Special to the A-Blast from PTSA

We are all painfully aware of the economic realities that are impacting the nation our state, and our locality.  We have seen the preliminary reports and individually attended community dialogue meetings in order to better understand this situation and the priorities that will guide decisions of the Board of Supervisors and Fairfax County School Board, and the stated needs of our fellow citizens.  With those experiences and that information in mind, we would like the Fairfax County School Board and Board of Supervisors to consider the following.

Annandale High School is one of the most diverse high schools in the county, with some of the highest ratios in the county of students who require free and reduced meals and ESOL services; AHS is also the most overcrowded school in the county at present.  This situation will be only slightly moderated by a boundary change in 2010; the school will remain overcrowded by at least 400 students in 2010 and 2011, even after 200 to 300 students are moved to other high schools.

A comprehensive boundary study is expected to begin this spring, which will ultimately move additional students out of the AHS boundary by 2012.  The School Board worked to enact a few measures that help with the crowding in the short term, the school now “boasts” 27 trailer classrooms in the rear lot, and the school administration has done an amazing job of containing what could be absolute chaos.  As a result of their dedication, the impact to current AHS students is greatly minimized, and for that we are grateful.  Nonetheless, to say the school’s resources are stretched thin would be more than an understatement.

However,  we are also aware of the potential for disastrous additional cuts to our county and to our schools because there simply is not enough money.  We are concerned that AHS, which is already stretched thin and bursting at the seams, would be disproportionately impacted by some of the ideas already being circulated with regard to program cuts and eliminations.  As the School Board debates how best to address these enormous deficits and the multiplicity of needs across our county, it is important to remember that our schools will suffer enormously if required to absorb these projected millions in reductions, and some schools could be harder hit than others.

For instance, one current thought being floated by Dr. Dale is to reduce the number of Assistant FCPS Principals by 10 percent. It has been said by some that AP’s are unnecessary, that FPCS has too many relative to comparable counties.  We can tell you that every single one of the assistant principals at AHS is not only hard-working and necessary, but actually absolutely essential to the safety and security of our student body.  We have a current student population of 2650+ in a building with a stated program capacity of between 2134 and 2200 (depending on which document you review).

We would like the School Board to consider the idea that a severely overcrowded school like AHS should be given an exception to the formula or guideline for how many APs a high school should have.  We also believe that the imposition of test fees and athletic fees will cause a decrease in the number of poorer students (who comprise about a half of the population of our school) actually participating in advanced academics and athletics.  Students are much less likely to self-identify as needing financial help in high school, which means they simply will not take the class or join the team if they feel they cannot afford to pay the fees.

The elimination of programs specifically designed to help at-risk students will be particularly tough on the Annandale pyramid population as a whole –students in our feeder elementary and middle schools benefit from the modified calendar, from needs-based staffing, to a Project Excel.  Several of the elementary schools are Title 1 school, and this is a good indication that the population of our area as a whole is in need of the additional boost these programs provide.

We fully recognize that this is the worst situation our county has ever faced and that cuts must be made.  We respectfully ask that  the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and Fairfax County School Board keep all of the students in mind as they consider how best to meet this challenge.