FCPS comprehensive boundary review

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Distance should absolutely be one factor in determining schools, unless we are totally doing away with the structure as it is and going to vouchers or school choice or something like that. Why are there Great Falls and Herndon addresses going to Langley anyways? I’ve heard some Herndon families talk about how it can take upwards of half hour (conservatively) to get home after after-school activities. It straight up looks like gerrymandering/segregation.

+1

Forestville is low hanging fruit to be sent to HHS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there anywhere to find out why a specific boundary is being reviewed? I learned that the Mantua ES boundary is under review and I'd like to know why.

They might look at Mantua ES boundaries seem to be:

* It is currently at 115% capacity without the modular and projected to increase to 127% capacity (again without the modular) by 2028.

* The AAP center gets kids from both the Falls Church and Woodson pyramids (all the non-Mantua AAP kids at Mantua are from schools in the Falls Church pyramid).

* Some have argued in the past that Mantua should be reassigned from Frost/Woodson to Jackson/Falls Church.

On the other hand, Mantua ES isn't currently a split feeder (other than for some AAP kids) and it doesn't have an attendance island.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Distance should absolutely be one factor in determining schools, unless we are totally doing away with the structure as it is and going to vouchers or school choice or something like that. Why are there Great Falls and Herndon addresses going to Langley anyways? I’ve heard some Herndon families talk about how it can take upwards of half hour (conservatively) to get home after after-school activities. It straight up looks like gerrymandering/segregation.

Because many Great Falls addresses are closer to Langley than to Herndon?

DP. Almost anything west of Walker Road (so much of Great Falls) will be closer to Herndon than to Langley.

It takes 5-8 mins from Holly Knoll to get to HHS. It takes 30 mins easily to get from Holly Knoll to LHS.

Forestville is getting sent to HHS. End of story.

[Anonymous]

If it looks that way that's because it is.

100 percent. It makes no sense.
It truly makes no rational sense for people to argue that distance should not be a deciding factor when we don’t have school choice in VA. If not distance, then what else? What else would be a rational, fair decision? Of course, populations would have to be balanced a bit for places that have more apartments/condos than SFH, but within the basic boundaries of distance guidelines that make sense.
It appears that individuals arguing otherwise placed bets on real estate that they don’t want to lose on (understandably so, since things have historically been the same in FCPS). And, I am saying this as somebody that is likely going to put their money where their mouth is and move within the next year due to school issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there anywhere to find out why a specific boundary is being reviewed? I learned that the Mantua ES boundary is under review and I'd like to know why.

They might look at Mantua ES boundaries seem to be:

* It is currently at 115% capacity without the modular and projected to increase to 127% capacity (again without the modular) by 2028.

* The AAP center gets kids from both the Falls Church and Woodson pyramids (all the non-Mantua AAP kids at Mantua are from schools in the Falls Church pyramid).

* Some have argued in the past that Mantua should be reassigned from Frost/Woodson to Jackson/Falls Church.

On the other hand, Mantua ES isn't currently a split feeder (other than for some AAP kids) and it doesn't have an attendance island.

I'm curious about what they use to project capacity. There have been very few new families coming into the neighborhood with the housing market as it is.

What is the argument for reassigning Mantua ES to Jackson/Falls Church? Mantua is very close to Woodson.

Wasn't there a boundary change previously that sent some families to Falls Church?

Wouldn't the most obvious change be to adjust those boundaries again to send more families over to FC?

[Anonymous]

Is there anywhere to find out what schools in particular are being considered for rezoning and what specific changes are being proposed, or is that going to be shared at the regional boundary meetings?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there anywhere to find out what schools in particular are being considered for rezoning and what specific changes are being proposed, or is that going to be shared at the regional boundary meetings?

No, there is currently nothing shared (publicly). just TONS of speculation on this site.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there anywhere to find out why a specific boundary is being reviewed? I learned that the Mantua ES boundary is under review and I'd like to know why.

They might look at Mantua ES boundaries seem to be:

* It is currently at 115% capacity without the modular and projected to increase to 127% capacity (again without the modular) by 2028.

* The AAP center gets kids from both the Falls Church and Woodson pyramids (all the non-Mantua AAP kids at Mantua are from schools in the Falls Church pyramid).

* Some have argued in the past that Mantua should be reassigned from Frost/Woodson to Jackson/Falls Church.

On the other hand, Mantua ES isn't currently a split feeder (other than for some AAP kids) and it doesn't have an attendance island.

I'm curious about what they use to project capacity. There have been very few new families coming into the neighborhood with the housing market as it is.

What is the argument for reassigning Mantua ES to Jackson/Falls Church? Mantua is very close to Woodson.

Wasn't there a boundary change previously that sent some families to Falls Church?

Wouldn't the most obvious change be to adjust those boundaries again to send more families over to FC?

There's some information about their methodology for projecting enrollments in the annual Capital Improvement Programs.

Mantua has a border with two other feeders (Fairhill and Camelot). Some have argued that moving Mantua to Falls Church would shore up Falls Church, and there were times when Woodson's enrollment was a lot larger than Falls Church's. Not aware of any serious consideration of moving Mantua to Falls Church at any time in the past 15 years, but who knows what they will do in connection with this current "comprehensive" review.

No one has been reassigned to Falls Church for many years, as far as I'm aware. There may have been some boundary adjustments involving some of the ES feeders in connection with a boundary study back in 2011, around the time Mason Crest ES (which is a split feeder to Falls Church and Justice) opened.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Distance should absolutely be one factor in determining schools, unless we are totally doing away with the structure as it is and going to vouchers or school choice or something like that. Why are there Great Falls and Herndon addresses going to Langley anyways? I’ve heard some Herndon families talk about how it can take upwards of half hour (conservatively) to get home after after-school activities. It straight up looks like gerrymandering/segregation.

