Second round options for Woodward boundary study

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What's the latest status on this? Weren't we supposed to get additional options due to potential closing of SSIM?

Also, once the survey closes, how is the public involved thereafter? Is there a comment period on the Superintendent's proposal?

I believe those are coming after Thanksgiving.

[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:MCPS school profiles lists a capacity of 1000 for Edison HS and an enrollment of 968. They don't have empty space. Maybe they only use half of the classrooms at any given time so they will have teachers share the classrooms? Can't MCPS just give a straight answer on this?

It sounds like there is some unbuilt space from what people are saying here, so they'd have to build it into classrooms. Its a trade school drawing students who are bused there from all over the county. They could maybe build it out but with what funds? It would make sense to build it out and offer more trade programs.

Right. First MCPS says they need to build the space. Then they say they are sending 500 Wheaton HS students to Edison CTE programs while simultaneously telling people they are going to keep Edison open to students countywide and putting out a CIP that includes $0 in funding to "build out" Edison. The story keeps changing. I suspect the real story is some people in North Bethesda insisted on keeping their schools 20%-30% empty despite systemwide declining enrollment, and the only way to make that work is to pretend there are 500 extra seats in Edison for Wheaton HS students to take...some kind of classes.

This is why the regional program doesn't work. They should offer advanced classes equally at all schools and keep the DCC and let the other schools do their own consortia. The idea of making it equitable and equal will not happen. This is all for show. Wheaton is a good school. They make it work now.

advanced classes at all schools means no need for consortia, including the DCC. the money for admin and buses can be spent at home schools

Correct, but MCPS is clear that they aren't expanding the course offerings so the corsortia is necessary.

consortia have not met their goals. time for something new

They did expand course offerings available to students who could travel. The regional model just makes the courses available to fewer kids with less transportation.

Students shouldn’t have to travel and there is no guarantee students will get into the schools they need to.

Which is the same as for the consortia model/DCC.

DP. No, it is not the same. The DCC offers more flexibility to students and transportation from students' neighborhoods. The regional program model offers very limited spots and very limited transportation. I happen to think they should get rid of the DCC, but also that they should not create all these programs. Instead they should do a more rigorous analysis of what the different schools offer in terms of coursework and certifications and address gaps as they occur instead of trying to superimpose a model that is intended to be uniform on schools and regions that are all very different.

I agree with you in the getting rid of consortia/magnets/regions, and on doing more analysis to see what individual schools need (with an eye toward improving individual schools so that kids don’t feel like they have to go to another school).

What I struggle with is the limiting factor of budgets and how that plays out. What happens when 5 kids are advanced enough to want a specific class that isn’t offered in their school? Is MC the option (I would support that)? What happens when there isn’t a technical program at a school with a student particularly interested in nursing? Everything cannot be everywhere. But busing and peeling off the most motivated kids is also problematic. So where’s the happy medium?

They go without the classes they need, same as now. MC is not always an option due to timing and transportation. They can have more STEM at every school. The bussing is a nightmare for kids in extracurricular and sports. You support it as your kids have what they need and want at their home school so its not an issue for your family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Rough crowd. None of what you have to say matters anyway, the BOE and Co. Council will just do what they want to do that is in the name of equity, but really is just to cut costs, cost of buses, experienced teacher salaries, some curricular costs, as well as badly aging infrastructure costs, as best they can. They do not give one shit what any taxpayer and/or parent thinks and as long as the W schools, Wheaton not included, remain as they are and/or are no longer over capacity, the poor kids will take the brunt, and that's fine by the BOE.

Wheaton is lacking in the arts and in other areas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm curious which option current WJ Cluster families prefer: A, B, C or D.

To me, B appears the best outcome.

WJ cluster is going to see some serious staffing cuts when a good portion of their school moves to Woodward.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm curious which option current WJ Cluster families prefer: A, B, C or D.

To me, B appears the best outcome.

WJ cluster is going to see some serious staffing cuts when a good portion of their school moves to Woodward.

Well yeah, that's the main reason they opened Woodward.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm curious which option current WJ Cluster families prefer: A, B, C or D.

To me, B appears the best outcome.

WJ cluster is going to see some serious staffing cuts when a good portion of their school moves to Woodward.

Well yeah, that's the main reason they opened Woodward.

Yes, but when that happens, staffing will be cut which means classes will be cut.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm curious which option current WJ Cluster families prefer: A, B, C or D.

To me, B appears the best outcome.

WJ cluster is going to see some serious staffing cuts when a good portion of their school moves to Woodward.

Well yeah, that's the main reason they opened Woodward.

Yes, but when that happens, staffing will be cut which means classes will be cut.

