School Board Forum on "Boundary and Capacity"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please fix the school boundaries in and around 20171. Thank you.

What’s broken? There are other zip codes where kids go to multiple schools.

20171 is Herndon.

20171 kids go to four different high schools (Chantily, Oakton, Westfield, and SLHS in Reston) but none of them are assigned to Herndon High.

Something is seriously messed up.

+1. And many go to Carson, which also feeds to all 4 HSs. Find me another quad feeder MS or ES in the county. I’ll wait.

The Carson boundaries feed into 3 high schools - Oakton, South Lakes, and Westfield. Some AAP students feed into Chantilly, and a very tiny number to Herndon.

If you're counting AAP students, Lake Braddock also feeds into 5 schools - base students feed only into Lake Braddock, but AAP students can go onto Robinson, West Springfield, Lewis, or Hayfield.

For base boundaries, Thoreau also feeds into 3 schools - Madison, Marshall, and Oakton.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some Franklin Farm kids need to be sent to Herndon. Franklin Middle needs to feed to Oakton.

Some Westfield and Chantilly kids need to be sent to Centerville (Virginia Run/Bull Run and Poplar Tree (make is a split feeder).

No and no. You have no idea what you are talking about.

First you say you would you send kids a mile or two from Chantilly and not far from Westfield to Herndon. And then you say send all of Franklin to Oakton. The non-Oakton piece of Franklin IS Franklin Farm.

So are you sending the kids who live the closest to Chantilly HS to Herndon or Oakton (45 minute rush hour commute)?

Not to poster to whom you’re responding, but curious as to who you think will get moved to Centreville since it’s now clear that at some level they’ve decided the solution to the overcrowding at Chantilly is to expand Centreville to 3000 (just as they previously, though incorrectly, decided the solution to overcrowding at McLean was to expand Langley to 2370).

I suggested Oakton because those parents would settle for that vs the other high school choices in the area. I mean, they could draw the boundary at 50 and all of Franklin could get shifted to Westfield. Because centreville is meant to relieve Westfield (bull run es/Virginia run es), leaving room to shift Chantilly kids to Westfield.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please fix the school boundaries in and around 20171. Thank you.

What’s broken? There are other zip codes where kids go to multiple schools.

Carson feeds to 4 HSs plus TJ. Parents still have a choice between Franklin AAP and Carson AAP, despite the Franklin program having been up and running (with great word of mouth) for a decade. A bunch of 20171 feeds to Chantilly, which is so overcrowded. And that’s just scratching the surface.

A slit feeder and a 4 way split feeder are very different things.

As a Carson parent to a non-AAP kid, I wish they would get rid of the AAP "center" there and send all of the Franklin kids back to their AAP program. Friends have said it's really good. Carson is no longer a "feeder" to TJ under the new admission policies, so let's get rid of that stigma, and get rid of all the hyper competitive, super rude Navy kids.

I’d like this too, and I’m Franklin zoned. But the answer we are always given is that Franklin doesn’t have the capacity to take so many kids back. Solution would be to move the Oakton kids out of Franklin. But again, that would be a boundary adjustment.

So, we live by Navy ES--what MS would we go to if not Franklin?

Luther Jackson is the first one that pops into my mind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some Franklin Farm kids need to be sent to Herndon. Franklin Middle needs to feed to Oakton.

Some Westfield and Chantilly kids need to be sent to Centerville (Virginia Run/Bull Run and Poplar Tree (make is a split feeder).

No and no. You have no idea what you are talking about.

First you say you would you send kids a mile or two from Chantilly and not far from Westfield to Herndon. And then you say send all of Franklin to Oakton. The non-Oakton piece of Franklin IS Franklin Farm.

So are you sending the kids who live the closest to Chantilly HS to Herndon or Oakton (45 minute rush hour commute)?

Not to poster to whom you’re responding, but curious as to who you think will get moved to Centreville since it’s now clear that at some level they’ve decided the solution to the overcrowding at Chantilly is to expand Centreville to 3000 (just as they previously, though incorrectly, decided the solution to overcrowding at McLean was to expand Langley to 2370).

I suggested Oakton because those parents would settle for that vs the other high school choices in the area. I mean, they could draw the boundary at 50 and all of Franklin could get shifted to Westfield. Because centreville is meant to relieve Westfield (bull run es/Virginia run es), leaving room to shift Chantilly kids to Westfield.

