On Sunday October 21, 2018, City Manager Wyatt Shields and Superintendent Peter Noonan hosted a town hall to update the community about the development of the George Mason High School site. If you watch the video, at timestamp 5:40, Superintendent Peter Noonan describes where we are in the timeline and talks about the phases of the project.   The Schematic Design Phase is an extremely critical phase for the community stakeholders as it is in this phase that the program specifications of each department or space are defined, finalized and ultimately contractually incorporated into the design plans.  The timeline below shows that this phase is nowRead More →

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According to a GMHS Campus Project Update circulated earlier today, this evening the Falls Church School Board will reach another “milestone in the GMHS Campus Project with the selection of Gilbane Construction with Stantec and Quinn Evans Architects as contractors and architects for the new George Mason High School.” During this evening’s meeting, the Gilbane team will present an overview of their design. The session will be streamed live at www.fccps.org/live beginning at 7:00 p.m. The project plan is available on the Campus Project website: www.fccps.org/campusproject. The winning design is Net-Zero Ready and LEED Gold Certified. Gilbane’s proposal also expresses the potential of the constructionRead More →

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John Leimone, long time Falls Church resident and PhD economist with extensive experience in macroeconomics, budgets, financial markets and financial risks, has studied the $ 120 MM bond referendum plan and identified the following issues: Problem: Justification of huge cost and 65 % increase in student capacity of proposed “community school” has not been clearly demonstrated. a.  Demonstrable unreliability of  longer term projections of school enrollment & failure to address recent negative demographic trends. b.  No independent Request for Proposal (RFP) to pin down costs & to separate basic needs from merely desirable features (e.g, a “competitive” gym already available in MEHMS.) c. No comparisonsRead More →

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It is time for those of us who live and work in the 21st Century to oppose those who seem determined to support an unsustainable outdated and costly school system born in the 1950’s and nurtured by discrimination, elitism and narrow thinking!   Ira Kaylin has written articles addressing this very issue.  They are so clearly stated that even I understand the financial issues he cited.  Compare this to the information by proponents of the referendum and see how their “facts” are exaggerated , vague and at best misleading!  Example–a stated tax reduction– when is the last time we saw a reduction in any taxes?  WeRead More →

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Remember interim’s School Superintendent Schiller’s February 2017 advice to build a single-phase high school for $ 60 million? What if we followed his advice? Let’s say he was off and it would cost $ 70 million. And, let’s not build a school for 1,500 students like he suggested, but a smaller school for 1,350 students. Also, don’t build an expensive 5 story school. Build a cheaper-style 2 story school that we can expand upon. Q: What are the advantages of this approach? A1. We save $ 50 million dollars and borrow $ 50 million less. A2. We can afford to keep the 10 acres ofRead More →

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Citizens gathered this past Sunday in the GMHS auditorium for another Q&A session on the referendum.  The session began with a pitch for a new school from Peter Noonan, Superintendent of Schools, citing research that indicates better outcomes for students with high ceilings and better ventilation. This was followed by financing details by City Manager Wyatt Shields.  School Board candidates Greg Anderson,  Alison Kutchma, Richard Crispin, Shannon Litton and Shawna Russell were in attendance.  Good questions were posed and more back up and tax implication information was requested.  FACTS will post the information requested when it becomes available. The session was videotaped. Click here forRead More →

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