News for New Kent County and Charles City County, Virginia | February 27, 2026
New Kent survives upset scare from Heritage, escapes with one-point win
Survive and advance. Sometimes it’s simple like that when it comes to playoff basketball. New Kent’s Trojans withstood a late rally as they edged the visiting Heritage Hurricanes 51-50 in the Feb. 24 Region 3A quarterfinal contest. Early on, the eighth-seeded Hurricanes looked to take advantage of a Trojans’ team that did not have sharpshooter Marty Wray for the contest. A three by Mehki Watkins sparked a 7-2 run out the gate for the visitors from Newport News. New Kent responded back, with Deven Bailey’s back-to-back baskets highlighting a 6-2 spurt, but another Heritage 9-2 run launched them into a…
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New Kent benefits from Tabb’s free throw woes, advances to regional semifinals
New Kent’s Lady Trojans knew the visiting Tabb Lady Tigers would not let a win come easy during the Feb. 24 Region 3A quarterfinal contest. But it was the woes of the visitors that allowed New Kent to advance to the next round. Capitalizing off free throw woes by Tabb, New Kent defeated Tabb 45-36 to advance to the regional semifinals. New Kent led 15-7 after the first quarter thanks to the shooting of Delaney Montgomery and Anna Hetzel. The lead remained eight at the break, mostly due to Vyktorya Otey’s eight points in the second quarter to keep New…
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Preliminary budget numbers for New Kent Schools focus on addressing district’s growth
New Kent County’s School Board received its first look at preliminary figures for the FY2026-27 budget. And while no overall figure has been released, it’s evident that the focus on this year is trying to have staff to accommodate the additional growth of the school system. Director of Finance Haynie Morgheim presented figures based on an Average Daily Membership (ADM) of 3,620 students. New Kent’s Local Composite Index (LCI) is .455, leading to the expectation that the school district will receive $1,736,692 more in state funding. Morgheim is recommending $1.2 million be requested to assist with operations. The one-to-one technology…
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Burnetts stepping away from New Kent High School volleyball sidelines after 38 years
After 34 years on the sidelines, a powerhouse couple who guided New Kent’s Lady Trojans’ volleyball teams to several state appearances is stepping away from the sideline. Stuart and Cynthia Burnett are handing over the reins after 38 years of coaching. The journey for the duo began in November 1988 with the goal to build the volleyball program from the ground up to make it a respective team. The Burnetts turned the concept of team into the program. Cynthia notched 525 wins as the head coach from 1988-2021, while husband Stuart garnered 73 wins leading the helm from 2022-2025. The…
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Charles City School Board approves $8.9 million budget for FY2026-27
Charles City’s School Board approved an $8.9 million budget for the FY2026-27 school year. School board members voted 4-0 to approve the budget and send it to county leaders for consideration and adoption at the Feb. 17 meeting. At-large member Royce Paige was not present at the meeting. Otey’s budget proposal is centered around compensating teachers and support services. Among those services include two part-time math interventionists at each school ($74,604), a part-time reading interventionist ($74,604), in-school instructional coaches for teacher support ($161,464), an additional math teacher at each school at ($84,874), and stipends for teachers writing curriculum ($34,448). Otey’s…
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