Tysons Seminary Gets Board’s OK — “Reformed Theological Seminary on Jan. 22 received a special exception from the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors to operate a college out of an existing office building in Tysons. The three-story, approximately 32,400-square-foot edifice is located on 1.54 acres at 8227 Old Courthouse Road.” [InsideNova]
Applications Open for Rent Subsidies — “Low-income residents in Fairfax County, Va., have an opportunity to apply for a Housing Choice Voucher for the first time in more than a decade.” [Washington Post]
Praise for Local Student Newspaper — “The McLean High School newsmagazine – the Highlander – is quite good. So are some other student publications across the region, but the Highlander really stands out.” [Sun Gazette]
Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) is finalizing the details of an updated Capital Improvement Program (CIP), giving a look at what the future holds for the Tysons area.
While total student population in FCPS has gone down by 1,011 students this year, projections show schools in the Tysons are becoming increasingly crowded. One of the most immediate concerns for the region is overcrowding at McLean High School.
At a Jan. 14 work session, School Board Member Jane Strauss called for a limited boundary study to move students from Longfellow Middle School and McLean High School to the nearby Cooper Middle School and Langley High School attendance area.
“The boundary study would primarily focus on the north end of the Tysons area where we have some older apartment buildings,” said Strauss. “These are not new high rises, but older family-friendly buildings.”
Strauss said the change would impact students currently zoned for Spring Hill Elementary School. The change would also not take place until school year 2020 to allow more discussions with parents and planning.
“McLean High School is overcrowded now, and projected to be more so over time as a result of project growth in Tysons,” said Strauss. “If you look at Langley’s capacity, they are under-enrolled now and that will continue, so there is plenty of room. If we don’t do this, that means more trailers and possibly a module at [McLean]. If our goal is a reduction of reliance on trailers and modules, this boundary change I think is a good use of space and money.”
But the proposal received some pushback from other members of the School Board, who said they were uncomfortable with a spot-boundary change a month before the School Board is scheduled to begin a broader review of school boundaries.
“Before we talk about individual boundaries, we do have scheduled as a School Board to [take a] holistic [approach] to how we look at boundary changes,” said School Board Member Karen Sanders.
The School Board is scheduled to vote on the CIP on Jan. 24 and begin looking at boundary changes on Feb. 25.
“I do have concerns about doing a limited boundary change in one area without taking a more holistic analysis and approach,” said Tamara Derenak Kaufax, a representative from the Lee District. “We’re going to have to do what staff has been advocating, doing a holistic approach to [the] system and looking at the impacts.”
Dalia Palchik, School Board representative for the Providence District and a candidate for the Board of Supervisors, also said the idea of adding the boundary change 10 days before the School Board votes on the CIP gave her pause.
Palchik also inquired about the proposed Tysons Elementary School, a facility planned to help handle new residential developments in Tysons, but one that is currently unfunded with few details publicly available.
“We have that in our 10-year plan and the site is identified on our map,” said Kevin Sneed, Special Projects Administrator for Facilities and Transportation Services. “Build-out will last through 2030, which is about when we show this school opening. When we start seeing the yield of students, other schools won’t have the capacity to support them.”
Megan McLaughlin, a School Board member representing the Braddock District, said she had concerns that the county is underestimating the number of new students those new developments will bring in. She urged staff to re-examine its strategy for extracting concessions from developers, commonly known as “proffers.”
“I’ve asked staff to look at existing houses and use the proffer formula for how many students [were projected] to come out of a building and how many we actually ended up having,” said McLaughlin. “We need to be better at examining how many students [new developments] yield.”
McLaughlin said this happened for a smaller development in her area, but was concerned that as new development comes into areas like Tysons and McLean, the impact of those enrollment projections being off could magnify.
It’s true that McLean High School is overcrowded, but following last night’s School Board public hearing on the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), Dranesville District Representative Jane Strauss says plans are in the works to relieve some of the pressure.
