LIVE BLOG: Parents Don't Want Annandale Students in Woodson

Editor's Note: Scroll down for live updates from the school board meeting.

Parents and residents are scheduled to speak about their concerns in moving Annandale students to W.T. Woodson High School as part of tonight's Fairfax County School Board meeting.

A preliminary recommendation, from the Fairfax County Public Schools Facilities and Transportation Department, proposes having students in the area attend instead of .

Currently, half the students at Wakefield Forest Elementary School (WFES) go to for 7th grade. Poe feeds into Annandale High School (AHS).

Under the recommendation, all WFES students would attend , which feeds into Woodson High School, eliminating the split feed currently in place. The proposed recommendation is intended to help relieve overcrowding at AHS by using the capacity available at Woodson.

Patch is at the meeting to bring you updates.

10:06 p.m. And that's all, folks. Chairman Kathy Smith adjourned the public hearing regarding redistricting of Fairfax County Public Schools just after 10 p.m. In all, more than 75 people spoke on issues ranging from the Annandale High School pyramid (and what schools feed into AHS) to the J.E.B. Stuart pyramid and more. The final vote on the Annandale Regional Study is scheduled for July 28.

Annandale Patch will have a recap from the hearing and more on the site Tuesday morning. In the meantime, be sure to read our to the redistricting plans.

10:04 p.m.: Eileen Bryceland, the final speaker for the evening, addressed the School Board in support of "keeping peers together" in the Glasgow/J.E.B. Stuart pyramid. She also asked that the Columbia Pines and Sleepy Hollow neighborhoods be kept on the same track and not split up as proposed in the staff recommendation.

10:00 p.m.: 2011 graduate Emma Barker said it took 513 students to make a difference in her life and that she would not be where she is today without her AHS family. "For years, Wakefield Chapel has been a part of Annandale. For me, they come hand-in-hand," said Barker.

9:55 p.m.: "Closing Thomas Jefferson to the community it deserves has caused a ripple effect in our neighborhood and the larger Annandale community," said speaker Francine Froehlich. "When I receive a bill in the mail in the fall for $84 million for a school that I can't attend, I will not be laughing at the irony," said Froehlich.

9:53 p.m.: Fewer than 10 speakers to go. It looks like everyone is collectively ready to go home.

8:41 p.m.: Inching closer to the three-hour mark now. Still a solid number of people in the auditorium, listening to testimonies.

8:36 p.m.: Mangan is followed by speaker Monica Buckhorn. Buckhorn said she is speaking in support of Belvedere Elementary School and revealed that a petition from the Columbia Pines neighborhood showed 99 percent of residents supported their kids attending Glasgow Middle School and Stuart High School. "There is not reason why this community should be split apart at middle school, a critical time for kids," said Buckhorn.

8:30 p.m.: Speaker Michael Mangan asks that the School Board take into consideration the effect BRAC will have on families and the community.

8:23 p.m.: Peter Read, the father of Mary Read, who attended and was later killed in the 2007 Virginia Tech shootings, spoke to School Board in support of retaining Wakefield Chapel as part of the Annandale pyramid. Read also asked the School Board give the non-boundary option a fair amount of consideration while the AHS crowd stood, showing their support.

8:14 p.m. Speaker Mark Viehmeyer addressed the School Board on behalf of the Bren Mar Park community. Viehmeyer said the staff recommendation sends kids across the beltway to Edison "making Bren Mark Park the only elementary school to be sent outside of the beltway." "[The staff recommendation] represents another faiture to engage in long-term strategic planning on the part of Fairfax County Public Schools," said Viehmeyer, who called the recommendation a short-term band-aid solution that will put the community through a similar process in the near future. There's some applause from the crowd before Viehmeyer concluded his comments, saying the FCPS Facilities and Transportation department should "engage the community in a process that focuses on uniting the community rather than redrawing lines on a map and busing our kids out of their community... it is only through pursuing such smart changes that we can avoid repeating the failures of the past."

8:01 p.m.: Friendly words from speaker John Long who told the crowd of supporters that they would welcome the AHS community to Lake Braddock High School with open arms and “turn Atoms into Bruins." Speaking seriously, Long said moving students from AHS to LBHS moves kids from "one crowded school into another" and urged the School Board is not adopt any option that moves kids into Lake Braddock.

7:49 p.m.: More criticism for Option 3 (which is not part of the FCPS staff recommendation) from speaker Noel Leavitt. Leavitt said Braddock District Supervisor John Cook and Del. Vivian Watts submitted a letter to the School Board about the traffic concerns moving students from Woodson High School to Lake Braddock High School would cause. He also said the travel time is also a concern for he and his neighbors. “I think that the staff recommendation addresses John Cook and Vivian Watts' concerns by offering minimnal boundary changes in our area." Leavitt said he thinks the recommendation could work "with minimal tweaks at your discetion"but not by adding option 3 back."

7:39 p.m.: Speaker Charles Curran, who has a rising senior daughter at , speaking passionately to the School Board,  said he thinks “maintaining the socioeconomic balance at Annandale High School is what’s best for the community.”

7:34 p.m. The line of speakers continues to move fairly quickly. A little over an hour and a half in and we're currently on speaker number 35. More movement from the audience as people (including School Board members) get up and stretch their legs.

7:23 p.m.: In her remarks, Speaker Bonnie Clements called Option 3 an "embarrassment to the School Board as it clearly fails to meet the criteria of School Board Policy 8130." Clements words drew applause from the supporters.

