APS Boundaries Work Session Watch Thread

[Anonymous]

I truly can't believe that all of these parents think their kids will be so traumatized by moving schools. Yes it is not ideal but this is part of life and if you support them and are confident in leading them through this transition they will be FINE and maybe even better off for having had to manage a transition while they have the support of their families. The amount that we try to prevent our kids from facing any type of difficulty is just really detrimental. And I don't see the pandemic being an excuse. Kids lives are already different. It's also like APS is like the parents, they can't stand for anyone to experience any feelings of disappointment. It's all really concerning. I never thought I would be one for not having community engagement, and I love living in Arlington and love my neighbors, but we clearly cannot be trusted to think of the community first so I wish we would just let the county decide.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So it looks like a couple of planning units left the Key Zone but none were added? It looks like two new apartment buildings will go into Courthouse in coming years. One on top of the metro and another in the old Wendy's lot. I'm sure there are others, but those are two recent developments in the headlines. The Queen's Court development is already in the planning numbers. Would these next set of buildings be accounted for in the next round of numbers in a couple of years? It seems like Key will be bursting at the seams in a few years.

I'm pretty sure Wendy's is turning into a hotel. I haven't heard of anything above the metro.

[Anonymous]

Just announced plans for Wendy's lot to be apartments. Tall apartment building in the formerly Cosi / Summers block.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So it looks like a couple of planning units left the Key Zone but none were added? It looks like two new apartment buildings will go into Courthouse in coming years. One on top of the metro and another in the old Wendy's lot. I'm sure there are others, but those are two recent developments in the headlines. The Queen's Court development is already in the planning numbers. Would these next set of buildings be accounted for in the next round of numbers in a couple of years? It seems like Key will be bursting at the seams in a few years.

Yes, it will. APS is backed into a corner with the Rosslyn/Courthouse area because it already has a lot of kids and more density is planned. The only property in the area was turned into HB Woodlawn and there really isn't another place to put a school (don't try to sell me on Dawson Terrace, it's not happening). The only real outlet is Taylor because Long Branch has it's own community and will experience growth from redevelopment as well. The problem with Taylor is that it's halfway across the county and inaccessible to families who live in the new developments being planned with incredibly low parking minimums with the county's blessing and encouragement. I don't know what we're going to see next - maybe an office building conversion will be more feasible if commercial real estate tanks? Acquiring a site would still be so so expensive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This makes all the heartache of last year pointless.

If this is what they were going to do Reed should have just been option. Saved us all this BS.

What a load of crap.

Seriously. Option 4: move Key Spanish Immersion to Reed

Or just move ATS to Reed.

Also a good option. I was just thinking less moves would be necessary this way.

This makes the most sense and allows for the ATS program to expand. It has a 600 person wait list so I think it could add an entire class to each grade thereby relieving overcrowding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I truly can't believe that all of these parents think their kids will be so traumatized by moving schools. Yes it is not ideal but this is part of life and if you support them and are confident in leading them through this transition they will be FINE and maybe even better off for having had to manage a transition while they have the support of their families. The amount that we try to prevent our kids from facing any type of difficulty is just really detrimental. And I don't see the pandemic being an excuse. Kids lives are already different. It's also like APS is like the parents, they can't stand for anyone to experience any feelings of disappointment. It's all really concerning. I never thought I would be one for not having community engagement, and I love living in Arlington and love my neighbors, but we clearly cannot be trusted to think of the community first so I wish we would just let the county decide.

My kids are going to be moved in this round and it's not ideal at all, given the timing, but I'm not completely upset about it. But I don't honestly think that all these people opposing school moves and boundary changes are actually concerned about kids. Plenty of people in Madison Manor and Dominion Hills opposed the McKinley move/split before the pandemic, even if they had no kids who would be moved. COVID just provided a great justification to keep fighting this fight. As another person upthread indicated, I think a lot of this is parents who see these issues in terms of winners and losers, there's a perception that other families have it better or easier and it breeds resentment. I'm sure there are some families who didn't want their kids to move away from friends, but there are also a lot of people who associate a walkable neighborhood school with increased property value, or a move to a different school with decreased property value. It just sounds better to say they're concerned about the kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I truly can't believe that all of these parents think their kids will be so traumatized by moving schools. Yes it is not ideal but this is part of life and if you support them and are confident in leading them through this transition they will be FINE and maybe even better off for having had to manage a transition while they have the support of their families. The amount that we try to prevent our kids from facing any type of difficulty is just really detrimental. And I don't see the pandemic being an excuse. Kids lives are already different. It's also like APS is like the parents, they can't stand for anyone to experience any feelings of disappointment. It's all really concerning. I never thought I would be one for not having community engagement, and I love living in Arlington and love my neighbors, but we clearly cannot be trusted to think of the community first so I wish we would just let the county decide.

