Teachers ask board to raise middle-school theater stipends; union leader cites bus-driver pay and First Amendment protections

During public comment at the Williamsburg-James City County School Board meeting, Berkeley Middle School theater teacher Hannah Booth urged the board to increase middle-school theater stipends and to value arts staffing comparably to athletics. Booth said she receives one annual theater stipend of $1,131 and described roughly 250 hours of out-of-contract work across productions; she calculated that the spring musical alone equated to about $4.52 per hour based on those hours. Booth said ticket sales and donations fund theater accounts and that the district contributes no money to those school theater accounts.

Also speaking, Marco Sardi, past president of the Williamsburg-James City Education Association and a teacher at James Blair Middle School, told the board to remember the Supreme Court decision Pickering v. Board of Education when evaluating public criticism of staff. Sardi said some WJCC employees have exercised free speech on personal social media and urged the board to respect Pickering-protected speech in public responses. He also raised concerns about bus-driver pay and morale: he said a recent increase in driver pay reduced overtime needs — a fiscally responsible outcome — but that some drivers now see lower overall pay because overtime has declined, prompting many to seek second or third jobs; he asked the board to consider raising the midpoint for pay to retain veteran drivers.

Both speakers asked the board to consider their concerns; the transcript records these remarks as public comment only and shows no immediate board action on the issues raised. The board did not take votes or issue directives on stipend levels, driver pay scales, or disciplinary policy in response during the meeting.