King Abdullah Academy Closing: FCPS Buy for HS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ya'all should be concerned over the lack of transparency over this sale. Guaranteed it was an inside job for a long time coming and you should be holding your fcps people responsible because there were many bids even higher than fcps that were denied and turned down with legitimate funds in place. this was absolutely not a sale that happened by luck in the past few weeks. and if that is the inside dealing i would be concerned about the transparency of fcps to begin with.

Sorry, if FCPS got some kind of great deal on this property, I'm not going to be mad about it.

The Saudis got this property in a very underhanded and secretive way to begin with.

You sound like someone else who recently accepted a foreign plane.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But why would the county agree to Saudis getting that land in an underhanded way? That means FCPS didn’t have capacity to develop on that land at that time. Yet the county profited from the tax collected from KAA existing.. so it’s not like the county lost anything tbh.

The story that I have read on this site: The Saudi's were supposed to build in the Burke area but the community there did not want an Islamic school. There was negativity publicity because of the appearence of discrimination. The land by Carson was sold to the Saudi's, even though it had been discussed as the home of a future Western HS, shortly after and the negative stories in the press went away.

I would guess that the school was a non-profit with differen tax rules. Outside of that, the area has been growing and there are ES, MS, and HS that are overcrowded. Expansions ahve been added to schools to try and deal with the issue. An additional HS would have helped a lot with the overcrowding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

There was actually discrimination according to some parents. They didn’t consider anything from the current KAA community apparently so they didn’t actually want to sell it to the community, which is discrimination.

Anonymous wrote:Ya'all should be concerned over the lack of transparency over this sale. Guaranteed it was an inside job for a long time coming and you should be holding your fcps people responsible because there were many bids even higher than fcps that were denied and turned down with legitimate funds in place. this was absolutely not a sale that happened by luck in the past few weeks. and if that is the inside dealing i would be concerned about the transparency of fcps to begin with.

I don't know any facts about "inside job". The sale is from a private owner to FCPS. The private owner can decide to or not to sell to anyone, as long as they don't have discrimination intent.

There was actually discrimination according to some parents. They didn’t consider anything from the current KAA community apparently so they didn’t actually want to sell it to the community, which is discrimination.

First, KAA community is not the owner of the property. Second, do you think KAA community prefers the school sold to a data center so that none of their childhood memories would be left in 10 years? "I remember going to KAA which is now Western High school" is better than "I used to go to KAA and is now a Data center/office park".

What does KAA community want that you have knowledge about?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ya'all should be concerned over the lack of transparency over this sale. Guaranteed it was an inside job for a long time coming and you should be holding your fcps people responsible because there were many bids even higher than fcps that were denied and turned down with legitimate funds in place. this was absolutely not a sale that happened by luck in the past few weeks. and if that is the inside dealing i would be concerned about the transparency of fcps to begin with.

Who knows, maybe the agreement was due to the fact that the County sold the land to the Saudi's with no real discussion to build the school many years back. Maybe the sale to FCPS was a return the favor. the article I just read said that the others bidding for the land where data centers and private users. I am fine with FCPS getting the school, especially since there should have been a HS built there over 10 years ago.

DP.

Rubber stamps are a big problem in this country, at all layers of government.

This is a lot less expensive then buying land and building a new building. And it is significantly faster. So the process saved time and money and we ended up with a new HS right were one was planned to be built years ago. I can see why you are concerned....

Sure, but with a lacking process it’s worth asking some questions about the $150 million transaction that just popped up out of nowhere and approved with little discussion.

Not really. A property unexpectedly became available that almost perfectly suited FCPS's needs, and they made an offer for it. There's nothing shady about it. Its actually one of the only smart things FCPS has done in quite some time.

