Planning is well underway for a new elementary school in Dunn Loring, but some McLean residents argue that Fairfax County Public Schools still hasn’t explained why the project should be prioritized over other needs.

As part of a resolution on the proposed county and FCPS budgets, the McLean Citizens Association’s board of directors urged the Fairfax County School Board last Wednesday (April 3) to “refrain from constructing” the school if officials can’t “provide adequate data” justifying it.

“What they are expecting to do is spend $80 million-ish, and they do not have any data to support the construction of that,” Louise Epstein, who chairs MCA’s budget and taxation committee, said.

Partially funded by bond money once intended for a new school in Oakton, the proposed four-story, 125,905-square-foot building will repurpose the Dunn Loring Administrative Center at 2334 Gallows Road. In addition to relieving crowding at schools in the Dunn Loring, Tysons and Falls Church areas, the project will add new playground facilities to the 10-acre site and move the vehicle access points from Gallows Road to Idylwood Road, according to a rezoning application under review by the county.

While crowding was an issue at Shrevewood Elementary School for years, the school in Idylwood is now operating at 95% capacity, and FCPS projects that will drop to 86% in the 2028-2029 school year, according to its latest capital improvement program (CIP), which was approved by the school board on Feb. 8.

Stenwood Elementary School, which is in Dunn Loring, is utilizing 97% of its capacity right now and is projected to reach 98% in 2028-2029.

In its resolution, MCA acknowledged that FCPS will face “upward pressures” on enrollment from new residential development, including in Merrifield and Tysons, but it says the CIP and its own “independent analysis” based on data provided by FCPS don’t show any near-term impacts on elementary schools in Dunn Loring.

“The School Board’s inclusion of Dunn Loring project in the FY 2025 Advertised Budget is not supported by FCPS 5-year enrollment projections,” MCA’s resolution says, “since no elementary school near Dunn Loring has an existing or projected ‘capacity deficit,’ and elementary schools in that vicinity are projected to have an aggregate ‘capacity surplus’ of 789 seats in 2028-29.”

Per the CIP, FCPS is forecasting capacity deficits at 20 elementary schools by the 2028-2029 school year, including at Spring Hill, Franklin Sherman and Kent Gardens. Boundary changes in McLean will take effect starting this fall. Read More

It’s no secret that the renovations of Lake Thoreau and Shadowood swimming pools were delayed by several months.

Now, with both facilities set to open this pool season, Reston Association says it could have done a better job with communication and investigating existing conditions before commencing with the projects.

RA Capital Projects Director Chris Schumaker dove into several lessons learned from both projects at a Board of Directors meeting on March 26 — a practice that is routinely conducted at project closeout.

He said RA could have done a better job communicating information about project delays to the public.

First approved by the board in 2018, the Lake Thoreau pool renovation was once expected to begin in 2020, prompting the facility to close that year. However, rising material costs and limited contractor availability created delays that continued into 2022. Construction finally began that August and ended in December 2023.

Construction on the Shadowood pool renovation was expected to begin in early 2023 and take four months. Instead, construction began in May 2023 and ended in November 2023.

“The capital department and communications department now hold regular meetings to discuss project progress and communications with the membership,” Schumaker said.

RA hopes to step away from project phasing and build time for permitting and site issues into existing project schedules, staff said.

Lake Thoreau’s delays were attributed partly to permitting starting five months later than anticipated. For Shadowood, RA discovered several pool beam damage, delaying the project schedule. The project was also planned in phases, which extended the life of the project, Schumaker said.

RA also plans to complete tasks like advanced site evaluation and destructive testing before creating a project schedule. Severe rot found inside Lake Thoreau pool’s bathhouse resulted in unanticipated work, and inadequate soil — an issue that didn’t surface in a geotechnical study — ultimately delayed the construction of a retaining wall.

At Shadowood, more than 80% of the pool beam and shell was damaged, requiring extensive and unplanned repairs.

Both facilities are expected to open up for the 2024 pool season, which is set to begin in mid-May.

Construction to replace the Hunters Creek Pedestrian Bridge is slated to begin in October, according to the Town of Herndon.

An assessment by the town found that the bridge — which connects to the Sugarland Run trails from behind the Hunters Creek Swim & Racquet Club (417 Queens Row Street) — needs to be replaced and that erosion of the stream needs to be addressed.

