What’s the distance from a school where they will not rezone you?

[Anonymous]

With all this redrawing the boundaries talk, is there a distance you live from a school where they will not be allowed to change your designated school? Like if you live on the same block as a school? If you’re considered a walker and don’t have an assigned bus? If you live within a half mile? Or is no one safe?

[Anonymous]

“Safe”

Try to embrace change.

[Anonymous]

Not in MCPS, but I live one block from the elementary school, 2-3 from middle and high. I'm in the zone. The next block past mine is not, and requires a bus to the middle and HS, even though they are less than a 10 minute walk. I'm definitely worried about redistricting.

[Anonymous]

I’m .10 miles from one school I was zoned out of and .6 from another. Both can be walked to very easily and rapidly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With all this redrawing the boundaries talk, is there a distance you live from a school where they will not be allowed to change your designated school? Like if you live on the same block as a school? If you’re considered a walker and don’t have an assigned bus? If you live within a half mile? Or is no one safe?

This is what they've been following for the past few years. They're trying to maximize walkers whenever possible.

[Anonymous]

We were rezoned a couple of years ago. Walk zone was left intact.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With all this redrawing the boundaries talk, is there a distance you live from a school where they will not be allowed to change your designated school? Like if you live on the same block as a school? If you’re considered a walker and don’t have an assigned bus? If you live within a half mile? Or is no one safe?

The apartment building that is adjacent to the playing fields of Westland middle school. So close, you don't have to cross a street to get there? It's zoned for Pyle. The kids ride a bus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With all this redrawing the boundaries talk, is there a distance you live from a school where they will not be allowed to change your designated school? Like if you live on the same block as a school? If you’re considered a walker and don’t have an assigned bus? If you live within a half mile? Or is no one safe?

"Safe"?

My house is now zoned for a different elementary school, a different middle school, and a different high school from when we moved in. It's still standing. We're still living in it. No disasters have happened.

[Anonymous]

We are 0.6 walking to our closest high school and 2.3 bus to our zoned high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With all this redrawing the boundaries talk, is there a distance you live from a school where they will not be allowed to change your designated school? Like if you live on the same block as a school? If you’re considered a walker and don’t have an assigned bus? If you live within a half mile? Or is no one safe?

Ask Horizon Hill neighborhood - who literally back up to Frost MS and Wootton HS and were re-zoned and bused to JW and RM 2-3 miles away.

It also lowered their home values by $50K at the time and about $100-$130K now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With all this redrawing the boundaries talk, is there a distance you live from a school where they will not be allowed to change your designated school? Like if you live on the same block as a school? If you’re considered a walker and don’t have an assigned bus? If you live within a half mile? Or is no one safe?

"Safe"?

My house is now zoned for a different elementary school, a different middle school, and a different high school from when we moved in. It's still standing. We're still living in it. No disasters have happened.

Ok, but some of us have kind of planned our lives around the situations we live in. Like we have a TH on a busy street with no off-street parking and a yard too small for a kid older than a toddler to play in, but that's okay, because the kids can walk to our entire school pyramid, play on the elementary school playground after school, and walk home from activities when older. If we got rezoned to a school across a highway, my kids would have to bus home and wouldn't be able to play outside with friends, or have after school activities when a parent needs the one family car to commute. So no, it's not a safety disaster, but if we got rezoned it would be enough of a hit to quality of life that I'd seriously consider moving, which we can't really afford right now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With all this redrawing the boundaries talk, is there a distance you live from a school where they will not be allowed to change your designated school? Like if you live on the same block as a school? If you’re considered a walker and don’t have an assigned bus? If you live within a half mile? Or is no one safe?

Ask Horizon Hill neighborhood - who literally back up to Frost MS and Wootton HS and were re-zoned and bused to JW and RM 2-3 miles away.

It also lowered their home values by $50K at the time and about $100-$130K now.

This happened in 1987. Y'all need to get over it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With all this redrawing the boundaries talk, is there a distance you live from a school where they will not be allowed to change your designated school? Like if you live on the same block as a school? If you’re considered a walker and don’t have an assigned bus? If you live within a half mile? Or is no one safe?

"Safe"?

My house is now zoned for a different elementary school, a different middle school, and a different high school from when we moved in. It's still standing. We're still living in it. No disasters have happened.

Ok, but some of us have kind of planned our lives around the situations we live in. Like we have a TH on a busy street with no off-street parking and a yard too small for a kid older than a toddler to play in, but that's okay, because the kids can walk to our entire school pyramid, play on the elementary school playground after school, and walk home from activities when older. If we got rezoned to a school across a highway, my kids would have to bus home and wouldn't be able to play outside with friends, or have after school activities when a parent needs the one family car to commute. So no, it's not a safety disaster, but if we got rezoned it would be enough of a hit to quality of life that I'd seriously consider moving, which we can't really afford right now.

In all of your plans, you also need to account for the possibility that circumstances might change. Any circumstances, not just school boundaries. When you buy a house, you buy the house; you don't buy the school.

[Anonymous]

In general, MCPS has said that they will try to preserve walk zones. So, if you live walking distance to a school, or would need to cross a significant barrier like a highway (particularly if the kids are younger), that should provide some consistency.

However, everyone needs to remember that the current boundaries were not handed down by G-d on the mountaintop. They are the result of specific geographic quirks, or a resistance to make big changes when a new school was built.

It's actually possible that boundary changes will increase the number of walk zones for many kids, if MCPS has the guts to just bite the bullet and do it all at once.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With all this redrawing the boundaries talk, is there a distance you live from a school where they will not be allowed to change your designated school? Like if you live on the same block as a school? If you’re considered a walker and don’t have an assigned bus? If you live within a half mile? Or is no one safe?

"Safe"?

My house is now zoned for a different elementary school, a different middle school, and a different high school from when we moved in. It's still standing. We're still living in it. No disasters have happened.

Ok, but some of us have kind of planned our lives around the situations we live in. Like we have a TH on a busy street with no off-street parking and a yard too small for a kid older than a toddler to play in, but that's okay, because the kids can walk to our entire school pyramid, play on the elementary school playground after school, and walk home from activities when older. If we got rezoned to a school across a highway, my kids would have to bus home and wouldn't be able to play outside with friends, or have after school activities when a parent needs the one family car to commute. So no, it's not a safety disaster, but if we got rezoned it would be enough of a hit to quality of life that I'd seriously consider moving, which we can't really afford right now.

Being a planner is useful to a point, but seriously don’t borrow trouble by worrying this much. If there is a change in school assignment it will be pretty rare that it affects homes so close to the schools like you. And it will be years in the making so you will have plenty of time to move if that’s important to you. There are going to be a lot of sudden changes in your kids’ lives that you don’t have control over so you will have to be flexible. This probably won’t be one of them though.