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Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS)
FCPS is turning the new high school purchased to fix crowding into an Aviation magnet school instead of a high school??
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Anonymous
| We also have Westfield, West Potomac, and West Springfield |
Anonymous
Why are there over a hundred places and businesses called "Westfield" or "Westfields" then? |
Anonymous
Like the Westfields Marriott? Wasn't it there before the high school? |
Anonymous
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Soooo Dr. Reid said it on the community meetings they intended to share "drafty draft" maps for KAA before the open house on Saturday, guessing similar to the release of the Scenario 4 maps that its not happening as promised.
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Anonymous
Where would they share them? Website? Boundary tool? |
Anonymous
| There is a board meeting tonight I think ? |
Anonymous
Are we going to see the "drafty drafts?" They are not on the agenda. |
Anonymous
| WTF is a "drafty draft"? These people are inept. |
Anonymous
| Did she actually say drafty draft? |
Anonymous
Yes those were exact words. |
Anonymous
Reid has used the expression "drafty drafts" multiple times. It's a cutesy term for "garbage work" that would shame a sixth grader. Meanwhile a member of the Board of Supervisors has come out with a blistering criticism of FCPS's purchase of KAA, pointing out the lack of any rigorous analysis or justification for all the taxpayer money being spent: https://myemail.constantcontact.com/CORRECTION--Hundreds-of-Millions-for-a-New-High-School-We-Don-t-Need-and-More.html?soid=1102318968708&aid=-aO4IbDfKhE&fbclid=IwY2xjawNnYSBleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFGQnVRWlI2ZWtRb0R5Q2NLAR4TcpLn_gcL3QzEe0Yc_N3eJeetBYmHupsbmDUS5s822EKuo5heqz2PBL5QQw_aem_ootdsS7TfplxZ1EUi814LQ |
Anonymous
I think we all know Herrity is a little bit cuckoo. |
Anonymous
Or, perhaps, the only voice of reason. |
Anonymous
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Pat Herrity's article ("Hundreds of Millions for a High School We Don't Need"):
"Over the summer, Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) spent $150 million to acquire the nearly 33-acre King Abdullah Academy private school campus in Herndon. At the time of the purchase, the School Board was unsure what they were going to use the school for, what the cost of conversion would be, and shared no analysis of the annual operating cost or whether a new school is really needed. This purchase comes as the County faces a $270 million shortfall in FY 2027. The school was purchased with Economic Development Authority bonds outside of FCPS's normal bonding capacity and without a formal discussion with the Board of Supervisors. This purchase will clearly impact the school system’s renovation queue and ongoing bonding capacity. I had the opportunity to briefly tour the school and it is beautiful with outstanding athletic facilities – three gyms and an eight-lane pool. Unfortunately, the school is actually six schools in one with an elementary school, middle school and high school for boys and the same on the other half of the building for girls – essentially six schools in one. My major concerns with the purchase are as follows: The steep conversion costs which were not analyzed before purchase. Because it is really six schools in one, the cost to convert it to a new high school will be significant. Preliminary FCPS cost estimates to convert the property into a high school are over $62 million dollars, resulting in over $200 million for a fully functioning high school while the current Capital Improvement Program (“CIP”) lists the price at $160M. The early estimates do not include the costs for the athletic facilities, including the need to add a football stadium as we have at our traditional high schools. I am not aware of any analysis of conversion costs that was done prior to the purchase. There is no documented need for a new high school. High school enrollment has been declining and is projected to continue to decline. Recent FCPS CIPs repeatedly state that a new Western High School is intended to relieve overcrowding in six high schools: Centreville, Chantilly, Westfield, Oakton, South Lakes, and Herndon (see CIP FY 2015-2019, CIP FY 2016-2020, CIP FY 2017-2021, CIP FY 2018-2022, CIP FY 2019-2023, CIP FY 2020-2024, CIP FY 2021-2025, CIP FY 2022-2026). However, three of those six high schools now have empty seats according to monthly enrollment data. These six high schools have a design capacity of 15,757 students and a program capacity of 15,467 students. Since 2019, the combined enrollment projection of all six schools has been consistently greater than their combined actual enrollment. This shows that even if some schools are overcrowded or undercapacity, the difference can be accommodated within existing high schools. As of September 2025, there were 431 empty seats in these six high schools according to program capacity and 721 empty seats according to design capacity. Based on FCPS’s latest CIP projections for FY 2026-FY2030, by 