Closing of Clifton ES (Fairfax, Occoquan: elementary school, living in, zoning)

[gingerbreadgirl]

Thanks Christine. I tried to find the enrollment numbers for the schools, but wasn't able to. I will have to dig deeper.

It would make sense to send Clifton students to Willow Springs since it is fairly close and is under enrolled, but its not on the list. I've lost all confidence that the school board would do something that makes sense.

[CAVA1990]

If the school's underenrolled can't you just apply to have your child go there if you want? That's how it works in our end of the county. Both our high schools (MV and WP) are underenrolled so kids can attend whichever one they prefer by filling out a request form if that's not their assigned school.

[JD984]

Originally Posted by gingerbreadgirl

Thanks Christine. I tried to find the enrollment numbers for the schools, but wasn't able to. I will have to dig deeper.

It would make sense to send Clifton students to Willow Springs since it is fairly close and is under enrolled, but its not on the list. I've lost all confidence that the school board would do something that makes sense.

The five schools that border Clifton are Union Mill, Willow Springs, Fairview, Oak View and Sangster.

FCPS is projecting that all these schools will be under-enrolled, but it appears that one of the challenges is that the schools that might entail the shortest bus rides for many Clifton students, such as Union Mill and Willow Springs, also will be considered when FCPS tries to alleviate the over-crowding at some of the other schools in the area, such as Centreville, Powell and Eagle View.

It seems pretty clear that there will be a major redistricting, at least at the elementary level, in that part of the county over the next five years. As a result, either some of the middle/high school assignments will change as well, or FCPS will end up creating a bunch of new "split feeders" (elementary schools that send their students to multiple middle and high schools).

[ChristineVA]

Originally Posted by JEB77

It seems pretty clear that there will be a major redistricting, at least at the elementary level, in that part of the county over the next five years. As a result, either some of the middle/high school assignments will change as well, or FCPS will end up creating a bunch of new "split feeders" (elementary schools that send their students to multiple middle and high schools).

My friend was explaining this to me--about the Fairfax pyramid system and he said that the Clifton ES is in a specific pyramid (feeding to Robinson I believe) and he didn't know how that was going to work since Willow Springs does not feed to Robinson. I acted like it wasn't a big deal because Prince William County schools have had "split feeder" schools all along. I explained to him that my kids went to an elementary school where 90% of the students left that elementary school and went on a specific middle school to high school track, while the other 10% (based on where they lived) splinter off to different middle and high schools. Naturally, my kids fell in this 10% and it wasn't fun.

[gingerbreadgirl]

JEB77.... I wouldn't say that Oakview and Sangster 'border' Clifton. Oakview is across from Robinson and even though Clifton students go to Robinson, its a haul. Sangster is down 123 south of Lee Chapel. Thats quite a ways too. Both of these schools have great reputations but they sure don't qualify as neighborhood schools for Clifton, not to mention the distance the school buses will travel.

The list I was given of schools the Clifton students will be split between are:

Sangster, Silverbrook, Fairview, Oakview and Union Mill.

What a mess!

[JD984]

Originally Posted by gingerbreadgirl

JEB77.... I wouldn't say that Oakview and Sangster 'border' Clifton. Oakview is across from Robinson and even though Clifton students go to Robinson, its a haul. Sangster is down 123 south of Lee Chapel. Thats quite a ways too. Both of these schools have great reputations but they sure don't qualify as neighborhood schools for Clifton, not to mention the distance the school buses will travel.

The list I was given of schools the Clifton students will be split between are:

Sangster, Silverbrook, Fairview, Oakview and Union Mill.

What a mess!

All I'd meant is that the five Fairfax elementary schools whose boundaries currently surround (border) those of Clifton ES are Union Mill, Willow Springs, Fairview, Oak View and Sangster. In comparison, you probably would have to go through areas currently assigned to Sangster to get to Silverbrook ES from the current Clifton ES attendance area.

I didn't check to see how most of those schools are to the village of Clifton itself, although I gather Sangster is quite a distance.

One of the things that I read recently is that, even though FCPS had other options, the School Board decided to close Clifton ES to send a message to the Board of Supervisors that it was going to start making some very unpopular decisions if the Board of Supervisors didn't allocate as much money to FCPS as requested. Budgetary constraints may require tough decisions in any event, but the suggestion was that FCPS could have given this a bit more time before deciding to shut down the school.

[Yankeesfan]

School Boards hate, hate, hate having to do large-scale boundary changes. It's the worst thing they ever deal with because of the emotions generated. That's not a judgment on whether all the emotionalism is justified -- some of it probably is, some of it probably isn't -- just that it causes a lot of intensity and hard feelings no matter what they do.

[Denton56]

Originally Posted by gingerbreadgirl

Thanks Christine. I tried to find the enrollment numbers for the schools, but wasn't able to. I will have to dig deeper.

It would make sense to send Clifton students to Willow Springs since it is fairly close and is under enrolled, but its not on the list. I've lost all confidence that the school board would do something that makes sense.

You've got that right! For some unknown reason, the School Board decided that they wanted to build a new school and close Clifton. Nothing would dissuade them. Logic and costs are never considerations, much less the desires of the people who pay the bills, the taxpayer.

See more information here: Liz Bradsher in her own words – “There is no substitute in this county for a community school.” | Common Sense Also here: Fairfax County School Board gets it wrong on Clifton Elementary | Common Sense

See if you can find Liz Bradsher's comments under a phony nic. Hint, she's defending herself! She gave the school closing lots of ''thought'' only to come up with wrong vote. Stick a fork in Liz, her political career is done.

[Denton56]

Originally Posted by gingerbreadgirl

Thanks Christine. I tried to find the enrollment numbers for the schools, but wasn't able to. I will have to dig deeper.

It would make sense to send Clifton students to Willow Springs since it is fairly close and is under enrolled, but its not on the list. I've lost all confidence that the school board would do something that makes sense.

Why do Clifton kids have to bus out of their community because Willow Springs is under enrolled? Why not bus those kids and close their school? Why punish the Clifton community because the school board has built an elementary school that is too large for the Willow Springs community?

The school board does what they want because they have no incentive to do anything else. They get more money every year, regardless of what they do. They also get re-elected, regardless of what they do. So they just go along with whatever the administrative staff wants done.

[tgbwc]

Originally Posted by Denton56

You've got that right! For some unknown reason, the School Board decided that they wanted to build a new school and close Clifton. Nothing would dissuade them. Logic and costs are never considerations, much less the desires of the people who pay the bills, the taxpayer.

Why would you say the reason was unknown? Whether you agree or not, they did have reasons to close the school.

FCPS - News Releases

Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) facilities staff members recommended that Clifton Elementary be closed, rather than renovated, due to a number of reasons, including:

• The unique topographical challenges of the Clifton Elementary School site will result in higher than normal renovation costs.
• Enrollment is projected to decline from the current 369 students to a projected 298 students in 2015.
• Due to the higher than normal construction costs, and the low student enrollment, the cost per student to renovate the school will be much greater than other recent renovations, estimated at a cost per student of $35,287 (versus a current renovation at a similar sized school of a cost per student of approximately $24,740).

Closing Clifton Elementary means that funds identified in the Capital Improvement Program for its renovation can be reassigned by the School Board to other capital projects such as renovations and capacity enhancements (new schools, building additions, and modulars).