Clifton Elementary School will celebrate its legacy of academic achievement, cherished memories, and its relationship with the Clifton community during an open house on Friday, June 17, from 5:00 until 7:00 p.m. Student artwork and writing will be on display, along with memorabilia from previous years. There will be a multimedia presentation along with music and light refreshments. All former and current Clifton Elementary School students, staff, parents, and community members are invited to attend the event. Due to parking constraints, please park in town and walk up the hill to the school if at all possible. Please contact the school office at 703-988-8000 for further information.

I wont miss this party. This is a great chance to meet the worst, most selfish and petty human beings that Fairfax county can produce. Should be good for a laugh.

Wow, hanging out at an elementary school...Sounds like fun. NOT!
Attachments:

That is hilarious.

-----------------------------------------------

"...your suffering will be legendary even in Hell!"

The best in Fairfax.

dell ave Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Clifton Elementary School will celebrate its
> legacy of academic achievement, cherished
> memories, and its relationship with the Clifton
> community during an open house on Friday, June 17,
> from 5:00 until 7:00 p.m. Student artwork and
> writing will be on display, along with memorabilia
> from previous years. There will be a multimedia
> presentation along with music and light
> refreshments. All former and current Clifton
> Elementary School students, staff, parents, and
> community members are invited to attend the event.
> Due to parking constraints, please park in town
> and walk up the hill to the school if at all
> possible. Please contact the school office at
> 703-988-8000 for further information.
>
> I wont miss this party. This is a great chance to
> meet the worst, most selfish and petty human
> beings that Fairfax county can produce. Should be
> good for a laugh.


can anyone go???????/? or do we had to go to that school in order to attend the party

dell ave Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Clifton Elementary School will celebrate its
> legacy of academic achievement, cherished
> memories, and its relationship with the Clifton
> community during an open house on Friday, June 17,
> from 5:00 until 7:00 p.m. Student artwork and
> writing will be on display, along with memorabilia
> from previous years. There will be a multimedia
> presentation along with music and light
> refreshments. All former and current Clifton
> Elementary School students, staff, parents, and
> community members are invited to attend the event.
> Due to parking constraints, please park in town
> and walk up the hill to the school if at all
> possible. Please contact the school office at
> 703-988-8000 for further information.
>

Don't come. I had 5 KIDS. MY youngest one is 9 years old and a 4th grader. he wanted to graduate from CES but now he can't. Your not funny. WE ARE VERY VERY SAD, A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE GOING TO BE CRYING BECAUSE IT WAS THE BEST SCHOOL IN FCPS. CES WAS THE BEST SCHOOL HERE BECAUSE IT HAD GREAT STUDENTS, AND GREAT TEACHERS.

I am going to be crying since my property values are going to go down.

dell ave Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Clifton Elementary School will celebrate its
> legacy of academic achievement, cherished
> memories, and its relationship with the Clifton
> community during an open house on Friday, June 17,
> from 5:00 until 7:00 p.m. Student artwork and
> writing will be on display, along with memorabilia
> from previous years. There will be a multimedia
> presentation along with music and light
> refreshments. All former and current Clifton
> Elementary School students, staff, parents, and
> community members are invited to attend the event.
> Due to parking constraints, please park in town
> and walk up the hill to the school if at all
> possible. Please contact the school office at
> 703-988-8000 for further information.
>
> I wont miss this party. This is a great chance to
> meet the worst, most selfish and petty human
> beings that Fairfax county can produce. Should be
> good for a laugh.


am useing my phone and the letters are to small. Can't prove read it. And I went to that school and so did my xwife. We where in the same in 3,4,5,6 and grade in the 80s. Its so sad that JACKE DALE IS CLOSING DOWN THAT SCHOO. I HOPE THEY CLOSE DOWN YOUR KIDS ELEMEMTERY SCHOOL OR THE SCHOOL YOU WENT TO

dell ave Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Clifton Elementary School will celebrate its
> legacy of academic achievement, cherished
> memories, and its relationship with the Clifton
> community during an open house on Friday, June 17,
> from 5:00 until 7:00 p.m. Student artwork and
> writing will be on display, along with memorabilia
> from previous years. There will be a multimedia
> presentation along with music and light
> refreshments. All former and current Clifton
> Elementary School students, staff, parents, and
> community members are invited to attend the event.
> Due to parking constraints, please park in town
> and walk up the hill to the school if at all
> possible. Please contact the school office at
> 703-988-8000 for further information.
>
> I wont miss this party. This is a great chance to
> meet the worst, most selfish and petty human
> beings that Fairfax county can produce. Should be
> good for a laugh.


I HOPE THEY CLOSE DOWN YOUR ELEMENTERY SCHOOL.. I HOPE THEY CLOSE DOWN YOUR SON OR DAUGHTER ELEMENTERY SCHOOL (IF YOU HAVE KIDS) YOU SOUND LIKE A VIRGIN.
I HATE JACK DALE. I WENT TO THAT SCHOOL IN THE 80S. SO DID MY X WIFE. IT WAS A GREAT SMALL SCHOOLO.

Kyle - I know that you're upset but please, for the love of your children, don't resort to homeschooling.

__________________________________
That's not a ladybug, that's a cannapiller.

I agree with Kyle!

Enough is enough.

Why would we stay with FCPS?

They will screw us over again and I will not take that chance.

Private school is the answer.

I'm so glad I don't live in Clifton. Too many morons.
I hope they take the money they saved and give it to special Ed for blacks and hispanic kids. Ha ha ha.

And if you don't know the difference between your/you're, CES couldn't have been that great.

Another school whose enrollment was dropping--except they didn't close this one:

http://reston.patch.com/articles/whats-up-with-that-14

South Lakes HAD to have new students because their enrollment was dropping so much.....what a difference --no matter that they knew during the redistricting that Metro was coming.....
question: when do they send Floris back to Westfield?

Benz Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm so glad I don't live in Clifton. Too many
> morons.
> I hope they take the money they saved and give it
> to special Ed for blacks and hispanic kids. Ha ha
> ha.
>
> And if you don't know the difference between
> your/you're, CES couldn't have been that great.

Now that we've seen the grammar they use in Clifton, now I see why they closed down that school. Its okay though, I'm sure all the crackheads in Clifton will make good use out of it.

going Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> dell ave Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Clifton Elementary School will celebrate its
> > legacy of academic achievement, cherished
> > memories, and its relationship with the Clifton
> > community during an open house on Friday, June
> 17,
> > from 5:00 until 7:00 p.m. Student artwork and
> > writing will be on display, along with
> memorabilia
> > from previous years. There will be a multimedia
> > presentation along with music and light
> > refreshments. All former and current Clifton
> > Elementary School students, staff, parents, and
> > community members are invited to attend the
> event.
> > Due to parking constraints, please park in town
> > and walk up the hill to the school if at all
> > possible. Please contact the school office at
> > 703-988-8000 for further information.
> >
> > I wont miss this party. This is a great chance
> to
> > meet the worst, most selfish and petty human
> > beings that Fairfax county can produce. Should
> be
> > good for a laugh.
>
>
> can anyone go???????/? or do we had to go to that
> school in order to attend the party


It says members of the community are invited. If you are a county or town resident then you are invited.
How much you want to bet that some of the selfish clifton folk will get all bent if they cant drive their Lexus or other douchemobile to the top of the hill. They will show up late and then bitch because they have to walk.
I will be there early and get some pictures.

Like a virgin, touched for the very first time
Like a Vir-hir-hir-hir-gin...

Wow Kyle, U-mad?

It's obvious from your spelling (don't blame the phone now, Kyle) that you're a graduate of the Fairfax County School System.

Five kids? I thought Virginia had Eugenics laws...

Agreed. And now hookers can solicit in the CES parking lot.

Are the new tenants, hookers & crackheads, invited ??

Funny_Guy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Benz Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I'm so glad I don't live in Clifton. Too many
> > morons.
> > I hope they take the money they saved and give
> it
> > to special Ed for blacks and hispanic kids. Ha
> ha
> > ha.
> >
> > And if you don't know the difference between
> > your/you're, CES couldn't have been that great.
>
> Now that we've seen the grammar they use in
> Clifton, now I see why they closed down that
> school. Its okay though, I'm sure all the
> crackheads in Clifton will make good use out of
> it.

To Sir With Love Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Like a virgin, touched for the very first time
> Like a Vir-hir-hir-hir-gin...
>
> Wow Kyle, U-mad?
>
> It's obvious from your spelling (don't blame the
> phone now, Kyle) that you're a graduate of the
> Fairfax County School System.
>
> Five kids? I thought Virginia had Eugenics
> laws...


Kyle should send his kid to Holy Spirit. He will get a great education but might get assraped from what I hear. May not be a bad tradeoff. Maybe the catholic church has put a stop to the assgames by now.

Benz Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm so glad I don't live in Clifton. Too many
> morons.
> I hope they take the money they saved and give it
> to special Ed for blacks and hispanic kids. Ha ha
> ha.
>
> And if you don't know the difference between
> your/you're, CES couldn't have been that great.


