WOODBRIDGE — The proposed Rays Regarde development in Woodbridge would tax an already overenrolled elementary school, according to county documents.
The new housing development that would be located at the end of Horner Road would bring about 160 new students to Woodbridge-area schools when it is built and then more in the following years, according to those same documents. The closest elementary school is the new Kilby Elementary which opened last year, which is already over capacity and cannot handle any new students, documents state.
Right now, the school is over capacity by 63 students and will be so by nearly 100 in five years. Kilby will be more than 200 seats short in about 10 years, according to Prince William County Public Schools projections.
There is a plan to build a new elementary school nearby within the next five years. In the meantime, the developer has proffered $135,000 for temporarily classroom trailers at Kilby.
The county School Board is concerned.
“There was a letter that was approved by the School Board that expressed our concerns about this plan and its impact on our schools. I have concerns with any zoning changes that will add more homes in areas where our schools are at or over capacity,” said Gainesville District School Board Representative Alyson Satterwhite, who’s seeking the At-large School Board Chairman’s seat in the fall.
There are space issues at the middle and high schools near Ray’s Regarde, too. While the closest schools to the new development Woodbridge Middle and Senior High schools have room for new students now, they’ll be short 50 seats and 298 seats, respectively, in the next five years, according to county projections.
While there is also a plan to build a new middle school in the next five years along with the elementary, there is not a plan to build a new high school during that same time period.
A land rezoning that the developer needed to construct Ray’s Regarde won the approval of the county’s Planning Commission on April 4. The development will head to the County Board of Supervisors for a public hearing at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 19 where it could win final approval.
