Reply to APS - new CIP proposal

Forum Index » VA Public Schools other than FCPS

Reply to "APS - new CIP proposal"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Getting back to the new CIP - I'm looking back at when we got into this Career Center mess.  Details are all here:  https://www.apsva.us/instruction/new-high-school/

It was [b]four years ago[/b] -  June 2017 - that the School Board voted on the very last minute "hybrid plan" to put some of the 1300 new HS seats at the Ed Center and some at the CC.  The documents show that they planned 500-600 seats at Ed Center to open most likely before 2022, and 700-800 new HS at the CC to open by Fall 2022.  This was instead of building a 1300 seat HS at Kenmore, the option with the most land and the longest term growth potential.  And these new CC seats were supposed to be in addition to the 600 seats already planned for Arlington Tech.

So we were supposed to have 1300-1400 CC seats built out by Fall 2022.  Instead, we had years of planning commissions trying to figure out how to make this work and how much it would cost.  That ended in disaster last spring when the costs where way too high and the neighborhood rejected a school without full facilities, including a pool.

So now, APS puts out this very roughly sketched out plan for up to 1800 MS and HS seats at this site by 2026, with no details about what program(s) this would be, how they will fit, what facilities they will have, etc.

How are we not right back where we started four years ago?  And the poor Arlington Tech students still have no facility improvements, right?  [i]If we are going back to the beginning, can we please, pretty please reconsider Kenmore now??[/i][/quote]

No, because no neighborhood is going to be okay with being zoned to the lesser school that lacks equivalent facilities, and APS has said they can’t afford to build a full HS. That’s why these are option seats, wherever they are placed. I don’t think it makes sense to move Montessori and Tech and all the CTE programs to a new location. [/quote]

Who said anything about moving Arl Tech, CTE, and Montessori?  At one point, Kenmore was discussed as an option arts focused high school.[/quote]

You could build an option HS there now and then down the road add a pool and what not and turn the whole campus into a 2300 seat HS (once you find a new home for the middle school, i.e. the VHC campus).  [b]There is a long term possibility to have a comprehensive 4th high school with adequate land.[/quote][/b]

I agree with this, which is why it doesn’t make sense to build option programs there now. Look how “easy” it has been to move those around once they’re entrenched. I think adding capacity to Arl Tech and maybe putting another small MS/HS program, like an arts focus or whatever, makes more sense if we can’t build a comprehensive HS right now.[/quote]

Building at the center of the site actually makes this not possible. The only way to get a full size HS field is to make the building be at the south end of the campus. So we are basically committing to options programs forever on this site.

There is a CIP work session tonight. Hopefully there are some good questions asked. I agree this all seems rushed and not well planned.[/quote]

Most recent PP, we were discussing a full size HS [u]at Kenmore[/u], not CC.  Leave CC as an option site, with Montessori at Patrick Henry (no need to tear down and rebuild), Arl Tech at a modified and expanded CC, and maybe some MS Montessori classrooms added in there (the program is small so it wouldn't need much but could free up some seats at Gunmore).  Spend the minimum necessary to give the Arl Tech students what they deserve - a nice program with adequate facilities.

Build a new building on the Kenmore campus now with the eventual goal of having a 4th comprehensive HS there.  I don't think if it was an option arts program now that such a program would need to be relocated down the road.  It could just become a program within a neighborhood HS, which we have already.

But the CIP calls for expanded secondary capacity by 2024 - we need more MS seats desperately by that year.  This plan does not provide for those at all.   It's a major shortfall.

Someone mentioned earlier that Hamm was supposed to be 1300 seats but was dropped to 1000 at the last minute.  That building is still under construction isn't it?  Is it too crazy to suggest moving forward with the 1300 seat plan there?  I think the architectural drawings were all worked out.  I know we would pay more now than we would have before, but we need those seats.[/quote]

Sorry, following now. Yes, I agree with this. No reason to spend the $ they are planning at this site. You can probably just expand AT by adding the third floor and maybe a small demolition at the back of the building to make a real gym. I do think they have screwed over AT.[/quote]

They have definitely screwed AT.  But the CC kids deserve better than the building they currently have; so just adding a big gym doesn't fix the crappy condition of that building.  I'm not saying they need to go all out and re-do the whole site; but more than adding a partial third floor and enlarging the gym.  In fact, I think the whole thing should be expanded because the comprehensive HS kids are losing access to those CTE classes.  AT kids get priority because they don't have many electives within their own program.  These things need to be fixed![/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics