LAST APS meeting on new high school and countywide rezoning (4/4, 7 pm Yorktown)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The "automatic lottery entry" thing concerns me. Part of the reason the countywide programs succeed is that they have devoted parents who really care about the programs. If you automatically enter families with no interest, some of them will get in and attend and then not engage or get as much out of it. They've already eased up the requirements by not requiring a tour or signatures on a form. (which makes it easier on busy parents.)

I'm on the PTA board at ATS and we're opposed to the idea for this reason. Part of what makes our school great is that we have engaged parents, but out of hundreds of families, you still see the same 20-30 people running everything because others don't volunteer. We worry that will get worse with automatic lottery entry; that you'll have even fewer parents who care enough to do more than the bare minimum.

Maybe I'm misreading this, but "what makes our school great are engaged parents" and "20 people run everything" - ehm, I have to say; you don't have many engaged parents, it looks like! I am guessing, most neighborhood elementaries have way more engaged parents than that!
Why is this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel like it was a huge waste of my time. Next time, I'll just answer a survey b/c I'm pretty sure that gets as much attention as the notes I wrote on the boards.

Yep. I can't figure out what motivates the SB -- it does nothing to push APS administration to make better decisions, and admin can make crappy decisions all on its own.

And look, I know there are going to be decisions I don't like. But there ought to be some clear logic behind them, but the only thing that seems to move them is matching t-shirts.

Do we have any insight into which board members champion which proposals. What the Tshirt demonstrate is an ability to organize and a willingness to spend money. I want to cut out the show and directly contribute to the board members campaign that is supporting proposals that benefit my students interests and most likely all of Arlington Public Schools.

You may want to pay attention to the upcoming caucuses for James Lander's seat then. I believe there are two candidates running against him. One is Maura McMahon, who I've met in person and wasn't super impressed by, but am planning to caucus for (pending seeing the other candidate and liking her better) just to send a message that current SOP isn't working anymore.

I've heard Reid Goldstein (sp?) is a sensible board member who listens to parents. I may have tunnel vision from reading this board too much, but I just don't get who has the ears of the others.

I have attended several meetings, and agree, that we are lucky to have Reid Goldstein. He is sometimes the only one who seemed to be paying attention and asked intelligent questions.
James Lander - forget it. He seriously believes that a PTA raising $100,000 vs one that raises $1000 makes NO difference whatsoever in the school, and that it is an insult to even consider it would make a difference, because all schools are equally great, and it doesn't matter.

The problem is the election process - once you have won the democratic caucus you are in, usually running unopposed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I attended the last meeting at Yorktown. Still smh at half the stuff I heard. One guy literally yelled out, "I don't care about any of this! The only thing that matters is that my daughter doesn't have to go to Washington-Lee with 4,000 kids!!" Another lady says, with a straight face, "You cannot open up Key to the entire county! We go to Science Focus, and we NEED that school to relieve our overcrowding! Have you seen what's happening at Taylor and SFS? We have to have 3 neighborhood schools!!"

"We have to have 3 neighborhood schools." Basically, I don't care about immersion. I don't really care about any of the children at Key. They only exist to relieve overcrowding at my kid's school. And the W-L guy? Basically told us if thousands of other kids in the county have to get stuffed into trailers and closets for his daughter to experience a pristine high school experience ...well, it is what it is.

Is anyone paying attention to the demographic trends? We live in Arlington. Outside of Discovery and maybe a couple others, every school is on track to be overcrowded. We all chose to live in a geographically small, fairly urban suburb that's continuing to grow. There won't be anywhere to ship all these "other" kids so "your" school is untouched by these facts.

Well, but this lady indirectly hit the nail on the head; the current policy serves only to self-segregate non-English speaking Hispanics out of the more "precious schools" close by, so that they have less freshly immigrated Hispanic kids. She said it, and that's exactly what it is right now.
The county has got to mix up the demographics at each school, and the proposal is a step in the right direction.

Huh? Currently, kids in the Key/ASFS boundary zone can choose either school. They aren't forced to go to Key at all. The only restriction is that after 1st grade only bilingual kids can transfer to Key. Everyone at Key is choosing to be at Key.

[Anonymous]

I think the pp misunderstood the WL guy. My kids won't be at that school, but I do think a 4,000 student school is a very bad idea. Even if APS increases IB and adds other programs,, WL will still be their home school. Thanks means 4,000 kids FS for 1 sports team, 1 school play, 1 debate team, etc. it will be hurt the students and this dumb 9th grade academy is just a way to make parents this their kid is getting a special deal when they are really just getting cheated out of a regular HS experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the pp misunderstood the WL guy. My kids won't be at that school, but I do think a 4,000 student school is a very bad idea. Even if APS increases IB and adds other programs,, WL will still be their home school. Thanks means 4,000 kids FS for 1 sports team, 1 school play, 1 debate team, etc. it will be hurt the students and this dumb 9th grade academy is just a way to make parents this their kid is getting a special deal when they are really just getting cheated out of a regular HS experience.

