Hoco Redistricting

[Anonymous]

Is that going on this year or next? And, which parcels are going to new high school? Seems like a lot of development still going on in all parts of county- this will take a lot of work or maybe a lot more change.

[Anonymous]

HCPSS reviews the population and school enrollment information annually. They typically make adjustments about once or twice in any 5 year period. However, the reason that there was such a big change last year was that it was after the decennial census information came out which really highlighted a lot of demographic changes that they school board wanted to adjust around.

The other changes are frequently smaller and only affect much smaller population groups, typically around just a handful of schools.

[Anonymous]

I haven’t kept up with whether there have been any construction delays, but a redistricting has to happen when the high school finishes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I haven’t kept up with whether there have been any construction delays, but a redistricting has to happen when the high school finishes.

+1 Assuming that there are no construction delays, the new HS in Jessup will open in the fall of 2023 so there will be adjustments for that school year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I haven’t kept up with whether there have been any construction delays, but a redistricting has to happen when the high school finishes.

+1 Assuming that there are no construction delays, the new HS in Jessup will open in the fall of 2023 so there will be adjustments for that school year.

Yes, any plans for polygons that will go?

Also...Maple Lawn West happening, Milk Farm development happening. Lots of building.

[Anonymous]

There's alot of growth in many areas. Population keeps increasing. As much as people say they hate this area, people keep coming and less people leaving.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I haven’t kept up with whether there have been any construction delays, but a redistricting has to happen when the high school finishes.

+1 Assuming that there are no construction delays, the new HS in Jessup will open in the fall of 2023 so there will be adjustments for that school year.

Yes, any plans for polygons that will go?

Also...Maple Lawn West happening, Milk Farm development happening. Lots of building.

The milk farm development is going slowly (I live in a nearby neighborhood). They have approval to build the road infrastructure and make changes to water/sewage and electrical. They were supposed to meet this week to discuss whether to approve the allocation of the first 45 properties. Once this is approved, then they can start to take applications to sell the lots to builders. Once the builders have bought the property, they still have to wait for the roads to finish. At the rate they are going, the roads are not likely to be done before Spring of 2022. And building will probably not start until Fall of 2022. I expect that Spring 2023 will be the earliest that people will be moving into those homes. And that is only the first 45 lots. There is no advertised schedule for the approval of the next batch of properties.

So, the redistricting for the 23-24 school year will likely include not only rezoning for the new HS, but also to account for the milk farm community.

[Anonymous]

Development for Maple Lawn West is also going slowly.

The developer’s initial plan for the land was rejected by the planning board for the strain it would put on the schools. Lime Kiln in particular is trapped with no room for expansion. One of the board members even suggested the developer give some of the land to the school to make it work.

So the developer is back to the drawing board. I think it’ll be 5 years before anything starts getting built.

[Anonymous]

Hmmm, maybe 5 years is too long an estimate. The developer won’t want that land to sit too long.

I figure they’ll get something approved in the fall of next year and then it’s a matter of getting all the infrastructure in place before the houses go up.

Maybe they’ll have something ready for sale in the spring of 24 or 25?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I haven’t kept up with whether there have been any construction delays, but a redistricting has to happen when the high school finishes.

+1 Assuming that there are no construction delays, the new HS in Jessup will open in the fall of 2023 so there will be adjustments for that school year.

Yes, any plans for polygons that will go?

Also...Maple Lawn West happening, Milk Farm development happening. Lots of building.

The milk farm development is going slowly (I live in a nearby neighborhood). They have approval to build the road infrastructure and make changes to water/sewage and electrical. They were supposed to meet this week to discuss whether to approve the allocation of the first 45 properties. Once this is approved, then they can start to take applications to sell the lots to builders. Once the builders have bought the property, they still have to wait for the roads to finish. At the rate they are going, the roads are not likely to be done before Spring of 2022. And building will probably not start until Fall of 2022. I expect that Spring 2023 will be the earliest that people will be moving into those homes. And that is only the first 45 lots. There is no advertised schedule for the approval of the next batch of properties.

So, the redistricting for the 23-24 school year will likely include not only rezoning for the new HS, but also to account for the milk farm community.

That's actually around the corner. It's underway even if it is just water, etc. I think they do have to include it for HS zoning. Same with Maple Lawn. ML was on the cutting block for ES, MS, and HS this last time,managed to get out of it somehow, but won't next time knowing there's building and ML south is done.

I'm just curious what the preliminary plans are, especially for new high school

[Anonymous]

I will say the vitriolic arguing in the last redistricting round really illuminated the higher resourced and lower resourced school politics. I was plain embarrassed to see all the pushback. Can't wait for this round.

[Anonymous]

There were also plenty of people from the “poorer” schools who didn’t want to be redistricted either. Framing it as a rich vs poor issue is an oversimplification.

People in general don’t like having their lives disrupted rich or poor. There will always be a fight in regards to these issues. It’s human nature, and it’s unrealistic to expect otherwise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There were also plenty of people from the “poorer” schools who didn’t want to be redistricted either. Framing it as a rich vs poor issue is an oversimplification.

People in general don’t like having their lives disrupted rich or poor. There will always be a fight in regards to these issues. It’s human nature, and it’s unrealistic to expect otherwise.