Yes, my friends the Lawyers, Doctors, Ambassadors, CEOs, Venture Capitalists, entrepreneurs, Winery Owners, Retired FBI, Military Leaders and Computer Gurus are all morons. They must have been pretty fucking dumb to move to one of the most affluent and successful places in the world.

Please take your self-loathing, success-hating attitude and chain yourself to a box of sand.

Why don't you cry baby parents and kids shut the fuck up.
I went to three different elementary schools and to different middle schools.
Instead of bitching, just tell your kids to suck it up. Life go's on.

---------------------------------------------------
W.W.S.D. what would Scooby Doo

I went to Canterbury Woods back in the day, right next to Holy Spirit.
Was there a lot of ass-raping going on at Holy Spirit ??

Benz Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I went to Canterbury Woods back in the day, right
> next to Holy Spirit.
> Was there a lot of ass-raping going on at Holy
> Spirit ??


I have no idea if assrape took place there but it sure did a some catholic schools.
I was reffering to this thread that keeps popping up.
http://www.fairfaxunderground.com/forum/read/2/290843/582668.html#msg-582668

I call bullshit on this. No ambassador is commuting from Clifton. I have two families in my HOA with diplomatic plates and they are senior staff. And the only VC's in Clifton are the gook kind. Please don't delude yourself. Clifton isn't Menlo Park and Sand Hill Road. Median household income is a mere $111,000. Pathetic compared to the golden pentagon of McLean, Great Falls, Vienna, North Arlington and Oakton.

JBass Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Benz Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I'm so glad I don't live in Clifton. Too many
> > morons.
> > I hope they take the money they saved and give
> it
> > to special Ed for blacks and hispanic kids. Ha
> ha
> > ha.
> >
> > And if you don't know the difference between
> > your/you're, CES couldn't have been that great.
>
>
> Yes, my friends the Lawyers, Doctors, Ambassadors,
> CEOs, Venture Capitalists, entrepreneurs, Winery
> Owners, Retired FBI, Military Leaders and Computer
> Gurus are all morons. They must have been pretty
> fucking dumb to move to one of the most affluent
> and successful places in the world.
>
> Please take your self-loathing, success-hating
> attitude and chain yourself to a box of sand.

Benz Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I call bullshit on this. No ambassador is
> commuting from Clifton. I have two families in my
> HOA with diplomatic plates and they are senior
> staff. And the only VC's in Clifton are the gook
> kind. Please don't delude yourself. Clifton
> isn't Menlo Park and Sand Hill Road. Median
> household income is a mere $111,000. Pathetic
> compared to the golden pentagon of McLean, Great
> Falls, Vienna, North Arlington and Oakton.
>
> JBass Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Benz Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > I'm so glad I don't live in Clifton. Too
> many
> > > morons.
> > > I hope they take the money they saved and
> give
> > it
> > > to special Ed for blacks and hispanic kids.
> Ha
> > ha
> > > ha.
> > >
> > > And if you don't know the difference between
> > > your/you're, CES couldn't have been that
> great.
> >
> >
> > Yes, my friends the Lawyers, Doctors,
> Ambassadors,
> > CEOs, Venture Capitalists, entrepreneurs,
> Winery
> > Owners, Retired FBI, Military Leaders and
> Computer
> > Gurus are all morons. They must have been
> pretty
> > fucking dumb to move to one of the most
> affluent
> > and successful places in the world.
> >
> > Please take your self-loathing, success-hating
> > attitude and chain yourself to a box of sand.


BS? You dont think anybody commutes from Clifton to DC? You sir, are dense. Though in regards to the Ambassador comment, I was referencing a gentleman I know who did 25 years civil service, attained the Diplomatic rank of Ambassador at his last embassy and retired in Clifton after living nearly 20 years of his life in cities and countries on nearly every continent on the planet.

Said gentleman, has seen the best and the worst that this world can offer, can have a technical conversation in 5 languages and chose to make Clifton his home.

Who knew the inhabitants of Clifton were so testy? Oh well, I predict that Clifton will become the next Korea-town with half price sales on crack pipes and K12 from your friendly neighborhood MS13 members.

So..we're supposed to give a shit that a former ambassador lives in Clifton? You sound like a status obssed toady

”Suburban Segregation: How Fairfax County Integrated Its Public Schools"
http://www.yetmo.com/DESEG.htm


Spring, 1954, was a wondrous time and full of promise. The Supreme Court finally struck down the dreaded Plessy v. Ferguson separate but equal doctrine. I was graduating from college and was anxiously looking forward to a career in education as a teacher and, maybe someday, an athletic director.

With today's racial tension and turmoil, I began reminiscing about the days leading up to integration in Fairfax County, Virginia, public schools. Those were different times, new ground was being charted every day. Those days were many things: exhausting but exhilarating; tense yet titillating; fearful and fulfilling. What a great change occurred right under our noses. It is only when I look back can I see more clearly how such a significant social change happened. On one hand, it seemed so sudden and dramatic, yet it is was quite gradual and incremental, for complete integration did not arrive in Fairfax County schools until the 1965-1966 school year.

Allow me to tell you my story.

It was December 9, 1952, when I was a junior at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, that the case of Brown v. Board of Education was argued before the Supreme Court of the United States. The hopes and fears of my people hung in the balance. Blacks had suffered terribly in this country, the land of opportunity, ever since the first black, William, son of Anthony and Isabella, was born here in Jamestown, Virginia, in 1624. Our aspirations had been toyed with during the Civil War, reconstruction, and Plessy v. Ferguson. Our struggle was a continuous stream of up's and down's -- one day feeling that our salvation had come (emancipation), only to find failure and false starts were the results (Jim Crow laws). But this time it promised to be different. Blacks, excuse me, Negroes, had been integrated into the armed forces by now, and while many whites still couldn't accept us as equals, it appeared as though we were turning the corner. It was just that the corner was a lot bigger than I had expected.

So I waited. Waited for the Supreme Court to decide. After a year, I became skeptical, fearing that the Brown case had been swept under the rug, had disappeared. But when May 17, 1954, came and the Court ruled unanimously that separate was inherently unequal, I was ecstatic. Salvation had come at last for my people. And as for me, well, I had an interview scheduled with the Fairfax County Public School system, in Fairfax, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C., right in the backyard of where that historic decision was made. I was thrilled and could barely contain my enthusiasm and excitement. Tomorrow was going to be a beautiful day.

Two months later I was hired as a teacher at the new Luther Jackson High School in Merrifield, Virginia. It was named after a famous Negro Virginian who distinguished himself in the navy and as a historian. I was both impressed and perplexed, for Luther Jackson was to be an all-black high school. How bizarre! Didn't the U.S. Supreme Court only a few weeks earlier say that separate was no longer equal? How could the County pursue such a strangely contradictory course? As best as I could figured it, this new facility was constructed because, before then, all Negroes attended high school either in Washington, D.C., or in Manassas, Virginia, at the Manassas Industrial School. In either case, tuition and a long-distance commute was necessary, unless you stayed with a friend or relative who lived near those schools or your parent/guardian was a federal government employee, in which case the Washington, D.C., school system allowed tuition-free attendance.

In any event, I was young, enthusiastic, and embarking on a new and exciting career. I was going to make the best of it, enjoy myself, and be the best teacher I could. I got to thinking that perhaps teaching at an all-Negro school was best. I could give something back to the community and help ready these students for the life challenges that awaited them. Those students planning on college could benefit from my instruction and with the promise of desegregated schools, who knows how many opportunities awaited them in the ever-improving future.

It didn't take long for my spirits to fall. It would be a gross understatement to say that the State of Virginia was not as favorably disposed toward the concept of desegregation as I had hoped. Senator Harry Byrd led the charge, and in a speech coined the phrase "massive resistance" that was to become the rallying cry throughout the state for years to come. Nearly all the air came out of my balloon. How could this happen? Hadn't the highest court in the land ruled? Hadn't it said that all American students had to receive education together, receive an equal opportunity to succeed and achieve the American Dream? Surely this anomaly would pass.

"Massive Resistance" did pass, but it took many years and many court battles. Prohibition taught that you can't legislate morality; I guess Brown v. Board of Education reinforced that. You couldn't legislate how others would feel towards their fellow man and woman. And while you could legislate how others would "act," it was not easy to enforce. Desegregation, therefore, was another form of morality and this provided another hard lesson learned.

But the courts didn't let us down. The battle was long and difficult but, by and large, forward progress continued, albeit slowly. It took so long, as a matter of fact, that it wasn't until September, 1960, as a result of Federal District Court Judge Bryan's decision, that the County first admitted Negroes to formerly all-white high schools. As a result, three Negroes were admitted to two schools, one to Groveton High School and two to James Madison. Prior to this, in July, 1960, the Fairfax County School Board, acting on 30 so-called "transfer" applications from Negroes for admission to all-white schools, ruled that only three first- and second-graders would be approved. The School Board planned to gradually implement desegregation by beginning in the lower grades and working up, one grade per school year, until all grades and schools would be integrated by the 1970-1971 school year. This process would take 11 years! I was crestfallen. Surely, the Supreme Court has hoped for implementation of their 1954 ruling in less than 16 years.

