IB Costs Increasing

[Anonymous]

FCPS has a consent item on the agenda for the 12/3 meeting to enter into a new 10-year contract with the IBO that would increase annual IB payments to the IBO from about $1.69 million per year to $2.0 million over the next five years.

Why should FCPS commit now to pay the IBO $10 million when there needs to be an assessment of whether IB should be discontinued at many of the current IB high schools with unsuccessful IB programs and very few IB diploma graduates?

[Anonymous]

Would love to get rid of IB programs and offer more AP and dual enrollment classes. Robinson parent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FCPS has a consent item on the agenda for the 12/3 meeting to enter into a new 10-year contract with the IBO that would increase annual IB payments to the IBO from about $1.69 million per year to $2.0 million over the next five years.

Why should FCPS commit now to pay the IBO $10 million when there needs to be an assessment of whether IB should be discontinued at many of the current IB high schools with unsuccessful IB programs and very few IB diploma graduates?

IDK. 12/2/25 work session has item 3.02 on secondary course offerings. https://go.boarddocs.com/vsba/fairfax/Board.nsf/vpublic?open
That includes:
Add 1.0 Weight to GPA
● IB SL Ab Initio

Note Honors English is .5 GPA bump but Standard Level IB English is 1. https://go.boarddocs.com/vsba/fairfax/Board.nsf/files/DN5JVB4EC30C/$file/SB%20Attachment%20FCPS%20Course%20Review%20Recs%20-%202026-27SY.pdf

Apparently adding 2 for credit courses to assist Diploma candidates- Core Support for the IB DP (11) and Core Support for the IB DP (12). So the program budget doesn't accurately reflect the costs - nobody at Gatehouse works on IB? In addition to the staffer required at each school there are now 2 more courses. If there are few diploma candidates what is this???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FCPS has a consent item on the agenda for the 12/3 meeting to enter into a new 10-year contract with the IBO that would increase annual IB payments to the IBO from about $1.69 million per year to $2.0 million over the next five years.

Why should FCPS commit now to pay the IBO $10 million when there needs to be an assessment of whether IB should be discontinued at many of the current IB high schools with unsuccessful IB programs and very few IB diploma graduates?

One correction - it's a five-year, $10M contract, not a 10-year contract.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Would love to get rid of IB programs and offer more AP and dual enrollment classes. Robinson parent.

Marshall parent here. What's wrong with giving students as many options as possible? If taught correctly, IB courses prepare students for college just as well as DE and AP classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Would love to get rid of IB programs and offer more AP and dual enrollment classes. Robinson parent.

Marshall parent here. What's wrong with giving students as many options as possible? If taught correctly, IB courses prepare students for college just as well as DE and AP classes.

It’s not about preparing for college, it’s about attaining college credits. IB credits aren’t as universally accepted.

[Anonymous]

Michelle Reid has to find a way for the county (ie - you) to pay for her 4 full-time armed bodyguards.

Plus Reid refuses to cut the full-time staff of her DEIA department, who employ 60 full-time DEI officers, lead by Chief DEIA Officer Nardos King, who earns a cool quarter million per year to . . . DEI stuff.

But the biggest financial black-hole is probably all the legal fees FCPS racks up for things like keeping schools closed long after there was a Covid vaccine, refusing to comply with Title IX of the Civil Rights Act, etc.

All this, while Reid tries to find ways to eliminate the AAP program as much as possible.

[Anonymous]

IB is one of the reasons why our society has so many issues. So much more could be done with our school curriculum is IB we taken out completely. Less is more!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:IB is one of the reasons why our society has so many issues. So much more could be done with our school curriculum is IB we taken out completely. Less is more!

1. It would eliminate a lot of pupil placements and likely even out some enrollments.
2. It would allow more standardization of opportunities--i.e. equity?
3. It would save money.

It is not needed.

[Anonymous]

AAP is a problem, especially in grades 3-4. It robs gen ed and MLL students the chance to work with peer mentors on a daily basis. What is left is classes full of low level gen ed students and MLL students. The presence of AAP students in elementary schools is creating a divide in the schools. Caught in the middle are students who want to be AAP but cannot get access for whatever reason. These students have a tough time fitting in with the four special education and ten MLL students in their homeroom.

[Anonymous]

What is MLL?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Would love to get rid of IB programs and offer more AP and dual enrollment classes. Robinson parent.

Marshall parent here. What's wrong with giving students as many options as possible? If taught correctly, IB courses prepare students for college just as well as DE and AP classes.

The dual program setup has done more bad than good. Drives transfers from poorer to wealthier schools. And the IB diploma is a convoluted mess and college credit is harder to come by. FCPS is under no obligation to have both.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Would love to get rid of IB programs and offer more AP and dual enrollment classes. Robinson parent.

Marshall parent here. What's wrong with giving students as many options as possible? If taught correctly, IB courses prepare students for college just as well as DE and AP classes.

The dual program setup has done more bad than good. Drives transfers from poorer to wealthier schools. And the IB diploma is a convoluted mess and college credit is harder to come by. FCPS is under no obligation to have both.

Have a friend whose kids are at an IB school. One of them is math/science oriented and they are extremely disappointed in IB. It's not for everyone. AP is much more flexible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Would love to get rid of IB programs and offer more AP and dual enrollment classes. Robinson parent.

Marshall parent here. What's wrong with giving students as many options as possible? If taught correctly, IB courses prepare students for college just as well as DE and AP classes.

It’s not about preparing for college, it’s about attaining college credits. IB credits aren’t as universally accepted.

That shows the priorities of a lot of parents, my kids didn't get as many credits but they were better prepared for college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Would love to get rid of IB programs and offer more AP and dual enrollment classes. Robinson parent.

Marshall parent here. What's wrong with giving students as many options as possible? If taught correctly, IB courses prepare students for college just as well as DE and AP classes.

It’s not about preparing for college, it’s about attaining college credits. IB credits aren’t as universally accepted.

That shows the priorities of a lot of parents, my kids didn't get as many credits but they were better prepared for college.

How, so? Better prepared than whom?