Jul 08 2008
Note from Stevens Miller on Proposed Lenah Schools
Dear Loudoun Resident,
Recently, you may have received one or two e-mails apparently from Jeff
Morse. The first of these states that I have, “proposed a measure that will
delay the building of both schools [MS-5 and HS-7] for at least a year-but
possibly as many as two or three!!!”
This statement is false. I have proposed no such measure.
The second e-mail states that, at my request, “The BoS asked to create a
study to investigate the site procurement process used to place the sites
under contract.” It goes on to say that, “Mr Miller will put a freeze on the
Lenah site while the ’study’ occurs.”
Both of these statements are false. The board has not asked for a study of
the site procurement process and, even if it had, I could not use such a
study to “freeze” anything.
Many of you have written to me, apparently prompted by these e-mails,
asking, in effect, “Why have you stopped HS-7 and MS-5?” In fact, the board
of supervisors has taken no action on the Lenah site, nor any regarding
either school, other than to include funding for them in the CIP. No
application regarding the Lenah site has reached the board.
As the meeting records show, the board did approve my request to have staff
compile a list of sites in the Dulles planning area that might host schools.
That list will be provided to the school board, and will be available for
discussion at the August meeting of the joint BOS/school board committee.
Although the first e-mail states, “Mr Miller’s strategic move occurred
without the benefit of a public hearing on his idea,” my motion was made in
open session, on the public record, and will result in work product that
will be submitted to both the BOS and school board for whatever value it may
have.
The first e-mail, referring to me, also says, “if he successfully keeps the
high school issue (approved on the CIP) off of the bond referendum, there
will be no funding to build the high school.”
I have done nothing to change the schedule of any bond referendum and have
no plans to do so. This last statement, like the others, is simply
unsupported by the facts and it is deceptive in the extreme.
I urge Mr. Morse (if he did, indeed, write this e-mail) to speak with me
before distributing such misleading material. I also urge those of you who
received these messages to accept my assurances as to the truth.
The school board has apparently decided to offer $20,000,000 for the Lenah
site at a time when the site’s owners are claiming before the Board of
Equalization that it is worth about $4,000,000 or less. This discrepancy
cannot be ignored and I will seek to have it explained. But I have done
nothing along the lines of what the two e-mails I’ve seen say I have done,
and I wanted to tell you that myself.
Best wishes,
Stevens
6 Responses to “Note from Stevens Miller on Proposed Lenah Schools”
Thanks, Supervisor Miller for sharing the facts. If members of Lenah Run would like to learn more about this issue that will have a huge effect on Lenah Run, we have begun a discussion thread on our Community Message Board. If you do not have a user name and password, contact our webmaster.
There is also a bunch of great info on the Loudoun Times site (go to washingtonpost.com, go to the bottom of the page and click the Loudoun times icon…
Heres a pretty informative story in the Loudoun paper
http://loudounextra.washingtonpost.com/news/2008/jul/08/vote-ignites-controversy-over-new-schools/?local
If you would like to read about the current state of affairs of the proposed school
http://loudounextra.washingtonpost.com/news/2008/jul/09/vote-ignites-controversy-over-new-schools/
Copy and paste to your browser
I feel it is important to post Mr. Morse’s response to Superivsor Miller’s posting. There are petitions in support of the school circulating in Lenah Run if you are interested in signing them, please let me know. I for one do not want my rising 5th grader to be bussed to Leesburg or Ashburn an hour ride each way for school. I lived in South Riding when there were no schools for them to attend and the kids were bussed or driving themselves across the county. We are all entitled to our own feelings and opinions, I hope that this issue doesn’t divide our neighborhood, but is handled respectfully and with consideration and dignity. I know many have said they were uncomfortable sharing their opinions as feelings are running very high on this issue.
The following is an email I received from Jeff Morse………………………………………..