Of course, placing Negroes into all-white schools had to be considered and implemented in a deliberate fashion. Therefore, any Negro wishing to attend such a school had to complete an application that had to be submitted, reviewed, and approved by the School Board. Transfers among schools for white students, of course, required no such high-level review or control.

The die was cast. This was going to be a long and laborious process. Incrementalism would become the theology of school integration. But Judge Bryan's decision got the ball rolling. In addition to the School Board allowing three Negroes into all-white high schools six years after the historical Brown decision, 16 more were admitted to eight previously all-white schools by September 28, 1960, less than one week after Bryan's ruling. Further, by October 12, 1960, the School Board had allowed a total of 27 Negroes to integrate a total of nine schools. In addition to the two high schools, three intermediate and four elementary schools were effected. Of course, I followed these cases with keen interest and kept a dairy as best I could.

It appeared as though the integration inertia had been overcome. In the relatively short period of a week, two dozen Negroes were attending nearly a dozen schools. Of course, this was tokenism in its purest sense, to be sure, given that integration by definition could be accomplished with the mere presence of but one Negro, but symbolically it was extremely significant and encouraging. Unfortunately, I didn't realize what was about to happen.

In November, 1960, by the closest of votes, 4-3, the County School Board, voted to prohibit integrated interscholastic athletics. I was puzzled. How could the County have moved in the way it did less than two months earlier only to act in a manner which appeared to deny the reality of that decision? If schools were integrated, wouldn't athletics naturally become integrated, as would any other associated school activity? Where was the logic? Again, I found my spirits sinking, as I became increasingly frustrated and angry with the lack of progress.

My frustration was short-lived. Community reaction was swift and inspiring. Within three months, the School Board reversed itself due to student and PTA reaction, and an NAACP law suit. Some 2,000 students had signed a petition demanding that the athletic ban be overturned and the County PTA, by a vote of 30-5, not only wanted the athletic issue resolved, but also urged faster integration. Thus, not only the courts, but also parts of the community were coming to accept the reality and value of school integration. In February, 1961, in addition to striking down their earlier ban on integrated interscholastic athletics, the Board directed the Commonwealth's Attorney to prepare an ordinance allowing the county to withdraw from the jurisdiction of the state's pupil placement board so that desegregation efforts could proceed quicker. The State Placement Board grew out of the massive resistance movement and was a mechanism to hinder desegregation. Thus, the County had decided to step closer towards integration.

A few months later, in April, 1961, another 76 (of 86) transfer applications were approved by the School Board. This resulted in integrating another 10 previously all-white schools, bringing to 19 the total number of integrated schools. By now, Fairfax County was one of only three state jurisdictions (Arlington and Falls Church City were the others) that had asked to assume local pupil assignment authority.

Another year rolled around and more Negroes were transferred into all-white schools. In April, 1962, 108 applications were approved and another 11 schools were integrated, increasing the number of integrated schools to 30.

For the next 18 months to two years, nothing of significance or drama occurred. Gradual integration proceeded deliberately. In September, 1963, the NAACP filed suit accusing the School Board of foot-dragging, but Federal District Court judge Oren R. Lewis was not particularly sympathetic. He praised the County's movement to date and noted that a similar case had been brought earlier by the NAACP and was dismissed. When he learned of the previous case, Lewis was so angry with the NAACP attorneys for failing to share this information that he threatened to dismiss the case forthwith. However, the judge relented and heard the case due to the urging of five of the School Board's seven members who were present at the hearing. As a result of the hearing, the School Board agreed to develop a plan for complete desegregation, including a local pupil assignment policy.

By March, 1964, the NAACP appealed a ruling by Judge Lewis that upheld the County's desegregation plan. Interestingly, Oren Lewis felt that "Fairfax County schools were not being discriminatory despite the existence of 7 schools for Negroes." The all-Negro schools at the time were Luther Jackson High School and Carey, Drew-Smith, Oak Grove, Eleven Oaks, James Lee and Louise Archer elementary schools.

At the end of March, 1964, the Board met to propose the pupil assignment plan that judge Lewis ordered. Among the policy's features were that initial student assignments would be made without regard to race; 6th and 8th grade students would go to the next higher grade with fellow classmates; children would attend schools near their residences; and requests to attend more distant schools would go to the School Board for approval. Of course, the last feature frequently applied to Negroes, as they were not, as a group, generally living close to predominantly white schools. At the April 9, 1964, School Board meeting, Chairman William Hoofnagle announced that the new pupil assignment plan would be effective at the start of the 1964-65 school year. He also announced the closing of the all-Negro Oak Grove elementary school (bringing to six the number of all-Negro schools remaining in the County), stating that children would attend one of three nearby schools the following year. My "high" school, Luther Jackson, which actually taught students in grades 7-12, was to become a true "high school" (grades 9-12) in two years. Seventh grade students would attend neighborhood schools in the 1964-65 school year, making Luther Jackson serve grades 8-12 that year, but leaving it with only grades 9-12 beginning in 1965-66. In fact, the Board was also considering closing Luther Jackson altogether due to dwindling enrollment. That move did not succeed because of community reaction, but that's a different story for a different time.

It was very important to me when it was announced at that April School Board meeting that teacher transfers would also be made without regard to race. I was most interested, of course, as I felt that my career opportunities would remain intolerably limited had integration not come to pass. After all, my school was the only all-Negro high school and there were but so many opportunities for advancement in just one school. I realized that my motives were selfish, but I was an education professional who wanted to contribute to my field. The best way to do that was to have opportunity at a maximum number of locations throughout the school system.

I almost forgot. The School Board also announced in April that it "unanimously adopted a 'phasing-out' program" to desegregate schools. I suppose I forgot because it all seemed so anticlimactic, especially given the incremental approach that had been taken thus far. Perhaps the white community was comfortable with this approach, for it must be said that relatively little backlash and rancor occurred in County schools during integration. School Board officials from both Boards that were in place from 1960 through 1965 supported integration and had "no problem" with it. Maybe they felt that way because they had so much time to adjust to the idea. Of course, there were problems, but not nearly as bad as in other places, certainly not in other areas within Virginia (Prince Edward County) and other Southern states. Progress certainly could have occurred quicker but, all things considered, you take what you can and do your best.

Again the Courts entered the picture. The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals permanently enjoined Fairfax County from continuing segregation and had observed that sufficient and timely progress towards an integrated system had not occurred. The County had assigned only 800 of the County's 2,500 Negro students to formerly all-white schools. County school officials said that it would be impossible to redistribute, in an orderly manner, the system's 80,000 students within the three short months before the next school year began. But the School Board's attorney said that the County officials "were not interested in massive resistance" and would not appeal the decision.

At this point I can only imagine the behind-the-scenes scurrying that was necessary to bring full integration to reality. At last, it was apparent that nothing less than complete desegregation would do. The time had come. In November, the Board announced something of significance to me. Luther Jackson would not close, but would serve as an integrated intermediate school starting with the next school year (1965-66). All County seventh and eight grade students would be assigned to Luther Jackson without regard to race based on the recently approved pupil assignment plan.

The process was nearly complete. At the January 28, 1965, School Board meeting, a proposal was presented for complete integration effective at the start of the 1965-66 school year. Disposition of the five remaining all-Negro elementary schools was discussed. Only Louise Archer would function as an integrated general education school; the others would either be used as storage facilities or special education centers. At a meeting one night, I remember several white parents vehemently reacting to keeping Louise Archer. They wanted it to go the way of the other all-Negro buildings, away from the mainstream of general education.

B. Oswald Robinson was the long-time principal at Louise Archer after Ms. Archer passed away in 1948. He was also at that meeting and said he had never been so frightened in his entire life. And he had served in the Navy during World War II, too. He was principal at Louise Archer from 1948 until his retirement from the school system in 1970. Those were challenging times for everyone. Although we Negroes felt that progress was far too slow, clearly there were still many whites who believed things were moving either too quickly or in the wrong direction altogether.

But Mr. Robinson had an idea to deal with the tension that was remarkably direct and effective. He went to the Post Office one day and bought post cards for every student who would be entering Archer that September. He had all the teachers write a welcoming note to each of their students identifying the class to which they had been assigned and where their rooms were located. On opening day, "things went smoothly," Mr. Robinson said. The sound of the children's shoes clicking furiously as they excitedly searched for their homerooms was music to his ears. He had almost forgotten the three security guards who were quietly dispatched to Archer for his protection in the event of any untoward negative community reaction. There was none and the guards left before day's end noting to Mr. Robinson that everything was peaceful and that he didn't need them anymore. So, one potentially volatile problem was defused and full integration was well on its way.