Final designs for the replacement bridge and stream restoration are expected this month. It will include a new fiberglass structure set on a new foundation.

But the town announced on Friday (March 15) that the project will take longer to get going than anticipated.

“Schedules have been extended because of the sensitivities of working in a wetland area and in a floodplain,” the project page says. “Working in the wetland area will require an Army Corp of Engineers permit, which typically takes up to 9 months. The Town will work with the Army Corp of Engineers in an effort to expedite the permit process.”

Construction is expected to wrap up by the spring of 2025.

The bridge will remain closed until the work is complete. Residents will need to use the Cavendish Street entrance or Runnymede Park entrance to access trails.

(Updated at 8:32 a.m., March 5) Infrastructure damaged by a storm at the Glade Tennis Courts in Reston is set for repairs that are expected to wrap up in the fall or spring.

In an update released Friday (March 1), Reston Association Capital Projects Director Chris Schumaker said RA plans to complete a full-court renovation, including new fences and LED court lighting, for the facility.

RA also plans to repair a damaged underground irrigation system that hydrates the clay courts, Schumaker said. The system was damaged by a storm in 2018.

The courts at 11550 Glade Drive will remain closed for the duration of the renovation period. Schumaker estimated reopening in the fall or early next spring.

Meanwhile, renovations at the North Hills pavilion (1400 N Village Road) are set to wrap up in mid-April. They include accessibility improvements, new parking areas, a pathway linking the parking lot and the pavilion, new grill stations and park furniture.

RA also plans to make the parking lot ADA compliant and provide an accessible pathway to link the parking lot to the pavilion.

Upgrades to Ferndale Avenue and improvements to police infrastructure are among the new projects proposed in Herndon’s Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) for fiscal year 2025-2030.

The CIP is a part of the annual operating budget and includes funding for transportation, sewer and other public facility projects.

At a work session on Feb. 12, the Town of Herndon Planning Commission recommended the proposed draft to the town manager. It includes 36 projects, the bulk of which cover multimodal transportation and enhancements.

In a report, staff noted that the focus of the plan is to “address current facilities and infrastructure from a health, safety, sustainability, and maintenance perspective.”

The town plans to improve vehicular and pedestrian safety along Ferndale Avenue between Herndon Parkway and Park Avenue, adding sidewalks, curb ramps, and crosswalks that meet current ADA standards.

“Preliminary studies indicate vehicular sight distances are inadequate due to vehicular parking and the curvature of the road,” the proposed CIP says. “Studies also indicated the potential need for additional pedestrian crosswalks across Ferndale Avenue. Initial concept plans include the use of curb bump outs as a feature to shorten crosswalks, define parking areas, and narrow the vehicular travel lanes to current standards.”

The total cost of $545,000 is currently budgeted for fiscal year 2030, which would start on July 1, 2029.

Other added projects include a replacement of an aging, rear motorized security gate and overall improvements for the Herndon Police Department’s station to address building accessibility, physical safety and security, and renovations.

The final new project would bring the town in compliance with new Environmental Protection Agency regulations for lead and copper in drinking water by identifying service lines that don’t meet requirements. Expected to start at the beginning of the new fiscal year on July 1, the project would implement new testing requirements, including the first-ever ones for schools and childcare facilities, and replace service lines as needed.

The planning commission will hold a public hearing on the CIP on Monday, Feb. 26, and the town manager will release the proposed operating budget and CIP by May 1.

This year, town staff categorized capital projects by their readiness: imminent for ones with an established scope and funding, priority for ones that have a scope but aren’t fully funded, and future priorities for unfunded projects that haven’t been defined in detail.

The plan calls for $205.3 million in total capital costs.

Staff noted that minor adjustments may be necessary when the town manager finalizes the proposed operating budget.

Image via Google Maps

Fairfax County Public Schools is attempting to streamline its approach to managing capital projects to reduce costs and overcrowding in schools.

The school board approved a Capital Improvement Program (CIP) last Thursday, Feb. 8 for fiscal years 2025-2029 with multiple amendments intended to help lower costs, speed up select school renovations, meet green energy goals and enhance the process for tracking infrastructure projects.

