FCPS is turning the new high school purchased to fix crowding into an Aviation magnet school instead of a high school??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yet Chantilly, Westfield, and apparently now Oakton are still in or on the brink of capacity issues. Sure, it looks like we've got a little covid dip in the numbers coming up in elementary schools, but banking on a once-a-century pandemic to keep the numbers down long term doesn't seem like sound planning advice.

Yet Herndon has hundreds of vacant seats and enrollments are coming down (over 4000 down this year) and expected to continue to decline for reasons beyond Covid.

And what happens to the planned Centreville expansion now? Is it cancelled? Why isn't that part of the discussion?

The crowded schools and under capacity schools are the ones that should be targeted for boundary change. The problem is everyone is fighting to not be moved to the under-capacity schools. Suggest that people be moved to Herndon, Lewis, or Mt Vernon and watch people flip out.

People are fighting to not be moved while arguing other people should be moved because of open spaces and to relieve crowding, just not them. That is the cycle we are in.

KAA can reduce the overcrowding and should be used as the reason for shifting multiple groups of kids at the same time. It sucks for the kids who are moved but it is happening to everyone at the same time for the same reason. Kids should be moved to Herndon to use those spots. The spiffy new program should be put at Herndon to encourage kids to attend Herndon.

Centerville should not be expanded because there are spaces in the area that can be filled. Everyone is fine with that idea as long as their kid isn't moved.

I don't know what to make of most of your post, other than that you're fine with a lot of boundary changes that would inconvenience other people so long as the Carson folks get what they want, but the bolded part makes sense.

KAA is apparently going to be small, just 2000 kids. Why should any seats there, whether it's 90 seats or 150 seats, potentially be set aside for out of boundary kids to attend a "pathways" program at KAA if they could put it at Herndon, with its surplus capacity, instead?

They have a significant number of Willow Springs families who'd like to be at Centreville rather than Fairfax. They need to be taking that into account when deciding what to do with Centreville. Maybe it's a wash if part of Centreville moves to Westfield, but the pieces are connected and they don't seem to be thinking ahead.

My desire is not likely to happen. Fox Mill is highly unlikely to move to KAA and SLHS is not going to drop IB. We will probably need to pupil place for AP classes. I am fine with the boundaries in our area shifting to deal with the over-crowding and balancing schools better and think it is worth it to not expand Centerville. I don't think that the expansions in the area made a lot of sense. I do think that McLean needs a major renovation.

I live in Fox Mill too.

Why do you say it’s highly unlikely that Fox Mill kids would go to KAA? I think they have a fighting chance.

But I don’t really mind South Lakes as I’ve heard good things about their IB program.

My big issue is that most Carson kids go to Westfield (and probably KAA in the future), so my child at Carson would lose most of their friends when they enter 9th grade.

The split feeder pattern is something FCPS promised to minimize, but I’m not sure if they will address Carson’s three-way split (or four-way split, counting AAP out-of-boundary kids).

Because no one wants to backfill into South Lakes, most people want nothing to do with the IB program. The families that might be interested in SLHS would come from Herndon HS, a good number of Herndon students pupil place into SLHS, and no one is pulling students from Herndon because it is already has empty seats. The school board is more likely to move Crossfield, which goes to Oakton, to KAA to save on time on the bus, then Fox Mill.

I suspect that Fox Mill is more likely to be moved to Hughes for MS and stay at SLHS than to be moved to KAA. That would solve the split feeder issue.

SLHS is a good school but the IB program is not a draw. You get fewer college credits out of it, barely 10% of the graduating seniors bother with the diploma, and the number of participating students is too small to offer the HL classes across the board. I have no idea how a STEM kid takes multiple IB sciences because they require all the IB exams be taken in senior year.

I hope Fox Mill moves to KAA, I just don’t see it happening.

They're not going to move Crossfield to KAA. Nobody at Crossfield wants that to happen. They want to stay at Oakton.

