McSpaces Survey
Submitted by: Elaine Tholen, Candidate for the Dranesville School Board Seat
September 5, 2019

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1) What actions would you take to relieve overcrowding at McLean High School?

    I think we need to look at a multi-staged plan to address McLean overcrowding, which is acute. This
includes moving some McLean HS neighborhoods to the Langley pyramid, as well as other (more long
term) capacity increasing investments in McLean HS. The move of McLean neighborhoods to the
Langley pyramid needs to be carefully scoped to take into consideration any future development and
population expansion that may occur within the areas currently designated for Langley HS to avoid
additional boundary changes. Comprehensive community input must be done for this boundary change
between the two high schools. Boundary changes between Langley and McLean will just be a minor step
toward solving the McLean overcrowding problem.

    Immediate scoping for a permanent addition to McLean HS to increase capacity is necessary. The land
area is small so efficient use of the space is essential. Size of the addition needs to take into consideration
future population growth in McLean due to McLean and Tysons developments.

2) What would you consider a realistic time-frame to provide overcrowding relief?

    As much as I would like to see immediate relief of this problem, realistically the community
input process for boundary changes takes time and any type of construction project will take
years for the procurement of the funds for planning and construction plus the multi-year
construction time. I would hope we could finalize boundary changes for the 2020-2021 school
year by starting that process immediately. The community input process will determine how the
boundary change may be phased in for those students already started at McLean, etc.
Construction of an addition to the school needs to take place but if it goes through the usual bond
and planning process, a completed addition is 7 years out. I will do my best to look for
expedited ways to do this but realize within the overall county framework of needs, that may be
difficult.

3) Should the safety and security of students be a high priority when considering boundary
adjustments?

    The safety and security of students should be the highest priority in any decision process the
school board undertakes.

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4) How do you see the county's One Fairfax policy affecting solutions to the overcrowding at
McLean High School?

    One Fairfax, implemented under my view of the policy, would see the capacity issue at McLean
HS dealt with as soon as possible. All students across the school district deserve to be in

efficient, well run school facilities without over capacity or under capacity issues. All students
deserve the safest, most efficient and healthiest environment possible for learning.

5) Do you believe boundary adjustments between McLean High School and Langley High School
should be undertaken before any comprehensive, county-wide boundary study is initiated and
completed?

     Boundary adjustments between McLean HS and Langley HS need to take place as soon as
possible. The board can continue to work on a revised boundary policy with constituent input at
the same time as the McLean/Langley boundary adjustments move forward with community
input.

6) Is there any further information would you like to share with the McSPaCES membership?

In the case of any boundary changes, your voice will be heard and if I am your school board
representative, I will be committed to making sure the voices of my neighbors and constituents are
heard loud and clear. I will be tracking these issues and commit to making sure you are informed as I
have any new information over the next 5 years. I am committed to keeping a two-way dialogue going
with parents, community members, school staff and students. I will get to work immediately upon
election to set up mechanisms to facilitate that communication in person and electronically to make sure
we are as efficient as possible. I plan to be visible in the schools so that constituents feel they can
approach me with issues and with good news about our schools.

If elected, I am committed to working on the McLean overcrowding issue immediately upon taking
office. This includes short term building enhancements that need to occur such as full implementation
of security cameras, possible bathroom upgrades and other items that may ease the crowded conditions
and increase safety. I will begin meeting with facilities staff immediately to advocate for a McLean HS
addition.

I am looking forward to the opportunity to utilize the positive working relationships I have across FCPS
and across the county to work toward improving the FCPS Capital Improvement Process in order to
avoid the type of overcrowding issue we have at McLean HS and other schools across the county. We
need to be creative in how we can work with our Board of Supervisors to be sure the county as a whole
is dealing with our growth in the most knowledgeable and forward-thinking manner and we are
allocating resources to our most acute facility issues in a cost effective and efficient manner.