Stupid question about the Arlington CB and overcrowded schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Years ago a few community centers WERE schools. And they then became community centers. Time to roll back the clock.

We just built Cardinal and Dorthy Hamm in the last couple of years. The county is certainly trying to address the problem.

It is not enough. The overcrowding is at an unacceptable level.

And they build discovery in the west and now Tuckahoe and nottingham and Jamestown are under enrolled because so many left for private school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Years ago a few community centers WERE schools. And they then became community centers. Time to roll back the clock.

We just built Cardinal and Dorthy Hamm in the last couple of years. The county is certainly trying to address the problem.

It is not enough. The overcrowding is at an unacceptable level.

And they build discovery in the west and now Tuckahoe and nottingham and Jamestown are under enrolled because so many left for private school.

I'm not talking about elementary schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Years ago a few community centers WERE schools. And they then became community centers. Time to roll back the clock.

This is the obvious solution. The new Lubber Run site would have made a great, central, option school site or a great school site for growing Ballston.

Yup. It’s easier to centralize community center functions - send them all to Barcroft.

Time to revert the community centers to schools. Most obvious solution.

I agree I can’t believe the County built out the Lubber Run Community Center over a school. I don’t know if the site of the new Aquatics Center in South Arlington would have made a good school site, but they sure could have built one for the cost of it.

There were environmental reasons that the Long Bridge site could not be a school. It was definitely explored. As I recall being in the DCA flight path + there was some toxic waste?

Agree Lubber Run could have made sense as an option school site but only that since it's right next to an elementary school.

Thanks for the info on Lubber Run. Maybe they wanted to develop it to get the site cleaned up. That doesn’t offend me if that’s the case.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Years ago a few community centers WERE schools. And they then became community centers. Time to roll back the clock.

This is the obvious solution. The new Lubber Run site would have made a great, central, option school site or a great school site for growing Ballston.

Yup. It’s easier to centralize community center functions - send them all to Barcroft.

Time to revert the community centers to schools. Most obvious solution.

I agree I can’t believe the County built out the Lubber Run Community Center over a school. I don’t know if the site of the new Aquatics Center in South Arlington would have made a good school site, but they sure could have built one for the cost of it.

There were environmental reasons that the Long Bridge site could not be a school. It was definitely explored. As I recall being in the DCA flight path + there was some toxic waste?

Agree Lubber Run could have made sense as an option school site but only that since it's right next to an elementary school.

Thanks for the info on Lubber Run. Maybe they wanted to develop it to get the site cleaned up. That doesn’t offend me if that’s the case.

^the aquatic center not lubber run

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s time to invest in more land for schools, at the very least.

Can we get rid of the golf course? That damn thing is so big.

Haha!! Arlington can’t afford to buy that land parcel. It’s a private entity.

We'll just have it rezoned and condemned. NBD

Imminent domain??

It's a joke. Sorry it wasn't very funny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah it definitely seems like one of the community centers could be a high school

Also I have to say this bifurcated system in Arlington (county board and school board) makes me miss living in a city with mayoral control of schools. Maybe we should just get rid of the school board and have the superintendent report to the county board, which would then be responsible for dealing with repercussions of all the growth they support.

Also I thought democrats generally supported public schools and school funding? Doesn't seem that way in Arlington

Yes, Arlington Democrats focus on supporting building affordable housing projects and condos/townhouses for the wealthy (to enrich developers) but with zero consideration of the impacts on schools.

Why are they so obsessed with more housing? Affordable housing I get, but what's with all the expensive condos and townhouses? Is this just corruption or what?

[Anonymous]

So would it be feasible to build several more Arlington tech type schools in smaller locations? No they wouldn't have all the facilities but I know a lot of families would sacrifice access to a football field for smaller class sizes and more access to guidance counselors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah it definitely seems like one of the community centers could be a high school

Also I have to say this bifurcated system in Arlington (county board and school board) makes me miss living in a city with mayoral control of schools. Maybe we should just get rid of the school board and have the superintendent report to the county board, which would then be responsible for dealing with repercussions of all the growth they support.

Also I thought democrats generally supported public schools and school funding? Doesn't seem that way in Arlington

Yes, I think this is the root issue for schools not being prioritized.