Chantilly is literally sitting on 50. That would move kids who live 1/4 mile from Chantilly in the neighborhoods right across the street on long bus rides. If they care about efficient use of busing, sending kids who are walkable on long bus rides ain’t ir. .

And no, Parents who live near Chantilly would not “settle” for their kids sitting on 66 for 45 minutes to get to school when there is an equally good high school a mile/ 5 minutes from their house. And that is not a commute I would let a high school aged driver do. I’d send my kids to Centreville or Westfield or apply for pupil placement to SLHS IB before I signed up to do more than an hour round trip for every sports pickup and after school activity. You have to draw a long, narrow rectangle with a ton of rush hour traffic going nowhere to make that boundary work. Would you send kids who live near the Vienna metro to Chantilly? Didn’t think so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some Franklin Farm kids need to be sent to Herndon. Franklin Middle needs to feed to Oakton.

Some Westfield and Chantilly kids need to be sent to Centerville (Virginia Run/Bull Run and Poplar Tree (make is a split feeder).

No and no. You have no idea what you are talking about.

First you say you would you send kids a mile or two from Chantilly and not far from Westfield to Herndon. And then you say send all of Franklin to Oakton. The non-Oakton piece of Franklin IS Franklin Farm.

So are you sending the kids who live the closest to Chantilly HS to Herndon or Oakton (45 minute rush hour commute)?

Not to poster to whom you’re responding, but curious as to who you think will get moved to Centreville since it’s now clear that at some level they’ve decided the solution to the overcrowding at Chantilly is to expand Centreville to 3000 (just as they previously, though incorrectly, decided the solution to overcrowding at McLean was to expand Langley to 2370).

I suggested Oakton because those parents would settle for that vs the other high school choices in the area. I mean, they could draw the boundary at 50 and all of Franklin could get shifted to Westfield. Because centreville is meant to relieve Westfield (bull run es/Virginia run es), leaving room to shift Chantilly kids to Westfield.

Chantilly is literally sitting on 50. That would move kids who live 1/4 mile from Chantilly in the neighborhoods right across the street on long bus rides. If they care about efficient use of busing, sending kids who are walkable on long bus rides ain’t ir. .

And no, Parents who live near Chantilly would not “settle” for their kids sitting on 66 for 45 minutes to get to school when there is an equally good high school a mile/ 5 minutes from their house. And that is not a commute I would let a high school aged driver do. I’d send my kids to Centreville or Westfield or apply for pupil placement to SLHS IB before I signed up to do more than an hour round trip for every sports pickup and after school activity. You have to draw a long, narrow rectangle with a ton of rush hour traffic going nowhere to make that boundary work. Would you send kids who live near the Vienna metro to Chantilly? Didn’t think so.

I'm happy to hear you are a parent open to that area moving to Westfields. We need more people like you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some Franklin Farm kids need to be sent to Herndon. Franklin Middle needs to feed to Oakton.

Some Westfield and Chantilly kids need to be sent to Centerville (Virginia Run/Bull Run and Poplar Tree (make is a split feeder).

No and no. You have no idea what you are talking about.

First you say you would you send kids a mile or two from Chantilly and not far from Westfield to Herndon. And then you say send all of Franklin to Oakton. The non-Oakton piece of Franklin IS Franklin Farm.

So are you sending the kids who live the closest to Chantilly HS to Herndon or Oakton (45 minute rush hour commute)?

Not to poster to whom you’re responding, but curious as to who you think will get moved to Centreville since it’s now clear that at some level they’ve decided the solution to the overcrowding at Chantilly is to expand Centreville to 3000 (just as they previously, though incorrectly, decided the solution to overcrowding at McLean was to expand Langley to 2370).

I suggested Oakton because those parents would settle for that vs the other high school choices in the area. I mean, they could draw the boundary at 50 and all of Franklin could get shifted to Westfield. Because centreville is meant to relieve Westfield (bull run es/Virginia run es), leaving room to shift Chantilly kids to Westfield.

Chantilly is literally sitting on 50. That would move kids who live 1/4 mile from Chantilly in the neighborhoods right across the street on long bus rides. If they care about efficient use of busing, sending kids who are walkable on long bus rides ain’t ir. .