[Anonymous]

I'd be happy to see some of Oakton get split up so the talent is spread out a bit more, especially in girls sports. Oakton has been dominating for a while, and while it's great to have strong teams, it gets kind of repetitive when the same school wins everything. Moving some of those players to the new high school could make things more competitive and give other schools like Chantilly a better shot. It could also open up more opportunities for girls who just want to walk on to a team like in swimming, where it can be really tough to make the cut at Oakton (unless you're swimming club 4-5 days a week).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ya'all should be concerned over the lack of transparency over this sale. Guaranteed it was an inside job for a long time coming and you should be holding your fcps people responsible because there were many bids even higher than fcps that were denied and turned down with legitimate funds in place. this was absolutely not a sale that happened by luck in the past few weeks. and if that is the inside dealing i would be concerned about the transparency of fcps to begin with.

Who knows, maybe the agreement was due to the fact that the County sold the land to the Saudi's with no real discussion to build the school many years back. Maybe the sale to FCPS was a return the favor. the article I just read said that the others bidding for the land where data centers and private users. I am fine with FCPS getting the school, especially since there should have been a HS built there over 10 years ago.

DP.

Rubber stamps are a big problem in this country, at all layers of government.

This is a lot less expensive then buying land and building a new building. And it is significantly faster. So the process saved time and money and we ended up with a new HS right were one was planned to be built years ago. I can see why you are concerned....

Sure, but with a lacking process it’s worth asking some questions about the $150 million transaction that just popped up out of nowhere and approved with little discussion.

Not really. A property unexpectedly became available that almost perfectly suited FCPS's needs, and they made an offer for it. There's nothing shady about it. Its actually one of the only smart things FCPS has done in quite some time.

Unquestioning buffoons get the government they deserve.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd be happy to see some of Oakton get split up so the talent is spread out a bit more, especially in girls sports. Oakton has been dominating for a while, and while it's great to have strong teams, it gets kind of repetitive when the same school wins everything. Moving some of those players to the new high school could make things more competitive and give other schools like Chantilly a better shot. It could also open up more opportunities for girls who just want to walk on to a team like in swimming, where it can be really tough to make the cut at Oakton (unless you're swimming club 4-5 days a week).

Usually girls sports aren't that competitive even at the bigger schools. Compared to boys.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd be happy to see some of Oakton get split up so the talent is spread out a bit more, especially in girls sports. Oakton has been dominating for a while, and while it's great to have strong teams, it gets kind of repetitive when the same school wins everything. Moving some of those players to the new high school could make things more competitive and give other schools like Chantilly a better shot. It could also open up more opportunities for girls who just want to walk on to a team like in swimming, where it can be really tough to make the cut at Oakton (unless you're swimming club 4-5 days a week).

This is an unserious post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ya'all should be concerned over the lack of transparency over this sale. Guaranteed it was an inside job for a long time coming and you should be holding your fcps people responsible because there were many bids even higher than fcps that were denied and turned down with legitimate funds in place. this was absolutely not a sale that happened by luck in the past few weeks. and if that is the inside dealing i would be concerned about the transparency of fcps to begin with.

Who knows, maybe the agreement was due to the fact that the County sold the land to the Saudi's with no real discussion to build the school many years back. Maybe the sale to FCPS was a return the favor. the article I just read said that the others bidding for the land where data centers and private users. I am fine with FCPS getting the school, especially since there should have been a HS built there over 10 years ago.

DP.

Rubber stamps are a big problem in this country, at all layers of government.

This is a lot less expensive then buying land and building a new building. And it is significantly faster. So the process saved time and money and we ended up with a new HS right were one was planned to be built years ago. I can see why you are concerned....

Sure, but with a lacking process it’s worth asking some questions about the $150 million transaction that just popped up out of nowhere and approved with little discussion.

Not really. A property unexpectedly became available that almost perfectly suited FCPS's needs, and they made an offer for it. There's nothing shady about it. Its actually one of the only smart things FCPS has done in quite some time.

Unquestioning buffoons get the government they deserve.

