Students at two Arlington middle schools are urging school board members in the Northern Virginia county to fund and expedite renovation plans.
At a school board meeting earlier this month, students at Swanson and Thomas Jefferson middle schools said hallways are overcrowded, sprinkler systems and sinks are broken and major upgrades are needed.
Board members approved the direction for the Capital Improvement Plan covering fiscal years 2027-2036. Part of the plan includes tasking Superintendent Francisco Durán with presenting renovation plans for the two middle schools.
ARL Now first reported details of the vote.
The total budget to upgrade both campuses would be in the range of $150 million, according to school board documents, and school leaders would have to prioritize infrastructure, safety and accessibility needs.
It’s unclear, though, when exactly renovations would occur and how much work would be done at the schools.
“We have stated a range of $150 million for the middle school projects,” School Board Chair Bethany Zecher Sutton said during the meeting. “We do not intend that to be a cap. We do not intend that to be a limit. We’ve had a great deal of discussion about this among the board over the past two months; I think that what it reflects is that we would like to see what is possible for that amount of money.”
Board Member Kathleen Clark said, with “the amount of money for TJ and Swanson, it’s not an either-or, folks. There is a lot of work that needs to happen in those two buildings.”
Renovations at Swanson, Clark said, require extra planning because of the school’s historic designation.
Meanwhile, Board Member Mary Kadera voted against the draft guidance for the Capital Improvement Plan, explaining the school system has almost $600 million in “major infrastructure needs in the next decade.”
“We simply don’t have enough money for all this work,” Kadera said. “So how we spend our limited capital funding matters enormously.”
During public comments, one student who attends Thomas Jefferson said the school’s bathroom and hallway setup makes it difficult to navigate for people with disabilities.
“Right when I get off the bus, it’s hard to get into the front door because it’s so narrow,” the student said. “I wish I wouldn’t have to get stuck in the door when I go into the school.”
Another TJ student said the school doesn’t have a sprinkler system.
And a different one said their science teacher said one out of six sinks in the building “actually worked, so when we are done with our labs, it’s 27 kids pouring chemicals down a drain that we’re not sure even works, and that makes me feel unsafe.”
Meanwhile, at Swanson, one student said there are leaky pipes, cracked paint and classrooms that lack natural light.
Another expressed frustration about the lack of a functioning auditorium, “because there was mold found in the vents, seats and carpets. It’s very important to have an available auditorium, because we use the space to hold our school’s plays and musicals, drama class, safety assemblies and so much more.”
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