Westland and Pyle geographic zoning seems crazy?

[Anonymous]

I am investigating moving to the Westland/BCC district and noticing that a bunch of places in the Westbard and Kenwood area that are basically right next door to Westland but are zoned for Pyle. I mean these are dwellings that are literally a few hundred yards from Westland and three+ miles from Pyle but you have to take your kid out to Pyle? What’s up with that? Is there any flexibility?

I realize that both are good schools but it’s a plus for me to live walking distance from my kids school and I’d rather live closer in

[Anonymous]

Yes, there are a lot of boundaries like that in MCPS. If you want to live within walking distance of a school, then move to an address that is within walking distance of that school within that school's boundaries.

[Anonymous]

I think somehow it’s mathematically impossible to have everyone assigned to the closest school.

[Anonymous]

I am in one of those neighborhoods that is near Westland but feeds to Pyle. Luckily MCPS provides bus service so you don't need to take your kids to Pyle, or Westland, they can get there via the bus.

I went to Westland (actually Western at the time) and lived on the other side of Little Falls Pkwy and walked to school. So there are certainly walkable neighborhoods.

[Anonymous]

There is no flexibility. If you want to go to a certain school, you need to live within its boundaries. And keep in mind that those can change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think somehow it’s mathematically impossible to have everyone assigned to the closest school.

MCPS did a boundary analysis a few years back and found that If everyone were reassigned to the school closest to them, it would increase the numbers of both overcrowded and underutilized schools. And something like 20-25% of students would have to change schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think somehow it’s mathematically impossible to have everyone assigned to the closest school.

This. Until we tear every school down and rebuild it in the geographical center of its boundary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am in one of those neighborhoods that is near Westland but feeds to Pyle. Luckily MCPS provides bus service so you don't need to take your kids to Pyle, or Westland, they can get there via the bus.

I went to Westland (actually Western at the time) and lived on the other side of Little Falls Pkwy and walked to school. So there are certainly walkable neighborhoods.

Huh. Why did they bother changing the name from Western to Westland?

[Anonymous]

Yes, it's geographically bizarre and contributes to a lot of bus and car traffic in and around downtown Bethesda. It's stupid. But all in the name of socio-economic diversity, so...

We live closer to Pyle, but have to schlep all the way to Westland. I knew someone who lived right next to Westland and had to schlep all the way to Pyle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am investigating moving to the Westland/BCC district and noticing that a bunch of places in the Westbard and Kenwood area that are basically right next door to Westland but are zoned for Pyle. I mean these are dwellings that are literally a few hundred yards from Westland and three+ miles from Pyle but you have to take your kid out to Pyle? What’s up with that? Is there any flexibility?

I realize that both are good schools but it’s a plus for me to live walking distance from my kids school and I’d rather live closer in

Many of the boundaries in Western moco were horribly gerrymandered to exclude lower-income families decades ago when they were drawn. Unfortunately the Board of Education is reluctant to make the needed changes in the interest of fairness or simply reducing transportation costs because parents get worked into a lather every time changes are suggested.

[Anonymous]

Yep. We used to be zoned for Westland, but changed to the much closer Silver Creek in the last few years. This change made Westland less low-income, but makes SCMS more diverse, which is what our cluster wanted.

Move within the boundary of the school you want!

[Anonymous]

It's MCPS's cluster system. Pyle serves the Whitman cluster and Westland serves the BCC cluster. What makes it even more ridiculous is that Westland has more than 200 empty seats, and rather than rezone some nearby Pyle students there, MCPS recently opened an addition at Pyle to address overcrowding.

[Anonymous]

The name of the the school was changed from Western to Westland after they consolidated Western and Leland Middle Schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am in one of those neighborhoods that is near Westland but feeds to Pyle. Luckily MCPS provides bus service so you don't need to take your kids to Pyle, or Westland, they can get there via the bus.

I went to Westland (actually Western at the time) and lived on the other side of Little Falls Pkwy and walked to school. So there are certainly walkable neighborhoods.

Huh. Why did they bother changing the name from Western to Westland?

There used to be a middle school called Leland where the Jane Lawton Center is now but in the early 80s it was closed and merged into Western and Western becane Westland. (Then 40 years later Silver Lake was built).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's MCPS's cluster system. Pyle serves the Whitman cluster and Westland serves the BCC cluster. What makes it even more ridiculous is that Westland has more than 200 empty seats, and rather than rezone some nearby Pyle students there, MCPS recently opened an addition at Pyle to address overcrowding.

which is why MCPS should absolutely be looking at neighboring clusters for capacity planning. So stupid that they haven't been doing this.