8/27 APS Work Session—Elementary Boundaries

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Option locations will be decided in December/January, and then in the spring they’ll be reviewing projections. Boundaries will be redrawn next fall.

Was this timeline stated somewhere? When I called APS a month or two ago, they said the new zones would be decided this winter and in time for the Spring school open houses.

It was in last night’s presentation.

Thanks. I’m watching it now. If anyone knows around what point it occurs in the meeting I would appreciate knowing.

I looked at the presentation online. The actual drawing of boundaries process is fall/winter 2020. It is confusing because they have all this other stuff happening before then — namely whether to move schools. Which they are conflating as part of the boundary process.

[Anonymous]

Is the moving schools part this fall/winter?

[Anonymous]

I am watching it now and the conversation re. boundary timeline and process starts at about 1:24.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am watching it now and the conversation re. boundary timeline and process starts at about 1:24.

P.P. Here. Reid seems to be the only one with any sense in this meeting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which buildings are you thinking of that are currently for sale and don't have existing tenants?

Why do they have to buy the buildings? That would add to the time and capital cost. They would just need to lease full floors and ensure isolated access to the school floors (dedicated elevators). I'm not saying it's easy but it allows flexibility that traditional campuses don't allow. How long was Reed coming? Alternatively, why not comingle say a school and a library on different floors?

There are also plenty of examples of developers willing to give a building or land in order to get a right of way ect and they are always turned down. If there was a will there would be a way and building conversation whether it be office to modular units or schools are not as expensive as we think if we don't shoot for the stars over design issues like we tend to do. I think the real problem is parents unwilling to see their kids in an office building.

Such as?

DP - there were two during the S outh Arlington Working Group period: Dominion Arms across from TJ where Fleet was built, and Vornado in Pentagon City.

Uh, no. They weren’t proposing giving away office or apartment buildings. They were proposing giving vacant land for schools, in exchange for bonus density. APS would be on the hook to construct buildings on that land. The county attorney says that’s not allowed, but they can give donations to the AH fund or build units of AH within luxury properties to get the additional density. Vornado no longer exists, and JBG Smith isn’t going to give away any land in National Landing for either schools OR affordable housing.

The county attorney keeps saying it’s not allowed, but as far as I know has refused to provide a written opinion to that effect, and I believe other nearby jurisdictions have done this. But either way, that’s not within the SB’s control because it’s a county decision rather than an APS decision.

[Anonymous]

We need the county to cough up land. Let APS build an elementary school next to the Central Library. Take the 11 acres up at Jamestown and add some kind of seats. We are beyond the point to say “oh they don’t need middle school seats here or there.” Put a middle school at Jamestown. Take advantage of Williamsburg being so close to Yorktown. Put Grades 8 and 9 there. We need more classrooms. At all levels.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We need the county to cough up land. Let APS build an elementary school next to the Central Library. Take the 11 acres up at Jamestown and add some kind of seats. We are beyond the point to say “oh they don’t need middle school seats here or there.” Put a middle school at Jamestown. Take advantage of Williamsburg being so close to Yorktown. Put Grades 8 and 9 there. We need more classrooms. At all levels.

“I’m going to toss out there whatever pops into my head without any consideration of feasibility, effectiveness or costs!”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We need the county to cough up land. Let APS build an elementary school next to the Central Library. Take the 11 acres up at Jamestown and add some kind of seats. We are beyond the point to say “oh they don’t need middle school seats here or there.” Put a middle school at Jamestown. Take advantage of Williamsburg being so close to Yorktown. Put Grades 8 and 9 there. We need more classrooms. At all levels.

“I’m going to toss out there whatever pops into my head without any consideration of feasibility, effectiveness or costs!”

What part isn’t feasible? What would be more costly than the traditional options we no longer have? And on what planet is any solution not going to cost a lot of money?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We need the county to cough up land. Let APS build an elementary school next to the Central Library. Take the 11 acres up at Jamestown and add some kind of seats. We are beyond the point to say “oh they don’t need middle school seats here or there.” Put a middle school at Jamestown. Take advantage of Williamsburg being so close to Yorktown. Put Grades 8 and 9 there. We need more classrooms. At all levels.

“I’m going to toss out there whatever pops into my head without any consideration of feasibility, effectiveness or costs!”