Have you read the community input they posted? I guess the plan to not do anything makes more sense when you read the crazy responses they got. I think they should just ignore the obvious whiners, but they don't want to be caught out if the pandemic actually changes patterns, I guess.

https://www.apsva.us/engage/fall2020elementaryboundaries/#CommunityInput

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ashlawn is a great school. We have lots of friends there who love it. They have a global focus for their school specialization and they have a terrific reputation for special needs kids (unlike McKinley). They also have a school gardening program with a nearby non-profit community garden that they can walk to from school. Sounds great to me.

this is what i hear too. My PU is closer to Ashlawn than McK and the other parents want to go to Reed. I think it's stupid from a taxpayer perspective and would much prefer Ashlawn. I think they all have anxiety issues and control issues and are selfish ashols

[Anonymous]

I think now, during Covid, is the perfect time to move schools. Kids, many of them, won't see the inside of a school until Fall 2021. Do it. Make it logical. As a tax payer I want high prperty values and that usually occurs when the school is closest to the house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not a McKinley parent, but I don't have a problem with Reed not sitting inside its attendance zone. The school wasn't built in the right place - it was just built where they could get land. Why should Tuckahoe families go to an undercrowded school for years and then get to go to a brand new school? Why should they be better off than the rest of the county?

Since you aren't a McKinley parent, you actually don't seem to have the right information. The Reed location can be filled quite well with walking planning units. More students at McK live within walking distance of Reed than McK. The transportation costs of the school being in Westover instead of Madison Manor is significant. The problem is that folk who live near Wilson don't want to go to Ashlawn, so they are acting like babies.

You're missing my point. My issue isn't the McKinley parents who want to walk to Reed. My issue is the people who think a ton of Tuckahoe kids should go to Reed just because of its closer location. Tuckahoe should have been made an option school years ago. Those parents complained and prevented that logical decision from being made. Yet those same families are attacking McKinley parents for complaining now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I truly can't believe that all of these parents think their kids will be so traumatized by moving schools. Yes it is not ideal but this is part of life and if you support them and are confident in leading them through this transition they will be FINE and maybe even better off for having had to manage a transition while they have the support of their families. The amount that we try to prevent our kids from facing any type of difficulty is just really detrimental. And I don't see the pandemic being an excuse. Kids lives are already different. It's also like APS is like the parents, they can't stand for anyone to experience any feelings of disappointment. It's all really concerning. I never thought I would be one for not having community engagement, and I love living in Arlington and love my neighbors, but we clearly cannot be trusted to think of the community first so I wish we would just let the county decide.

Have you read the community input they posted? I guess the plan to not do anything makes more sense when you read the crazy responses they got. I think they should just ignore the obvious whiners, but they don't want to be caught out if the pandemic actually changes patterns, I guess.

https://www.apsva.us/engage/fall2020elementaryboundaries/#CommunityInput

Wow, thanks for posting that. I really feel sorry for the staff. Duran just needs to make the bold moves now and be done with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not a McKinley parent, but I don't have a problem with Reed not sitting inside its attendance zone. The school wasn't built in the right place - it was just built where they could get land. Why should Tuckahoe families go to an undercrowded school for years and then get to go to a brand new school? Why should they be better off than the rest of the county?

Since you aren't a McKinley parent, you actually don't seem to have the right information. The Reed location can be filled quite well with walking planning units. More students at McK live within walking distance of Reed than McK. The transportation costs of the school being in Westover instead of Madison Manor is significant. The problem is that folk who live near Wilson don't want to go to Ashlawn, so they are acting like babies.

You're missing my point. My issue isn't the McKinley parents who want to walk to Reed. My issue is the people who think a ton of Tuckahoe kids should go to Reed just because of its closer location. Tuckahoe should have been made an option school years ago. Those parents complained and prevented that logical decision from being made. Yet those same families are attacking McKinley parents for complaining now.

