FCPS Boundary Review Updates

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We don't need ANOTHER high school need near Tysons, we need a high school in western Fairfax county.

DP. Then your first step should be talking them out of expanding Centreville to 3000 seats. That is the final nail in the coffin of a new western HS.

Centerville and further out is one of the few places in Fairfax County that has land available for development.

Expanding Centerville HS is one of the few forward thinking facilities planning that Gatehouse has done in recent years.

Every high school in FCPS that’s been renovated for a long time has been expanded, regardless of need. The only thing different about Centreville is the scale of the expansion (to 3000 compared to 2500 at a lot of schools and closer to 2650 at Oakton and 2750 at Herndon). It would create enough excess capacity to absorb some students at Chantilly and/or Fairfax and also basically kill off any new HS in western Fairfax. Just the Centreville renovation and expansion to that size alone would soak up most of the capital budget for years, and then the money would flow further east, not to another high school in western Fairfax.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We don't need ANOTHER high school need near Tysons, we need a high school in western Fairfax county.

DP. Then your first step should be talking them out of expanding Centreville to 3000 seats. That is the final nail in the coffin of a new western HS.

We all know why we don’t have a western high school and who has been pushing against any investment in addressing capacity.

Armstrong ES is projected to have 41% capacity in five years. Will the new Thru threshold be 45%-105% in five years? For no particular reason at all?

And if you get your wish, and the Centreville HS expansion is shut down, kids right next door will be bussed across Fairfax city to attend Fairfax high instead of attending the school right next door.

But your kids will attend Langley high and not Herndon. We see how this works.

I’m not at Langley and would have fully supported a new western HS.

But they’ve already expanded Langley, Madison, Oakton, South Lakes, and Herndon, and have a big expansion of Centreville planned now. All six of those schools serve kids in western Fairfax, even if not in western Fairfax themselves.

These expansions and expansion plans are inconsistent with a new western HS, which is why I suggest you advocate for scaling back (not eliminating) the Centreville expansion if you really think a western HS will ever get built.

If all you want is a huge expansion of Centreville to absorb the western part of the Fairfax HS catchment area, then advocate for that and stop talking about a new western HS. While you’re at it, let us know who is going to attend Fairfax, with its 2400 seats, if all these kids move to Centreville.

The expansion should absolutely proceed at Centrevillle HS to allow neighborhoods in western Fairfax that are right next to Centreville HS attend the newly renovated high school next door instead of being bussed across Fairfax city.

As for the bold, there are multiple new developments just down Jermantown road from Providence ES and KJ that are converting commercial sites to residential sites:

The Flint Hill one is currently zoned for Fairfax Providence/KJ/Fairfafx:

https://www.ffxnow.com/2025/02/21/proposed-redevelopments-on-jermantown-road-in-oakton-receive-final-approval/

The AT&T site is commercial land that is currently in the Oakton ES boundary, but is also on Jermantown road (literally across the street from the Flint Hill development) and can be rezoned to Providence/KJ/Fairfax:

https://www.ffxnow.com/2025/02/21/proposed-redevelopments-on-jermantown-road-in-oakton-receive-final-approval/

So, expand Centreville so that in five years, you have capacity to shift adjacent neighborhoods to attend, and Fairfax HS has capacity to meet the conversion of commercial sites to residential sites.

Providence is already almost at full capacity, so no.

In any event you’re just proving that if Centreville gets turned into this 3000-student factory so people who want slots at Oakton to open up see an opportunity, the idea of a new HS in western Fairfax is completely dead (as opposed to the life support it’s been on for many years).

There is a bit of a logical disconnect in your chain of reasoning here. You to realize that you can’t just throw a bunch of provocative ideas in a row and make them link up. There has to be a logical connection.

Nobody is trying to “make room” at Oakton by pointing out that developments that are in progress/planned would fill any capacity loss that Fairfax High experiences if Willow Springs shifts to a renovated Centreville.

And how does that signal the death of the western high school?

Your 2+2 does not equal 4.

Are you really that stupid or do you just play dumb? The western high school has been deferred year after year for almost two decades while schools serving western Fairfax got addition after addition. Those expansions cost a lot of money. And a Centreville expansion - building a school projected to have fewer than 2100 kids in five years - out to 3000 would be the final nail in the coffin, as there would be so much excess capacity in the central and western parts of the county that a new high school in western Fairfax would clearly be beyond the realm of possibility for many more decades to come.