What part isn’t feasible? What would be more costly than the traditional options we no longer have? And on what planet is any solution not going to cost a lot of money?

Jamestown sits right in the middle of the parcel. There’s no way to add a middle school to the site without eliminating the elementary school, and then you’d need massive renovations/additions to convert it into a proper middle school, which they would then struggle to fill without crazy boundaries and skyrocketing transportation costs.

I swear, there are an awful lot of people on this board who seemingly have zero concept of a budget.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We need the county to cough up land. Let APS build an elementary school next to the Central Library. Take the 11 acres up at Jamestown and add some kind of seats. We are beyond the point to say “oh they don’t need middle school seats here or there.” Put a middle school at Jamestown. Take advantage of Williamsburg being so close to Yorktown. Put Grades 8 and 9 there. We need more classrooms. At all levels.

“I’m going to toss out there whatever pops into my head without any consideration of feasibility, effectiveness or costs!”

What part isn’t feasible? What would be more costly than the traditional options we no longer have? And on what planet is any solution not going to cost a lot of money?

Jamestown sits right in the middle of the parcel. There’s no way to add a middle school to the site without eliminating the elementary school, and then you’d need massive renovations/additions to convert it into a proper middle school, which they would then struggle to fill without crazy boundaries and skyrocketing transportation costs.

I swear, there are an awful lot of people on this board who seemingly have zero concept of a budget.

I’m sorry your kids go to Jamestown. But it is sitting on 11 acres. APS needs to make better use of that land. Or what parcel of land in the middle of the county do you propose they build another school on? We need more than whatever they will put at the career center.

So come on, what’s your great idea?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We need the county to cough up land. Let APS build an elementary school next to the Central Library. Take the 11 acres up at Jamestown and add some kind of seats. We are beyond the point to say “oh they don’t need middle school seats here or there.” Put a middle school at Jamestown. Take advantage of Williamsburg being so close to Yorktown. Put Grades 8 and 9 there. We need more classrooms. At all levels.

“I’m going to toss out there whatever pops into my head without any consideration of feasibility, effectiveness or costs!”

What part isn’t feasible? What would be more costly than the traditional options we no longer have? And on what planet is any solution not going to cost a lot of money?

Jamestown sits right in the middle of the parcel. There’s no way to add a middle school to the site without eliminating the elementary school, and then you’d need massive renovations/additions to convert it into a proper middle school, which they would then struggle to fill without crazy boundaries and skyrocketing transportation costs.

I swear, there are an awful lot of people on this board who seemingly have zero concept of a budget.

I’m sorry your kids go to Jamestown. But it is sitting on 11 acres. APS needs to make better use of that land. Or what parcel of land in the middle of the county do you propose they build another school on? We need more than whatever they will put at the career center.

So come on, what’s your great idea?

My kids don’t go to Jamestown, but nice try at deflecting from your lack of substantive response to my point.

[Anonymous]

As someone who goes to the Reed meetings, I can vouch that there are a lot of neighborhood old people who will lay down in front of option school buses in Westover. I also think the optics of making a new huge school in a walkable area an option school are bad. I'll grab the popcorn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As someone who goes to the Reed meetings, I can vouch that there are a lot of neighborhood old people who will lay down in front of option school buses in Westover. I also think the optics of making a new huge school in a walkable area an option school are bad. I'll grab the popcorn.

Well Reed hasn’t broken ground. May scrap the whole thing and build a new school somewhere better situated?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As someone who goes to the Reed meetings, I can vouch that there are a lot of neighborhood old people who will lay down in front of option school buses in Westover. I also think the optics of making a new huge school in a walkable area an option school are bad. I'll grab the popcorn.

Why are people scared?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As someone who goes to the Reed meetings, I can vouch that there are a lot of neighborhood old people who will lay down in front of option school buses in Westover. I also think the optics of making a new huge school in a walkable area an option school are bad. I'll grab the popcorn.

Well, the joke's on them then, wait til they see all the cars that drive to a "walkable" neighborhood school on a rainy or cold day.

But seriously, that neighborhood blocked a school from being sited at the Westover parcel years ago, and instead we got the shortsighted plan to build Discovery. They shouldn't get to dictate what happens now and they shouldn't get special promises or treatment.