Land Use Is Education Policy

One of the most overlooked yet impactful areas of public policy is land use—and it’s at the heart of our community’s future.

In this campaign, I’ve taken a strong position: we need to pause the aggressive push for data centers and high-density housing in Prince William County. That stance has drawn criticism from my opponent (in both the primary and the upcoming special election). But I stand firm, because when we put development ahead of needed infrastructure, it disrupts the systems that make a community thrive, especially our schools.

Land use affects everything: traffic, water quality, infrastructure, property values, public safety, and most critically, education.

This isn’t hypothetical; it’s happened. If we don’t speak up, it will become the norm, once again.

Battlefield High School: A Case Study in Overdevelopment

We’ve already seen what happens when development moves faster than infrastructure.

Take Battlefield High School. Residential growth in the Gainesville District surged near the school, without proper planning. The school was pushed far past its capacity.

In 2018–2020, Battlefield peaked at 2,986 students, 146% of designed capacity:

• 21 portable classrooms were brought in to handle the overflow.
• Teachers held lessons in converted closets and small storage areas.
• Parents reported unsafe crowding and limited access to programs.
• The student-teacher ratio jumped from the state average of 14–16 to 18–19 students per teacher.

This wasn’t a fluke. It was the result of land use decisions that prioritized short-term development over long-term sustainability.

Land Use Is Education Policy

Every time we approve a new high-density development or rezone land for heavy industry, we need to ask: How will this impact our schools?

When we ignore that question, we put pressure on teachers, crowd out students, and compromise the learning environment. And now, with data centers already approved within close range of schools, we’re introducing industrial noise and infrastructure burdens to places that should be safe, quiet, and focused on learning.

Land use isn’t just about what gets built, it’s about what kind of future we’re building. And without congruency between development and infrastructure, we’re setting up the next generation to pay for today’s mistakes.

My Commitment

I support smart, sustainable growth, not unchecked expansion.

That means:

• Requiring infrastructure assessments before approving major rezoning.
• Putting education, transportation, and public safety at the forefront of land use discussions.
• Preventing incompatible industrial development, like data centers, from being built near schools, residential neighborhoods, or our critical natural resources.
• Ensuring our schools are not an afterthought, but a top priority.

It’s not about stopping growth. It’s about doing it right and doing it in a way that serves the entire community.

Final Thought

This election is about choices. And one of the most critical choices we face is whether we continue approving projects without long-term vision or whether we finally prioritize compatible, community-first planning.

Our children deserve classrooms, not trailers. Our teachers deserve support, not overcrowded schedules. And our neighborhoods deserve a say in the future being built around them.

Let’s stop reacting. Let’s plan with purpose.