Show me the law that says school boards cannot change boundaries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

A candidate like Karen Keys Gamarra is all about “equity” but one of the first things she did was to vote to move rich kids from Jackson MS to Thoreau MS. If she really cares about equity, let her own and her own mistakes before she starts messing with other people’s schools.

And, she did not want "justice" but Justice Thurgood Marshall (even though there was already a "Marshall" High. ) She did not understand the parliamentary procedure on the amendments. (Frankly, I don't either.) But, she could not even support what she wanted because of that mistake.

There are several candidates running on "equity." Go read Abrar Omeish's platform.

Who could be a better advocate for equity than a Yale graduate who raised many times more money in her campaign (from a single group) than all her opponents combined?

Laughing because it hurts too much to cry thinking about the nonsense she’ll spout.

[Anonymous]

https://www.abraromeish.com/issues

Here "Forestville mover," here's your candidate.

[Anonymous]

https://elainetholen.com/priorities

Hey, Dranesville. Looks like addressing "school overcrowding" is a priority for your candidate.

[Anonymous]

So people zoned for Lee will argue that a 5 mile bus ride to Lee is too far so that they can be rezoned to West Springfield, a four mile bus ride. I have actually heard this argument being made. Meanwhile, families in Great Falls will argue that they should be at Langley and not Herndon despite an actual long bus ride. Of course, the common denominator is that these parents all want to send their kids to the wealthier school and transportation has nothing to do with it. People will make the argument fit what they want, and no one wants Herndon, Justice, Mt. Vernon, Lee, Annandale, or Falls Church.

And excessive immigration to Fairfax, legal and illegal, is contributing to the problem. Unless that is curtailed this problem will continue and may only spread. I don't dislike these people and would probably prefer their company to many of the people on this board, but they do impact schools when they are present in large numbers. Just different needs.

And honestly, if the people in Langley, McLean, Oakton, Madison, West Springfield, Robinson, and other similar schools don't see the impact to their schools, they will continue to support the status quo that has gotten us into this situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So people zoned for Lee will argue that a 5 mile bus ride to Lee is too far so that they can be rezoned to West Springfield, a four mile bus ride. I have actually heard this argument being made. Meanwhile, families in Great Falls will argue that they should be at Langley and not Herndon despite an actual long bus ride. Of course, the common denominator is that these parents all want to send their kids to the wealthier school and transportation has nothing to do with it. People will make the argument fit what they want, and no one wants Herndon, Justice, Mt. Vernon, Lee, Annandale, or Falls Church.

And excessive immigration to Fairfax, legal and illegal, is contributing to the problem. Unless that is curtailed this problem will continue and may only spread. I don't dislike these people and would probably prefer their company to many of the people on this board, but they do impact schools when they are present in large numbers. Just different needs.

And honestly, if the people in Langley, McLean, Oakton, Madison, West Springfield, Robinson, and other similar schools don't see the impact to their schools, they will continue to support the status quo that has gotten us into this situation.

1. Redistricting because of numbers is reasonable. Redistricting because of income is not. Changing people for that is unreasonable. When a new school is built, there should be a goal of balance--but, not just to move people for "equity." That's common sense.
2. I don't know about the situation at Springfield/Lee--but, it could mean a big difference in time--I do know that if you are driving towards 95 at rush hour that it is likely to be a much longer commute. However, if the kids are already at Lee, I would not be in favor of that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So people zoned for Lee will argue that a 5 mile bus ride to Lee is too far so that they can be rezoned to West Springfield, a four mile bus ride. I have actually heard this argument being made. Meanwhile, families in Great Falls will argue that they should be at Langley and not Herndon despite an actual long bus ride. Of course, the common denominator is that these parents all want to send their kids to the wealthier school and transportation has nothing to do with it. People will make the argument fit what they want, and no one wants Herndon, Justice, Mt. Vernon, Lee, Annandale, or Falls Church.

And excessive immigration to Fairfax, legal and illegal, is contributing to the problem. Unless that is curtailed this problem will continue and may only spread. I don't dislike these people and would probably prefer their company to many of the people on this board, but they do impact schools when they are present in large numbers. Just different needs.

And honestly, if the people in Langley, McLean, Oakton, Madison, West Springfield, Robinson, and other similar schools don't see the impact to their schools, they will continue to support the status quo that has gotten us into this situation.

Best post of the thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So people zoned for Lee will argue that a 5 mile bus ride to Lee is too far so that they can be rezoned to West Springfield, a four mile bus ride. I have actually heard this argument being made. Meanwhile, families in Great Falls will argue that they should be at Langley and not Herndon despite an actual long bus ride. Of course, the common denominator is that these parents all want to send their kids to the wealthier school and transportation has nothing to do with it. People will make the argument fit what they want, and no one wants Herndon, Justice, Mt. Vernon, Lee, Annandale, or Falls Church.