Because they don't need as many staff members if there are fewer students!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm curious which option current WJ Cluster families prefer: A, B, C or D.

To me, B appears the best outcome.

WJ cluster is going to see some serious staffing cuts when a good portion of their school moves to Woodward.

Well yeah, that's the main reason they opened Woodward.

Yes, but when that happens, staffing will be cut which means classes will be cut.

Because they don't need as many staff members if there are fewer students!

For schools like WJ with relatively low FARMS rates this will be fine. It's the high FARMS schools that have trouble offering certain courses as it is that will struggle with lower enrollment, especially when half the high achieving cohort signs up for programs in low FARMS schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm curious which option current WJ Cluster families prefer: A, B, C or D.

To me, B appears the best outcome.

WJ cluster is going to see some serious staffing cuts when a good portion of their school moves to Woodward.

Well yeah, that's the main reason they opened Woodward.

Yes, but when that happens, staffing will be cut which means classes will be cut.

Because they don't need as many staff members if there are fewer students!

For schools like WJ with relatively low FARMS rates this will be fine. It's the high FARMS schools that have trouble offering certain courses as it is that will struggle with lower enrollment, especially when half the high achieving cohort signs up for programs in low FARMS schools.

Will it be fine? There will be some serious cuts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm curious which option current WJ Cluster families prefer: A, B, C or D.

To me, B appears the best outcome.

WJ cluster is going to see some serious staffing cuts when a good portion of their school moves to Woodward.

Well yeah, that's the main reason they opened Woodward.

Yes, but when that happens, staffing will be cut which means classes will be cut.

Because they don't need as many staff members if there are fewer students!

For schools like WJ with relatively low FARMS rates this will be fine. It's the high FARMS schools that have trouble offering certain courses as it is that will struggle with lower enrollment, especially when half the high achieving cohort signs up for programs in low FARMS schools.

Will it be fine? There will be some serious cuts.

I mean they might lose a few of their least popular elective, but generally, yes, they will be fine. A lot of the cuts just amount to there being half as many staff left to teach all the basic core courses, but there will also be half as many students taking them so it works out fine.

The real classes at risk there or anywhere, are classes where there aren't that many kids taking them to start with. At schools like Einstein this may include some higher level academic classes, but I doubt that's the case at WJ. Both they and poorer schools facing cuts will instead be more likely to lose electives (and possibly certain foreign language classes, if there were ones with lower numbers of kids to start with.). If they previously barely filled a class for an elective, it's probably gone with the cuts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm curious which option current WJ Cluster families prefer: A, B, C or D.

To me, B appears the best outcome.

WJ cluster is going to see some serious staffing cuts when a good portion of their school moves to Woodward.

Well yeah, that's the main reason they opened Woodward.

Yes, but when that happens, staffing will be cut which means classes will be cut.

Because they don't need as many staff members if there are fewer students!

For schools like WJ with relatively low FARMS rates this will be fine. It's the high FARMS schools that have trouble offering certain courses as it is that will struggle with lower enrollment, especially when half the high achieving cohort signs up for programs in low FARMS schools.

Will it be fine? There will be some serious cuts.

I mean they might lose a few of their least popular elective, but generally, yes, they will be fine. A lot of the cuts just amount to there being half as many staff left to teach all the basic core courses, but there will also be half as many students taking them so it works out fine.

The real classes at risk there or anywhere, are classes where there aren't that many kids taking them to start with. At schools like Einstein this may include some higher level academic classes, but I doubt that's the case at WJ. Both they and poorer schools facing cuts will instead be more likely to lose electives (and possibly certain foreign language classes, if there were ones with lower numbers of kids to start with.). If they previously barely filled a class for an elective, it's probably gone with the cuts.

They are basically taking what 1/4 or more of the students out. That will be more than a few electives and classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm curious which option current WJ Cluster families prefer: A, B, C or D.

To me, B appears the best outcome.

WJ cluster is going to see some serious staffing cuts when a good portion of their school moves to Woodward.

Well yeah, that's the main reason they opened Woodward.

Yes, but when that happens, staffing will be cut which means classes will be cut.

Because they don't need as many staff members if there are fewer students!

For schools like WJ with relatively low FARMS rates this will be fine. It's the high FARMS schools that have trouble offering certain courses as it is that will struggle with lower enrollment, especially when half the high achieving cohort signs up for programs in low FARMS schools.

Will it be fine? There will be some serious cuts.

I mean they might lose a few of their least popular elective, but generally, yes, they will be fine. A lot of the cuts just amount to there being half as many staff left to teach all the basic core courses, but there will also be half as many students taking them so it works out fine.

