Truth is important do you have a number to get in touch with the owner of the 105 acres?

Offer NCC 10 million take it or leave it.

The County needs to looks at redistricting some of the boundaries to alleviate the overcrowding in Ashburn at Broad Run and Briar Woods which both close to 1900 students right now. HS 6 is ready to be built but the county is waiting to figure out HS- 8 so some people won’t be upset.  Please do something soon.

Past speaketh;
Tuscarora is north of Seven. Let’s be honest why this state of the art school is not acceptable to some Lansdowne parents.
There are multiple properties OTHER THAN Lexington 7 that are available, but those in power want to rescue the NCC from the ill-timed $50 million cash loan it took out against the property right before the market crashed. So naturally they turn to the residents who are Loudouns Cash Cow and exploit their emotions and feed them pretextual reasons why this school will be so great. The joke is that the school will devalue the Lansdowne multi billion tax base that will hurt way more than the loss of Lexington 7. Like commercial sector is clamoring to build where employees would have to commute on Rt 7?
The point is the supervisors and school board can either be fiscal conservatives or they can build hs8 at the NCC but they can’t be and do both.

Buy Redskins Park and build HS-8 with a wing for STEM gifted classes and 1 other school or a sheriff substation.

“the out-of-town investors” - The NCC has been in Lansdowne since 1974. It once held all the land that has become the Lansdowne on the Potomac neighbhorhood and beyond. So you critics, you’d better have been around here since before ‘74…and I know you didn’t “live” near NCC then, since there was no ‘near’ living in existence to the NCC then.

And if you’d pay any attention, the land requirements are for the base building design for a school. The NCC site is going to be a totally unique building design and layout, due to the geographic constraints - and this will cost MORE money, yes, because it’s not cookie cutter. But there are no 75+ acre properties available right now that ARE NOT supposed to be for and ready to be developed as jobs and revenue generators (oh, like, Lex-7 is).

Lastly, having one high school on the north side of 7 west of the Broad Run is not too much to ask - I hope that in time, kids from Red Rocks on down to Univ. Center can go to HS without having to cross Rt. 7.

The current Board of Supervisors was elected to bring fiscal common sense to Loudoun County, a monumental task.  Lansdowne High School is a good example of a County boondoggle.  Imagine building a High School on less than half of the required property just so 300 Lansdowne kids don’t have to integrate with less socially and financially advantaged kids.  The ability to walk to school is a ruse.  There will be more BMWs in the parking lot than busses.  Lansdowne kids won’t walk to school because it isn’t cool.  I think the real reason may be to bail out the NCC and the out-of-town investors.  Why else pay $20 million for $5 million worth of land.

The developer let old people buy here to make more parking spaces available since most of them are in wheelchairs and can’t drive. Also to keep the hospital in business.

I disagree, it appears the majority of Lansdowne residents do want the school.  Lansdowne is a community spilling over with children.  The small group of opponents are people who either have properties immediately adjacent to the NCC or are retired and/or it doesn’t serve them.  Might be time for some to migrate over to Leisure World.  And unfortunately there are no parcels right near Broad Run, especially ones that would be able to have any kind of walk zone.

The majority of Lansdowne residents do not want the high school here.  And now there is movement among Broad Run communities to push for the school closer to their community.  And because they will take up close to 1,000 seats, it carries more credence.  This should be interesting.

A minute ago, it was that the HS was going to decrease property values.  Now it’s an argument that Lori Waters constructed this whole idea in an effort to raise her own property value.  You people are really grasping.

Now kids. Let’s not blame Supervisor Waters. It is true she did not call a town meeting to tell her loyal constituents why she had to get out of town, but neither did the Lansdowne HOA. Someone wants to give the NCC $20 million very, very soon. Can you say, “croney?” That is another word for loyal friend!

They didn’t find it because they wanted NCC.  How else was Lori Waters going to get her house above water when she went to sell.  Use the angle of a neighborhood high school to try and improve resale?

