Schools

Live Blog: School Board Public Hearing for Annandale Regional Study

Several parents and residents spoke before the School Board in advance of the July 28 vote on the Annandale Regional Study.

Annandale Patch will have a recap from the hearing, video, photo galleries and more up on the site Tuesday morning.

10:06 p.m. And that's all, folks. Chairman Kathy Smith adjourned the public hearing regarding redistricting of Fairfax County Public Schools just after 10 p.m. In all, more than 75 people spoke on issues ranging from the Annandale High School pyramid (and what schools feed into AHS) to the J.E.B. Stuart pyramid and more. The final vote on the Annandale Regional Study is scheduled for July 28.

Annandale Patch will have a recap from the hearing and more on the site Tuesday morning. In the meantime, be sure to read our to the redistricting plans.

Find out what's happening in Annandalewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

10:04 p.m.: Eileen Bryceland, the final speaker for the evening, addressed the School Board in support of "keeping peers together" in the Glasgow/J.E.B. Stuart pyramid. She also asked that the Columbia Pines and Sleepy Hollow neighborhoods be kept on the same track and not split up as proposed in the staff recommendation.

10:00 p.m.: 2011 graduate Emma Barker said it took 513 students to make a difference in her life and that she would not be where she is today without her AHS family. "For years, Wakefield Chapel has been a part of Annandale. For me, they come hand-in-hand," said Barker.

Find out what's happening in Annandalewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

9:55 p.m.: "Closing Thomas Jefferson to the community it deserves has caused a ripple effect in our neighborhood and the larger Annandale community," said speaker Francine Froehlich. "When I receive a bill in the mail in the fall for $84 million for a school that I can't attend, I will not be laughing at the irony," said Froehlich.

9:53 p.m.: Fewer than 10 speakers to go. It looks like everyone is collectively ready to go home.

9:44 p.m.: “The staff recommendation allows students to succeed in an environment where they will flourish," said speaker Erin Kramer, a Wakefield Chapel resident. Kramer said she supports the staff recommendation to move the students at to Frost Middle School and Woodson High School and urged the School Board to allow students in Annandale "to get the learning opportunities they deserve."

9:25 p.m.: Speaker Amanda Perez, representing the Pine Springs community, brought a bit of fun to the podium as she greets the School Board with "aloha" and dons a bright yellow lei. A handful of Pine Spring supporters stand in the back, also wearing leis to show their support. Perez spoke in support of removing the City Park neighborhood from the plan.

9:04 p.m.: Speaker Cyndi Brown, PTA president at North Springfield Elementary School (which is not affected by the staff recommendation), said she's speaking tonight to urge the School Board to find a home for the 3,600 kids that don’t have classroom space at the moment. Brown recommended moving Edsall Park back to Bren Mark and Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology back to the community, which drew applause from the audience.

Brown also added that she is tired of people talking about what can't be done (like return TJHSST to the community. “If that doesn’t work for you, it is the job of the School Board to find something that will," said Brown.

8:53 p.m.: More support for from a Wakefield Chapel resident. Speaker Leonard Wolfenstein told the School Board, "If you break Annandale, you will not be able to put it back together again."

8:41 p.m.: Inching closer to the three-hour mark now. Still a solid number of people in the auditorium, listening to testimonies.

8:36 p.m.: Mangan is followed by speaker Monica Buckhorn. Buckhorn said she is speaking in support of Belvedere Elementary School and revealed that a petition from the Columbia Pines neighborhood showed 99 percent of residents supported their kids attending Glasgow Middle School and Stuart High School. "There is not reason why this community should be split apart at middle school, a critical time for kids," said Buckhorn.

8:30 p.m.: Speaker Michael Mangan asks that the School Board take into consideration the effect BRAC will have on families and the community.

8:23 p.m.: Peter Read, the father of Mary Read, who attended and was later killed in the 2007 Virginia Tech shootings, spoke to School Board in support of retaining Wakefield Chapel as part of the Annandale High School pyramid. Read also asked the School Board give the non-boundary option a fair amount of consideration while the AHS crowd stood, showing their support.

8:14 p.m. Speaker Mark Viehmeyer addressed the School Board on behalf of the Bren Mar Park community. Viehmeyer said the staff recommendation sends kids across the beltway to Edison, "making Bren Mark Park the only elementary school to be sent outside of the beltway." "[The staff recommendation] represents another faiture to engage in long-term strategic planning on the part of Fairfax County Public Schools," said Viehmeyer, who called the recommendation a short-term band-aid solution that will put the community through a similar process in the near future. There's some applause from the crowd before Viehmeyer concluded his comments, saying the FCPS Facilities and Transportation department should "engage the community in a process that focuses on uniting the community rather than redrawing lines on a map and busing our kids out of their community... it is only through pursuing such smart changes that we can avoid repeating the failures of the past."