The western high school would relieve capacity for areas north of the areas where I suggested the Centreville expansion is needed to address. How does that make me dumb?

How would moving Willow Springs to a newly renovated Centreville right next door remove the need for capacity relief in western Fairfax north of 66? How does that make me dumb?

How does citing very real residential developments on Jermantown road that are planned/approved/in-progress that will feed into Fairfax HS, which would have capacity with Willow Springs to Centreville, obviate the need for a western high school north and west of that location? How does that make me dumb?

Nothing I have said relieves capacity north of 66. Why are saying the Centreville expansion makes the western high school dead?

Saying that I am dumb does not magically provide a logical underpinning for your unsupported, conclusory statement that the western high school is dead if Centreville gets an expansion. It just makes you look like you don’t have arguments to support your position and need to resort to insults to shout me down.

I already gave you the explanation and all the facts are on my side.

Come back when there’s a scintilla of evidence this western HS is actually getting built with a Centreville expansion to 3000. You have nothing. The position of FCPS staff is that anything that isn’t planned within the next five years can be kicked down the road indefinitely or unilaterally canceled. This HS has been deferred almost two decades and the case for its construction would be weaker than ever with a massive Centreville expansion.

You really do live in a parallel universe that bears no reality to what has actually been going on in FCPS.

I live in this universe where kids who currently attend Willow Springs ES, right next to Centreville HS, deserve to attend a renovated/expanded Centreville HS in five years.

I live in this universe where there are currently two approved/in-progress developments on Jermantown road that are currently commercial sites and will become residential sites that will fill the added capacity in Fairfax HS capacity.

Neither of those things remove the need for a western high school to relieve capacity north of 66.

Arguing against the expansion of Centreville is the same as arguing against sound planning to address both of the above.

What universe do you live in?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We don't need ANOTHER high school need near Tysons, we need a high school in western Fairfax county.

DP. Then your first step should be talking them out of expanding Centreville to 3000 seats. That is the final nail in the coffin of a new western HS.

We all know why we don’t have a western high school and who has been pushing against any investment in addressing capacity.

Armstrong ES is projected to have 41% capacity in five years. Will the new Thru threshold be 45%-105% in five years? For no particular reason at all?

And if you get your wish, and the Centreville HS expansion is shut down, kids right next door will be bussed across Fairfax city to attend Fairfax high instead of attending the school right next door.

But your kids will attend Langley high and not Herndon. We see how this works.

I’m not at Langley and would have fully supported a new western HS.

But they’ve already expanded Langley, Madison, Oakton, South Lakes, and Herndon, and have a big expansion of Centreville planned now. All six of those schools serve kids in western Fairfax, even if not in western Fairfax themselves.

These expansions and expansion plans are inconsistent with a new western HS, which is why I suggest you advocate for scaling back (not eliminating) the Centreville expansion if you really think a western HS will ever get built.

If all you want is a huge expansion of Centreville to absorb the western part of the Fairfax HS catchment area, then advocate for that and stop talking about a new western HS. While you’re at it, let us know who is going to attend Fairfax, with its 2400 seats, if all these kids move to Centreville.

The expansion should absolutely proceed at Centrevillle HS to allow neighborhoods in western Fairfax that are right next to Centreville HS attend the newly renovated high school next door instead of being bussed across Fairfax city.

As for the bold, there are multiple new developments just down Jermantown road from Providence ES and KJ that are converting commercial sites to residential sites:

The Flint Hill one is currently zoned for Fairfax Providence/KJ/Fairfafx:

https://www.ffxnow.com/2025/02/21/proposed-redevelopments-on-jermantown-road-in-oakton-receive-final-approval/

The AT&T site is commercial land that is currently in the Oakton ES boundary, but is also on Jermantown road (literally across the street from the Flint Hill development) and can be rezoned to Providence/KJ/Fairfax:

https://www.ffxnow.com/2025/02/21/proposed-redevelopments-on-jermantown-road-in-oakton-receive-final-approval/

So, expand Centreville so that in five years, you have capacity to shift adjacent neighborhoods to attend, and Fairfax HS has capacity to meet the conversion of commercial sites to residential sites.

