School Board Forum on "Boundary and Capacity"

[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:On another thread, but equally relevant to this one:

From Kyle McDaniel, one of the new at-large members:

"On February 13th, the School Board will hold a work session to discuss a path forward that addresses significant gaps in existing policies, and creates a roadmap for a division wide boundary adjustment. In my comments last night, I stated that I will not support any more one-off boundary changes until we overhaul these flawed policies, and implement a County-wide boundary study to fix the overcrowding that has plagued our schools for decades."

These newbies are not ready for the blowback. They should ask some of the folks who were on the school board back in 2019 how this is going to go for them.

Hasn't he been on the school board before?

McDaniel ran for the School Board in 2019 and lost to Cohen. The other two at-large members (Moon and McElveen) are returnees.

Right now they are setting themselves up for a battle royale, because they are promising big changes (the first county-wide boundary revisions since the mid-1980s), and suggesting it's going to be based primarily on recommendations from FCPS staff or third-party consultants. But assigned that task, the FCPS staff or third-party consultants will insist that the School Board not only identify the relevant criteria, but prioritize them. The fingers will be pointing in every which direction.

And once any priority is identified that could lead to moving anyone out of one school in particular - Langley - they'll be met with a tidal wave of opposition from an outspoken and wealthy community that wants their kids at Langley, and Langley alone, and will denounce their perceived opponents as "social engineers," etc.

It's possible the new Board won't wilt like the prior Board did in 2018-19 after all, there is more precedent now to suggest that Democrats on the School Board can do whatever they want and get re-elected to the School Board or elected to higher office. They could also launch their own PR effort to basically portray the Langley parents leading the opposition (not all Langley parents, but the ones who were previously behind "One Great Falls" and "Voices of Fairfax" and could be expected to rear their heads again) as elitist, out-of-touch, MAGA types. And, given that the overcrowding at some schools may have gone on even longer by the time they get around to this, there may be broader support for a comprehensive review (although the survey results from the consultant that was hired suggest parents just want more additions and renovations, which of course costs more money, and not boundary changes).

But it won't be pretty, and it won't be easy.

I for one am done voting yes to every referendum asking for funding towards FCPS facilities, just because well-off parents are throwing hissy fits over their demands for unnecessary luxury renovations. The level of disparity is too far gone now. Some pyramids got very lucky in the past half decade but I'm frustrated that we would effectively subsidize the wealthiest communities at the cost of the poorest.

Bond referenda always pass and when you vote against one people just think you don't want to pay taxes, not that you're concerned with how money may have been allocated in the past.

Meals Tax failed. I wouldn’t assume people will just blindly vote to fund schools forever.

Fairfax is a heavily Democratic county and school bonds pass by large margins. I believe the percentage who voted in favor of the 2023 bond was down slightly from 2021, but it still passed easily, including in areas where no schools were getting any funding.

They pass, but should they? Perhaps one defeat would send a message to the School Board that they need to be better stewards of taxpayer money. But the limousine liberals (this county is at least 65% Democrats) in this county would rather spend taxpayer money to expand their schools than to ever be redistricted to the poorer schools. So nothing will change.

My God, do you just spend all day parroting the same thing on multiple threads?

Fairfax actually lost residents and students in the last several years. Expanding high schools when there is space available at other schools is just bad management. There are local space problems in parts of the county, but a comprehensive boundary change could help solve that. FCPS refusing to move students to schools like Mt. Vernon was an extra signal to parents that the school system doesn't even have faith in certain schools. Therefore, residents that do want to live in Fairfax stuff themselves into particular schools and overcrowd them. Then demand expansion. Tough decisions need to be made.

Fairfax is a big, congested county. In the past, FCPS closed schools in eastern Fairfax at the same time as it was opening new schools in western Fairfax. Now the areas that are growing are scattered around the county, and it may make more sense to expand some schools than redraw all the boundaries.

The fact that Kyle McDaniel, who lives in the Oakton district, is calling for county-wide boundary changes makes me laugh. This guy sure wasn’t complaining when Oakton got a huge renovation and expansion just a few years ago.

While the renovation is nice, many people don't want their child attending such a large 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:

Anonymous wrote:On another thread, but equally relevant to this one:

From Kyle McDaniel, one of the new at-large members:

"On February 13th, the School Board will hold a work session to discuss a path forward that addresses significant gaps in existing policies, and creates a roadmap for a division wide boundary adjustment. In my comments last night, I stated that I will not support any more one-off boundary changes until we overhaul these flawed policies, and implement a County-wide boundary study to fix the overcrowding that has plagued our schools for decades."

These newbies are not ready for the blowback. They should ask some of the folks who were on the school board back in 2019 how this is going to go for them.

Hasn't he been on the school board before?

McDaniel ran for the School Board in 2019 and lost to Cohen. The other two at-large members (Moon and McElveen) are returnees.

Right now they are setting themselves up for a battle royale, because they are promising big changes (the first county-wide boundary revisions since the mid-1980s), and suggesting it's going to be based primarily on recommendations from FCPS staff or third-party consultants. But assigned that task, the FCPS staff or third-party consultants will insist that the School Board not only identify the relevant criteria, but prioritize them. The fingers will be pointing in every which direction.

And once any priority is identified that could lead to moving anyone out of one school in particular - Langley - they'll be met with a tidal wave of opposition from an outspoken and wealthy community that wants their kids at Langley, and Langley alone, and will denounce their perceived opponents as "social engineers," etc.

It's possible the new Board won't wilt like the prior Board did in 2018-19 after all, there is more precedent now to suggest that Democrats on the School Board can do whatever they want and get re-elected to the School Board or elected to higher office. They could also launch their own PR effort to basically portray the Langley parents leading the opposition (not all Langley parents, but the ones who were previously behind "One Great Falls" and "Voices of Fairfax" and could be expected to rear their heads again) as elitist, out-of-touch, MAGA types. And, given that the overcrowding at some schools may have gone on even longer by the time they get around to this, there may be broader support for a comprehensive review (although the survey results from the consultant that was hired suggest parents just want more additions and renovations, which of course costs more money, and not boundary changes).

