FCPS HS Boundary

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For the schools that are overcrowded, like West Springfield, what would be the solution? Buy more trailers? Another huge renovation? At some point, being over capacity could become a safety issue -- like if there's a fire and the hallways are jam packed. The cheapest option would be to shift the students to a school that can handle additional students.

I have kids there.

Here is what I propose:

#1 Do a residency check of all students attending, requiring proof of residency via a utility bill in one parent's name.

My kids all know of several kids using old addresses, grandma's address, etc to attend WSHS who are zoned for other schools. Many of these kids are zoned for good schools, like Robinson, Chantilly, Centerville, SoCo. Their parents bought bigger houses in different zones, but are using old addresses to stay at WSHS.

I used to have one of my kids at a private school in the Lewis zone. On the way from dropping off kid #1 at that school, to dropping off kid #2 at WSHS, nearly every morning I would end up behind carloads of unrelated kids being dropped off by parents from the Lewis school zone. WSHS had been closed to transfers for several years at that point. No students should have been coming in from Lewis to West Springfield.

A residency check on any school at capacity, sending non resident kids back to their zoned school, should be the first step.

Yes, it might be harsh. But it is a lot less harsh than rezoning kids. And it might result in dozens or maybe a hundred kids fewer at WSHS.

Enforce the existing residency requirement.

#2 Eliminate the Sangster split feeder and send all Sangster neighborhoods to Lake Braddock.

Anyone in that West Springfield community knows that this would be a very uncontroversial rezoning, as there is so much overlap between the WS and LB communities. It is doubtful that anyone would hear a peep over this rezoning.

If FCPS does these 2 simple things, they could drop the enrollment at WSHS by 100 to 150 or more students, with minimal disruptions, except to the families breaking residency rules by claiming grandmas address.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They won't touch Keene Mill. That school brings in a good amount of diversity to WSHS.

It's going to be Hunt Valley, folks. No way to get around that. Most of the neighborhoods (if not all) that border the parkway after Gambrill, go to Lewis.

Just saying this over and over isn't going to make it true. Saratoga goes to Lewis. The other neighborhoods around Gambrill go to South County.

Saratoga Mom REALLY wants to.make it true.

Saratoga is never getting rezoned out of Lewis lol. Better save up and move out

Don’t need to save now that additional kids and resources will be dedicated to Lewis. My kids will be just fine You probably want to move though. Ya know, to save your kid from the trauma of having to change schools and being around more brown people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your kid is already in HS or even MS and thinking about AP, any boundary changes won’t affect her. Don’t even worry about it.

No. Read the newsletters from board reps, they plan to do it sooner, much sooner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They won't touch Keene Mill. That school brings in a good amount of diversity to WSHS.

It's going to be Hunt Valley, folks. No way to get around that. Most of the neighborhoods (if not all) that border the parkway after Gambrill, go to Lewis.

Just saying this over and over isn't going to make it true. Saratoga goes to Lewis. The other neighborhoods around Gambrill go to South County.

Saratoga Mom REALLY wants to.make it true.

Saratoga is never getting rezoned out of Lewis lol. Better save up and move out

Don’t need to save now that additional kids and resources will be dedicated to Lewis. My kids will be just fine You probably want to move though. Ya know, to save your kid from the trauma of having to change schools and being around more brown people.

You do know that the kids being rezoned in bring less money, not more as they are cheaper to educate.

Just an FYI, I have spoken to several parents of middle schoolers in neighborhoods that might be rezoned to Lewis. They are all looking at private/Catholic school options for high school now. If our kid was not a rising senior, and got hit with a rezoning, we would switch out of FCPS and to private. If the kid is going to have to start over in high school, it is going to be somewhere as strong or stronger than where they are now.

You might not get what you think is going to happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They won't touch Keene Mill. That school brings in a good amount of diversity to WSHS.

It's going to be Hunt Valley, folks. No way to get around that. Most of the neighborhoods (if not all) that border the parkway after Gambrill, go to Lewis.

Just saying this over and over isn't going to make it true. Saratoga goes to Lewis. The other neighborhoods around Gambrill go to South County.

Saratoga Mom REALLY wants to.make it true.