Providence is already almost at full capacity, so no.

In any event you’re just proving that if Centreville gets turned into this 3000-student factory so people who want slots at Oakton to open up see an opportunity, the idea of a new HS in western Fairfax is completely dead (as opposed to the life support it’s been on for many years).

There is a bit of a logical disconnect in your chain of reasoning here. You to realize that you can’t just throw a bunch of provocative ideas in a row and make them link up. There has to be a logical connection.

Nobody is trying to “make room” at Oakton by pointing out that developments that are in progress/planned would fill any capacity loss that Fairfax High experiences if Willow Springs shifts to a renovated Centreville.

And how does that signal the death of the western high school?

Your 2+2 does not equal 4.

Are you really that stupid or do you just play dumb? The western high school has been deferred year after year for almost two decades while schools serving western Fairfax got addition after addition. Those expansions cost a lot of money. And a Centreville expansion - building a school projected to have fewer than 2100 kids in five years - out to 3000 would be the final nail in the coffin, as there would be so much excess capacity in the central and western parts of the county that a new high school in western Fairfax would clearly be beyond the realm of possibility for many more decades to come.

The western high school would relieve capacity for areas north of the areas where I suggested the Centreville expansion is needed to address. How does that make me dumb?

How would moving Willow Springs to a newly renovated Centreville right next door remove the need for capacity relief in western Fairfax north of 66? How does that make me dumb?

How does citing very real residential developments on Jermantown road that are planned/approved/in-progress that will feed into Fairfax HS, which would have capacity with Willow Springs to Centreville, obviate the need for a western high school north and west of that location? How does that make me dumb?

Nothing I have said relieves capacity north of 66. Why are saying the Centreville expansion makes the western high school dead?

Saying that I am dumb does not magically provide a logical underpinning for your unsupported, conclusory statement that the western high school is dead if Centreville gets an expansion. It just makes you look like you don’t have arguments to support your position and need to resort to insults to shout me down.

I already gave you the explanation and all the facts are on my side.

Come back when there’s a scintilla of evidence this western HS is actually getting built with a Centreville expansion to 3000. You have nothing. The position of FCPS staff is that anything that isn’t planned within the next five years can be kicked down the road indefinitely or unilaterally canceled. This HS has been deferred almost two decades and the case for its construction would be weaker than ever with a massive Centreville expansion.

You really do live in a parallel universe that bears no reality to what has actually been going on in FCPS.

I live in this universe where kids who currently attend Willow Springs ES, right next to Centreville HS, deserve to attend a renovated/expanded Centreville HS in five years.

I live in this universe where there are currently two approved/in-progress developments on Jermantown road that are currently commercial sites and will become residential sites that will fill the added capacity in Fairfax HS capacity.

Neither of those things remove the need for a western high school to relieve capacity north of 66.

Arguing against the expansion of Centreville is the same as arguing against sound planning to address both of the above.

What universe do you live in?

What you think people in western Fairfax deserve and what they get from FCPS are two different things.

Maybe you could have gotten a new school if you stopped some of these earlier and now planned expansions that collectively will create almost 2000 surplus HS seats at Centreville, Herndon, Madison, and Oakton alone over the next 5-10 years.

But you didn’t, so you won’t.

Dream on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We don't need ANOTHER high school need near Tysons, we need a high school in western Fairfax county.

DP. Then your first step should be talking them out of expanding Centreville to 3000 seats. That is the final nail in the coffin of a new western HS.

We all know why we don’t have a western high school and who has been pushing against any investment in addressing capacity.

Armstrong ES is projected to have 41% capacity in five years. Will the new Thru threshold be 45%-105% in five years? For no particular reason at all?

And if you get your wish, and the Centreville HS expansion is shut down, kids right next door will be bussed across Fairfax city to attend Fairfax high instead of attending the school right next door.

But your kids will attend Langley high and not Herndon. We see how this works.

I’m not at Langley and would have fully supported a new western HS.

But they’ve already expanded Langley, Madison, Oakton, South Lakes, and Herndon, and have a big expansion of Centreville planned now. All six of those schools serve kids in western Fairfax, even if not in western Fairfax themselves.

These expansions and expansion plans are inconsistent with a new western HS, which is why I suggest you advocate for scaling back (not eliminating) the Centreville expansion if you really think a western HS will ever get built.

