Saybrooke residents have many questions about the possible switch of our students from Cedar Point Elementary School to the Ashton Elementary School being built next to Stonewall Jackson High School. Here are some answers to the most frequently asked questions heard by members of Saybrooke Alliance Values Education (SAVE).

Q. Why is a new school needed?
A. Cedar Point Elementary School opened for the 2003 school year with 1,165 students, in a school built to house 852 students. The school will have seven trailers this year to help house the overflow of students.

Q. Could Saybrooke children really be switched to a new school? What about Braemar Northgate?
A. Yes, Saybrooke definitely could be switched to the new Ashton Elementary School, which will open for the fall 2004 school year. Braemar Northgate's community is so closely connected with ours that it is likely the neighborhoods would be placed together.

Q. Traffic is so bad, and Cedar Point is so close, why would anyone want to move Saybrooke students so far away?
A. The overcrowding at Cedar Point has to be alleviated, and at least one of the many neighborhoods that attend that school may have to be moved to the new Ashton School until the Victory Lakes school is built. The estimated completion date for the Victory Lakes school is anywhere from 2005 to 2007. Saybrooke is being considered to move to Ashton along with several other neighborhoods along the Linton Hall / Devlin Road area.

Q. Who will decide which neighborhoods get moved?
A. A "Boundary Committee" will be formed in late 2003 to propose several different boundary plans to the School Board. The committee is comprised of at least one representative from each of the affected neighborhoods at Cedar Point, as well as Mullen Elementary School. Mullen is the other school that students will be pulled from to fill Ashton Elementary. There will be no more than 15 members on this committee, so it's likely Saybrooke will only have one member.

Q. When will this take effect?
A. The Boundary Committee will meet through March of 2004. The members will come up with several different boundary plans for the new school. They will present their proposals to the community at two separate public meetings. After the first public meeting, usually around December, the committee will try to incorporate any suggestions from the community into the boundary process. At the second public meeting, usually in January, the committee will then present any changes made to the plans. The final step is in March when the proposed plans (usually two or three) are presented to the School Board for a final vote. The School Board makes the final decision on selecting the new school boundaries. The School Board's decision will take effect for the school year starting in September 2004.

Q. Some School Board members have suggested that Sheffield Manor may not need to move to the new school. Does this mean Saybrooke will have to move?
A. No, this does not necessarily mean Saybrooke has to move. Milt Johns, who becomes our new School Board member in January 2004, has said he will not support moving any current Cedar Point students to the new Ashton school. There have been several alternate ideas circulating to keep ALL neighborhoods at Cedar Point. Some of those ideas include placing a "builder deadline" on new homes that would automatically assign any new residents to Ashton, temporarily, until the Victory Lakes school is built.

Q. Why should people without kids, or those whose children attend private school or are home-schooled, care about what happens to public school boundaries?
A. The school boundary decision has a huge impact on property value in a neighborhood. When looking to move into an area, most parents check the local school districts. When prospective buyers learn that our school assignment would be Ashton, 5-7 miles from our homes, next to a high school, within walking distance of Manassas Mall and on the corner of a busy intersection that would have a direct impact upon the value of our homes! Losing a local school could reduce the value of your property by tens of thousands of dollars.

Q. Is there anything Saybrooke residents can do to help?
A. Join SAVE. And stay involved and informed in this process. It is critical that we do not lose our momentum on this issue!!!

Q. What is SAVE?
A. SAVE stands for "Saybrooke Alliance Values Education". It is a grassroots organization put together by concerned residents of Saybrooke to address the issues facing us in this boundary change process. To become a member of SAVE, please send your information to the following email address: SaybrookeCPoint@aol.com.