Fairfax County School Board approves $232 million for renovations

The sum, which must first be approved by county residents in a November bond referendum, leaves several projects languishing on the district’s wish list, including $40 million in requested renovations at the top-ranked Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.

“We are chronically and dramatically short-funded,” board Chairman Daniel Storck said at a recent meeting. Storck, along with many on his board, blame an outmoded funding formula for the shortfalls.

Fairfax spends about $1,000 per year per pupil on capital improvement spending, Storck said. He compared that with about $1,500 in Montgomery County, $2,000 in Prince William, and $2,500 in Arlington.

If approved by county voters, some of the dollars will go toward a new $50 million middle school in the southern part of the county, where military base realignments are expected to bring increased enrollment.

Renovations at Falls Church’s George C. Marshall High School will cost nearly $102 million.

Spring Hill Elementary School, in Tysons Corner, will receive $6.3 million to increase its bursting capacity.

“As the trailer village becomes larger and larger, I’m just very grateful the school’s needs will be recognized,” said board member Jane Strauss, referring to the portable classrooms used to accommodate enrollment overflows.

Eight other elementary schools will receive slightly less for similar expansions.

“This is a great time for us to be bidding on projects,” said Kevin Sneed, the district’s director of design and construction. “Prices are down 20 percent from one year ago — our construction dollars are worth much more today.”

The county has a long history of approving the district’s biennial bond requests, and County Chairwoman Sharon Bulova expects 2009 to be no different, despite the economic downturn.

“The bottom line is that many of our schools need to be modernized so that young people receive consistent educational opportunities,” Bulova said.