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Superintendent presents Phase 2 of transition plan: learner profile, JROTC, mental health and stipend changes
Summary
Dr. Keever delivered a Phase 2 update on the superintendent's transition plan, reporting completion of the WJCC learner profile design, a signed JROTC memorandum with projected ~120 students, expanded mental-health initiatives, and recommended stipend increases and HR realignment.
Superintendent Dr. Keever told the Williamsburg-James City County School Board on July 7 that Phase 2 of the division's transition plan is progressing and that staff are moving multiple priorities from planning to implementation.
Keever said the design phase for the WJCC "Profile of a Learner" is complete after input from 85 stakeholders and identified five durable skills the division will embed across grade levels: critical thinker, collaborative contributor, effective communicator, resilient achiever and engaged citizen. The superintendent said implementation work will begin in August 2026 to define what those attributes look like by grade.
Keever announced the division finalized a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Army to establish a JROTC program and has hired a senior Army instructor; the division is projecting about 120 students across the division will enroll in the program this fall. On student supports, staff are expanding mental-health training (including training eight youth mental-health first-aid instructors), expanding the Signs of Suicide program to 8th grade, equipping nurses with mental-health flip charts and planning a mental-health focus group and an RFP to expand referral services.
On staffing and compensation, Keever described a stipend review recommending a 10% increase to existing stipends, targeted new stipends (including for self-contained special-education teachers and paraprofessionals) and targeted increases (doctoral stipend, middle-school theater and cheerleading, and an assistant athletic director stipend). The division will pursue a more equitable, tiered stipend system for 2027'8 implementation.
Keever also outlined a July 1 realignment of executive leadership that repurposed existing positions to create chief academic, chief operating and chief strategy officers, plus changes in communications, human resources and finance to improve coordination without adding executive headcount.
Board members thanked staff and asked for follow-up where appropriate. Keever said several phase-2 items will be tracked and reported to the board in future updates.
Next steps: staff will begin implementation work on the learner profile in August, convene the instructional-technology and mental-health focus groups, issue the RFP for expanded referrals, and return to report progress in future phase updates.
