WILLIAMSBURG – Concern and uncertainty over proposed attendance boundary changes were on full display June 16 as elementary school students and their parents urged the Williamsburg-James City County School Board to reconsider its redistricting plans.
The redistricting effort began earlier this year as Williamsburg-James City County Public Schools prepares to open two dedicated Bright Beginnings prekindergarten centers in fall 2027. The preschool program, currently housed in five of the division’s nine elementary schools, will move into its own facilities, freeing classroom space and prompting officials to revisit attendance boundaries across the division.
Superintendent Daniel F. Keever acknowledged at the May meetings that “conversations about redistricting are not easy.”
That was evident Monday night, when several students addressed the School Board and spoke about fears of losing friends and leaving schools they have come to view as home.
“Please keep our neighborhood at Stonehouse Elementary. Stonehouse is more than just the school I attend, it is my home school and it has been a huge part of my childhood,” said Audrey Chiesa, who recently completed the third grade at Stonehouse.
Another Stonehouse Elementary student, 8-year-old Ava Crawford said, “They have taught me positive, engaged, and attentive learning. Please don’t make me change schools.”
School leaders say the changes are intended to relieve overcrowding, balance enrollment across schools and strengthen feeder patterns, the progression students follow from elementary to middle and high school based on where they live.
During Monday’s meeting, the School Board received an update on the redistricting process from Superintendent Daniel F. Keever and Kara Walls, WJCC’s strategic communications officer.
Keever said community feedback collected through public meetings and surveys continues to be reviewed and that revised draft maps may be presented later this summer.
During community meetings in May, consultants with MGT, the firm assisting the division with the plans, described the process as data-driven. They noted Matthew Whaley and Stonehouse elementary schools are operating above capacity and said projected residential growth is concentrated in the Stonehouse attendance zone.
School Board Chair Andrea Donnor recognized the challenges facing the division.
“As a Board, we’re responsible for the operations of the division, we have to balance utilization and we have to think about transportation, which means people would have to move,” Donnor said.
Much of the public comment focused on preserving neighborhood schools, particularly Stonehouse Elementary.
Denise Burnett, whose children attend Stonehouse Elementary School, said moving students would disrupt established communities and fail to address future growth elsewhere.
“I believe kids are very resilient. However, they should only have to deal with so much change in a small period of time,” she said.
Board members stressed that no final decisions have been made. Additional community feedback will be gathered before MGT presents a final recommendation later this year. New attendance boundaries are expected to take effect with the 2027-28 school year, when the new Bright Beginnings campuses are set to open.
