Comment on the APS CIP FY 2022

Emailed to school.board@apsva.us>, engage@apsva.us on June 8, 2021

Re: Proposed APS CIP for FY 2022

Good evening,

I appreciate the hard work that staff and the Board have put into developing the draft CIP for FY2022. I support the funding proposed for:

- The Heights: adding a field & providing an accessible entrance

- Kitchen & entrance renovations

- HVAC replacement & maintenance

- Turf field replacement

However, I have major concerns about the plan for the Career Center and the plan to spend our precious capital dollars on parking spaces in Rosslyn, one of the most transit-rich, walkable areas in the County.

The Career Center Plan is Rushed

I served on the BLPC for the previously planned addition to the Career Center. I agree that we need capital improvements to the site to adequately serve this valuable program. However, I am concerned that the Career Center plan in the draft CIP was created with too much haste and without adequate consideration for the school system's other needs.

The draft CIP goes beyond adding a gym and fixing issues with the existing building to adding significantly more seats, including middle school seats. From what I've read and heard, it is not consistent with the overall discussion of the BLPC. While the Career Center/Arlington Tech programs seem valuable, they are new and have not been evaluated. It does not seem wise to assume that the demand for these specialized programs exists.

The proposal also would consolidate Pre-K programs and move the Arlington Community HS. [I have many questions about those plans, but the Q&A scheduled for tonight abruptly ended after only taking a few questions, and I wanted to get this information to you before tomorrow's work session.] It's not clear that the impact of moving those programs has been studied or vetted with the community. For example, will Pre-K families from the area near Glebe Road & Arlington Ridge be able to access the Career Center site? Is there a suitable location for ACHS that its students can access? Will we have capital funds available to make another building for ACHS work?

I note that there has been little public engagement on this proposal. Staff has tried, but has had to curtail many forms of engagement because of the pandemic. Many active members of our community are simply at their end. This plan has not had the benefit of their voices, which should trouble APS.

Opportunity Costs

Most importantly, the draft plan would commit all of APS's CIP funding for the next 7 years. For 7 years, we would not have funding to improve other school buildings. Many of our most needy school buildings serve our most vulnerable students. It is shameful that we leave high-FRM rate schools such as Hoffman-Boston, Campbell and Randolph is such bad shape when schools in high income areas, such as Discovery, have all the bells and whistles.

Moreover, as we are reminded in every boundary process, the location of seats has significant implications for the ability of Arlington to equitably assign students to schools. We know that the distribution of seats throughout the County is not equitable: we have more seats than we need in more affluent areas, and fewer in less affluent areas. Students from affluent areas get walkable schools or short bus rides, while students from less affluent areas get either overcrowded schools or longer bus rides.

Equity Over Capacity

Instead of starting the CIP process with questions of capacity, we should start with questions of equity:

• Where are our facilities failing the most and which of those serve the most vulnerable communities?
• Where do we need seats to be able to equitably assign students to schools?
• Where do we need space for our most vulnerable students, including pre-K, students with disabilities, English Language learners?
• Which option programs need to be expanded or relocated in order to equitably provide appropriate education options across our school system?

Capacity shortages will factor into answers to those questions, but they won't be the only driver.

APS has been dealing with a deficit of seats for students for well over a decade, and it is understandable that staff is focused on capacity when planning for capital improvements. However, it is a mistake to focus on capacity now, for three reasons:

1. The pandemic has changed how we live and work, and it is clear that pre-pandemic projections need to be revised.
2. We have lived through capacity crunches in the past, and while they are not ideal, they can be managed for a short amount of time.
3. We will have another CIP process next year, which means we can take some time to take stock of all of our facilities needs and plan smarter.

Education Over Parking

At the Heights, APS should build a field and an accessible entrance.

In addition, APS has the choice between providing 24 parking spaces at an additional cost of ~$7M or 75 parking spaces at an additional cost of ~$10M (based on the estimates provided earlier this spring). I do not support committing so much of APS's precious capital funding to building parking in Rosslyn. The Heights is located in a transit-rich, walkable, bikeable area. Instead of spending millions of dollars to build a few parking spaces, APS should get serious about TDM. In particular, APS could give every teacher a raise of (e.g.) $150/month, but then charge every teacher who parks a private vehicle on APS property $150/month. This cover the cost of a parking space in a private garage in Rosslyn, if teachers choose to use that mode. But it would also more equitably distribute transportation subsidies among teachers - rewarding those who choose sustainable, safer modes of transportation (which also, coincidentally, save APS money).

In sum, APS was left with a capacity crisis when past School Boards failed to plan for growth. Once the crisis was looming, APS rushed into major building projects with little planning for the system as a whole. Those decisions have left us with difficult issues, such as too many seats in North Arlington, and an equitable distribution of failing facilities. This School Board should not repeat the mistakes of the past, no matter how "exciting" a new building may be. Instead, we should develop a system-wide plan to address our capital needs that puts equity over capacity and education over parking.

The School Board should move forward with a CIP that only builds immediate needs - HVAC upgrades & maintenance, kitchen & entrance renovations, turf field replacement and a new field and entrance for the Heights. Then APS should immediately kick off a planning process to look at facilities needs across the system and address those questions of equity laid out above.

Thank you for your time and for your service,

Gillian