The Arlington School Board has indefinitely put off making a decision on the future of the Wilson School, a historic but long-vacated school building in Rosslyn.
The School Board has been debating ways to turn its underutilized property into a revenue generator for months now. But at a meeting between the Board and Arlington Public Schools staff last week, little progress was made in determining the Wilson School’s fate.
"This isn’t going away," School Board Member David Foster said at the meeting, which drew more than a dozen concerned citizens who listened while the issues were discussed.
Ever since the School Board announced late last year that it would consider the future of the Wilson School, which is almost a century old and was named after President Woodrow Wilson, community activists have been vigorously lobbying the Board to try to get their respective projects included in the plan.
Some want to see affordable housing built on the Wilson School site, located in north Rosslyn, while others want the space to be used for the arts and still others want the space to be an open area.
Superintendent of Schools Robert Smith has recommended leasing the 2.7-acre site, which was assessed at more than $10 million in 2007. This would generate revenue for Arlington Public Schools that it could use in its many upcoming construction projects such as those at the Career Center and Wakefield High School.
AT THE MEETING last week, Smith’s staff expressed interest in combining the Wilson School property with a nearby county-owned fire station and dealing with the property jointly.
"The development of this site with the county makes more sense than doing it alone," said Clarence Stukes, Arlington Public Schools’ director of facilities and operations.
But some School Board members were skeptical that the County Board would be receptive to this plan.
"Is the county ready to move on this site?" Board Member Sally Baird asked Stukes.
"They are prepared to have a conversation," he replied.
"So they’re prepared to talk about it," Baird said. "There are so many other priorities at the county."
Stukes responded, "As a revenue generator, this will be looked at differently. I think the county sees that."
Based on comments at the meeting, School Board members have still not come to a consensus on what should be done with the property.
Despite the large contingent of activists at the meeting who wish to see the Wilson School become a so-called "green space" in heavily urban Rosslyn, School Board Chair Libby Garvey said, "Green space seems to be a Parks and Recreation matter. Our job is not to provide parks for the county."
School Board Member Ed Fendley said, "I don’t want to be blind to community concerns. I want to be sensitive to them." Fendley said that he would like to see the Wilson School turned back into a fully-functioning elementary school, something it hasn’t been since the early 1970s.
In the end, Smith acknowledged that he has "No idea what the County Board’s opinion [on the Wilson School] is because I don’t believe they’ve considered it." Garvey also noted that the issue is still not officially on the Board’s agenda.
DESPITE NUMEROUS DELAYS on this issue, community activists Mark Antell and Stan Karson, who want to see the Wilson School become green space, are satisfied with its current status.
"We’d rather not have it resolved if it’s resolved in the wrong way," Karson said.
Antell noted that he is pleased with the Board’s tough questioning of the school staff and thinks that his cause is gaining momentum.
"We’re seeing a continuing shift [among Board members]," he said. "I like the way Ed Fendley put it. He wants to maximize public use."
"Now they’re asking the right questions," Karson added.
Antell said that the Board's changing stance on the Wilson School issue can be explained by continued public pressure.
"A lot of it has to do with the appearance of citizens at these meetings," he said.