8:01 p.m.: Friendly words from speaker John Long who told the crowd of supporters that they would welcome the AHS community to Lake Braddock High School with open arms and “turn Atoms into Bruins." Speaking seriously, Long said moving students from AHS to LBHS moves kids from "one crowded school into another" and urged the School Board is not adopt any option that moves kids into Lake Braddock.

7:49 p.m.: More criticism for Option 3 (which is not part of the FCPS staff recommendation) from speaker Noel Leavitt. Leavitt said Braddock District Supervisor John Cook and Del. Vivian Watts submitted a letter to the School Board about the traffic concerns moving students from Woodson High School to Lake Braddock High School would cause. He also said the travel time is also a concern for he and his neighbors. “I think that the staff recommendation addresses John Cook and Vivian Watts' concerns by offering minimnal boundary changes in our area." Leavitt said he thinks the recommendation could work "with minimal tweaks at your discetion"but not by adding option 3 back."

7:42 p.m.: Speaker Ghassan Atiyeh, a resident of the Lee Forest neighborhood in Fairfax, said he opposes any option that uproots the Lee Forest community from the Woodson pyramid. Atiyeh called Lee Forest a "multi-generational neighborhood with many Frost/Woodson legacies". Atiyeh said he believes “carving out Lee Forest would break up long-standing relationships in the community.” Despite his feelings, Atiyeh also told the School Board in his testimony that supports the staff recommendation because it relieves overcrowding at .

7:39 p.m.: Speaker Charles Curran, who has a rising senior daughter at , speaking passionately to the School Board,  said he thinks “maintaining the socioeconomic balance at Annandale High School is what’s best for the community.”

7:34 p.m. The line of speakers continues to move fairly quickly. A little over an hour and a half in and we're currently on speaker number 35. More movement from the audience as people (including School Board members) get up and stretch their legs.

7:23 p.m.: In her remarks, Speaker Bonnie Clements called Option 3 an "embarrassment to the School Board as it clearly fails to meet the criteria of School Board Policy 8130." Clements words drew applause from the supporters.

7:15 p.m.: There's loud cheering and applause from the supporters at the end of testimonies from people speaking in support of keeping students at AHS. The Woodson High School supporters stand in quiet, solid support, holding their signs whenever anyone from their group is at the podium.

7:10 p.m.: Some people arriving late are outside watching the hearing on a TV, but most of the audience is in the auditorium. The line of speakers is moving quickly. Only a handful have gone over the 3-minute speaking time, but not by much.

7:06 p.m.: During her speech, Parent-Teacher Student Association President Emily Slough said, "Annandale High School is a successful school...despite considerable challenges. We continue to exceed expectations." Slough asked th School Board to think about the unique families and students that "lie behind the data." "This is about 800 students and their families, not just 141...we will continue to do what we have always done nonetheless and that is rise," said Slough.

7:02 p.m.: Individual speaker Jerry Butchko, who upports the FCPS staff recommendation, said shifting already bound Woodson High School students isn’t logical.

6:47 p.m.: Despite the long list of 92 speakers, there are plenty of seats available near the front in the auditorium of Luther Jackson Middle School. Most of the audience is being respectful of each speaker, applauding only when finished. Many of the Wakefield Chapel supports in their red and white clothes are sitting on the left while the Woodson High School supporters in their navy blue are on the right.

6:41 p.m.: Speaker Bill Chandler is reading the remarks of a Wakefield Chapel resident as the parents and students rise in the stands to hold up the “Keep us @ Woodson” signs again.

6:36 p.m.: Individual speaker Brenda Meeks said she thinks Frost Middle School is able to hold the students from . "This is not an issue of the quality of the school, test scores or fear of diversity. This is about the overcrowding and the need to implement a long-term solution," said Meeks. Meeks ended by asking the School Board to vote in support of the recommendation.

6:34 p.m.: Individual speaker Brenda Meeks is up next. Meeks said she is one of the group of 200 people in support of the staff recommendation that speaker Kelly Gerber just referenced.

6:32 p.m.: Kelly Gerber said the boundary change "must be done in order to allow Fairfax County kids to get the same education."

6:31 p.m.: Kelly Gerber is the next speaker. Gerber said she is speaking on behalf of over 200 people who "agree the staff recommendation is the best solution to overcrowding."

6:30 p.m.: Speaker George McCray said that moving kids at Woodson should be a last resort.