But it won't be pretty, and it won't be easy.

I for one am done voting yes to every referendum asking for funding towards FCPS facilities, just because well-off parents are throwing hissy fits over their demands for unnecessary luxury renovations. The level of disparity is too far gone now. Some pyramids got very lucky in the past half decade but I'm frustrated that we would effectively subsidize the wealthiest communities at the cost of the poorest.

Bond referenda always pass and when you vote against one people just think you don't want to pay taxes, not that you're concerned with how money may have been allocated in the past.

Meals Tax failed. I wouldn’t assume people will just blindly vote to fund schools forever.

Fairfax is a heavily Democratic county and school bonds pass by large margins. I believe the percentage who voted in favor of the 2023 bond was down slightly from 2021, but it still passed easily, including in areas where no schools were getting any funding.

They pass, but should they? Perhaps one defeat would send a message to the School Board that they need to be better stewards of taxpayer money. But the limousine liberals (this county is at least 65% Democrats) in this county would rather spend taxpayer money to expand their schools than to ever be redistricted to the poorer schools. So nothing will change.

My God, do you just spend all day parroting the same thing on multiple threads?

Fairfax actually lost residents and students in the last several years. Expanding high schools when there is space available at other schools is just bad management. There are local space problems in parts of the county, but a comprehensive boundary change could help solve that. FCPS refusing to move students to schools like Mt. Vernon was an extra signal to parents that the school system doesn't even have faith in certain schools. Therefore, residents that do want to live in Fairfax stuff themselves into particular schools and overcrowd them. Then demand expansion. Tough decisions need to be made.

Fairfax is a big, congested county. In the past, FCPS closed schools in eastern Fairfax at the same time as it was opening new schools in western Fairfax. Now the areas that are growing are scattered around the county, and it may make more sense to expand some schools than redraw all the boundaries.

The fact that Kyle McDaniel, who lives in the Oakton district, is calling for county-wide boundary changes makes me laugh. This guy sure wasn’t complaining when Oakton got a huge renovation and expansion just a few years ago.

While the renovation is nice, many people don't want their child attending such a large school.

So upthread the poster (you?) was claiming that parents "stuff themselves into particular schools" and now you're saying many people don't want their kids at larger schools.

Which is it? Because all I usually see here is people waiting until their own schools get renovated and expanded, and then claiming we can't spend money on other schools because it would be too expensive.

By the way, it's simplistic to suggest people only buy in particular areas because of schools. Some schools end up highly ranked because they are in areas where people want to buy because of the proximity to jobs.

[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:On another thread, but equally relevant to this one:

From Kyle McDaniel, one of the new at-large members:

"On February 13th, the School Board will hold a work session to discuss a path forward that addresses significant gaps in existing policies, and creates a roadmap for a division wide boundary adjustment. In my comments last night, I stated that I will not support any more one-off boundary changes until we overhaul these flawed policies, and implement a County-wide boundary study to fix the overcrowding that has plagued our schools for decades."

These newbies are not ready for the blowback. They should ask some of the folks who were on the school board back in 2019 how this is going to go for them.

Hasn't he been on the school board before?

McDaniel ran for the School Board in 2019 and lost to Cohen. The other two at-large members (Moon and McElveen) are returnees.

Right now they are setting themselves up for a battle royale, because they are promising big changes (the first county-wide boundary revisions since the mid-1980s), and suggesting it's going to be based primarily on recommendations from FCPS staff or third-party consultants. But assigned that task, the FCPS staff or third-party consultants will insist that the School Board not only identify the relevant criteria, but prioritize them. The fingers will be pointing in every which direction.

And once any priority is identified that could lead to moving anyone out of one school in particular - Langley - they'll be met with a tidal wave of opposition from an outspoken and wealthy community that wants their kids at Langley, and Langley alone, and will denounce their perceived opponents as "social engineers," etc.

It's possible the new Board won't wilt like the prior Board did in 2018-19 after all, there is more precedent now to suggest that Democrats on the School Board can do whatever they want and get re-elected to the School Board or elected to higher office. They could also launch their own PR effort to basically portray the Langley parents leading the opposition (not all Langley parents, but the ones who were previously behind "One Great Falls" and "Voices of Fairfax" and could be expected to rear their heads again) as elitist, out-of-touch, MAGA types. And, given that the overcrowding at some schools may have gone on even longer by the time they get around to this, there may be broader support for a comprehensive review (although the survey results from the consultant that was hired suggest parents just want more additions and renovations, which of course costs more money, and not boundary changes).

But it won't be pretty, and it won't be easy.

I for one am done voting yes to every referendum asking for funding towards FCPS facilities, just because well-off parents are throwing hissy fits over their demands for unnecessary luxury renovations. The level of disparity is too far gone now. Some pyramids got very lucky in the past half decade but I'm frustrated that we would effectively subsidize the wealthiest communities at the cost of the poorest.

Bond referenda always pass and when you vote against one people just think you don't want to pay taxes, not that you're concerned with how money may have been allocated in the past.

Meals Tax failed. I wouldn’t assume people will just blindly vote to fund schools forever.

Fairfax is a heavily Democratic county and school bonds pass by large margins. I believe the percentage who voted in favor of the 2023 bond was down slightly from 2021, but it still passed easily, including in areas where no schools were getting any funding.

They pass, but should they? Perhaps one defeat would send a message to the School Board that they need to be better stewards of taxpayer money. But the limousine liberals (this county is at least 65% Democrats) in this county would rather spend taxpayer money to expand their schools than to ever be redistricted to the poorer schools. So nothing will change.

My God, do you just spend all day parroting the same thing on multiple threads?

Fairfax actually lost residents and students in the last several years. Expanding high schools when there is space available at other schools is just bad management. There are local space problems in parts of the county, but a comprehensive boundary change could help solve that. FCPS refusing to move students to schools like Mt. Vernon was an extra signal to parents that the school system doesn't even have faith in certain schools. Therefore, residents that do want to live in Fairfax stuff themselves into particular schools and overcrowd them. Then demand expansion. Tough decisions need to be made.

