Letter to the Editor: Don't Rush the Decision To Buy Land for 3 Schools

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Sunday, March 8, 2009

The Loudoun County School Board has authorized the $11.4 million purchase of two parcels totaling 170 acres for a high school, middle school and elementary school in western Loudoun County.

These properties are just north of John Wolford Road and Route 287, closer to the center of Purcellville than to the center of Lovettsville.

My concern is the continued fragmentation of western Loudoun communities. These schools will not have a distinct community with which to identify. Furthermore, this decision poses a threat to the area's rural character because of the sheer size of the facilities: three schools with a total of more than 4,000 students (not including staff members), in one of the most sparsely populated sections of the county.

Many people think other available parcels would comply with the language in Loudoun's Comprehensive Plan designed to preserve rural areas, encourage rural economies and restrict suburban encroachment. Perhaps even more sites could be identified if officials encourage a more open process of competitive bidding.

Granted, some alternative sites might not accommodate all three schools, which means that county staff members would have to obtain separate legislative approvals. However, finding school sites centered around existing communities would provide numerous environmental and economic benefits and is worth the additional effort.

The School Board's vote might come as a relief to a minority of western Loudoun residents — those living in or near Lovettsville who are convinced that teenagers will ruin their way of life. But it won't be welcomed by the majority of families and small businesses or by the cluster of highly productive working farms in the area.

I have urged the joint School Board and Board of Supervisors committee to get public input on this decision before expensive consultant studies are undertaken for this site. Why the urgency to conduct such studies and pay a premium price when these schools might not open for another six to eight years?

At the very least, school officials should wait until September to conduct water and soil studies of the site. This delay would provide additional time for public input and for a more accurate analysis of the combined effects of large-scale groundwater withdrawals to service the new schools, the surrounding homes and the numerous adjacent fruit and vegetable farms. If the School Board members' decision was a good one and they have enough data to persuade the public, what do they have to lose by waiting a little longer?

Sarah L. Stinger, Lovettsville

Tagged: Letter to the Editor, Lovettsville, opinions, school board, western Loudoun

Comments:

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Forget about studies and public input to salvage this. There is a far bigger problem with this deal (a contract for 170 acres @ $67k/acre). The school system admits that their attorney, who came on board 3 years ago, previously represented the seller. That sounds like a conflict of interest right there, but there's more. Add to that, the seller is going to make a 30%+ profit ($2.5M) on his real estate investment despite property value declines during the short 18 months the seller has held the deed. And more, the seller sued the original owner in ~2006 and finally settled out of court to acquire the property and adjacent parcels for $46k/acre in July 2007.

These facts are a wake up call to look harder at ethics rules and void this contract. Folks, it's past time to throw out the spendthrift good-old-boys running our school system and bleeding taxpayers to death.

Posted by sootiewebb (anonymous) on March 9, 2009 at 1:30 p.m. (Suggest removal)

(This comment was removed by the site staff.)

Posted by v41085 (anonymous) on March 14, 2009 at 12:59 p.m.

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