Let me see if I have this right:
105 acres right off of Belmont Ridge Road in Ashburn is
- available right now
- $14M less aquisition cost
- more builable space
- not in anyone’s backyard
- no wasted county assets or loss of commercial tax income
- HS 8 can be delivered on time and under budget
- 4 miles from Lansdowne with NO need to access Route 7 to get there for ANY of the student base.
Exactly what is not to love?  what say you, Pro-NCCer?
I think the Supervisors need to seriously look at why their staff in charge of finding space didn’t identify this property.  It’s been available the whole time they’ve been looking.

So take the 1000 extra kids at Broad Run, 1000 extra kids at Briar Woods, and 800 students from Lansdowne by 2015.  Right there is 2 high schools needed.  “HS-8 AND HS-6”, not “HS-8 or HS-6”.

Enrollment projections just came out—Tuscarora HS is expected to have over 1900 students THIS fall!  Already over capacity in its third year of operation and will get more crowded each year.  And Broad Run HS has trailers with kids sitting on floors to take tests.  Broad Run and Briar Woods are expected to have something like 1000 kids each overcapacity in a few short years. Don’t try to say there is no overcrowding.

The Lansdowne kids are not in overcrowded schools, Tuscarora is under capacity. Lansdowne residents should charge ahead with the lawsuit.  The proffers are illegal, the Board of Supervisors is now learning this bad news.  If HS-8 is so truly time critical, then finding an alternative is the appropriate course of action instead of trying ram home the NCC site, which clearly has some massive isses and significant failings.

There is a group in Lansdowne collecting “legal defense funds”. If these opponents bring a lawsuit and stop HS-8 from happening, they have to face the rest of their neighbors whose kids will continue to suffer overcrowding and instability.  So bring it…but be ready to own it!

Lansdowne’s real estate market has been challenged for a long time.  These houses on the market are not sitting there because of HS-8.  They are sitting because it’s January and the market is down.  Residents publicly announcing that HS-8 is going to decrease property values are creating a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The opponents need to be careful what they cry about.  They cried “There’s only one way in and one way out!” and guess what, bam, and second entrance was added to the plan.  They are crying about the loss of county sports behind their houses, so they will ensure they get high school activity AND county sports activity.  Now they are crying about looking at a building.  They are going to end up with the stadium put back there. Think about what you say because you could be kicking yourself in the foot.

Yes, everyone says they agree that we need HS-8, (except for the few that think we could just use empty office space and not build an HS-8).  The NIMBY’s in Lansdowne are basically saying “Yes, we need a HS but put it in someone else’s backyard”.  Unfortunately, the NCC site is the best chance at getting HS-8 at all so if you are against the NCC site you are essentially against HS-8.

Mr. Rogers may be spinning this a little.  There are currently 8 units on the market (not 30) and many have been on the market a while.  This includes residences many blocks from the site.  Some people actually move for reasons related to jobs, so in reality only a handful of units may be related to a school.

Wasn’t it the townhomes who objected to the stadium so it was moved to the far side?

An hour to get to the site - get serious.  That is against traffic and only a guess (bad one) at best.  Try a current 45 minute drive to Tuscarora in the evening.  That is reality.

There will always be a shortage of fields with continued growth.  Bolen park has opened with lights and many better fields than those in back of Belmont Ridge.  Lastly, the school fields will be available once done.  I know the number of games will be reduced, but games / practices can still be held.

Empathy for a few or the needs of a community.  I take the community.

Amen to that Gene.  Everyone recognizes the need, the location is wrong, and if the Board of Supervisors were truly honest, they would agressively seek alternatives.

We are all HS8 supporters. We have differing approaches to its cost and location.

The “insensitivity” argument goes both ways. Some (relatively few) of our very own neighbors are saying, “forget my neighbors’ kids—build a school for other students,” like the ones in One Loudoun who aren’t even here yet.  Or—“put this school in someone else’s backyard,” like Potomac Farms, that will hardly have any kids attending it.  Or—“who cares if Route 7 commuters will have to deal with east bound high school traffic?”  Or—“please spend $6 million more of our tax dollars.”