Fairfax is a big, congested county. In the past, FCPS closed schools in eastern Fairfax at the same time as it was opening new schools in western Fairfax. Now the areas that are growing are scattered around the county, and it may make more sense to expand some schools than redraw all the boundaries.

The fact that Kyle McDaniel, who lives in the Oakton district, is calling for county-wide boundary changes makes me laugh. This guy sure wasn’t complaining when Oakton got a huge renovation and expansion just a few years ago.

While the renovation is nice, many people don't want their child attending such a large school.

FCPS has been building large high schools since the 1970s. And they’ve been expanding the smaller high schools built in the 1950s-1960s. The vast majority have been happy with that direction. The alternatives are Falls Church City Schools, or under-enrolled schools like Lewis.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some Franklin Farm kids need to be sent to Herndon. Franklin Middle needs to feed to Oakton.

Some Westfield and Chantilly kids need to be sent to Centerville (Virginia Run/Bull Run and Poplar Tree (make is a split feeder).

No and no. You have no idea what you are talking about.

First you say you would you send kids a mile or two from Chantilly and not far from Westfield to Herndon. And then you say send all of Franklin to Oakton. The non-Oakton piece of Franklin IS Franklin Farm.

So are you sending the kids who live the closest to Chantilly HS to Herndon or Oakton (45 minute rush hour commute)?

Not to poster to whom you’re responding, but curious as to who you think will get moved to Centreville since it’s now clear that at some level they’ve decided the solution to the overcrowding at Chantilly is to expand Centreville to 3000 (just as they previously, though incorrectly, decided the solution to overcrowding at McLean was to expand Langley to 2370).

I suggested Oakton because those parents would settle for that vs the other high school choices in the area. I mean, they could draw the boundary at 50 and all of Franklin could get shifted to Westfield. Because centreville is meant to relieve Westfield (bull run es/Virginia run es), leaving room to shift Chantilly kids to Westfield.

Chantilly is literally sitting on 50. That would move kids who live 1/4 mile from Chantilly in the neighborhoods right across the street on long bus rides. If they care about efficient use of busing, sending kids who are walkable on long bus rides ain’t ir. .

And no, Parents who live near Chantilly would not “settle” for their kids sitting on 66 for 45 minutes to get to school when there is an equally good high school a mile/ 5 minutes from their house. And that is not a commute I would let a high school aged driver do. I’d send my kids to Centreville or Westfield or apply for pupil placement to SLHS IB before I signed up to do more than an hour round trip for every sports pickup and after school activity. You have to draw a long, narrow rectangle with a ton of rush hour traffic going nowhere to make that boundary work. Would you send kids who live near the Vienna metro to Chantilly? Didn’t think so.

I'm happy to hear you are a parent open to that area moving to Westfields. We need more people like you.

“We need more parents like you” willing to tear entire communities apart and potentially hurt their own property values and totally upend their kids’ lives to save the county a little bit of gas money.

Like it or not, redistricting has major impacts to communities, that’s why it gets done only on the margins.

Have you considered the existence of tens of thousands of kids and their families whose property values have already been plummetting and that currently attend failing schools within FCPS? All because we deliberately concentrate them. Roughly 10 of our 25 pyramids are below the Virginia average performance based on SAT. Property value should be a moot point anyway, but the fact that we have so many failing schools is indefensible.

You should for sure run for office with “property value should be a moot point anyway” as your slogan and see how badly you lose, because you are in a distinct minority if you don’t think homeowners care about property values.

I am all for lifting up as many students possible. Redistricting ain’t the answer.

[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:

Anonymous wrote:On another thread, but equally relevant to this one:

From Kyle McDaniel, one of the new at-large members:

"On February 13th, the School Board will hold a work session to discuss a path forward that addresses significant gaps in existing policies, and creates a roadmap for a division wide boundary adjustment. In my comments last night, I stated that I will not support any more one-off boundary changes until we overhaul these flawed policies, and implement a County-wide boundary study to fix the overcrowding that has plagued our schools for decades."

These newbies are not ready for the blowback. They should ask some of the folks who were on the school board back in 2019 how this is going to go for them.

Hasn't he been on the school board before?

McDaniel ran for the School Board in 2019 and lost to Cohen. The other two at-large members (Moon and McElveen) are returnees.

Right now they are setting themselves up for a battle royale, because they are promising big changes (the first county-wide boundary revisions since the mid-1980s), and suggesting it's going to be based primarily on recommendations from FCPS staff or third-party consultants. But assigned that task, the FCPS staff or third-party consultants will insist that the School Board not only identify the relevant criteria, but prioritize them. The fingers will be pointing in every which direction.

And once any priority is identified that could lead to moving anyone out of one school in particular - Langley - they'll be met with a tidal wave of opposition from an outspoken and wealthy community that wants their kids at Langley, and Langley alone, and will denounce their perceived opponents as "social engineers," etc.

It's possible the new Board won't wilt like the prior Board did in 2018-19 after all, there is more precedent now to suggest that Democrats on the School Board can do whatever they want and get re-elected to the School Board or elected to higher office. They could also launch their own PR effort to basically portray the Langley parents leading the opposition (not all Langley parents, but the ones who were previously behind "One Great Falls" and "Voices of Fairfax" and could be expected to rear their heads again) as elitist, out-of-touch, MAGA types. And, given that the overcrowding at some schools may have gone on even longer by the time they get around to this, there may be broader support for a comprehensive review (although the survey results from the consultant that was hired suggest parents just want more additions and renovations, which of course costs more money, and not boundary changes).

But it won't be pretty, and it won't be easy.

I for one am done voting yes to every referendum asking for funding towards FCPS facilities, just because well-off parents are throwing hissy fits over their demands for unnecessary luxury renovations. The level of disparity is too far gone now. Some pyramids got very lucky in the past half decade but I'm frustrated that we would effectively subsidize the wealthiest communities at the cost of the poorest.

Bond referenda always pass and when you vote against one people just think you don't want to pay taxes, not that you're concerned with how money may have been allocated in the past.

Meals Tax failed. I wouldn’t assume people will just blindly vote to fund schools forever.