If all you want is a huge expansion of Centreville to absorb the western part of the Fairfax HS catchment area, then advocate for that and stop talking about a new western HS. While you’re at it, let us know who is going to attend Fairfax, with its 2400 seats, if all these kids move to Centreville.

The expansion should absolutely proceed at Centrevillle HS to allow neighborhoods in western Fairfax that are right next to Centreville HS attend the newly renovated high school next door instead of being bussed across Fairfax city.

As for the bold, there are multiple new developments just down Jermantown road from Providence ES and KJ that are converting commercial sites to residential sites:

The Flint Hill one is currently zoned for Fairfax Providence/KJ/Fairfafx:

https://www.ffxnow.com/2025/02/21/proposed-redevelopments-on-jermantown-road-in-oakton-receive-final-approval/

The AT&T site is commercial land that is currently in the Oakton ES boundary, but is also on Jermantown road (literally across the street from the Flint Hill development) and can be rezoned to Providence/KJ/Fairfax:

https://www.ffxnow.com/2025/02/21/proposed-redevelopments-on-jermantown-road-in-oakton-receive-final-approval/

So, expand Centreville so that in five years, you have capacity to shift adjacent neighborhoods to attend, and Fairfax HS has capacity to meet the conversion of commercial sites to residential sites.

Providence is already almost at full capacity, so no.

In any event you’re just proving that if Centreville gets turned into this 3000-student factory so people who want slots at Oakton to open up see an opportunity, the idea of a new HS in western Fairfax is completely dead (as opposed to the life support it’s been on for many years).

There is a bit of a logical disconnect in your chain of reasoning here. You to realize that you can’t just throw a bunch of provocative ideas in a row and make them link up. There has to be a logical connection.

Nobody is trying to “make room” at Oakton by pointing out that developments that are in progress/planned would fill any capacity loss that Fairfax High experiences if Willow Springs shifts to a renovated Centreville.

And how does that signal the death of the western high school?

Your 2+2 does not equal 4.

Are you really that stupid or do you just play dumb? The western high school has been deferred year after year for almost two decades while schools serving western Fairfax got addition after addition. Those expansions cost a lot of money. And a Centreville expansion - building a school projected to have fewer than 2100 kids in five years - out to 3000 would be the final nail in the coffin, as there would be so much excess capacity in the central and western parts of the county that a new high school in western Fairfax would clearly be beyond the realm of possibility for many more decades to come.

The western high school would relieve capacity for areas north of the areas where I suggested the Centreville expansion is needed to address. How does that make me dumb?

How would moving Willow Springs to a newly renovated Centreville right next door remove the need for capacity relief in western Fairfax north of 66? How does that make me dumb?

How does citing very real residential developments on Jermantown road that are planned/approved/in-progress that will feed into Fairfax HS, which would have capacity with Willow Springs to Centreville, obviate the need for a western high school north and west of that location? How does that make me dumb?

Nothing I have said relieves capacity north of 66. Why are saying the Centreville expansion makes the western high school dead?

Saying that I am dumb does not magically provide a logical underpinning for your unsupported, conclusory statement that the western high school is dead if Centreville gets an expansion. It just makes you look like you don’t have arguments to support your position and need to resort to insults to shout me down.

I already gave you the explanation and all the facts are on my side.

Come back when there’s a scintilla of evidence this western HS is actually getting built with a Centreville expansion to 3000. You have nothing. The position of FCPS staff is that anything that isn’t planned within the next five years can be kicked down the road indefinitely or unilaterally canceled. This HS has been deferred almost two decades and the case for its construction would be weaker than ever with a massive Centreville expansion.

You really do live in a parallel universe that bears no reality to what has actually been going on in FCPS.

I live in this universe where kids who currently attend Willow Springs ES, right next to Centreville HS, deserve to attend a renovated/expanded Centreville HS in five years.

I live in this universe where there are currently two approved/in-progress developments on Jermantown road that are currently commercial sites and will become residential sites that will fill the added capacity in Fairfax HS capacity.

Neither of those things remove the need for a western high school to relieve capacity north of 66.

Arguing against the expansion of Centreville is the same as arguing against sound planning to address both of the above.

What universe do you live in?

What you think people in western Fairfax deserve and what they get from FCPS are two different things.