The $1.3 billion, five-year plan allocates funding for the following projects:

• Construction of the planned Dunn Loring Elementary School
• A new wing to Justice High School
• Relocation of modular buildings
• Renovation of 18 elementary schools, two middle schools and two high schools
• Acquisition of land for one new high school

The revised CIP highlights a need to address overcrowding and capacity issues within the school system, with many schools nearing a critical tipping point.

Coates Elementary School in Herndon, for instance, is currently operating at 131% of its student capacity — a figure projected to rise to 172% by 2028. Crowding has been an issue for over 10 school years, according to the CIP.

At the moment, eight elementary schools, one middle school and eight high schools are operating beyond capacity, even though student enrollment has dipped from pre-pandemic levels and is expected to level out over the next five years.

Several other elementary schools, including Parklawn in Lincolnia, Mantua and Bailey’s, are expected to surpass student capacity in the coming years, per the capital plan. The same is true of Irving, Kilmer and Glasgow middle schools and Westfield, Centreville, McLean, Woodson, Robinson and Chantilly high schools.

The school board voted last week to add Coates and Parklawn as priorities for boundary adjustments, even as several members argued a more comprehensive approach to overcrowding issues is needed.

Parklawn is 96% capacity right now, but it’s projected to reach 112% by the 2028-2029 school year. It will still trail McLean’s Kent Gardens Elementary School, which will be at 113% capacity even after boundary adjustments were approved last year.

“The problem that I see, while we’re fixing these two tonight, if we don’t fix the process and fix other schools, we’re going to have Coates and Parklawns popping up like hotcakes across Fairfax County, and I don’t want to be in that position,” At-Large School Board Representative Kyle McDaniel said.

The board tasked Superintendent Dr. Michelle Reid with formulating a “facility infrastructure policy” and establishing a system to track projects to be presented to the board later this year.

“I see an eagerness on this board, which I’m very excited about, to really look holistically and comprehensively at our infrastructure needs, our funding, and really get sort of our hands wrapped around the policies that relate to infrastructure, but also an overarching policy that guides our decisions regarding infrastructure,” Mason District School Board Representative Ricardy Anderson said.

Board members also asked Reid to propose options for funding capital projects.

Hunter Mill District Representative Melanie Meren expressed an interest in initiatives such as “swing spaces” — pre-existing facilities that students and staff can temporarily relocate to during construction.

“The benefit of that is that renovations could go quicker, which means they could also cost less money,” she said.

Over in neighboring Arlington County, a plan to turn an elementary school into a swing space got nixed last year after an outcry by current and future parents.

Reid is expected to present cost-saving options and the facility infrastructure policy to the school board on April 25. Additionally, she is scheduled to submit a plan for tracking infrastructure projects on May 7.

Image via Google Maps

The upcoming capital projects plan for Fairfax County Public Schools comes with questions and uncertainties about future planning to address overcrowding and school capacity issues throughout the school system earlier this month.

Unveiled earlier this month, the new Capital Improvements Program (CIP) covers fiscal years 2025 through 2029. It sets the location, timing and funding of new schools, renovations and other capital projects over a five-year period.

At a Fairfax County School Board work session on Jan. 9, staff shared that the CIP accounts for cost increasesassociated with inflation, labor and materials increases, and prevailing wage.

Mason District Representative Ricardy Anderson pressed staff for answers how when schools in her district — namely Weyanoke Elementary School, Belvedere Elementary School and Luther Jackson Middle School — will be slated for renovation.

“Their buildings are highly problematic,” Anderson said.

Janice Szymanski, the school system’s chief of facility services and capital programs, a newly created position, said staff are working on building consensus on the renovation queue, which was last updated in 2009. The new line-up that’s currently under development isn’t reflected in the CIP at the moment.

FCPS Superintendent Michelle Reid also acknowledged that the renovation process has become “a bit muddled over time,” raising the need for the new queue.

“We don’t intend to be weasely as staff, but I do think we’re building the process while we take the input, so I want to manage expectations,” Reid said.

Major projects within the next five years include construction of Dunn Loring Elementary School, capacity improvements at Justice High School and the renovation of 22 schools.

The 10-year plan projects new construction of a Silver Line elementary school and a western high school, Pinewood Lakes Early Childhood Center, Tysons Elementary School, Pimmit Hills, and Virginia Hills.

Seema Dixit, the board’s new Sully District member, said she was especially concerned about overcrowding issues on the western side of the county.

