W&M Basketball Coach Fired, Study on WJCC School Split, and more

Historic Triangle News Roundup March 10 - 16

Mar 17, 2024

Good morning! It’s the end of national Sunshine Week, celebrating open government and access to public records. I spoke with Virginia Coalition for Open Government Director Megan Rhyne about VA’s Freedom of Information Act laws and why fees for requests can be so expensive.

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A number of VA counties also won the dreaded “Foilie” awards for bad transparency practices, including Augusta county officials tagging emails “NO FOIA,” one FOIA requester in Richlands county facing retaliation in the form of spaghetti and cow manure in her mailbox, and the Chesterfield County Police Department refusing to disclose officer information because someday they might go undercover.

Here’s this week’s top stories:

W&M Parts Ways with Head Basketball Coach after Four Losing Seasons

Dane Fischer had won the Coastal Athletic Association Coach of the Year award his first season with W&M in 2019-2020 with a record of 21-10, but the team’s performance has suffered since, with a 35-80 mark over the past four years.
Fischer signed on with a base salary of $225,000, although with other incentives and bonuses he made at least $300,000 annually according to Stadium. Other VA coaches have much higher base salaries, like $925,000 for GMU’s head coach.
This news comes as Dartmouth basketball players successfully formed the first ever union for college athletics. In the multibillion dollar college sports industry, coaches make million dollar salaries, while student athletes have no direct salary.

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Feasibility Study Finds Williamsburg Students have Lower SOL Scores

Former Hampton superintendent Jeffery Smith presented his team’s report that explored the possibility of an independent Williamsburg school division. The initiation of the study last summer escalated tensions in the current joint division.
Some of the key findings of the report include Williamsburg students perform worse on average in state testing, and that the cost per student in an independent division would be higher in the short-term than the existing arrangement.
I spoke with the Williamsburg-James City Education Association President and Secretary this week about their takes on the report, and you can listen to our conversation on the latest episode of Triangle Tidbits.
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WJCC School Split Study: Insights from WJCEA Leaders | Triangle Tidbits
Welcome to Triangle Tidbits, where we hear directly from the people behind the headlines of the Historic Triangle’s top news stories. In this week's episode, we dig into the recently released study exploring the feasibility of an independent Williamsburg school division. With…

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7 months ago · JW Caterine

Other Headlines

A Washington Post analysis found anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes at schools more than doubled nationwide over the past several years, with the increase more intense in states like Virginia that have passed laws against LGBTQ+ students.
Dozens of FAST Marines were deployed from Yorktown this week to secure the US Embassy in Haiti amid violent political turmoil in the country. US and other foreign interventions in Haiti have been accused of making conditions worse.
In Richmond last Monday, Pro-Palestine protesters blocked I-95 traffic for several hours. Dozens of bands and musicians also boycotted the SXSW music festival in Austin, TX due to sponsors that support Israel, including Arlington-based RTX.