Maybe you could have gotten a new school if you stopped some of these earlier and now planned expansions that collectively will create almost 2000 surplus HS seats at Centreville, Herndon, Madison, and Oakton alone over the next 5-10 years.

But you didn’t, so you won’t.

Dream on.

This is the reality. Loudoun builds new schools because it has more land and caps the size of its schools. Fairfax has less land and it automatically increases the capacity of its existing high schools whenever a school comes up for renovation. They’ve struggled to find sites for new elementary schools but finding a site for a new high school is damn near impossible.

[Anonymous]

The problem with expanding just because a school is up for renovation is that the expected increase in enrollment sometimes never comes. This moves the burden of capital expansions onto taxpayers now when the need may not arrive for many years, if ever.

Why did they expand West Potomac to 3000 seats when there was plenty of room available next door at Mt. Vernon? They said it was because they expect growth in the Route 1 corridor. But that growth, if it arrives, is years away. The real reason is that the Mt. Vernon School Board member at the time did not want to upset her West Potomac constituents by moving kids to Mt. Vernon. Mt. Vernon now has about 500-600 empty seats. West Potomac has between 300-400 empty seats.

In 2005 Lewis had its design capacity expanded to over 2100, then the School Board turned around immediately and moved kids to South County and West Springfield. Lewis has had excess capacity ever since.

About 10 years later Springfield Estates was expanded. It has local students and is an AAP center. Then the School Board added an AAP center to the Edison pyramid, taking some students out of Springfield Estates. Springfield Estates has had excess capacity ever since.

West Springfield's expansion grew over several CIPs - which seems like false advertising in capital expenditures. The reason was probably to avoid ever rezoning kids to Lewis. Even now WS is close to 300 students over capacity with plenty of seats available at Lewis.

I think the poor management of FCPS started when the School Board became elected as opposed to appointed. The members are too close to the public and many are seeking higher office, so they absolutely refuse to make tough decisions.

Don't expect this poor management to get better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is the “office tower high school in Tysons” being proposed on this thread?

Is someone that concerned about capacity from the Tysons area going to Langley (and the potential domino effect that would have on the northern portion of the current Langley attendance zone) that they would rather cram other people’s kids into an office building than send their own kids to a high school that is geographically closer to where they bought a house?

A bit hypocritical from the “don’t tell other people what to do with their kids” crowd.

DP. I know that you’re a parrot with your MO of moving Langley kids to Herndon, but sometimes it isn’t about you and your extreme agenda.

Touch grass.

I'm starting to think that you don't know what "touch grass" means, you just use it every time you want to mildly insult someone.

Ironic post to call someone out for not knowing a phrase that you yourself don’t know. You should look up a definition before posting incorrect low iq type posts like this. 🙄

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The problem with expanding just because a school is up for renovation is that the expected increase in enrollment sometimes never comes. This moves the burden of capital expansions onto taxpayers now when the need may not arrive for many years, if ever.

Why did they expand West Potomac to 3000 seats when there was plenty of room available next door at Mt. Vernon? They said it was because they expect growth in the Route 1 corridor. But that growth, if it arrives, is years away. The real reason is that the Mt. Vernon School Board member at the time did not want to upset her West Potomac constituents by moving kids to Mt. Vernon. Mt. Vernon now has about 500-600 empty seats. West Potomac has between 300-400 empty seats.

In 2005 Lewis had its design capacity expanded to over 2100, then the School Board turned around immediately and moved kids to South County and West Springfield. Lewis has had excess capacity ever since.

About 10 years later Springfield Estates was expanded. It has local students and is an AAP center. Then the School Board added an AAP center to the Edison pyramid, taking some students out of Springfield Estates. Springfield Estates has had excess capacity ever since.

West Springfield's expansion grew over several CIPs - which seems like false advertising in capital expenditures. The reason was probably to avoid ever rezoning kids to Lewis. Even now WS is close to 300 students over capacity with plenty of seats available at Lewis.

I think the poor management of FCPS started when the School Board became elected as opposed to appointed. The members are too close to the public and many are seeking higher office, so they absolutely refuse to make tough decisions.

Don't expect this poor management to get better.

Who should appoint the school board?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem with expanding just because a school is up for renovation is that the expected increase in enrollment sometimes never comes. This moves the burden of capital expansions onto taxpayers now when the need may not arrive for many years, if ever.

