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NEWS
Prince William Times | www.princewilliamtimes.com | October 31, 2018
$143.2 million plan to eliminate classroom trailers advances By Jill Palermo
Times Staff Writer
A joint committee of Prince William County supervisors and school board members voted Monday to back a $143.2 million plan to add two elementary schools and 30 middle-school classrooms to the school division’s existing 10-year building plan in an effort to rid the county of its portable classroom trailers by 2028. The six-member group voted 5 to 1 on Oct. 29 to advance the plan as a formal recommendation to a joint meeting of both boards scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 27. A group of six school board members and supervisors – three from each board -- has met for more than a year to devise a plan to add enough new schools to nearly eliminate the portable classroom trailers the school division
has relied on for decades to mitigate persistent overcrowding. The school division has 206 portable trailers scattered around county schools this year. The joint committee includes three county supervisors: Ruth Anderson, R-Occoquan; Pete Candland, R-Gainesville; and Frank Principi, D-Woodbridge; and three school board members: Lillie Jessie (Occoquan), Gil Trenum (Brentsville) and Loree Williams (Woodbridge). Only Anderson voted against the recommendation, saying she did not yet have enough information to support it. The proposal is still months from final approval. It must be considered by the school board as part of its budget process this spring and would then go to the full Prince William County Board of Supervisors to be approved as part of its five-year bud-
During a visit to Potomac View Elementary School in 2017, Prince William School Board member Lillie Jessie talked about the portable bathroom trailer for students taught in classroom trailers. The school has 10 classroom trailers this school year. get plan and six-year CIP. The plan would begin impacting the county’s budget in three years, costing $800,000 in 2023. Costs would rise to $12 million annually in 2027, according to county staff projections.
Plan targets eastern Prince William
The plan would target eastern Prince William County, where both elementary and middle school overcrowding is most acute and where the
Dominion Valley Country Club damaged by fire The Dominion Valley Country Club clubhouse in Haymarket was damaged by fire late Thursday afternoon and will be closed until further notice. Prince William County firefighters were called to fight the blaze at 5:40 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 25. The fire started on the back side of the building, located on Arnold Palmer
Drive, and was “hampered slightly” by a gas meter that was feeding the blaze, according to a post on the Prince William County Professional Firefighters’ Facebook page. The Fire Marshal determined the fire started when a truck hit a gas meter at the back of the building. There were no injuries and the fire is under investigation by Prince Wil-
liam County Fire Marshall’s Office, the post said. The Dominion Valley Country Club posted the following notice: “The clubhouse is closed until further notice due to a fire that started this afternoon. No staff or members were injured. We will continue to keep you updated as we assess the damage. The fitness center remains open.”
PHOTO COURTESY PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT
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