Students and staff were evacuated from Lois Hornsby Middle School on Tuesday after the smell of smoke was detected. (WYDaily/Courtesy James City County)
WILLIAMSBURG Students and staff were evacuated from Lois Hornsby Middle School in the afternoon of Tuesday, March 9 after a “smoke smell” was detected in the heating and cooling area of the school, said James City County (JCC) Fire Department Chief Ryan Ashe.
The JCC fire department received a call around 12:30 p.m. shortly before the school was scheduled to dismiss. Fire units responded to the building at 12:43 p.m., Ashe said.
Ashe added that the smell was not from a fire, but from a broken belt in the school’s HVAC system.
Library reopening
After having closed its doors for about a month, the Williamsburg Regional Library reopened both the Williamsburg and James City County library buildings Tuesday, Feb. 16. READ MORE.
Death penalty
Since 1976, 113 Virginians have been executed, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Now, it appears Virginia is on its way to ridding itself of the death penalty, joining 22 states that have already done so. READ MORE.
COVID-19 registration
After weeks of residents navigating the COVID-19 vaccination registration system through their local health departments, the Virginia Department of Health launched a statewide central hub streamlining the vaccination process. READ MORE.
Williamsburg-James City County Public Schools
WJCC Public Schools is currently transitioning students from virtual classes to a mixture of both virtual and in-person classes.
This hybrid learning approach consists of two in-person and three virtual days. The plan is to have all students in the hybrid learning model by March 1, said Eileen Cox, spokesperson for WJCC Public Schools.
The school division had previously announced hybrid learning would not start until Monday, Feb. 22. However, Cox said it agreed to start transitioning students back to hybrid learning earlier several weeks ago.
Elementary students started hybrid learning on Tuesday. Sixth and 12th graders start on Monday, with the rest of the system’s middle and high school students starting the following week, she added.
“Thanks to Williamsburg Regional Library, WJCC students now have access to many more age-appropriate ebooks,” said Pattie Bowen, the school division’s supervisor of instructional technology, in the release. “(Sora) is easy to use and connects our students directly to WRL. As one of our librarians wrote, ‘these resources will be a gold mine for our students.’”
The division also proposes using the money to support an additional psychologist and four additional counselors to help students who have suffered mental health issues during the pandemic.