Why did they expand West Potomac to 3000 seats when there was plenty of room available next door at Mt. Vernon? They said it was because they expect growth in the Route 1 corridor. But that growth, if it arrives, is years away. The real reason is that the Mt. Vernon School Board member at the time did not want to upset her West Potomac constituents by moving kids to Mt. Vernon. Mt. Vernon now has about 500-600 empty seats. West Potomac has between 300-400 empty seats.

In 2005 Lewis had its design capacity expanded to over 2100, then the School Board turned around immediately and moved kids to South County and West Springfield. Lewis has had excess capacity ever since.

About 10 years later Springfield Estates was expanded. It has local students and is an AAP center. Then the School Board added an AAP center to the Edison pyramid, taking some students out of Springfield Estates. Springfield Estates has had excess capacity ever since.

West Springfield's expansion grew over several CIPs - which seems like false advertising in capital expenditures. The reason was probably to avoid ever rezoning kids to Lewis. Even now WS is close to 300 students over capacity with plenty of seats available at Lewis.

I think the poor management of FCPS started when the School Board became elected as opposed to appointed. The members are too close to the public and many are seeking higher office, so they absolutely refuse to make tough decisions.

Don't expect this poor management to get better.

Who should appoint the school board?

It was done by the Supervisors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Who should appoint the school board?

Parents with kids in the school system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Who should appoint the school board?

Parents with kids in the school system.

The benefit of having the Supervisors do it (who are obviously elected) is that it is still democratic while also adding one level of buffer to the process. When you elect a Supervisor you are looking at fire, police, libraries, parks, zoning, etc. (plus in the past schools). This makes it a bit easier for SB members to make tough decisions because the voters have to consider all of those things when they are voting for Supervisor, not just one issue (schools).

That being said, we are never going back (it was in the early 1990's that the SB became elected). So school management is NOT going to get better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem with expanding just because a school is up for renovation is that the expected increase in enrollment sometimes never comes. This moves the burden of capital expansions onto taxpayers now when the need may not arrive for many years, if ever.

Why did they expand West Potomac to 3000 seats when there was plenty of room available next door at Mt. Vernon? They said it was because they expect growth in the Route 1 corridor. But that growth, if it arrives, is years away. The real reason is that the Mt. Vernon School Board member at the time did not want to upset her West Potomac constituents by moving kids to Mt. Vernon. Mt. Vernon now has about 500-600 empty seats. West Potomac has between 300-400 empty seats.

In 2005 Lewis had its design capacity expanded to over 2100, then the School Board turned around immediately and moved kids to South County and West Springfield. Lewis has had excess capacity ever since.

About 10 years later Springfield Estates was expanded. It has local students and is an AAP center. Then the School Board added an AAP center to the Edison pyramid, taking some students out of Springfield Estates. Springfield Estates has had excess capacity ever since.

West Springfield's expansion grew over several CIPs - which seems like false advertising in capital expenditures. The reason was probably to avoid ever rezoning kids to Lewis. Even now WS is close to 300 students over capacity with plenty of seats available at Lewis.

I think the poor management of FCPS started when the School Board became elected as opposed to appointed. The members are too close to the public and many are seeking higher office, so they absolutely refuse to make tough decisions.

Don't expect this poor management to get better.

Who should appoint the school board?

It was done by the Supervisors.

How would that make things better? Aren’t some of the BOS former SB? Isn’t one of the BOS Gerry Connelly’s former chief of staff and seeking to succeed him? They would just appoint whoever FCDC wants. How is that different?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem with expanding just because a school is up for renovation is that the expected increase in enrollment sometimes never comes. This moves the burden of capital expansions onto taxpayers now when the need may not arrive for many years, if ever.

Why did they expand West Potomac to 3000 seats when there was plenty of room available next door at Mt. Vernon? They said it was because they expect growth in the Route 1 corridor. But that growth, if it arrives, is years away. The real reason is that the Mt. Vernon School Board member at the time did not want to upset her West Potomac constituents by moving kids to Mt. Vernon. Mt. Vernon now has about 500-600 empty seats. West Potomac has between 300-400 empty seats.

In 2005 Lewis had its design capacity expanded to over 2100, then the School Board turned around immediately and moved kids to South County and West Springfield. Lewis has had excess capacity ever since.