Plenty of people at Crossfield want the shorter commute to KAA instead of Oakton. You don't speak for everyone.

Oh no, I'm one of you, but I haven't talked to a single parent who wants to end up at KAA when I've brought this up to friends and neighbors.

Typically, with boundary changes that involve the elimination of split feeders, parents with younger kids tend to look at it more favorably than parents with older kids who may already be invested in a particular high school. I would suspect that, given that it's going to take years for KAA to transition to a typical 9-12 high school, some would prefer to stick with Oakton even if others would prefer a shorter commute.

This. My kid is in 8th grade. The parents we talk to about KAA are less then excited because there will be fewer sports opportunities, a lack of community feel, and uncertainty since the entire staff will be knew. The K parents think it is a great idea because their kids will get there in 7 years when it is more established.

I hear you, but I'm a bit surprised by the "lack of community feel" part. This school is mostly going to serve the Floris/Oak Hill area of Herndon, most (though probably not all) of the kids will know each other from Carson, and there's an opportunity for leadership roles that you won't get at a bigger school. Conversely, Oakton has some of the most attenuated boundaries in the county, with kids from Vienna, Oakton, Fairfax, and Herndon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yet Chantilly, Westfield, and apparently now Oakton are still in or on the brink of capacity issues. Sure, it looks like we've got a little covid dip in the numbers coming up in elementary schools, but banking on a once-a-century pandemic to keep the numbers down long term doesn't seem like sound planning advice.

Yet Herndon has hundreds of vacant seats and enrollments are coming down (over 4000 down this year) and expected to continue to decline for reasons beyond Covid.

And what happens to the planned Centreville expansion now? Is it cancelled? Why isn't that part of the discussion?

The crowded schools and under capacity schools are the ones that should be targeted for boundary change. The problem is everyone is fighting to not be moved to the under-capacity schools. Suggest that people be moved to Herndon, Lewis, or Mt Vernon and watch people flip out.

People are fighting to not be moved while arguing other people should be moved because of open spaces and to relieve crowding, just not them. That is the cycle we are in.

KAA can reduce the overcrowding and should be used as the reason for shifting multiple groups of kids at the same time. It sucks for the kids who are moved but it is happening to everyone at the same time for the same reason. Kids should be moved to Herndon to use those spots. The spiffy new program should be put at Herndon to encourage kids to attend Herndon.

Centerville should not be expanded because there are spaces in the area that can be filled. Everyone is fine with that idea as long as their kid isn't moved.

I don't know what to make of most of your post, other than that you're fine with a lot of boundary changes that would inconvenience other people so long as the Carson folks get what they want, but the bolded part makes sense.

KAA is apparently going to be small, just 2000 kids. Why should any seats there, whether it's 90 seats or 150 seats, potentially be set aside for out of boundary kids to attend a "pathways" program at KAA if they could put it at Herndon, with its surplus capacity, instead?

They have a significant number of Willow Springs families who'd like to be at Centreville rather than Fairfax. They need to be taking that into account when deciding what to do with Centreville. Maybe it's a wash if part of Centreville moves to Westfield, but the pieces are connected and they don't seem to be thinking ahead.

My desire is not likely to happen. Fox Mill is highly unlikely to move to KAA and SLHS is not going to drop IB. We will probably need to pupil place for AP classes. I am fine with the boundaries in our area shifting to deal with the over-crowding and balancing schools better and think it is worth it to not expand Centerville. I don't think that the expansions in the area made a lot of sense. I do think that McLean needs a major renovation.

I live in Fox Mill too.

Why do you say it’s highly unlikely that Fox Mill kids would go to KAA? I think they have a fighting chance.

But I don’t really mind South Lakes as I’ve heard good things about their IB program.

My big issue is that most Carson kids go to Westfield (and probably KAA in the future), so my child at Carson would lose most of their friends when they enter 9th grade.

The split feeder pattern is something FCPS promised to minimize, but I’m not sure if they will address Carson’s three-way split (or four-way split, counting AAP out-of-boundary kids).

