Study to Look at Moving Students From Overcrowded McLean HS

Some students at the overcrowded McLean High School may end up moving over to nearby Langley High School.

The Fairfax County School Board approved an amendment to its Capital Improvement Program that kicks off a boundary study about moving some students from McLean High School to Langley High School.

McLean High School is projected to go up to 127 percent capacity by the 2022 school year, according to the CIP.

Other possible ideas outlined in the CIP to address overcrowding at McLean High School include temporary classrooms and modular additions.

Jane Strauss, a school board member for the Dranesville District, said at the meeting that — if no changes are made — McLean High School will be the most overenrolled school by 2023.

While Strauss said that McLean High School is not the only overenrolled school in the county, she said that the other schools have a plan to address their crowding, while McLean High School does not.

“This fall, more trailers came into McLean which indicates that the overcrowding situation is continuing,” Strauss said.

The trailers are starting to get cramped on the constrained site, Strauss said. “Trailer villages — as we’ve all agreed — is not the solution.”

Langley, which was recently renovated, has extra space to accommodate the students.

“It’s unusual to have this much capacity in a neighboring school,” Strauss said about Langley.

A few school board members, including Elizabeth Schultz, who represents the Springfield District, and Thomas Wilson, who represents the Sully District, criticized the amendment, saying it lets McLean High School leapfrog more severely overcrowded schools in the county.

The school board voted 9-1 on the amendment — Wilson voted “no” while Schultz abstained — during the Sept. 26 meeting. Staff is expected to begin the scoping process this fall.

Strauss said that community members from Langley and McLean high schools will help decide the future decisions around the possible boundary change.

“It’s overdue for the McLean community,” Pat Hynes, the Hunter Mill District representative on the school board said.