Join Club

Capacity Crisis Looming for Arlington Public Schools

By 2016, the vast majority of Arlington’s public schools will be over capacity, according to new projections presented to the school board last night.

The numbers, in the words of one Tuckahoe Elementary parent who spoke at last night’s meeting, are “truly frightening.”

By 2016, two of the county’s four high schools will be over-capacity, five of the six middle schools will be over-capacity, and 18 of the 22 elementary schools will be over capacity. Only two out of Arlington’s 38 K-12 schools will be under 97 percent capacity.

The most crowded school will be Tuckahoe, at a projected 144.6 percent capacity.

“We’re growing, and we’re growing even faster than we anticipated several years ago,” said Arlington Public Schools Facilities Planner Dr. Alison Denton, who noted that Arlington now has more than 2,000 students enrolled in kindergarten, an all-time record. “We don’t, at this point, see any signs of our enrollment increases slowing down.”

Denton added that the growth in enrollment is county-wide, although certain schools are seeing faster growth than others.

So far, there are no concrete plans in place to deal with the capacity crisis. School administrators suggested the board hold a work session next month to evaluate options, with the goal of presenting recommendations to the community by April.

“I agree that there needs to be a real sense of urgency,” said School Board Vice Chair Abby Raphael. “We need to start making some tough choices and putting them into motion.”

The building of new schools, however, may still be a ways off. Any permanent building project will likely have to wait for approval during school system’s Capital Improvement Plan process in 2012.

Among the strategies being discussed in the near term are increasing the use of relocatable (trailer) classrooms, increasing class sizes, changing admission policies, or finding additional space to utilize as schools or classrooms.

Today the board is being presented with a study that attempted to determine the absolute maximum amount of additional capacity that can be added system-wide through the use of relocatable classrooms. Relocatable use is limited by the size of each school campus. The study counted land currently in use as playfields as potential relocatable space.

“This is not an ideal plan, it’s a worst case scenario,” Denton said.

The school system projects enrollment will increase from some 21,000 students now to 26,700 students in 2016. That number would put Arlington Public Schools just below the peak enrollment record set in 1963. At that time, however, Arlington had 5 to 10 more schools than it currently has, according to administrators.

School Board Chair Libby Garvey suggested that the school system may need to seek outside assistance to help deal with its capacity challenges.

“We’re really going to need to dialogue with our friends on the county board,” Garvey said. “We can’t do things the way we’ve been doing them… because it’s not going to work anymore.”

Update at 1:15 p.m. — The board work session on capacity issues will take place on Feb. 15 at 5:00 p.m., according to school spokesman Frank Bellavia. It will take place in the school board room at 1426 North Quincy Street. The session is open to the public, although there will be no comment or question period.

Recent Stories

Good Thursday evening, Arlington. Let’s take a look back at today’s stories and a look forward to tomorrow’s event calendar. 🕗 News recap The following articles were published earlier today…

Last year, an attempt to broaden the Arlington police auditor’s access to police records quietly fizzled before reaching the public for discussion.

George Mason University’s new Fuse at Mason Square in Arlington, is poised to become a 345,000-square-foot collaborative and digital innovation space in the heart of the Rosslyn-Ballston Corridor. “As Mason expands in…

These tree care companies serve Arlington County and received Washington Consumers’ Checkbook’s top rating for quality (as reported by their customers in Checkbook’s surveys).

Award-winning drag queen Tara Hoot is bringing her Family Fun Story Time Brunch to Arlington at Freddie’s Beach Bar! Saturday April 6 at noon! Join Tara for songs, stories, puppets, bubbles and joy! It’s not just stories, it’s a SHOW that’s perfect for kids and kids at heart–fun for everyone! Plus a tasty brunch at Freddie’s! Click the link and make your reservations now! ❤️ 🫧 🌈

Submit your own Announcement here.

The Summer 2024 STEAM (Science/Technology/Engineering/Arts/Math) Fellowship application is now open! Apply by April 15 to be considered!

The STEAM Workforce Development Teacher Fellowship provides Arlington Public Schools (APS) high school, middle school, and elementary school teachers with opportunities to learn about workplace needs in STEAM-related fields and for them to use the experience to enhance student learning to match workplace expectations in a selected industry. STEAM Fellows participate in a three-week summer fellowship, receiving a $4,000 stipend upon completion.

Applicants planning to pursue a fellowship in the arts must demonstrate how they will build connections between the arts and science, technology, engineering, or mathematics.

Click the button to learn more, share, apply, and see the variety of fellowships completed in previous years.

Read More

Submit your own Announcement here.

Free Right-Sizing Workshop – How to Get Rid of Your…

Cody Chance and Dick Nathan of Long & Foster are hosting a free workshop at our office on Cherry Hill Rd. (formerly Lee Highway) on the topic of “down-sizing” Thursday, March 28 from 5:30-7:30. We have created a workbook with

Portofino Italian Wine Dinner, April 6, 6:30pm

Four course Italian dinner, paired with 2 wines each. The wines will be served “blind” and notes on each wine will be discussed. The event is coordinated with Elite Wine Importers and The Portofino Restaurant. The dinner is on Saturday,

×

Subscribe to our mailing list