MCPS planning very limited regional program transportation (HS pickups only)

[Anonymous]

This may not be a surprise to those who have been following this, but MCPS staff had previously been evasive about what exactly the transportation plan for regional programs will be.

But today they confirmed to the 'design team" (i.e. the advisory group who they don't actually listen to) that the current plan is that buses to the regional programs will pick students up from their local high school, meaning that students will not be able to attend regional programs unless they can drive or be driven to their local high school to catch the school bus from there (or they are lucky enough to live close enough to walk or have a workable public transit route to their high school.)

This is deeply inequitable and will leave many students behind. But I guess at this point they're so sure it'll pass that they don't mind letting it slip that regional programs are only going to be for better-off families who can manage DIY transportation. (And my understanding is that they and Taylor have implied to Board members that there will be reasonable access to transportation.to help get their support-- they probably figure it is too last minute for any of them to change their mind on it now.)

[Anonymous]

What was the reaction in the room?

[Anonymous]

Before my kid started MCPS I used to not fully understand all the complaining. But we are only 1.5 years in and I just can't with these people. This is all just a huge, expensive distraction from the reality that they are graduating a large majority of kids not graduate proficient in math and reading.

[Anonymous]

They could've just kept the existing magnet programs if there's not going to be useful transportation to the regional programs and parents have to drive the kids either way.

[Anonymous]

What would happen if the board didn't pass the regional model since all of the boundary study data and recommendations assume the regional model is getting implemented.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What would happen if the board didn't pass the regional model since all of the boundary study data and recommendations assume the regional model is getting implemented.

In Taylor’s words, “they are inextricably linked.” And so for that reason, the board will not vote against it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Before my kid started MCPS I used to not fully understand all the complaining. But we are only 1.5 years in and I just can't with these people. This is all just a huge, expensive distraction from the reality that they are graduating a large majority of kids not graduate proficient in math and reading.

Yep - how much is this regional disaster going to cost us?

And in the meantime, the school district is writing its own English Language Arts curriculum for high schools. You might have wondered why that refrigerator curriculum looked haphazard and cast such a low bar. Why can't we buy externally developed and externally evaluated curriculum as the Maryland Blueprint requires? Because we are spending untold millions on implementing up to 100 ill-designed regional programs that will also utilize homemade curriculum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They could've just kept the existing magnet programs if there's not going to be useful transportation to the regional programs and parents have to drive the kids either way.

The MAGA DOGE policies of Thomas Taylor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What was the reaction in the room?

DP and member of design team. People pointed out this was inequitable. MCPS as always said "your feedback has been noted" and moved on. They just don't care. I don't know why I bother going to these meetings anymore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This may not be a surprise to those who have been following this, but MCPS staff had previously been evasive about what exactly the transportation plan for regional programs will be.

But today they confirmed to the 'design team" (i.e. the advisory group who they don't actually listen to) that the current plan is that buses to the regional programs will pick students up from their local high school, meaning that students will not be able to attend regional programs unless they can drive or be driven to their local high school to catch the school bus from there (or they are lucky enough to live close enough to walk or have a workable public transit route to their high school.)

This is deeply inequitable and will leave many students behind. But I guess at this point they're so sure it'll pass that they don't mind letting it slip that regional programs are only going to be for better-off families who can manage DIY transportation. (And my understanding is that they and Taylor have implied to Board members that there will be reasonable access to transportation.to help get their support-- they probably figure it is too last minute for any of them to change their mind on it now.)

And what will those high school parking lots look like with all these extra buses pulling in. It will be even more hair-raising.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What would happen if the board didn't pass the regional model since all of the boundary study data and recommendations assume the regional model is getting implemented.

It wouldn't make much difference-- they're just making up numbers of how many kids will leave from or go to different schools (for example, that 400 Whitman students are going to leave Whitman for regional programs at Northwood, Einstein, Blair, and BCC-- yeah right.) And even with the made-up numbers, the regional programs only shift enrollment projections by 100 or less kids either way in most cases, and that's when fully implemented for all 4 grades (so probably only a few dozen different in year one.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Before my kid started MCPS I used to not fully understand all the complaining. But we are only 1.5 years in and I just can't with these people. This is all just a huge, expensive distraction from the reality that they are graduating a large majority of kids not graduate proficient in math and reading.

Yep - how much is this regional disaster going to cost us?

And in the meantime, the school district is writing its own English Language Arts curriculum for high schools. You might have wondered why that refrigerator curriculum looked haphazard and cast such a low bar. Why can't we buy externally developed and externally evaluated curriculum as the Maryland Blueprint requires? Because we are spending untold millions on implementing up to 100 ill-designed regional programs that will also utilize homemade curriculum.

The refrigerator curriculum makes the HS English curriculum look better than it is. It implies that students are reading all of the anchor texts, when in fact they are reading just one - and these are sometimes graphic novels that can be read cover-to-cover in under an hour.

[Anonymous]

MCPS said one reason they need the regional model is because the commute to current programs is too far. At least the current model provides a lot of local stops. By providing buses from high schools only in the regional model, they will make the commute impossible for some students.

[Anonymous]

Help me understand the issue. If you live far enough away from your home high school (the one you’re zoned for) to get bus service from your neighborhood to your home school, will that bus get you to your home school in time for you to catch a bus from your home school to your regional special program? Or is the issue that the buses to regional special programs leave home schools early enough that your neighborhood bus won’t get you to your home school in time?

If you live too close to your home school to qualify for busing from your neighborhood to your home school, then the burden was already on you to come up with your own transportation to your home school, so there’s no difference between getting yourself there to attend that home school versus getting yourself there to catch a bus to your regional special program.

Currently, how many locations do high school magnet buses depart from besides home high schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Help me understand the issue. If you live far enough away from your home high school (the one you’re zoned for) to get bus service from your neighborhood to your home school, will that bus get you to your home school in time for you to catch a bus from your home school to your regional special program? Or is the issue that the buses to regional special programs leave home schools early enough that your neighborhood bus won’t get you to your home school in time?

If you live too close to your home school to qualify for busing from your neighborhood to your home school, then the burden was already on you to come up with your own transportation to your home school, so there’s no difference between getting yourself there to attend that home school versus getting yourself there to catch a bus to your regional special program.

Currently, how many locations do high school magnet buses depart from besides home high schools?

Unless the buses to the local schools get there super early, there is no way a kid can take the bus to their local high school and then transfer to another bus to another high school. Are they going to make all the kids taking a bus to their local high school get there super early so that the magnet kids can hop on another bus to get to their program on time? That would feel incredibly unfair to the local kids.