And no, Parents who live near Chantilly would not “settle” for their kids sitting on 66 for 45 minutes to get to school when there is an equally good high school a mile/ 5 minutes from their house. And that is not a commute I would let a high school aged driver do. I’d send my kids to Centreville or Westfield or apply for pupil placement to SLHS IB before I signed up to do more than an hour round trip for every sports pickup and after school activity. You have to draw a long, narrow rectangle with a ton of rush hour traffic going nowhere to make that boundary work. Would you send kids who live near the Vienna metro to Chantilly? Didn’t think so.

I'm happy to hear you are a parent open to that area moving to Westfields. We need more people like you.

“We need more parents like you” willing to tear entire communities apart and potentially hurt their own property values and totally upend their kids’ lives to save the county a little bit of gas money.

Like it or not, redistricting has major impacts to communities, that’s why it gets done only on the margins.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some Franklin Farm kids need to be sent to Herndon. Franklin Middle needs to feed to Oakton.

Some Westfield and Chantilly kids need to be sent to Centerville (Virginia Run/Bull Run and Poplar Tree (make is a split feeder).

No and no. You have no idea what you are talking about.

First you say you would you send kids a mile or two from Chantilly and not far from Westfield to Herndon. And then you say send all of Franklin to Oakton. The non-Oakton piece of Franklin IS Franklin Farm.

So are you sending the kids who live the closest to Chantilly HS to Herndon or Oakton (45 minute rush hour commute)?

Not to poster to whom you’re responding, but curious as to who you think will get moved to Centreville since it’s now clear that at some level they’ve decided the solution to the overcrowding at Chantilly is to expand Centreville to 3000 (just as they previously, though incorrectly, decided the solution to overcrowding at McLean was to expand Langley to 2370).

I suggested Oakton because those parents would settle for that vs the other high school choices in the area. I mean, they could draw the boundary at 50 and all of Franklin could get shifted to Westfield. Because centreville is meant to relieve Westfield (bull run es/Virginia run es), leaving room to shift Chantilly kids to Westfield.

Why would you shift Westfield kids to Centreville in order to shift Chantilly to Westfield when you could just…reach across 29 and move Chantilly kids to Centreville? Bull Run ES goes to Centreville already. Virginia Run’s boundaries run all the way to 50…nearer Chantilly, not Centreville. And shifting the feeder middle schools makes no sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some Franklin Farm kids need to be sent to Herndon. Franklin Middle needs to feed to Oakton.

Some Westfield and Chantilly kids need to be sent to Centerville (Virginia Run/Bull Run and Poplar Tree (make is a split feeder).

No and no. You have no idea what you are talking about.

First you say you would you send kids a mile or two from Chantilly and not far from Westfield to Herndon. And then you say send all of Franklin to Oakton. The non-Oakton piece of Franklin IS Franklin Farm.

So are you sending the kids who live the closest to Chantilly HS to Herndon or Oakton (45 minute rush hour commute)?

Not to poster to whom you’re responding, but curious as to who you think will get moved to Centreville since it’s now clear that at some level they’ve decided the solution to the overcrowding at Chantilly is to expand Centreville to 3000 (just as they previously, though incorrectly, decided the solution to overcrowding at McLean was to expand Langley to 2370).

I suggested Oakton because those parents would settle for that vs the other high school choices in the area. I mean, they could draw the boundary at 50 and all of Franklin could get shifted to Westfield. Because centreville is meant to relieve Westfield (bull run es/Virginia run es), leaving room to shift Chantilly kids to Westfield.

Chantilly is literally sitting on 50. That would move kids who live 1/4 mile from Chantilly in the neighborhoods right across the street on long bus rides. If they care about efficient use of busing, sending kids who are walkable on long bus rides ain’t ir. .

And no, Parents who live near Chantilly would not “settle” for their kids sitting on 66 for 45 minutes to get to school when there is an equally good high school a mile/ 5 minutes from their house. And that is not a commute I would let a high school aged driver do. I’d send my kids to Centreville or Westfield or apply for pupil placement to SLHS IB before I signed up to do more than an hour round trip for every sports pickup and after school activity. You have to draw a long, narrow rectangle with a ton of rush hour traffic going nowhere to make that boundary work. Would you send kids who live near the Vienna metro to Chantilly? Didn’t think so.

