I first brought this to readers' attention by publishing Catoctin District representative Jennifer Bergel's original letter to her constituents on the subject, in early March. There was a little coverage when the contract was originally signed: (Loudoun Times Mirror, Leesburg Today, LCPS).
It wasn't until the past week that the issue hit the headlines though:
Loudoun Independent, Leesburg Today, LoudounExtra, Loudoun Times, Beyond the Blackboard
My own approach to contentious issues is to focus on the facts that I can find from the experts hired to provide them. If you're interested in finding out more, LCPS published a Wheatland Fact Sheet online (PDF) this week. I also found memorandums drafted back in February by LCPS staff and County staff addressing concerns about the property's price.
Prior the the School Board's approval of the contract, the County planning staff and a majority of the Board of Supervisors gave their support to all of the terms based on their review and expertise. A professional appraisal confirmed the property value. The deal had the support of all four of the area's elected representatives: Ms. Bergel, Ms. Kurtz, Mr. Reed & Mr. York. This was the basis of my support. The Lovettsville town council voted unanimously to endorse the location. To my knowledge, none of this has changed, and no new information has come to light since the aforementioned backed the project.
Last night, Blue Ridge District representative Priscilla Godfrey wrote a letter to the Board of Supervisors, who are now backing away from the deal. I am quoting it in full below, and highlighting what I found to be of particular interest. I'll leave you with her thoughts.
I am writing the Board to provide more compelling details of the decision to purchase school sites just three miles south of Lovettsville. Just before the supervisors changed the zoning in western Loudoun, many properties were sold to developers who have since subdivided and placed wells so that they would be grandfathered in at greater densities (one house per three acres). Over 2,000 homes are in place to be built in western Loudoun, many of them in the northwest corner where these schools are planned. Another 266 homes have pending applications for approval. At our current rate of .83 students per single family detached, we will have 1,894 students in need of classroom space.
We just finished a boundary process for elementary schools in western Loudoun; our total student capacity is 4,544 and by 2013-2014 we will have 4,165 elementary students which means there are only 379 elementary seats not occupied in 2014 hence the urgency to site another elementary school as soon as possible.
Throughout the state of Virginia and in every other state there are schools built in rural areas, often on their own private utilities and surrounded by either grazing cattle or growing vegetables. In Loudoun, we should have disallowed all residential building in western Loudoun if we were going to refuse to build schools for the children. We can't pay Maryland tuition to educate our students living in northwest Loudoun; they are our RESPONSIBILITY and they must have classrooms somewhere near where they live. If we can't build on dirt roads (Grubb property); if we can't use private utilities; if we can't be within reach of a farm; if we can't build in Lovettsville because the streets are too narrow for buses; if all the property we are able to use are owned by developers or farmers who are not willing to sell, we are in deep deep trouble. The school board is advised to plan ahead and then when we do, we are criticized for either paying too much money or putting the schools in the wrong place.
The families who do have children affected by this decision are writing. But there are children who are not even born yet who will need the kindergarten classrooms to be built there in six years. The majority of those who are protesting do not have children in the school system; are told that this property is farm property which it is not and has not been for three years; are told that we will be using 72,000 gallons when the real figure is more like 17,313; are told that this spells the end for farm businesses nearby when that is not the case (they have their own access to their property, their own wells and their own customer base). Just look to Tysons Corner where houses abut the truck farm that is still doing business on Route 7. We will not be polluting the soil or water and we must prove no disturbance of water resources in the immediate area way before we build.
Both boards have treaded softly on condemnation and rightfully so which makes us even more anxious that if we do not secure property now, the only land left will have homes or businesses on it or will have an unwilling seller. The only way to avoid condemnation is to seek a willing seller (which we have) and purchase property before it has people living on it or businesses in operation (which we have).
I ask you to think of the kindergartner I referred to above; he is counting on all of us to think of his future and the future of his friends.
Priscilla Godfrey
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