Reply to Is APS really looking to close a N. Arlington elem school again?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]There isn’t enough money to properly fix Swanson and TJ so finding money to renovate Taylor isn’t gonna happen.

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APS is proposing bare minimum renovations for both TJ and Swanson. Unfortunate, since TJ already went through previous, long, drawn-out BLPC processes with published designs for new school buildings following many months of hard work.

For this round, it looks like a paint job, new roof, and new fixtures and furnishings are all the school may get--to last for the next 25 years. Although it wasn't intentional, so not a criticism, but the option programs have been getting really beautiful, state-of-the-art facilities. Timing was off for Swanson and TJ, so the neighborhood schools get the shaft in this renovation cycle. [/quote]

That is not true at all. APS built several really nice new facilities for neighborhood schools - Discovery, Fleet, Cardinal. While Swanson and TJ are old, [b]Kenmore is a really nice facility.[/b] Before the move to the new school (which HB and Shriver did not want), the building they were in was very old and not in very good shape. When APS kicked them out for a neighborhood middle school, it renovated it substantially and it's much much nicer now. [/quote]

The "new" Kenmore was built over 20 years ago. The original Kenmore would have been renovated if it came up for replacement in the current fiscal climate. Swanson received a low budget renovation and air-conditioning in 1994. The historic, arched gym windows at Swanson were replaced about 6 years ago. So yes, APS has invested in neighborhood schools and all three high schools were rebuilt beginning in the 00s. But in terms of timing, after the beautiful Heights and Arlington Tech buildings, it's unfortunate that windowless TJ (which should be rebuilt with the county facility to house a proper indoor track) and Swanson will receive cheapo renovations. Bad timing is all. [/quote]

You're choosing not to mention all of the beautiful new or renovated NEIGHBORHOOD buildings. Yes, APS has built/is building new buildings for two choice programs. But it also built more for neighborhood schools. Also the career center building is not in good shape at all. And HB only got a new building because APS kicked it out of his building over its objections in order to prioritize a neighborhood school. [/quote]

You mentioned the new beautiful elementary schools, and I added acknowledgement of the three rebuilt comprehensive high schools and Kenmore, the first of the schools to be rebuilt within the past 25 years. I'll add the beautiful W-L Annex and Planetarium to that list. APS was still flush with money and justifiably built a beautiful new Heights School and Grace Hopper Campus as well. Dorothy Hamm MS is also beautiful. I never said nor implied those were bad decisions. I'm just saying timing and a bit of bad luck meant previous cheap/subpar renovations for Swanson and TJ are followed up by the current plans for another round of bare bones renovations. Although I doubt the money can be found, I hope both schools get the renovations they deserve. Arlington should also have a functional indoor track, and I'd support a completely new joint rec center/middle school at TJ. [/quote]

I do agree it's bad timing for TJ and Swanson. I was responding to previous comments that APS prioritized buildings for option schools because that is not true. [/quote]

The design for the heights was targeted for the HBW population; HBW did not want to expand at the Stratford sight (it is the largest middle school plot) nor co-locate with neighborhood school like Drew used to do.  So they had to give up their spacious campus.

The Heights building site originally was going to have a 1300 seat middle school; HBW is 700 or so total middle and high school. So the $100M building was built FOR them, otherwise it would have 600 extra seat capacity.

They blew out the budget for heights; it should have been much more functional and utilitarian and built to the original capacity with flexible configuration to adjust as programs move or change size. It would have saved a lot of money and preserved capacity. [/quote]

Funny that you omit all the wasteful money spent on all the fancy neighborhood schools. Like the slide at Discovery - was that really needed? [/quote]

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