There were complaints and disagreements, to be sure, among many people and not only whites. One Negro couple in Vienna, the Marions, asked the NAACP to file suit to prevent three of their four children from being sent to Flint Hill school as opposed to staying at Louise Archer, which was only four blocks from their house. Mr. Marion said that integration was "a terrible thing" and felt it was detrimental to the Negro children. "It's the kids that suffer," he said, adding that they were not welcomed in these schools and that whites "don't know how to teach black kids." In the end, Mr. Marion, too, dropped his suit and, with some reluctance, became another member of the citizenry that was going to have to adjust and accept the social reality of integration.

In March, Superintendent Funderburk talked more about plans for integration and announced that 10 Negro teachers had already been assigned to teach last year in all-white schools. What a surprise that news must have been to some folks. Funderburk also announced that teacher seminars would be conducted Countywide to deal with the challenges faced by teachers of one race teaching students of another. Federal money ($53,500) was even awarded to the County for this purpose. The money was to pay teachers who would be taking this instruction. Of course, what was not noted was that in the prior year, Negro teachers had to attend such classes two nights each week, but without pay or professional credit for the training.

When the decision was officially and finally announced at the June 8, 1965, School Board meeting that all Fairfax County schools would be integrated that Fall, I realized the history in my midst. I thought back to that original School Board proposal in July, 1960, that would have integrated schools in 11 years. Well, the County beat that schedule, but not by much -- only five years. In the scheme of slavery, emancipation, reconstruction, and Jim Crow, five years didn't amount to much. But I was grateful and pleased, nevertheless. Nothing worth having is easy and this certainly illustrated that maxim.

Things worked out well for me. The promise of a decade earlier was fulfilled. I was asked to transfer to W.T. Woodson High School the first year of full integration (1965-66). I thrived there and was fortunate to have sponsors who promoted my interests and career. I became principal at two County high schools and retired from the school system as such. But reminders of slow progress remained. In August, 1967, 13 years after Brown, 75% of Virginia's Negroes -- I guess I should be saying "black" now -- still attended segregated schools.

It looked as though we still had a few challenges left ahead of us.

++++
Fred W. Apelquist, III, M.Ed.

NOT everyone in the community support keeping Clifton Elementary School open. Many of us (two of my children attended Clifton) in the “community” recognize that the school is old, the water supply is bad and there are effective alternatives.

The school Board has properly decided that limited funds need to be used to educate children, not to meet the entitlement fantasies of the parents demanding that “their” school be preserved.

Of course there are people that commute from Clifton to DC. Who else will clean the toilets, cook lunch and mow the lawns in DC? Anyway, I'm glad they are closing that POS elementary school. Way to go Jack Dale!!

I live in Clifton.

Frank, you’re the first person I’ve seen who is not in favor of keeping the school open.

The School Board decision doesn’t seem to make any fiscal sense when the cost of the renovations to the school are equal to the costs of building a new facility elsewhere. If they’re both the same cost and most of the community wants to keep the school open, why not accede to their wishes?

I don’t think this is an entitlement fantasy at all. Do the folks who use the school not have a right to make their voices heard?

There must be something special about that school that the parents of the students there are more concerned about keeping it open than they are about water issues or the age of the facilities.

We are a nice community. Our kids have done nothing wrong.

We just wanted our local school kept open.

We are ready to move on but I think others outside of Clifton are not.

Build new versus renovate can be a complex and difficult decision process when there is a significant cost differential. Build new provides a facility with more modern and efficient electrical, HVAC, plumbing, and telecommunications backbone, something that cannot be equaled with renovation. Plus, build new provides a much longer useful life expectancy than renovation. Build new typically produces a facility with a 25 year expectancy before renovation. Renovation provides 10 years or less.

When the costs are roughly equal, it quickly becomes a no-brainer. Of course, that assumes that you are a facilities management professional and not a politician. The School Board got it right, esp. if you take into account the declining enrollment in Clifton.

Welcome to the 21st Century, Clifton, where the neighborhood school is no longer affordable.

There’s more to this than just the building. The community has an attachment to this school – one that can’t be quantified simply by saying a new school will last longer than renovating the old one.

Having spent some time in facilities management, managing 100 year old+ buildings, I recognize the issues with renovation vs. build new. However, at some point the non-quantifiable benefits of renovation over building new tip the balance.

I think given the school’s location, the community’s desire to keep the school open, the inconsequential cost differential, and the issues with the other sites, this was a bad decision.

What is worse is Liz Bradsher abandoning her constituents.

We wish.

Now all of us are stuffed like sardines in 3 different schools.

FCPS lied to everyone.

I guess you will not care till they do it to you.

Brian,

Community attachment is all well and good. However, what the good people of Clifton are asking the rest of us Fairfax County taxpayers to do is to pay a premium to renovate a school with dwindling enrollment instead of building a new school more centrally located for the maximum number of county residents. That is just plain selfish.

I will state this as delicately as I can. The parents of Clifton would rather send their children to a school with contaminated water and, mostly likely, asbestos issues than send them to a brand new school outside of Clifton. Is it possible that the motivation is no so much attachment to Clifton Elementary but a desire to keep their kids inside their exclusive and insular community where they don’t have to associate with the children of “those other kinds of people?”

Liz did not abandon her constituents if she was voting for the overall best interests of Fairfax County taxpayers, esp. those who live in her district but not in Clifton. Those are the ones who will benefit most from her vote with a new elementary school.

BTW, Brian,

I don’t know Liz Bradsher and don’t know why everyone from you to Ben Tribbet seem to hate her. But I will say this. Knowing that she was alienating a group of very well-heeled voters in Clifton by doing the right thing instead of cowardly hiding behind a 6-vote majority, as you suggested she do, was right up there with John Kennedy’s Profiles in Courage.

Roc, the enrollment may be dwindling now, but that isn’t irreversible and those enrollment numbers are only estimates anyway.

The new school location proposed is 3 miles from the current location. 3 miles isn’t an inconvenience to anyone.

The parents of Clifton have every right to want a school within the boundaries of their village, as they have had for the last 80 years.

Liz represents Springfield, which includes Clifton. She’s my school board member. I supported keeping the school open, and I know many of my fellow residents who were aware of the issue did too – because we know that it could be our local school they shut down next.

The people who will benefit most from a school in Clifton are the same people who don’t want a new school in Clifton. Their opinions should matter more than those who aren’t immediately affected.

Brian,

With all due respect, I am afraid that I don’t follow you. If three miles is not an inconvenience to anyone, then why sacrifice fiscal responsibility for sentimentality?

As for whose opinion matters more, anyone who pays property taxes in Fairfax County is immediately affected by this decision.

Roc, three miles makes a difference for the residents affected. It may not make a difference for you or for me, but we’re not the ones who have to live with this decision.

There’s a place for sentimentality. There’s a place for tradition and respecting history. And there’s a place for listening to what your constituents want.

Yes, anyone who pays property taxes is affected, but not immediately. No one’s taxes are going to go up if they renovated the school rather than building a new one. But the parents of the students in that school are directly affected. They will be the ones watching as their kids are distributed to five different schools, torn from their friends and teachers. They’ll be the ones explaining to their kids why they can’t go back to their old school. I think that gives them more of a voice in this decision.

Brian,

BTW, if making the less economical decision in order to keep a neighborhood school, then why don’t the residents of Clifton ask the Board of Supervisors to create a Special Tax District in Clifton to pay for it? I would be fine with that.

We don’t have any children, but we have happily paid property taxes for most of our adult lives because we believe that education is the third most important function of local government after public safety and health inspections. I’m just not willing to pay for someone else’s private neighborhood school when the greater public interest can be best served otherwise.

Roc,

The problem is that has nothing to do with money at all. The school board promised Clifton that if they could get the total cost of renovation down to between $10-12 million they would keep the school. The residents managed to meet that benchmark, but they still closed it.

This is about politics, and its wrong. This is a top performing school that did not need to be closed at all.

local GOP,

So you’re telling me that the original estimates for renovating Clifton Elementary was MORE than the cost of building a new school?

How did the residents “meet that benchmark?” By continuing to use bottled water instead of connecting to Fairfax Water, by minimizing the asbestos abatement, by keeping the building energy inefficient, or by simply cooking the books on the renovation costs?

I’m sorry, but renovating this 50+ year-old school versus building a new one for the same cost that will serve more county residents is like putting lipstick on a pig.

This is not about politics. This is about fiscal responsibility in one of the counties that has the highest school budgets in the entire country. And perhaps if the students in this “top performing school” joined the student body of other nearby schools, then they could help raise test scores across the entire district.

Of course, then they would have classmates who are children of “those other kinds of people not like us.”

There is a reason that it is called “public education.” If you want your kids to be sheltered in an insular, exclusive environment, then send them to private schools. But don’t ask me to pay for it.

Roc, which is it? If the school is currently serving a declining population as you said earlier, how is moving it 3 miles going to serve more county residents?

You’re acting like this issue is some kind of veiled form of segregation. That’s nonsense. Clifton has a 80% white population. The five schools around it that these students will end up going to have the following demographics – Union Mill 71%, Oak View 65%, Sangster 70%, Silverbrook 51%, Fairview 67%. Even the most diverse school these kids could end up is still over half white. There’s nothing racist about wanting the school to stay where it is. Do the school demographics change if it moves 3 miles away? No. C’mon.

