Permit Activity Gets Off to Busy Start
Ahead of the spring and summer building seasons there has been plenty of activity to start the year.
Statistics issued by the King William Planning & Zoning Department through February show that 97 permits have been issued in the first two months of 2023.
Land Disturbance Permits gathered the most attention for processing by County Staff. Both January and February showed 16 LDPs.
Next were Single Family Dwelling Permits, with 12 each being issued in January and February.
Other significant permit categories for two months include:
ACC Structure – 16
Home Occupations – 9
Kennels – 4
The P&Z Department has also placed great interest in accelerating the time between when a permit is requested and ultimately issued.
King William School Division Shows Positive Data, Outcomes
The Board of Supervisors and the King William School Board are meeting this week to discuss the School Division’s FY ’24 Budget recommendations.
In addition to Budget information, the Superintendent’s Office also included some very interesting data and outcomes on the School Division:
- Current enrollment for FY ’22-23 School Year is 2,103 for PreK – 12.
- Almost 40 percent of students receive free/reduced lunch.
- All schools are fully accredited.
- The School Division has 167 teachers and 10 school-level administrators.
- 43 percent of teaching staff have master’s degrees.
- 59 percent of School Division staff live in King William.
- Average number of meals per day served in all schools are 1,589.
- 37 buses travel daily routes.
- 9 van/cars travel daily.
- 47 percent of the Class of ’22 graduated with a 3.0 grade-point average.
- The Class of ’22 received $750,000 in scholarships.
- 28 percent of the Class of ’22 went to four-year colleges and 23 percent to two-year colleges.
- 20 percent of the Class of ’22 went to tech/trade schools.
- The high school dropout rate for the Class of ’22 was three percent; Virginia dropout rate was 5.2 percent.
- The King William High School on-time graduate rate for the Class of ’22 was 93.5 percent; Virginia on-time graduation rate is 92.2 percent.
It is certainly a challenging time for school divisions following COVID-19 distractions and the mass exodus of teachers who are retiring or leaving the profession.
Congratulations to all King William County personnel as another school year is rapidly drawing to a close.
Legislators Have High Marks for Bill Passage
As Governor Youngkin ponders the signing of many bills that were passed by the 2023 General Assembly, King William’s three legislators were very active.
Information provided by our friends at VPAP provided the scorecard of the successful passage of legislation. The numbers include:
1. Delegate Scott Wyatt – 8 bills passed; 12 introduced; 67 percent.
2. Delegate Keith Hodges – 9 bills passed; 15 introduced; 60 percent.
3. Senator Tommy Norment – 12 bills passed; 28 introduced; 48 percent.
It is great to see legislators being active in the best interest of our citizens.
Schardein Named CA in Powhatan County
Planning Commission member Don Wagner passed along the news that former King William County Director of Planning Bret Schardein has been named the new Powhatan County Administrator.
Schardein spent about four years as the lead planner in an era when development was challenged because of the climb out of the 2008-09 recession, Wagner reminded.
Schardein also led the update of the County’s Comprehensive Plan, which was just recently updated by Wagner and the other Planning Commissioners.
Best of luck to Schardein in a great county!
