McLean High Schools Among the Least Diverse in Fairfax

McLean schools are among the least diverse in Fairfax County and it's because of the cost of housing. McLean schools are becoming an enclave of the white and the rich while the rest of Fairfax County is becoming a majority-minority county.

Langley and McLean are among four high schools with the largest percentage of students who are non-Hispanic whites, according to statistics compiled by the Fairfax County Public Schools. The majority of students in Fairfax County public high schools are now minorities, according to statistics from the county schools.

Non-Hispanic white students are 47 percent of the county's high school students. At Langley: 73 percent of the students are non-Hispanic whites. At McLean: 61 percent, according to school numbers.

Only two other schools have comparable numbers and both are in Vienna: Madison, 73 percent, and Oakton, 62 percent.

These numbers stand in stark contrast to what is happening overall in Fairfax County. Not only are Asian, Hispanic, black and Native American kids now a majority overall in the county's 196 schools and centers, according to school statistics. The county's overall population of 1.0 million is 54.6 percent white, according to a recent Fairfax County report based on the 2010 Census.

Why should you care? Two reasons: McLean does not look like the emerging Fairfax and we need to understand the implications for those growing differences.

Secondly, although 75 percent of us have no children in the schools, we pay for them. The school operating budget is $2.2 billion and 73 percent of that comes from county taxpayers, according to statistics from the school system. 

Lastly, Part of  McLean's property values are  based on the great reputation of the schools.

Langley, McLean, Madison and Oakton  high schools serve the largest concentrations of neighborhoods with very expensive single family houses and with few if any apartments – Vienna, Great Falls and McLean.

The Langley district contains no apartment buildings and few townhouses.

"The kids reflect the composition of the residents of the school district," said Stephen Fuller, Dwight Schar* faculty chair and university professor; and director, Center for Regional Analysis at George Mason University.

"The price range discriminates again certain ethnic groups," he said.

The median value of a house in McLean is more than $800,000 according to the latest U.S. Census numbers – Vienna: $600,000. Great Falls, $1 million plus. Fairfax County, $522,000, according to the U.S. Census.

School districts that contain housing averaging below $400,000 and with multi-family housing, i.e. apartments, tend to have more diverse schools, Fuller said.

George Marshall High School, McLean's other neighboring high school is 53 percent non-Hispanic white.

One of the reasons McLean High is more diverse than Langley is because McLean's boundaries include a sliver of Falls Church, school observers say.

The largest minority group at both McLean and Langley are Asians. Among Langley's 1,800 students, 17 percent are Asian. Among McLean's 1,600 students, 20 percent are Asian, according to demographic information compiled by the schools.

The Langley and McLean districts brim with aging Baby Boomers. Many are folks who moved to McLean when they had young children. Fuller raised an intriguing question about the future: "Who will buy as Baby Boomers retire? Who are the newcomers and will they look like the oldcomers?" he asked. "Young people cannot afford expensive houses" so the buyers tend to be in their late 30s and early 40s, he said.

In addition, "children may decline slightly as a proportion of total population. Children are not expected to decline in number" but they are expected "to grow at a rate that is slightly less than that of the total population" of the county. That's according to the county's new demographic report, Behind the Headline: Trends and Implications for County Residents. (A copy of the report is attached to this story.)

Source: Fairfax County Public Schools, Fairfax County Demographics

*Dwight Schar is a McLean resident. He lives on on the toniest streets in McLean and heads one of the largest homebuilding companies in the U.S. He is also a well-known philanthropist and Republican and George Mason University benefactor.