The CIP shows McLean High School currently at 114 percent capacity, with projections sending that up to 127 percent by 2022.
Strauss said that she has been in discussion with members of the community about adjusting the school boundaries to relocate some of the older, multi-family units to other schools. With an extensive renovation project just wrapping up in October and a school capacity utilization at 82 percent, Strauss said Langley High School is the best option for relocation.
The school’s renovations began in 2014 and added a new two-story science addition, new gyms, a new library, a fine arts facility, classrooms and more.
“We’ve been talking with the community about this for years,” said Strauss. “We had to wait for the Langley High renovations to finish, but now is the time to begin talking about boundary changes.”
Strauss said shifting boundaries to send students to Langley High School and Cooper Middle School is essential, not only to relieve the current overcrowding, but to prepare for the incoming developments along the Silver Line.
In addition to the changes at the high and middle school levels, Strauss said she plans to propose adding classrooms to Franklin Sherman Elementary School. Franklin Sherman, Strauss said, is the last property in the area that has space to expand without needing zoning changes.
In the long-term, though, Strauss said McLean will need the new elementary schools at Pimmit Hills and Tysons to help deal with long-term population growth fueled by new development. Plans for the schools are in the CIP, but are still years away.
At the hearing, parents from McLean and other schools throughout Fairfax urged border adjustments to offset overcrowding.
“The current enrollment at McLean is 2,255, with a program capacity of 1,983,” said Susan Garrahan, a Langley High School alum with a daughter at McLean High School. “This equates to 14 percent over capacity. The forecast in the draft CIP shows that in the last two years of this five-year plan, McLean will be the most overcrowded high school in the county at 26 to 27 percent over capacity.”
Garrahan said development along the Silver Line will likely continue to bring families with school children into the McLean-area schools.
“Given current conditions and your forecast of serious overcrowding, I was startled to see no concrete proposals to address this situation in this year’s CIP,” said Garrahan. “I have read about your efforts to revise the policies and procedures for boundary adjustments. This makes me concerned that McLean will get stuck in a holding pattern, overcrowded while procedural matters get ironed out.”
The school newspaper’s October edition described the school overcrowding as leaving students stuffed three to a seat on school buses and teachers traveling with a cart full of supplies because of limited classroom space.
“I ask the board to have the courage to look at school boundaries,” said Keith Foxx, an FCPS parent. “Several reports developed by the School Board mention this as an option, usually at the bottom because it’s not popular. Let’s stop kicking the can down the road, we’re going to have to deal with this.”
On Jan. 17, the McLean High School PTSA will host a meeting in the Lecture Hall with Strauss and Kevin Sneed, a school planner, to discuss the plans to address school overcrowding.
New development is underway across Tysons, but school officials believe it will take years yet for buildings to reach capacity.
In McLean, however, overcrowding at all levels is a problem that’s likely going to get worse over the next few years.
According to the Fairfax County Public Schools’ (FCPS) proposed Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), McLean High School and nearly all of the schools that feed into it will be over capacity by the start of the 2020-2021 school year. While additions are planned for West Potomac, Justice, and Madison High Schools, there are no plans in the CIP for major additions to McLean High School.
McLean High School is currently at 114 percent capacity and is projected to go up to 127 percent capacity by the 2022 school year, as the school built to handle 1,993 students welcomes 2,524. Over the next few years, the CIP says temporary classrooms, modular additions and boundary changes are possible for McLean High School.
The elementary schools feeding into McLean High School — Chesterbrook, Franklin Sherman, Haycock, Kent Gardens, and Timber Lane — also face challenges in the coming years. Chesterbrook, Haycock, and Kent Gardens all exceed 100 percent capacity and projections from the school show that overcrowding continuing for at least the next five years. Kent Gardens currently has 117 percent capacity and is projected to reach 119 percent of its capacity next year.
More temporary classrooms are proposed for Chesterbrook, Haycock and Kent Gardens, with new modular facilities or building additions at Chesterbrook and Kent Gardens. New boundary changes are also possible for Haycock and Kent Gardens.
