A public school system isn’t a business. But sometimes it needs to act like one to better educate its students.
That was the message from Superintendent of Schools Robert Smith last week in a presentation he made to the School Board.
Smith laid out a plan to transform underutilized school properties to create revenue for some of the big-ticket construction projects on the school’s docket such as the remodeling of the Arlington Career Center.
The plan and the presentation were the end result of the Multi-Site Study Committee, a group of school and community representatives chosen by Arlington Public Schools last fall to come up with a way to rearrange school assets.
Arlington Public Schools hoped that the rearrangement would generate up to $88 million in revenues, which is needed to fund the construction projects.
After eight meetings and two public comment sessions, the committee, led by community activist Jim Whittaker, submitted its recommendations to Smith. Smith then considered the recommendations and issued his own report to the School Board.
"The committee contained a varied population from across the community," said Clarence Stukes, Superintendent of Facilities and Operations for Arlington Public Schools.
Smith said, "This is a good, solid report. It was [dealt with] carefully, rationally and well."
THE PROPERTY THAT will see the most radical change because of the Multi-Site Study Committee’s recommendations is the Wilson School.
Located in Rosslyn and named after President Woodrow Wilson, the school was built in 1910 and is considered an Arlington landmark.
But the school-owned property has been without a school since 1972. Currently, it is only used as a temporary site for schools vacated from their buildings.
The Multi-Site Study Committee suggested that Arlington Public Schools lease the Wilson School property to a private business while maintaining the historic fabric of the school.
It also suggested that Arlington Public Schools combine the Wilson School property with an abutting property owned by the county to maximize the potential revenues it could receive from the lease.
"We need to work with the county," said Sarah Woodhead, director of design and construction for Arlington Public Schools. "It is a good partnership for us. For the community, it provides a better forum for engagement."
The money generated by this and other committee suggestions will go towards several major school construction projects.
The most prominent of these is the transformation of the Arlington Career Center, located on South Walter Reed Drive, from an after-school vocational program into an all-day technical high school.
The Career Center building is going to be completely renovated. But, based on the Multi-Site Study Committee recommendations, its function will also be altered.
The Career Center currently focuses on job education, offering classes in areas such as automotive technology, carpentry, cosmetology and aviation.
If the School Board adopts the Multi-Site Study Committee’s recommendations, it will turn into a secondary education program that will operate like H-B Woodlawn.
The H-B Woodlawn program has existed in Arlington since 1971. It accepts students from across the county and allows them to have more control over their own education while emphasizing self-motivation and self-discipline.
But while H-B Woodlawn focuses on the liberal arts, the Career Center will concentrate its classes around the subjects of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
"We are changing the concept of the Career Center," Smith said.
BY CREATING THE MULTI-SITE Study Committee, Arlington Public Schools chose a very public, inclusive way to make these property management decisions.
But there have been unintended consequences to the openness of the process for the School Board and the superintendent.
Now that the community is aware that the Wilson School property is going to be leased, a plethora of different interest groups have come out demanding that the property be used to suit their needs.
Some want to see affordable housing go on the site while others want the historic buildings preserved.
Bud Hensgen, of the Arlington Artists Alliance, wants to see a portion of the Wilson School area preserved for artists and arts education.
"If we could have space, we’d be able to contribute more to [the county]," he said.
Mark Antell, president of the civic association for the neighborhood in which the Wilson School lies, is adamant about maintaining the park area on the Wilson School site.
"[Arlington Public Schools] should look at the consequences of its land stewardship," he said in a statement to the School Board. "[It] shouldn’t engage in quick profit land deals that deeply damage communities."
Smith acknowledged that the Multi-Site Study Committee cannot possibly please everyone, saying that "No single interest group will be satisfied."
The committee has also irked the Arlington County Board. Board members said that they were not properly consulted prior to the committee’s inception.
"I see some potential concern with taking the step [of making the Multi-Site Study Committee] without talking to the board," County Board Member Jay Fisette (D) said at a meeting of county and school officials. "It raises [public] expectations."
Board Member Barbara Favola (D) said that the School Board has put the county in a bind by forcing it to prematurely deal with its property adjacent to the Wilson School.
"The Multi-Site Study Committee makes us take up issues we’re not ready to take up," Favola said.