This isn’t about sheltering the kids – as you already noted, if they wanted that, they could simply send their kids to private school. This is Clifton we’re talking about – it’s not like most of the folks there couldn’t afford it.

The FCPS is about as fiscally responsible as the federal government. Is this honestly the best place where we can put our feet down and demand fiscal responsibility? I don’t think so. Clifton is a very old community that takes pride in its history and heritage. At the very least, the FCSB should respect that.

Liz Bradshear made a terrible decision, an inexplicable one. Even if she knew she would lose, and her vote wouldn’t matter, she should have supported her constituents. Wasn’t that what she was elected to do? Her career just came to a screeching halt.

Any thoughts on who will run for her seat next year? I don’t see republicans endorsing her. If I were on the committee, I would not vote to endorse her because we know she won’t represent the voters, or their children.

Roc,

I cant believe you are actually suggesting that the SB move smart kids to other schools to increase the average scores at underperforming schools. Talk about putting lipstick on a pig. That’s exactly a maneuver that the Jack Dale cronies do all the time; shuffling the gifted and talented kids around to bolster test averages. its fake.

Also, no, nothing to do with bottled water. Clifton community met the benchmark and solved the water problem. The water meets acceptable standards from what I have heard.

LL, honestly, this whole thing – coupled with what I’ve heard of her past behavior – makes me want to consider running there myself.

There are plenty of good folks who, if they stepped up, would be great for this seat. I hope we can find someone who’d be willing to step up.

Being a school board member is a thankless job for very little money but requiring many hours of work. I don’t know how we would get any sane person to want to run for school board! But Liz has got to go. If she can’t represent her constituents, she shouldn’t get their votes.

I just want to chime in with localgop (since I rarely get the chance to agree in other areas!) The real issue here is that ONCE AGAIN the school board has played bait and switch with the citizens of Fairfax County. In this case, it’s the particular citizens of Clifton, but anyone who follows the school board issues has felt the sting of this particular tactic. I knew the moment I saw the outcome just which school board member had voted which way, not because they had ties to Clifton, but because this is how it is.

The board announces that X might happen. Community rallies together (and both Democrats and Republicans rally together more often than not, in my experience) and try to keep X from happening. School board plays coy, and says, ok, if you do Y, then we’ll consider not doing X. Community does Y, and then X happens anyway.

Maybe you legitimately feel that the Clifton school should close. But for many of us, this particular issue is only part of a long standing siege that many of us feel under as parents and volunteers within Fairfax County Public Schools.

(wry tone) One of the few good things to come out of such a fight is that I often, like now, have much more in common with my Republican friends than I otherwise might!

QUOTE: "And perhaps if the students in this “top performing school” joined the student body of other nearby schools, then they could help raise test scores across the entire district."

That has been the rationale that the Clifton parents believe has been behind this decision all along. Why actually address the performance of other schools by real educational means when you can game the scores by closing Clifton and using those kids to manipulate the statistics? I have had grandkids at Clifton and this is simply hideous and incredibly destructive for a historic small community. The same issues are at play in Loudoun with the small rural schools there. It simply seems that local governments talk a lot about communities but then take actions to destroy them when they really exist.

Roc,

Clifton parents have spent thousands of hours pursuing every logical, “win/win” solution imaginable for the better part of a year, but were never “heard” by the majority of the FCPS Board.

Insinuating that this has anything to do with race or socio-economic status, shows your ignorance of the facts and dubious motivations behind this Board’s decision. As we say in NYC: “Ga’head!” You keep on believing that we’re all white, that we’re all rich, that we haven’t implored the Board to bring additional students to this site; that we don’t simply want to retain a century-old community school. “Just you wait, Henry Higgins!” They’ll be gunning for your community school next. Talk to you then…

Supervisor Pat Herrity's most recent newsletter includes some interesting info about the CES closure. Seems like most of the "facts" proffered in support of closing the school were made-up bullshit (i.e., standard operating procedure for FCPS, FCPD, etc.).

http://www.fairfaxunderground.com/forum/read/2/430530/585111.html#msg-585111

BTW, Roc…

The National Trust, VA Dept of Historic Preservation, Preservation Virginia, memebers of the Virginia Senate and House of Delegates implored the Board not to do this and offered reasonable, credible solutions that would spare FC taxpayers any expenditure. Those letters and calls were never returned.

Independent, unaffiliated supporters offered to fund the full scale renovation or to simply pay for the well upgrade. Their offers never received a response.

There may be some discrimination afoot in this instance, but not on the part of those who intend to keep this community anchor around to celebrate its centennial.

The school fine.

The SB lied.

I guess most patents in Fairfax think that is ok.

Every taxpayer in Fairfax County better understand that the FCPS Board controls $3.2B+ (‘B’ as in BILLION) in spending – $1B in federal/supplemental subsidies and the rest…53.5% of every single tax dollar in Fairfax County.
With this stranglehold on the Board of Supervisors, someone better wake up and realize that the public torture and beheading that they just performed on the Clifton and Fairfax/Fairfax Station area residents is coming to our communities next.
FCPS Board Work Session: “The standard new FCPS elementary school is a 38-classroom facility with a design capacity for 950 students.” July 13, 2009
If you don’t want your elementary age children going to a school just shy of ONE THOUSAND students – and they will because the Board wants it – then get up to speed, quickly.
Does your community have a school smaller than 950 students? This is your fight.
Does your community have a school underenrolled? This is your fight.
Does your community have a school that has not yet been renovated? This is your fight.
Does your community have a school without a sprinkler system? This is your fight.
Do you have unlimited cash to fund a Board whose spending has escalated 33% for only a 10% increase in student enrollment? NO? This is your fight.

In other words – the Board is out of control. Rogue. Loose cannons willing to mow down neighborhoods, split communities, close schools which can be renovated, build schools where they are not needed or build too many seats where not needed, ignore best management practices, accept wild variances in projection estimates and ignore community engagements, professional recommendations, national and state leaders in historic preservation…they will DO ANYTHING to get their way. And we, our students, our neighborhood schools, our communities and our tax dollars are in their sight. Strike that…in their crosshairs.

Listen folks, there is a litmus test – pure and simple.
Is the Ffx Cty School Board serving the interests of student and the County in general? Good schools mean good neighborhoods, communities, business, investment – and the Commonwealth booms and we are all served well.
We have spent decades trying to build a strong economy in this County and attract world class businesses to come and invest in doing business in the County. As the school system slides and starts imploding, the ramifications are something that will affect us for decades to come – *probably after I’m 6 feet under*.
This Ffx Cty School Board steam rolling schools, parents, families and students is a bad deal and undermines the strategic efforts put into making this County what it is today.
If you don’t think it matters – it is already showing up in the national media in terms of our County’s school rankings:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/37516042
In the Education ranking, Virginia fell from last year’s ranking of 7th to its 2010 spot at 13th
“Education – 2010
Education and business go hand in hand. Not only do companies want to draw from an educated pool of workers, they want to offer their employees a great place to raise a family. Higher education institutions offer companies a source to recruit new talent, as well as a partner in research and development. We looked at traditional measures of K-12 education including test scores, class size and spending. We also considered the number of higher education institutions in each state.”
You need to start dialing your phones (email if you have to, but folks take time to pick up your phone!) to get talking with the Virginia legislature and let them know this is not acceptable for the well-being of the County’s economic health nor the Commonwealth’s.

Liz Bradsher should not get the Republican endorsement again. Besides the fact that other Republicans such as Tim Hugo and Pat Herrity, now have less than favorable things to say about her, by closing Clifton she has completely divorced herself from her campaign promises. This does not reflect positively on Republicans. Dave Albo will still support her but since he was also one of her financial supporters during her campaign, it is unlikely he will ever say anything negative.

My kids are going to private school next year.

The parents in Fairfax seem not care about others. I guess their kids are the same.

Bye CES. We will miss you.

To those who think this decision had anything to do with fiscal responsibility…

1. If cost was such an issue… was the CES community given a chance to raise funds to offset the incremental costs for a CES renovation vs. a “lower cost per student renovation”? NO (Precedent: Herndon residents were allowed to raise funds for their a turf field, I think it was).

2. If cost was such an issue…. did the FCPS staff or school board do an analysis of the post-closure costs? NO – in fact, they don’t even know what post-closure looks like (e.g. boundary study, bus routes, school additions, new school, more faux-community involvment, etc.) NONE of those costs were brought forth. Keep in mind that the new school on the Liberty site has been scrapped so that cost is n/a.

3. If cost was such an issue… did FCPS or the School Board research the funding that might be received from the Historical Society? NO – of course not.

I could go on and on. But if anyone out there really thinks this decision was made in a fiscally responsible manner, then you are simply not familiar with the details of this debacle.

“The School Board doesn’t understand the value of the people they represent. It’s time the School Board responds to the needs of its constituents.”

