how many trailers are acceptable?
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Anonymous
Why play coy? Name the school so we can check its age and prior renovation history. |
Anonymous
| Time to get rid of French immersion. It would free up space as more families move to the area, reduce traffic and create a true neighborhood school |
Anonymous
I’m not the PP, but the one who originally posted - Herndon Elementary |
Anonymous
Sure, and let’s get rid of AAP, IB, Academy programs, and TJHSST while we’re at it. That would all free up funds and/or create more “true neighborhood schools.” |
Anonymous
Looks like they are now going to spend about $12M more to renovate Herndon ES than they previously spent on a “renovation” of an older high school with about 3X as many kids. The schools built in the 1960s and later are getting a far better deal than those built in the 1950s. |
Anonymous
Walk through the school and you’ll know why it’s being renovated - not including the 15+ classrooms that are in trailers |
Anonymous
When you have 18 kids per class (last reported # for Herndon ES) it’s not surprising you have trailers. There are other even older schools with trailers that have more kids per class and aren’t about to get $42M for more permanent classroom space. But I’m sure it will make for a nicer environment at HES so enjoy when it’s done. |
Anonymous
Oh, I will. It is truly a pit. |
Anonymous
You could move into Herndon ES boundaries. You would be able to buy a cheaper house, save money, have smaller class sizes, and a newer school. But then you know you won’t because you know that Herndon ES has the class size it does because of the large number of kids who are behind. There is the insanely high number of kids who live in poverty and are in ESOL. You don’t want a damn thing to do with those kids even if it means smaller classes and a newer building. |
Anonymous
So the policy going forward is to deprive certain pyramids that don’t have “enough” ESOL/FARMS kids of capital resources until the families relocate to poorer pyramids or, more likely, pull their kids out of FCPS and either go private or leave the county? Some do think that has been the implicit policy under the current School Board but it’s good to make it explicit before the next School Board elections in 2023. |
Anonymous
I’d imagine the wear and tear is greater on older school buildings that are truly overcrowded as opposed to the schools that are below their design capacity but have trailers because they have small class sizes. |
Anonymous
I believe people have pointed to schools in McLean’s pyramid that are being renovated. I know that Langley has been recently updated. So no, I don’t think the policy is to not fund wealthier pyramids. I have no idea how the school board sets the renovation schedule but I know that Herndon ES has trailers, just like McLean HS. It sounds like Herndon ES is run down, just like McLean. So I doubt it is some woke policy. |
Anonymous
In a nutshell, yes. |
Anonymous
Well, I guess the ES kids at least have a renovated HS to look forward to. HHS was built over a decade after McLean but in inflation-adjusted terms received a renovation that cost twice as much as the patchwork renovation of McLean HS years ago. At some point they are going to have to come to terms with how they have short-changed some communities (and, no, there is no school in the McLean pyramid currently being renovated). Kent Gardens is one of the two most overcrowded ES in the county, but the other one, unlike KG, is about to be renovated and expanded. |
Anonymous
I am an elementary music teacher in FCPS. My first year back after taking a few years off with my children, I was in a double trailer connected to the other music teacher. It was a nightmare for music. The wall between us was not soundproof. We are among the loudest subjects in the school. Drumming, Orff instruments, recorders, you get the idea. Dueling music classes all day long. Add to it that by moving Specials outside, literally every student in the school had to transition outside. It was especially problematic for younger grades and our self-contained special education classes who already take longer to transition. We went to our administrator at the end of the year and said that if she planned to keep us outside connected to each other, we would both be seeking transfers. We moved back inside the following year into the soundproof rooms that are made to house music class. The things I did like about being in the trailer was having windows and my own temperature control. One of the grade levels at that school school actually has been outside for many years, they like it. Generally administration decided that if trailers were a necessity, it’s less of a burden to have children only experience it 1 year. I do think that the Fairfax County really needs to take a look at redistricting in some of these areas. A neighboring school was under enrolled, while we were bursting at the seams. |