7:15 p.m.: There's loud cheering and applause from the supporters at the end of testimonies from people speaking in support of keeping students at AHS. The Woodson High School supporters stand in quiet, solid support, holding their signs whenever anyone from their group is at the podium.

7:10 p.m.: Some people arriving late are outside watching the hearing on a TV, but most of the audience is in the auditorium. The line of speakers is moving quickly. Only a handful have gone over the 3-minute speaking time, but not by much.

7:06 p.m.: During her speech, Parent-Teacher Student Association President Emily Slough said, "Annandale High School is a successful school...despite considerable challenges. We continue to exceed expectations." Slough asked th School Board to think about the unique families and students that "lie behind the data." "This is about 800 students and their families, not just 141...we will continue to do what we have always done nonetheless and that is rise," said Slough.

7:02 p.m.: Individual speaker Jerry Butchko, who upports the FCPS staff recommendation, said shifting already bound Woodson High School students isn’t logical.

6:47 p.m.: Despite the long list of 92 speakers, there are plenty of seats available near the front in the auditorium of Luther Jackson Middle School. Most of the audience is being respectful of each speaker, applauding only when finished. Many of the Wakefield Chapel supports in their red and white clothes are sitting on the left while the Woodson High School supporters in their navy blue are on the right.

6:41 p.m.: Speaker Bill Chandler is reading the remarks of a Wakefield Chapel resident as the parents and students rise in the stands to hold up the “Keep us @ Woodson” signs again.

6:36 p.m.: Individual speaker Brenda Meeks said she thinks Frost Middle School is able to hold the students from . "This is not an issue of the quality of the school, test scores or fear of diversity. This is about the overcrowding and the need to implement a long-term solution," said Meeks. Meeks ended by asking the School Board to vote in support of the recommendation.

6:34 p.m.: Individual speaker Brenda Meeks is up next. Meeks said she is one of the group of 200 people in support of the staff recommendation that speaker Kelly Gerber just referenced.

6:32 p.m.: Kelly Gerber said the boundary change "must be done in order to allow Fairfax County kids to get the same education."

6:31 p.m.: Kelly Gerber is the next speaker. Gerber said she is speaking on behalf of over 200 people who "agree the staff recommendation is the best solution to overcrowding."

6:30 p.m.: Speaker George McCray said that moving kids at Woodson should be a last resort.

6:28 p.m.: George McCray is speaking on behalf of the group "Fight for Woodson". Several members in the audience wearing Woodson shirts are standing and holding "Keep Us @ Woodson" signs in support as McCray speaks.

6:26 p.m.: Huge applause from the AHS supports are Annie Curran leaves the podium. Monica De Lacey and Christina Butchko are speaking now. They're the next to last student speakers. Said they hope the School Board will vote to keep the students at Frost Middle School.

6:26 p.m.: Curran is powering through her 3 minutes. Said her neighborhood is "a piece of the puzzle that makes Annandale what it is" and called the School Board hypocritical for considering moving it.

6:23 p.m.: Annie Curran, co-editor-in-chief of the student newspaper The A-Blast said she is a firm believer that the Wakefield Chapel neighborhood should not be removed from AHS. Curran mentioned the newspaper's upcoming trip to China as one of the reasons why students at AHS receive a good education.

6:20 p.m.: 7-year-old Tara McCaleb, a 2nd grader at Belvedere Elementary School has to use a stepping stool to reach the microphone. She said she is very concerned about what will happen to Belvedere if the the proposed neighborhoods are removed.

6:19 p.m. Nijeh Argabright, who lives in Falls Church, is addressing the School Board now. She supports Columbia Pines neighborhood staying at Glasgow Middle School.

6:17 p.m.: McLean listed 10 reasons why they should stay at AHS. One of the more important reasons? "We would have to buy all new spirit wear" and "we look good in red and white." The number one reason, Mclean said he wants to stay is that most of their parents and siblings are graduates at AHS and believe in AHS.

6:16 p.m.: Michael McLean, a student at Poe Middle School, is addressing the School Board with a line of students dressed in AHS shirts, holding signs that say "we want diversity, we want Annandale" and more.

6:15 p.m.: Peter Cheneler, another student speaker, said it's dangerous to cross the street to get to Lake Braddock and asked the School Board to keep the Cheneler tradition alive by allowing them to remain at Woodson High School.

6:12 p.m. Megan Ryan, an Annandale High School student is speaking next. Ryan said moving AHS kids to Woodson High School would split up my family” since her brother is a rising 8th grader at Poe Middle School. Moving the students to Woodson "will disrupt the balance... The sports teams and academics will not be as strong as they are today," said Ryan.

6:09 p.m. Next speaker is McKenna Deal, a student at Woodson High School is up next. Deal is describing her experience getting a petition signed by her classmates "I don't want to move and my friends don't want to move, so why make us?"

6:07 p.m. Woodson High School student Nolan Meeks is talking now. He's a rising sophomore at Woodson and supports the move. Meeks said he thinks it's great that the recommendation will allow students to pick where they want to attend. He spoke of his activities and experience at Woodson before addressing his time at Frost Middle School. Said at Frost "the classes are not bursting at the seems, lunches go quickly without incident."

6:05 p.m. There are 92 people signed up to speak and each speaker will have 3 minutes for their testimony. Smith is asking all speakers to respect everyone's time.

6:03 p.m. The public hearing has been called to order by School Board Chairman Kathy Smith.