RSSArlington might pull students out of Thomas Jefferson High
Budget savings of more than $500,000 cited; would remove about 75 students
Arlington County School Board members are considering the removal of about 75 students next year from Fairfax County's Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.
Arlington County is spending $912,000 for the current school year to send 75 students to Thomas Jefferson High School. Staff from the Arlington County Public School system say they can save $575,724 by sending their students to one of the three local high schools rather than paying Fairfax County to use Thomas Jefferson. Arlington also bares the expense of transporting students, about $72,000 a year.
Thomas Jefferson is a magnet school for students with strong science and math skills and accepts incoming ninth-graders from Arlington, Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun and Prince William counties.
Arlington resident Betsy Goodwin, a freshman at Thomas Jefferson, said she hopes the school will hold off on cutting funds for this program.
"I worked throughout middle school really hard. I kept my grades high. I did many extracurriculars and I can tell you, when I got that acceptance letter two days before my birthday, it was the best birthday present I'd ever received," Goodwin said while addressing school board members Thursday. "It meant that finally after years, and years and years of work, I'd reached my goal."
Parents of students in the program, however, say the average cost per pupil in Arlington -- $18,569 -- is higher than the average cost per student in Fairfax County -- $12,898. They think bringing students back to Arlington would actually cost the school system more. Arlington school staffers estimated the impact by adding the 75 students to its three high schools -- Wakefield, Washington-Lee and Yorktown -- would be $409,113.
For Fairfax County and other municipalities vying for seats at the school, Arlington's absence could mean less competition.
This year more than 3,000 eighth-graders took the Thomas Jefferson admissions exam, 120 from Arlington.
Along with the cost savings, Arlington Public School Board members are considering the impact on their schools -- adding to overcrowding in its three high schools and increases in enrollment in Advanced Placement courses.
The Arlington County School Board is scheduled to adopt its 2010-11 school year budget April 29.