Schools ·
WJCC School Redistricting Takes 3 Oddly Specific Schools From “Wealthy and White” to “Really Wealthy and White”
WILLIAMSBURG, VA: After months of meetings, demographic analysis and repeated assurances of its commitment to diversity, WJCC Schools has accomplished something remarkable with its proposed redistricting plan: making all three schools serving Governor’s Land less diverse and less economically disadvantaged.
WJCC administrators publicly reaffirmed the district’s “commitment to diversity” during the redistricting process. The district’s own guiding principles specifically call for consideration of “racial and ethnic diversity” and “socioeconomic indicators.”
Apparently, nobody specified which direction they were supposed to move.
“Our goal was simple,” explained Richard (Rich) White, WJCC Director of Geographic Logistics, Assignment & Neighborhood Distribution (G-LAND). “Look at the data, listen to the community, and make sure the white students ended up in the right places. Er, uh... I meant the right students.”
According to WJCC’s own August projections, Matoaka Elementary, already the district’s least-diverse elementary school, drops from 30.9% to 23.2% diversity, less than half of neighboring DJ Montague at 46.8%. Its economically disadvantaged population falls from 24.8% to just 15.6%, compared with DJ Montague at 38.8% and James River at an astounding 63.9%.
At Hornsby Middle School, diversity falls 5.8 percentage points, while economically disadvantaged enrollment drops from 34.5% to 26.4%.
These incredible feats were primarily accomplished by splitting HALF of Ford’s Colony into Matoaka and all of them to Hornsby. Because who doesn’t love breaking up neighborhoods for the sake of LESS diversity?
And don’t forget Jamestown High School. Already considerably less diverse and less economically disadvantaged than Lafayette and Warhill, Jamestown manages to lower both numbers even further. Incredible!
“We did the best we could,” White said with a shrug. Apparently he meant the best they could for Governor’s Land.
FORD’S COLONY DISCOVERS IT IS NOT GOVERNOR’S LAND
While Governor’s Land emerges from redistricting with its entire school pipeline somehow becoming more affluent and more homogeneous, neighboring Ford’s Colony has discovered that having three golf courses apparently gets you only so far, despite the efforts of some fired up moms.
“We considered also taking half of Ford’s Colony and sending them to Jamestown,” Rich White explained. “But we’re playing the long game. Get some of them into Matoaka now, let them get accustomed to the lifestyle, and in a few years they’ll be asking if they really have to attend the run-down prison facility known as Lafayette.”
That question could become increasingly interesting.
WJCC’s own long-term projections show that by 2035, Lafayette is expected to be 96% utilized and Warhill 97% utilized.
Jamestown though? A whopping 77%!
Fortunately, WJCC’s long-range capital plan also includes a $9.7 million “programmatic expansion” at Jamestown, ensuring there will be adequate space to accommodate all of the space.
“We recognize Lafayette and Warhill are projected to be essentially full,” Rich White explained. “But Jamestown’s 77% concerns us deeply.”
For their part, Governor’s Land residents have remained largely silent about their apparent victory, perhaps because drawing attention to it would only ruin a perfectly good thing.
SOURCES WJCC Redistricting Information & Maps https://wjccschools.org/about-wjcc/redistricting/
WJCC August Revision: Building Utilization & Demographic Projections https://wjccschools.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/August-Revision-Building-Utilization-and-Demographic-Projections.pdf
Superintendent Daniel Keever: Redistricting, Guiding Principles & Commitment to Diversity https://wjccschools.org/newsroom/video-message-from-dr-keever-redistricting-and-guiding-principles/
WJCC School Board Approved FY27-36 Capital Improvement Plan https://wjccschools.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/School-Boards-Approved-FY27-36-CIP.pdf
WJCC August 4 Redistricting Update https://wjccschools.org/newsroom/school-board-notes-aug-4-redistricting-state-revenue-increase/
The Williamsburg Shallot is satire. However, the numbers are real. Rich White and the WJCC Department of Geographic Logistics, Assignment & Neighborhood Distribution are fictional. Demographic, utilization and capital-plan figures cited above are drawn from WJCC’s published documents.