Final consideration of Fairfax County Public Schools’ proposal to build a new elementary school to serve the Dunn Loring area has been delayed until 2025.
The Fairfax County Planning Commission voted unanimously yesterday (Wednesday) to defer a vote on its recommendation for the proposal until Jan. 15, which also postpones any final action by the Board of Supervisors.
The decision to defer came after “a little reflection” from FCPS, according to Providence District Commissioner Jeremy Hancock.
“They have decided to do a little more community outreach,” Hancock said. “I welcome that.”
School officials didn’t speak at yesterday’s meeting, but Hancock said they plan to host a community meeting on Dec. 4 and will reach out to county’s Architectural Review Board for support in helping to preserve what it can on the existing site.
Initially, the development proposal was slated to be heard by the Board of Supervisors on Nov. 19. That consideration now is likely to be on an agenda in late January.
But the clock is ticking: By law, the planning commission must act on the school system’s rezoning application within 100 days of submission. The Jan. 15 meeting will be the last one available before the deadline hits.
The proposal to raze the existing Dunn Loring Administrative Center at 2334 Gallows Road and replace it with a new school has drawn concerns from community members about impacts on traffic congestion, pedestrian safety, water runoff, tree preservation and encroachment on neighboring properties.
Speakers at the planning commission’s Oct. 30 public hearing said FCPS hadn’t given enough consideration to saving the existing structure, which is listed on the county’s inventory of historic sites but doesn’t have any specific preservation protections in place.
The existing, two-story administrative building operated as an elementary school from the late 1930s to the late 1970s before being repurposed as an administrative facility.
The new school will have four stories, accommodate about 900 students and 100 staff, and expand to about 118,000 square feet of space. It’s intended to support student growth between Tysons to the north and Merrifield to the south.
The project is being funded by school bonds approved by voters in 2019 and 2021.
While current plans don’t envision saving the structure, FCPS representatives said at the public hearing that there’s a desire to have a display of items related to the building’s history in the new school.