I was at the meeting on Tuesday and the pro-NCC speakers either said they want it because they want it or gave incorrect facts to support.  This is not to say they are selfish, but I don’t think they realize that the people on the front lines will endure the horrible view and the horrible traffic forever while also enduring the blasting, construction traffic and dust for years and a marked decrease in their ability to sell during construction.  Pro-NCC residents will only have their kids in the HS for 4 years.  Let’s show some concern for others’ rights.

Why are some of these comments so snarky? From Dec. 20, 2010, to Nov. 16, 2011, County officials stated in public, and demonstrated with diagrams, that a two story high school and parking deck would be built on the NCC property that is under contract.
It was just two months ago that they changed the location to a public park where Loudoun Soccer has invested $250,000 to improve the fields. Hundreds of homes then became exposed to the view of a roof or loading dock, without any setback to give it scale. Wouldn’t you be upset about a bait and switch that impacts the value of your home and wastes hard-earned non-profit dollars? Those fields will not be replaced, contributing to the field shortage. SInce the site was announced, 30 patio homes and town homes next to the HS-8 site have gone on the market. Please can’t we all just get along and have empathy for our neighbor’s concerns? An attitude of entitlement demeans the cause and makes it sound self-serving. It almost sounds like the only thing some people care about is their own convenience. No thought given to the people from southeast Ashburn who will have to ride the bus, yes, almost an hour in rush hour to get to Lansdowne. How do 300 walkers balance that expense?

“Truth is important”, you answered my question.  If true, then the NCC site is probably the worst location for a high school and the Board of Supervisors should stop it immediately and began pursuing more cost effective and appropriate sites.  Clearly they do exist.

A December 2010 news article quotes Hornberger as saying the NCC site is “right smack in the middle of the need” for relief.  The NCC is not right smack in the middle of anything except two-lane residential streets.  It abuts the Potomac River.  The same article says HS8 is designed to relieve Ashburn area schools.  If so, there is a much better site that will not only relieve Ashburn area schools, but also be more accessible to the area of the county that is currently under heavy residential construction - the area between Broadlands and Aldie.  It is 105 acres priced at $6.8M with great access, has been for sale for 2 and a half years and is literally a few munites from the target students from both Ashburn and Lansdowne. Why hasn’t the county considered it?
GOSU - there you go.  Now, give us your reasons why this parcel should not be evaluated. It would save the county approx. $20M by my estimate.

If Lansdowne will only have 500 kids and Broad Run is the school suffering the most overcrowding, then shouldn’t they build a hight school in the area of Broad Run as they will generate the most students?

” Afterall, they only will have 500 kids in an 1800 student high school.”  What an ignorant statement.  Are you implying that the school is only for Lansdowne kids - Wrong, wrong, wrong.  Whatever the enrollment is, they will be a part of it and there will be 1,000 other students.  Ones who otherwise be in trailers at other schools.

Hurray, a temporary reprieve to excessive spending and fiscal abuse.  The chicken littles scream about overcrowding because in the light of day, NCC is a disaster waiting to happen.  There are sights available, they need to be honest and the Lansdowne proponents should dial back their selfish interest.  Afterall, they only will have 500 kids in an 1800 student high school.

Hilarious. The Ashburn District supervisor cheerleading for HS-8 at NCC. That idea that came from the Dems. They are blameshifting to Lexington 7 to get the focus off the NCC. That’s who York is really bailing out. What happens to NCC training center after the high school is built? Push it in the river and build Minchew’s third river crossing at Belmont Ridge? NCC is a teardown that nobody can afford to tear down. Who actually uses it any more?

There goes Barbara Munsey defending this awful Supervisors.  They really are bad aren’t they.  This land purchase just plain stinks…I mean smelly.