I'm happy to hear you are a parent open to that area moving to Westfields. We need more people like you.

I’m the PP. I haven’t seen anything wrong with Westfields. My kid was Oak Hill to Chantilly. But, has a lot of ES friends who went to Westfields. Parents are buying the million dollars homes zoned for Westfields. And the kids who were at the top of the pack in 6th grade Oak Hill AAP and 8th grade Carson AAP (and didn’t go to TJ) seemed ended up at the same range of colleges, whether they went to Chantilly or Westfields. Amd are both doing well once they get there. The biggest benefit of Chantilly is hosting the Academy. Otherwise, Westfields seems to do fine by top students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some Franklin Farm kids need to be sent to Herndon. Franklin Middle needs to feed to Oakton.

Some Westfield and Chantilly kids need to be sent to Centerville (Virginia Run/Bull Run and Poplar Tree (make is a split feeder).

No and no. You have no idea what you are talking about.

First you say you would you send kids a mile or two from Chantilly and not far from Westfield to Herndon. And then you say send all of Franklin to Oakton. The non-Oakton piece of Franklin IS Franklin Farm.

So are you sending the kids who live the closest to Chantilly HS to Herndon or Oakton (45 minute rush hour commute)?

Not to poster to whom you’re responding, but curious as to who you think will get moved to Centreville since it’s now clear that at some level they’ve decided the solution to the overcrowding at Chantilly is to expand Centreville to 3000 (just as they previously, though incorrectly, decided the solution to overcrowding at McLean was to expand Langley to 2370).

I suggested Oakton because those parents would settle for that vs the other high school choices in the area. I mean, they could draw the boundary at 50 and all of Franklin could get shifted to Westfield. Because centreville is meant to relieve Westfield (bull run es/Virginia run es), leaving room to shift Chantilly kids to Westfield.

Chantilly is literally sitting on 50. That would move kids who live 1/4 mile from Chantilly in the neighborhoods right across the street on long bus rides. If they care about efficient use of busing, sending kids who are walkable on long bus rides ain’t ir. .

And no, Parents who live near Chantilly would not “settle” for their kids sitting on 66 for 45 minutes to get to school when there is an equally good high school a mile/ 5 minutes from their house. And that is not a commute I would let a high school aged driver do. I’d send my kids to Centreville or Westfield or apply for pupil placement to SLHS IB before I signed up to do more than an hour round trip for every sports pickup and after school activity. You have to draw a long, narrow rectangle with a ton of rush hour traffic going nowhere to make that boundary work. Would you send kids who live near the Vienna metro to Chantilly? Didn’t think so.

I'm happy to hear you are a parent open to that area moving to Westfields. We need more people like you.

“We need more parents like you” willing to tear entire communities apart and potentially hurt their own property values and totally upend their kids’ lives to save the county a little bit of gas money.

Like it or not, redistricting has major impacts to communities, that’s why it gets done only on the margins.

Okay Drama Llama, Take a breath. If anything, split feeders like Oak Hill and Carson hurt the sense of community a lot more than sending all Oak Hill kids to the same MS and HS. And housing values in Westfield are holding their own. Current students should obviously be grandfathered in. But how are kids lives being upended by going with kids in their neighborhood, who are sitting ES and MS classes to Westfields instead of Chantilly? If anything, it’s easier socially not to have most of your good friends in MS attending a different HS than you.

And it’s not just saving the county bus money. Although that’s kinda rich, given I responded to a post saying these kids should go to Oakton. You realize that does not save the county bus money, right. But, if the county were saving bus money, it would also save me bus money and, more importantly my kid and myself time. And extra hour or more a day out oftheir day to be bussed and my day for EC pickups adds up fast.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some Franklin Farm kids need to be sent to Herndon. Franklin Middle needs to feed to Oakton.

Some Westfield and Chantilly kids need to be sent to Centerville (Virginia Run/Bull Run and Poplar Tree (make is a split feeder).

No and no. You have no idea what you are talking about.

First you say you would you send kids a mile or two from Chantilly and not far from Westfield to Herndon. And then you say send all of Franklin to Oakton. The non-Oakton piece of Franklin IS Franklin Farm.

So are you sending the kids who live the closest to Chantilly HS to Herndon or Oakton (45 minute rush hour commute)?

