King Abdullah Academy Closing: FCPS Buy for HS?

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06/16/2025 17:16

Subject: King Abdullah Academy Closing: FCPS Buy for HS?

quote

Anonymous

Uhh, Saudi money is not taxpayer dollars. The existence of KAA has brought economic opportunities and much more to your county. You are missing the bigger picture here. Let alone if everyone here is a parent, now 1100 displaced kids.

There are numerous studies on this topic, which I am familiar with in my field of work. Private schools, and I suppose applicable to KAA, appear to have done many things that benefit:

1. from basic research i see on kaa it has high performing students as well as competitive team sports (i think they won a few of their league championships this year) which creates necessary competition in sports and after school activities (i see in my kids model un competitions kaa is often represented too and they often win). Private schools often serve as innovation hubs, introducing new curricula, technologies, or teaching models. Their presence creates a higher education standard in the area, indirectly encouraging local public schools to innovate or improve to stay competitive. Frankly, I am all for new and innovative ideas, and I think FCPS can benefit from that. On top of that a vibrant international community.

2. Economic stimuls: Families often spend money in the county when they drop off or pick up their children: on gas, restaurants, coffee shops, retail, or extracurricular activities or tutors near the school. This directly supports small businesses and local employment. In addition, private schools tend to become civically engaged and in philanthropy, which benefits the county in many ways. If, in the instance that KAA brings out-of-county families, they bring spending dollars. There are actual case studies on this, where, in multiple U.S. counties, the closure of a single private school led to the loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual local commerce. Think about the taxes the Saudis were paying that benefited your country.

3. Employment: Private schools are employers. Based on initial research, KAA employed several hundred employees. I imagine many of them will not be unemployed.

4. Private schools drive future real estate demand. Families may relocate to the county to be closer to the school, which raises property values and local tax bases. According to a previous post, many new families have moved to Fairfax County, even from other states.

5. High-performing or prestigious private schools can elevate the perceived status of a county. This can attract investment, development, and higher-income families, including those without school-age children. I can gather that KAA would have brought families and new businesses to Fairfax County and can continue to. High-quality private schools attract professionals and individuals with high incomes. In addition, if KAA attracted students from a wide radius, it probably brought different cultural, professional, and social perspectives to the area. This can enrich the local community fabric and foster regional connections.

6. What sounds like the alumni of Kaa were trying to do, if they could save the property, was to turn it also into a community-wide benefit too. Traditionally, private schools often host sports events, concerts, lectures, and other activities, drawing visitors into the community. This boosts the hospitality, transportation, and tourism sectors. I imagine this was not allowed before because it was a Saudi property with needs for high security.

7. FCPS will relocate to the new campus, but this will incur new operational costs. In addition, public schools can't replicate the flexibility or programs that attracted families to the private school in the first place. It could increase the taxpayer burden.

Mark my words, the devastation from this will be felt economically and in other ways as well. Kaa was an advantage to the area by a wide margin. Professionally I hope the deal doesnt go through. And personallly after reading many of your heartless comments about not caring for the broken school community I have my feelings even stronger.

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.

Well I'm just happy that FCPS was able to right the wrong they did in selling both this property years ago and in selling the land in the Fairfax/ Fair Lakes area. It was their land to begin with. Now we can stop worrying about aquiring the last high school property needed in Fairfax for some time.

Exactly. The shady dealings were whatever transpired for KAA to get this land in the first place when it had already been earmarked for the future western HS. It was a gut punch when it was taken away with no input from the community. I don't care how the county got it back, I'm just glad they did.