Because no one wants to backfill into South Lakes, most people want nothing to do with the IB program. The families that might be interested in SLHS would come from Herndon HS, a good number of Herndon students pupil place into SLHS, and no one is pulling students from Herndon because it is already has empty seats. The school board is more likely to move Crossfield, which goes to Oakton, to KAA to save on time on the bus, then Fox Mill.

I suspect that Fox Mill is more likely to be moved to Hughes for MS and stay at SLHS than to be moved to KAA. That would solve the split feeder issue.

SLHS is a good school but the IB program is not a draw. You get fewer college credits out of it, barely 10% of the graduating seniors bother with the diploma, and the number of participating students is too small to offer the HL classes across the board. I have no idea how a STEM kid takes multiple IB sciences because they require all the IB exams be taken in senior year.

I hope Fox Mill moves to KAA, I just don’t see it happening.

They're not going to move Crossfield to KAA. Nobody at Crossfield wants that to happen. They want to stay at Oakton.

Plenty of people at Crossfield want the shorter commute to KAA instead of Oakton. You don't speak for everyone.

Oh no, I'm one of you, but I haven't talked to a single parent who wants to end up at KAA when I've brought this up to friends and neighbors.

Typically, with boundary changes that involve the elimination of split feeders, parents with younger kids tend to look at it more favorably than parents with older kids who may already be invested in a particular high school. I would suspect that, given that it's going to take years for KAA to transition to a typical 9-12 high school, some would prefer to stick with Oakton even if others would prefer a shorter commute.

This. My kid is in 8th grade. The parents we talk to about KAA are less then excited because there will be fewer sports opportunities, a lack of community feel, and uncertainty since the entire staff will be knew. The K parents think it is a great idea because their kids will get there in 7 years when it is more established.

I suspect a LOT of teachers will transfer from eastern schools - from what I've heard this is one reason Carson has such great teachers, a lot of them live in Loudoun/Prince William and appreciate the shorter commute.

[Anonymous]

Is the expectation that the "planning principal," who used to be the principal at Centreville, will stay on, or will they find someone new?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is the expectation that the "planning principal," who used to be the principal at Centreville, will stay on, or will they find someone new?

Do you know his/her name?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yet Chantilly, Westfield, and apparently now Oakton are still in or on the brink of capacity issues. Sure, it looks like we've got a little covid dip in the numbers coming up in elementary schools, but banking on a once-a-century pandemic to keep the numbers down long term doesn't seem like sound planning advice.

Yet Herndon has hundreds of vacant seats and enrollments are coming down (over 4000 down this year) and expected to continue to decline for reasons beyond Covid.

And what happens to the planned Centreville expansion now? Is it cancelled? Why isn't that part of the discussion?

The crowded schools and under capacity schools are the ones that should be targeted for boundary change. The problem is everyone is fighting to not be moved to the under-capacity schools. Suggest that people be moved to Herndon, Lewis, or Mt Vernon and watch people flip out.

People are fighting to not be moved while arguing other people should be moved because of open spaces and to relieve crowding, just not them. That is the cycle we are in.

KAA can reduce the overcrowding and should be used as the reason for shifting multiple groups of kids at the same time. It sucks for the kids who are moved but it is happening to everyone at the same time for the same reason. Kids should be moved to Herndon to use those spots. The spiffy new program should be put at Herndon to encourage kids to attend Herndon.

Centerville should not be expanded because there are spaces in the area that can be filled. Everyone is fine with that idea as long as their kid isn't moved.

I don't know what to make of most of your post, other than that you're fine with a lot of boundary changes that would inconvenience other people so long as the Carson folks get what they want, but the bolded part makes sense.

KAA is apparently going to be small, just 2000 kids. Why should any seats there, whether it's 90 seats or 150 seats, potentially be set aside for out of boundary kids to attend a "pathways" program at KAA if they could put it at Herndon, with its surplus capacity, instead?

