Two months after the Trump administration abolished the country’s leading development and training center for federal employees, the Charlottesville school division is seeking to acquire the property that once housed the Federal Executive Institute in the city.
Charlottesville City Schools announced Wednesday that it had submitted an application to take over the 14-acre property at 1301 Emmet St. N, with plans to open its new early childhood education center and move its administrative offices there. The additional 57,479 square feet offered at the old Federal Executive Institute also would free up space across the school division to allow it to expand alternative education programs and services for students with learning disabilities, the division said.
“The unexpected availability of this property creates a generational opportunity for the schools to advance and expand programming serving students and families,” City Manager Sam Sanders said in a statement announcing the bid.
President Donald Trump eliminated the Federal Executive Institute by edict earlier this year, issuing a Feb. 10 executive order abolishing the center which had served and trained more than 30,000 senior federal employees since it was founded in 1968. The institute operated out of the former Thomas Jefferson Inn in the city’s Meadows neighborhood about a mile and a half north of the University of Virginia and 2 miles northwest of downtown Charlottesville.
Sometime in mid-March, the property was made available for purchase by any educational institution within Charlottesville city limits through the Federal Real Property Assistance Program, part of the U.S. Department of Education. If selected, the city school division would be able to use the program’s educational discount and acquire the campus at a reduced or no cost.
The property was last assessed earlier this year at $19.6 million, according city property records.
“This single opportunity offers a cost-effective way to impact young people in Charlottesville from age 3 through graduation,” Charlottesville City Schools Superintendent Royal Gurley said in his own statement Wednesday.
If it acquires the property, Charlottesville City Schools said it plans to relocate all of its administrative offices there as well as build out a family welcome center, staff training facilities and a forum for the School Board and other public meetings. Charlottesville City Schools’ administrative offices are currently housed in a 4,700-square-foot building at 1562 Dairy Road, next door to Walker Upper Elementary School in the city’s Barracks Rugby neighborhood. Charlottesville School Board meetings are typically held at Charlottesville High School at 1400 Melbourne Road on the other side of the U.S. 250 Bypass in the Greenbrier neighborhood.
Should it acquire the shuttered institute’s property, the school division also is prepared to execute several interior renovations to transform the main building into an educational facility equipped with classrooms with connected restrooms in addition to wheelchair-accessible connections between other buildings on site.
Some features of the old institute don’t need any updates, according to the school division.
“With full fencing, no visibility from the road, and a pool that could be converted into a play space or splash pad, the grounds of [the Federal Executive Institute] are well-suited to outdoor play for our youngest learners," the division said in its Wednesday statement. "Additionally, the facilities have space for early-intervention services for preschoolers such as speech and physical therapy.”
The cost of these capital improvements will be covered by the funds that the city allocated to the school division for the creation of its future centralized preschool.
Currently, the city supports six preschool programs spread across its six elementary schools. The school division has been planning to consolidate all of these programs at Walker, which currently houses fifth and sixth grades, in time for the 2026-2027 school year.
Should the school division’s bid for the old Federal Executive Institute prove successful, a major reshuffling would take place. Instead of moving into Walker, the centralized preschool would be based out of the former Federal Executive Institute. Then, the city’s alternative high school, Lugo-McGinness Academy, would expand into Walker. The building that currently houses the academy at 341 11th St. NW would then be “available to serve students with special needs.”
Once administrators are moved into the former institute, the school division said it would move its alternative middle school, the New Pathways Academy, into its empty offices on Dairy Road.
“From our preschool to a family welcome center to alternative learning programs, this acquisition would allow us to make powerful changes on an accelerated timeline,” said Gurley. “This opportunity arose quickly following the recent closure of the FEI program by Executive Order, and I’m grateful for my staff, the School Board, and the leadership of the City of Charlottesville for moving swiftly to put in a strong application.”
While the school division appears ready to move as soon as it gets the all-clear, the federal government has yet to set a timeline for a decision. If the city school division’s application is accepted, it expects a “more thorough review of the facilities and opportunities" to follow.
That decision, however, falls under the purview of the embattled U.S. Department of Education, which Trump has been working to dismantle since issuing a March 20 executive order titled "Improving Education Outcomes by Empowering Parents, States, and Communities."
Unlike the Federal Executive Institute, the president’s attempts to eliminate that federal agency haven’t been entirely successful, as such a move requires an act of Congress. However, in the past couple of months, the Education Department has lost half of its workforce and millions of dollars in funding.
Source: www.dailyprogress.com