According to the Loudoun Extra section of the Washington Post, the Purcellville Town Council and the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors have finally reached an agreement that will allow the construction of a new western high school to proceed, and open by fall of 2010. You can read the article for all the details, but it looks like the settlement between the two sides calls for the county to give the town $5.78 million for transportation improvements, and the town will annex the site, extending water and sewer utilities to the new school. (Yes, that does mean both sides have items to complete for the process to proceed. Fingers crossed that this works smoothly!)
There will be a joint public hearing of the Town Council and Purcellville Planning Commission on December 16th as part of the process; the Board of Supervisors and the Loudoun Planning Commission will hold their session on December 18th.
As a parent of children who will be directly affected by the construction of this school, I am ecstatic that this struggle may be over! This agreement, which should finally start construction of Woodgrove High School, came after two years of legal struggles. News articles last week quoted school officials as suggesting without the new high school, the newly constructed Kenneth Culbert Elementary in Hamilton may have been used as an adjunct middle school campus with Harmony Intermediate; while Blue Ridge Middle could have been used as a satellite campus to Loudoun Valley High school. If the new high school opens in fall 2010 as originally planned, that should eliminate the need for such hopping around.
I’ll certainly continue to watch this process closely. (My twins start middle school at Blue Ridge next fall.) I’ll post updates as news develops.
Cheers,
Heather
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