They have a significant number of Willow Springs families who'd like to be at Centreville rather than Fairfax. They need to be taking that into account when deciding what to do with Centreville. Maybe it's a wash if part of Centreville moves to Westfield, but the pieces are connected and they don't seem to be thinking ahead.

My desire is not likely to happen. Fox Mill is highly unlikely to move to KAA and SLHS is not going to drop IB. We will probably need to pupil place for AP classes. I am fine with the boundaries in our area shifting to deal with the over-crowding and balancing schools better and think it is worth it to not expand Centerville. I don't think that the expansions in the area made a lot of sense. I do think that McLean needs a major renovation.

I live in Fox Mill too.

Why do you say it’s highly unlikely that Fox Mill kids would go to KAA? I think they have a fighting chance.

But I don’t really mind South Lakes as I’ve heard good things about their IB program.

My big issue is that most Carson kids go to Westfield (and probably KAA in the future), so my child at Carson would lose most of their friends when they enter 9th grade.

The split feeder pattern is something FCPS promised to minimize, but I’m not sure if they will address Carson’s three-way split (or four-way split, counting AAP out-of-boundary kids).

Because no one wants to backfill into South Lakes, most people want nothing to do with the IB program. The families that might be interested in SLHS would come from Herndon HS, a good number of Herndon students pupil place into SLHS, and no one is pulling students from Herndon because it is already has empty seats. The school board is more likely to move Crossfield, which goes to Oakton, to KAA to save on time on the bus, then Fox Mill.

I suspect that Fox Mill is more likely to be moved to Hughes for MS and stay at SLHS than to be moved to KAA. That would solve the split feeder issue.

SLHS is a good school but the IB program is not a draw. You get fewer college credits out of it, barely 10% of the graduating seniors bother with the diploma, and the number of participating students is too small to offer the HL classes across the board. I have no idea how a STEM kid takes multiple IB sciences because they require all the IB exams be taken in senior year.

I hope Fox Mill moves to KAA, I just don’t see it happening.

They're not going to move Crossfield to KAA. Nobody at Crossfield wants that to happen. They want to stay at Oakton.

Plenty of people at Crossfield want the shorter commute to KAA instead of Oakton. You don't speak for everyone.

Oh no, I'm one of you, but I haven't talked to a single parent who wants to end up at KAA when I've brought this up to friends and neighbors.

Typically, with boundary changes that involve the elimination of split feeders, parents with younger kids tend to look at it more favorably than parents with older kids who may already be invested in a particular high school. I would suspect that, given that it's going to take years for KAA to transition to a typical 9-12 high school, some would prefer to stick with Oakton even if others would prefer a shorter commute.

This. My kid is in 8th grade. The parents we talk to about KAA are less then excited because there will be fewer sports opportunities, a lack of community feel, and uncertainty since the entire staff will be knew. The K parents think it is a great idea because their kids will get there in 7 years when it is more established.

I hear you, but I'm a bit surprised by the "lack of community feel" part. This school is mostly going to serve the Floris/Oak Hill area of Herndon, most (though probably not all) of the kids will know each other from Carson, and there's an opportunity for leadership roles that you won't get at a bigger school. Conversely, Oakton has some of the most attenuated boundaries in the county, with kids from Vienna, Oakton, Fairfax, and Herndon.

Yes. I think there will be a great community feel. Right now, the Chantilly kids which would likely go there do have a community feel at Chantilly, but Westfield kids, not so much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is the expectation that the "planning principal," who used to be the principal at Centreville, will stay on, or will they find someone new?

Do you know his/her name?

Dave Jagels

[Anonymous]

Any guesses for a time of release? 5 pm?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Purchasing KAA was the right decision, probably the only decision for which I’d give the FCPS school board credit.

Sure, the renovation may cost $50 million or so, but it’s still far cheaper than building a new school and saves time. The timing can’t be better as we are in the middle of boundary change discussion.

