Supervisors Approve CUP for Catholic Montessori School at Former Rockland Golf Course, hear Anti-Public School Tax Hike comments

The Tuesday, May 7th public hearing-focused regular meeting of the Warren County Board of Supervisors began with a one-two punch surrounding community schooling issues. The first “punch” was delivered by five of seven Public Comments speakers regarding non-agenda item issues, prior to the 7:30 p.m. cutoff time to public hearings. The final of those speakers, Megan Marrazzo had a long wait to make her case, as only the first six made it prior to the public hearing starting time.

Those five speakers, Cameron Williams, Richard Baker, Matthew Purdie, Anne Miranda,  and Marrazzo urged the board not to approve any tax increases in support of county public schools. Several cited Supervisor Richard Jamieson’s April 30 Joint supervisors-school board budget work session comments on a developing lack of trust over a perceived lack of transparency or effective use of county funding to positive educational ends by public school officials. Local tax increases in support of county law enforcement and fire and rescue services was acceptable, if necessary, most of those speakers indicated, but not for county public schools as currently overseen, even though as Jamieson has acknowledged, a majority of the community’s children are still educated in public schools.

Anti-Public School funding Public Comments speakers, including Cameron Williams here, had a full house to hear their perspectives. Most of that crowd was there in support of the first public hearing permitting request for the relocation of the private Montessori School in Rockland on a portion of the former Bowling Green South Golf Course. That permitting passed unanimously and the crowd thinned out considerably.

The first speaker to this topic following initial speaker Fern Vasquez’s questions about the status of a public restroom in Eastham Park, Cameron Williams (14:30 linked County video mark) set the tone against increased funding of Warren County Public Schools. He suggested, as others would, that Fire & Rescue and the Sheriff’s Office could be adequately funded without a tax increase, pointing the finger at public schools for responsibility for any tax increase. He cited an April 9th board meeting public speaker in making his case against additional funding for public schools this year and possibly into the future: “Mr. Purdie put it quite well at the April 9th hearing that ‘Warren County Public Schools have become a money pit that the County cannot get out of.’

“It’s about time that the public schools take a much-needed cut, and potentially even a funding freeze so that more necessary public resources can be funded and equipped. I don’t believe that public schools should receive another cent until there’s proof of improvement in enrollment and quality,” Williams told the supervisors, further asserting, “They do not need to be operating with such a large budget when there’s been a drastic decrease in enrollment, and increase in funding and plummeting test scores.” In closing, Williams pointed to ongoing disciplinary issues in public schools he stated could not be fixed with additional funding, coupled with the fiscal disciplinary issue facing the board of supervisors over the public schools budget request.

Private School permitting for Rockland location

The second educational issue addressed was the topic of the first public hearing convened (28:05 County video mark) following the Public Comments adjournment for the 7:30 p.m. start of public hearings, and was the focus of the great majority of a full house of spectators filling the Warren County Government Center main meeting room. That issue was the requested conditional use permitting to allow the relocation of the private John Paul the Great Montessori Academy to approximately 53 acres of the former Bowling Green South Golf Course.

A graphic presented by applicant of the existing Bowling Green South Clubhouse that will be converted into the main John Paul the Great Montessori Academy school facility.

Planning Director Matt Wendling Opened the public hearing with a summary of the Conditional Use Permit application. As noted in the staff-prepared agenda summary: “The applicant is requesting a conditional use permit for a private school to be located on what is currently the Bowling Green South Golf Course which has been closed since its recent purchase in 2023 by Helltown River Investments LLC. The school currently serves 141 students and has 20 full-time and 18 part-time employees and has a curriculum based on the Catholic Montessori approach as stated in their mission statement … The property is located at 768 Bowling View Road and identified on tax map 13 as lot 46D. The property is zoned Agricultural (A) and is located in the Morrison Family subdivision in the Shenandoah Magisterial District.”

Wendling noted the school, which features an Agricultural curriculum, was established in 2020 and is currently located in Front Royal. “They currently have programs for pre-school children 3 days a week and elementary and middle school age children for 5 days a week. Their long-term plans are to expand to include toddlers and high school students and not to exceed enrollment of more than 200 students,” the planning director said.

Zoning Administrator Chase Lenz and Planning Director Matt Wendling on the job.

It was noted that the County Planning Commission had unanimously forwarded a recommendation of approval with conditions as amended. Following applicant Noel Sweeney’s presentation of the application and school plans, 14 speakers, many parents with children attending the school, urged approval. The supervisors listened, and on a motion by John Stanmeyer and what appeared to be Supervisor Richard Jamieson edging Vicky Cook for the second, the board unanimously approved the CUP.

County achieves “Storm-ready designation”

Early in the meeting the board got a report on the County achieving a “National Weather Service Warren County Storm Ready Designation”. Fire & Rescue staffer Brian Foley introduced National Weather Service’s Chris Strong, who summarized the process Foley had been local liaison to in qualifying the County for the designation.

Fire & Rescue Department’s Brian Foley, dark uniform, introduced National Weather Service’s Chris Strong to explain the county’s designation as a Storm Ready community.

As the staff summary noted: “In early 2023 Warren County Fire and Rescue began working with the National Weather Service in Sterling, Virginia to become a Storm Ready Community. The National Weather Service approved our application on March 11, 2024. Storm Ready uses a grassroots approach to help communities develop plans to handle all types of extreme weather-from tornadoes to winter storms. The program encourages communities to take a new, proactive approach to improving local hazardous weather operations by providing emergency managers with clear-cut guidelines on how to improve their hazardous weather operations.” The board unanimously approved the “Storm-ready designation” for the years 2024 to 2028.

There will be a subsequent story on additional business conducted at the meeting.

Click here to watch the May 7th Warren County Board of Supervisors Meeting.