Yep, a 4.000 student school, one that has a heavy concentration of PARMS/ESL, is a very bad idea. They only need to look a few miles a way at TC Williams to see what happens when you do this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I attended the last meeting at Yorktown. Still smh at half the stuff I heard. One guy literally yelled out, "I don't care about any of this! The only thing that matters is that my daughter doesn't have to go to Washington-Lee with 4,000 kids!!" Another lady says, with a straight face, "You cannot open up Key to the entire county! We go to Science Focus, and we NEED that school to relieve our overcrowding! Have you seen what's happening at Taylor and SFS? We have to have 3 neighborhood schools!!"

"We have to have 3 neighborhood schools." Basically, I don't care about immersion. I don't really care about any of the children at Key. They only exist to relieve overcrowding at my kid's school. And the W-L guy? Basically told us if thousands of other kids in the county have to get stuffed into trailers and closets for his daughter to experience a pristine high school experience ...well, it is what it is.

Is anyone paying attention to the demographic trends? We live in Arlington. Outside of Discovery and maybe a couple others, every school is on track to be overcrowded. We all chose to live in a geographically small, fairly urban suburb that's continuing to grow. There won't be anywhere to ship all these "other" kids so "your" school is untouched by these facts.

Well, but this lady indirectly hit the nail on the head; the current policy serves only to self-segregate non-English speaking Hispanics out of the more "precious schools" close by, so that they have less freshly immigrated Hispanic kids. She said it, and that's exactly what it is right now.
The county has got to mix up the demographics at each school, and the proposal is a step in the right direction.

Huh? Currently, kids in the Key/ASFS boundary zone can choose either school. They aren't forced to go to Key at all. The only restriction is that after 1st grade only bilingual kids can transfer to Key. Everyone at Key is choosing to be at Key.

NP. I love the option of not being forced to go to asfs.

[Anonymous]

People need to quit whining and accept that the county can no longer afford to offer all these choices to families. The choice schools need to be converted into neighborhood schools. Kenmore needs to be converted into a high school. Just get on with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People need to quit whining and accept that the county can no longer afford to offer all these choices to families. The choice schools need to be converted into neighborhood schools. Kenmore needs to be converted into a high school. Just get on with it.

Not that simple, they need choice to balance enrollment.

[Anonymous]

People need to quit whining and accept that the county can no longer afford to offer all these choices to families. The choice schools need to be converted into neighborhood schools. Kenmore needs to be converted into a high school. Just get on with it.
--------------------
I agree completely. The choice schools are causing the problems - especially those choice schools with capped or semi capped enrollment, or those that have not put on additions when they have the land to do so. We don't need choice to balance enrollment. Choice has compounded the enrollment inequity problem. Once you add another choice school, you cannot eliminate it, and it is somewhat protected from taking additional students (compared that what other schools are forced to absorb). Our overcrowding situation would not be as bad if we just had neighborhood schools. ATS would have been built onto years ago and would not one of the smallest (enrollment-wise) schools that we have. We would have been able to add onto or redevelop Stratford years ago so that Swanson would not be a sea of trailers. Neighborhood schools allow more flexibility overall - no program or facility is protected over any other. The pain is more evenly disbursed among everyone. It is more fair to all.

[Anonymous]

How do you give feedback on the HS plans?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you, OP, for the very good summary. I honestly am okay with most of the proposed changes except don't want a 3500-4000 student high school.

+1

That's crazy.

Ditto. Ridiculous. Parents really need to raise a stink about this, because from school board comments it sure seems like this is what they want to do. I get the sense that the district employees are sincere about wanting feedback but that the board has made up their minds. Easier for them to cram 3500 kids on one campus rather than go through the drama of redistricting into 4 school zones. But I don't want my kids in a grade with 800-900 kids.

Please - write to [e-mail]

They read every email. People are only just starting to understand what is on the table. Two options do not lead to a 4,900 seat high school. Let SB and APS know your views - and get all of your friends to email, too! Even a short email will do.

Bump for SB email.

[Anonymous]

Choice schools, beyond exacerbating overcrowding, also worsens socio-economic segregation (except the Immersion schools). HB is second least diverse and second fewest FARMS. It is white flight in stealth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People need to quit whining and accept that the county can no longer afford to offer all these choices to families. The choice schools need to be converted into neighborhood schools. Kenmore needs to be converted into a high school. Just get on with it.

Not that simple, they need choice to balance enrollment.

DP. It really is that simple.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Choice schools, beyond exacerbating overcrowding, also worsens socio-economic segregation (except the Immersion schools). HB is second least diverse and second fewest FARMS. It is white flight in stealth.

White flight in stealth?

[Anonymous]

Choice schools are often the only way middle class families in south Arlington have any shot at attending a diverse school. But yes, let's all shout white flight at them. Good job!