Mayor 'Disappointed' By Move of Paul VI High School

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Fairfax City Mayor Scott Silverthorne expressed “deep disappointment” Wednesday with the decision by the Catholic Diocese of Arlington to close the current Paul VI High School campus in the city and build a new school in Loudoun County.

“We have worked in good faith with the PVI community to encourage the Diocese to allow the school to stay in Fairfax,” he said in a statement. “While the decision is deeply disappointing, it’s also not unexpected.”

The diocese announced Wednesday that Paul VI High School will move from its 18-acre campus in Fairfax City to a new site in South Riding, 12 miles to the west.

The move to the 68-acre site is scheduled to take place in 2020, WRC-TV Channel 4 reported. Paul VI has about 1,000 students.

On the school’s web site on Wednesday, the diocese said it has capped enrollment at Paul VI because of space limitations, and it cannot expand the Fairfax City campus. Also, “rising costs of building maintenance are unsustainable.”

Silverthorne said he has spoken with Bishop Paul Loverde, the head of the Arlington Diocese, about the decision. The mayor has pledged to work with the diocese to make the transition as smooth as possible.

Any future land-use decisions about the Fairfax City campus will “ultimately reside with the City Council after considerable input from the community,” the mayor said.

The new $60 million school in South Riding will be built on land owned by the diocese, with state-of-the-art facilities. The move will not affect current Paul VI students or the incoming Class of 2019, the diocese said.

The high school was established in 1983 in Fairfax City. It’s named after Pope Paul VI, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church from 1963 until his death in 1978.