I think it is safe to say that this board has had plenty of people questioning FCPS decisions. The fact that most of the people on the board seem to be on board with the purchase of a pre built high school in one of the most crowded school areas in the county is a minor miracle. The only thing less surprising is that the Great Falls families are complaining about said purchase.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ya'all should be concerned over the lack of transparency over this sale. Guaranteed it was an inside job for a long time coming and you should be holding your fcps people responsible because there were many bids even higher than fcps that were denied and turned down with legitimate funds in place. this was absolutely not a sale that happened by luck in the past few weeks. and if that is the inside dealing i would be concerned about the transparency of fcps to begin with.

Who knows, maybe the agreement was due to the fact that the County sold the land to the Saudi's with no real discussion to build the school many years back. Maybe the sale to FCPS was a return the favor. the article I just read said that the others bidding for the land where data centers and private users. I am fine with FCPS getting the school, especially since there should have been a HS built there over 10 years ago.

DP.

Rubber stamps are a big problem in this country, at all layers of government.

This is a lot less expensive then buying land and building a new building. And it is significantly faster. So the process saved time and money and we ended up with a new HS right were one was planned to be built years ago. I can see why you are concerned....

Sure, but with a lacking process it’s worth asking some questions about the $150 million transaction that just popped up out of nowhere and approved with little discussion.

Not really. A property unexpectedly became available that almost perfectly suited FCPS's needs, and they made an offer for it. There's nothing shady about it. Its actually one of the only smart things FCPS has done in quite some time.

Unquestioning buffoons get the government they deserve.

I think it is safe to say that this board has had plenty of people questioning FCPS decisions. The fact that most of the people on the board seem to be on board with the purchase of a pre built high school in one of the most crowded school areas in the county is a minor miracle. The only thing less surprising is that the Great Falls families are complaining about said purchase.

DP. Seems to me the county-wide win-win is if they pursue the new HS near Carson but also commit to expanding McLean and say that removing the bulk of the $450M currently allocated to a western HS from FCPS’s cash flow projections makes that possible in another decade or so.

Until that happens Great Falls will assume, and perhaps justifiably so, that the plan is to favor the Carson area with a new school, continue to move McLean kids into Langley, and eventually move part of Great Falls into Herndon. They don’t want that, and while you can insult them for their views, I don’t recall seeing people at Westfield or South Lakes keen to get moved into Herndon or people at Chantilly keen to move to Westfield.

This could be a great opportunity to engage in some longer-term planning that would make a lot of people happy, or it could turn out to be incredibly polarizing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ya'all should be concerned over the lack of transparency over this sale. Guaranteed it was an inside job for a long time coming and you should be holding your fcps people responsible because there were many bids even higher than fcps that were denied and turned down with legitimate funds in place. this was absolutely not a sale that happened by luck in the past few weeks. and if that is the inside dealing i would be concerned about the transparency of fcps to begin with.

Who knows, maybe the agreement was due to the fact that the County sold the land to the Saudi's with no real discussion to build the school many years back. Maybe the sale to FCPS was a return the favor. the article I just read said that the others bidding for the land where data centers and private users. I am fine with FCPS getting the school, especially since there should have been a HS built there over 10 years ago.

DP.

Rubber stamps are a big problem in this country, at all layers of government.

This is a lot less expensive then buying land and building a new building. And it is significantly faster. So the process saved time and money and we ended up with a new HS right were one was planned to be built years ago. I can see why you are concerned....

Sure, but with a lacking process it’s worth asking some questions about the $150 million transaction that just popped up out of nowhere and approved with little discussion.

Not really. A property unexpectedly became available that almost perfectly suited FCPS's needs, and they made an offer for it. There's nothing shady about it. Its actually one of the only smart things FCPS has done in quite some time.

Unquestioning buffoons get the government they deserve.

I think it is safe to say that this board has had plenty of people questioning FCPS decisions. The fact that most of the people on the board seem to be on board with the purchase of a pre built high school in one of the most crowded school areas in the county is a minor miracle. The only thing less surprising is that the Great Falls families are complaining about said purchase.

DP. Seems to me the county-wide win-win is if they pursue the new HS near Carson but also commit to expanding McLean and say that removing the bulk of the $450M currently allocated to a western HS from FCPS’s cash flow projections makes that possible in another decade or so.

