APS Families--Pls email county and school boards by Tues. 5/24!!

[Anonymous]

I just keep wondering whether the message sunk in to the County Board that their plans for continuing to increase density are likely to impact the schools so that instead of 6.400 elementary, middle and high school seats needed in the next ten years it could be 10,000 - and that is before the plans are implemented to develop all of Lee Highway. If the school population trends and the increased density continue - and that certainly seems likely - then how can there not be a fourth high school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Did you hear the eagerness in the school board member who was marveling at how economic a solution flex scheduling is?

Hey, how about the high schools get APS and county space for classrooms during the school day, and school and county employees work a flex schedule -- late and early shifts?

This is really depressing. If we had acted earlier, could we have made them find the land to build a 4th high school?

You can't make them find land. There's only so much in Arlington.

Had parents been willing to compromise more, it might (MIGHT) have been possible to earn the county's goodwill by reducing demands for funds and land: Affordable housing on the Buck property, a high school (or building that included a high school) on the VHC property. Giving up 1:1 and FLES, going back to early release but providing a bigger subsidy for extended day for low-income households.

Every time you demand that the county "fully fund" a bloated budget, you're cementing your reputation as grabby.

It is NOT grabby to see a high school deficit of 2,700 seats and think "hey, a new high school would be appropriate here." It is not grabby to think flex scheduling and internet learning are not good enough solutions to a seat crisis when we have just committed to spending $100M on 750 high school seats.

I just hope that HB has to implement double shifts and internet learning too. For $100M for so few students, they should have triple shifts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just keep wondering whether the message sunk in to the County Board that their plans for continuing to increase density are likely to impact the schools so that instead of 6.400 elementary, middle and high school seats needed in the next ten years it could be 10,000 - and that is before the plans are implemented to develop all of Lee Highway. If the school population trends and the increased density continue - and that certainly seems likely - then how can there not be a fourth high school?

You put APAH, AHC, Nauck people, FARMS, and illegals into the 5:00 AM, 9:00 PM, and "online remedial" classes. Make things so bad that they leave for Southeast DC or Prince William County, and take their minimal votes with them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I just hope that HB has to implement double shifts and internet learning too. For $100M for so few students, they should have triple shifts.

They should not be building that space to anything less than max capacity. If the HB program can't survive expansion, shut it down. (But I am betting that faced with no program or a 1300-student program, HB would suddenly declare that 1300 students can work.)

[Anonymous]

Yes, I agree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just keep wondering whether the message sunk in to the County Board that their plans for continuing to increase density are likely to impact the schools so that instead of 6.400 elementary, middle and high school seats needed in the next ten years it could be 10,000 - and that is before the plans are implemented to develop all of Lee Highway. If the school population trends and the increased density continue - and that certainly seems likely - then how can there not be a fourth high school?

You put APAH, AHC, Nauck people, FARMS, and illegals into the 5:00 AM, 9:00 PM, and "online remedial" classes. Make things so bad that they leave for Southeast DC or Prince William County, and take their minimal votes with them.

GTFO you troll. Adults are trying to have a conversation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, looks like it's private for us.

a win win win for you and both the County Board an School Board.

Not really. Because in order to facilitate our doing this, we'll sell our house and move to a less costly area. And the family that will surely replace us, given the number of bedrooms we have, will be at least as large as ours, but probably larger given the trend I've seen unfolding in our neighborhood. Not my problem anymore, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Did you hear the eagerness in the school board member who was marveling at how economic a solution flex scheduling is?

Hey, how about the high schools get APS and county space for classrooms during the school day, and school and county employees work a flex schedule -- late and early shifts?

This is really depressing. If we had acted earlier, could we have made them find the land to build a 4th high school?

You can't make them find land. There's only so much in Arlington.

Had parents been willing to compromise more, it might (MIGHT) have been possible to earn the county's goodwill by reducing demands for funds and land: Affordable housing on the Buck property, a high school (or building that included a high school) on the VHC property. Giving up 1:1 and FLES, going back to early release but providing a bigger subsidy for extended day for low-income households.

Every time you demand that the county "fully fund" a bloated budget, you're cementing your reputation as grabby.

It is NOT grabby to see a high school deficit of 2,700 seats and think "hey, a new high school would be appropriate here." It is not grabby to think flex scheduling and internet learning are not good enough solutions to a seat crisis when we have just committed to spending $100M on 750 high school seats.