I don’t understand why people focus solely on overcapacity or undercapacity as if that’s the only criterion.

If a school’s capacity is 3,000 and it’s undercapacity at 2,900, is that really ideal? I think any high school enrollment above 2,000 is not ideal. Providing relief to large high schools (2,500+ students) is still meaningful in my opinion, whether they’re overcapacity or not.

It's beyond absurd to ask taxpayers to repeatedly expand schools in western Fairfax to 2500 to 3000 seats and then declare we need another high school in the area because anything above 2,000 is a problem. Those expansions cost real money we'll never get back.

If some of those high schools that are already big are overcrowded, that's a different issue, but Herndon is sitting on hundreds of empty seats.

Chantilly is very crowded. Centreville expansion hasn’t started. KAA is a good purchase. Full stop.

It's still nuts to spend millions upon millions expanding some schools to 2500 to 3000 students and then say they should only have 2000 to 2500 kids. Full stop.

It totally makes sense since there was no suitable land for the western school. Now the opportunity came up and FCPS seized the opportunity. As a result, Centreville doesn’t have to increase to 3000 and FCPS doesn’t have to spend money for that. Also other overcrowded schools such as Chantilly and Westfield would get some relief.

It’s not that hard to figure out. I really don’t understand what you are complaining about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Purchasing KAA was the right decision, probably the only decision for which I’d give the FCPS school board credit.

Sure, the renovation may cost $50 million or so, but it’s still far cheaper than building a new school and saves time. The timing can’t be better as we are in the middle of boundary change discussion.

I don’t understand why people focus solely on overcapacity or undercapacity as if that’s the only criterion.

If a school’s capacity is 3,000 and it’s undercapacity at 2,900, is that really ideal? I think any high school enrollment above 2,000 is not ideal. Providing relief to large high schools (2,500+ students) is still meaningful in my opinion, whether they’re overcapacity or not.

It's beyond absurd to ask taxpayers to repeatedly expand schools in western Fairfax to 2500 to 3000 seats and then declare we need another high school in the area because anything above 2,000 is a problem. Those expansions cost real money we'll never get back.

If some of those high schools that are already big are overcrowded, that's a different issue, but Herndon is sitting on hundreds of empty seats.

Chantilly is very crowded. Centreville expansion hasn’t started. KAA is a good purchase. Full stop.

It's still nuts to spend millions upon millions expanding some schools to 2500 to 3000 students and then say they should only have 2000 to 2500 kids. Full stop.

It totally makes sense since there was no suitable land for the western school. Now the opportunity came up and FCPS seized the opportunity. As a result, Centreville doesn’t have to increase to 3000 and FCPS doesn’t have to spend money for that. Also other overcrowded schools such as Chantilly and Westfield would get some relief.

It’s not that hard to figure out. I really don’t understand what you are complaining about.

If the school that is expanded is in the wrong place, it makes no sense.

There is no school within a reasonable distance to relieve Chantilly and Westfield. KAA will do that.

They keep talking about academies and magnets. Perhaps these underserved schools would be a good place for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Purchasing KAA was the right decision, probably the only decision for which I’d give the FCPS school board credit.

Sure, the renovation may cost $50 million or so, but it’s still far cheaper than building a new school and saves time. The timing can’t be better as we are in the middle of boundary change discussion.

I don’t understand why people focus solely on overcapacity or undercapacity as if that’s the only criterion.

If a school’s capacity is 3,000 and it’s undercapacity at 2,900, is that really ideal? I think any high school enrollment above 2,000 is not ideal. Providing relief to large high schools (2,500+ students) is still meaningful in my opinion, whether they’re overcapacity or not.

It's beyond absurd to ask taxpayers to repeatedly expand schools in western Fairfax to 2500 to 3000 seats and then declare we need another high school in the area because anything above 2,000 is a problem. Those expansions cost real money we'll never get back.