Fairfax is a heavily Democratic county and school bonds pass by large margins. I believe the percentage who voted in favor of the 2023 bond was down slightly from 2021, but it still passed easily, including in areas where no schools were getting any funding.

They pass, but should they? Perhaps one defeat would send a message to the School Board that they need to be better stewards of taxpayer money. But the limousine liberals (this county is at least 65% Democrats) in this county would rather spend taxpayer money to expand their schools than to ever be redistricted to the poorer schools. So nothing will change.

My God, do you just spend all day parroting the same thing on multiple threads?

Fairfax actually lost residents and students in the last several years. Expanding high schools when there is space available at other schools is just bad management. There are local space problems in parts of the county, but a comprehensive boundary change could help solve that. FCPS refusing to move students to schools like Mt. Vernon was an extra signal to parents that the school system doesn't even have faith in certain schools. Therefore, residents that do want to live in Fairfax stuff themselves into particular schools and overcrowd them. Then demand expansion. Tough decisions need to be made.

Fairfax is a big, congested county. In the past, FCPS closed schools in eastern Fairfax at the same time as it was opening new schools in western Fairfax. Now the areas that are growing are scattered around the county, and it may make more sense to expand some schools than redraw all the boundaries.

The fact that Kyle McDaniel, who lives in the Oakton district, is calling for county-wide boundary changes makes me laugh. This guy sure wasn’t complaining when Oakton got a huge renovation and expansion just a few years ago.

While the renovation is nice, many people don't want their child attending such a large school.

FCPS has been building large high schools since the 1970s. And they’ve been expanding the smaller high schools built in the 1950s-1960s. The vast majority have been happy with that direction. The alternatives are Falls Church City Schools, or under-enrolled schools like Lewis.

Annandale, Lewis, and McLean are three high schools built in the 1950s that received inexpensive renovations in the early 2000s and remain under-sized compared to other schools despite prior expansions. There's a strong case to expand both Annandale and McLean, as both have many classes in trailers and modulars. At this point Lewis needs more kids more than more space.

Justice and Madison were also both built in the 1950s, and each has recently been or is now being expanded to 2500 seats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some Franklin Farm kids need to be sent to Herndon. Franklin Middle needs to feed to Oakton.

Some Westfield and Chantilly kids need to be sent to Centerville (Virginia Run/Bull Run and Poplar Tree (make is a split feeder).

No and no. You have no idea what you are talking about.

First you say you would you send kids a mile or two from Chantilly and not far from Westfield to Herndon. And then you say send all of Franklin to Oakton. The non-Oakton piece of Franklin IS Franklin Farm.

So are you sending the kids who live the closest to Chantilly HS to Herndon or Oakton (45 minute rush hour commute)?

Not to poster to whom you’re responding, but curious as to who you think will get moved to Centreville since it’s now clear that at some level they’ve decided the solution to the overcrowding at Chantilly is to expand Centreville to 3000 (just as they previously, though incorrectly, decided the solution to overcrowding at McLean was to expand Langley to 2370).

I suggested Oakton because those parents would settle for that vs the other high school choices in the area. I mean, they could draw the boundary at 50 and all of Franklin could get shifted to Westfield. Because centreville is meant to relieve Westfield (bull run es/Virginia run es), leaving room to shift Chantilly kids to Westfield.

Why would you shift Westfield kids to Centreville in order to shift Chantilly to Westfield when you could just…reach across 29 and move Chantilly kids to Centreville? Bull Run ES goes to Centreville already. Virginia Run’s boundaries run all the way to 50…nearer Chantilly, not Centreville. And shifting the feeder middle schools makes no sense.

+1. I suspect we have a poster who is lashing out at any Western County boundary adjustment, because it will involve Langley. Because at least on very militant poster has no understanding of boundaries as they stand how. See also, accusing Chantilly parents of wanting to “save the county bus money” by not moving kids to Oakton, which is a much longer commute.

DP. It is beyond bizarre how you invoke "Langley" whenever you get any pushback about the western schools like Westfield, Centreville, Chantilly, etc. Speaking of "no understanding of boundaries as they stand now..."
- not a Langley parent, so you can save your mindless insults

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:On another thread, but equally relevant to this one:

From Kyle McDaniel, one of the new at-large members:

"On February 13th, the School Board will hold a work session to discuss a path forward that addresses significant gaps in existing policies, and creates a roadmap for a division wide boundary adjustment. In my comments last night, I stated that I will not support any more one-off boundary changes until we overhaul these flawed policies, and implement a County-wide boundary study to fix the overcrowding that has plagued our schools for decades."

These newbies are not ready for the blowback. They should ask some of the folks who were on the school board back in 2019 how this is going to go for them.

Hasn't he been on the school board before?

McDaniel ran for the School Board in 2019 and lost to Cohen. The other two at-large members (Moon and McElveen) are returnees.

Right now they are setting themselves up for a battle royale, because they are promising big changes (the first county-wide boundary revisions since the mid-1980s), and suggesting it's going to be based primarily on recommendations from FCPS staff or third-party consultants. But assigned that task, the FCPS staff or third-party consultants will insist that the School Board not only identify the relevant criteria, but prioritize them. The fingers will be pointing in every which direction.

And once any priority is identified that could lead to moving anyone out of one school in particular - Langley - they'll be met with a tidal wave of opposition from an outspoken and wealthy community that wants their kids at Langley, and Langley alone, and will denounce their perceived opponents as "social engineers," etc.

It's possible the new Board won't wilt like the prior Board did in 2018-19 after all, there is more precedent now to suggest that Democrats on the School Board can do whatever they want and get re-elected to the School Board or elected to higher office. They could also launch their own PR effort to basically portray the Langley parents leading the opposition (not all Langley parents, but the ones who were previously behind "One Great Falls" and "Voices of Fairfax" and could be expected to rear their heads again) as elitist, out-of-touch, MAGA types. And, given that the overcrowding at some schools may have gone on even longer by the time they get around to this, there may be broader support for a comprehensive review (although the survey results from the consultant that was hired suggest parents just want more additions and renovations, which of course costs more money, and not boundary changes).

But it won't be pretty, and it won't be easy.