How about we just scrap HB and allocate that money towards a 4th high school?

I just hope that HB has to implement double shifts and internet learning too. For $100M for so few students, they should have triple shifts.

[Anonymous]

Yawn. Schools seem fine to me.

Signed,

Parent of first grader with plans to move in two years.

[Anonymous]

Can everyone stop complaining about H-B? The board would have built a neighborhood middle school at the Wilson site with 1,000 or 1,300 seats. They would have moved H-B to the Reed site (with an addition there). They would have done lots of things, but H-B is where it is and the size it is because everyone lost their shit about the other options. These included putting a 1,000+ seat school at Wilson, putting a middle school in Westover, putting additions on all of the middle schools, and leaving H-B where it is. Everyone HATED those options more, so this is the one we got.

The Wilson site is urban and it is expensive to build up--way more expensive once you get past a couple of stories, so its hard to go bigger given the space needs of the Stratford program, which needs a lot of square footage per kid because the students have special needs and very high staff ratios. It's not exactly equivalent to other buildings.

I wish people had memories that went back more than six months.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yawn. Schools seem fine to me.

Signed,

Parent of first grader with plans to move in two years.

Why bother posting this? This adds absolutely nothing to the purpose of this thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yawn. Schools seem fine to me.

Signed,

Parent of first grader with plans to move in two years.

Why bother posting this? This adds absolutely nothing to the purpose of this thread.

I didn't post that and I agree that it is unhelpful, but I understand the sentiment. I don't want to ever leave Arlington, but reading all of this definitely makes me question our decision. I think most things will work out fine, but you guys make it sound scary.

[Anonymous]

Just curious. Does anyone have any sense how much a brand new high school would cost? I know that last meeting sounded discouraging but I thought at the end of the slides (still want to know what deck they were using since tuned in late to meeting on tv) they mentioned examining VHC property.

I just want to know how much that would cost v. the HB Woodlawn construction. Yes, PP, i know that there was a battle over the Stafford land some months back. But, it still doesn't make much sense to allocate almost $100 million for 775 seats when there are so many kids all across Arlington who won't have adequate space in their schools.

Why should we prop up such a small number of kids (who were just lucky in some random lottery drawing) when all kids need basic classrooms/schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just curious. Does anyone have any sense how much a brand new high school would cost? I know that last meeting sounded discouraging but I thought at the end of the slides (still want to know what deck they were using since tuned in late to meeting on tv) they mentioned examining VHC property.

I just want to know how much that would cost v. the HB Woodlawn construction. Yes, PP, i know that there was a battle over the Stafford land some months back. But, it still doesn't make much sense to allocate almost $100 million for 775 seats when there are so many kids all across Arlington who won't have adequate space in their schools.

Why should we prop up such a small number of kids (who were just lucky in some random lottery drawing) when all kids need basic classrooms/schools?

The Stratford program needs to go somewhere, and the middle school and high school kids at H-B need to go somewhere. And the Wilson space is one of the spaces available. So if putting H-B and Stratford there is coming off the table, people need to figure out:

a) where does the Stratford program go, and what will it cost to configure that space, and how it will be done in time for the new middle school to open at the current Stratford location
b) what impact does moving the 200 middle school kids back into their neighborhood schools have on seat deficits and how will it be addressed
c) what impact does moving the 400 high school kids back into their neighborhood schools have on seat deficits and how will it be addressed
d) what are we going to do with the Wilson site, and at what cost, and what effect does it have on north Arlington boundaries, and what is the timing of the changes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just curious. Does anyone have any sense how much a brand new high school would cost? I know that last meeting sounded discouraging but I thought at the end of the slides (still want to know what deck they were using since tuned in late to meeting on tv) they mentioned examining VHC property.

I just want to know how much that would cost v. the HB Woodlawn construction. Yes, PP, i know that there was a battle over the Stafford land some months back. But, it still doesn't make much sense to allocate almost $100 million for 775 seats when there are so many kids all across Arlington who won't have adequate space in their schools.

Why should we prop up such a small number of kids (who were just lucky in some random lottery drawing) when all kids need basic classrooms/schools?

This is the price we are paying for north Arlington to have a new walkable middle school. We could have spent $100 million for 1000 seats at Wilson, but are moving H-B and Stratford instead, because the neighborhoods wanted the choice program and the special needs program moved to the urban site. And now, of course, we're spending endless hours debating where to put the driveway for drop offs for the new walkable school.