“That’s where we have to put our brains together and find some creative ways,” Dixit said, noting that land acquisition for some schools is coming far too late.

Staff hope to lay out a new renovation queue that will establish how renovations — major and minor — are planned. The current renovation line-up has funding for planning, design or construction projects through 2031.

So far, a consultant worked with stakeholders in early 2023 to create possible criteria for new facilities. Phase two of the update includes compiling data and reviewing a new queue. The final phase of the project would incorporate the new system into the annual CIP and future bond referenda.

School board members also lamented a lack of sufficient progress on pursuing net-zero energy goals. Solar power purchase agreements are in place for Annandale High School and Mason Crest Elementary School.

At-large board member Ryan McElveen said he was particularly dismayed about limited progress on ensuring schools are ready for solar power, adding that he and fellow returning at-large member Ilryong Moon developed a list of 90 schools that were on track for being solar ready when they left the board in 2019.

“That is a major blow. Obviously there are reasons for all of this and this is not just an FCPS problem. This is a county problem as well,” McElveen said, referencing the challenges that the county government has faced in implementing solar projects.

Overall, total student membership is expected to remain flat over the next five years. The county’s demographic report also projects a decline in the school-aged population through next year.

School board action on the budget is expected on Feb. 8, followed by official release of the final CIP in mid-February. A public hearing was held on Jan. 18.

Some facility upgrades are in the works for three Fairfax County parks.

The Fairfax County Park Authority (FCPA) Board approved a total of $55,325 in Mastenbrook grants on Wednesday (Dec. 13) to help fund improvements at Lake Fairfax Park in Reston, McLean Central Park and Frying Pan Farm Park south of Herndon.

Lake Fairfax Park (1400 Lake Fairfax Drive)

The Cricket Association of Fairfax County (CAFC) was awarded $15,325 to replace Lake Fairfax’s cricket pitch, which was developed in 1997 and is “one of the few in the Northern Virginia region large enough to meet the international standards of cricket,” according to the FCPA.

In its proposal to the park authority, the association reported that it has replaced the field’s artificial turf three times in the past 20 years, but inadequate drainage has damaged the wicket — a concrete base covered by artificial turf used to bounce the ball — and results in frequent waterlogging.

“Recent discussions with the park management have resulted in the determination that the wicket cannot be repaired,” the CAFC said. “A new wicket needs to be constructed with elevation and drainage to prevent water build up.”

The project to replace the pitch’s base and turf carries a total estimated cost of $30,650, half of which will be covered by the cricket association.

McLean Central Park (1468 Dolley Madison Blvd)

The 28-acre park near the McLean Community Center is getting a renovated basketball court, thanks to a friends group formed this year to honor Thomas A. Mulquin, a McLean resident who was “an avid supporter of basketball,” according to an FCPA staff summary for the board.

“The basketball court is currently in disrepair and therefore seldom used,” the Friends of Thomas A. Mulquin wrote in its grant application. “A tree root protrudes through the surface at one end of the court and a thicket downhill at the other end makes retrieving balls difficult and unsafe.”

Supported by $45,176 in community contributions, on top of $20,000 from the park authority, the $65,176 renovation will refurbish the court surface, update the color coating and line painting, replace both hoops and add a 10-foot-tall chain link fence “to prevent basketballs from going into the heavy overgrowth near the court,” according to the FCPA press release.

Frying Pan Farm Park (2709 West Ox Road)

Spirit Open Equestrian also requested and received a $20,000 grant — the maximum allowed for a single project by the Mastenbrook Grant Program, which provides matching funds for park improvements undertaken by local residents or community groups.

The nonprofit wants to bring electricity to the equestrian facilities where it provides therapeutic horseback-riding programs. The four horse barns and three sheds with supply and office space currently rely on solar panels, which are limited in capacity and unreliable, depending on the season, per the grant application.

“The project plan proposes to have Dominion Energy extend power from an existing cell tower, and then to contract with a vendor to outfit the buildings with wiring, conduit, outlets and related electrical components,” FCPA staff said.

With the project estimated to cost $72,458, the park authority grant will be supplemented by $52,458 from SOE.

All three projects are on track to be completed by spring 2024, according to the park authority.

These will be the last improvements supported by Mastenbrook grants for the time being. The FCPA has suspended applications to the 25-year-old program as it conducts a review, prompted by concerns about a gap in the quality of park facilities based on the ability of different neighborhoods to fundraise.

