F.C. School Board Votes to Move Ahead on Mt. Daniel, But Will Mull 'Alternate' Plans

The Falls Church School Board voted unanimously Tuesday to move ahead with design plans for the renovation and expansion of the Mt. Daniel Elementary School, but it included provisions for an "alternates list" of options for the building, walkways, and bus loop proposals and for building materials. The inclusion of alternates, board member Ruth Brock, who made the motion, said was to be responsive to "staff, parent and neighbor concerns" for the plans and to cost saving opportunities.

The resolution came following almost two hours of public comment on the proposed Mt. Daniel upgrades, most of it from neighbors to the site opposing aspects of the plans. They were led by a surprise appearance by Fairfax County Supervisor Joan DuBois, who defended the neighbors' concerns and called on the Falls Church School Board to scale back its plans.

Among those speaking for the student needs the project is designed to meet were Mt. Daniel principal Kathy Halayko and long-term Mt. Daniel instructor Aurora Stelz.

Both spoke to the need for the proposed four new classrooms, four resource rooms, added parking, a pedestrian trail to the Metro station that leads around the school, a bus loop to separate vehicular from bus traffic and storm water management. Increased enrollment has been the driver requiring the improvements, whose total price tag is now about $2.8 million.

Halayko described how her own office is now used for testing and conferences, and that classes are held in hallways due to the overcrowding. She said that there are currently only 46 parking spaces to accommodate 70 full and part-time staff and 20 intermittent staff. Five buses and 15 to 20 family cars also choke the tight access to the school from N. Oak Street during peak morning and afternoon times, and access to the school by emergency vehicles is restricted. "There is now only one way to drive away from the school," she noted.

She cited numerous traffic studies of the area done since 1999, and noted that the addition of a bus loop off Highland Avenue "is the safest way to bring students onto the grounds" of the school. A walkway around the perimeter of the school for citizens walking to Metro is required, she said, because allowing unauthorized persons to walk onto an elementary school campus is "unacceptable,:" although she said it's allowed now in the effort to "be a good neighbor."

Stelz, who has taught at Mt. Daniel for 16 years, summarized her remarks by asking, "What's more important, the value of a tree or personal safety?"

DuBois told the School Board, "I strongly urge you to delete the Highland Avenue bus entrance" and "I strongly urge pulling back from the footprint" of the proposed new building. She noted that added parking would jeopardize spruce trees and charged that the future impact on neighboring residents is not being taken into account.

She said she was "particularly troubled by actions" of Falls Church city leaders who did not look at the feasibility of the Diener tract, who turned the school on the Whittier Park site into townhouses and who were pressured by neighbors to turn away from the Madison Park site for a new school. "City residents have been able to influence City Council decisions on these matters and now it's not City residents and neighborhoods that are being impacted by these decisions. This is taking the 'good neighbor' concept just a bit too far," she said.

She cited an alleged recent quote by a Falls Church Planning Commissioner "detesting" the idea of "being asked to bail out Fairfax County."

"Well, fair is fair," she concluded.

In an interview following the meeting, Falls Church School Superintendent Dr. Lois Berlin said a joint School Board and City Council work session has been scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 30, to discuss the issues raised to date about the Mt. Daniel project, including the need for more funds.

"We're moving right away to advance a master plan for all this," she said. "There is a misconception that none exists. Some people think that we'll do these improvements, and then come back in five years wanting to do something else. I surely don't want to go through this again."