Feb r u ar y 2 3 – M a rc h 1 , 2 0 1 7
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 I N o. 1
Falls Church • Tysons Corner • Merrifield • McLean • North Arlington • Bailey’s Crossroads
Inside This Week School Board Seeks GMHS Feasibility Study The decision by the Falls Church School Board to seek a feasibility study in advance of issuing a “request for proposal” for construction of a new school is set to be shared with the “Campus Project Working Group” at its weekly meeting today. See page 5
Somalia Doc Takes On New Significance
After President Donald Trump signed executive orders aimed at curtailing immigration and refugee admittance, local filmmakers Ben Powell and Harry Lee realized that their soonto-be-completed documentary, “Somaliland,” has taken on newfound significance.
Bids for Mt. Daniel School Expansion Come in 21% Higher Than Projected On to States Schools to Ask for 1% More Than City Council Guidance
by Nicholas F. Benton
Falls Church News-Press
dance with state law, Estrada’s pay was placed in an escrow account pending the outcome of the case. He will be paid through June 30, as the Falls Church School Board voted in a brief closed session Tuesday night not to renew his contract, but as the investigation is ongoing, further action is possible. Estrada, 36, has been listed as a teacher at the Henderson Middle School since July 2015. He was
Bids for the construction of the renovation and expansion of the Mt. Daniel Elementary School that were opened last weekend came in 21 percent higher than expected, Falls Church Interim School Superintendent Dr. Robert Schiller announced to the School Board at its budget work session Tuesday night. The news came as a shocker to the board, which is struggling with how to keep expenses for the coming year down despite a continuing veritable explosion in school enrollment. Schiller said that while further negotiations with prospective contractors will be required, he will be going to the City Council with a revision to the schools’ request for its capital improvement project (CIP) budget submitted just last week. The increase in construction costs over estimates is related to the year-long delay in the project after the passage of a bond referendum due to its inability to be approved by the Fairfax County Planning Commission for a length of time. Also, the board put off a final vote on the budget it will forward to the City Council for the coming fiscal year until its meeting next Tuesday. However, the board did agree to set its request at a 3.7 percent increase, one percent above the guideline it was presented with by the City Council, with still with many needs identified by school principals remaining unmet. The debate at the School Board Tuesday was whether to include an
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David Brooks: The Century is Broken Most of us came of age in the last half of the 20th century and had our perceptions of “normal” formed in that era. It was, all things considered, an unusually happy period. See page 14
Famous Dave’s Closes Suddenly in F.C. The Little City location of the barbecue restaurant shuttered Monday, with locked doors, signage removed and a terse message on the door. See page 22
SARAH LUBNOW TOUGHENS UP on defense during the George Mason Mustangs girls basketball team’s win over Greensville County High School in the regional tournament. Mason is back in action tonight when it hosts Nottoway High School in the team’s state tournament opener. See story, page 18. (Photo: Carol Sly)
Henderson 6th Grade Teacher Arrested for Sexual Battery
by Nicholas F. Benton
Falls Church News-Press
Index
Editorial..................6 Letters....................6 News & Notes.12–13 Comment........ 14–17 Sports..................18 Calendar........20–21
Food & Dining.22–23 Classified Ads......28 Comics, Sudoku & Crossword ..........29 Critter Corner.......30
Jose Daniel Estrada, a math teacher at Falls Church’s Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School arrested last Friday on charges of aggravated sexual battery involving two female students at the school, had his bond set at $25,000 at the Arlington Juvenile Court yesterday. He is being held at Arlington Detention Center and has not yet entered a plea. His next
court date is set for March 28 in the Falls Church court. Conditions of bail for Estrada were established that he have no contact with unrelated minors and he cannot teach. He had not posted bond as of press time last night, but his release has been stayed pending a Commonwealth appeal on the bond to the circuit court. According to a statement from a Falls Church City Schools spokesman received yesterday, following his arrest and in accor-