COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA
County of Fairfax
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
12000 GOVERNMENT CENTER PKWY
SUITE 530
FAIRFAX, VIRGINIA 22035-0071
TELEPHONE: 703/324-2321
FAX: 703/324-3955
TTY: 711
chairman@fairfaxcounty.gov
SHARON BULOVA
CHAIRMAN
Feb. 23, 2009
Statement by Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Sharon Bulova on Gatehouse II
Exercising the Chairman’s prerogative, I am making a change to our agenda for today’s meeting. Listed on the agenda is a 2:45 p.m. briefing by the Superintendent of Schools on a proposal to purchase “Gatehouse II”, as part of a consolidation plan for School Administration.
I have removed this briefing from our agenda. Further, I am moving that we discontinue any further consideration of the purchase of Gatehouse II.
This proposal was first brought to our Board in October of last year. Following discussion in Closed Session of the potential acquisition, I made a motion to reject the proposal. Members of our board were concerned about a number of aspects of the proposal, including the relatively narrow margin of savings expected over the long term.
At our Board’s last meeting, we were briefed once again, this time on an amended proposal. No action was taken at that time and direction was given for the Schools to do outreach into the community regarding the new proposal. Some outreach has taken place. Some community groups (such as the Chamber of Commerce) have expressed support, others (such as the FEA) neutrality, and others opposition.
While the business plan for Gatehouse II has a number of positive features, including the opportunity to return some school facilities back into classrooms, I have concerns, which my colleagues have also expressed, that an acquisition of an administrative building at this time, while we are struggling with a challenging budget and a volatile and unstable economy, is not in our best interest.
Over the weekend, I called School Board Chairman Dan Stork and Superintendent Jack Dale to let them know I thought it best that the Schools discontinue all efforts to acquire Gatehouse and I move now that our Board communicate this position to The Fairfax County School Board.
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