Not to poster to whom you’re responding, but curious as to who you think will get moved to Centreville since it’s now clear that at some level they’ve decided the solution to the overcrowding at Chantilly is to expand Centreville to 3000 (just as they previously, though incorrectly, decided the solution to overcrowding at McLean was to expand Langley to 2370).

I suggested Oakton because those parents would settle for that vs the other high school choices in the area. I mean, they could draw the boundary at 50 and all of Franklin could get shifted to Westfield. Because centreville is meant to relieve Westfield (bull run es/Virginia run es), leaving room to shift Chantilly kids to Westfield.

Why would you shift Westfield kids to Centreville in order to shift Chantilly to Westfield when you could just…reach across 29 and move Chantilly kids to Centreville? Bull Run ES goes to Centreville already. Virginia Run’s boundaries run all the way to 50…nearer Chantilly, not Centreville. And shifting the feeder middle schools makes no sense.

+1. I suspect we have a poster who is lashing out at any Western County boundary adjustment, because it will involve Langley. Because at least on very militant poster has no understanding of boundaries as they stand how. See also, accusing Chantilly parents of wanting to “save the county bus money” by not moving kids to Oakton, which is a much longer commute.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:On another thread, but equally relevant to this one:

From Kyle McDaniel, one of the new at-large members:

"On February 13th, the School Board will hold a work session to discuss a path forward that addresses significant gaps in existing policies, and creates a roadmap for a division wide boundary adjustment. In my comments last night, I stated that I will not support any more one-off boundary changes until we overhaul these flawed policies, and implement a County-wide boundary study to fix the overcrowding that has plagued our schools for decades."

These newbies are not ready for the blowback. They should ask some of the folks who were on the school board back in 2019 how this is going to go for them.

Hasn't he been on the school board before?

McDaniel ran for the School Board in 2019 and lost to Cohen. The other two at-large members (Moon and McElveen) are returnees.

Right now they are setting themselves up for a battle royale, because they are promising big changes (the first county-wide boundary revisions since the mid-1980s), and suggesting it's going to be based primarily on recommendations from FCPS staff or third-party consultants. But assigned that task, the FCPS staff or third-party consultants will insist that the School Board not only identify the relevant criteria, but prioritize them. The fingers will be pointing in every which direction.

And once any priority is identified that could lead to moving anyone out of one school in particular - Langley - they'll be met with a tidal wave of opposition from an outspoken and wealthy community that wants their kids at Langley, and Langley alone, and will denounce their perceived opponents as "social engineers," etc.

It's possible the new Board won't wilt like the prior Board did in 2018-19 after all, there is more precedent now to suggest that Democrats on the School Board can do whatever they want and get re-elected to the School Board or elected to higher office. They could also launch their own PR effort to basically portray the Langley parents leading the opposition (not all Langley parents, but the ones who were previously behind "One Great Falls" and "Voices of Fairfax" and could be expected to rear their heads again) as elitist, out-of-touch, MAGA types. And, given that the overcrowding at some schools may have gone on even longer by the time they get around to this, there may be broader support for a comprehensive review (although the survey results from the consultant that was hired suggest parents just want more additions and renovations, which of course costs more money, and not boundary changes).

But it won't be pretty, and it won't be easy.

I for one am done voting yes to every referendum asking for funding towards FCPS facilities, just because well-off parents are throwing hissy fits over their demands for unnecessary luxury renovations. The level of disparity is too far gone now. Some pyramids got very lucky in the past half decade but I'm frustrated that we would effectively subsidize the wealthiest communities at the cost of the poorest.

Bond referenda always pass and when you vote against one people just think you don't want to pay taxes, not that you're concerned with how money may have been allocated in the past.

Meals Tax failed. I wouldn’t assume people will just blindly vote to fund schools forever.

Fairfax is a heavily Democratic county and school bonds pass by large margins. I believe the percentage who voted in favor of the 2023 bond was down slightly from 2021, but it still passed easily, including in areas where no schools were getting any funding.

They pass, but should they? Perhaps one defeat would send a message to the School Board that they need to be better stewards of taxpayer money. But the limousine liberals (this county is at least 65% Democrats) in this county would rather spend taxpayer money to expand their schools than to ever be redistricted to the poorer schools. So nothing will change.