And excessive immigration to Fairfax, legal and illegal, is contributing to the problem. Unless that is curtailed this problem will continue and may only spread. I don't dislike these people and would probably prefer their company to many of the people on this board, but they do impact schools when they are present in large numbers. Just different needs.

And honestly, if the people in Langley, McLean, Oakton, Madison, West Springfield, Robinson, and other similar schools don't see the impact to their schools, they will continue to support the status quo that has gotten us into this situation.

1. Redistricting because of numbers is reasonable. Redistricting because of income is not. Changing people for that is unreasonable. When a new school is built, there should be a goal of balance--but, not just to move people for "equity." That's common sense.
2. I don't know about the situation at Springfield/Lee--but, it could mean a big difference in time--I do know that if you are driving towards 95 at rush hour that it is likely to be a much longer commute. However, if the kids are already at Lee, I would not be in favor of that.

Point 1 - see the situation between Mt. Vernon and West Potomac. Adding hundreds of seats (over 700) to West Potomac instead of using the space available next door at Mt. Vernon. Poor use of resources/waste of taxpayer dollars all because of a fear of moving students to a poorer school. I don't understand why other School Board members did not call out Karen Corbett Sanders over this unless they have their own boundary changes they don't want to make.

Point 2 - the difference in the commute is negligible; unfortunately some boundary changes have already taken place that have moved students to West Springfield.

[Anonymous]

1. Redistricting because of numbers is reasonable. Redistricting because of income is not. Changing people for that is unreasonable. When a new school is built, there should be a goal of balance--but, not just to move people for "equity." That's common sense.
2. I don't know about the situation at Springfield/Lee--but, it could mean a big difference in time--I do know that if you are driving towards 95 at rush hour that it is likely to be a much longer commute. However, if the kids are already at Lee, I would not be in favor of that.


Point 1 - see the situation between Mt. Vernon and West Potomac. Adding hundreds of seats (over 700) to West Potomac instead of using the space available next door at Mt. Vernon. Poor use of resources/waste of taxpayer dollars all because of a fear of moving students to a poorer school. I don't understand why other School Board members did not call out Karen Corbett Sanders over this unless they have their own boundary changes they don't want to make.

Point 2 - the difference in the commute is negligible; unfortunately some boundary changes have already taken place that have moved students to West Springfield.

Your comments make sense. I still wonder if eliminating IB would help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

1. Redistricting because of numbers is reasonable. Redistricting because of income is not. Changing people for that is unreasonable. When a new school is built, there should be a goal of balance--but, not just to move people for "equity." That's common sense.
2. I don't know about the situation at Springfield/Lee--but, it could mean a big difference in time--I do know that if you are driving towards 95 at rush hour that it is likely to be a much longer commute. However, if the kids are already at Lee, I would not be in favor of that.


Point 1 - see the situation between Mt. Vernon and West Potomac. Adding hundreds of seats (over 700) to West Potomac instead of using the space available next door at Mt. Vernon. Poor use of resources/waste of taxpayer dollars all because of a fear of moving students to a poorer school. I don't understand why other School Board members did not call out Karen Corbett Sanders over this unless they have their own boundary changes they don't want to make.

Point 2 - the difference in the commute is negligible; unfortunately some boundary changes have already taken place that have moved students to West Springfield.

Your comments make sense. I still wonder if eliminating IB would help.

I think so, but several School Board members are obsessed with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

1. Redistricting because of numbers is reasonable. Redistricting because of income is not. Changing people for that is unreasonable. When a new school is built, there should be a goal of balance--but, not just to move people for "equity." That's common sense.
2. I don't know about the situation at Springfield/Lee--but, it could mean a big difference in time--I do know that if you are driving towards 95 at rush hour that it is likely to be a much longer commute. However, if the kids are already at Lee, I would not be in favor of that.


Point 1 - see the situation between Mt. Vernon and West Potomac. Adding hundreds of seats (over 700) to West Potomac instead of using the space available next door at Mt. Vernon. Poor use of resources/waste of taxpayer dollars all because of a fear of moving students to a poorer school. I don't understand why other School Board members did not call out Karen Corbett Sanders over this unless they have their own boundary changes they don't want to make.

Point 2 - the difference in the commute is negligible; unfortunately some boundary changes have already taken place that have moved students to West Springfield.

Your comments make sense. I still wonder if eliminating IB would help.

I think so, but several School Board members are obsessed with it.

Reassigning kids from AP to IB schools with no good pupil placement options should be off the table.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

1. Redistricting because of numbers is reasonable. Redistricting because of income is not. Changing people for that is unreasonable. When a new school is built, there should be a goal of balance--but, not just to move people for "equity." That's common sense.
2. I don't know about the situation at Springfield/Lee--but, it could mean a big difference in time--I do know that if you are driving towards 95 at rush hour that it is likely to be a much longer commute. However, if the kids are already at Lee, I would not be in favor of that.