Those who have been involved in school site acquisition have already done the math.  while this is an expensive site, it is likely to be the most expensive schhool if you take into account ALL the costs associated with transportation, etc.  LCPS SAYS it needs 70 acres, but the truth has come out that they do NOT need that much land, and they are also pushing back.  From here on out, we must demand they build on less than the 70 acres they have demanded all these years.  For those of you who just sit on the sidelines and complain, educate yourself a bit more before getting your panties in a bunch!

Please folks…don’t be naive. The mysterious closed door meeting about this (wasnt even on the agenda) absolutely has to do with Lex7.

When NCC falls thru you will see that Lex7 is put back on the table and is approved.

That is how Loudoun politics work, back room conversations protecting the interest of those which either officials owe a favor to or want a favor later.

green meadow, that’s an apples and oranges thing.

There is an HS site in LVE that the county already owns, that already has its land use approvals as it went through the process years ago with Rosa Lee Carter ES on the other proffered school site there.

As the site already exists, is planned for a HS, and has all necessary approvals to build, I imagine it’s already doing whatever it does for home sales and value there.

It has nothing whatsoever to do with who owns/may benefit from/the cost of either NCC or Lex7.

Consequences brings up good point. Lex 7 is not Plan B. My take is LCPS and their other developer friends at Toll Brothers would far prefer implementing the southern shift of students to help sell houses at Loudoun Valley Estates: www.loudoun-valley.com.

If you haven’t realized it by now let me inform you all of the purpose of government schools, they are there for the sole benefit of adults, NOT school children. If it was truly about educating children we would be fighting against new buildings and demanding that the money go into instruction instead. Buildings don’t educate. You can learn while sitting under a tree. Think we have great schools? A Loudoun County HS grad only has a 60% chance of successfully completing his freshman year of college. Check the statistics instead of the propaganda from the education industry, real estate industry and all the other boosters. LCPS average SAT score is 1597. College Board benchmark is 1550, which is what gives them a 50/50 chance. But no, lets build more buildings and college level sports complexes instead.

“stabilize the Ashburn school district”
a/k/a
keep Leesburg kids out of our schools

@What’s really going on - Stop insulting me and my concern as a Lansdowne resident.  I am a part of the group opposing the NCC site and you diminish our real concerns by throwing spurious statements with no facts behind it.

At least they’re pushing it back.

The outgoing schoolboard felt it was absolutely necessary to vote on redistricting in Leesburg, despite the public outcry and political nonsense behind the scenes.

Gosu, this is what they always say:  “We looked everywhere for land available for land available for this school.”  The reality is that they didn’t look everywhere…and in most cases weren’t even looking at all.  They prefer to do back room corrupt deals to bail out their friends rather then actually do “due diligence” and find a site appropriate and at a market rate for the county.  Even the County Appraiser was against this price for this site.  What did they do?  They tried to reign him in by moving him away from being more independent and toward supervising his work.  Translation:  give him a Republican elected boss that can over ride any decision he makes so we can DO CORRUPT BACK ROOM DEALS without real public input.  Did anyone see how Scott York was crying after the meeting about allowing more public input based on the number of people who spoke.  Only 67 people spoke either for or against this school????  Amazing.  Aren’t there something like 300,000 people who live here?  You are going to make a decision based on 67 people’s input?  Yes, you are trying to silence the public, aren’t you.

@Seriously? - Just throwing in a little sarcasim there buddy, cool your jets everything will be OK.

But I get a piece of the action of we kill this and sell Lexington Seven to the county!  Who cares how much trouble we stir up!

Lex 7 is not the plan B if the NCC site doesn’t happen.
Plan B is…stay in overcrowded schools outside your district, split neighborhoods among several schools, and massive boundary battles.
The is the best chance to stabilize the Ashburn school district, give Leesburg their seats back, and prevent southern migration of students into the Dulles schools.

