Newspaper Column: Making School Yards Trailer Parks

Date

2000-05

Authors

Nicoson, William J.

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

The Connection

Abstract

Fairfax County’s residents are blessed with high resources. The County ranks among the top 20 of the nation’s 3,110 counties in terms of per capita income. In 1997, the most recent year for which Department of Commerce rankings are available, Fairfax was 18 in the nation. My guess this that after 3 years of stunning growth, it has now caught up with Arlington 11th and maybe Alexandria 7th But stunning growth has also brought enormous pressure on the Fairfax County School District to expand its facilities. As a result, the County is now educating children in trailers, some 700 trailers to be exact. Virtually no community within the county has escaped the trailer epidemic. Elementary classroom deficits (above 4 for any school) are predicted in the next school year at 23 in Reston and 42 in Herndon, yielding a likely trailer count in the area of at least 65. These trailers lack bathrooms, are as offensive to the eye as any trailer park and, on rainy days, pose a challenge to student comfort and health.

Description

PDF file distilled from original WordPerfect document. Original size 11" x 8.5".

Keywords

Fairfax County (VA) Schools, Overcrowding

Citation