Loudoun Administrator's Budget Cuts School Spending

Parents Urge County Supervisors Not to Scrimp on Construction for Swelling System

The Loudoun County administrator has proposed to delay or scuttle some school construction plans even though several public schools have waiting lists and enrollment in the already bulging system is projected to grow by a third over five years.

In his proposal last month, County Administrator Kirby M. Bowers cited a need to avoid breaking a county borrowing limit. But his plan, coming in an unusually tight budget year, drew sharp criticism from school officials. Dozens of residents attended a hearing yesterday by the Board of Supervisors that demonstrated an emerging election-year debate over funding priorities. Several in the audience wore yellow stickers saying, "INVEST in Loudoun's CHILDREN."

"I want to see Loudoun County maintain the high quality of its schools. To do that, you have to continue to pay teachers good salaries," Michele R. Copeland, a parent and a librarian at Potowmack Elementary School in Sterling, told supervisors. "And you have to build new schools in anticipation of new students so you don't end up with lots of trailers."

Fueling the spending debate is a slowdown in the regional housing market. With housing values dipping for the first time in a decade, property tax revenue is not growing as it has in recent years. Loudoun officials, like their counterparts elsewhere in Northern Virginia, are looking for ways to save money and cut debt.

Meanwhile, school officials are scrambling to find seats for students. Enrollment this year climbed past 50,000 for the first time and is expected to grow to 67,000 by fall 2011.

To handle that boom, the School Board has asked for $1.2 billion through 2012 for construction projects, including 16 schools. That request includes more than $240 million in the coming fiscal year to help open a high school in Ashburn, design elementary and middle schools, build an advanced technology academy and buy land for new campuses.

Bowers's plan, which awaits approval from supervisors, would deny most of the $240 million. Under his proposal, funding for the Ashburn high school would be pushed back two years, delaying its opening until 2012.

Bowers said he does not question the validity of the school system's requests. "But at the same time, we have to live within our means," he said.

County officials said the school construction request would, if approved, force Loudoun to break a self-imposed annual borrowing cap and therefore threaten the county's prized AAA bond rating.

Obtaining full funding in the first year of the plan is critical, School Board Chairman Robert F. DuPree Jr. (Dulles) said.

School officials said the new Ashburn high school is urgently needed to relieve crowding at Freedom High in South Riding and Stone Bridge High in Ashburn. By 2010, they expect Freedom High will be more than 500 students over capacity and Stone Bridge over by 300 students.

School officials say another urgent need is money to create a two-story design for elementary and middle schools that would fit on small or unusually shaped parcels.

"As we pursue more and more land, sites are getting smaller," said board member Priscilla B. Godfrey (Blue Ridge). She said the system's usual one-story campus model does not always work.

Another project that would be put off under Bowers's proposal is a new advanced tech campus for Ashburn. Board member Sarah B. Smith (Leesburg) said a current tech school building in Leesburg is antiquated. "Teachers have to turn away students because there aren't enough classrooms," Smith said.

With all nine seats on the Board of Supervisors up for election this fall, school funding could become a political issue. Supervisors Chairman Scott K. York (I) said in an interview he will talk further with school officials about construction funding. Occasionally, he said, funding delays can backfire.

"In previous years, we have postponed schools," York said. "But sometimes when you push things back, you get into crunch time and that can add to the costs."

Cheryl Bacak, mother of a Mercer Middle School student, said she was concerned about a proposed delay in funding for a new middle school in the Dulles South area. The school would relieve crowding at Mercer Middle, in Aldie.

"Part of being fiscally responsible is recognizing the needs of citizens -- and our children are citizens," Bacak said. "And sometimes that means you need to set aside party politics, loosen up the belt and spend a little money."