Okay let me live in fantasy land for a minute:

How would we change that structure? Do we have the county board set-up instead of a mayor because this a county and not a city? Could people rise up and demand a change to the government?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Years ago a few community centers WERE schools. And they then became community centers. Time to roll back the clock.

Who would resist this? I see them used for community classes, games for younger people, and senior centers, and it seems like there have to be other sites for those things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So would it be feasible to build several more Arlington tech type schools in smaller locations? No they wouldn't have all the facilities but I know a lot of families would sacrifice access to a football field for smaller class sizes and more access to guidance counselors.

IMO there may be families willing to sacrifice a football field, but they’ll otherwise in most cases want the same access to all the other classes and extracurriculars that the comprehensive high schools have. It also requires a lot more teachers, staff and bus drivers to have multiple small programs rather than a fourth comprehensive HS. Those are operating costs, though, which become a SB issue as opposed to capital construction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So would it be feasible to build several more Arlington tech type schools in smaller locations? No they wouldn't have all the facilities but I know a lot of families would sacrifice access to a football field for smaller class sizes and more access to guidance counselors.

IMO there may be families willing to sacrifice a football field, but they’ll otherwise in most cases want the same access to all the other classes and extracurriculars that the comprehensive high schools have. It also requires a lot more teachers, staff and bus drivers to have multiple small programs rather than a fourth comprehensive HS. Those are operating costs, though, which become a SB issue as opposed to capital construction.

+1 I think the lack of arts options is a significant barrier right now to growing Arlington Tech.

I did think when the old Newseum/Artisphere space in Arlington was empty it would have been an interesting opportunity to create an arts school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Years ago a few community centers WERE schools. And they then became community centers. Time to roll back the clock.

Who would resist this? I see them used for community classes, games for younger people, and senior centers, and it seems like there have to be other sites for those things.

There was a work session last week that mentioned that APS recaptured one of the community centers and will be using it to relieve capacity at one of the elementary schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Years ago a few community centers WERE schools. And they then became community centers. Time to roll back the clock.

Who would resist this? I see them used for community classes, games for younger people, and senior centers, and it seems like there have to be other sites for those things.

There was a work session last week that mentioned that APS recaptured one of the community centers and will be using it to relieve capacity at one of the elementary schools

That’s a step in the right direction. Which one?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s time to invest in more land for schools, at the very least.

I can’t find the link now, but there was a County or APS memo a few years ago that listed potential elementary school sites. Ive also seen versions of this list as appendices to various school capacity or facilities reports. Essentially, when APS determines we need a new school (and there is money for the construction), the County is going to offer up one if its sites. Unfortunately, this means that the community is likely to lose a park or a community center or some other public space. It’s my sense that Arlington can’t afford a large piece of land in its own County in order to build a school. I wouldn’t be surprised if APS also leased obsolete office space one day in order to operate a school. Idk where the recreation space would be in this scenario. Also look for a permanent virtual option to relieve capacity.

I think you may be referring to the letter below. The county population was 207,000 in 2010 but at current growth rates we will top 300,000 sometime in the 2030s. The county plans to put the schools on park sites. So as the population goes up, the demand for park space will also go up, but the available space will go down. If your kids play outdoor sports, too bad. Expect more rationing of space or practice times late in the evening. Most of the current CB members will have moved on by the time the crap really hits the fan so they don't care.

https://arlingtonva.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2019/12/County_Manager_APS_Letter_2019-11-18.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Years ago a few community centers WERE schools. And they then became community centers. Time to roll back the clock.

Who would resist this? I see them used for community classes, games for younger people, and senior centers, and it seems like there have to be other sites for those things.

There was a work session last week that mentioned that APS recaptured one of the community centers and will be using it to relieve capacity at one of the elementary schools

That’s a step in the right direction. Which one?

Carver Center to relieve Hoffman-Boston
From https://go.boarddocs.com/vsba/arlington/Board.nsf/files/CBHQSP68FECD/$file/2022%20Annual%20Update%20FINAL.pdf
"• Hoffman Boston
o Transferring control of Carver Center space to APS from Arlington Parks and Recreation,
providing more space flexibility for school programming, while continuing to be
available for community programming outside of normal school hours (completed in fall "