FCPS comprehensive boundary review

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If there are widespread and unpopular boundary changes it’s going to have political consequences for Democratic School Board and supervisor candidates whether it happens in 2026 or 2027.

The problem is that it actually won’t.

So many people just vote down party lines no matter what. In this area, there are so many voters without kids affected by boundary changes, they won’t care about it and will continue to vote all D.

It's hard to say, because they are correct when they say there hasn't been a county-wide redistricting since the mid-80s.

There are certainly instances where School Board members saw the writing on the wall and didn't seek re-election after doing things that pissed off their constituents - Stu Gibson (Hunter Mill) didn't run again after pushing through the South Lakes redistricting; Liz Bradsher (Springfield) didn't run again after pushing through the closure of Clifton ES; and Elaine Tholen (Dranesville) didn't run again after she was the subject of a recall petition with thousands of signatures.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just want to remind everyone that a “comprehensive review” every 5 years is not the same as a “rezoning” every 5 years 🙄

You can’t say that definitively. Fairfax families can only hope that the school board takes pity on them. 🙄

+1 just a reminder that the idea that they won’t rezone every 5 years is pretending this board is acting in good faith when they:

1 didn’t talk about grandfathering clauses until the night of the policy passing
2 didn’t run on redistricting
3 are going against all the mental health/ relationship building they profess to be necessary education by looking at this every 5 years and not grandfathering

[Anonymous]

I’m glad this review is going to happen but hope the board members don’t screw up the changes by substituting their advocacy and opinions for the technical recommendations that come from the analysis.

The boundaries are a mess and these one off boundary changes haven’t been based in impartial analysis and have been very disruptive. We need to make more efficient use of resources. Checking in every five years thereafter is very reasonable and unlikely to result in major changes.

But I don’t trust that the board won’t mess up the whole thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m glad this review is going to happen but hope the board members don’t screw up the changes by substituting their advocacy and opinions for the technical recommendations that come from the analysis.

The boundaries are a mess and these one off boundary changes haven’t been based in impartial analysis and have been very disruptive. We need to make more efficient use of resources. Checking in every five years thereafter is very reasonable and unlikely to result in major changes.

But I don’t trust that the board won’t mess up the whole thing.

We need to have a plan to ensure that schools in every pyramid have adequate facilities. When we're not even close to being on a level playing field, it's premature and in some cases totally self-serving to say the efficient use of resources is the top priority.

And, for God's sake, if efficiency really were a priority of this School Board, they'd never be budgeting over $80M on the totally unnecessary Dunn Loring ES.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m glad this review is going to happen but hope the board members don’t screw up the changes by substituting their advocacy and opinions for the technical recommendations that come from the analysis.

The boundaries are a mess and these one off boundary changes haven’t been based in impartial analysis and have been very disruptive. We need to make more efficient use of resources. Checking in every five years thereafter is very reasonable and unlikely to result in major changes.

But I don’t trust that the board won’t mess up the whole thing.

The school board has made it clear that it is only looking out for certain types of families in Fairfax, and some of the members (e.g., Sandy Anderson) seem very focused on sticking it to certain pyramids.

[Anonymous]

You're all insane. Redistricting happens. It's just a fact of life. It happened to my neighborhood in Ohio in the 1980s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You're all insane. Redistricting happens. It's just a fact of life. It happened to my neighborhood in Ohio in the 1980s.

Thanks for sharing, boomer. I’m sure the situations were exactly the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're all insane. Redistricting happens. It's just a fact of life. It happened to my neighborhood in Ohio in the 1980s.

Thanks for sharing, boomer. I’m sure the situations were exactly the same.

Had the same thought. Sounds like she hasn’t quite gotten over it either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m glad this review is going to happen but hope the board members don’t screw up the changes by substituting their advocacy and opinions for the technical recommendations that come from the analysis.

The boundaries are a mess and these one off boundary changes haven’t been based in impartial analysis and have been very disruptive. We need to make more efficient use of resources. Checking in every five years thereafter is very reasonable and unlikely to result in major changes.

But I don’t trust that the board won’t mess up the whole thing.

Agree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're all insane. Redistricting happens. It's just a fact of life. It happened to my neighborhood in Ohio in the 1980s.

Thanks for sharing, boomer. I’m sure the situations were exactly the same.

Had the same thought. Sounds like she hasn’t quite gotten over it either.

NP. Thanks for sharing. Life is change, so get yourselves or move somewhere with a smaller school district where you have only one or two high school pyramids. FCPS has 175k+ students and requires more frequent rebalancing and checks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're all insane. Redistricting happens. It's just a fact of life. It happened to my neighborhood in Ohio in the 1980s.

Thanks for sharing, boomer. I’m sure the situations were exactly the same.

Had the same thought. Sounds like she hasn’t quite gotten over it either.

Adding … I also find it funny that you dismiss something from the 80s as irrelevant yet that’s the last time FCPS had a comprehensive look and made serious boundary changes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're all insane. Redistricting happens. It's just a fact of life. It happened to my neighborhood in Ohio in the 1980s.

Thanks for sharing, boomer. I’m sure the situations were exactly the same.

Had the same thought. Sounds like she hasn’t quite gotten over it either.

Adding … I also find it funny that you dismiss something from the 80s as irrelevant yet that’s the last time FCPS had a comprehensive look and made serious boundary changes.

By her logic we should be bussing kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m glad this review is going to happen but hope the board members don’t screw up the changes by substituting their advocacy and opinions for the technical recommendations that come from the analysis.

The boundaries are a mess and these one off boundary changes haven’t been based in impartial analysis and have been very disruptive. We need to make more efficient use of resources. Checking in every five years thereafter is very reasonable and unlikely to result in major changes.

But I don’t trust that the board won’t mess up the whole thing.

We need to have a plan to ensure that schools in every pyramid have adequate facilities. When we're not even close to being on a level playing field, it's premature and in some cases totally self-serving to say the efficient use of resources is the top priority.

And, for God's sake, if efficiency really were a priority of this School Board, they'd never be budgeting over $80M on the totally unnecessary Dunn Loring ES.

Adequate facilities for Chantilly with 2900+ kids on top of an Academy on-site bringing in hundreds more kids every day, is in a different universe than adequate facilities for a high school like Lewis with 1600 kids tops.

Building out facilities for all schools as they stand in 2024 is short-sighted because the planned evaluation and changes in programs could mean some schools shrink and grow significantly in short timeframes. It will take another few decades to be back at the top of the queue, so renovations need to be done right.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're all insane. Redistricting happens. It's just a fact of life. It happened to my neighborhood in Ohio in the 1980s.

Thanks for sharing, boomer. I’m sure the situations were exactly the same.

Had the same thought. Sounds like she hasn’t quite gotten over it either.

NP. Thanks for sharing. Life is change, so get yourselves or move somewhere with a smaller school district where you have only one or two high school pyramids. FCPS has 175k+ students and requires more frequent rebalancing and checks.

NP unfortunately history does not show that is necessary- hence the decades that have passed between rebalancing.

Here is to hoping your high school kids gets
Moved after their sophomore year and mine doesn’t!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're all insane. Redistricting happens. It's just a fact of life. It happened to my neighborhood in Ohio in the 1980s.

Thanks for sharing, boomer. I’m sure the situations were exactly the same.

Had the same thought. Sounds like she hasn’t quite gotten over it either.

Adding … I also find it funny that you dismiss something from the 80s as irrelevant yet that’s the last time FCPS had a comprehensive look and made serious boundary changes.

By her logic we should be bussing kids.

Bussing already happens. Do you want all students to walk?