“The goal of the review is to examine the process through an equity lens and determine how to improve accessibility and benefit of the program in all areas of the county — particularly in communities of opportunity,” the park authority said.

FCPA staff are expected to deliver recommendations for the program’s future to the board in early 2024.

Fairfax County Public Schools has settled on a path forward for its plan to construct a new elementary school in Dunn Loring.

A rezoning application recently submitted to the county proposes demolishing the existing Dunn Loring Administrative Center at 2334 Gallows Road and replacing it with a four-level school building that will be accompanied by athletic fields and playgrounds.

Allowed a maximum height of 65 feet, the four-story building appears to have triumphed over an alternate design that would’ve resulted in a shorter but more sprawling building of two to three stories.

The two-story administrative center started life as an elementary school in 1938, but it got repurposed in the 1970s after declining enrollment led FCPS to close the school, the school system’s legal agent in the case, Hunton Andrews Kurth associate Jessica Vara, wrote in a statement of justification.

“Now, the surrounding community is again in need of a new elementary school in the Dunn Loring area to relieve overcrowded schools in the Dunn Loring/Falls Church/Tysons area,” Vara wrote.

According to the submitted plan, the new school building will be approximately 125,905 square feet in size and be constructed at the corner of Idylwood and Gallows Road, occupying roughly the same footprint as the current building.

The building’s ground level will include music classrooms, workrooms, a cafeteria, a staff lounge and a reception area at the main entrance. The second floor will have kindergarten, third grade and special education classrooms, followed by art, first grade and second grade classrooms on the third floor, and fourth and fifth grade classrooms on the top floor.

FCPS has proposed replacing Murphy Field — the soccer field that currently covers the western portion of the nearly 10-acre site — with a dual soccer/softball field that will be supplemented by four playgrounds:

• An approximately 8,295-square-foot modular playground
• A 2,009-square-foot paved play area for kindergarteners
• A 3,318-square-foot “creative” playground for pre-kindergarten students
• An approximately 11,373-square-foot paved play area

Two new vehicle access points will be constructed on Idylwood Road, replacing the existing driveway off of Gallows Road. The school will have separate drop-off locations for buses and the kiss-and-ride “to minimize the potential for traffic issues,” according to the application.

The school’s parking lot will have 116 spaces, and bicycle racks will be provided. FCPS also plans to construct a new 5-foot-wide sidewalk to connect with the existing concrete path along Idylwood Road.

The application hasn’t been officially accepted for review by Fairfax County planners yet. Per its website, FCPS estimates the project will be completed in 2027.

(Updated at 1:40 p.m.) The planned expansion of Herndon Elementary School (630 Dranesville Road) is moving forward following voters approved a bond referendum last Tuesday (Nov. 7).

At a meeting tonight (Monday), the Herndon Planning Commission is set to consider a proposal by Fairfax County Public Schools to add roughly 25,000 square feet to the school, which has been in the school system’s renovation queue since 2009 and was built in 1969.

The school currently has an enrollment of 805 students. The proposed addition would boost the student design capacity to 1,050 students, according to materials submitted to the town.

The proposal also includes 63 additional parking spaces in an effort to “alleviate the overcrowding onsite,” according to a memo.

FCPS also plans to create two entrances for vehicles to separate school buses from student drop-offs and pick-ups. The move is intended to create a “safer” and “more efficient environment,” the memo says. The proposal would also reduce long lines that disrupt traffic along Dranesville Road.

Herndon Elementary School was last renovated in 1991. Voters approved a $4 million bond referendum in 2021 to fund planning and design for the project.

Construction on the project is expected to begin in the summer or fall of 2024, putting it on track for an anticipated completion in winter 2026, according to FCPS spokesperson Julie Moult.

In this year’s general election, 67% of voters approved the sale of $425 million in bonds to fund the renovation and building of schools, including Herndon Elementary.

“The approval of this bond referendum is a clear statement that our Fairfax County voters are committed to continued investment in the excellence of the Fairfax County Public Schools educational experience,” FCPS Superintendent Dr. Michelle Reid wrote in a statement.

A public hearing on the proposal is set for tonight at 7 p.m. in the Herndon Council Chambers (765 Lynn Street).