Mythical Western HS

[Anonymous]

At the work session on the CIP today, the interim head of Facilities said that a brokerage firm to identify potential sites had only been retained within the last month or two.

Pekarsky said she didn't think a 3000-student Centreville was an appropriate long-term solution.

So Centreville gets built out to 3000 under the current draft CIP, but she still wants a new western high school that would leave Centreville with EXCESS capacity.

Elsewhere, other overcrowded schools are left with less capacity and no plan to build in the redundancy of additional seats + an additional school.

They are still as incompetent as ever.

[Anonymous]

Yep, sorry Centreville. Enjoy your 3000-student factory. They'll waste money on a real estate broker to identify sites just like they waste money on their equity consultants, but that school won't get built for decades, if ever.

[Anonymous]

During the meeting a board member asked the status. Answer was the firm they hired , could not locate a parcel of land for site acquisition. They did say that a couple of current school properties (elementary?)had enough land to consider. They may possibly consider a non traditional site- like a commercial building.

This is interesting.

Does Franklin middle or Carson have enough land to become a secondary? I see lots of trees adjacent to both schools on map.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

During the meeting a board member asked the status. Answer was the firm they hired , could not locate a parcel of land for site acquisition. They did say that a couple of current school properties (elementary?)had enough land to consider. They may possibly consider a non traditional site- like a commercial building.

This is interesting.

Does Franklin middle or Carson have enough land to become a secondary? I see lots of trees adjacent to both schools on map.

Franklin and Carson have more land than some high schools, but not nearly as much land as the secondary schools (Hayfield, Lake Braddock, and Robinson).

I think what they were referring to was finding a smaller area to which an ES could be relocated, and then building a high school at one of the elementary schools in western Fairfax that has as much acreage as some high schools. Bull Run, Hutchison, Virginia Run, and Willow Springs all fall in that category (i.e., all four have more land than Justice HS, and Bull Run and Hutchison have more land than quite a few current high schools).

But they aren't going to mention Hutchison by name, because they know it sets off one group in particular.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

During the meeting a board member asked the status. Answer was the firm they hired , could not locate a parcel of land for site acquisition. They did say that a couple of current school properties (elementary?)had enough land to consider. They may possibly consider a non traditional site- like a commercial building.

This is interesting.

Does Franklin middle or Carson have enough land to become a secondary? I see lots of trees adjacent to both schools on map.

Franklin and Carson have more land than some high schools, but not nearly as much land as the secondary schools (Hayfield, Lake Braddock, and Robinson).

I think what they were referring to was finding a smaller area to which an ES could be relocated, and then building a high school at one of the elementary schools in western Fairfax that has as much acreage as some high schools. Bull Run, Hutchison, Virginia Run, and Willow Springs all fall in that category (i.e., all four have more land than Justice HS, and Bull Run and Hutchison have more land than quite a few current high schools).

But they aren't going to mention Hutchison by name, because they know it sets off one group in particular.

And, Hutchison is in a terrible location for a Western High school. The traffic would be unbearable and it is not in a good location to give relief to the schools that need it: Chantilly and Centreville.

There are no alternative routes in and out and no potential for any.

[Anonymous]

I think Bull Run Elementary is a good idea. It could alleviate some of the crowding at Centreville and Chantilly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

During the meeting a board member asked the status. Answer was the firm they hired , could not locate a parcel of land for site acquisition. They did say that a couple of current school properties (elementary?)had enough land to consider. They may possibly consider a non traditional site- like a commercial building.

This is interesting.

Does Franklin middle or Carson have enough land to become a secondary? I see lots of trees adjacent to both schools on map.

Franklin and Carson have more land than some high schools, but not nearly as much land as the secondary schools (Hayfield, Lake Braddock, and Robinson).

I think what they were referring to was finding a smaller area to which an ES could be relocated, and then building a high school at one of the elementary schools in western Fairfax that has as much acreage as some high schools. Bull Run, Hutchison, Virginia Run, and Willow Springs all fall in that category (i.e., all four have more land than Justice HS, and Bull Run and Hutchison have more land than quite a few current high schools).

