A Northern Virginia elementary school that hasn鈥檛 been used in over a decade is now closer to being demolished.
Clifton Elementary School, which sits on both Fairfax County and Town of Clifton property, hasn鈥檛 been open in 15 years. It was deemed uninhabitable when it closed, but 鈥渘o one did anything with it,鈥� Fairfax County School Board member Kyle McDaniel said.
On Thursday, the board voted to amend an existing policy, so anytime the school board determines a building is uninhabitable, it has three years to bring it down.
There鈥檚 an election sheet from 2011 still posted on the front door of the building, and there鈥檚 a playground and community garden that McDaniel said are still sometimes used. However, when he toured the inside in January, he said it鈥檚 been vandalized, there鈥檚 broken glass all over and the air quality is poor.
The policy shift gives Superintendent Michelle Reid time to determine what to do with the property. McDaniel said he, and likely his school board colleagues, won鈥檛 support selling the land.
鈥淢y hope is that we can bring this kind of attractive nuisance down, get it cleaned up, perhaps expand some parking,鈥� McDaniel said. 鈥淚 know the town has a lot of events that I鈥檓 sure they would appreciate more parking for.鈥�
Clifton Elementary first opened in 1953, and by 2010, it had just 370 students, the smallest enrollment of any Fairfax County elementary school, according to a .
There were water quality issues, though, and the board voted to close it in 2010. Local residents filed a lawsuit to keep the school open, but Virginia鈥檚 Supreme Court ruled in favor of the school district and the campus officially closed in June 2011.
The closing, parent Lisa Sherfey said, was upsetting to the community because 鈥渆verybody felt like that school was really special.鈥� When it closed, she said, students attended one of several other schools that had bigger populations.
鈥淚t was a really special place, and we felt like it was ripped away from us,鈥� Sherfey said. 鈥淧eople are still bitter about it.鈥�
But because the property sat empty, Sherfey said she taught her son to drive in the parking lot in front of the school. McDaniel said it鈥檚 almost exclusively been used as a parking lot since closing.
Clifton Mayor Tom Peterson, who, along with city council members, sent a memo supporting the policy change to the school board, said there was once a proposed land swap with Fairfax County鈥檚 Park Authority, but then 鈥渢he park authority backed out of the deal, and everybody now is very apprehensive of what is going to become of this property after the tear down.鈥�
Ideally, Peterson said the land would 鈥渂ecome a park again.鈥�
Next steps, though, could be complicated. In addition to the water quality issues, McDaniel said there are gas challenges. A 2021 report recommended the space no longer be used as a school. An estimate for the utility work was $15 million to $25 million, McDaniel said.
鈥淧utting a heavy use, like another elementary school, on this site right now is just not financially viable,鈥� McDaniel said.
Regardless of what comes next, Peterson is eager for the possible demolition. Teenagers climb on the roof and there have been several break-ins, he said, 鈥渟o that鈥檚 a safety aspect. We didn鈥檛 want this to be too inviting of a target for some people in the area.鈥�
Since February 2022, according to Fairfax County police data, there have been three calls for trespassing, one for burglary, two for a suspicious person and one for destruction of property.
Calling the policy change a 鈥済iant step,鈥� McDaniel said the board 鈥減ut in place the direction, and the only way to undo that is with documented justification and an affirmative vote of the school board to say, 鈥楤ecause of these reasons, we鈥檙e not going to do it.鈥欌��
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