By Heather Curtis
WMAL.com

WASHINGTON — (WMAL) An office building at Bailey’s Crossroads was converted into Bailey’s Upper Elementary School in less than a year, and Fairfax County officials would like to see more high-rises turned into schools.

The county’s board of supervisors will hold a public hearing Tuesday about proposed amendments to the Comprehensive Plan that would give guidance for determining whether the site of a given office building would make a good school.

Board chair Sharon Bulova said safety and transportation issues are among the checklist of items that should be considered along with whether there is open space on the property that could be used as a schoolyard.

As businesses move to newer buildings in more transit-oriented locations, office buildings in other parts of the county are empty and available for development. Using those buildings for schools could save the county a lot of money according to Bulova.

“Especially in an area like Bailey’s, that is already built out, trying to find land to acquire and then build from scratch certainly would be more expensive than finding an existing building that can be renovated and re-purposed,” Bulova said. She wasn’t sure how much the county saved with the Bailey’s Upper Elementary School conversion.

“Vertical isn’t necessarily the problem, but you have to have so many details, and so many requirements, and my feeling is that the county is so desperate for funds and so desperate to save money that they’re grabbing at straws at the expense of our children,” said Tammi Petrine with Reston 20/20 Citizens Envisioning Reston’s Future.

Petrine said the school at Bailey’s Crossroads doesn’t have a big enough cafeteria to accommodate all the students at one time, so kids are split up among a number of lunch hours. She said parents aren’t happy because some of their children are eating lunch too early in the morning.

Bulova hasn’t heard any complaints about the cafeteria situation or any other aspects of that school, but she said people have complimented the school’s attractive layout.

The board could approve the amendments at Tuesday’s meeting.

Copyright 2016 by WMAL.com. All Rights Reserved. (PHOTO: Fairfax County Government)