This a a copy of the press release that was jointly released by School Board Candidates, Smerdon and Kaye in response to the Falls Church News Press guest editorial by current School Board Chair, Justin Castillo.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 8, 2015
The Falls Church Times
The Falls Church Post
By Becky Smerdon, Ph.D. and Mark Kaye, J.D.
Note to Editors: In a guest editorial in the Falls Church News Press, School Board Chair, Justin Castillo, published a guest editorial. We wish to take issue with what Mr. Castillo did not say in his commentary.
With regard to enrollment, increases have been driven in a substantial manner by the uncontrolled apartment growth in recent years which has added 100s of more students to an over-stretched infrastructure. In this regard, the “Little City” is looking more and more, apartment project after apartment project, like a big city.
Our state rankings on Standards of Learning (SOL) passing rates for economically disadvantaged students and English Language Learners are far from stellar. Only about 2/3 of our economically disadvantaged students passed their reading and math SOLs and only 3 out of 4 economically disadvantaged kids graduate high school in 4 years. We continue to pat ourselves on the back for educating kids who would be successful in any school system in the country—what about our most vulnerable children?
The dictated approach for a possible new George Mason High School is a private public partnership (PPP) – which have a troublesome history. PPP schemes are more often than not used by elected officials in the short run to dodge borrowing limits and avoid real estate property tax increases. In turn the City will hand over massive tax breaks to a developer – and incur possible future liabilities if the project fails (all at the expense of taxpayers).
With regard to public participation for a new high school facility, there was only one truly public ‘visioning’ session for the GMHS/MEH campus and the follow up meetings were invitation only. The public meeting was a contrived affair that presented only the option of building a new high school and “visioning” focused on sleek buildings, bike paths, and commercial development—with no mention of teaching and learning.
With regard to the Mt. Daniel expansion, the proposed project is a poorly planned and executed affair. The planning to obtain Fairfax County buy-in was non-existent to zero. It is very uncertain if Fairfax will allow the planned expansion to occur. Now the taxpayers of FCC are paying interest on an $11M bond and no work has been conducted. This is a fiasco.
Contact and Additional Information:
Mr. Kaye also has an MBA from The University of Chicago and his law degree is from Georgetown University.
Dr. Smerdon is a nationally recognized education specialist with a doctorate in Education from the University of Michigan.
Mr. Kaye can be contacted at KayeForFCCSchools@gmail.com
Dr. Smerdon can be contacted at bsmerdon@qra-llc.net.
One thing that no one is talking about is how the new development will effect the size of the GMHS Campus. I have seen initial proposals that more than cut the property in half– filling spaces with apartments and stores. Will these bring money to the city? Probably. But at what cost?
The GM campus is currently large, has room for the school to grow and expand, and if that space is given up, there will be a point where the school will no longer be able to expand.
With all the controversy regarding Mr. Daniel/traffic/etc., maybe a new Elementary school could be build on the property, and GMHS renovated. George Marshall, just down the road did a really nice job of renovating their school.
I just hope whatever ends up happening does not make the site become like a High School in the middle of the Mosaic District in Merrifield— GMHS will lose something that makes it unique and special.
Dear Concerned Citizen, I echo your concern about the acres on the West side/current location of GMHS and MEH. The current campus is very open with lots of field space. I have the same visual – our school campus will look like Merrifield. Additionally, the increased amount of residential units coming onboard will make the schools larger; the one reason I did not choose McLean or Yorktown. All things equal, if the schools become the same size as McLean or Yorktown, I think FCC is less desirable: same school size, same quality of school, less real estate taxes, more housing choices.