Fairfax - Southwestern boundary study

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:16:09 from the 25th here again.

Why not have the creation of a small tax district, akin to the one that funds the McLean Community Center, fund renovation, etc., of Clifton ES?

Basically if the cost of renovating other schools/otherwise accommodating Clifton kids is X, and the (presumably greater) cost of renovating/expanding Clifton ES is Y, then have the small tax district fund Z, which is Y minus X. If Y is less than X then shame on the School Board.

If the Dillon Rule would throw a tantrum, create a Town of Clifton school district whose sole school is Clifton ES, and then levy an additional tax on Clifton ES's zone. It's already done in West Point and Colonial Beach, although I don't know if it'd have to get approved by Richmond and get shot down by the rednecks in a fit of frustration over being unable to fund their own schools.

Of course, many Cliftonites/ians would oppose this, demonstrating they just want the rest of us to fund their school.

FCPS have to make some hard choices. Do we redistrict/rezone or just beg the BoS for more money so all the parents will be happy?

Not everyone is going to be pleased. If the current school board is underhanded/lying/etc. then put in a new school board.

Special tax district for Clifton???

There are other small elementary schools. FCPS has not given the number of students in-boundary for Clifton.. AAP and GT are mysteries.

FX has special tax districts for Reston Association and Mclean. It never set one up for other areas like Lorton ==

Bradsher is a witch. SOCO middle school was for 300 kids and after that was a done deal the witch discovers room at Lake Braddock.

You want Clifton ES to stay open but for everyone else to pay for it.

Yes, SOCO middle school was a boondoggle, a greater one IMO than Gatehouse II (I can see the need for consolidation of admin buildings but suspect the SB overpaid for the place.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
You want Clifton ES to stay open but for everyone else to pay for it.

Yes, SOCO middle school was a boondoggle, a greater one IMO than Gatehouse II (I can see the need for consolidation of admin buildings but suspect the SB overpaid for the place.)

Who do you think is going to pay for all the building additions and added transportation costs once the school is closed?

[Anonymous]

I think the poster meant that Clifton wants their small private like school to remain open to preserve their private exxclusive way of life rather than experience the busing and large school experience the rest of the county enjoys.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the poster meant that Clifton wants their small private like school to remain open to preserve their private exxclusive way of life rather than experience the busing and large school experience the rest of the county enjoys.

If that's what the poster meant, what about the fact that other schools that are roughly Clifton's size or smaller include Bucknell, Fairfax Villa, Garfield, Lemon Road, Mount Eagle, Franklin Sherman and Vienna ES. Will they also be closed? Probably not, since several of them were recently renovated.

And what does "private like" mean? Mostly White? It's not like they turn away the 20% of the students who are not White who show up for classes every day.

The problem is that there is no consistency in the School Board's decisions. They'll renovate small schools in Vienna and McLean and then tell Clifton parents that their school is too small and needs to be closed, even though it's in an over-crowded area, since elementary schools really should have 800-950 students.

[Anonymous]

You IGNORANT people who say Clifton is like a private school need to come and check it out. It is old and nasty, and many of the kids have at least a thirty minute ride on the bus one way in order to get to the school. The area it serves is rural and the houses are spread out. If there was the usual residential density like the rest of Ffx Cnty, the Clifton boundary would have three elementary schools in it. I think you are just jealous that people live in big houses on large lots. Believe me, it is NOT a private like school. We left there to go to private.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You IGNORANT people who say Clifton is like a private school need to come and check it out. It is old and nasty, and many of the kids have at least a thirty minute ride on the bus one way in order to get to the school. The area it serves is rural and the houses are spread out. If there was the usual residential density like the rest of Ffx Cnty, the Clifton boundary would have three elementary schools in it. I think you are just jealous that people live in big houses on large lots. Believe me, it is NOT a private like school. We left there to go to private.

Some people are just resentful. There are some big houses on big lots in Clifton, but also quite a few homes that are fairly modest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You IGNORANT people who say Clifton is like a private school need to come and check it out. It is old and nasty, and many of the kids have at least a thirty minute ride on the bus one way in order to get to the school. The area it serves is rural and the houses are spread out. If there was the usual residential density like the rest of Ffx Cnty, the Clifton boundary would have three elementary schools in it. I think you are just jealous that people live in big houses on large lots. Believe me, it is NOT a private like school. We left there to go to private.

