There is a compromise in the works for a the design and layout of Prince William County’s 13th high school.
School Board Chairman At-large Milton Johns delayed what was going to be a vote Wednesday night on the new school building that will be located in western Prince William, either in a new development called Stone Haven or on a site on Rollins Ford donated to the county that was to become a park.
“The more I reflected on the issue, the more I was concerned that we needed more time for the public and [School] Board members to weigh in on the matter,” Johns told Potomac Local.
The decision was a stark departure from Monday when Johns told Potomac Local a deciding vote on the matter would be made at Wednesday’s regulaly scheduled 7 p.m. School Board meeting.
The School Board has been wrangling, once agian, over what design to use when building a new high school, despite resvolving in 2014 to use a 20-year-old, modified Battlefiled High School design in all future high schools, over the newer model used for Patriot High School and the soon to open Charles Colgan High School.
The School Board took a lot of grief from residents when Colgan High School, with new aquatics and performing arts facilities included, became one of the costliest high schools every to be built in Virginia.
A new plan put on the table by school division staff is a revised hybrid model — a scaled-back version of Patriot High School.
The plan includes increasing the 2,053 student capacity at the new school by about 380 students. The capacity will be the same if either the Battlefield or original Patriot models are used.
The architecture of the hybrid building would be simpler than the original Patriot design, the roof flat, and the auditorium would hold 400 fewer people for a capacity crowd of 800.
The hybrid model savings amount to a $6.2 million savings, according to school board documents. The building would be $7.2 million more to construct than the Battlefield model.
“I think this great compromise between keepiong most beneficial features with Patriot design, also by increasing the school’s capacity,” said Johns.
Occoquan School Board member Lilly Jessie said she was still reviewing the plan and did not want to comment prior to the meeting.
The School Board meeting will go on as planned Wednesday, Oct. 21, but a vote on the high school design is not expected until the next meeting on Nov. 2. School staff urged the School Board to make a decision on a design in October to avoid delaying the 13th high school slated to open in 2020.