6:28 p.m.: George McCray is speaking on behalf of the group "Fight for Woodson". Several members in the audience wearing Woodson shirts are standing and holding "Keep Us @ Woodson" signs in support as McCray speaks.

6:26 p.m.: Huge applause from the AHS supports are Annie Curran leaves the podium. Monica De Lacey and Christina Butchko are speaking now. They're the next to last student speakers. Said they hope the School Board will vote to keep the students at Frost Middle School.

6:26 p.m.: Curran is powering through her 3 minutes. Said her neighborhood is "a piece of the puzzle that makes Annandale what it is" and called the School Board hypocritical for considering moving it.

6:23 p.m.: Annie Curran, co-editor-in-chief of the student newspaper The A-Blast said she is a firm believer that the Wakefield Chapel neighborhood should not be removed from AHS. Curran mentioned the newspaper's upcoming trip to China as one of the reasons why students at AHS receive a good education.

6:20 p.m.: 7-year-old Tara McCaleb, a 2nd grader at Belvedere Elementary School has to use a stepping stool to reach the microphone. She said she is very concerned about what will happen to Belvedere if the the proposed neighborhoods are removed.

6:19 p.m. Nijeh Argabright, who lives in Falls Church, is addressing the School Board now. She supports Columbia Pines neighborhood shifting to Glasgow Middle School.

6:17 p.m.: McLean listed 10 reasons why they should stay at AHS. One of the more important reasons? "We would have to buy all new spirit wear" and "we look good in red and white." The number one reason, Mclean said he wants to stay is that most of their parents and siblings are graduates at AHS and believe in AHS.

6:16 p.m.: Michael McLean, a student at Poe Middle School, is addressing the School Board with a line of students dressed in AHS shirts, holding signs that say "we want diversity, we want Annandale" and more.

6:15 p.m.: Peter Cheneler, another student speaker, said it's dangerous to cross the street to get to Lake Braddock and asked the School Board to keep the Cheneler tradition alive by allowing them to remain at Woodson High School.

6:12 p.m. Megan Ryan, an Annandale High School student is speaking next. Ryan said moving AHS kids to Woodson High School would split up my family” since her brother is a rising 8th grader at Poe Middle School. Moving the students to Woodson "will disrupt the balance... The sports teams and academics will not be as strong as they are today," said Ryan.

6:09 p.m. Next speaker is McKenna Deal, a student at Woodson High School is up next. Deal is describing her experience getting a petition signed by her classmates "I don't want to move and my friends don't want to move, so why make us?"

6:07 p.m. Woodson High School student Nolan Meeks is talking now. He's a rising sophomore at Woodson and supports the move. Meeks said he thinks it's great that the recommendation will allow students to pick where they want to attend. He spoke of his activities and experience at Woodson before addressing his time at Frost Middle School. Said at Frost "the classes are not bursting at the seems, lunches go quickly without incident."

6:05 p.m. There are 92 people signed up to speak and each speaker will have 3 minutes for their testimony. Smith is asking all speakers to respect everyone's time.

6:03 p.m. The public hearing has been called to order by School Board Chairman Kathy Smith.

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Original Story

Annandale Patch will be at Jackson Middle School in Falls Church covering rallies or protests such as the "I Believe in Annandale High School" rally set for 5:30 p.m. Beginning at 6 p.m. Monday, we will live-blogging the speeches from the scheduled speakers. In addition, Patch will publish full coverage from the Jackson Middle School rally tomorrow morning.

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Original Post 5 p.m.

Several parents and residents are scheduled to speak to the Fairfax County School Board at a public hearing for the Annandale Regional Study tonight at 6 p.m. in the auditorium of Luther Jackson Middle School in Falls Church.

Many parents have already expressed their opinions about the Fairfax County Public Schools Facilities and Transportation Department's for the Annandale Regional Study, especially parents in the Wakefield Chapel neighborhood here in Annandale. On Friday, July 1, Annandale Patch ran a about parents in the neighborhood who wish to keep their children in the pyramid instead of moving to Woodson High School as proposed in the recommendation. There are also parents in the Wakefield neighborhood who .

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

In response to those articles, Annandale Patch reader expressed concern over the current split-feed at Wakefield Forest Elementary School making it difficult for students to have an easy middle school experience at Poe Middle School because students enter at 7th grade. In her comment on part one, reader reflected on the difficulty ahead for the School Board in making a decision what to do to solve the overcrowding. Reader echoed a similar sentiment, expressing the need for a solution. "This issue is not going away and it needs to be addressed NOW," said Meeks.


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