For those of you who are tired of the bantering, I join you
However, I must share one more email that I sent to all on Mr. Miller’s (our Supervisor on the Board) address book. By simply capturing his “To:” line, I was able to reach all of the residents who had received his previous email, the tone of which was quite condescending. I wanted you to have the same email I sent them. Incidentally, HS-7 is the new high school coming to Dulles South to alleviate severe crowding in Freedom in 2011, and MS-5 is the middle school that is to alleviate severe crowding in Mercer in 2010 (it was suppose to open this year!)
Many of you may have received emails questioning what is going on, and you need to understand the full story. Please contact me if you have any questions, or believe I have any factual errors in my response. I felt the need to set the record straight on what was occurring in Mr Miller’s district. PETITIONS ARE STILL BEING CIRCULATED. If you haven’t had a chance yet, please take a few moments to get a few signatures. Thanks!
Jeff
___________________________________________________________________
Mr Miller-
I AM Jeff Morse, and I DID write some of the material you attributed to me. I’m sorry that I didn’t directly receive your email, as AGAIN I seem to have been left off your constituency list.
It is a pleasure to speak with you once again, although the last time I had spoken with you was in your conference room on the 10th of March 2008, along with 7 other concerned residents of Dulles South. Perhaps you don’t remember, but I do: there were 4 current and former PTA presidents, and three community leaders who took time out of their busy schedules for one purpose: to ensure that you knew how Dulles South residents felt about leaving HS-7 off of the Capital Improvement Plan. We spent precious hours preparing “An Assessment of the Inclusion/Exclusion of HS-7 in the FY 2009-2014 CIP”. I personally hand delivered hard copies and a disc to the Board of Supervisors. I believe we had an impact, because shortly thereafter, as one of your few recent emails claims, “I was successful in restoring HS-7 to the CIP”.
The question is, why did you not have our new high school (needed to prevent a 50% overcapacity population at Freedom) on the CIP in the first place? Other Board Members look to you to know what is best for the Dulles District- your staunch support for the high school funding would have ensured it was on the CIP in the first place. Your lack of leadership on the issue showed them it wasn’t a priority to you.
I’d like to think that we gave you a perspective you didn’t have, because up to that point you had failed to visit EVEN ONE school in the Dulles South area (not Little River, Hutchison Farms, Pinebrook, Aldie, Arcola, Mercer, nor Freedom) from the time you took office up to the 10th of March when we visited. This was a period you most needed to hear from us, as the board was considering our new Dulles South high school!!!!
Schools are 75% of you budget, and Dulles South is a large sector of your district. Not only that, you hadn’t met with ONE PRINCIPAL, ONE PTA PRESIDENT, nor spoken with one of our STUDENTS! I hope I’m not misrepresenting your communication skills, as you so poignantly mentioned in your campaign material.
But I’ll give you credit, HS-7 was ultimately included in the CIP, and we parted, each of your visitors ASSURED that you had all of our contact information and would contact us if you ever needed some insights into how the residents viewed school issues. It was a win-win…something about which we both (and thousands of your constituents) could be proud.
The next thing I know, a handful of folks who are against the Lenah site (for reasons unknown) are flocking to public meetings, while those of us who assume that you have the pulse of your constituency suddenly feel we were lulled into a false sense of security.
Where were you to ask what Dulles South Residents thought? With whom from the Dulles South Area are you getting your information? It wasn’t any of us, and there are a LOT of us, so we became concerned.
Concern turns to fear when your appointed planning commissioner suddenly holds a “public hearing” without the benefit of typical advanced notification to the communities involved; the same commissioner who is already stated opposition to the Lenah Site without the public hearing required for her to get a balanced perspective. This meeting seemed important enough for you to attend, and two planning commissioners, but not important enough to make your full constituency aware…
From “The Ashburn Today”, “I now know of at least five of us who were at one or both of the first two meetings and left our contact information with county staff, all of whom were excluded from the Thursday’s meeting…I will hold [him] accountable to the people of his district and to the rest of Loudoun”.
The irony is that I’m not the author of the quote…it was you, commenting on a meeting held by the previous Board Member. Apparently you were quite incensed that despite leaving your contact info, you were not invited to a county meeting.
So, are you going to hold your planning commissioner accountable, or were those the words of political expediency???
