Library proposed as solution to overcrowded elementary school
Bailey’s Elementary School is way overcrowded, and even if there was funding for an addition, there isn’t enough land, and it isn’t structurally feasible to add another story. So a group of parents have come up with an innovative solution—add some classroom space at the nearby Woodrow Wilson Library, which is scheduled to start renovations next year.
The school has a program capacity of 1,049 students. Current enrollment at the start of the current school year was 1,232 and is projected to reach 1,559 by 2016.
At a community meeting at the school last night, Suzie Phipps, Bailey’s volunteer coordinator, explained why forming a partnership with the library seems to be the best option for addressing the school’s capacity problem:
- Adjusting the school’s boundaries won’t help because other nearby schools, such as Glen Forest, Belvedere, and Sleepy Hollow are at or over their capacity or are too small to handle the overflow.
- Fairfax County Public Schools’ Capital Improvement Program (CIP) calls for a new elementary school in the Bailey’s Crossroads area to relieve overcrowding, but planning wouldn’t start until 2016.
- The school district cannot spend more than $155 million on school construction and renovation projects annually. There are $800 million worth of proposed school improvement projects on the CIP, and Bailey’s Elementary School isn’t even on the list of schools needing work.
- There isn’t any available land in Bailey’s Crossroads that could accommodate a new school, and acquiring private property would be too expensive. FCPS requires at least eight acres for an elementary school.
- There is only 4,600 square feet available on the school property for an expansion.
Officially known as Bailey’s Elementary School for the Arts and Sciences, the school has a magnet program and a partial-immersion Spanish language program that draw students from a wider area. Those programs help create a more balanced enrollment for a school community that is overwhelmingly made up of lower-income students and English language learners.
Getting rid of Bailey’s magnet and immersion programs “isn’t an option,” Phipps says. Having an arts-focused program has brought all kinds of opportunities to Bailey’s students, including a partnerships with the Kennedy Center and the U.S. Forest Service. And having a more diverse population has been beneficial for all students.
“We need to find space for the kids that are here now and the kids coming in the future,” Phipps says. The school is so overcrowded that some students eat lunch at 10:05 a.m. while others have to wait until 1:30 p.m. The cafeteria will be renovated this summer, which will be helpful, but that’s not going to solve the overcrowding problem.
So with long-term renovation plans many years away, sharing space with the library offers a more immediate solution, which Phipps says could also benefit members of the community who use the library.
The library renovation, scheduled to start in the spring of 2013, calls for upgraded computer capacity so more library patrons can use the internet and expanded space for community meeting rooms. Phipps and other members of the Bailey’s PTA and staff would like the school district and county government to work together to revise the library renovation plans to provide more space for classrooms.
There are no detailed plans, and the library proposal has not been formally endorsed by the PTA, but Phipps suggests that an expanded library could house two entire grades along with space for school administrators. The additional space could be used by the public during non-school hours. The park behind the library wouldn’t be affected, she says.
Housing overflow students at the library would be better than having them in trailers, she says. Currently all Bailey’s third and fourth-graders are in trailers, which don’t have bathrooms or even running water.
“We want to explore this option. We don’t know if it’s feasible,” Phipps says.
Mason District school board member Sandy Evans said she is open to the idea although she noted “the conversation is just starting,” and there are a lot of unanswered questions. “It has to be a win for all those involved—the library, school, parks, and community.”
Community activist Priscilla Weck, a member of Friends of the Woodrow Wilson Library, expressed some doubts about how the library and community would benefit if “400 kids were moved to the library site.” The library is already “very well utilized as a community center,” she says.
One member of the audience called the county’s support for infill development at Peace Valley Lane, and elsewhere in Mason District, inconsistent with the enrollment strains on nearby schools. He urged the county and school system to work together.
Evans noted that she and Mason Supervisor Penny Gross have explored other options and have looked for alternative sites for a new school but have not found anything that would work.
Gross cited some of the issues that need to be resolved before the library proposal could go forward, including the legal issues involved with having a building jointly owned and operated by the county and school system. The $6.5 million library renovation project is funded by a bond approved by voters in 2004, and “if it’s not used for the library, we lose that money and don’t get it back,” she says. There are also land use issues which might require an amendment to the county’s comprehensive plan, she says.
“I hope we won’t waste our energy on something that won’t work,” Gross says. “We don’t want to end up with something nobody likes.” She suggested the possibility of finding rental space as “a temporary fix while we come up with a long-term solution.” She also noted that the redevelopment of Bailey’s Crossroads, supported by an amendment to the county’s comprehensive plan a couple of years ago, might include a school at some point—but if that happens, it is years away. Meanwhile, the library is moving forward with its renovation, Gross says.
