November 24 – 30, 2016
Fa lls Chur c h, V i r g i ni a • ww w. fc np. c om • Fr ee
Fou n d ed 1991 • Vol. X X V I No. 40
Falls Church • Tysons Corner • Merrifield • McLean • North Arlington • Bailey’s Crossroads
Inside This Week Police Seek Man Suspected of Exposure
Police are looking for a man who allegedly exposed himself to an eight-year-old boy in a restroom at a Target on Arlington Boulevard in Falls Church last week. See News Briefs, page 9
Offering Support for Those with Mental Illness
The holiday season is traditionally a time for people to come together and rejoice with loved ones. But for some, this time of year serves as a stark reminder of how lonely and despondent everyday life may be.
F.C. Council, School Board Flummoxed By No Future Enrollment Crystal Ball Must Decide Size Of New or Renovated Mason High School
by Nicholas F. Benton
Falls Church News-Press
School Board meeting in City Hall Monday. “He has said his goal coming here is not to fix, but to keep going our excellent school system.” Dr. Schiller told the NewsPress that he’s eager to help the system through the coming budget cycle and to ensure a smooth transition to a permanent replacement. In the 5-2 vote, Board members Michael Ankuma and Lawrence Webb voted “no,” each stating that their votes were intended to have no negative
In just a few months, the Falls Church City Council and School Board are going to have to agree on how much it is willing to ask the citizens of Falls Church to pay for a new and/or expanded George Mason High School. The biggest function of that ask will have to do with projecting future enrollment growth. While projections to date done by the schools’ consultant, Weldon Cooper, in conjunction with the system’s own talented financial analyst Hunter Kimble, have been “spot on” so far, consultant Michael Akin told a joint meeting of the groups Monday night, predicting the future is never an exact science. But with a price tag that could range from $88 million to renovate the existing footprint to upwards of $120 million to grow the capacity of the school, all the elected officials are leery about what to ask voters to approve in a referendum set now for next November. For example, should a combination new and renovated high school be built for a capacity of 1,200 students (compared to its current enrollment of 821), which would not to be completed until 2019 or 2020, when current enrollment projections are that the 1,200 threshold could be reached only six years later (as current projections suggest)? But if it is built for a higher capacity (the projected enrollment now is at 1,368 by 2031), then the cost may simply be prohibitive for the voters.
Continued on Page 5
Continued on Page 4
See page 8
David Brooks: A Time for Listening
I’ve been thinking a lot about the best imaginable Trump voter. This is the Trump supporter who wasn’t motivated by racism or bigotry. This is the one who cringed every time Donald Trump did something cruel, vulgar and misogynistic. See page 12
Press Pass with Chely Wright
Chely Wright said that if her last two albums, The Metropolitan Hotel and Lifted Off the Ground, were taking a few steps in the direction of Americana music, that her latest album, I Am the Rain, released in September, is a “marathon sprint” in that direction. See page 25
Index
Editorial..................6 Letters..............6, 19 News & Notes.10-11 Comment......... 12-14 Sports..................16 Business News....18
Calendar.........20-21 Food & Dining......23 Classified Ads .....28 Comics, Sudoku & Crossword...........29 Critter Corner.......30
MEMBERS OF THE FALLS CHURCH CITY COUNCIL and School Board met again Tuesday night to tackle some of the tough questions pertaining to the campus property, including what is the size of the new high school that should be built. (Photo: News-Press)
Falls Church School Board Split, 5-2, For Interim Superintendent by Nicholas F. Benton
Falls Church News-Press
A remarkably accomplished national education leader, Dr. Robert Schiller, has agreed to step away from retirement in Florida to accept the position as interim superintendent of Falls Church City Public Schools. He was present Monday night when the F.C. School Board voted 5-2 to offer him the post. Dr. Schiller has been the superintendent of four school districts and two state school districts in his storied career, which included being called in as CEO
and CFO of the famous 1997 reorganization of the Baltimore School System and a period heading the City of Los Angeles School System with its 729,000 students. Dr. Schiller will serve until the F.C. School Board finds a permanent replacement for Dr. Toni Jones, who is concluding her five-year stint here at the end of this month before heading to Connecticut to head a school system there. School Board vice chair John Lawrence described Dr. Schiller as “a remarkable candidate” when he nominated him at a special