|
|||||||||||||
Printer-Friendly
Email this Story
Post a Comment (0)
Debate heats up over schools in Dulles South
Since the School Board's July 2 decision to authorize $20 million for the purchase of 99 acres for new schools in Lenah Run, supporters and opponents have come out in droves to discuss the issue.
Opponents of the school site say the proposed middle and high school would be better off in South Riding where they would be centrally located for more of the population.
Supporters say overcrowding is an imminent problem in Dulles South schools, and the two new schools in Lenah Run would be the easiest and fastest solution.
On July 2, members of the School Board voted 6-1-2 to approve signing a contract to buy the 99.34 acres from developer Greenvest as the site for the new two-story middle school and high school.
Bob Ohneiser (Broad Run) voted against the purchase. Board members Jennifer Bergel (Catoctin) and Joseph Guzman (Sugarland Run) were absent.
The purchase price of the property is $20.15 million.
Since that vote, the School Board and Board of Supervisors have heard comments from the public on both sides of the issue, along with questions about the proposed schools.
"Why this site when ... less than 6 percent of the overall student population would come from Lenah Run?" asked Lenah Run resident Mark Wilburn at the supervisors' public input session July 14. "With gas at $4 a gallon, how would this make sense? Why this site when it requires opening up of the transition area on roads that currently cannot handle the traffic?"
At the same meeting, Lenah Run resident Linda Foresha spoke in favor of the site.
"I believe we do not have time to look for different land and go through the entire process of getting the schools built in order to provide overcrowding relief of the current schools," said the mother of two Arcola Elementary School students.
As proposed, the Lenah Run property, about 2,000 feet south of U.S. 50 off Lenah Road, would support an 180,000-square-foot middle school, set to open in fall 2010, and a 270,000-square-foot high school, with an opening planned for fall 2011.
The location is about 4.5 miles from South Riding and about 2 miles from Stone Ridge.
It is not yet known which elementary schools would feed into the new schools cluster.
Sally Fuller, of Lenah Run, has two children, 10 and 12, and said the new schools will need to be built or she fears her children will have to be bused to school in Ashburn because Mercer Middle School and Freedom High School, both in South Riding, will be overcrowded.
Another resident, Laura TeKrony, of Aldie, is a longtime opponent of the schools site.
"Public utilities are not at this location," she said. "I believe we are funding Greenvest for the roads and utilities that they would need for their development. We owe it to the taxpayers and parents to look for other sites."
In addition to questions from the public, several supervisors questioned the School Board Finance Committee July 16 about the Lenah Run proposal.
School Board Chairman Robert DuPree (Dulles), Vice Chairman John Stevens (Potomac), schools Director of Planning and Legislative Services Sam Adamo and appraiser Oakley Thorne were there to explain the reasoning behind the choice of the site.
Before the Lenah schools can receive final approval, a special exception application must be approved by the county's Planning Commission and make it through a vote of the Board of Supervisors.
The special exception is set to be heard by the Loudoun County Planning Commission Sept. 25.
You must be logged in to post a comment.