Live Blog: School Board Holds Public Hearings on Southwestern Boundary Study

Tonight the school board heard public testimony on the Southwestern Boundary Study, which will affect schools throughout Fairfax County. Click here to read FCPS staff's recommendations for boundary study changes.

The following is a rundown of what transpired tonight, with the latest events at the "top" of the story:

8:25: Hearing adjourned.

8:16: William Holloway, mayor of Clifton, urges board to reconsider their decision. "Slow down. It's not a race." Last few speakers after him reiterate request to keep Clifton Elementary open.

7 :59: Kim Farrell: "Stop the study. Revamp the process so the community is truly heard...Eleven PTAs have united around one recommendation and that is for the school board to stop this study."

7:54: Dwayne Nitz speaks on behalf of the proposed Lewis and Clark charter school, which organizers hope to have replace Clifton Elementary if it is closed as planned.

He says that the school would help overcrowding since it would be located within six miles of the overcrowded schools in the region and serve at-risk students. He expects the school will draw heavily from the areas within this boundary study. The proposed school would leave millions of dollars available for other projects, he says.

7:41: Glen Teasley: Concerned about the negative impact on children, especially those with special needs. "It's all well and good to say, 'Kids are resistant [resilient?], they'll do fine.' But doing fine is not the same as doing the best you could do." Concerned that the proposed solutions are not going to solve the problem of overcrowding. 

"It's time to make absolutely sure that the price our families pay is worth what we're getting in return," Teasley says.

7:36: Overwhelming themes of the night: frustration with the school board for a perceived lack of transparency, concern that the data is not accurate and anger at closing Clifton Elementary School.

7:33: Janet Otersen: "Closing Clifton caused this mess. We can sit here and talk about numbers and data but this whole mess was caused by a very poor decision by this board."

7:26: Parent testifying says that school board member Elizabeth Bradsher emailed him late last night that if Clifton Elementary was not closed two schools could be kept open.

7:22: Lisa Kidd: These decisions are being rushed. One of many parents reiterating a concern that decisions are being made hastily.

7:18: William Wiehe Jr: “Our school system is becoming a burden, not an asset.” He says that decisions are made based on "cronyism" not facts.  "I look forward to the day when the board puts taxpayers' interests ahead of special interests." Wiehe says that would mean keeping Clifton open.

7:08: Lin Dai Kendall: Can FCPS prove that they are not planning in a vacuum and that the public at large agrees they are doing this in a transparent manner? There’s five options now, and too much fluidity can cause confusion, she says.

Kendall says at the , parents raised lots of questions about putting kids in trailers. Boundary study still appears “expensive and inefficient.” Notes that 11 parent-teacher associations have signed a petition asking that the process of boundary study be stopped.

7:05: Jody Bennett says she is an educator with 25 years of experience and does not have a child in school but is a taxpayer. Refers to last meeting with Clifton parents on hearings for closing Clifton. "You guys sat here 'til what, 1 a.m.? The next day you made a decision."

6:58: Chris Wells: Urges board to keep all existing students from being displaced from Fairview. Move less then 50 students from Clifton to Fairview so no one has to be displaced. He says Fairview is an award-winning school. He's testifying for personal reasons, on behalf of his daughter. “Keep my little falcon and the other 50 soaring little falcons at Fairview Elementary School.”

6:46: Patti Hopkins, Clifton PTA president, says that the plan will not solve the problem of overcrowding in the southwest area of the county. She says that closing Clifton is not going to solve all financial problems. "How many ways are you planning to skin the Clifton cat?"

6:43: Matthew Brooks, Clifton resident: Fairfax County is the second richest county in the country. He wants to know why they can't build a new school. Urges board to take whatever land they need. "It's called eminent domain."

Notes Union Mill Elementary projections are at 950 students. "Who wants their second grader in a school with 950 students?" 

6:35: Brian Schultz on Clifton Elementary: "It's embarrassing that this auditorium is filled with people angry at you, that they have so categorically given up on you." Asks the board take a few seconds to think about the empty seats—why are there so many empty? Says it's because people have given up on the board.

6:32: Willow Springs PTA president says inconsistent data is a concern for them. They do not agree with the projected enrollments. "Why can't projections match the actual numbers?" 

6:31: "Open and transparent felt a lot more like divide and conquer," one resident says of engagement meetings in the fall.

6:23: Elizabeth Vittori, an opinion columnist with , who was among a group of Clifton Elementary parents who filed a lawsuit against the board last year, urges the board to provide more transparency to county residents. Urges board to "vote no on the proposed study options." Loud applause from audience.

6:20: PTA representatives speak out on their concern over the effects of the plan. Eleven local PTAs have voted "no confidence" in the boundary study.

6:14: Elizabeth Schultz: "I am making a brief statement on behalf of my 3 year-old, William." Notes he has a medical condition and the family was counting on special education services at Clifton.

6:12: Grant Schultz, 7th grader at Robinson, who graduated from Clifton, says that he has done great academically. "It seems like Clifton worked just fine for me." Applause from audience. His brother Garrett Schultz, 4th grader at Clifton, also spoke right before him in support of keeping Clifton Elementary open.