But they aren't going to mention Hutchison by name, because they know it sets off one group in particular.

And, Hutchison is in a terrible location for a Western High school. The traffic would be unbearable and it is not in a good location to give relief to the schools that need it: Chantilly and Centreville.

There are no alternative routes in and out and no potential for any.

You just proved the prior point. Just mention the name "Hutchison" and....

However, land is at a premium and Hutchison has almost four times as much land as a typical ES and more acreage than Annandale, Centreville, Chantilly, Justice, Lewis, Madison, McLean, or West Springfield HS.

But, in theory, maybe they could do something at Bull Run ES, which has a little bit more acreage than Hutchison, instead. A typical ES has about 13 acres and Bull Run has 41.

[Anonymous]

You just proved the prior point. Just mention the name "Hutchison" and....

That's because it makes no sense. I've not seen anyone defend it--except maybe for those at Herndon who don't need it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

You just proved the prior point. Just mention the name "Hutchison" and....

That's because it makes no sense. I've not seen anyone defend it--except maybe for those at Herndon who don't need it.

Blah blah blah.

Everyone knows it's not the ideal location. However, they'd still end up with a high school that's not as close to another high school as Oakton is now to Madison.

You'd have to shift more boundaries to achieve the intended relief at Centreville and Chantilly.

And you'd have some parents worried about getting moved to a lower rated school (whether it's to the new school or to Herndon) throwing a fit.

But, unless they do something somewhere in western Fairfax, with the growth expected near the new Silver Line stations, the future is massive schools where kids will be widgets in 3000-student educational factories. When it became public that this is what they now have in mind for Centreville, there were many people there (so not "those at Herndon who don't need it") who said it sounded awful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think Bull Run Elementary is a good idea. It could alleviate some of the crowding at Centreville and Chantilly.

Have you seen the backup of traffic onto 29 every morning during carpool time? I have, and it's horrible. There is literally no way to walk or even ride a bike to the school, and that's with a late start time after many people have already gotten on the road. I agree a HS in that area wouldn't be a bad idea but that particular location is terrible.

[Anonymous]

It seems there would be a need to work with traffic engineers at any site considered.

Of course, if we just load up existing schools with ever more students it's not like that does not also place a big strain on the existing transportation infrastructure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think Bull Run Elementary is a good idea. It could alleviate some of the crowding at Centreville and Chantilly.

Have you seen the backup of traffic onto 29 every morning during carpool time? I have, and it's horrible. There is literally no way to walk or even ride a bike to the school, and that's with a late start time after many people have already gotten on the road. I agree a HS in that area wouldn't be a bad idea but that particular location is terrible.

And the traffic at Centreville High is just as bad. There's no good answer, but we need another damn high school over here.

[Anonymous]

It would likely cost a small fortune to acquire and redevelop but I always thought Fair Lakes, with all those vacancies and service parking lots east of the County parkway could be a site.

[Anonymous]

It's terrible that FCPS has allowed the high school experience at so many schools to deteriorate through bad planning, and 3000-student high schools is not the answer.

I realize they have a finite capital budget and that it's hard to find land, but they have consistently failed to prioritize relief at the county's most overcrowded schools while slavishly adhering to an out-of-date renovation queue and departing from that queue only to build additions at a few schools (such as Justice and Madison) that are NOT among the county's most overcrowded. It's hyperbole to say people should be in jail, but there are people who are still working or used to work at FCPS who should have been terminated for cause years ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's terrible that FCPS has allowed the high school experience at so many schools to deteriorate through bad planning, and 3000-student high schools is not the answer.

I realize they have a finite capital budget and that it's hard to find land, but they have consistently failed to prioritize relief at the county's most overcrowded schools while slavishly adhering to an out-of-date renovation queue and departing from that queue only to build additions at a few schools (such as Justice and Madison) that are NOT among the county's most overcrowded. It's hyperbole to say people should be in jail, but there are people who are still working or used to work at FCPS who should have been terminated for cause years ago.

Then, why are people so happy with Chantilly?