I would guess that most of these negative comments are planted by Lexington 7’s PR campaign.
The majority of the Lansdowne wants a walkable HS in the community and does not want the HS at Lexington 7, except for a few vocal NIMBY’s.  This school is needed and the NCC site is the best possible choice.

I’m going to go ahead and assume none of you internet land acquisition experts (deeerrp) actually watched the webcast, or were at the meeting, or have closely followed this issue with the past board.  If you had you would know that after every parcel of land over 5 acres in the greater Ashburn area was looked at, the NCC site was the cheapest total cost.  The Lex7 site is cheaper per acre, but at a total cost of several million more for land they don’t need. 

If you want to talk bailouts, it is Lexington Seven that has been hollering from the sidelines for attention because they want to be rescued from their failed development.

Any of you basement dwellers (discounting the obvious Lex7 shills) have a better location suggestion?  Let’s hear it then after your mom brings you another Mountain Dew.

The price for the land seems way too high….any justification for that price from those who think it’s a good deal?  This school district has done that before…great price for the land that Sycolin Creek Elementary is built on (so we were told by Andrews) because the district was sure they could also build a middle school there.  Guess what??  Too much of it was swamp land—-did the developer lower the price?  Nope.  Did the school district offer less?  Nope.  Just paid the amount and hoped everyone would forget.  Kinda sounds like this is a repeat of the situation.  This count can not afford to keep overpaying for land.

@Rocket: You’re kidding right? What, do you live under a rock? The National Conference Center. BIG sign on Route 7. You can’t miss it.

This is Loudoun Tarp program as directed by Scott York.

We have a National Conference Center?  What is it used for? I have never heard of anything taking place there. I would like to think I am in on the know.

So 20 Million for 45 acres, that is roughly 445,000 per acre, those are pre-bubble prices, just another fine example that our government has not learned a thing. Or the price could also be the result of the county adjusting and raising the price/value of land alone so they could continue to collect the same taxes when the bubble did burst. Value of the home went down, but the value of the land went up.

I do not doubt that we will need more schools for future growth, but responsibility people, and just a little common sense.

The price is so inflated I’m starting to wonder if there are payoffs on the back end.

The real point here, is that the 9-0 republican board of supervisors is now making decisions in closed sessions, on items not even on an agenda for the public to find out about.  Stalin lives in the County of Loudoun Board of Supervisor rooms!  What next?  Opponents disappearing and secretly being sent to the labor camps?  Telephones being tapped?  Secret police?

$20 million…A JOKE They wouldn’t be able to sell that for half that amount to any investor.  It is a terrible location for that entire section of the county.  The traffic, the location and the fact that the parents will be up in arms that the land is smaller than the other county high schools. Just another overpaid project being shoved down residents throats without consideration for the long term.  The supervisors are supposed to be stewards of this county and they clearly haven’t realized that!

LCPS says they need 75 acres for a high school site - any high school site.  The NCC is offering 25 or so usable acres for $20 million and the good people of Lansdowne - who paid for the Loudoun Sportplex through the proffer process - are contributing another 12 acres. How does this get you to the 75 acres LCPS says they need?  Who is going to replace the Loudoun Sportsplex that Lansdowne residents paid for?  What about the Lansdowne residents who did their due diligence and thought they were getting a park in their neighborhood?  Where will the kids from One Loudoun go to school? (remember, there are 2,000+ housing units approved for One Loudoun.) 

Why don’t we offer $10 mm for the 76 acres at Lexington 7 and see what the owner says?    Maybe we can buy the NCC site, too, after they go bankrupt. Without County assistance (i.e. $20 mm for 1/3 of their lot) they are toast.

Looks like the Lexington Seven folks are taking their venom to a new level!

Throw Scott York in jail now.  He is the king of the Loudoun Tarp program.  $20 million for a property that is underwater and land that is barely usable?  This is a bailout of the failing National Conference Center at best.  This board should be ashamed of themselves.  You aren’t saving the public any money by this corrupt real estate deal.  Scott York is the one pushing this thing through without real public consideration.  Throw him in jail now.