Saratoga is never getting rezoned out of Lewis lol. Better save up and move out

Don’t need to save now that additional kids and resources will be dedicated to Lewis. My kids will be just fine :) You probably want to move though. Ya know, to save your kid from the trauma of having to change schools and being around more brown people.

Not everything is about race

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would never vote for a progressive to be on the SB, and I imagine many who will be upset with the changes probably did vote for the current SB, so this is going to be fun to watch.

But McDaniels points are mostly accurate. The other piece here is reality, and that is that the county is getting poorer. It just happened pretty fast that some who moved out of the city centers to FCPS "for the schools" are seeing the potential of the same thing happening: they don't want to send their kids to a high poverty school.

I don't think there is going to be a reversal of this trend, and the boundaries just can't hold anymore. In the last 3 years, the total number of FCPS students grew by 2000. In that same time, the total number of FARMs students grew by 12000. From 31% to 39% in 3 years. 15 years ago, that number was closer to 20%.

May be time to move out of the city.

Honest question: which boundaries “can’t hold” anymore? There are real issues with the accuracy and reliability of their five year projections.

Also, if he’s so right, and we want to minimize travel time, the obvious answer is to disallow pupil placement.

They can’t get enough bus drivers and the transportation stuff is a huge mess. Even now at the end of the school year there’s a lot of bus delays due to prior runs and coverage. If they don’t have enough drivers, it affects kids not being able to go on field trips.

We’re in an area likely to be redistricted, and my kid has not once had a significant bus issue.

Perhaps the solution rather than messing with boundaries is to pay $30/hour instead of $25? Seems like a de minibus fix.

Oh, and also disallowing pupil placements.

Which area do you think is “likely” to be redistricted?

WS, and at least parts of Forestville, also parts of McLean (probably the islands), and probably some cascading split feeders across the county to try to balance the numbers. I’m sure I’m missing some others too.

I need to amend this answer because I forgot two overcrowded schools. Chantilly and centreville. Both are significantly over capacity, even with modulars, so I can’t see them doing this county wide and leaving those schools alone. Not sure how they would handle it because there really aren’t adjacent schools that could absorb them. Possibly Westfield and south lakes, then Herndon takes some of those two schools?

This is going to be so so bad.

The worst is that we’ll just end up with another pile of poop with the SB having picked winners and losers within the county. I really regret having chosen to buy in Fairfax. I very much dislike this school board.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They won't touch Keene Mill. That school brings in a good amount of diversity to WSHS.

It's going to be Hunt Valley, folks. No way to get around that. Most of the neighborhoods (if not all) that border the parkway after Gambrill, go to Lewis.

Just saying this over and over isn't going to make it true. Saratoga goes to Lewis. The other neighborhoods around Gambrill go to South County.

Saratoga Mom REALLY wants to.make it true.

Saratoga is never getting rezoned out of Lewis lol. Better save up and move out

Don’t need to save now that additional kids and resources will be dedicated to Lewis. My kids will be just fine You probably want to move though. Ya know, to save your kid from the trauma of having to change schools and being around more brown people.

You do know that the kids being rezoned in bring less money, not more as they are cheaper to educate.

Just an FYI, I have spoken to several parents of middle schoolers in neighborhoods that might be rezoned to Lewis. They are all looking at private/Catholic school options for high school now. If our kid was not a rising senior, and got hit with a rezoning, we would switch out of FCPS and to private. If the kid is going to have to start over in high school, it is going to be somewhere as strong or stronger than where they are now.

You might not get what you think is going to happen.

Everyone wants what’s best for their children. If parents aren’t pleased with the changes, they should absolutely move. Expeditiously. Until then, it’s just hot air.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They won't touch Keene Mill. That school brings in a good amount of diversity to WSHS.

It's going to be Hunt Valley, folks. No way to get around that. Most of the neighborhoods (if not all) that border the parkway after Gambrill, go to Lewis.

Just saying this over and over isn't going to make it true. Saratoga goes to Lewis. The other neighborhoods around Gambrill go to South County.

Saratoga Mom REALLY wants to.make it true.

Saratoga is never getting rezoned out of Lewis lol. Better save up and move out

Don’t need to save now that additional kids and resources will be dedicated to Lewis. My kids will be just fine :) You probably want to move though. Ya know, to save your kid from the trauma of having to change schools and being around more brown people.