14 responses to “Library proposed as solution to overcrowded elementary school”
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Can we all just say the problem: Prince William County got rid of all of its illegal population and Fairfax County has open arms for them…. now Mason District's schools are all overcrowded while the folks NOT PAYING taxes benefit from the (lack of)immigration policy and the rest of the tax paying folks get to send their kids to overcrowded schools.
They pay taxes.
An urban model school was suggested as a potential option. All the schools in our area are in residential neighborhoods and a multi-storied school would not fit well.
However, in spite of some obstacles, if the old Willston School site was used for this model, including razing the building and building a new school there, the structure would be a best fit considering it would be surrounded by multi-storied apartments and shopping centers. It was the local school for a portion of the Bailey's current district. While Supervisor Gross cited many reasons why not, if we are in such a bind and looking for solutions outside the box, why not give more thought to this approach?
Its basic economics – resources in life are limited. School space/programs are not infinite, and needs to be balanced for society to thrive.
I wonder how many of these families are illegal & using up the limited resource? These resources should be for our citizens first.
It would be nice if Ms. Gross would suggest what we can do to deal with the overpopulation at Baileys instead of what we cannot do.
It amazes me that Supervisor Gross certainly has no issues supporting amendment after amendment to the comprehensive plan when it comes to supporting developers cramming houses via infill development, yet when it comes to the schools and libraries, she hesitates.
Ms. Gross, time to step up and solve problems, not add more.
Send the kids back to their base neighborhood schools. Parents send their children to Baileys SIMPLY for the fact that they do not like their neighborhood school's demographic make-up. If everyone went to their neighborhood school the demographics would be different. Don't spend my tax dollars to fix overcrowding at a school where most children could and should be attending their own neighboorhood school. Most are not there for the programs, but for the mere fact they don't like their neighborhood school.
You are simply wrong.
Actually, dropping the magnet program (which brings in out-of-boundary students) would not solve the problem. This population has been strictly limited and has not grown; it is the in-boundary student population that has expanded, and the in-boundary population is far over Bailey's capacity even without the magnet program. Dropping the magnet program would simply mean dropping a number of students who bring diversity in terms of socio-economics (and by that I mean, most of them are in fact white and more well-off than much of Bailey's in-boundary population), as well as cut many of the enrichment programs that enhance Baileys for all students. This is not an option that any parents (and we are future in-boundary parents, as our daughter is now 3, and lives in Lake Barcroft, and we moved here FOR BAILEYS) that I have spoken with want to consider.
Fairfax County has seen a boom in overall population, citizens and illegals alike. This place is a huge magnet to recent college grads from nearby states like NJ, PA, and DE, the majority of which eventually settle in the suburbs and start having a family. Statistics show the problem is going to worsen and most school will have reached their maximum capicity in a couple of years. Housing and commercial redevelopment is being proposed left and right, even though they will trigger more overcrowding, and meanwhile, we're failing to propose an effective model to help with overcrowding in our schools.
This is a temporary "band-aid" solution, definitely not an implementation of a long term solution. The School Board needs to get their act together.
Most ARE there for the programs. You obviously missed the recent WP article.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/fairfax-magnet-school-focuses-on-educating-the-whole-child/2012/02/27/gIQAtqB7hR_story.html
Gross Field is also available. This soccer field belongs to the school and should be considered. Temp. trailers have been placed on the outdoor areas where kids used to play while the soccer field remains intact.
Actually, dropping the magnet program (which brings in out-of-boundary students) would not solve the problem. This population has been strictly limited and has not grown; it is the in-boundary student population that has expanded, and the in-boundary population is far over Bailey's capacity even without the magnet program. Dropping the magnet program would simply mean dropping a number of students who bring diversity in terms of socio-economics (and by that I mean, most of them are in fact white and more well-off than much of Bailey's in-boundary population), as well as cut many of the enrichment programs that enhance Baileys for all students. This is not an option that any parents (and we are future in-boundary parents, as our daughter is now 3, and lives in Lake Barcroft, and we moved here FOR BAILEYS) that I have spoken with want to consider.
Sounds like a perfectly good idea. And considering the population density around Willston, they would have no problem filling out that school.
It looks like this innovative solution to overcrowding at Baileys Elementary School is not going to happen. Mason Supervisor Penny Gross said May 1, "It just didn't work," due to legal and time constraints. She says the library would have to be rezoned R-30 to be re-purposed as a school. Meanwhile, the library is being renovated as originally planned.