My God, do you just spend all day parroting the same thing on multiple threads?

Fairfax actually lost residents and students in the last several years. Expanding high schools when there is space available at other schools is just bad management. There are local space problems in parts of the county, but a comprehensive boundary change could help solve that. FCPS refusing to move students to schools like Mt. Vernon was an extra signal to parents that the school system doesn't even have faith in certain schools. Therefore, residents that do want to live in Fairfax stuff themselves into particular schools and overcrowd them. Then demand expansion. Tough decisions need to be made.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some Franklin Farm kids need to be sent to Herndon. Franklin Middle needs to feed to Oakton.

Some Westfield and Chantilly kids need to be sent to Centerville (Virginia Run/Bull Run and Poplar Tree (make is a split feeder).

No and no. You have no idea what you are talking about.

First you say you would you send kids a mile or two from Chantilly and not far from Westfield to Herndon. And then you say send all of Franklin to Oakton. The non-Oakton piece of Franklin IS Franklin Farm.

So are you sending the kids who live the closest to Chantilly HS to Herndon or Oakton (45 minute rush hour commute)?

Not to poster to whom you’re responding, but curious as to who you think will get moved to Centreville since it’s now clear that at some level they’ve decided the solution to the overcrowding at Chantilly is to expand Centreville to 3000 (just as they previously, though incorrectly, decided the solution to overcrowding at McLean was to expand Langley to 2370).

I suggested Oakton because those parents would settle for that vs the other high school choices in the area. I mean, they could draw the boundary at 50 and all of Franklin could get shifted to Westfield. Because centreville is meant to relieve Westfield (bull run es/Virginia run es), leaving room to shift Chantilly kids to Westfield.

Chantilly is literally sitting on 50. That would move kids who live 1/4 mile from Chantilly in the neighborhoods right across the street on long bus rides. If they care about efficient use of busing, sending kids who are walkable on long bus rides ain’t ir. .

And no, Parents who live near Chantilly would not “settle” for their kids sitting on 66 for 45 minutes to get to school when there is an equally good high school a mile/ 5 minutes from their house. And that is not a commute I would let a high school aged driver do. I’d send my kids to Centreville or Westfield or apply for pupil placement to SLHS IB before I signed up to do more than an hour round trip for every sports pickup and after school activity. You have to draw a long, narrow rectangle with a ton of rush hour traffic going nowhere to make that boundary work. Would you send kids who live near the Vienna metro to Chantilly? Didn’t think so.

I'm happy to hear you are a parent open to that area moving to Westfields. We need more people like you.

“We need more parents like you” willing to tear entire communities apart and potentially hurt their own property values and totally upend their kids’ lives to save the county a little bit of gas money.

Like it or not, redistricting has major impacts to communities, that’s why it gets done only on the margins.

Have you considered the existence of tens of thousands of kids and their families whose property values have already been plummetting and that currently attend failing schools within FCPS? All because we deliberately concentrate them. Roughly 10 of our 25 pyramids are below the Virginia average performance based on SAT. Property value should be a moot point anyway, but the fact that we have so many failing schools is indefensible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some Franklin Farm kids need to be sent to Herndon. Franklin Middle needs to feed to Oakton.

Some Westfield and Chantilly kids need to be sent to Centerville (Virginia Run/Bull Run and Poplar Tree (make is a split feeder).

No and no. You have no idea what you are talking about.

First you say you would you send kids a mile or two from Chantilly and not far from Westfield to Herndon. And then you say send all of Franklin to Oakton. The non-Oakton piece of Franklin IS Franklin Farm.

So are you sending the kids who live the closest to Chantilly HS to Herndon or Oakton (45 minute rush hour commute)?

Not to poster to whom you’re responding, but curious as to who you think will get moved to Centreville since it’s now clear that at some level they’ve decided the solution to the overcrowding at Chantilly is to expand Centreville to 3000 (just as they previously, though incorrectly, decided the solution to overcrowding at McLean was to expand Langley to 2370).

I suggested Oakton because those parents would settle for that vs the other high school choices in the area. I mean, they could draw the boundary at 50 and all of Franklin could get shifted to Westfield. Because centreville is meant to relieve Westfield (bull run es/Virginia run es), leaving room to shift Chantilly kids to Westfield.