2030 we’ll have 1254 empty seats (program capacity) and 1544 empty seats (design capacity), without building a Western High School. The County’s declining enrollment at the elementary school level indicates we won’t need additional capacity at the high school level for at least the next 10 years, a trend Prince William County is also acknowledging. Members of the Superintendent’s Boundary Review Advisory Committee have raised these concerns regarding declining student population and existing capacity. It seems that these concerns have fallen on deaf ears at the School Board. If there is a determined need for additional seats, it can be met by current vacancies and/or expansions at existing schools in the renovation queue. There were no concrete plans for the school prior to its purchase. In late August (post purchase), the School Board was still torn between a traditional neighborhood high school, traditional HS with academies, a school within a school, a traditional yet unique organizational framework, and a magnet high school. (Fairfax school board torn). As of last week, the School Board was still trying to figure out what they would be doing with their new over $200M “shiny new school building.” I have heard that, “there are all kinds of possibilities” and “we don’t have any concrete plans.” No one has discussed the increase in operational costs for a new high school. As far as I have seen or heard, there still have been no estimates, conversations or discussions on what the increased operational costs will be for the new school. These would include new facilities staff, new high school administrative staff, new equipment, not to mention the cost to run the new athletic facilities with pools being one of the most expensive sports facilities to run. With pending budget difficulties, the increase in operational costs should have been a part of the analysis prior to purchasing the property. This increase in operating costs will compete with teacher raises and other classroom needs. Dismayed by the rhetoric that is being shared. I am perhaps most dismayed by the misleading rhetoric shared by FCPS on how much is being “saved” with the purchase of the building, even though it is more expensive than all past estimates for a western high school. Further, the purchase is being justified as necessary to relieve overcrowding, a problem that enrollment data shows does not exist. While the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors has no authority over operational decisions made by the elected Fairfax County School Board, I’m sharing my thoughts on this issue with you because the Board of Supervisors annually allocates over half of the County budget to FCPS. Funding our schools is critically important, but equally important is making sure that the funding is going toward real needs. All projections show our birthrate declining and incoming kindergarten classes shrinking, we should be looking at capital projects that address renovations to existing school buildings, rather than increasing capacity with hefty investments. If FCPS is going to spend over $200 million on the purchase and renovation of a new school during a difficult economy, our student enrollment data should indicate a significant need. Sadly, it doesn’t. Where to go from here. Before FCPS sinks an additional $62+ million into this property, it should complete an analysis of all conversion costs, including athletic facilities, all additional operational costs, including new staff, maintenance costs and administrators, and perform a thorough analysis of enrollment projections. Once completed, these estimates should be compared to the ability and cost to meet the enrollment demand through renovations and/or expansions at existing high schools. Only then will the School Board and residents know whether the property should be retained and improved, repurposed or sold. Over the next couple of months, I’ll be sharing more information with you on budget considerations, including a closer look at the FCPS CIP. Increasingly the CIP is being used to meet Board-directed environmental goals (some of which make sense and have reasonable payback periods) and other Board agenda items with renovations being further delayed. We can’t wait until next spring to start thinking about reducing County spending. The School Board will meet again to discuss the plans for the new school during New Business at its Thursday October 23 School Board meeting. Please consider contacting your School Board member and the At-Large School Board Members to share your feedback." |
Anonymous
You'd think they would at least do the bare minimum to get the numbers right. To get the $62 million dollar figure they are combining the top end of Erik Gordon's $30-$50 million "all in" number (which he came to by upping the $4.2 million each for the two extra buildings to $12 million plus $20 million, "maybe less for a traditional school"). So they are double counting the $12 million for those buildings by adding it back into the highest $50 million all-in value which was the extra conservative number in case it was to be turned into an expensive academy school with specialized equipment. |