, the board opted not to redistrict the high schools following opposition from several parents and the board.
While the discussion of high school redistricting stopped, the middle school plans continued as the division prepared to open Blair.
The board expects to review school zone options in the fall. If approved, the changes will be in place for the 2026-27 school year, leaving about nine months to publicize the changes.
WJCC Schools is a member of HRETA, which owns WHRO’s broadcast license. Herron serves on WHRO’s board of directors.
