Middle School Proposed in South Riding

“How certain are you the Board of Supervisors wants this site?” Sara Howard-O’Brien, Loudoun County Public School’s (LCPS) land management specialist, was asked by one of the citizens who attended the June 4 community information meeting on the proposed MS-5 middle school in South Riding.

The questioner referenced the recent county fiasco regarding the proposed three-school site in western Loudoun, which first had the majority support of at least five supervisors for the location, the contract price and the concept of co-location of three schools. Then in an almost complete reversal of opinion, four superiors joined in an 8-1 vote to effectively kill the proposal. Supervisors publicly voted in May to deny funding for the Wheatlands contract as well as any required land applications. Only Loudoun County Board of Supervisors Chairman Scott York (I-At Large) and vice chairman Susan Buckley (D-Sugarland Run) publicly acknowledged an opinion shift on Wheatlands; not so the two other supervisors who changed their minds. Only Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio (R-Sterling) stayed the course, confirmed his initial support and cast the lone vote for the Wheatlands.

Howard-O’Brien, who described herself, however, as an optimist, a “Pollyanna,” said LCPS has received “positive signals” from the Board of Supervisors who had “unanimously voted to expedite this application.” Mentioning the work of the Joint School Board/Board of Supervisors committee on defining a land acquisition process, Howard-O’Brien said members were “still struggling with what kind of process….sure the two boards will be discussing that…but the bottom line, we still need schools. We desperately need this school.”

MS-5 at Braddock Road and Ticonderoga Road has not yet drawn the public attention associated with the Wheatlands or Lenah Run school sites. Less than twenty people attended the June 4 LCPS community information meeting. Many expressed concerns about opposition similar to Wheatlands coalescing around the new MS-5 proposal, as well as concern about any formidable, public opposition to the site at Braddock Road and Ticonderoga roads in South Riding. Howard-O’Brien advised she was unaware of any major opposition forming against MS-5, but urged those who support the school to attend the June 18 Planning Commission public hearing.

Much like the defeat of Wheatlands, the first MS-5 in Dulles South, proposed on a two-school site at Lenah Run, ran into sustained public opposition to the location and price. The LCPS Lenah Run proposal was ultimately defeated in a majority vote by first the Loudoun County Planning Commission and then the Board of Supervisors. LCPS has continued to look for school sites to serve the overcrowded and growing Dulles South area, including a site for the proposed HS-7 high school . Just last week Loudoun County supervisors held a closed session to discuss acquisition of a site for HS-7. LCPS had originally proposed HS-7 for the Lenah Run site.

The current Braddock/Ticonderoga MS-5 site was not available when the Lenah Run proposal was launched, but according to LCPS information, the parcel was involved in site studies at the time and otherwise proposed for development.

Also this new MS-5 site at Braddock/Ticonderoga is much closer to the population, a charge that helped defeat the Lenah Run school site which opponents said was too far from the population it would serve.

The new MS-5, LCPS' first two-story middle school, would house 1,350 students in an 180,000 square foot facility on 37 acres at the intersections of Braddock Road and Ticonderoga Road in South Riding. The school is slated to open in the fall of 2011--just in time to relieve the projected overcrowding at both Mercer and Stone Hill Middle Schools, which now serve the area. To address current overcrowding at Mercer Middle School, enrollment was capped with Stone Hill Middle School providing the only enrollment option for those Mercer area students. Plans for MS-5 are contingent, Howard-O’Brien explained, citing the required approval by the Planning Commission and then the Board of Supervisors of the requisite county land applications.

The community information meeting included a slide presentation which addressed transportation, roadways, walk zones, traffic entrances and exits, as well as anticipated road improvements. Howard O’Brien fielded several questions regarding entrances and exits to the school site, walk zones and road improvements.

While LCPS awaits the results of traffic safety studies of two heavily traveled roads surrounding the proposed school site, Howard-O’Brien cited several planned road improvements including proposed primary entrance on Ticonderoga Raod with secondary bus "right out only" exit; proposed right in/out on Braddock Road and the existing signalization at the Braddock/Ticonderoga intersection. She spoke of the future of Ticonderoga Road as the Tri-County Parkway, a planned six lane divided road. LCPS proposes to construct two-lane improvements from Braddock to the bus exist, left and right turn lanes at the Ticonderoga/Braddock intersection, and at the main school site . Braddock Road is planned as a four lane divided road, and LCPS proposes to construct right turn lane into school entrance. Howard-O’Brien also explained LCPS would provide cash contributions for future planned widening of Braddock Road.

The Loudoun County Planning Commission has scheduled a public hearing for Thursday, June 18 on the LCPS special exception application for MS-5. A Board of Supervisors public hearing on the application is projected for September. And if all goes well, Howard-O’Brien said the school would open for the fall of 2011.

For more information on the proposed MS-5 middle school in South Riding visit the LCPS website at www.loudoun.k12.va.us and the link to Planning and Legislative Services, or call 571-252-1156.

 

julia@loudouni.com