I for one am done voting yes to every referendum asking for funding towards FCPS facilities, just because well-off parents are throwing hissy fits over their demands for unnecessary luxury renovations. The level of disparity is too far gone now. Some pyramids got very lucky in the past half decade but I'm frustrated that we would effectively subsidize the wealthiest communities at the cost of the poorest.

Bond referenda always pass and when you vote against one people just think you don't want to pay taxes, not that you're concerned with how money may have been allocated in the past.

Meals Tax failed. I wouldn’t assume people will just blindly vote to fund schools forever.

Fairfax is a heavily Democratic county and school bonds pass by large margins. I believe the percentage who voted in favor of the 2023 bond was down slightly from 2021, but it still passed easily, including in areas where no schools were getting any funding.

They pass, but should they? Perhaps one defeat would send a message to the School Board that they need to be better stewards of taxpayer money. But the limousine liberals (this county is at least 65% Democrats) in this county would rather spend taxpayer money to expand their schools than to ever be redistricted to the poorer schools. So nothing will change.

My God, do you just spend all day parroting the same thing on multiple threads?

Fairfax actually lost residents and students in the last several years. Expanding high schools when there is space available at other schools is just bad management. There are local space problems in parts of the county, but a comprehensive boundary change could help solve that. FCPS refusing to move students to schools like Mt. Vernon was an extra signal to parents that the school system doesn't even have faith in certain schools. Therefore, residents that do want to live in Fairfax stuff themselves into particular schools and overcrowd them. Then demand expansion. Tough decisions need to be made.

So the answer is yes, you do spend all day parroting the same things on multiple threads.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some Franklin Farm kids need to be sent to Herndon. Franklin Middle needs to feed to Oakton.

Some Westfield and Chantilly kids need to be sent to Centerville (Virginia Run/Bull Run and Poplar Tree (make is a split feeder).

No and no. You have no idea what you are talking about.

First you say you would you send kids a mile or two from Chantilly and not far from Westfield to Herndon. And then you say send all of Franklin to Oakton. The non-Oakton piece of Franklin IS Franklin Farm.

So are you sending the kids who live the closest to Chantilly HS to Herndon or Oakton (45 minute rush hour commute)?

Not to poster to whom you’re responding, but curious as to who you think will get moved to Centreville since it’s now clear that at some level they’ve decided the solution to the overcrowding at Chantilly is to expand Centreville to 3000 (just as they previously, though incorrectly, decided the solution to overcrowding at McLean was to expand Langley to 2370).

I suggested Oakton because those parents would settle for that vs the other high school choices in the area. I mean, they could draw the boundary at 50 and all of Franklin could get shifted to Westfield. Because centreville is meant to relieve Westfield (bull run es/Virginia run es), leaving room to shift Chantilly kids to Westfield.

Chantilly is literally sitting on 50. That would move kids who live 1/4 mile from Chantilly in the neighborhoods right across the street on long bus rides. If they care about efficient use of busing, sending kids who are walkable on long bus rides ain’t ir. .

And no, Parents who live near Chantilly would not “settle” for their kids sitting on 66 for 45 minutes to get to school when there is an equally good high school a mile/ 5 minutes from their house. And that is not a commute I would let a high school aged driver do. I’d send my kids to Centreville or Westfield or apply for pupil placement to SLHS IB before I signed up to do more than an hour round trip for every sports pickup and after school activity. You have to draw a long, narrow rectangle with a ton of rush hour traffic going nowhere to make that boundary work. Would you send kids who live near the Vienna metro to Chantilly? Didn’t think so.

I'm happy to hear you are a parent open to that area moving to Westfields. We need more people like you.

“We need more parents like you” willing to tear entire communities apart and potentially hurt their own property values and totally upend their kids’ lives to save the county a little bit of gas money.

Like it or not, redistricting has major impacts to communities, that’s why it gets done only on the margins.

Have you considered the existence of tens of thousands of kids and their families whose property values have already been plummetting and that currently attend failing schools within FCPS? All because we deliberately concentrate them. Roughly 10 of our 25 pyramids are below the Virginia average performance based on SAT. Property value should be a moot point anyway, but the fact that we have so many failing schools is indefensible.

You should for sure run for office with “property value should be a moot point anyway” as your slogan and see how badly you lose, because you are in a distinct minority if you don’t think homeowners care about property values.

I am all for lifting up as many students possible. Redistricting ain’t the answer.

+100
The PP clearly is advocating for bussing. Good luck with that!

[Anonymous]

It might help if we can keep this thread focused on the larger issue of several current School Board members suggesting a county-wide boundary study is coming, rather than focusing on how it might affect Langley. That’s highly speculative at this point.

Personally I think Kyle McDaniel and the others are naive if they think they can just outsource county-wide boundary adjustments to staff or third-part consultants. There are assumptions about programs and facilities that have to be made as part of that process (for example, are we keeping all the current ES and MS centers, are we maintaining the current AP and IB schools and continuing to allow pupil placements, are we telling the overcrowded schools that have been overlooked for expansions that they’ll continue to be overlooked), and whoever is tasked with considering any further boundary changes should know the answers to those questions before they start redrawing boundaries. Yes, greater expertise can be brought to bear to use scarce resources efficiently, but School Board members can’t duck their obligations just because they don’t want to be held accountable for their decisions (or inaction).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some Franklin Farm kids need to be sent to Herndon. Franklin Middle needs to feed to Oakton.

Some Westfield and Chantilly kids need to be sent to Centerville (Virginia Run/Bull Run and Poplar Tree (make is a split feeder).

No and no. You have no idea what you are talking about.

First you say you would you send kids a mile or two from Chantilly and not far from Westfield to Herndon. And then you say send all of Franklin to Oakton. The non-Oakton piece of Franklin IS Franklin Farm.

So are you sending the kids who live the closest to Chantilly HS to Herndon or Oakton (45 minute rush hour commute)?

Not to poster to whom you’re responding, but curious as to who you think will get moved to Centreville since it’s now clear that at some level they’ve decided the solution to the overcrowding at Chantilly is to expand Centreville to 3000 (just as they previously, though incorrectly, decided the solution to overcrowding at McLean was to expand Langley to 2370).

