Reply to APS: New High School forum tonight 7-9 pm at Yorktown

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I attended the meeting.  I agree that one takeaway is that the SB will choose to construct something constructed at Kenmore, unless the County Board decides that it is willing to supply a lot of land somewhere else.

Re the Yorktown boosters- I think in some respects different people were there to attend different meetings.  As I understand it, there are some YT parents, or soon-to-be YT parents, who think that the SB screwed up the recent HS boundary adjustments, because YT is now predicted to be overcapacity in some way.  I have listened to the YT civic association president make the same comments at a prior meeting.  I think last night’s meeting was originally conceived as an opportunity to discuss these issues with SB members, and that’s why there were a couple of people there loaded for bear on that topic.  However, it seems rather misguided to continue talking about how YT is a special neighborhood and the traffic issues, etc. given the seriously stark options being presented to Glen Carlyn residents and/or future W-L students.  Everybody thinks their neighborhood is special.

As for the fired up Glen Carlyn folks, I’m glad they came and spoke out forcefully, because I think it’s important to hear about the other side of things and to appreciate the extremely strong feelings outside the echo chamber of other parents.  They’re not wrong.  Carlin Springs backs up from people trying to turn onto 50 and it makes it difficult to get out of the neighborhood or school.  GC is a very small neighborhood hemmed in by a busy road, and the surrounding areas and zoned schools haven’t really seen the improvement that other areas have.  And now the county is talking about closing their little library.  One man from W-L talked about declining property values, but the same argument could be made for those in GC as it becomes more of a thoroughfare and less of a neighborhood.  And let’s face it- there also is a bit of resentment at the perception that the longtime residents should not have to sacrifice in service of the generally more affluent north Arlington families who have moved here in the past decade.  I am not saying that all of these arguments are legitimate, but I think that they are understandable.

I also agree the Kenmore site not at all conducive to biking and that walking is not ideal along that busy road.  Unfortunately, it’s also that way at other sites around the county- for example, sites which require kids to cross or walk along Lee Highway, Washington Blvd, or Glebe Road (I’m sure there are others, but that is what I am most familiar with).  Last fall a student was hit trying to cross Lee Highway.  I also commute down Route 7, past TC Williams, and it’s also a mess in the morning with people coming out of the big intersection at Braddock/Quaker Lane, school walkers, commuters, all along a stretch that is hemmed in on the opposite side by houses which are close to the road.  Alexandria recently reconfigured King St. to better accommodate bikers and corral traffic and it’s still not safe or ideal.  But I just feel like I keep hearing that the same things are dealbreakers for every site – traffic, adjacent to a residential neighborhood, too close to another school.

In truth, I think that there are residents who raise traffic and safety when what they really mean is…the inn is full.  There was an op-ed in ArlNow a couple of weeks ago to this effect- basically, we can’t keep constructing an infinite amount of school seats.  I think there is a growing sentiment that a line needs to be drawn.  And if it means that there are families who will choose not to live here, then so be it.  I mean, there’s more than one way to solve this capacity issue- we could build, or we could reduce demand.

For me, for now, we’re in it for the long haul and [b]a university sized W-L facility is just a non-starter.  I’m also skeptical of any proposal to use the Ed Center as a temporary solution because I fear that the temporary will become the permanent so long as the sky doesn’t literally fall in.  I wish that the SB members had more thoughtfully answered the questions about educating the whole child in such a large setting, and why it’s equitable or manageable to have one high school campus that is nearly twice the size of the others.  They talked a lot about how 1800 YT students support a lot of different sports teams (for example), but didn’t talk at all about how 3500-4000 W-L students would have comparable or equal access when sharing the same facilities.  I’m also curious as to how W-L’s neighbors feel about this proposal.[/b]
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I have 2 future WL students (a current 3rd and 5th grader) and I agree with everything I bolded.  We actively sought out WL for our children's HS because I attended a very similar demographic HS in Fairfax and I wanted my kids to attend a school with students from many different ethnic backgrounds and SES levels.  It was a great experience for me.  However, when we moved here in 2007 we never anticipated that the County would conceive of making a 4,000 student HS.  I also STRONGLY FEEL that if they get that Ed center with the 1300---it will become a permanent solution pushing the HS to 4,000.

I will not send my kids to a 4,000 person HS.  My 5th grader has 4 close friends all attending private school next year because the parents were concerned about the over-crowded MS.  We would have stayed in DC if we were going to pay for private anyways.[/quote]

I agree with the PPs.  We are currently zoned for WL and have two kids even younger than PP.  This has become a total shit show.  Either we'll move or save up for private school.  [/quote]

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