DP but I live in RIO territory and have nice things. I think they are overdramatic. |
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South Lakes is dropping from 98% percent full to 85% full. The complaint that I see from SLHS families is that they are losing higher SES families, more MC and some UMC. It will impact the number of students taking IB classes.
It is not getting screwed over, there is a lot of construction in the area so the building will see more bodies soon enough. On top of that, they are losing 30-45 students a year to pupil placement at TJ or another AP school because families want AP and not IB. There would be more kids pupil placing out except that many kids prefer to stay with their friends and don’t worry about AP vs IB. At some point in time, FCPS will listen to the families don’t want IB and things will stabilize for the IB schools that people keep pupil placing out of. Until then, people are going to leave. |
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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]They will be about the same size as Skyview; but with much larger buildings and much poorer students. [/quote]
If the buildings are larger it may speak to an inefficient use of facilities but otherwise it doesn’t seem like it would negatively impact students. [/quote] Losing a third of their teachers is a negative impact. Increasing the schools' farms rates even higher is a negative impact. Losing APs and electives is a negative impact. [/quote] In no world are they going to lose a third of their teachers. Westfield will also be losing a lot of FARMs. Isn't South Lakes gaining some kids from Marshall or Madison? South Lakes needs to lose IB. Fox Mill and Floris begged for that twenty years ago and were ignored.[/quote] South Lakes is not picking up any kids from Madison or Marshall. A number of Marshall neighborhoods are moving to Madison. South Lakes comes out of this smaller than Westfield. |
It was primarily dominated by Crossfield and Oak Hill. |
| I thought I heard McDaniel say he supports children attending schools within walking distance. Under Scenario 1, Franklin/Skyview, we are within walking distance to Franklin MS. Is McDaniel in favor of making kids go to Carson MS instead of attending Franklin MS? |
DP. Yes, yes we are. The School Board and many residents who are either not directly impacted or stand to benefit from this have made it clear they don't care. Emails and phone calls aren't returned or are given a boilerplate response. Comments on social media are carefully screened and deleted or not allowed. There's a reason you aren't hearing or seeing the complaints but that doesn't mean it's not happening. |
I believe that one of the other goals is to end split feeders. If kids from Oak Hill attend franklin, they will go to Chantilly. If kids from Oak Hill attend Carson they will go to Skyview. The parents I know at Oak Hill have said they would rather bus to Carson and go to Skyview with their ES friends then walk to Franklin and go to Chantilly knowing fewer people. This is especially true given the number of Oak Hill AAP kids that choose to attend Carson for AAP. It is a short bus ride and the busses already run. Meren, for as much as I dislike her, has not deleted comments from people posting how they feel about the process. There are people upset with the SLHS change and people happy to be moving. I think the tone has been respectful all around. There are SLHS families unhappy with the change. Boundary changes are not going to make everyone happy. The school board has done its best to allow families to stay in place who want to regardless of the impact. SLHS going to 85% is not an issue, especially with the construction. I think the families are more upset at what families are leaving than losing students. Westfield going to 74% is an issue especially since one of the goals of buying Skyview was to relieve Centreville and the Board is choosing not to do that while drastically dropping the enrollment at Westfield. Bull Run ES should move in totality to Westfield, not just the poor section of BRES. |
None of my FMES friends on the PTA have told me if Meren actually has met with them even though they have been asking for a meeting all year. Meren has been good about letting polite conversation occur on her board but she has also only responded to posts that share her position. She has not responded to the emails and calls from people who want to move but has held meetings at schools where people don’t want people moved. She removed people from her email list that don’t agree with her position on the boundary change. The difference is that the Consultants and the Board seem to disagree with her position. Crossfield has been loudly divided and that seems to be reflected in the boundaries that were drawn. The school is being split to meet the loud demand to stay at Oakton or go to Skyview or stay at SLHS. Some people are upset that the school is being split, what did you expect? |
DP. Sports have been an essential part of my kids’ education. That said, it is participation, and not winning state championships, that is the important part. Adding a high school creates hundreds of new spots on teams that did not exist before. Meaning more kids can play. Meaning maybe even kids who have not played travel/club since age 5 can make the team. Meaning more families with less economic resources can participate. It is absolutely a good thing and it is aided by smaller schools. |
I'm a Westfield parent who doesn't really post on here, just reads. I emailed Seema Dixit (twice) as well as the at-large members of the SB and Reid's office, raising concerns with Westfield losing too many students and teachers. I don't want to advocate for other people's children to be moved, but I am concerned that our school is being set up to fail academically. I was very surprised that the consultants chose to create a split feeder at Brookfield rather than move all of Bull Run over to Westfield. I didn't realize Dixit lived in one of the Bull Run/CVHS neighborhoods. Exempting Walney Oaks after moving part of Brookfield over is not a decision based on logic or geography. That area is closer to Westfield than CHS. No one has replied to any of my polite, respectful messages. Also, my kid's favorite coach is getting de-staffed next year and moved to Skyview. Hopefully he will still be able to continue coaching here. |
Just pointing out, they created a new split feeder at Brookfield--sending only low income areas to Westfield-- and did not fix the split feeder at Bull Run even though Westfield needs students and CVHS is overcrowded. I think "fixing split feeders" is only a goal when they want to Do The Thing anyway. |
| The new split feeder at Brookfield came from left field. Walney Oaks had been moved to Westfield in some other versions, but not the Chantilly Mews area. |
That is an egregious decision on the part of the school board if they pass it. |
I agree, the Chantilly Mews kids need to be left at Chantilly HS. Its walking distance! But then they need to find more kids for Westfield from somewhere and they are completely out of conveniently-located low income areas. |
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Specifically creating a split feeder just to red-line Chantilly Mews over to Westfield (but not the single family home neighborhoods zoned to Brookfield) is such an FU to both those kids and Westfield.
Its really kind of insane to do in 2026. |