Not everything is about race

Sure, Jan

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would never vote for a progressive to be on the SB, and I imagine many who will be upset with the changes probably did vote for the current SB, so this is going to be fun to watch.

But McDaniels points are mostly accurate. The other piece here is reality, and that is that the county is getting poorer. It just happened pretty fast that some who moved out of the city centers to FCPS "for the schools" are seeing the potential of the same thing happening: they don't want to send their kids to a high poverty school.

I don't think there is going to be a reversal of this trend, and the boundaries just can't hold anymore. In the last 3 years, the total number of FCPS students grew by 2000. In that same time, the total number of FARMs students grew by 12000. From 31% to 39% in 3 years. 15 years ago, that number was closer to 20%.

May be time to move out of the city.

Honest question: which boundaries “can’t hold” anymore? There are real issues with the accuracy and reliability of their five year projections.

Also, if he’s so right, and we want to minimize travel time, the obvious answer is to disallow pupil placement.

They can’t get enough bus drivers and the transportation stuff is a huge mess. Even now at the end of the school year there’s a lot of bus delays due to prior runs and coverage. If they don’t have enough drivers, it affects kids not being able to go on field trips.

We’re in an area likely to be redistricted, and my kid has not once had a significant bus issue.

Perhaps the solution rather than messing with boundaries is to pay $30/hour instead of $25? Seems like a de minibus fix.

Oh, and also disallowing pupil placements.

Which area do you think is “likely” to be redistricted?

WS, and at least parts of Forestville, also parts of McLean (probably the islands), and probably some cascading split feeders across the county to try to balance the numbers. I’m sure I’m missing some others too.

I need to amend this answer because I forgot two overcrowded schools. Chantilly and centreville. Both are significantly over capacity, even with modulars, so I can’t see them doing this county wide and leaving those schools alone. Not sure how they would handle it because there really aren’t adjacent schools that could absorb them. Possibly Westfield and south lakes, then Herndon takes some of those two schools?

This is going to be so so bad.

The worst is that we’ll just end up with another pile of poop with the SB having picked winners and losers within the county. I really regret having chosen to buy in Fairfax. I very much dislike this school board.

I never hear people complaining about this in real life, only online on DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would never vote for a progressive to be on the SB, and I imagine many who will be upset with the changes probably did vote for the current SB, so this is going to be fun to watch.

But McDaniels points are mostly accurate. The other piece here is reality, and that is that the county is getting poorer. It just happened pretty fast that some who moved out of the city centers to FCPS "for the schools" are seeing the potential of the same thing happening: they don't want to send their kids to a high poverty school.

I don't think there is going to be a reversal of this trend, and the boundaries just can't hold anymore. In the last 3 years, the total number of FCPS students grew by 2000. In that same time, the total number of FARMs students grew by 12000. From 31% to 39% in 3 years. 15 years ago, that number was closer to 20%.

May be time to move out of the city.

Honest question: which boundaries “can’t hold” anymore? There are real issues with the accuracy and reliability of their five year projections.

Also, if he’s so right, and we want to minimize travel time, the obvious answer is to disallow pupil placement.

They can’t get enough bus drivers and the transportation stuff is a huge mess. Even now at the end of the school year there’s a lot of bus delays due to prior runs and coverage. If they don’t have enough drivers, it affects kids not being able to go on field trips.

We’re in an area likely to be redistricted, and my kid has not once had a significant bus issue.

Perhaps the solution rather than messing with boundaries is to pay $30/hour instead of $25? Seems like a de minibus fix.

Oh, and also disallowing pupil placements.

Which area do you think is “likely” to be redistricted?

WS, and at least parts of Forestville, also parts of McLean (probably the islands), and probably some cascading split feeders across the county to try to balance the numbers. I’m sure I’m missing some others too.

I need to amend this answer because I forgot two overcrowded schools. Chantilly and centreville. Both are significantly over capacity, even with modulars, so I can’t see them doing this county wide and leaving those schools alone. Not sure how they would handle it because there really aren’t adjacent schools that could absorb them. Possibly Westfield and south lakes, then Herndon takes some of those two schools?

This is going to be so so bad.

The worst is that we’ll just end up with another pile of poop with the SB having picked winners and losers within the county. I really regret having chosen to buy in Fairfax. I very much dislike this school board.

