Once the new administration building opens for Loudoun County Public Schools, several existing facilities will be transferred to another governmental entity or maintained for other uses.
The School Board voted Feb. 25 on the future uses of eight county facilities after 2005, when the Public Schools plans to relocate the administration offices to Broadlands. The North Street Administrative Office is planned as a 150,000-square-foot, five-story building and will be located in the Broadlands subdivision on a 13.4-acre site south of the Dulles Greenway.
“A lot of these buildings have functions that will be consolidated,” said Wayde Byard, school press officer.
The School Board declared two of the buildings as surplus property and conveyed them to the county. The properties include Carver School in Purcellville, which the county has proposed to use for an adult recreation center, and the Sterling Annex, which is currently used by the county’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Services.
In addition, the board agreed to maintain ownership of several properties, including:
* The Mercer Tract near Middleburg for future school use. An earlier School Board purchased the property in the 1950s to develop a school near Route 50, expecting it to become a major development corridor in the county.
* The Douglass Support Facility in Leesburg to house equipment, supplies and testing materials. The building located on Plaza Street currently is used for pupil and support services.
* The Staff Training Center on the Cedar Lane Elementary School property in Ashburn to continue providing staff development. The Staff Training Center is located in the former Ashburn Elementary School on Partlow Road.
The board agreed to lease the Round Hill Center to the county and the 20 Union St. property in Leesburg to both the county and Town of Leesburg. The Round Hill Center, formerly the Round Hill Elementary School, houses a testing and bus training center and some county functions. The 20 Union St. property, which was used as the School Board office, now houses media services and library services.
The board also plans to exchange the North Street Building, currently used as the school district’s main administration building, for an elementary school site in Leesburg.
IN OTHER BUSINESS, the naming committees for the high school in South Riding, referred to as HS-2, and the high school in the Brambleton subdivision, or HS-4, suggested names for those schools, which are scheduled to open in 2005.
The committee suggested the name of Freedom High School for HS-2 and gave the names of Poland Ridge and John S. Mosby as alternates. For HS-4, the committee’s suggestion is Briar Woods High School, a historical reference to a Native American agricultural area that, when abandoned, overgrew with briar patches. The committee’s alternate choice is Mount Hope High School.
The School Board plans to vote on the names for the high schools at the March 25 meeting.