Nearly half a billion dollars would be spent rebuilding andexpanding Fairfax County's aging and crowded school system over thenext five years under a plan a majority of the Board of Supervisorsendorsed yesterday.
If voters approve the bonds to finance the program, the schoolsystem will get $487 million in construction money, including about$175 million that traditionally would have been spent on parks,roads, sidewalks and other county building projects.
Supervisors in both parties and School Board members saidthe shift in spending is a necessary investment in Fairfax's future.'A healthy economy is dependent upon a well-educatedconstituency, and to achieve that we need safe, modern andwell-equipped schools,' said Supervisor Sharon S. Bulova(D-Braddock), chairman of the Budget Committee. 'This has been partof the Fairfax County culture for years, and it is important that itcontinue.'Also, School Board members learned late Monday that aconsultant they hired to conduct a sweeping management review hasconcluded that the school system is 'extremely well operated.' Theconsultant recommended cuts that would yield $7 million in savingsnext year out of a $1.1 billion school operating budget.The building program, which a majority of the supervisors saidyesterday they are ready to approve, would pay to expand or renovatedozens of school buildings. The key to the plan is the supervisors'decision to increase the schools' share of county construction fundsfrom about half to about two-thirds in each of the next five years.Although that would mean delays in other county projects, thecounty can afford to make the spending shift because some majornon-school projects -- such as the Fairfax County Parkway and a newjail -- are nearing completion, officials said.'We are very grateful the board has recognized the criticalcapital facilities needs of the school system,' said School BoardChairman Kristen J. Amundson (Mount Vernon).The need for the large increase in school constructionspending stems from two trends. The population of school-agechildren continues to grow in Fairfax -- increasing by about 2,250students a year -- as new housing is built, particularly in westernFairfax. And in the eastern part of the county, dozens of schoolsbuilt in the 1970s or earlier need major renovations to science labsand other facilities.School officials had asked for $603 million over the next fiveyears as part of a $1.2 billion building effort over the nextdecade. The supervisors' decision to provide less than that meansthe School Board still will have tough choices about which projectsto begin and which ones to delay.The School Board's plan called for building six schools andrenovating or expanding about 60 others over the next five years.School Board members will start paring that list at a meeting April24.After that process is over, a series of votes -- by theSchool Board, supervisors and the public -- will be needed beforemost of the construction can begin. School officials would like tohold bond referendums in November and in 1999 or 2000.The supervisors' spending plan does not resolve how to speedrenovations at five high schools in eastern Fairfax. Lee, Madison,Stuart, McLean and Annandale -- which have outdated science labs,crumbling sports facilities and classrooms without enough electricaloutlets -- would be renovated gradually over eight years.'That's just not good enough,' said Harriet Riehl,co-president of the PTA at Stuart, who helped organize a rally inJanuary at which hundreds of parents protested the renovationschedule.Although the supervisors' plan means the county would spendrelatively less on non-school construction projects, money is stillincluded over the next five years for some major county building.More than $80 million would be spent on a new county courthouse andnew or renovated police and fire stations. An additional $50 millionwould be invested in new recreation facilities.The construction program would not jeopardize the county's AAAbond rating because the combination of school and county debtservice each year would not exceed 10 percent of the total annualcounty budget, officials said.The management study , conducted by MGT of America Inc., cost$560,000. According to school officials who have seen the report,the consultant suggested eliminating language immersion programs inelementary schools, which would save $1 million a year, and gettingrid of college partnership programs that encourage minority studentsto go on to higher education, saving $500,000.The report also recommends, among other things, eliminatingsome custodial and financial jobs, and it chided the School Boardfor hiring more clerks.The consultant said the school system could deliverinstruction more effectively if it combined some administrativefunctions of the departments of instruction, student services andspecial education.School officials took issue with some of the report, sayingsome facts are wrong or out of context. Amundson said some of therecommendations -- such as cutting language immersion or collegepartnership programs -- are not politically feasible.
