INSIDE
NVSL swimming competition kicks off across region – Page 15
2014 Summer REAL ESTATE Guide
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Highs & Lows Letters 55+ News Police Beat Classified Crossword Local History
“A Tradition of Exceptional Service and Success” Bret Brock, NVAR Liftetime Top Producer
SunGazette
VOLUME 79 NO. 31
703.538.6030
www.BrockRealty.com
ARLINGTON’S SOURCE FOR HOMETOWN NEWS SINCE 1935
APS Capital Plan Likely to Require Big Referendum
HEADED OFF TO THE FUTURE!
SCOTT McCAFFREY Staff Writer
Graduating seniors who benefited from AHC Inc.’s Project Discovery teen-tutoring program were honored June 16 for their achievements. AHC teams with the state government on the program, which is offered to those living at AHC’s apartment communities.
Caps, Gowns, Hoopla for the Class of ’14 Graduating seniors at Yorktown, Washington-Lee and Wakefield high schools rotated in and out of D.A.R. Constitution Hall on June 19 to collect their diplomas, receive words of wisdom and be ushered into the next phase of their lives. The weather cooperated for the most part as members of the Class of 2014 were saluted for their hard work and commitment to one another by speakers at the commencement ceremonies. “We know you are going to do great things,” Yorktown principal Raymond Pasi told members of
the school’s graduating class, while Washington-Lee principal Gregg Robertson called the seniors “one of the most positive, kind and hardworking classes I have ever seen.” H-B Woodlawn Secondary Program, Arlington Mill High School and Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology all held commencement exercises last week, as well, wrapping up a six-week season that featured college and highschool graduations across the local Jesus Enriquez-Hernandez and Nursen area. Kasgarli were among those graduating See full coverage of local gradua- from Wakefield High School last week. tions inside on Page 10-11. PHOTO BY DAVE FACINOLI
In their efforts to address rising enrollment, School Board members on June 16 sought formal approval to have a $106 million bond placed on the Nov. 4 ballot. If authorized by the County Board and Circuit Court, then approved by voters, the funding would start the ball rolling on paying for the school system’s 10-year capital-improvement plan (CIP), also adopted on June 16. “It is a crisis,” School Board Chairman Abby Raphael said of student enrollment that has been growing at an average rate of 700 students a year. “We’ve just to got to keep moving – we’ve got to bring the [additional] seats on line.” The cost for every new seat under the 10-year plan: $113,350. The adopted CIP seems to spell doom for the proposal to build an eight-story middle school in the western part of Rosslyn, a proposal that seemed to unite a host of otherwise warring factions in opposition to it. The proposed secondary school “is not a good option,” School Board member Emma Violand-Sanchez said. But the plan leaves open the fate of several other controversial concepts, including whether, when and
Decision on New Elementary May Wait Until 2015 It could be well into 2015 before a final decision is made on whether to put a new elementary school on the campus of Thomas Jefferson Middle School. The county government owns part of the land on which the school might be located, and also controls the planning process that would permit a school to be constructed, meaning the decision-making process will be a collaborative one between the County Board and School Board. “We have opened the door for a conversation,” County Board Chairman Jay Fisette said June 17, a day after School Board members reiterated their preference for using the site for a new elementary school. The proposal has generated hostile reaction from some who want to retain open space on the big Thomas Jefferson parcel. Fisette said any process would protect the most wooded area of the site.
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