The real classes at risk there or anywhere, are classes where there aren't that many kids taking them to start with. At schools like Einstein this may include some higher level academic classes, but I doubt that's the case at WJ. Both they and poorer schools facing cuts will instead be more likely to lose electives (and possibly certain foreign language classes, if there were ones with lower numbers of kids to start with.). If they previously barely filled a class for an elective, it's probably gone with the cuts.

WJ is the "less common languages" designated school in Region 3, so I would think its unlikely that they will lose languages. More likely in the other schools in the region. If language is important those kids will move to WJ (in theory, anyway). I wonder about the visual arts classes - a general high school may not be able to offer Ceramics, and Photography and Drawng/Painting at the same time. If that level of art engagement is a student's interest, they may need to move to the school that has those programs. If that is the case, I hope they have transfers/onramps after 8th grade. Because kids interests change

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm curious which option current WJ Cluster families prefer: A, B, C or D.

To me, B appears the best outcome.

WJ cluster is going to see some serious staffing cuts when a good portion of their school moves to Woodward.

They are staffing Woodward only for 9th and 10th grade initially.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm curious which option current WJ Cluster families prefer: A, B, C or D.

To me, B appears the best outcome.

WJ cluster is going to see some serious staffing cuts when a good portion of their school moves to Woodward.

Well yeah, that's the main reason they opened Woodward.

Yes, but when that happens, staffing will be cut which means classes will be cut.

Because they don't need as many staff members if there are fewer students!

For schools like WJ with relatively low FARMS rates this will be fine. It's the high FARMS schools that have trouble offering certain courses as it is that will struggle with lower enrollment, especially when half the high achieving cohort signs up for programs in low FARMS schools.

Will it be fine? There will be some serious cuts.

I mean they might lose a few of their least popular elective, but generally, yes, they will be fine. A lot of the cuts just amount to there being half as many staff left to teach all the basic core courses, but there will also be half as many students taking them so it works out fine.

The real classes at risk there or anywhere, are classes where there aren't that many kids taking them to start with. At schools like Einstein this may include some higher level academic classes, but I doubt that's the case at WJ. Both they and poorer schools facing cuts will instead be more likely to lose electives (and possibly certain foreign language classes, if there were ones with lower numbers of kids to start with.). If they previously barely filled a class for an elective, it's probably gone with the cuts.

WJ is the "less common languages" designated school in Region 3, so I would think its unlikely that they will lose languages. More likely in the other schools in the region. If language is important those kids will move to WJ (in theory, anyway). I wonder about the visual arts classes - a general high school may not be able to offer Ceramics, and Photography and Drawng/Painting at the same time. If that level of art engagement is a student's interest, they may need to move to the school that has those programs. If that is the case, I hope they have transfers/onramps after 8th grade. Because kids interests change

Good luck with that. It’s not just about interests. It’s about staffing. Lose 1/4 of the students lose 1/4 of the staff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm curious which option current WJ Cluster families prefer: A, B, C or D.

To me, B appears the best outcome.

WJ cluster is going to see some serious staffing cuts when a good portion of their school moves to Woodward.

Well yeah, that's the main reason they opened Woodward.

Yes, but when that happens, staffing will be cut which means classes will be cut.

Because they don't need as many staff members if there are fewer students!

For schools like WJ with relatively low FARMS rates this will be fine. It's the high FARMS schools that have trouble offering certain courses as it is that will struggle with lower enrollment, especially when half the high achieving cohort signs up for programs in low FARMS schools.

Will it be fine? There will be some serious cuts.

I mean they might lose a few of their least popular elective, but generally, yes, they will be fine. A lot of the cuts just amount to there being half as many staff left to teach all the basic core courses, but there will also be half as many students taking them so it works out fine.

The real classes at risk there or anywhere, are classes where there aren't that many kids taking them to start with. At schools like Einstein this may include some higher level academic classes, but I doubt that's the case at WJ. Both they and poorer schools facing cuts will instead be more likely to lose electives (and possibly certain foreign language classes, if there were ones with lower numbers of kids to start with.). If they previously barely filled a class for an elective, it's probably gone with the cuts.

WJ is the "less common languages" designated school in Region 3, so I would think its unlikely that they will lose languages. More likely in the other schools in the region. If language is important those kids will move to WJ (in theory, anyway). I wonder about the visual arts classes - a general high school may not be able to offer Ceramics, and Photography and Drawng/Painting at the same time. If that level of art engagement is a student's interest, they may need to move to the school that has those programs. If that is the case, I hope they have transfers/onramps after 8th grade. Because kids interests change

Good luck with that. It’s not just about interests. It’s about staffing. Lose 1/4 of the students lose 1/4 of the staff.

Well, with the magnets now, they always allow the option to return to the home school. Those programs are solid and they aren't losing 25%.