Until that happens Great Falls will assume, and perhaps justifiably so, that the plan is to favor the Carson area with a new school, continue to move McLean kids into Langley, and eventually move part of Great Falls into Herndon. They don’t want that, and while you can insult them for their views, I don’t recall seeing people at Westfield or South Lakes keen to get moved into Herndon or people at Chantilly keen to move to Westfield.

This could be a great opportunity to engage in some longer-term planning that would make a lot of people happy, or it could turn out to be incredibly polarizing.

It sounds like a case could be made for McLean HS to jump the queue and get an out-of-cycle expansion, and that would assuage the fears of Great Falls parents having to associate with lowly Herndon. However, taking a stance against this much needed school as they have for the better part of the last two decades has turned many against them. They are actively trying to sabotage other communities rather than advocate for their own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ya'all should be concerned over the lack of transparency over this sale. Guaranteed it was an inside job for a long time coming and you should be holding your fcps people responsible because there were many bids even higher than fcps that were denied and turned down with legitimate funds in place. this was absolutely not a sale that happened by luck in the past few weeks. and if that is the inside dealing i would be concerned about the transparency of fcps to begin with.

Who knows, maybe the agreement was due to the fact that the County sold the land to the Saudi's with no real discussion to build the school many years back. Maybe the sale to FCPS was a return the favor. the article I just read said that the others bidding for the land where data centers and private users. I am fine with FCPS getting the school, especially since there should have been a HS built there over 10 years ago.

DP.

Rubber stamps are a big problem in this country, at all layers of government.

This is a lot less expensive then buying land and building a new building. And it is significantly faster. So the process saved time and money and we ended up with a new HS right were one was planned to be built years ago. I can see why you are concerned....

Sure, but with a lacking process it’s worth asking some questions about the $150 million transaction that just popped up out of nowhere and approved with little discussion.

Sometimes opportunities arise that move faster than holding 800 hearings. Not to mention publicly advertising what the County was going to offer so that others could use that information to bid. The article I read said that the cost of buying the land and building the new school would have absorbed the entire CIP budget for at least 2 years. This is significantly less expensive, so Centerville and McLean can get their renovations still. and it should save us money since Centerville shouldn't need that expensive expansion.

I know people are griping about the other expansions, I would point out that most of the schools with expansions will still be at 90% capacity even after the new HS. I believe Herndon might be the exception.

If South Lakes dropped IB, Herndon would be just fine. And, most of the families at South Lakes would be happy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're comparing apples to oranges regarding buying a new house and helping people find a new home. KAA familie are tax payers too with kids who went to this school because fcps was not serving all the needs that their community wanted. on top of that many of the kaa families are legacy families. so you are talking about many decades of alumni sending their children here. this is about community, and benefit to fc as well by encouraging this community to stay intact. the mission of both kaa and fcps are very well aligned, and if you think this is so black and white like buying and selling you are wrong. the mission is the same, to educate the children in the best possible way that matches their needs and their family needs. if this were your kid you would say the same. i find your messages cold, hard and oblivious to community.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wealthy Saudis used to special treatment and hand-holding, LOL. I am honestly shocked that you expect FCPS to reach out to EVERY private school in its boundary that closes to personally counsel students on their options. All the info is on their website.

FCPS isn’t paying $150M to acquire every such school, and then likely needing to engage in several months of due diligence thereafter before closing a deal. Perfect opportunity to be decent human beings, something that apparently doesn’t align with your value system.

Are you a parent with a child in that school? It should be KAA's responsibility to help place all of its students. The administration are the ones who decided to close the school in the middle of the school year, FCPS just bought something no one else wanted.

You're being a ridiculously argumentative tool about something minor that ought to be a simple courtesy given the ongoing discussions that FCPS will be having with KAA.

All it need entail is making sure KAA staff is aware of resources and contacts within FCPS for affected families to speak with if interested.

I think you're the one being unreasonable. All of this information is available to the families very easily.

