WASHINGTON — Arlington Public Schools have a problem.
A new middle school will have room for 1,000 students when it opens in the fall of 2019. But with enrollment growing fast, the school district needs to do something before then to relieve overcrowding at Swanson and Williamsburg middle schools.
Several options are being considered, including plopping down an increasing number of classroom trailers at those schools over the next few years.
Swanson, which already has four trailers, could get another 16 by 2018. And Williamsburg, with six trailers now, could add a whopping 22.
Other ideas involve temporarily moving Swanson sixth-graders to the Reed School and Williamsburg sixth-graders to the Madison Center.
At a community forum Monday night at Williamsburg Middle School, school board member Barbara Kanninen told parents she knows trailers are not ideal, but kids using them will still get a great education.
“You moved here because of the teachers and the quality of what we do in Arlington Public Schools,” she said. “That’s going to be here.”
Swanson Middle School principal Bridget Loft says trailers have some advantages: they keep students moving and get them out of the building’s windowless interior rooms and into the sunshine.
“We do have some students who, in many of their classes, don’t have sunlight,” she said.
But several parents who spoke at the meeting say they’re concerned about kids in trailers. “I think that they are on top of each other (and) they are very dirty,” said parent Ellen Farrell.
Others say they’re worried about the air quality inside the trailers: “I would really like a survey of health consequences. We’ve got a whole lot of kids in the system who have been in trailers for years,” said another parent named Kate.
“They monitor that,” school board member Nancy Van Doren responded. “If there is ever an issue, they get right on top of it.”
“Let me emphasize first and foremost that as of right now, no decisions have been made,” said Kanninen.
Another community meeting on the topic will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 17, in the Swanson Middle School auditorium. It will include the same presentation from Monday’s meeting, as well as a question-and-answer session. The presentation will be posted online Tuesday.
You can email your comments about the proposals to the school board here.