Fear turns to anger when the most outspoken critic of the site “congratulates” your assistant for passing the “land survey”. Now why would he be so excited about a land survey? Certainly we are all eager to spend our tax dollars wisely, but none so eager as to congratulate you on the feat. Perhaps it is my paranoia, because I know that ANY delay on your part of approving the special exception will almost assuredly delay the middle school opening by one year. And if the builder loses the contract and decides the site could be best used to develop approximately 170 homes (in addition to 3000 already approved/available due to by- right development), then we can expect hundreds of more students and two fewer schools.
If you don’t think you could request a delay in school construction while the “land survey” looks into acquisitions, I think you underestimate the power of your office. Of course, you would need a majority, but then again, you know what’s best for your constituency, don’t you?
Were you not aware that the middle school had to have a supplemental appropriation of $10M to adjust for the cost of the 2 year delay? If we found a cheaper site (and that’s a mighty big IF), could the delay in construction cost more than the site savings?
Are you aware that along with the Lenah site the builder will add some infrastructure and roads that are needed for both schools?
Surely you were not surprised by the fact that property in Loudoun Transition zone is expensive (although not nearly as expensive as the school board found properties to the East near South Riding to be).
By the way, ASSESSMENT is not APPRAISAL. Look no further than your county tax record. Do you sincerely believe ANY land in Loudoun is worth only $40,000/acre??? Once they put houses on property, it soars up to as much as $400,000 per acre. Again, I trust our School Boards’ Qualified Appraiser, who has over 30 years appraising experience. Compare his appraisal credentials to that of our Loudoun County asessor, then tell your constituency who is in the better position to estimate the property’s value.
I find it amusing that you should state, ” I urge Mr. Morse (if he did, indeed, write this e-mail) to speak with me before distributing such misleading material.”
I have a counter offer, “I urge Mr Miller to talk to his very broad-based constituency, who have already expressed a strong desire to help before he heads down a precarious path to his poltical demise”.
Please let me know if I have made any errors in my facts, as I wouldn’t want to mislead anyone. But, as we have seen in our lack of communications with you, “nature abhors a vacuum”.
It’s a shame we’ve wasted so much constituency time on an issue that should be a slam dunk.
Mr Miller, in closing, tell us, your constituency, will we have a new Middle School in 2010, albeit two years late? And will we have a new high school in 2011? Answer those two questions in the affirmative, and we will believe you.
Sincerely,
Jeff Morse
Resident, Constituent, and proud member of the Dulles South Neighbors for Education
I agree the schools location may be a contentious issue, and within Lenah Run we will have many opinions. Tamara you hit it on the head when you said we are all entitled to our opinions. We are. Its what keeps us growing, and moving forward, by having an informed opinion.
Sometimes the worst thing we can do is to do nothing, then voice our concerns long after it will have any impact. Its just my opinion…. I could be wrong.
I think this issue is beginning t0 rate up there with religion and political party affilliation! ;0)
As long as folks understand the impact of the schools on Lenah Run and we try hard to cut through all the spin on both sides of the playground to get the facts without the emotion. We’ll be fine.
Lenah Run has its share of drama, as does any community. Its if we choose to leave our issues in our lunchbox when we go out to play that makes the difference!
No matter who I talk to regarding this issue, I speak as a resident and homeowner of Loudoun County. And as a parent of 1 boy in elementary school, with my oldest son beginning middle school in the fall. Never as a representitive of Lenah Run nor as a member of our Board of Directors. I clarify that I do not represent the overall feelings of our Community whenever the issue is addressed. We will all have our opinions, but I think we agree Lenah Run is a wonderful place to live, and raise our children. We all want the best possible education system and facilities for them to help our kids grow and learn.
Scott Peacock
It seems the school board is spreading alot of misinformation regarding the Greenvest school site next to our neighborhood. This doesn’t surprise me given Mr. Dupree, our school board representative and chairman used to work for an organization directly funded by Greenvest. I’m sure Mr. Adamo would lose his job if he actually told us the truth.