Chantilly is literally sitting on 50. That would move kids who live 1/4 mile from Chantilly in the neighborhoods right across the street on long bus rides. If they care about efficient use of busing, sending kids who are walkable on long bus rides ain’t ir. .

And no, Parents who live near Chantilly would not “settle” for their kids sitting on 66 for 45 minutes to get to school when there is an equally good high school a mile/ 5 minutes from their house. And that is not a commute I would let a high school aged driver do. I’d send my kids to Centreville or Westfield or apply for pupil placement to SLHS IB before I signed up to do more than an hour round trip for every sports pickup and after school activity. You have to draw a long, narrow rectangle with a ton of rush hour traffic going nowhere to make that boundary work. Would you send kids who live near the Vienna metro to Chantilly? Didn’t think so.

I'm happy to hear you are a parent open to that area moving to Westfields. We need more people like you.

“We need more parents like you” willing to tear entire communities apart and potentially hurt their own property values and totally upend their kids’ lives to save the county a little bit of gas money.

Like it or not, redistricting has major impacts to communities, that’s why it gets done only on the margins.

Have you considered the existence of tens of thousands of kids and their families whose property values have already been plummetting and that currently attend failing schools within FCPS? All because we deliberately concentrate them. Roughly 10 of our 25 pyramids are below the Virginia average performance based on SAT. Property value should be a moot point anyway, but the fact that we have so many failing schools is indefensible.

25 years ago all the FCPS pyramids were above average for the state (except for maybe one or two). I think the housing stock in some of the older neighborhoods may no longer be appealing. Also some of the apartment communities are probably due for long needed investments if not complete rebuilds.

Interestingly, Pimmit Hills is an exception to this trend. The neighborhood has undergone a complete transformation during the same time period. The Marshall HS pyramid is also now very desirable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:On another thread, but equally relevant to this one:

From Kyle McDaniel, one of the new at-large members:

"On February 13th, the School Board will hold a work session to discuss a path forward that addresses significant gaps in existing policies, and creates a roadmap for a division wide boundary adjustment. In my comments last night, I stated that I will not support any more one-off boundary changes until we overhaul these flawed policies, and implement a County-wide boundary study to fix the overcrowding that has plagued our schools for decades."

These newbies are not ready for the blowback. They should ask some of the folks who were on the school board back in 2019 how this is going to go for them.

Hasn't he been on the school board before?

McDaniel ran for the School Board in 2019 and lost to Cohen. The other two at-large members (Moon and McElveen) are returnees.

Right now they are setting themselves up for a battle royale, because they are promising big changes (the first county-wide boundary revisions since the mid-1980s), and suggesting it's going to be based primarily on recommendations from FCPS staff or third-party consultants. But assigned that task, the FCPS staff or third-party consultants will insist that the School Board not only identify the relevant criteria, but prioritize them. The fingers will be pointing in every which direction.

And once any priority is identified that could lead to moving anyone out of one school in particular - Langley - they'll be met with a tidal wave of opposition from an outspoken and wealthy community that wants their kids at Langley, and Langley alone, and will denounce their perceived opponents as "social engineers," etc.

It's possible the new Board won't wilt like the prior Board did in 2018-19 after all, there is more precedent now to suggest that Democrats on the School Board can do whatever they want and get re-elected to the School Board or elected to higher office. They could also launch their own PR effort to basically portray the Langley parents leading the opposition (not all Langley parents, but the ones who were previously behind "One Great Falls" and "Voices of Fairfax" and could be expected to rear their heads again) as elitist, out-of-touch, MAGA types. And, given that the overcrowding at some schools may have gone on even longer by the time they get around to this, there may be broader support for a comprehensive review (although the survey results from the consultant that was hired suggest parents just want more additions and renovations, which of course costs more money, and not boundary changes).

But it won't be pretty, and it won't be easy.

I for one am done voting yes to every referendum asking for funding towards FCPS facilities, just because well-off parents are throwing hissy fits over their demands for unnecessary luxury renovations. The level of disparity is too far gone now. Some pyramids got very lucky in the past half decade but I'm frustrated that we would effectively subsidize the wealthiest communities at the cost of the poorest.

Bond referenda always pass and when you vote against one people just think you don't want to pay taxes, not that you're concerned with how money may have been allocated in the past.