I suggested Oakton because those parents would settle for that vs the other high school choices in the area. I mean, they could draw the boundary at 50 and all of Franklin could get shifted to Westfield. Because centreville is meant to relieve Westfield (bull run es/Virginia run es), leaving room to shift Chantilly kids to Westfield.

Chantilly is literally sitting on 50. That would move kids who live 1/4 mile from Chantilly in the neighborhoods right across the street on long bus rides. If they care about efficient use of busing, sending kids who are walkable on long bus rides ain’t ir. .

And no, Parents who live near Chantilly would not “settle” for their kids sitting on 66 for 45 minutes to get to school when there is an equally good high school a mile/ 5 minutes from their house. And that is not a commute I would let a high school aged driver do. I’d send my kids to Centreville or Westfield or apply for pupil placement to SLHS IB before I signed up to do more than an hour round trip for every sports pickup and after school activity. You have to draw a long, narrow rectangle with a ton of rush hour traffic going nowhere to make that boundary work. Would you send kids who live near the Vienna metro to Chantilly? Didn’t think so.

I'm happy to hear you are a parent open to that area moving to Westfields. We need more people like you.

“We need more parents like you” willing to tear entire communities apart and potentially hurt their own property values and totally upend their kids’ lives to save the county a little bit of gas money.

Like it or not, redistricting has major impacts to communities, that’s why it gets done only on the margins.

Have you considered the existence of tens of thousands of kids and their families whose property values have already been plummetting and that currently attend failing schools within FCPS? All because we deliberately concentrate them. Roughly 10 of our 25 pyramids are below the Virginia average performance based on SAT. Property value should be a moot point anyway, but the fact that we have so many failing schools is indefensible.

You should for sure run for office with “property value should be a moot point anyway” as your slogan and see how badly you lose, because you are in a distinct minority if you don’t think homeowners care about property values.

I am all for lifting up as many students possible. Redistricting ain’t the answer.

FCPS is a taxpayer-funded K-12 institution serving the public. FCPS has [/i]zero responsibility to real estate investors in private markets. No decision by FCPS should be based on preference of property values of the elites who live over here versus the poverty class over there.

This Board at least stated last meeting that they have the "moral fortitude" to make these hard decisions on the upcoming boundary review, but even I am doubtful they follow through.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some Franklin Farm kids need to be sent to Herndon. Franklin Middle needs to feed to Oakton.

Some Westfield and Chantilly kids need to be sent to Centerville (Virginia Run/Bull Run and Poplar Tree (make is a split feeder).

No and no. You have no idea what you are talking about.

First you say you would you send kids a mile or two from Chantilly and not far from Westfield to Herndon. And then you say send all of Franklin to Oakton. The non-Oakton piece of Franklin IS Franklin Farm.

So are you sending the kids who live the closest to Chantilly HS to Herndon or Oakton (45 minute rush hour commute)?

Not to poster to whom you’re responding, but curious as to who you think will get moved to Centreville since it’s now clear that at some level they’ve decided the solution to the overcrowding at Chantilly is to expand Centreville to 3000 (just as they previously, though incorrectly, decided the solution to overcrowding at McLean was to expand Langley to 2370).

I suggested Oakton because those parents would settle for that vs the other high school choices in the area. I mean, they could draw the boundary at 50 and all of Franklin could get shifted to Westfield. Because centreville is meant to relieve Westfield (bull run es/Virginia run es), leaving room to shift Chantilly kids to Westfield.

Chantilly is literally sitting on 50. That would move kids who live 1/4 mile from Chantilly in the neighborhoods right across the street on long bus rides. If they care about efficient use of busing, sending kids who are walkable on long bus rides ain’t ir. .

And no, Parents who live near Chantilly would not “settle” for their kids sitting on 66 for 45 minutes to get to school when there is an equally good high school a mile/ 5 minutes from their house. And that is not a commute I would let a high school aged driver do. I’d send my kids to Centreville or Westfield or apply for pupil placement to SLHS IB before I signed up to do more than an hour round trip for every sports pickup and after school activity. You have to draw a long, narrow rectangle with a ton of rush hour traffic going nowhere to make that boundary work. Would you send kids who live near the Vienna metro to Chantilly? Didn’t think so.

I'm happy to hear you are a parent open to that area moving to Westfields. We need more people like you.

“We need more parents like you” willing to tear entire communities apart and potentially hurt their own property values and totally upend their kids’ lives to save the county a little bit of gas money.

Like it or not, redistricting has major impacts to communities, that’s why it gets done only on the margins.

Have you considered the existence of tens of thousands of kids and their families whose property values have already been plummetting and that currently attend failing schools within FCPS? All because we deliberately concentrate them. Roughly 10 of our 25 pyramids are below the Virginia average performance based on SAT. Property value should be a moot point anyway, but the fact that we have so many failing schools is indefensible.

You should for sure run for office with “property value should be a moot point anyway” as your slogan and see how badly you lose, because you are in a distinct minority if you don’t think homeowners care about property values.

I am all for lifting up as many students possible. Redistricting ain’t the answer.

FCPS is a taxpayer-funded K-12 institution serving the public. FCPS has [/i]zero responsibility to real estate investors in private markets. No decision by FCPS should be based on preference of property values of the elites who live over here versus the poverty class over there.

This Board at least stated last meeting that they have the "moral fortitude" to make these hard decisions on the upcoming boundary review, but even I am doubtful they follow through.

School Boards composed entirely or overwhelmingly of Democrats have made decisions that protected the property values of the county’s wealthiest. Doubt that will change.

And there’s no “moral fortitude” involved in offloading key policy and operational decisions to third parties. It’s the epitome of cowardice, and it’s embraced the most by people like McDaniel and Sizemore-Heizer whose schools and neighborhoods will likely be protected in any such reshuffling.

[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:On another thread, but equally relevant to this one:

From Kyle McDaniel, one of the new at-large members:

"On February 13th, the School Board will hold a work session to discuss a path forward that addresses significant gaps in existing policies, and creates a roadmap for a division wide boundary adjustment. In my comments last night, I stated that I will not support any more one-off boundary changes until we overhaul these flawed policies, and implement a County-wide boundary study to fix the overcrowding that has plagued our schools for decades."

