Arlington okays new elementary school at Thomas Jefferson site

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/arlington-okays-new-elementary-school-at-thomas-jefferson-site/2015/12/16/b7dabfbe-a3a5-11e5-b53d-972e2751f433_story.html

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The Arlington County Board voted unanimously Tuesday night to allow a 725-seat elementary school to be built on a county-owned parking lot adjacent to Thomas Jefferson Middle School, 11 months after rejecting the proposal.

The reversal happened after the school board appointed a task force that studied more than 20 possible sites in the south end of the county, held scores of community meetings and settled on Jefferson as the best place to build the sorely needed school.

Elementary school enrollment rose 1.6 percent in Arlington this fall, to 13,657, and hundreds of students are educated in portable classrooms. School officials hope to have a new school designed, built and opened by fall 2019.

The fierce opposition to putting the school at T.J., as the middle school is known, shook a board that had just canceled a long-planned streetcar project as a result of a similar public outcry.

“What we saw in January was in many ways an elegant solution to a difficult problem that didn’t have any community support to speak of,” said Mary H. Hynes (D), County Board chairman, who Tuesday was casting her last vote before leaving office. She and the board’s vice chairman, J. Walter Tejada (D), opted not to run for reelection.

[County Board rejects new school site]

Board member John Vihstadt (I) said that although he was worried about setting a precedent by voting to allow a school on a site designated as parkland, “the need for a new elementary school has never been more necessary.”

“There is unlikely to be a perfect site for just about anything anymore,” Vihstadt said.

Arlington, the nation’s smallest county by geography, is increasingly running into space constraints as its population continues to grow. Although keeping its well-regarded schools in top condition remains the major priority of most elected officials and residents, the need for parks and green space and affordable housing has begun competing for money. In this case, residents also raised objections about increased traffic, parking demand and further development on property around the school.

[Booming enrollments puts schools in conflict with parks, housing]

Jefferson, a middle school and community center, is beloved by local residents because it is centrally located with a large adjacent park and athletic courts where the county fair is held every August. Although the new elementary school would not usurp that green space or its playgrounds, the parking lot where it would be built is designated on county maps as parkland.

The school, expected to cost about $50 million, probably will be three or four stories, with underground parking and play space atop the garage, school officials say. It will become the new home of the nearby Patrick Henry Elementary School, which has 519 students enrolled this fall.

The citizens’ task force recommended that the Montessori program, now at Drew Model School, move to the current Patrick Henry site, opening up 400 seats at Drew. School board member Barbara Kanninen said the district will begin talking to parents and teachers at those schools next month.

The school district would seek a site for another elementary school in Pentagon City or the surrounding 22202 area code. The public process this year has helped the school district identify several potential sites, officials said.