Because many Great Falls addresses are closer to Langley than to Herndon?

DP. Almost anything west of Walker Road (so much of Great Falls) will be closer to Herndon than to Langley.

It takes 5-8 mins from Holly Knoll to get to HHS. It takes 30 mins easily to get from Holly Knoll to LHS.

Forestville is getting sent to HHS. End of story.

Even more so the parts of GFES that are further than holly knoll to get to Langley (40 min right now down Georgetown pike). I think GFES families think they are safe. But i wouldn’t be surprised if they cut off the parts of forestville on the other side of 7, change boundaries of forestville to included the top left corner of GFES’s boundaries and then move kids from Colvin run to GFES and then maybe some of Spring Hill to Colvin run? I think it becomes a domino effect of shifting boundaries more so than just moving whole schools into different pyramids. We are new to Fairfax county. Bought for the schools. However had we known the school board was doing this we would never have moved. There was zero mention of it to us when we bought

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there anywhere to find out what schools in particular are being considered for rezoning and what specific changes are being proposed, or is that going to be shared at the regional boundary meetings?

No, there is currently nothing shared (publicly). just TONS of speculation on this site.

No information about specific changes will be shared at the regional boundary meetings, either. They disavow that they have even started to consider what adjustments might be proposed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there anywhere to find out what schools in particular are being considered for rezoning and what specific changes are being proposed, or is that going to be shared at the regional boundary meetings?

The closest they’ve ever come is this large presentation, which has the capacity situation at every school and the possible “remedies” for that school. https://www.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/pdf/Adopted-CIP-2025-29.pdf

But if they really are reworking the boundaries from scratch, anything could be on the table. Now I’m not convinced that’s the route they’re going to take, it may be more likely that they clean up the attendance islands, split feeders, and the few places where kids have a long bus ride to a crowded school vs. a potentially shorter bus ride to a less crowded school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Distance should absolutely be one factor in determining schools, unless we are totally doing away with the structure as it is and going to vouchers or school choice or something like that. Why are there Great Falls and Herndon addresses going to Langley anyways? I’ve heard some Herndon families talk about how it can take upwards of half hour (conservatively) to get home after after-school activities. It straight up looks like gerrymandering/segregation.

Because many Great Falls addresses are closer to Langley than to Herndon?

DP. Almost anything west of Walker Road (so much of Great Falls) will be closer to Herndon than to Langley.

It takes 5-8 mins from Holly Knoll to get to HHS. It takes 30 mins easily to get from Holly Knoll to LHS.

Forestville is getting sent to HHS. End of story.

Ha, nice cherry pick and attempt at willing your desire. I’m not saying it won’t happen, but man, talk about an obsession of yours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So to summarize:

Herndon/Great Falls parents zoned for Langley want to make sure they stay at Langley by filling up Herndon HS with kids from outside of Herndon.

Chantilly HS is overcrowded and can't be expanded but Chantilly HS parents do not want to be moved to any other HS.

Centreville HS is overcrowded and due for a renovation that hasn't begun yet.

Westfield HS is mediocre and no one wants their kids moved there, but the Westfield parents also don't want to add even more kids b/c it is already enormous (and I agree, 2700+ is beyond the size of a reasonable HS).

There are hundreds of extra seats at Langley (2100) and at Herndon HS (2300), but these schools are full to overcrowded: South Lakes (2450), Oakton (2600), Chantilly (3000), Centreville (2400), Westfield (2700).

Questions: Why does Langley have so few students? Is the building incredibly small?

Pretty much this. And add McLean HS to the overcrowded list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there anywhere to find out what schools in particular are being considered for rezoning and what specific changes are being proposed, or is that going to be shared at the regional boundary meetings?

The closest they’ve ever come is this large presentation, which has the capacity situation at every school and the possible “remedies” for that school. https://www.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/pdf/Adopted-CIP-2025-29.pdf

But if they really are reworking the boundaries from scratch, anything could be on the table. Now I’m not convinced that’s the route they’re going to take, it may be more likely that they clean up the attendance islands, split feeders, and the few places where kids have a long bus ride to a crowded school vs. a potentially shorter bus ride to a less crowded school.

I’ve heard that they are NOT starting from scratch, that the current boundaries will be taken as the starting point instead, and that stability is an important factor right along with the priorities listed in their presentation. But if that’s true I’m not clear why they don’t include that info in the published materials.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there anywhere to find out what schools in particular are being considered for rezoning and what specific changes are being proposed, or is that going to be shared at the regional boundary meetings?

The closest they’ve ever come is this large presentation, which has the capacity situation at every school and the possible “remedies” for that school. https://www.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/pdf/Adopted-CIP-2025-29.pdf

But if they really are reworking the boundaries from scratch, anything could be on the table. Now I’m not convinced that’s the route they’re going to take, it may be more likely that they clean up the attendance islands, split feeders, and the few places where kids have a long bus ride to a crowded school vs. a potentially shorter bus ride to a less crowded school.

I’ve heard that they are NOT starting from scratch, that the current boundaries will be taken as the starting point instead, and that stability is an important factor right along with the priorities listed in their presentation. But if that’s true I’m not clear why they don’t include that info in the published materials.

If they truly start from scratch, that means more changes and the ability to grandfather goes out the window pretty quickly. And if they don't grandfather at the HS level, in particular, the opposition ratchets up substantially. Doubt they want that level of community opposition.