These newbies are not ready for the blowback. They should ask some of the folks who were on the school board back in 2019 how this is going to go for them.

Hasn't he been on the school board before?

McDaniel ran for the School Board in 2019 and lost to Cohen. The other two at-large members (Moon and McElveen) are returnees.

Right now they are setting themselves up for a battle royale, because they are promising big changes (the first county-wide boundary revisions since the mid-1980s), and suggesting it's going to be based primarily on recommendations from FCPS staff or third-party consultants. But assigned that task, the FCPS staff or third-party consultants will insist that the School Board not only identify the relevant criteria, but prioritize them. The fingers will be pointing in every which direction.

And once any priority is identified that could lead to moving anyone out of one school in particular - Langley - they'll be met with a tidal wave of opposition from an outspoken and wealthy community that wants their kids at Langley, and Langley alone, and will denounce their perceived opponents as "social engineers," etc.

It's possible the new Board won't wilt like the prior Board did in 2018-19 after all, there is more precedent now to suggest that Democrats on the School Board can do whatever they want and get re-elected to the School Board or elected to higher office. They could also launch their own PR effort to basically portray the Langley parents leading the opposition (not all Langley parents, but the ones who were previously behind "One Great Falls" and "Voices of Fairfax" and could be expected to rear their heads again) as elitist, out-of-touch, MAGA types. And, given that the overcrowding at some schools may have gone on even longer by the time they get around to this, there may be broader support for a comprehensive review (although the survey results from the consultant that was hired suggest parents just want more additions and renovations, which of course costs more money, and not boundary changes).

But it won't be pretty, and it won't be easy.

I for one am done voting yes to every referendum asking for funding towards FCPS facilities, just because well-off parents are throwing hissy fits over their demands for unnecessary luxury renovations. The level of disparity is too far gone now. Some pyramids got very lucky in the past half decade but I'm frustrated that we would effectively subsidize the wealthiest communities at the cost of the poorest.

Bond referenda always pass and when you vote against one people just think you don't want to pay taxes, not that you're concerned with how money may have been allocated in the past.

Meals Tax failed. I wouldn’t assume people will just blindly vote to fund schools forever.

Fairfax is a heavily Democratic county and school bonds pass by large margins. I believe the percentage who voted in favor of the 2023 bond was down slightly from 2021, but it still passed easily, including in areas where no schools were getting any funding.

They pass, but should they? Perhaps one defeat would send a message to the School Board that they need to be better stewards of taxpayer money. But the limousine liberals (this county is at least 65% Democrats) in this county would rather spend taxpayer money to expand their schools than to ever be redistricted to the poorer schools. So nothing will change.

My God, do you just spend all day parroting the same thing on multiple threads?

Fairfax actually lost residents and students in the last several years. Expanding high schools when there is space available at other schools is just bad management. There are local space problems in parts of the county, but a comprehensive boundary change could help solve that. FCPS refusing to move students to schools like Mt. Vernon was an extra signal to parents that the school system doesn't even have faith in certain schools. Therefore, residents that do want to live in Fairfax stuff themselves into particular schools and overcrowd them. Then demand expansion. Tough decisions need to be made.

So the answer is yes, you do spend all day parroting the same things on multiple threads.

No. Probably more than one poster saying such things. Can you argue with the thoughts in the post?

[Anonymous]

Karl Frisch is claiming that the School Board shouldn’t make “one-off” decisions about boundaries or school expansions because they are politicians, yet he single-handedly is going to force boundary adjustments for most of the elementary schools within the Marshall pyramid in a few years by pushing through the Dunn Loring ES project, which based on staff’s prior analysis was on the back burner and not at all a priority before Frisch decided to accelerate it.

Why they are doing now will just be used as an excuse for not dealing with long-overcrowded and/or neglected schools. These people suck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some Franklin Farm kids need to be sent to Herndon. Franklin Middle needs to feed to Oakton.

Some Westfield and Chantilly kids need to be sent to Centerville (Virginia Run/Bull Run and Poplar Tree (make is a split feeder).

No and no. You have no idea what you are talking about.

First you say you would you send kids a mile or two from Chantilly and not far from Westfield to Herndon. And then you say send all of Franklin to Oakton. The non-Oakton piece of Franklin IS Franklin Farm.

So are you sending the kids who live the closest to Chantilly HS to Herndon or Oakton (45 minute rush hour commute)?

Not to poster to whom you’re responding, but curious as to who you think will get moved to Centreville since it’s now clear that at some level they’ve decided the solution to the overcrowding at Chantilly is to expand Centreville to 3000 (just as they previously, though incorrectly, decided the solution to overcrowding at McLean was to expand Langley to 2370).

I suggested Oakton because those parents would settle for that vs the other high school choices in the area. I mean, they could draw the boundary at 50 and all of Franklin could get shifted to Westfield. Because centreville is meant to relieve Westfield (bull run es/Virginia run es), leaving room to shift Chantilly kids to Westfield.

Chantilly is literally sitting on 50. That would move kids who live 1/4 mile from Chantilly in the neighborhoods right across the street on long bus rides. If they care about efficient use of busing, sending kids who are walkable on long bus rides ain’t ir. .

And no, Parents who live near Chantilly would not “settle” for their kids sitting on 66 for 45 minutes to get to school when there is an equally good high school a mile/ 5 minutes from their house. And that is not a commute I would let a high school aged driver do. I’d send my kids to Centreville or Westfield or apply for pupil placement to SLHS IB before I signed up to do more than an hour round trip for every sports pickup and after school activity. You have to draw a long, narrow rectangle with a ton of rush hour traffic going nowhere to make that boundary work. Would you send kids who live near the Vienna metro to Chantilly? Didn’t think so.

I'm happy to hear you are a parent open to that area moving to Westfields. We need more people like you.

“We need more parents like you” willing to tear entire communities apart and potentially hurt their own property values and totally upend their kids’ lives to save the county a little bit of gas money.

Like it or not, redistricting has major impacts to communities, that’s why it gets done only on the margins.

