Opinion

The Arlington Public Schools Board is going to have to put real thought into two options for easing capacity: build new schools or switch to a year-round schedule.  We just do not have a enough space to continue on as we are, says a 98-page report by MGT of America Inc., a consultant the school board hired.  Although the report does not suggest any option as a favored one, under all of their plans, the projected capacity of schools just looks bad.

Given how stinking expensive schools are to build, I think the county really needs to give a close look at year-round schooling.  In terms of capacity issues, it might just be the silver bullet. 

Which brings me to my first major aside: Why did MGT not show a chart of capacities if Arlington pursued year-round schooling?  In their report, they basically went through a number of different models for eleviating crowding—the 6/7ths model, the programming model, etc., and then they showed the effect of each model on capacity per... (more)