Meals Tax failed. I wouldn’t assume people will just blindly vote to fund schools forever.

Fairfax is a heavily Democratic county and school bonds pass by large margins. I believe the percentage who voted in favor of the 2023 bond was down slightly from 2021, but it still passed easily, including in areas where no schools were getting any funding.

They pass, but should they? Perhaps one defeat would send a message to the School Board that they need to be better stewards of taxpayer money. But the limousine liberals (this county is at least 65% Democrats) in this county would rather spend taxpayer money to expand their schools than to ever be redistricted to the poorer schools. So nothing will change.

My God, do you just spend all day parroting the same thing on multiple threads?

Fairfax actually lost residents and students in the last several years. Expanding high schools when there is space available at other schools is just bad management. There are local space problems in parts of the county, but a comprehensive boundary change could help solve that. FCPS refusing to move students to schools like Mt. Vernon was an extra signal to parents that the school system doesn't even have faith in certain schools. Therefore, residents that do want to live in Fairfax stuff themselves into particular schools and overcrowd them. Then demand expansion. Tough decisions need to be made.

Fairfax is a big, congested county. In the past, FCPS closed schools in eastern Fairfax at the same time as it was opening new schools in western Fairfax. Now the areas that are growing are scattered around the county, and it may make more sense to expand some schools than redraw all the boundaries.

The fact that Kyle McDaniel, who lives in the Oakton district, is calling for county-wide boundary changes makes me laugh. This guy sure wasn’t complaining when Oakton got a huge renovation and expansion just a few years ago.

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Anonymous wrote:Some Franklin Farm kids need to be sent to Herndon. Franklin Middle needs to feed to Oakton.

Some Westfield and Chantilly kids need to be sent to Centerville (Virginia Run/Bull Run and Poplar Tree (make is a split feeder).

No and no. You have no idea what you are talking about.

First you say you would you send kids a mile or two from Chantilly and not far from Westfield to Herndon. And then you say send all of Franklin to Oakton. The non-Oakton piece of Franklin IS Franklin Farm.

So are you sending the kids who live the closest to Chantilly HS to Herndon or Oakton (45 minute rush hour commute)?

Not to poster to whom you’re responding, but curious as to who you think will get moved to Centreville since it’s now clear that at some level they’ve decided the solution to the overcrowding at Chantilly is to expand Centreville to 3000 (just as they previously, though incorrectly, decided the solution to overcrowding at McLean was to expand Langley to 2370).

I suggested Oakton because those parents would settle for that vs the other high school choices in the area. I mean, they could draw the boundary at 50 and all of Franklin could get shifted to Westfield. Because centreville is meant to relieve Westfield (bull run es/Virginia run es), leaving room to shift Chantilly kids to Westfield.

Chantilly is literally sitting on 50. That would move kids who live 1/4 mile from Chantilly in the neighborhoods right across the street on long bus rides. If they care about efficient use of busing, sending kids who are walkable on long bus rides ain’t ir. .

And no, Parents who live near Chantilly would not “settle” for their kids sitting on 66 for 45 minutes to get to school when there is an equally good high school a mile/ 5 minutes from their house. And that is not a commute I would let a high school aged driver do. I’d send my kids to Centreville or Westfield or apply for pupil placement to SLHS IB before I signed up to do more than an hour round trip for every sports pickup and after school activity. You have to draw a long, narrow rectangle with a ton of rush hour traffic going nowhere to make that boundary work. Would you send kids who live near the Vienna metro to Chantilly? Didn’t think so.

I'm happy to hear you are a parent open to that area moving to Westfields. We need more people like you.

“We need more parents like you” willing to tear entire communities apart and potentially hurt their own property values and totally upend their kids’ lives to save the county a little bit of gas money.

Like it or not, redistricting has major impacts to communities, that’s why it gets done only on the margins.

Have you considered the existence of tens of thousands of kids and their families whose property values have already been plummetting and that currently attend failing schools within FCPS? All because we deliberately concentrate them. Roughly 10 of our 25 pyramids are below the Virginia average performance based on SAT. Property value should be a moot point anyway, but the fact that we have so many failing schools is indefensible.

It’s a stretch to call a school “failing” merely because its SAT scores are below the county average. They may be doing a great job with the kids at those schools, taking into account their educational backgrounds.