If some of those high schools that are already big are overcrowded, that's a different issue, but Herndon is sitting on hundreds of empty seats.

Chantilly is very crowded. Centreville expansion hasn’t started. KAA is a good purchase. Full stop.

It's still nuts to spend millions upon millions expanding some schools to 2500 to 3000 students and then say they should only have 2000 to 2500 kids. Full stop.

It totally makes sense since there was no suitable land for the western school. Now the opportunity came up and FCPS seized the opportunity. As a result, Centreville doesn’t have to increase to 3000 and FCPS doesn’t have to spend money for that. Also other overcrowded schools such as Chantilly and Westfield would get some relief.

It’s not that hard to figure out. I really don’t understand what you are complaining about.

What an idiotic post. It's like you don't even bother to read the posts to which you're responding.

By the way, Westfield is not overcrowded. It has an enrollment of 2747, a program capacity of 2796, and an even larger design capacity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Purchasing KAA was the right decision, probably the only decision for which I’d give the FCPS school board credit.

Sure, the renovation may cost $50 million or so, but it’s still far cheaper than building a new school and saves time. The timing can’t be better as we are in the middle of boundary change discussion.

I don’t understand why people focus solely on overcapacity or undercapacity as if that’s the only criterion.

If a school’s capacity is 3,000 and it’s undercapacity at 2,900, is that really ideal? I think any high school enrollment above 2,000 is not ideal. Providing relief to large high schools (2,500+ students) is still meaningful in my opinion, whether they’re overcapacity or not.

It's beyond absurd to ask taxpayers to repeatedly expand schools in western Fairfax to 2500 to 3000 seats and then declare we need another high school in the area because anything above 2,000 is a problem. Those expansions cost real money we'll never get back.

If some of those high schools that are already big are overcrowded, that's a different issue, but Herndon is sitting on hundreds of empty seats.

Chantilly is very crowded. Centreville expansion hasn’t started. KAA is a good purchase. Full stop.

It's still nuts to spend millions upon millions expanding some schools to 2500 to 3000 students and then say they should only have 2000 to 2500 kids. Full stop.

It totally makes sense since there was no suitable land for the western school. Now the opportunity came up and FCPS seized the opportunity. As a result, Centreville doesn’t have to increase to 3000 and FCPS doesn’t have to spend money for that. Also other overcrowded schools such as Chantilly and Westfield would get some relief.

It’s not that hard to figure out. I really don’t understand what you are complaining about.

If the school that is expanded is in the wrong place, it makes no sense.

There is no school within a reasonable distance to relieve Chantilly and Westfield. KAA will do that.

They keep talking about academies and magnets. Perhaps these underserved schools would be a good place for them.

Define "reasonable distance." Hint: It's not just your backyard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Purchasing KAA was the right decision, probably the only decision for which I’d give the FCPS school board credit.

Sure, the renovation may cost $50 million or so, but it’s still far cheaper than building a new school and saves time. The timing can’t be better as we are in the middle of boundary change discussion.

I don’t understand why people focus solely on overcapacity or undercapacity as if that’s the only criterion.

If a school’s capacity is 3,000 and it’s undercapacity at 2,900, is that really ideal? I think any high school enrollment above 2,000 is not ideal. Providing relief to large high schools (2,500+ students) is still meaningful in my opinion, whether they’re overcapacity or not.

It's beyond absurd to ask taxpayers to repeatedly expand schools in western Fairfax to 2500 to 3000 seats and then declare we need another high school in the area because anything above 2,000 is a problem. Those expansions cost real money we'll never get back.

If some of those high schools that are already big are overcrowded, that's a different issue, but Herndon is sitting on hundreds of empty seats.

Chantilly is very crowded. Centreville expansion hasn’t started. KAA is a good purchase. Full stop.

It's still nuts to spend millions upon millions expanding some schools to 2500 to 3000 students and then say they should only have 2000 to 2500 kids. Full stop.

