Below is the e-mail Dulles School Board member Robert DuPree and I collaborated on concerning the attendance zones for the Dulles South middle and high schools. DuPree/Reed Modified Plan D ** is the plan we intend to offer on Tuesday night.
**The student numbers at DuPree/Reed Modified Plan D are incorrect. I'll post the correct numbers later.
Fellow Board Members;
Earlier in this boundary process, we put forth a number of plans to serve as jumping off points for discussion, and we requested feedback from board members and the public. We also requested staff to recalculate all plans based on what we believe are more realistic growth expectations in the built-out planning zones, which board members have received and we have asked staff to post for the benefit of the public.
Based on the information and feedback we received, and especially the constructive comments from residents of the area, we dropped plans A, B and C last week, and we will now be dropping Plan D in its current form and Plan E. We are instead now putting forth a modified Plan D which adopts a suggested refinement to Plan D we received at the public hearing to shift planning zones 13.7 and 13.2 to HS-7 and keep them at Mercer MS. We will be putting this modified Plan D forward as a motion next Tuesday night and seeking its adoption.
We represent 100% (Tom) and well over 90% (Robert) of the affected students, and recognize that no solution will satisfy everyone or meet all of our own concerns. But after carefully studying all the input and proposals, we believe this modified Plan D will meet the greatest number of needs and concerns that we have heard expressed by members of the public who have diligently participated in this process.
We also know that no plan will hold for as long as would be needed under the CIP recently adopted by the Board of Supervisors – that is a mathematical impossibility for any plan given the number of students we expect in Dulles South under any scenario – but we will work with the public, you, our staff and hopefully the Board of Supervisors next year to get them to revisit and concur in a CIP schedule along the lines of the recommendations and schedule the School Board adopted in January. We must have the next middle school and high school in this area sited and funded in the near-term, not funded in FY 2017 or later as envisioned by the CIP adopted this year by the BOS.
Again, as the representatives, along with Priscilla, of the affected students, we ask that you give this modified Plan D your consideration and that you call us with any questions you might have.
Tom & Robert
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