They’re “shortsighted” – “students are being moved out of schools that “aren’t that overcrowded,” taking time away from families for uncertain purposes.”

“Boundary changes upset communities because parents are so extended already.”

…Some residents in the Springfield District have called for her to step down, believing she’s ineffective as a representative.
“We need the sort of person who knows the issues of the district, who knows who are the parties involved and who you must coalesce with to get issues resolved,”

“There’s been dormancy in the Springfield District for a while now and that’s unfortunate.”

Author…
Betrayed Clifton Elementary parents?
Angry Clifton residents?
Disgruntled taxpayers?
“Mean” PTA members?
FEC members?
A political adversary?

You are going to LOVE this:

Elizabeth Bradsher, September 2007
http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/article.asp?article=87192&paper=61&cat=104

I’m still upset about the vote to close Clifton Elementary school, so I started doing some digging. Here’s something I found very interesting- in 2007, Liz Bradsher went out of her way to promote “community schools.” Yet she just voted to close one down and leave the residents of Clifton up in the air about what will happen to their kids. Did she really change this much in three years? The more I read, the more this smacks of politics and less of principle.

Here’s Liz Bradsher’s 2007 campaign website. Her “latest update” reads as follows:

Dear Residents:

During the past several weeks I have been grateful to have received endorsements from:


1.The Fairfax Education Association (FEA) representing over 70% of the teachers in Fairfax County.
2.The SLEEP organization which represents over 8000 concerned residents for implementing a later bell schedule for county high schools.
These days I have been busy meeting the many District parents at back to school nights at our area schools and in other forums. This has given me an opportunity to view the schools and to listen to the parents about their various educational concerns.

One clear concern is the issue of maintaining neighborhood schools. I fully support the concept of neighborhood community schools. For 5 years I worked to get a school built in record time through innovative financing measures which saved the school system over $16 million dollars. I did this so that the residents in the South County area could be afforded what many other area residents already had, a community school. I know what a community school means to all the families and residents of the Springfield district.

Community schools are important to all residents. A community school is the nucleus or center of the community from where it draws. These schools provide a community identity for students, parents and their neighborhoods. This identity is key to the success of the school, the students, teachers and organizations that give it life and ultimately the key to success for the overall community.

As your School Board representative I will work hard to maintain community schools in the Springfield District as well as in the rest of Fairfax County. I don’t approve of breaking long standing communities up for the sake of unwarranted boundary modifications. Personally, I have witnessed too many boundary town meetings which have torn communities apart and resulted in negative outcomes.

There is no substitute in this county for a community school.

Really? Then why did you just vote to close one?

This is the kind of vote and decision that turns people off to politics. How can you say on your campaign website that you support community schools, leave it up there for three years, and then vote to shut down what is the epitome of a community school?

Something doesn’t smell right here.

A politician says one thing to get elected and then does something else once faced with the reality of public policy?

I’m shocked, yes shocked!

Brian,

Like I said, this has nothing to do with funding, this is about Jack Dale saying ‘jump’, and Liz says ‘how high’.

I love the "threats" by CES parents to go private. Makes me think of the scene in Blazing Saddles where the guy threatens to shoot himself. Go ahead. Go private. Who cares?

TJ alone sends 30 kids a year to Princeton. MIT admissions has called the TJ the best school in the country. Nothing beats the FCPS academic track if you have the talent. I have classmates that did TJ -> Harvard -> Carlyle Group. Go ahead. Go Private.

Roc, I recognize that this kind of thing happens quite a bit, but it’s rare to see such a blatant example of it.

She’s left that post up on the website for three years. Did she expect no one would find it?

Who cares?

Roc,

You need to get your facts straight before engaging in a debate that you clearly don't know enough about to argue intelligently.

Allow me to clue you in on some of the truths about Clifton and CES.



Roc Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Brian,
>
> Community attachment is all well and good.
> However, what the good people of Clifton are
> asking the rest of us Fairfax County taxpayers to
> do is to pay a premium to renovate a school with
> dwindling enrollment instead of building a new
> school more centrally located for the maximum
> number of county residents. That is just plain
> selfish.

----- The enrollment is not dwindling. In fact, it increased this year. BTW, are you aware that when FCPS calculated the projected enrollment for CES they failed to include the entire boundary area that attends CES. That's right - they intentionally excluded 2 of the highest density areas of Clifton that currently attend CES. CES is attended by children living in 3 different zip codes: 20124, 22039 and 22030. Yet, FCPS only included 20124 in their projection. Why do you think that is??? Maybe so they could manipulate the figures and claim that renovating CES would be more expensive??? Add those 2 areas back into the projected enrollment (100+ kids) and suddenly the cost to renovate is actually less than many other schools in FCPS.

As for being centrally located, well, guess what? Now you have an area of Fairfax County consisting of over 40 square miles without a school at all. Seems to me that CES were perfectly located to serve those 40 sq. miles as it's done for close to 100 years. Oh and that new school you mentioned....yeah, not gonna happen!


> I will state this as delicately as I can. The
> parents of Clifton would rather send their
> children to a school with contaminated water and,
> mostly likely, asbestos issues than send them to a
> brand new school outside of Clifton. Is it
> possible that the motivation is no so much
> attachment to Clifton Elementary but a desire to
> keep their kids inside their exclusive and insular
> community where they don’t have to associate
> with the children of “those other kinds of
> people?”

------WOW! Where to begin... okay, let's take this one point at a time, shall we?
A) The water is not contaminated, never was. Yes, we have proof of that, straight from FCPS.
B) Asbestos - every school in Fairfax County built more than 25 years ago contains asbestos. But while we're on the subject of asbestos, that new school that you mentioned, it was to be built on a plot of land entirely covered with naturally occurring asbestos. If you want to argue asbestos hazards, you don't argue in favor of building a new school on top of asbestos.
C) "those other kinds of people?" - That is such a tired argument already. The schools that our children are being sent to have very similar demographics to CES. Not to mention, what do you people think we do? Stand on the side of Clifton Rd. with signs saying stay out if you're not white? Give me a break already. The 3 schools taking kids from CES are all excellent schools. That was never an issue.


> Liz did not abandon her constituents if she was
> voting for the overall best interests of Fairfax
> County taxpayers, esp. those who live in her
> district but not in Clifton. Those are the ones
> who will benefit most from her vote with a new
> elementary school.

----Again, there is NO NEW SCHOOL being built. Nobody benefits from this decision and yes, Liz Bradsher did abandon her constituents and lie to us repeatedly for over 2 years. Karma is a bitch and I can't wait for it to bite Bradsher in the ass.

It is going to cost MORE for county taxpayers to close this school than it would have to renovate it. That is a fact, whether you like to admit it or not.

http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/2011/05/lessons-learned-first-battle-clifton

herewegoagain,

You make it sound like FCSB is closing and tearing down Mount Vernon. Get a grip. CE doesn’t even come close to fitting in with the architecture and ambiance of Clifton. It is a butt-ugly, Soviet-style, minimalist red brick blockhouse.

As to the size of CE and the location of a replacement school, you are right. No one is saying that CE is too small. In fact it is too large for the school population that it supports, a population that is getting smaller and smaller. As to the replacement school, the decision to build one versus redistributing the students to other schools has not even been made yet, as far as I know. Presumably, if the FCSB decides to build it I would imagine that they would site it where it serves the largest clusters of students currently traveling the farthest to school.

You and I are going to have to just agree to disagree. Just because the FCPS has not demonstrated fiscal responsibility in the past, an assertion that I do not concede, does not mean that there is no reason to do so now. As the famous saying goes, “if not here, where? If not now, when?”

Fiscal responsibility and trusting market forces has to start somewhere, why not in Clifton? Clifton residents will have the ability, paid for through their property taxes, to send their children to a public school in Fairfax County. No one is taking that away. There are plenty of families all throughout this state who have had to deal with dislocations through closed schools and fired teachers because we can’t afford to pay for everything with the current tax base.

Lynn Sweet said it exactly right in the Chicago Sun-Times last week:

“No wonder America is getting it all wrong when it comes to government, and taxes, and policy. We all act as if the “lemonade” or benefits we’re “giving away” is free.”

Money for school renovation is not free and there are plenty of other options for Clifton residents.

CS, we’re not dealing with the free market here. I’m sure that if the residents of Clifton could stop buying property taxes and instead just pay for their local school, they’d do it. But they don’t have that luxury. It makes no sense to force them to abandon a school they want to build a new school they don’t want and don’t need.

This isn’t a question of fiscal conservatism because it’s not likely that the new school option will save any money in the short term. And if we’re talking about age of facilities, I would think that the school has already paid for itself with it’s longevity.

No one is saying that these benefits are free. Everyone recognizes that the residents of Clifton are paying for their services – in fact, given the higher property values in that area of the county, they are likely subsidizing the rest of the county. The least they should expect is for their own representative on the School Board to stand with them.