Point 1 - see the situation between Mt. Vernon and West Potomac. Adding hundreds of seats (over 700) to West Potomac instead of using the space available next door at Mt. Vernon. Poor use of resources/waste of taxpayer dollars all because of a fear of moving students to a poorer school. I don't understand why other School Board members did not call out Karen Corbett Sanders over this unless they have their own boundary changes they don't want to make.

Point 2 - the difference in the commute is negligible; unfortunately some boundary changes have already taken place that have moved students to West Springfield.

Your comments make sense. I still wonder if eliminating IB would help.

I think so, but several School Board members are obsessed with it.

Reassigning kids from AP to IB schools with no good pupil placement options should be off the table.

Which is why all FCPS high schools should go back to AP. And it would save money.

[Anonymous]

Absolutely should be better utilizing current capacity before adding on or building new schools. Yes, the decisions aren’t going to make certain people happy. Too bad.

But in evaluating moves, transportation AND a more equitable SES mix need to be considered. The disparity between the high SES schools and the low SES schools is stark. And because we write it off as “well, that’s just where the rich people live..” we have re-segregated schools and are using the separate but equal argument without realizing it. Yes, schools are segregated now by SES (and race by default in some areas - many inner cities, not necessarily FCPS). We have got to find a way to fix this if we ever expect to close gaps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Absolutely should be better utilizing current capacity before adding on or building new schools. Yes, the decisions aren’t going to make certain people happy. Too bad.

But in evaluating moves, transportation AND a more equitable SES mix need to be considered. The disparity between the high SES schools and the low SES schools is stark. And because we write it off as “well, that’s just where the rich people live..” we have re-segregated schools and are using the separate but equal argument without realizing it. Yes, schools are segregated now by SES (and race by default in some areas - many inner cities, not necessarily FCPS). We have got to find a way to fix this if we ever expect to close gaps.

We don’t have to artificially bus kids around the county based on a hypothesis that it will “close gaps.” That will run up transportation costs and increase pollution from buses, all while pushing many of the families whose presence in the public schools you seem to think is so essential out of FCPS. FCPS does not operate in some vacuum where social experiments can be conducted without repercussions. We’d probably move to Arlington, as would others, and you’d also see more people staying in DC or moving to Loudoun.

How about we focus on paying teachers well, managing our finite resources, and raising student performance, rather than always making “closing gaps” the only priority?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Absolutely should be better utilizing current capacity before adding on or building new schools. Yes, the decisions aren’t going to make certain people happy. Too bad.

But in evaluating moves, transportation AND a more equitable SES mix need to be considered. The disparity between the high SES schools and the low SES schools is stark. And because we write it off as “well, that’s just where the rich people live..” we have re-segregated schools and are using the separate but equal argument without realizing it. Yes, schools are segregated now by SES (and race by default in some areas - many inner cities, not necessarily FCPS). We have got to find a way to fix this if we ever expect to close gaps.

We don’t have to artificially bus kids around the county based on a hypothesis that it will “close gaps.” That will run up transportation costs and increase pollution from buses, all while pushing many of the families whose presence in the public schools you seem to think is so essential out of FCPS. FCPS does not operate in some vacuum where social experiments can be conducted without repercussions. We’d probably move to Arlington, as would others, and you’d also see more people staying in DC or moving to Loudoun.

How about we focus on paying teachers well, managing our finite resources, and raising student performance, rather than always making “closing gaps” the only priority?

Again, western GF is bussed 16+ miles to Langley when Herndon is less than 6 miles away. Do you care about transportation costs and traffic in this situation?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Absolutely should be better utilizing current capacity before adding on or building new schools. Yes, the decisions aren’t going to make certain people happy. Too bad.

But in evaluating moves, transportation AND a more equitable SES mix need to be considered. The disparity between the high SES schools and the low SES schools is stark. And because we write it off as “well, that’s just where the rich people live..” we have re-segregated schools and are using the separate but equal argument without realizing it. Yes, schools are segregated now by SES (and race by default in some areas - many inner cities, not necessarily FCPS). We have got to find a way to fix this if we ever expect to close gaps.

"We" did not re-segregate schools in FCPS. FCPS got a massive influx due to irregular migration from Central America. FCPS has targeted resources and our resources and tax dollars are NOT considered finite by FCPS.

FCPS has reduced ratio classrooms, programs, dual immersion at some sites [target is Spanish], young scholars, going to full time advanced academic resource teacher in title 1 schools. There are reports on title 1 and pre school.

FCPS is also moving to universal preschool. That could be headstart age 6 weeks to age 5 or less - age 4? age 3? Plus they want to gear up family engagement at title 1 schools, field trips, tutoring and homework help [includes Grandparents/retirees not specific to that school and middle schoolers].

Definition of universal pre school and classrooms and staffing are major issues. Add system wide grade 6 weeks to 1, 2, 3, 4. Full day. Elementary school standrad is grades k-6. That's 7 and some sites have FCPS pre k and headstart. 46 title 1 schools with 4 more grade levels? 2 more grade levels?