Yes, that is exactly right. People are jealous of Clifton big homes/lots.
What a stupid, stupid post.
Why on DCUM does critical = jealous? Dumb.

(PS-I live in a decent sized house in Fairfax on a large wooded lot. Wouldn't trade my house for anything anywhere.)

[Anonymous]

"If that's what the poster meant, what about the fact that other schools that are roughly Clifton's size or smaller include Bucknell, Fairfax Villa, Garfield, Lemon Road, Mount Eagle, Franklin Sherman and Vienna ES. Will they also be closed? Probably not, since several of them were recently renovated. "


Fairfax Villa is in the study and proposed to be expanded. Mount Eagle is brand new and over capacity. It is not as small as Clifton.

As far as busing goes. we live 2 miles from my sons school, but his bus ride is 45 mins. Go figure. We can't wait for his hour long ride to Lanier next year ( We could walk to RR, but we are not in that district). This school system has some crazy ass bus routes. It is no wonder the transportation is such a huge expense.

If Clfton ES really is as bad as prevoius posters have commented, than a better use of resources is good managment.

[Anonymous]

Hey Folks, I am not too familiar with the Clifton area/decision - but all I can say if FCPS is grappling with over crowding, then closing a school seems just dumb. What am I missing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hey Folks, I am not too familiar with the Clifton area/decision - but all I can say if FCPS is grappling with over crowding, then closing a school seems just dumb. What am I missing?

You're not missing anything. Some people just don't want to acknowledge the obvious, which is that this was a stupid decision.

It's not about saving money; it's about playing games with different line items of the School Board's budget. At the end of the day, it will almost surely end up costing us more money.

[Anonymous]

FCPS just posted Option D

http://www.fcps.edu/fts/planning/southwesternstudy/optiondfactsheet.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FCPS just posted Option D

http://www.fcps.edu/fts/planning/southwesternstudy/optiondfactsheet.pdf

Aren't there over 350 students at Clifton this year? How can FCPS assume they'll be fewer than 300 by 2011-12 transferring to other schools?

This plans seems to create or leave in place a bunch of attendance islands. Isn't that contrary to the School Board's policy?

What a mess!

[Anonymous]

To all you following this issue, write letters to the papers. Contact ALL board members...not just your own. Write the Governor, your Congressman and Senator. The School's Board lack of accountability has got to stop.

Niether Option A, B, C or D make sense. Why are they needlessly impacting over 20 schools when only 5 are overcrowded? Why won't they actually consider a long-term solution such as constructing a new school in the right location (not at Liberty which isn't close to the overcrowding)? What happens when their projections for enrollment turn out to be wrong (as projections always do) and we are right back where we started with some schools at 85% capacity and others at 120% capacity? Why is it acceptable to add building additions to schools but not to expand the cafeterias, gymnasiums, hallways, and other common spaces? If they added in the cost for expansion of these spacese, the addition costs would be much higher!! It is already higher on a cost per student basis than building a new school. Why is it acceptable to move children who are currently at schools with full-day kindergarten to those with half-day kindergarten? Why did they close a school with over 350 students and make this problem worse? Why is it acceptable to displace children learning in classrooms today to trailers?

It is NOT acceptable. They need to go back to the drawing board and do the right thing. Tell them. Tell everyone.

[Anonymous]

Is anyone else upset with the option that FCPS staff recommended to the school board? It just does not make fiscal sense to me....

In that option the overall cost of the boundary shifts are going to cost approximately $15 million and effort that will impact 23 schools and thousands of students and their families. The goal of the boundary changes is to achieve a building utilization between 95% -105%. Of the 23 schools in the study, 12 of the schools are already compliant and only 5 more schools will be achieve this utilization goal as part of the study in 2011-2012. $15 million seems like a hefty pricing, especially during a recession, to make 5 more schools achieve such a building utilization goal.

[Anonymous]

20:32 here: Meant to clarify. It is not option A, B, C, or D. It is the option that was presented to the school board on January 20th and that the school board is holding hearings on next week before it votes on Feb 24.

Here is the link to the recommendation.

http://www.fcps.edu/fts/planning/southwesternstudy/appendixa.pdf