The School Board held a work session on Monday, July 18 to discuss the Staff Recommendation to relieve the overcrowding at AHS. There will be an amendment proposed to keep Wakefield Forest ES students at Poe MS and Annandale HS. It is unclear exactly what this amendment would be, but it appears that would be a return to "Option 1," whereby the only students removed from Annandale HS would be the 302 students from Bren Mar Park ES, who would be moved to Edison HS. This does not move enough students to relieve the overcrowding. Only removing 302 students is a short-term solution, and FCPS will be forced to revisit the overcrowding in the near term if this solution is adopted. This opinion is borne out in part by birth rate data presented by Facilities staff to the school board during the meeting, which made it very clear that the density of population at Annandale HS is not a temporary change, but will continue to increase at a rapid rate.
We still believe strongly that Annandale HS is severely overcrowded and needs relief. AHS has the second smallest campus in Fairfax County, uses 16 trailers with 33 outside classrooms, plus a 14 room modular to educate its current student population, and has no space left to add any additional capacity.
We question why it is acceptable to keep one school at 110% of design capacity and 102% of program capacity when a neighboring school will be at 89% capacity, especially given the numbers of children coming in the future. Overcrowding is not good for ANY child. Option 1 is a short-term solution and is unfair to ALL of the students of Annandale HS.
The final vote by the School Board will be Thursday, July 28 at 7 p.m. at Luther Jackson Middle School. Please continue to send your e-mails to the school board supporting the staff recommendation and emphasizing the overcrowding. If you have already sent an e-mail, we very much appreciate it, and we would appreciate it even more if you would send yet another one (or several) in the next 10 days. Let your voice be heard!
Ladies and Gentlemen of the Fairfax County School Board,
ReplyDeleteThe facts about Annandale overcrowding are as follows:
1. Annandale HS and Poe MS are overcrowded at this time.
2. Annandale HS and Poe MS are forecasted to become more over crowded in the next few years.
3. Moving students from Annandale HS and Poe MS will help alleviate overcrowding.
4. We currently have the opportunity to move students to other schools where capacity exists.
5. If students are not moved to other schools, the overcrowding at Annandale HS and Poe MS will not be addressed again for several years.
Socioeconomics in Annandale HS and Poe MS have no impact on individual students' abilities to study, learn, or get a good education. Students who are unable to eat lunch and get to classes through crowded halls does affect individual students' ability to get a good education. And a good education is the paramount issue here, not the PTA, band boosters, or athletic teams.
As many have said, children are resilient and adapt to change, and those students who would otherwise be forced to the sidelines if Wakefield Chapel students remain, will pick up the slack and become the leaders and the 'fabric' and the 'energy' of the Annandale schools. I believe that moving Wakefield Chapel students will not adversely affect the Annandale community, and it is presumptuous to assume that our community is the sole organizing force of Annandale community schools. Please support the proposed staff recommendation to send all WFES students to Frost and Woodson.
Thank you so much for taking the time to carefully consider this matter.
Sincerely,
Gina Clune