Marshall High School, which covers the Tysons area, fares a little better in terms of overcrowding than McLean. The school is currently at 95 percent capacity and isn’t projected to reach 100 percent capacity until the 2023 school year.
The only Tysons-area elementary school facing severe overcrowding over the next five years is Shrevewood Elementary School, currently at 118 percent capacity and projected to increase to 125 percent capacity by 2023. Temporary classrooms, building additions, and boundary adjustment are all being considered as potential solutions to address overcrowding at Shrevewood.
While school staff downplayed the immediate impact of residential developments on schools, in the long run, the school CIP will need to include plans for a growing student population in the Tysons area.
“In addition to the estimated student yields, for comprehensive plan studies, recommendations to address future school facilities needs are provided to Fairfax County government,” staff wrote. “Recent long-range planning initiatives include [the] Tysons Urban Center, Merrifield Suburban Center, [and] McLean CBC.”
New residential developments are proposed to form the core of the downtown McLean Community Business Center. At least 4,000 new residential units are planned for the Spring Hill development alone, according to the Tysons Partnership.
By 2027, Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) hopes to start planning for a new elementary school in the area to handle the youngest generation of Tysonians.
The FCPS 10-year Capital Improvement Plan shows planning for a new Tysons Elementary School FY 2027, and repurposing of the Pimmit Hills school a year later as an elementary school to provide capacity relief to other schools feeding into McLean High School.
FCPS documents show plans to seek funding for Tysons Elementary and the Pimmit Hills Repurposing in a 2025 referendum.
A public hearing for the CIP is scheduled for tomorrow (Tuesday) at 6 p.m. in Luther Jackson Middle School (3020 Gallows Rd). A School Board decision on the CIP is scheduled for Jan. 24.
McLean HS Student Struck By Elderly Driver — “A female McLean High School student was injured Oct. 12 after being struck by a vehicle on Westmoreland Street in McLean, Fairfax County police said. The incident occurred around 5 p.m. as the student was using a crosswalk to cross Westmoreland Street near Old Chesterbrook Road.” [InsideNova]
Secret Sleigh Project Accepting Applications — “Does your child have a medical diagnosis that limits their ability to get outside, especially during winter months? Do they enjoy seeing Santa Claus (and perhaps Mrs. Claus, elves, and carolers?) Contact us for an application to have Santa come to your home and visit your child before Christmas.” [Facebook]
Big Donation for McLean Private School — “The Potomac School’s upcoming Center for Athletics and Community has garnered one of the largest gifts in school history. The Spangler family made the $12 million donation… for the new athletic center.” [Patch]
ARTSFAIRFAX Disability Workshop — Local arts group ARTSFAIRFAX is holding a free workshop on Nov. 1 to discuss how to best serve audiences with disabilities. The event is being held from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 1st Stage in Tysons. [McLean Connection, ARTSFAIRFAX]
Huge Tysons Office Complex For Sale — “The developers of Towers Crescent are considering selling after anchor tenant MicroStrategy Inc. vowed to add 300 jobs to its headquarters in the 1 million-square-foot-plus Tysons office complex… The offering, which also includes an additional land site fronting Fashion Boulevard, could easily exceed the roughly $360 million assessed value of the existing buildings.” [Washington Business Journal]
School Board Adopts Sexual Misconduct Resolution — “The Fairfax County School Board will lead a cultural change in Fairfax County Public Schools regarding sexual misconduct to ensure that the organization continues to foster a caring culture, encourage open communication, properly educate and train students and employees, and hold accountable those who fail to uphold our standards of conduct and reporting.” [Fairfax County Public Schools, Fox 5]
McLean HS Team on It’s Academic — A team from McLean High School will appear on the Oct. 13 episode of It’s Academic on NBC 4. [Twitter]
Wildcat 5K in McLean This Weekend — The rolling hills of McLean will play host to the 11th annual Wildcat 5K and Family Fun Run on Saturday morning. [Wildcat 5K]
