The Williamsburg-James City County School Division presented its proposed 10-year capital improvement plan (FY26 35) to the joint meeting of the Williamsburg-James City County School Board and the James City County Board of Supervisors, outlining projected projects, cost assumptions and enrollment forecasts.

Superintendent Dr. Heron opened the presentation and named Ms. Ewing as the presenter of the five-year portion of the plan. "Enrollment at all levels is projected to remain fairly static over the next 10 years," Dr. Heron said, explaining that planned high school expansions for Jamestown and Warhill were placed outside the five-year funded plan. He also said opening Bright Beginnings north and south campuses would allow the division to remove trailers from elementary schools and require redistricting.

The presenter described the CIP's cost-assumptions for FY26 projects: an allowance for architecture and engineering costs of about 10 percent where applicable, a 5 percent contingency, and a 6 percent adjustment applied to five-year estimates to reflect current market volatility. The division reported a baseline enrollment of 11,324 on Sept. 30, 2023, and a small net increase of 55 students compared with the prior year.

Board members asked several detailed questions. Vice Mayor Dent pressed staff about a more than $600,000 increase in the estimated cost for Cooley Field turf compared with the FY25 figure; Dr. Keever, who has been managing the project, said the scope remained the same but market-driven price increases and updated estimates produced the higher figure. On the pre-K expansion, members noted the CIP originally carried a funded placeholder of $25 million; staff said a prior feasibility study estimated the total cost in the mid-to-upper $30 millions, while a late-June estimate approached $47 million. "We've gone back to both the architect and the construction management firm and said, okay, let's do one more and figure out if the number is closer to the initial estimate in the upper thirties," Dr. Keever said, and staff described a value-engineering review intended to lower the figure.

Members also questioned the use of mobile learning cottages (temporary classrooms). Staff recalled that such cottages were first installed in the district around 2015 (Matthew Whaley cited) and noted that because they are temporary the division does not count them the same way it counts permanent capacity for long-range enrollment planning.

On redistricting, Dr. Heron said a request for proposals to hire a redistricting consultant will go out and that the board will begin redistricting discussions in the coming weeks; the division agreed the threshold to consider building a new school historically starts when a school exceeds about 90 percent occupancy.

The board and supervisors did not take formal votes on any CIP projects during the joint meeting; staff said updated project estimates and the division's annual review will guide final budget requests during the upcoming budget cycle. The chair called a short technical recess during the presentation to fix audio for the broadcast, after which the meeting resumed and the CIP discussion continued before the group moved to academic outcomes.

The division will return to the boards with any refined estimates and formal budget requests as part of the FY26 budget process.