Also, I don’t care if you are a Democrat or a Republican, but you want your elected officials to actually care about their constituents more than rubber stamping whatever the superintendent says. Again, you can argue that this is the right move or the wrong move (I happen to think it’s the wrong move) but more troubling than this is the pattern too many school board members have set when it comes to pitting community against Jack Dale and his immediate inner circle.

Clifton ES is at 98% capacity.
374 students

Lowest # of students in over 15 years?
366 students

How is the school too big for its enrollment? Unless you factor in fictitious birth rate numbers by the County.

Don’t post on what you don’t know.
Clifton ES is served by THREE zip codes across 40 miles. Why then, do the FCPS stats for birth rates only include the 20124 zip code? That is fraud. Especially when the greatest density of students draws from the remaining zip codes.

gretchen has hit the nail on the head. there are only 3 members of the current board that are worth anything, Reed, Hone, and Evans. simple as that.

Let’s face it, FCPS does what they want. They have no need to justify anything. It’s a monopoly that everyone has to pay for, like it or not. They won’t even allow charter schools! it’s their fiefdom and they aren’t going to give up one ounce of control.

Pardon me, Captain Spaulding, but the assumption that all families who have students attending Clifton are wealthy or “well-heeled” is a misconception that has been grossly exaggerated and perpetuated by media.

My family and I live in a very simple, middle class home just a few houses from the school boundary line. We moved here on the advice of physicians and clinicians who treat our childrens developmental delays. Private and parochial schools we explored simply did not have the staff or resources to properly address those needs. As far as I know, we won’t be receiving any “inheritance” to pay to put our children into private schools as a result of this solely political, completely dubious decision.

So yo uare aware, a private citizen offered to “comp” the entire school renovation if the Board would rename the school and they turned her down. Citizens offered to chip in an pay to fix the well and the Board turned them down. The National Trust, VA Dept of Historic Resources and Preservation Virginia ALL begged for the chance to help the Board find private and public funding to resolve this at a fraction of FCPS staff projected costs, but their letters and calls were never returned.

Clifton parents have been true in their methods and modes. I wish I could say the same for some members of this School Board.

Several posters now have made veiled accusations of some sinister motives on the part of the FCSB that have nothing to do with budgets or the economic analysis of build new versus renovate. Could you be so kind as to explain exactly what you believe these motives to be?

The five schools that border Clifton are Union Mill, Willow Springs, Fairview, Oak View and Sangster.

FCPS is projecting that all these schools will be under-enrolled, but it appears that one of the challenges is that the schools that might entail the shortest bus rides for many Clifton students, such as Union Mill and Willow Springs, also will be considered when FCPS tries to alleviate the over-crowding at some of the other schools in the area, such as Centreville, Powell and Eagle View.

It seems pretty clear that there will be a major redistricting, at least at the elementary level, in that part of the county over the next five years. As a result, either some of the middle/high school assignments will change as well, or FCPS will end up creating a bunch of new "split feeders" (elementary schools that send their students to multiple middle and high schools).

My friend was explaining this to me--about the Fairfax pyramid system and he said that the Clifton ES is in a specific pyramid (feeding to Robinson I believe) and he didn't know how that was going to work since Willow Springs does not feed to Robinson. I acted like it wasn't a big deal because Prince William County schools have had "split feeder" schools all along. I explained to him that my kids went to an elementary school where 90% of the students left that elementary school and went on a specific middle school to high school track, while the other 10% (based on where they lived) splinter off to different middle and high schools. Naturally, my kids fell in this 10% and it wasn't fun.

I wouldn't say that Oakview and Sangster 'border' Clifton. Oakview is across from Robinson and even though Clifton students go to Robinson, its a haul. Sangster is down 123 south of Lee Chapel. Thats quite a ways too. Both of these schools have great reputations but they sure don't qualify as neighborhood schools for Clifton, not to mention the distance the school buses will travel.

The list I was given of schools the Clifton students will be split between are:

Sangster, Silverbrook, Fairview, Oakview and Union Mill.

What a mess!

School Boards hate, hate, hate having to do large-scale boundary changes. It's the worst thing they ever deal with because of the emotions generated. That's not a judgment on whether all the emotionalism is justified -- some of it probably is, some of it probably isn't -- just that it causes a lot of intensity and hard feelings no matter what they do.

All I'd meant is that the five Fairfax elementary schools whose boundaries currently surround (border) those of Clifton ES are Union Mill, Willow Springs, Fairview, Oak View and Sangster. In comparison, you probably would have to go through areas currently assigned to Sangster to get to Silverbrook ES from the current Clifton ES attendance area.

I didn't check to see how most of those schools are to the village of Clifton itself, although I gather Sangster is quite a distance.

One of the things that I read recently is that, even though FCPS had other options, the School Board decided to close Clifton ES to send a message to the Board of Supervisors that it was going to start making some very unpopular decisions if the Board of Supervisors didn't allocate as much money to FCPS as requested. Budgetary constraints may require tough decisions in any event, but the suggestion was that FCPS could have given this a bit more time before deciding to shut down the school.

You've got that right! For some unknown reason, the School Board decided that they wanted to build a new school and close Clifton. Nothing would dissuade them. Logic and costs are never considerations, much less the desires of the people who pay the bills, the taxpayer.

See more information here: Liz Bradsher in her own words – “There is no substitute in this county for a community school.” | Common Sense Also here: Fairfax County School Board gets it wrong on Clifton Elementary | Common Sense

See if you can find Liz Bradsher's comments under a phony nic. Hint, she's defending herself! She gave the school closing lots of ''thought'' only to come up with wrong vote. Stick a fork in Liz, her political career is done.

ChristineVA Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> My friend was explaining this to me--about the
> Fairfax pyramid system and he said that the
> Clifton ES is in a specific pyramid (feeding to
> Robinson I believe) and he didn't know how that
> was going to work since Willow Springs does not
> feed to Robinson. I acted like it wasn't a big
> deal because Prince William County schools have
> had "split feeder" schools all along. I explained
> to him that my kids went to an elementary school
> where 90% of the students left that elementary
> school and went on a specific middle school to
> high school track, while the other 10% (based on
> where they lived) splinter off to different middle
> and high schools. Naturally, my kids fell in this
> 10% and it wasn't fun.

Thanks Christine. I tried to find the enrollment numbers for the schools, but wasn't able to. I will have to dig deeper.

It would make sense to send Clifton students to Willow Springs since it is fairly close and is under enrolled, but its not on the list. I've lost all confidence that the school board would do something that makes sense.

Why do Clifton kids have to bus out of their community because Willow Springs is under enrolled? Why not bus those kids and close their school? Why punish the Clifton community because the school board has built an elementary school that is too large for the Willow Springs community?

The school board does what they want because they have no incentive to do anything else. They get more money every year, regardless of what they do. They also get re-elected, regardless of what they do. So they just go along with whatever the administrative staff wants done.

Why would you say the reason was unknown? Whether you agree or not, they did have reasons to close the school.

FCPS - News Releases
http://commweb.fcps.edu/newsreleases/newsrelease.cfm?newsid=1492

Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) facilities staff members recommended that Clifton Elementary be closed, rather than renovated, due to a number of reasons, including:

The unique topographical challenges of the Clifton Elementary School site will result in higher than normal renovation costs.

Enrollment is projected to decline from the current 369 students to a projected 298 students in 2015.

Due to the higher than normal construction costs, and the low student enrollment, the cost per student to renovate the school will be much greater than other recent renovations, estimated at a cost per student of $35,287 (versus a current renovation at a similar sized school of a cost per student of approximately $24,740).

Closing Clifton Elementary means that funds identified in the Capital Improvement Program for its renovation can be reassigned by the School Board to other capital projects such as renovations and capacity enhancements (new schools, building additions, and modulars).

Willow Springs is a GT center.

I hope a private school buys the property.

Not sure I can reconcile these two observations, unless you meant she can get re-elected to the School Board, but should put aside her aspirations for higher office.

I can see there were arguments for closing the school, but I don't personally think it was right to announce that the school would be closed, but not be specific as to when the school would be shut down or where the students would be reassigned. No one likes that degree of uncertainty, and it can't be good for the area. If FCPS needs to conduct a larger boundary study in that area, the decision could have been announced when the new boundaries were established. Sure, it will make it easier to conduct the study in some respects if Clifton ES is already out of the picture, but to me the convenience to FCPS Staff is more than outweighed by the prolonged anxiety the decision will create.

Facilities Work Session
July 13, 2009
Transportation
http://www.fcps.edu/news/documents/F...ndSWFC_000.pdf[/URL


The present location of Clifton Elementary School presents only limited concerns from a transportation perspective, since there is limited space for loading/unloading of buses and no provision for overnight bus parking. In addition, the steep hill used to enter the school can present issues in inclement weather. These concerns are limited provided that enrollment remains relatively flat.