About 10 years later Springfield Estates was expanded. It has local students and is an AAP center. Then the School Board added an AAP center to the Edison pyramid, taking some students out of Springfield Estates. Springfield Estates has had excess capacity ever since.

West Springfield's expansion grew over several CIPs - which seems like false advertising in capital expenditures. The reason was probably to avoid ever rezoning kids to Lewis. Even now WS is close to 300 students over capacity with plenty of seats available at Lewis.

I think the poor management of FCPS started when the School Board became elected as opposed to appointed. The members are too close to the public and many are seeking higher office, so they absolutely refuse to make tough decisions.

Don't expect this poor management to get better.

Who should appoint the school board?

It was done by the Supervisors.

How would that make things better? Aren’t some of the BOS former SB? Isn’t one of the BOS Gerry Connelly’s former chief of staff and seeking to succeed him? They would just appoint whoever FCDC wants. How is that different?

See the earlier post. No it is not a huge improvement (especially in a politically one-sided county), but it does provide some buffer and extra considerations to votes for Supervisor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Who should appoint the school board?

Parents with kids in the school system.

Are only parents with children in the school system paying for it? I don’t think it is reasonable to make people without kids in the school system pay for it if they have no representation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The problem with expanding just because a school is up for renovation is that the expected increase in enrollment sometimes never comes. This moves the burden of capital expansions onto taxpayers now when the need may not arrive for many years, if ever.

Why did they expand West Potomac to 3000 seats when there was plenty of room available next door at Mt. Vernon? They said it was because they expect growth in the Route 1 corridor. But that growth, if it arrives, is years away. The real reason is that the Mt. Vernon School Board member at the time did not want to upset her West Potomac constituents by moving kids to Mt. Vernon. Mt. Vernon now has about 500-600 empty seats. West Potomac has between 300-400 empty seats.

In 2005 Lewis had its design capacity expanded to over 2100, then the School Board turned around immediately and moved kids to South County and West Springfield. Lewis has had excess capacity ever since.

About 10 years later Springfield Estates was expanded. It has local students and is an AAP center. Then the School Board added an AAP center to the Edison pyramid, taking some students out of Springfield Estates. Springfield Estates has had excess capacity ever since.

West Springfield's expansion grew over several CIPs - which seems like false advertising in capital expenditures. The reason was probably to avoid ever rezoning kids to Lewis. Even now WS is close to 300 students over capacity with plenty of seats available at Lewis.

I think the poor management of FCPS started when the School Board became elected as opposed to appointed. The members are too close to the public and many are seeking higher office, so they absolutely refuse to make tough decisions.

Don't expect this poor management to get better.

West Springfield was expanded because the school was literally falling apart, such as walls separating from floors, in a such a condition to require a full gut.

The only responsible thing for FCPS to do when doing a full gut is to add capacity where possible.

The footprint of WSHS remained essentially the same as before.

The capacity was added in the main office/counselors office, the fines arts classrooms (spacious music rooms to accomodate large music classes, modernized theater renovation with set shop, dressing rooms and storage, while modernizing lighting and sound, and replacing 50+ year old curtains and seating), updated gyms and weight rooms, and updated library.

The only classroom space that was added, other than the music classrooms and gyms, were the 3rd floor science labs.

There were ADA compliant bathrooms and access added.

The WSHS renovation came in months ahead of schedule and under budget.

The expansion was primarily updating auxiliary space, and very little classroom capacity, other than update performing arts spaces, gyms and science labs.

It was a necessary update and a responsible use of taxpayer dollars.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Who should appoint the school board?

Parents with kids in the school system.

The benefit of having the Supervisors do it (who are obviously elected) is that it is still democratic while also adding one level of buffer to the process. When you elect a Supervisor you are looking at fire, police, libraries, parks, zoning, etc. (plus in the past schools). This makes it a bit easier for SB members to make tough decisions because the voters have to consider all of those things when they are voting for Supervisor, not just one issue (schools).

That being said, we are never going back (it was in the early 1990's that the SB became elected). So school management is NOT going to get better.

Our board of supervisors is very political,and other than Herrity, less fiscally responsible than the current school board.

Fairfax residents do not want them appointing our school board. It would be worse than the current school board.