Arlington Public Schools has formed a committee to explore whether certain school properties should be sold to pay for capital improvement projects for county schools.
Sites being considered for sale are Rosslyn’s Wilson School and the Arlington Career Center on Columbia Pike, among others.
The panel — made up of school officials, community members and consultants — is expected to submit its findings to the School Board in the spring.
The school system’s School and Community Relations Director Linda Erdos said no decisions have been made on whether properties should be sold.
“Staff and community members are looking at the properties we have and asking, ‘Are we using these the best way possible? Should we build on these sites, or others?’ ” she said.
“This is normal,” Erdos said. “The board is asking, ‘Is this the best use of space?’ We need to better assess all of our needs.”
Erdos said the system is not concerned with making short-term financial gains, despite large profits that could be made on the sale of parcels around up-and-coming areas such as Columbia Pike. She said the process is part of a larger assessment of how to manage schools in a tightening fiscal environment as enrollment, which has dropped in recent years, stabilizes.
“You could have a knee-jerk reaction and say yes, this land is worth a lot today, but you need to look to the future,” Erdos said.
Facilities planner Alison Denton is heading the panel. She said the 29-member group met for the first time recently and expects to complete its work by the end of March.
“This is an opportunity for us to look strategically at all of our properties,” she said. “We’ll look at value, see if we want to generate revenue by selling them, or if we’re happy with the way things are.”