If you're familiar with FCPS, which is why some basic courtesies shown to others who may be less familiar with FCPS might go a long way.

You're the sort of person who makes waiters want to spit in your food in the kitchen before it's served.

Only the trashiest of people ever even consider spitting in someone's food, no matter how rude they are. I've worked in restaurants. That just isn't a thing a normal person even thinks about.

Only a trashy person would fight so hard against the idea that one party to a significant RE transaction would extend some basic, and very low-cost, courtesies to a counter-party. That's not how normal people behave, but perhaps you have some weird bias against Muslims and want to lay claim to their former school and pretend they were never there.

You are seriously arguing that FCPS is responsible for doing something extra for the KAA families because FCPS bought the building? The KAA administration had a responsibility to help the families find a new school before the end of the year. That could have been helping them find a good fit with another private school or helping them understand their public school options. But that was the KAA administration's responsibility, not the organization that buys the building.

I am not responsible for helping the family whose house I buy find a new home. That is their individual responsibility. Same in this case. KAA families need to have worked with the adminstration to find a new school or the Saudi government who stopped sponsoring the school.

Do diplomats pay taxes? Just curious.

No- diplomats don’t pay taxes, but there were a lot of USA citizens there as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ya'all should be concerned over the lack of transparency over this sale. Guaranteed it was an inside job for a long time coming and you should be holding your fcps people responsible because there were many bids even higher than fcps that were denied and turned down with legitimate funds in place. this was absolutely not a sale that happened by luck in the past few weeks. and if that is the inside dealing i would be concerned about the transparency of fcps to begin with.

Who knows, maybe the agreement was due to the fact that the County sold the land to the Saudi's with no real discussion to build the school many years back. Maybe the sale to FCPS was a return the favor. the article I just read said that the others bidding for the land where data centers and private users. I am fine with FCPS getting the school, especially since there should have been a HS built there over 10 years ago.

DP.

Rubber stamps are a big problem in this country, at all layers of government.

This is a lot less expensive then buying land and building a new building. And it is significantly faster. So the process saved time and money and we ended up with a new HS right were one was planned to be built years ago. I can see why you are concerned....

Sure, but with a lacking process it’s worth asking some questions about the $150 million transaction that just popped up out of nowhere and approved with little discussion.

Not really. A property unexpectedly became available that almost perfectly suited FCPS's needs, and they made an offer for it. There's nothing shady about it. Its actually one of the only smart things FCPS has done in quite some time.

Unquestioning buffoons get the government they deserve.

I think it is safe to say that this board has had plenty of people questioning FCPS decisions. The fact that most of the people on the board seem to be on board with the purchase of a pre built high school in one of the most crowded school areas in the county is a minor miracle. The only thing less surprising is that the Great Falls families are complaining about said purchase.

DP. Seems to me the county-wide win-win is if they pursue the new HS near Carson but also commit to expanding McLean and say that removing the bulk of the $450M currently allocated to a western HS from FCPS’s cash flow projections makes that possible in another decade or so.

Until that happens Great Falls will assume, and perhaps justifiably so, that the plan is to favor the Carson area with a new school, continue to move McLean kids into Langley, and eventually move part of Great Falls into Herndon. They don’t want that, and while you can insult them for their views, I don’t recall seeing people at Westfield or South Lakes keen to get moved into Herndon or people at Chantilly keen to move to Westfield.

This could be a great opportunity to engage in some longer-term planning that would make a lot of people happy, or it could turn out to be incredibly polarizing.

It sounds like a case could be made for McLean HS to jump the queue and get an out-of-cycle expansion, and that would assuage the fears of Great Falls parents having to associate with lowly Herndon. However, taking a stance against this much needed school as they have for the better part of the last two decades has turned many against them. They are actively trying to sabotage other communities rather than advocate for their own.

More lies from the Great Falls-hater - you really do have a chip the size of the moon on your shoulder. I really am starting to think your ex lives in great falls. Hence your obsession.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That school has not been there for 35 years.

It used to be at a different location, but the school has been in existence for 35 years.