Have you considered the existence of tens of thousands of kids and their families whose property values have already been plummetting and that currently attend failing schools within FCPS? All because we deliberately concentrate them. Roughly 10 of our 25 pyramids are below the Virginia average performance based on SAT. Property value should be a moot point anyway, but the fact that we have so many failing schools is indefensible.

You should for sure run for office with “property value should be a moot point anyway” as your slogan and see how badly you lose, because you are in a distinct minority if you don’t think homeowners care about property values.

I am all for lifting up as many students possible. Redistricting ain’t the answer.

FCPS is a taxpayer-funded K-12 institution serving the public. FCPS has [/i]zero responsibility to real estate investors in private markets. No decision by FCPS should be based on preference of property values of the elites who live over here versus the poverty class over there.

This Board at least stated last meeting that they have the "moral fortitude" to make these hard decisions on the upcoming boundary review, but even I am doubtful they follow through.

School Boards composed entirely or overwhelmingly of Democrats have made decisions that protected the property values of the county’s wealthiest. Doubt that will change.

And there’s no “moral fortitude” involved in offloading key policy and operational decisions to third parties. It’s the epitome of cowardice, and it’s embraced the most by people like McDaniel and Sizemore-Heizer whose schools and neighborhoods will likely be protected in any such reshuffling.

It makes sense to base decisions on data rather than political whims or whichever mommy or daddy group sends the most emails or makes the most phone calls. Staff are going to make recommendations based on the best available data and the priorities/policy approved by the school board. When presented with a county-wide package that adjusts boundaries for 10-20 schools, it absolutely will take “moral fortitude” for the school members to vote to approve it.

[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:Some Franklin Farm kids need to be sent to Herndon. Franklin Middle needs to feed to Oakton.

Some Westfield and Chantilly kids need to be sent to Centerville (Virginia Run/Bull Run and Poplar Tree (make is a split feeder).

No and no. You have no idea what you are talking about.

First you say you would you send kids a mile or two from Chantilly and not far from Westfield to Herndon. And then you say send all of Franklin to Oakton. The non-Oakton piece of Franklin IS Franklin Farm.

So are you sending the kids who live the closest to Chantilly HS to Herndon or Oakton (45 minute rush hour commute)?

Not to poster to whom you’re responding, but curious as to who you think will get moved to Centreville since it’s now clear that at some level they’ve decided the solution to the overcrowding at Chantilly is to expand Centreville to 3000 (just as they previously, though incorrectly, decided the solution to overcrowding at McLean was to expand Langley to 2370).

I suggested Oakton because those parents would settle for that vs the other high school choices in the area. I mean, they could draw the boundary at 50 and all of Franklin could get shifted to Westfield. Because centreville is meant to relieve Westfield (bull run es/Virginia run es), leaving room to shift Chantilly kids to Westfield.

Chantilly is literally sitting on 50. That would move kids who live 1/4 mile from Chantilly in the neighborhoods right across the street on long bus rides. If they care about efficient use of busing, sending kids who are walkable on long bus rides ain’t ir. .

And no, Parents who live near Chantilly would not “settle” for their kids sitting on 66 for 45 minutes to get to school when there is an equally good high school a mile/ 5 minutes from their house. And that is not a commute I would let a high school aged driver do. I’d send my kids to Centreville or Westfield or apply for pupil placement to SLHS IB before I signed up to do more than an hour round trip for every sports pickup and after school activity. You have to draw a long, narrow rectangle with a ton of rush hour traffic going nowhere to make that boundary work. Would you send kids who live near the Vienna metro to Chantilly? Didn’t think so.

I'm happy to hear you are a parent open to that area moving to Westfields. We need more people like you.

“We need more parents like you” willing to tear entire communities apart and potentially hurt their own property values and totally upend their kids’ lives to save the county a little bit of gas money.

Like it or not, redistricting has major impacts to communities, that’s why it gets done only on the margins.

Have you considered the existence of tens of thousands of kids and their families whose property values have already been plummetting and that currently attend failing schools within FCPS? All because we deliberately concentrate them. Roughly 10 of our 25 pyramids are below the Virginia average performance based on SAT. Property value should be a moot point anyway, but the fact that we have so many failing schools is indefensible.

You should for sure run for office with “property value should be a moot point anyway” as your slogan and see how badly you lose, because you are in a distinct minority if you don’t think homeowners care about property values.

I am all for lifting up as many students possible. Redistricting ain’t the answer.

FCPS is a taxpayer-funded K-12 institution serving the public. FCPS has [/i]zero responsibility to real estate investors in private markets. No decision by FCPS should be based on preference of property values of the elites who live over here versus the poverty class over there.

This Board at least stated last meeting that they have the "moral fortitude" to make these hard decisions on the upcoming boundary review, but even I am doubtful they follow through.

School Boards composed entirely or overwhelmingly of Democrats have made decisions that protected the property values of the county’s wealthiest. Doubt that will change.

And there’s no “moral fortitude” involved in offloading key policy and operational decisions to third parties. It’s the epitome of cowardice, and it’s embraced the most by people like McDaniel and Sizemore-Heizer whose schools and neighborhoods will likely be protected in any such reshuffling.

It makes sense to base decisions on data rather than political whims or whichever mommy or daddy group sends the most emails or makes the most phone calls. Staff are going to make recommendations based on the best available data and the priorities/policy approved by the school board. When presented with a county-wide package that adjusts boundaries for 10-20 schools, it absolutely will take “moral fortitude” for the school members to vote to approve it.

It’s really cute that you think this will happen.

Staff can’t make meaningful recommendations unless the policy tells them how to weight different factors and what other assumptions to make. That will take a long, long time.

And, then, even assuming the board got clear recommendations, which is a big if, the pressure for them to override those recommendations will be intense. They won’t admit they are being intimidated by the usual folks, so they’ll claim the recommendations weren’t aligned with their instructions, and toss it all back to staff for a re-do.

It was easier to do county-wide boundary adjustments decades ago when the variations among schools were much smaller. Now it is a recipe for paralysis, not action, borne out of a desire on the part of budding politicians to avoid being held responsible for decisions that might keep them from getting elected again.