Elmer Seward, vice president of education at WHRO Public Media, told the York County School Board on Oct. 27 that York County’s $48,450 annual investment in WHRO produced an estimated $676,371 in direct value to the division during 2024–25, a return of about $14.90 per dollar invested.

Seward outlined services WHRO offers local divisions, including eMedia VA (a repository of nearly 100,000 instructional resources), 29 SOL‑aligned online courses for secondary students, elementary outreach programs, student competitions such as the Great Computer Challenge and regional spelling bee, and professional development for teachers. He said the report provided to the board includes a customized return‑on‑investment calculation on page 12 of the WHRO document.

Board members asked whether WHRO still partners with colleges to offer graduate credit for teacher recertification. Seward said WHRO previously offered low‑cost or free graduate courses for recertification but has had difficulty re‑establishing a university partnership to offer college credit at low or no cost.

Seward closed by inviting board members and staff to review the hard copy and digital versions of the WHRO annual impact statement in BoardDocs for details on programs and resources available to York County classrooms.