Schools

Terraset, Sunrise Valley Still on Track for Renovations

Lack of FCPS funds may push back some renovations, but likely not high-priority Reston schools.

Two Reston schools remain at the top Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) renovation priority list, despite a recent report that that school system is struggling to find the funds for the entire list.

Terraset and Sunrise Valley Elementary Schools came in No. 2 and 3 on the 2014-18 Capital Improvement Plan released last year. Both are well into the planning stages for major renovations, which are expected to begin soon.

Both schools were built in the late 1970s. The renovation plans will expand the facilities, as well as turn them from open-plan classrooms to more traditional classrooms with doors.

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FCPS uses a ranking system to determine the order in which schools are placed in the renovation queue. The rankings are determined by a list of weighted criteria ranging from how the buildings serve "Fundamental Educational Requirements (FER)," to their age and physical condition. The criteria to determine the order of schools in the queue was last approved in 2008.

Earlier this week, the FCPS Department of Facilities and Transportation released its annual report for the 2011-2012 school year. It revealed that many of the projects won’t be completed within the required 25-year timeframe under current bond limits, according to the Washington Post.

The lack of funding could affect the system’s plans to alleviate capacity issues at schools across the county and push back the construction completion dates for many schools slated for renovations in the FCPS queue. 

Other area schools farther down on the list of 63 schools identified for improvements: Herndon Middle (25th), Langston Hughes Middle (31), Crossfield ES (42) and Armstrong ES (49). 

This isn't the first time funding has raised issues with plans regarding school renovations. In May, the Fairfax County School Board decided to postpone plans to re-evaluate how the renovation queue is populated due to lack of funding to pay for consultants to help with the re-evaluation.

The Post also reports FCPS is running out of space for its school bus fleet.

Read the full FCPS report online here.

Read more about Capital Improvement Plans here.

Patch editor Sherell Williams contributed to this article.


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