Schools

School Board Debates Annandale Regional Study Priorities in Work Session

During their work session on Monday, members discussed maintaining the diversity at AHS while solving overcrowding

Wakefield Forest, Bren Mar Park and the diversity and overcrowding at were the main topics of discussion during the Annandale Regional Study part of the agenda for Monday’s Fairfax County School Board work session in Falls Church.

Much of the almost two-hour long discussion revolved around maintaining the diversity at (AHS) versus solving the overcrowding issue, with both issues seeming to be a top priority for individual board members.

At-Large School Board Member Tina Hone addressed what she called the “elephant in the room” and opened the discussion about the socioeconomics involved with keeping or removing (WFES) at AHS. Several parents have , which would move WFES to at the on July 11, but others have expressed their to remove WFES from the Annandale pyramid.

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“Nobody is wrong here,” said Hone. “The school is overcrowded and socioeconomic diversity matters to the success of the school.” Hone called the socioeconomic balance at AHS a “key to the success of the school” and said she wasn’t interested in the “taints” of the study about people who are worried about property values, fundraising and race.

Despite what he called historical evidence that shows socioeconomic balance added to a school’s success, Cluster III Assistant Superintendent Dan Parris said he wouldn’t base a decision solely on that factor. “If we accepted the notion that there is some socioeconomic formula that determined school success, we wouldn’t be able to do what we’re doing,” said Parris.

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Mason District School Board member Sandy Evans said she has “deep concerns” about how the numbers of students leaving AHS would impact the fabric of the school. “There’s a magic in the fabric there and it’s something we just can’t measure with averages, so I’m just very concerned that we would take out a lot of energy at the school,” said Evans. She also added that she felt the 300 students proposed to be removed from Bren Mark Park have been overshadowed by all the discussion over Wakefield Forest.

If Wakefield Forest was retained, Evans said they would only be 52 students above target and AHS would be at 102 percent capacity, but Braddock District School Board representative Tessie Wilson pointed out later in the session that it would be closer to 110 percent for the core capacity and only 102 percent for design. Providence District School Board member Patricia Reed asked the board if they could live with that 102 percent overcrowding or if they would question whether they did enough to solve the issue.

There was also a lengthy discussion about the need for more demographic data for the single-family homes included in the boundary and whether they keep the balance at AHS by removing WFES, but Dean Tistadt, chief operating officer with the department of facilities and transportation services, said the percentage of AHS students living in single-family homes would only decrease from 41.7 percent to 39.5 percent.

Wilson said over-enrollment and capacity issues at AHS have always been a priority and argued the board has to do something to keep the numbers down. School Board student representative Eugene J. Coleman III spoke about his diverse experience at Mount Vernon High School and said he felt the board should take into consideration whether or not the students appreciate the diversity enough to deal with a little overcrowding in the hallways.

Mount Vernon School Board Member Dan Storck of Mount Vernon raised the question of whether pupil placement would allow WFES students to attend Woodson if WFES remained in the Annandale pyramid, but Tistadt said pupil placement is not a “viable solution to address capacity issues” and said a buffer was needed to help offset the high birth rates expected for the Annandale attendance area.

In addition to the discussion, several board members said they would submit amendments for the study by the Thursday, July 21 deadline. Evans said she would submit an amendment to allow the Columbia Pines community to attend Glasgow Middle School and Stuart High School with their Sleepy Hollow Woods neighbors instead of going to and then Falls Church High School. At-Large School Board Member James Raney said he plans to propose an amendment to keep WFES in the Annandale pyramid. The proposed staff recommendation would send WFES students to Frost Middle School and Woodson High School instead of to Poe and then AHS.

Although there was a proposal to push the vote back from July 28 to October, it received little support from board members. “We need to let the community move on, no matter what decision we make. Enough,” said Wilson.


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