The people that can walk to Reed from Tuckahoe are NOT the ones that fought Tuckahoe being an option school. At this point, I don't think I want to deal with these whiny McK parents at my school. Leave me at Tuckahoe, but don't go and move me again in two years. Nothing will have changed at that point. Either do it now, or not at all. The current proposed boundaries don't make sense if you want to save money on bussing. Two PUs will have to be bussed to Tuckahoe (16060 and 16050) that could walk to Reed and 14010 and 14020 will need to be bussed regardless, so why not bus them to Tuckahoe instead of Reed. Superintendent sounds like he is leaning towards Option A, so all of McK won't be going to Reed anyway, so why not make that tweak and save some money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ashlawn is a great school. We have lots of friends there who love it. They have a global focus for their school specialization and they have a terrific reputation for special needs kids (unlike McKinley). They also have a school gardening program with a nearby non-profit community garden that they can walk to from school. Sounds great to me.

this is what i hear too. My PU is closer to Ashlawn than McK and the other parents want to go to Reed. I think it's stupid from a taxpayer perspective and would much prefer Ashlawn. I think they all have anxiety issues and control issues and are selfish ashols

Yup!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I truly can't believe that all of these parents think their kids will be so traumatized by moving schools. Yes it is not ideal but this is part of life and if you support them and are confident in leading them through this transition they will be FINE and maybe even better off for having had to manage a transition while they have the support of their families. The amount that we try to prevent our kids from facing any type of difficulty is just really detrimental. And I don't see the pandemic being an excuse. Kids lives are already different. It's also like APS is like the parents, they can't stand for anyone to experience any feelings of disappointment. It's all really concerning. I never thought I would be one for not having community engagement, and I love living in Arlington and love my neighbors, but we clearly cannot be trusted to think of the community first so I wish we would just let the county decide.

Have you read the community input they posted? I guess the plan to not do anything makes more sense when you read the crazy responses they got. I think they should just ignore the obvious whiners, but they don't want to be caught out if the pandemic actually changes patterns, I guess.

https://www.apsva.us/engage/fall2020elementaryboundaries/#CommunityInput

Wow, thanks for posting that. I really feel sorry for the staff. Duran just needs to make the bold moves now and be done with it.

The Tuckahoe kids who should go to Reed are the ones whose houses are IN THE SAME PLANNING UNIT as Reed. McKinley PTA doesn't want that b/c they are *censored words*

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I truly can't believe that all of these parents think their kids will be so traumatized by moving schools. Yes it is not ideal but this is part of life and if you support them and are confident in leading them through this transition they will be FINE and maybe even better off for having had to manage a transition while they have the support of their families. The amount that we try to prevent our kids from facing any type of difficulty is just really detrimental. And I don't see the pandemic being an excuse. Kids lives are already different. It's also like APS is like the parents, they can't stand for anyone to experience any feelings of disappointment. It's all really concerning. I never thought I would be one for not having community engagement, and I love living in Arlington and love my neighbors, but we clearly cannot be trusted to think of the community first so I wish we would just let the county decide.

My kids are going to be moved in this round and it's not ideal at all, given the timing, but I'm not completely upset about it. But I don't honestly think that all these people opposing school moves and boundary changes are actually concerned about kids. Plenty of people in Madison Manor and Dominion Hills opposed the McKinley move/split before the pandemic, even if they had no kids who would be moved. COVID just provided a great justification to keep fighting this fight. As another person upthread indicated, I think a lot of this is parents who see these issues in terms of winners and losers, there's a perception that other families have it better or easier and it breeds resentment. I'm sure there are some families who didn't want their kids to move away from friends, but there are also a lot of people who associate a walkable neighborhood school with increased property value, or a move to a different school with decreased property value. It just sounds better to say they're concerned about the kids.

Pp here and I think you're right on this. It's just really disappointing from a community perspective. It is so "me me me" and I wish we could all be a little more focused on the greater good, especially since they already lost their walkable school which I understand is a bummer. Sigh. Unfortunately it's not just an Arlington issue, I think this happens most places with boundary discussions, just very unfortunate and I wish the school board would just do what they need to do. Sorry your kids are going to be moved this round pp, I do understand it's a bummer and not ideal, but just think we have to roll with it.