Should the population increase and additional buses be needed to support the school, transportation concerns will increase due to the limited space available onsite. Further, if the attendance area is enlarged to support a larger school facility at the present site, then the need for students to traverse the narrow roads near the school would create new issues for families not familiar with the Clifton area. While families living in Clifton expect to traverse those roads,

families being bused from other communities may not be familiar with the roads.
[NOTE: Fairfax County parents and taxpayers - you are TOO STUPID to learn how to drive on new roads per your Big Brother, the Fairfax County School Board
At this time, no students walk to Clifton Elementary School due to safety concerns. There is a lack of safe paths or sidewalks to the school.
[NOTE: There isn't a lack of safe paths or sidewalks - there aren't ANY AT ALL - SO? Kids have been bused to this and other schools for decades. It's a problem why? And, yes, School Board, you are welcome, since the 'no sidewalks' is a part of residential conservation zoning, protecting the entire County's drinking water in the Occoquan Reservoir Watershed]

Renovation and the Educational Specifications
When FTS begins the planning of a renovation, there are a few key factors which dictate the amount of space to be added in order to fulfill the requirements of the educational specifications.

The primary consideration is determining the number of core classrooms needed to accommodate current or future enrollments. In the case of Clifton, the five year projection is nearly 400 students, which would necessitate two additional classrooms.

[NOTE: JUST TO BE CLEAR - read the above statement again. July 2009 FCPS document]

http://www.fcps.edu/news/documents/Finalstaffreport.pdf
FINAL STAFF REPORT
May 3, 2010
The latest projections by the Facilities Planning Services Office reflect the historic trend and show a continuing, slow decrease in enrollment to a projected total of 298 at Clifton Elementary School by September 2015 (school year 2015-16).
[NOTE: A scant NINE MONTHS later, an Amber alert - Clifton has LOST OVER 100 STUDENTS!!! A 25% decline in projected enrollment! A statistical impossibility...unless you are a corrupt group bent on getting your way - then you can make the numbers anything you want and ignore all best management practices, all alternatives, even offers of federal aid - 'it costs too much to take federal aid' - swear, they said that!!!]

WE NEED AN INVESTIGATION OF THE FAIRFAX COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD - NOW - BEFORE THEY DO MORE HARM TO OUR COUNTY!
Attachments:

Once again, you need to get your facts straight.


Roc Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> herewegoagain,
>
> You make it sound like FCSB is closing and tearing
> down Mount Vernon. Get a grip. CE doesn’t even
> come close to fitting in with the architecture and
> ambiance of Clifton. It is a butt-ugly,
> Soviet-style, minimalist red brick blockhouse.

-------Tell me where I ever stated that the school is architecturally significant to the Town of Clifton. You're right, it is a minimalist red brick blockhouse. One that serves this community and the children very well. Maybe all schools should go back to brick blockhouses instead of the over-designed, ridiculously expensive buildings they are building now. Maybe FCPS should focus more on what is going on INSIDE the buildings rather than focusing on how pretty they can make them.


> As to the size of CE and the location of a
> replacement school, you are right. No one is
> saying that CE is too small. In fact it is too
> large for the school population that it supports,
> a population that is getting smaller and smaller.
> As to the replacement school, the decision to
> build one versus redistributing the students to
> other schools has not even been made yet, as far
> as I know. Presumably, if the FCSB decides to
> build it I would imagine that they would site it
> where it serves the largest clusters of students
> currently traveling the farthest to school.

Provide proof of a declining enrollment. You can't! You can't because the enrollment did not decline this year, it increased. CES is at 98% enrollment this year. How is it that the school is too large???
Yes, the decision to not build and move the kids to 3 different schools has been made. Where have you been? There will be no new school. CES will close next month and our kids will attend their "new" schools in September. Our kids are going from 20-25 minutes bus rides to God only knows how long. Fairview, one of the receiving schools has already announced that their schedule will change drastically next year in order to bus kids from Clifton. Instead of imagining that "if the FCSB decides to build it I would imagine that they would site it where it serves the largest clusters of students currently traveling the farthest to school", try taking a look at a map. The FCSB just created large clusters of students with the farthest distance to their school when they decided to close CES.



> You and I are going to have to just agree to
> disagree. Just because the FCPS has not
> demonstrated fiscal responsibility in the past, an
> assertion that I do not concede, does not mean
> that there is no reason to do so now. As the
> famous saying goes, “if not here, where? If not
> now, when?”


Sorry, but I will never agree to disagree when you don't know what the hell you're talking about. This decision was anything but fiscally responsible.

BTW, the "new" school that 1/3 of CES kids are being sent to, Fairview ES, is even older than CES. So enough about CES being just too old and run down. It's not and never was.

herewegoagain,

I didn't need to, see "Tax Smart, Not More"'s post above. It has all the numbers and figures from the Facilities Work Session. As you can plainly see the there is an inconsistency with the numbers from what was found in the study and what was put in the report. Perhaps you should learn to research before you criticize. A poor foundation and all.

You add nothing to the truth of the matter in the closing of CES.

Roc appears to be nothing more than a shill for the school board: he/she parrots "facts" that have been demonstrated to be false (enrollment is declining, water supply is bad, renovating CES is more expensive, etc. etc. etc.).

Roc should go away! Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You add nothing to the truth of the matter in the
> closing of CES.

It doesn't matter to me. I've already made plans to move my family out of the county. There are just too many niggers, wetbacks, zipper heads, and fucked up white people to deal with.

All,

I apologize, but that last statement was not by me, but by some hooligan on this forum. Closing CE and building a new school in a location that better serves the overall school enrollment IS providing “the same services that the rest of us pay for.” If the people of Clifton want an uneconomical neighborhood school that will cost the FCSB more money than the new school, through lower enrollment utilization and a shorter facility lifespan, then they should pay for it through a Special Tax District.

Similarly, if they were to send their kids to private school then they would pay both the tuition and their property taxes. Property taxes that support schools are paid by everyone, regardless of whether or not you send children to the public schools.

Life is not fair and you can’t have everything you want paid for by the taxpayers just because you want it.

Quite frankly, I am surprised by the sentiments I am reading here on a Republican blog. Reducing wasteful government spending and fiscal responsibility is a conservative value as long as it doesn’t hit me where I live?

Clifton Elementary School will be closing on June 30, 2011. Residents of the Clifton area may find information about new elementary school placements using the boundary maps at this link: Boundary Maps. http://www.fcps.edu/CliftonES/closinginfo.html#boundary

Please see the announcement about our closing celebration at this link: Clifton ES Celebration. For further information, please contact the school office at 703-988-8000.
http://www.fcps.edu/CliftonES/

Upcoming Events:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
June 8 Spring Concert
June 9 Kings Dominion Trip - Grades 3 - 6
June 14 National Aquarium Trip - Grades K - 2
June 17 Celebration of Clifton’s Legacy to the Community & Artists and Authors Night, 5-7 p.m.
June 20 Grade 6 Promotion Ceremony, 7 p.m.
June 21 Last Day of School, early dismissal at 11:35 a.m.

So....Who cares? The school's closing, there's nasty water coming from the wells. Sooo what's the big deal? I mean seriously people, get a life.

Roc,

You didn't need to what??? Read the post you reference? Because you clearly didn't read it! If you had, you would see that it PROVES my point that the enrollment DID NOT DECLINE! In fact, according to the post you suggest I read (which, BTW was one of the very documents Clifton parents used to prove the FCSB used inconsistent figures to suit their purposes), it shows that CES was supposed to be OVER capacity by 22 students. That's what they mean by "deficit". There is a deficit of available seats.

Before you criticize someone for their poor research, take a class in reading comprehension.

Tell me, since you're so wise and all knowing, how did FCSB predict in 2009 that CES would be overcrowded by 22 students and then turn it around 6 months later and say that CES would be under enrolled by almost 100 kids??? Maybe those 2 missing zip codes had something to do with it?? Or, (my favorite excuse for the suddenly missing children) maybe the Clifton Bunnyman got them?

Roc, go away. You obviously know nothing about this topic and have demonstrated that with every single one of your posts.

Keep on believing what you're told by our so-called representatives and I'm sure you'll continue to live in blissful ignorance.



Roc Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> herewegoagain,
>
> I didn't need to, see "Tax Smart, Not More"'s
> post above. It has all the numbers and figures
> from the Facilities Work Session. As you can
> plainly see the there is an inconsistency with the
> numbers from what was found in the study and what
> was put in the report. Perhaps you should learn to
> research before you criticize. A poor foundation
> and all.

herewegoagain,

Get a grip. CE doesn’t even come close to fitting in with the architecture and ambiance of Clifton. It is a butt-ugly, Soviet-style, minimalist red brick blockhouse.

As to the size of CE and the location of a replacement school, you are right. No one is saying that CE is too small. In fact it is too large for the school population that it supports, a population that is getting smaller and smaller. As to the replacement school, the decision to build one versus redistributing the students to other schools has not even been made yet, as far as I know. Presumably, if the FCSB decides to build it I would imagine that they would site it where it serves the largest clusters of students currently traveling the farthest to school.

You and I are going to have to just agree to disagree. Just because the FCPS has not demonstrated fiscal responsibility in the past, an assertion that I do not concede, does not mean that there is no reason to do so now. As the famous saying goes, “if not here, where? If not now, when?”

Not smart!