It totally makes sense since there was no suitable land for the western school. Now the opportunity came up and FCPS seized the opportunity. As a result, Centreville doesn’t have to increase to 3000 and FCPS doesn’t have to spend money for that. Also other overcrowded schools such as Chantilly and Westfield would get some relief.

It’s not that hard to figure out. I really don’t understand what you are complaining about.

What an idiotic post. It's like you don't even bother to read the posts to which you're responding.

By the way, Westfield is not overcrowded. It has an enrollment of 2747, a program capacity of 2796, and an even larger design capacity.

Lol you still don’t get it.

The board made prior expansion decisions based on the prior limitations they had (i.e. no suitable land for a new HS). When the new possibility came up (KAA), they made the best decision based on the new set of choices. In other words, they determined buying a KAA would be better than keep expanding schools, which I agree with.

You are not even complaining about the purchase of KAA. You are complaining about sunk cost the board spent when nobody knew KAA would become available.

But I doubt you understand this simple concept.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Purchasing KAA was the right decision, probably the only decision for which I’d give the FCPS school board credit.

Sure, the renovation may cost $50 million or so, but it’s still far cheaper than building a new school and saves time. The timing can’t be better as we are in the middle of boundary change discussion.

I don’t understand why people focus solely on overcapacity or undercapacity as if that’s the only criterion.

If a school’s capacity is 3,000 and it’s undercapacity at 2,900, is that really ideal? I think any high school enrollment above 2,000 is not ideal. Providing relief to large high schools (2,500+ students) is still meaningful in my opinion, whether they’re overcapacity or not.

It's beyond absurd to ask taxpayers to repeatedly expand schools in western Fairfax to 2500 to 3000 seats and then declare we need another high school in the area because anything above 2,000 is a problem. Those expansions cost real money we'll never get back.

If some of those high schools that are already big are overcrowded, that's a different issue, but Herndon is sitting on hundreds of empty seats.

Chantilly is very crowded. Centreville expansion hasn’t started. KAA is a good purchase. Full stop.

It's still nuts to spend millions upon millions expanding some schools to 2500 to 3000 students and then say they should only have 2000 to 2500 kids. Full stop.

It totally makes sense since there was no suitable land for the western school. Now the opportunity came up and FCPS seized the opportunity. As a result, Centreville doesn’t have to increase to 3000 and FCPS doesn’t have to spend money for that. Also other overcrowded schools such as Chantilly and Westfield would get some relief.

It’s not that hard to figure out. I really don’t understand what you are complaining about.

What an idiotic post. It's like you don't even bother to read the posts to which you're responding.

By the way, Westfield is not overcrowded. It has an enrollment of 2747, a program capacity of 2796, and an even larger design capacity.

Lol you still don’t get it.

The board made prior expansion decisions based on the prior limitations they had (i.e. no suitable land for a new HS). When the new possibility came up (KAA), they made the best decision based on the new set of choices. In other words, they determined buying a KAA would be better than keep expanding schools, which I agree with.

You are not even complaining about the purchase of KAA. You are complaining about sunk cost the board spent when nobody knew KAA would become available.

But I doubt you understand this simple concept.

All you're offering is the twisted logic that they should ignore the sunk costs they've already incurred, and create substantial excess capacity at multiple schools (e.g., Herndon, Westfield) because an opportunity arose to buy KAA.

At a minimum, they should have run the numbers to demonstrate they'd need additional capacity in the future beyond what's already available, and that KAA was the most efficient way to obtain it. Instead, all they keep doing is repeating that buying KAA saved FCPS $280 million (see Reid's recent note), which is BS, since (1) they never would have spent $430 million on a new school; and (2) the total cost of KAA will run well over $150 million.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Purchasing KAA was the right decision, probably the only decision for which I’d give the FCPS school board credit.

Sure, the renovation may cost $50 million or so, but it’s still far cheaper than building a new school and saves time. The timing can’t be better as we are in the middle of boundary change discussion.

