HS-3

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HS-3
Location
Purcellville, Virginia, United States
Information
School district	Loudoun County Public Schools
School type	Public high school
Grades	9–12
Language	English
Campus	Rural
Founded	2008/2009

HS-3 (better known as the Western Loudoun County High School or the Western Loudoun High School) is a public secondary school tentatively scheduled to open in Purcellville, Virginia in the 2008-2009 school year on the Fields Farm, bordering the northern part of the town. HS-3 will be the eleventh high school of Loudoun County Public Schools.

[edit] History

HS-3 was planned on around 2000 to alleviate overcrowding primarily at Loudoun Valley High School, where the student population has doubled since the 1995-1996 school year. In 2005, the Loudoun County School Board approved the use of Fields Farm, a property north of the Town of Purcellville on County land, but in an urban growth zone jointly controlled by the Town and the County, known as PUGAMP. The town of Purcellville was not pleased with the decision, because of traffic concerns and also because it was expected to provide essential services to the new high school, despite being located outside of the Town. The School Board claimed that the high school's best location was in Fields Farm, and on June 20, 2006, the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors voted 6-3 to start construction of HS-3 on Fields Farm. The Town of Purcellville pursued legal action in court to stop its construction with a Richmond legal firm; the case is still pending in Court. In July 2006, the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors reexamined the possibility of opening HS-3 in Round Hill, but efforts were unsuccessful.

In February 2007, Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) began its standard procedure for drawing boundary lines which would split Loudoun Valley into two high schools. Land construction still did not start on Fields Farm due to the lawsuit filed by Purcellville. LCPS also acknowledged that because of the lawsuit, they would file a special construction exemption to expedite construction of the school, which may open as late as January 2009, but still "split" Loudoun Valley into two schools in the 2008-2009 school year.

According to LCPS, if Loudoun Valley is not split into two schools by 2008, students who move to the area may be forced to attend Briar Woods High School or Freedom High School because the school would be at maximum capacity then. Briar Woods and Freedom currently have student populations that are not expected to reach capacity for at least two school years.

On March 17, 2007, the Loudoun County Circuit Court ruled in favor of the Town of Purcellville, due to Loudoun County's lack of consultation with the town on the building of the high school. Because of the decision, the high school is likely to be delayed.

[edit] External links

• Edgar Hatrick's comments about HS-3
• Loudoun County High School projections from 2005-2011
• "High School Site Vote Delayed Two Weeks" by Margaret Morton on Leesburg Today
• Documents from the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors Meeting on June 1, 2006 on the Loudoun Valley High School pyramid.