Parents from Newington Forest, Silverbrook and Halley elementary schools gave thanks a little early this November.
The boundaries for the new south county high school arrived on Monday, and while not to everyone’s liking, the final plan offered the first look at what the county school staff believes are the best boundaries.
The end result of Monday’s third and final boundary town meeting at Hayfield Secondary School is an attendance-area study that will be presented to the Fairfax County School Board in mid-December.
"We can’t accommodate everyone, so what we tried to do was to see the ways we could touch on as many of the points the community made as possible, and still keep the school under capacity," said Gary Chevalier, director of the Office of Facilities Planning Services for Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS).
The plan, a result of modifications made to three plans presented at a meeting on Nov. 3, is the school staff’s recommended choice. Now it will be presented to the Fairfax County School Board at its meeting on Dec. 16.
"I’m so pleased that Silverbrook, Halley and Newington Forest are in the plan. I believe that was what this school was built for — to be a community school for these schools," said Liz Bradsher, a Silverbrook parent and member of the Hayfield Pyramid Solutions Group, which assisted the county in procuring the public/private partnership that helped build the school ahead of schedule.
UNDER THE proposed boundary changes, all of Halley, Silverbrook and Newington Forest elementary schools would feed the new south county high school, to open with Grades 7-10, and possibly Grade 11, in September 2005. In addition, portions of Lorton Station Elementary School would also feed the new school. Currently, Silverbrook, Lorton Station and Halley are all in the Hayfield Secondary School Pyramid, while Newington Forest feeds both Hayfield and Lee High School. Hayfield is currently projected to be nearly 600 students over capacity next fall, without the presence of the new south county school.
Just as the county staff was preparing to present one plan to the public with its seal of approval, however, a group of communities from the south portion of the county offered up its own plan, and members were passing out copies of a map to those entering Hayfield on Monday.
"I don’t think they [the county staff] have been listening as well as we’ve been talking," said Linda Burke, a parent in the Saratoga Elementary School community. "It’s not about everybody getting what they want. It’s about the most people getting what they need. Our plan satisfies that."
The group, called Real Educational Alternatives (REAL), is composed of parents from the Gunston, Lorton Station and Saratoga communities. Group members developed a new plan, which they called "Study 2 Modified." The plan was an alternative to the final county staff plan, which some parents felt didn’t service the needs of the Gunston and Lorton Station Elementary communities.
"What mobilized the Gunston community was the realization after the last meeting that the busing conditions in Mason Neck weren’t going to get addressed," said Keith Salisbury, who lives in Mason Neck.
REAL's plan calls for Halley, Silverbrook and Lorton Station elementary schools to feed the new south county school in their entirety. In addition, portions of Newington Forest and Gunston would also feed the school. By moving Newington Forest to Lake Braddock Secondary School, the REAL members said they were able to move Saratoga Elementary into the Hayfield Pyramid.
"It just kind of gelled, because the communities around Saratoga united around a plan to get them all into Hayfield," said Salisbury. "And Lorton Station united around a plan to keep their community whole. And if you looked at what they [the county staff] were trying to achieve, and what we were willing to do in Gunston, all the numbers kind of fell into place."
REAL MEMBERS said they were hoping to convince School Board members and parents of the plan’s viability before the next round of public hearings, on Jan. 4 and 5.
"In the long run, the county’s put together a plan that doesn’t accommodate as much of the majority of schools as we have," said Salisbury.
Based on enrollment projections, the south county high school would open with an enrollment of 799 in Grades 7 and 8, and a high-school enrollment of 765 next fall. By the 2009-10 school year, when it would have Grades 7-12, the total enrollment would be just under 2,500 students. It is being used as a secondary school for the time being, until a new middle school can be built under the school system’s Capital Improvement Program (CIP).
"I think we got as many of the kids living as close to the new school as possible into the new school. We eliminated some of the split feeders, and we have a better balance in the demography than some of the earlier plans," said Chevalier. "I think it’s a good compromise."
Although proposed boundaries appear to be drawn for the near future, some parents raised concerns that the new south county high school might soon be facing an overcrowding situation similar to what is currently faced by students at Hayfield.
"These communities are united and should go to this school. I support this scenario," said Bradsher. "But we didn’t build it to be a mega school. It’s a political process, and instead of doing what’s right for facilities, they did coalesce to the voices of communities."
The community will next get the chance to voice opinions on the proposed boundary changes at a series of public hearings on Jan. 4 and 5 at 7 p.m. at Jackson Middle School. Following those meetings, the School Board will take action on the boundary issue at its Jan. 27 meeting.