APS Boundaries Work Session Watch Thread

[Anonymous]

MM and DH lost their walkable school. Westover, TLH and HPOK gained a walkable school. Populations change and the school alignments should change with it. Reed used to be a neighborhood school back in the day and it shut down when the population shifted. The area came back full of kids and it made more sense to have the school there. Someone is always going to whine when they lose a neighborhood school. That doesn't mean you should make policy changes based on not upsetting loud parents when you could fix the boundary chaos of 22205.

[Anonymous]

yeah, the whole 'i can't move b/c of the pandemic' is ridiculous. And I say this as someone who is in a PU that is moved on some options and not moved in others. School is already so disrupted, in some ways its the ideal time to move.
I do, however, see the argument about 'our numbers are crap b/c of the pandemic and we don't know what this is going to do to us in 2 years.' That is the better arg for doing the stupid move McKinley is promoting (option b). I just hope that they put it in writing that moving from McKinley to Reed does not count as a move for purposes of not moving in 5 years.
I also have a lot of sympathy for the families with younger kids around Reed who should be starting at Reed, but will be bused to Tuckahoe, families with younger kids in the Ashlawn tail who should go to ASFS, but will stay at Ashlawn, etc.

[Anonymous]

^^ We are in a PU that is at McK and is slated to go Glebe in the original move. The parents in this PU are trying to get switched to Reed. All of the old people in the neighborhood did a school transfer to Glebe b/c it was closer and because they are both equal schools.
Also, when people move to this neighborhood, they think they'll go to glebe b/c their house and glebe are on the google map together.

Rip off the bandaid!

[Anonymous]

McK PTA is using the pandemic numbers to justify moving into the school. That's stupid. Those families will be back and the school will be oversubscribed on day one. Meanwhile, teh families in the neighborhood who weren't already Cardinals won't be able to get in.

[Anonymous]

I support Duran's plan to do the limited boundary change now. We're in a pandemic and many kids are struggling with isolation. At least seeing familiar faces online helps a little. Plus we're not likely to be back in school next year (or at least not full time) and PTAs aren't likely to be able to hold large in person events that help build new communities when boundaries change. I understand that some of you with preschool kids are not thrilled that you might have to move boundaries in 1st or 2nd grade under this plan, but that might have happened anyway. If a choice program moves up from the south, that will impact every school in north Arlington. And with Cristina or Dave or Symone get on the board, we are likely to be looking a lot more closely at demographics and the potential for more busing and more choice schools (at least with Cristina on the SB). Duran is doing the minimum now to give himself time to learn the APS system and implement bigger changes once the pandemic passes. Families with preschool kids who recently paid crazy prices for north Arlington homes in order to be guaranteed certain schools-- well, you didn't do your due diligence. Nothing is guaranteed right now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I support Duran's plan to do the limited boundary change now. We're in a pandemic and many kids are struggling with isolation. At least seeing familiar faces online helps a little. Plus we're not likely to be back in school next year (or at least not full time) and PTAs aren't likely to be able to hold large in person events that help build new communities when boundaries change. I understand that some of you with preschool kids are not thrilled that you might have to move boundaries in 1st or 2nd grade under this plan, but that might have happened anyway. If a choice program moves up from the south, that will impact every school in north Arlington. And with Cristina or Dave or Symone get on the board, we are likely to be looking a lot more closely at demographics and the potential for more busing and more choice schools (at least with Cristina on the SB). Duran is doing the minimum now to give himself time to learn the APS system and implement bigger changes once the pandemic passes. Families with preschool kids who recently paid crazy prices for north Arlington homes in order to be guaranteed certain schools-- well, you didn't do your due diligence. Nothing is guaranteed right now.

Right, but this rationale doesn't support limited boundary changes. The isolation issues are going to be that much worse for the kids who get moved in these tiny pockets without knowing anyone at their new school, particularly if we start in virtual or hybrid next year. If this is a consideration, the right thing to do is no moves, comprehensive moves, or some sort of ability to choose to stay with your current school, particularly for kids in the latter half of elementary. Not moving individual planning units here and there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

Yes the pandemic is THE TIME!!! Not a barrier.

[Anonymous]

I've been looking more and really do like Option A. Nothing is going to be perfect and there's never a "good time". Given the school moves, these tweaks to boundaries seem reasonable and targeted to be limited so what makes.

[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.

This is why TT revisited the idea of Key and ASFS becoming upper and lower elementary schools. That seems a reasonable thing to consider at this point.

[Anonymous]

Option B is garbage. Option A is Ok, but I would still switch the one Glebe triangle to Reed and pull out 14090 and maybe 14080

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Yes the pandemic is THE TIME!!! Not a barrier.

Absolutely agree. It's the perfect time, considering "community" is so weak right now.

[Anonymous]

For those who may not have streamed the entire thing, at the very end, Duran said he would prefer Option A. I don't remember seeing that mentioned upthread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

This is why TT revisited the idea of Key and ASFS becoming upper and lower elementary schools. That seems a reasonable thing to consider at this point.

They should do that for other schools that are super close together too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I support Duran's plan to do the limited boundary change now. We're in a pandemic and many kids are struggling with isolation. At least seeing familiar faces online helps a little. Plus we're not likely to be back in school next year (or at least not full time) and PTAs aren't likely to be able to hold large in person events that help build new communities when boundaries change. I understand that some of you with preschool kids are not thrilled that you might have to move boundaries in 1st or 2nd grade under this plan, but that might have happened anyway. If a choice program moves up from the south, that will impact every school in north Arlington. And with Cristina or Dave or Symone get on the board, we are likely to be looking a lot more closely at demographics and the potential for more busing and more choice schools (at least with Cristina on the SB). Duran is doing the minimum now to give himself time to learn the APS system and implement bigger changes once the pandemic passes. Families with preschool kids who recently paid crazy prices for north Arlington homes in order to be guaranteed certain schools-- well, you didn't do your due diligence. Nothing is guaranteed right now.

It, therefore, won't matter where they go to school. Use 2019-2020 numbers, of course.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

This is why TT revisited the idea of Key and ASFS becoming upper and lower elementary schools. That seems a reasonable thing to consider at this point.

They should do that for other schools that are super close together too.

Arlington Mass has a entire school for just the 6th grade.