Again this year the majority of County Board members will have children or grandchildren attending Arlington Public Schools. With Jay Fisette retired and the County Board and School Board committed to jamming 70,000 more residents into the County by 2040, the School Board will be increasingly focused on giving APS parents more Taj Mahal schools with every conceivable amenity that they've historically demanded.
But providing extravagant educational infrastructure isn't sustainable, given other special interests with their extravagant wants. What to do? Keep on with "growth for the sake of growth," raise taxes every year to cover the demands of 3,500 new residents and 800 new APS students, and hope there isn't a serious recession and the Trump Administration doesn't start moving federal agencies to the Rust Belt. Also known as kicking the can down the road another year, and hoping the bubble doesn't burst on their watch.
That's why we're we're happy to learn that Dr. Audrey Clement is considering another run for School Board, against Barbara Kanninen who Audrey ran against 4 years ago. For all her supposed analytical expertise Barbara's singular accomplishment during her 3 years on the School Board has been approving construction of Taj Mahal new schools with every conceivable amenity but too few active learning spaces, aka classrooms.
Abingdon School parents (about a hundred of whom are no longer legally Arlington residents, but that's another story) are already lobbying the School Board and County Board for more brick-and-mortar classrooms, although Abingdon just received a $32 million makeover and expansion.
So A.Y. is happy that a candidate with fiscal sanity who's not addicted to Smart Growth is considering running for School Board - Dr. Audrey Clement.
Cindy, 22206