Eh....not in this past redistricting debate, which looks like it's still going on as per a FB all call from one group even today. Disappointing to read. Definitely a debate that runs on $$ and political lines. And I saw clear elitism all throughout the last flare up, before the pandemic. Absolutely. As far as those not wanting to move out of lower resourced districts, it is likely they didn't want to be tokens to prove something. I get that.

Yes, people generally don't want to change, sure, but there's a lot at stake here for those who think they bought into rich and privileged areas and want there schools to also reflect that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There were also plenty of people from the “poorer” schools who didn’t want to be redistricted either. Framing it as a rich vs poor issue is an oversimplification.

People in general don’t like having their lives disrupted rich or poor. There will always be a fight in regards to these issues. It’s human nature, and it’s unrealistic to expect otherwise.

Eh....not in this past redistricting debate, which looks like it's still going on as per a FB all call from one group even today. Disappointing to read. Definitely a debate that runs on $$ and political lines. And I saw clear elitism all throughout the last flare up, before the pandemic. Absolutely. As far as those not wanting to move out of lower resourced districts, it is likely they didn't want to be tokens to prove something. I get that.

Yes, people generally don't want to change, sure, but there's a lot at stake here for those who think they bought into rich and privileged areas and want there schools to also reflect that.

DP.
While you are correct that there was a lot more heat from the richer areas (like the two polygons near Maple Lawn that were assigned to Laurel Woods), there was also some pushback from some of the poorer areas. In the case I was talking about there was also some pushback from some of the families at Laurel Woods against having their children bussed out to Maple Lawn. For some of those families, they had problems because not all families can get children from Maple Lawn/Fulton to their afterschool/aftercare facilities. Many of the aftercare programs that are accessible and do pickups from Fulton are very expensive and essentially price out families from the Laurel Woods community. And the kids can take the bus back to Laurel, but then they can't get to aftercare facilities because the parent at home or the parent who is nearby does not have a car. I know a few one-car families. One adult takes the car for a longer commute like into DC. The other adult uses the Laurel bus system to get to and from work. The child would have to take the school bus home from Fulton and wait while the second adult takes public transportation home from work, uses public transportation to take the child to aftercare and then public transportation back to work. This adult would miss close to two hours of the workday to do that or have to pay a ton in Uber fees to get the child to an affordable aftercare program. Right now, they use a program that sends a van to Laurel Woods and picks up the children to take them to aftercare. The same program is not going to drive the van out to Fulton to pick up kids.

So, although it made far less news, there was some pushback from the Laurel Woods community having their children bussed out to Maple Lawn to Fulton and how they were going to handle aftercare available for the children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There were also plenty of people from the “poorer” schools who didn’t want to be redistricted either. Framing it as a rich vs poor issue is an oversimplification.

People in general don’t like having their lives disrupted rich or poor. There will always be a fight in regards to these issues. It’s human nature, and it’s unrealistic to expect otherwise.

Eh....not in this past redistricting debate, which looks like it's still going on as per a FB all call from one group even today. Disappointing to read. Definitely a debate that runs on $$ and political lines. And I saw clear elitism all throughout the last flare up, before the pandemic. Absolutely. As far as those not wanting to move out of lower resourced districts, it is likely they didn't want to be tokens to prove something. I get that.

Yes, people generally don't want to change, sure, but there's a lot at stake here for those who think they bought into rich and privileged areas and want there schools to also reflect that.

DP.
While you are correct that there was a lot more heat from the richer areas (like the two polygons near Maple Lawn that were assigned to Laurel Woods), there was also some pushback from some of the poorer areas. In the case I was talking about there was also some pushback from some of the families at Laurel Woods against having their children bussed out to Maple Lawn. For some of those families, they had problems because not all families can get children from Maple Lawn/Fulton to their afterschool/aftercare facilities. Many of the aftercare programs that are accessible and do pickups from Fulton are very expensive and essentially price out families from the Laurel Woods community. And the kids can take the bus back to Laurel, but then they can't get to aftercare facilities because the parent at home or the parent who is nearby does not have a car. I know a few one-car families. One adult takes the car for a longer commute like into DC. The other adult uses the Laurel bus system to get to and from work. The child would have to take the school bus home from Fulton and wait while the second adult takes public transportation home from work, uses public transportation to take the child to aftercare and then public transportation back to work. This adult would miss close to two hours of the workday to do that or have to pay a ton in Uber fees to get the child to an affordable aftercare program. Right now, they use a program that sends a van to Laurel Woods and picks up the children to take them to aftercare. The same program is not going to drive the van out to Fulton to pick up kids.

So, although it made far less news, there was some pushback from the Laurel Woods community having their children bussed out to Maple Lawn to Fulton and how they were going to handle aftercare available for the children.

The logistics issue will always be an issue in redistricting, because people generally want a neighborhood school. I consider individual issues to have tangential consideration in this decision making, as no one can solve everyone's individual situations. In this county, and in many other counties, having local schools will not be a mainstay in any context. Resources, seats, staffing have to be divided up fairly, and especially here because of overcrowding and uneven resources .

What will throw this new round of plans will be other current and serious problems such as:
Lack of bus drivers- big problem
Teacher shortage- becoming a problem