Wheatlands

The Loudoun County School Board is publicly advertising for land for three future school sites in western Loudoun County. The “request for public school sites” represents the efforts of the Joint School Board/Board of Supervisors Committee to develop a new and improved method for soliciting land from the public, including private landowners and developers. The deadline for submission of proposals is Friday, October 30, 2009.

A report from the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit investigative journalism organization, states that the FBI and the U.S.

“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.

Some of you may or may not have been following the recent western school site drama. As you may know, after the Board of Supervisors chose, as a body, to not support a plan-compliant and staff-recommended site at Lenah. As a result, not only did MS-5 slip a third year and HS-7 slip a (first?) year, but the existing process for school site selection was dropped in favor of seeking a new one.

What a difference a week makes. Last week’s editorial noted some troubling facets in regard to the failure of the Wheatlands contract. Since then, the deal was re-energized, criticized, de-funded, killed and then canceled.

“Without funds to purchase the land in Wheatland for public school purposes, staff recommends that the School Board terminate the contracts with Mr. Cangiano and Mr. Burgess.” Such was the lone agenda item on the special meeting of the Loudoun County School Board held on June 1. It passed 9-0.

* Creigh Deeds received a strong boost to his campaign to become the Democratic candidate for Governor after receiving the Washington Post endorsement. Strong southern Virginia support and the endorsement of the Washington-Metropolitan newspaper will certainly make many reconsider his candidacy. The two northern Virginia candidates, Brian Moran and Terry McAuliffe, are still likely to win over voters in Northern Virginia, but an endorsement of either by the Post might have resulted in a much stronger margin.

The final official act of the months long–and now failed–effort by the Loudoun County School Board to secure a three-school site in western Loudoun on the Cangiano/Burgess property at Wheatlands will play out during a special School Board meeting on Monday, June 1, at 1:30 p.m. in the School Board Meeting Room at the School Administrative Offices, 21000 Education Court, Ashburn.