I don’t understand why people focus solely on overcapacity or undercapacity as if that’s the only criterion.

If a school’s capacity is 3,000 and it’s undercapacity at 2,900, is that really ideal? I think any high school enrollment above 2,000 is not ideal. Providing relief to large high schools (2,500+ students) is still meaningful in my opinion, whether they’re overcapacity or not.

It's beyond absurd to ask taxpayers to repeatedly expand schools in western Fairfax to 2500 to 3000 seats and then declare we need another high school in the area because anything above 2,000 is a problem. Those expansions cost real money we'll never get back.

If some of those high schools that are already big are overcrowded, that's a different issue, but Herndon is sitting on hundreds of empty seats.

Chantilly is very crowded. Centreville expansion hasn’t started. KAA is a good purchase. Full stop.

It's still nuts to spend millions upon millions expanding some schools to 2500 to 3000 students and then say they should only have 2000 to 2500 kids. Full stop.

It totally makes sense since there was no suitable land for the western school. Now the opportunity came up and FCPS seized the opportunity. As a result, Centreville doesn’t have to increase to 3000 and FCPS doesn’t have to spend money for that. Also other overcrowded schools such as Chantilly and Westfield would get some relief.

It’s not that hard to figure out. I really don’t understand what you are complaining about.

If the school that is expanded is in the wrong place, it makes no sense.

There is no school within a reasonable distance to relieve Chantilly and Westfield. KAA will do that.

They keep talking about academies and magnets. Perhaps these underserved schools would be a good place for them.

Define "reasonable distance." Hint: It's not just your backyard.

It is NOT a thirty to forty minute bus ride. I guess you think it is fine to put other people's kids on a bus trip that long.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Purchasing KAA was the right decision, probably the only decision for which I’d give the FCPS school board credit.

Sure, the renovation may cost $50 million or so, but it’s still far cheaper than building a new school and saves time. The timing can’t be better as we are in the middle of boundary change discussion.

I don’t understand why people focus solely on overcapacity or undercapacity as if that’s the only criterion.

If a school’s capacity is 3,000 and it’s undercapacity at 2,900, is that really ideal? I think any high school enrollment above 2,000 is not ideal. Providing relief to large high schools (2,500+ students) is still meaningful in my opinion, whether they’re overcapacity or not.

It's beyond absurd to ask taxpayers to repeatedly expand schools in western Fairfax to 2500 to 3000 seats and then declare we need another high school in the area because anything above 2,000 is a problem. Those expansions cost real money we'll never get back.

If some of those high schools that are already big are overcrowded, that's a different issue, but Herndon is sitting on hundreds of empty seats.

Chantilly is very crowded. Centreville expansion hasn’t started. KAA is a good purchase. Full stop.

It's still nuts to spend millions upon millions expanding some schools to 2500 to 3000 students and then say they should only have 2000 to 2500 kids. Full stop.

It totally makes sense since there was no suitable land for the western school. Now the opportunity came up and FCPS seized the opportunity. As a result, Centreville doesn’t have to increase to 3000 and FCPS doesn’t have to spend money for that. Also other overcrowded schools such as Chantilly and Westfield would get some relief.

It’s not that hard to figure out. I really don’t understand what you are complaining about.

If the school that is expanded is in the wrong place, it makes no sense.

There is no school within a reasonable distance to relieve Chantilly and Westfield. KAA will do that.

They keep talking about academies and magnets. Perhaps these underserved schools would be a good place for them.

Define "reasonable distance." Hint: It's not just your backyard.

It is NOT a thirty to forty minute bus ride. I guess you think it is fine to put other people's kids on a bus trip that long.

FCPS is getting closer to wrapping up a county-wide boundary study and at no point did they propose to redraw boundaries to limit bus rides to 30 minutes.

And many of the proposals would increase the distance kids commute and send them to new schools further from their homes than their current schools.

But clearly you think your area deserves special treatment, whatever the cost to taxpayers or impact on others.