Fairfax County's School Board endorsed a plan last night thatcalls for spending $603 million for new schools and otherconstruction projects over the next five years. But officialsacknowledged that the system has only enough money now to pay abouta quarter of that amount.
The plan highlights continuing budget troubles in affluentFairfax that have slowed spending on new schools, renovations andother construction projects in the area's largest school system.
School officials said the proposals are an attempt to meetsome of the county's most pressing needs: roof repairs, newair-conditioning systems and repairs to old ones, new schools toalleviate crowding in western Fairfax, and several dozen renovationsto improve older schools across the county.But the plan drew sharp criticism. Dozens of parents andstudents from eastern Fairfax turned out to complain that many ofthe projects would be done at the expense of five of the county'soldest high schools, which have outdated science labs, crumblingsports facilities and classrooms without enough electrical outletsfor computers.Under the plan, Lee, Madison, Stuart, McLean and Annandale highschools would be renovated over eight years, a pace that parents andschool administrators say is far too slow.'There will be turmoil . . . in five schools,' said EileenKugler, PTSA president at Annandale High. 'At Annandale, we havefixtures in some of the bathrooms that are 42 years old. . . . Idon't know the solution, frankly. I just know there's tremendousinequity.'School Board members agreed to seek alternatives to theextended renovation schedule, acknowledging that it was unfair andwould create hardships at the schools.The need to make hard choices about such spending is notpeculiar to Fairfax. A survey released in July showed that about athird of Virginia's public schools have inadequate roofs, plumbingor heating and air-conditioning systems. Local school systems had todefer more than $2.2 billion in spending on maintenance andconstruction this year.Although Fairfax is better off than most jurisdictions,construction funding has been hampered by the county Board ofSupervisors' self-imposed guideline not to allocate more than 10percent of the operating budget to pay the interest on debt. Thesupervisors must approve all school spending.Several speakers urged the board last night to seek more moneyfor capital projects, even if it means violating the 10 percentguideline.School projects also face competition for funding from othercounty construction, such as the $80 million project to add 750 bedsto the county jail.School officials said that only about $160 million of theplan's $603 million in proposed spending has been approved by votersand allocated by the supervisors. 'We're starting in a position thatwe have greater needs than we have cash,' said Roger W. Webb,assistant superintendent for facilities services. 'That is thedilemma for the School Board.'School officials said they hope that voters will relieve someof the financial pressure by approving a bond issue in a Novemberreferendum. That would authorize spending up to $250 million on suchcapital projects. The county will decide in May whether to have abond referendum.School Board Chairman Kristen J. Amundson (Mount Vernon) saidthat even with money from the bond issue, the system would have tomake difficult choices. 'They've raised some very legitimateissues,' she said of the parents from eastern Fairfax. 'You've gotkids in the western part of the county who have no classrooms atall.'On another matter, many school principles appealed to theboard to reconsider its decision to replace Superintendent Robert R.Spillane. They said Spillane is more than qualified to continue inthe job. But the board said it would soon hire a consultant to lookfor Spillane's replacement.