I never hear people complaining about this in real life, only online on DCUM.

Of course, because you and your neighbor Robyn Lady are just giddy with excitement. Based on your hatred of anybody better off than you are, I’m guessing you don’t get out to talk to most of the people who will be detrimentally impacted by this.

[Anonymous]

Parent here.

The building my kids go to doesn’t dictate their success or failure. Thats on me and the teacher. Period.

Sure sounds like a lot of people here are saying that they don’t want THEIR kids going to school with THOSE kids.

Just my two cents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would never vote for a progressive to be on the SB, and I imagine many who will be upset with the changes probably did vote for the current SB, so this is going to be fun to watch.

But McDaniels points are mostly accurate. The other piece here is reality, and that is that the county is getting poorer. It just happened pretty fast that some who moved out of the city centers to FCPS "for the schools" are seeing the potential of the same thing happening: they don't want to send their kids to a high poverty school.

I don't think there is going to be a reversal of this trend, and the boundaries just can't hold anymore. In the last 3 years, the total number of FCPS students grew by 2000. In that same time, the total number of FARMs students grew by 12000. From 31% to 39% in 3 years. 15 years ago, that number was closer to 20%.

May be time to move out of the city.

Honest question: which boundaries “can’t hold” anymore? There are real issues with the accuracy and reliability of their five year projections.

Also, if he’s so right, and we want to minimize travel time, the obvious answer is to disallow pupil placement.

They can’t get enough bus drivers and the transportation stuff is a huge mess. Even now at the end of the school year there’s a lot of bus delays due to prior runs and coverage. If they don’t have enough drivers, it affects kids not being able to go on field trips.

We’re in an area likely to be redistricted, and my kid has not once had a significant bus issue.

Perhaps the solution rather than messing with boundaries is to pay $30/hour instead of $25? Seems like a de minibus fix.

Oh, and also disallowing pupil placements.

Which area do you think is “likely” to be redistricted?

WS, and at least parts of Forestville, also parts of McLean (probably the islands), and probably some cascading split feeders across the county to try to balance the numbers. I’m sure I’m missing some others too.

I need to amend this answer because I forgot two overcrowded schools. Chantilly and centreville. Both are significantly over capacity, even with modulars, so I can’t see them doing this county wide and leaving those schools alone. Not sure how they would handle it because there really aren’t adjacent schools that could absorb them. Possibly Westfield and south lakes, then Herndon takes some of those two schools?

This is going to be so so bad.

The worst is that we’ll just end up with another pile of poop with the SB having picked winners and losers within the county. I really regret having chosen to buy in Fairfax. I very much dislike this school board.

I never hear people complaining about this in real life, only online on DCUM.

Parent here.

Same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parent here.

The building my kids go to doesn’t dictate their success or failure. Thats on me and the teacher. Period.

Sure sounds like a lot of people here are saying that they don’t want THEIR kids going to school with THOSE kids.

Just my two cents.

Oh sweet summer child.

Your kids success can and will be decided by the other kids they go to school with because they impact the environment in which your kids have to learn. If the kids around them are well behaved and smart everybody will learn. If there are a bunch of poorly behaved hooligans, or kids who barely speak the language, or kids who constantly need extra attention from the teacher, your kids lose.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parent here.

The building my kids go to doesn’t dictate their success or failure. Thats on me and the teacher. Period.

Sure sounds like a lot of people here are saying that they don’t want THEIR kids going to school with THOSE kids.

Just my two cents.

Parent here.

Assume all you want, but what matters is what I think is best for my kids, not what you think is best for them.

Are you in the line of fire here? Or is your name Kyle McDaniel?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parent here.

The building my kids go to doesn’t dictate their success or failure. Thats on me and the teacher. Period.

Sure sounds like a lot of people here are saying that they don’t want THEIR kids going to school with THOSE kids.

Just my two cents.

Oh sweet summer child.

Your kids success can and will be decided by the other kids they go to school with because they impact the environment in which your kids have to learn. If the kids around them are well behaved and smart everybody will learn. If there are a bunch of poorly behaved hooligans, or kids who barely speak the language, or kids who constantly need extra attention from the teacher, your kids lose.

+1. Whenever I hear a “parent” talk like that I always think that the parent just doesn’t really value their kids’ education, which I guess is fine.