Alternate plan for South County
By James Cullum
Fairfax County Public Schools staff are recommending the construction of an addition to South County Secondary School, instead of the separate middle school building that many parents have been asking for.In January, the Fairfax County School Board directed staff to come up with creative ways to build and fund a south county middle school and save money at the same time.
An addition to the school would cost about $40 million less and could accommodate the growing overcrowding problem at South County, staff concluded.
The school board is slated to make a decision on an option for the school June 19.
Concurring with staff, school board member Stuart Gibson (Hunter Mill) said, "We're spending money we don't have on a school we don't need."
South County Secondary was built to hold 2,500 students but is bursting at the seams with a current enrollment of 2,960 students.
Over the past few years, middle school construction has gained the support of members of congress, state and county politicians and hundreds of parents.
"We can't make a mistake in this area," said school board member Liz Bradsher (Springfield). "I have a hard time thinking that we'll put a Band-Aid on [the overcrowding problem] with an addition."
The staff presentation on Monday covered strategies such as having a third boundary change for the school since it was opened in 2005; building a new middle school; and the favored option of building the addition to the existing site.
"My opinion is we look for a middle school. That's what we are waiting for," said South County Principal Dale Rumberger at the Monday meeting.
The model the staff is using for the addition is based on the 2003, $10 million Westfield High School addition.
The South County addition could be completed by the beginning of the 2010-11 school year, the staff study showed, while the planning and building of a middle school would take upwards of three years.
The addition would put the school at nearly 90 percent capacity.
The school board often makes these sorts of crucial decisions based on student projection numbers. But there are too many unknowns to make an accurate assessment of student population growth in southern Fairfax County, said FCPS Chief Operating Officer Dean Tistadt.
Tistadt cited the unknown effects of base realignment, the influx of immigrant families because of the crackdown on illegal immigration in Prince William County, impacts from the Springfield Mall redevelopment and the ongoing residential development in Laurel Hill.
Explaining projection figures to the school board, Tistadt said, "We need to be cautionary to use these numbers for decision-making.” On the other hand, he added, “I don't know how we are going to be able to make a decision without the numbers."
If the board officially considers putting an addition on the existing school as a viable option, at least seven board members must vote on June 19 to reverse or postpone a motion that the board approved in January.
That decision said that if the county gave the school system $10 million, it would kick off the process of building a middle school, starting with the superintendent using those funds to look for ways to build a middle school.
Three months later, the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the $10 million transfer.
After learning of the proposal to build an addition instead of a new school, three members of the Board of Supervisors, including Chairman Gerry Connolly (D), sent a letter to school board Chairman Dan Storck urging the school system to build the school. If they don't construct a middle school, the school system will likely lose the $10 million.
"There's clearly majority support on the board to build a middle school," said Storck. "The question is, how do we fund it and build it?"
FCPS owns a 53-acre parcel of land designated for the middle school. Staff figures estimate the construction at $53 million. But, because the site is home to wetlands and "uncertain soil conditions,” the site permit process may take longer than planned and cost more than budgeted, according to a staff report.
One solution favored by the Park Authority would swap the 53-acre parcel for a piece of nearby parkland.
Since the school board has billions of dollars in unfunded capital improvement projects, the school board would have to enter into a financing deal to build the school, such as a public-private partnership or bridge financing, the latter meaning that a $53 million loan would be taken out and paid back later with interest.
However, school system staff have misgivings of bridge financing, because, "it presumes that funds will be available in the future when payment needs to begin. ... Doing so could create an expectation in other communities that the same scenario should be used to accelerate their capital projects," the staff report read.