FCPS HS Boundary

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is just a huge mistake to make these sort of changes without transparency. It makes people doubt the process and not understand the thinking behind the changes. The school board should be able to stand behind their proposed boundary changes publicly and through their defense of it might ease some minds. There also would be less panic if people knew what was actually being considered. As it is, no one knows whether what they are considering is actually reasonable or not.

I'm interested that so much of the discussion on this thread is about WSHS. Is that just because that's the community most on this board? Because I think there are other areas, West Potomac/Mt. Vernon springs to mind, that are just as problematic. Are those people just not tracking this or does everyone think they won't be included?

Why do you think there isn’t transparency? The board is only working on the policy now (in public meetings). Then they will have a public work session. Then they will vote on the policy in public. Then they will hand it to the superintendent to make the actual plans for boundary adjustments. Then they will have community meetings and public meetings before anything happens. Just because a few people are posting incessantly on here doesn’t mean the actual changes have been decided. And, it’s truly bizarre that Lewis and WSHS take up so much of this thread. Again, driven by one or two posters, not reality.

I think there isn’t transparency because step one for the school board was amending 8031 and the main change was adding a line that says they do not need to hold public hearings for an expedited boundary study, which is what they are working on. Read it. It’s easily accessible on board docs

Also, they’ve actively been looking for opportunities to discuss revisions to the boundary policy at various meetings that aren’t work sessions and aren’t televised or archived. Very sleazy.

[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.

Some of us are brown and black and we don’t want our kids leaving WSHS.

Correct.

And I would add, bought homes or rented one of those small apartments specifically in WSHS so our minority children would be surrounded by a large cohort of other high performing minority children.

[Anonymous]

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.

Bulllshit


Hunt Valley is the farthests neighborhood away from.Lewis, with the exception of Sangster.

Keene Mill is the closest.

BOTH west Springfield elem and keene mill are 3.2 miles away from Lewis. Keene mill is 2 miles from wshs and west Springfield is closer. We walk to Irving because it is in our community.

KEENE mill is a 10 minute drive to Lewis, with or without traffic.

Hv is a 20 minute drive to Lewis without traffic, and is much longer in the morning.

I mean, geography matters and arguing that Keene Mill and WSHS are not the closest neighborhoods to Lewis and HV is not one of the farthest is laughable

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Some of us are brown and black and we don’t want our kids leaving WSHS.

Correct.

And I would add, bought homes or rented one of those small apartments specifically in WSHS so our minority children would be surrounded by a large cohort of other high performing minority children.

If they are projecting that WS will have 2900 kids and Lewis under 1450 in a few years why shouldn’t they redistrict WS/Lewis? It doesn’t matter if you’re a minority or not; it’s not appropriate to relegate 1450 or so other mostly minority kids to a sub-par school that doesn’t provide comparable opportunities. And they’ve changed other boundaries where the enrollment disparities were much smaller, whether the parents wanted it or not.

[Anonymous]

For WS and Lewis, if the projections for enrollment are accurate, a change in boundaries is simply a numbers game. Having an overcapacity school with 2900 students next to an under capacity school with 1425 students doesn't work. The overcapacity school is crowded and the under capacity school can't offer the same level of courses. And basically any of the students you pull over to Lewis will likely be better off than the current student body.

People can complain and move away or go private (though seats at private aren't that abundant), but this is definitely one change that could happen.

And the root cause long term of this is the border, so think about that when voting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Some of us are brown and black and we don’t want our kids leaving WSHS.

Correct.

And I would add, bought homes or rented one of those small apartments specifically in WSHS so our minority children would be surrounded by a large cohort of other high performing minority children.

Sorry but this is not (nor should it be) a consideration for the school board.

[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.

Bulllshit


Hunt Valley is the farthests neighborhood away from.Lewis, with the exception of Sangster.

Keene Mill is the closest.

BOTH west Springfield elem and keene mill are 3.2 miles away from Lewis. Keene mill is 2 miles from wshs and west Springfield is closer. We walk to Irving because it is in our community.

KEENE mill is a 10 minute drive to Lewis, with or without traffic.

Hv is a 20 minute drive to Lewis without traffic, and is much longer in the morning.

I mean, geography matters and arguing that Keene Mill and WSHS are not the closest neighborhoods to Lewis and HV is not one of the farthest is laughable

jeez- can you imagine the 95 to frontier drive interchange on that short ramp that is already always a mess in the mornings if they add west Springfield high school kids driving to school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Some of us are brown and black and we don’t want our kids leaving WSHS.

Correct.

And I would add, bought homes or rented one of those small apartments specifically in WSHS so our minority children would be surrounded by a large cohort of other high performing minority children.

If they are projecting that WS will have 2900 kids and Lewis under 1450 in a few years why shouldn’t they redistrict WS/Lewis? It doesn’t matter if you’re a minority or not; it’s not appropriate to relegate 1450 or so other mostly minority kids to a sub-par school that doesn’t provide comparable opportunities. And they’ve changed other boundaries where the enrollment disparities were much smaller, whether the parents wanted it or not.

Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For WS and Lewis, if the projections for enrollment are accurate, a change in boundaries is simply a numbers game. Having an overcapacity school with 2900 students next to an under capacity school with 1425 students doesn't work. The overcapacity school is crowded and the under capacity school can't offer the same level of courses. And basically any of the students you pull over to Lewis will likely be better off than the current student body.

People can complain and move away or go private (though seats at private aren't that abundant), but this is definitely one change that could happen.

And the root cause long term of this is the border, so think about that when voting.

It’s really the only change that needs to happen at the HS level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is just a huge mistake to make these sort of changes without transparency. It makes people doubt the process and not understand the thinking behind the changes. The school board should be able to stand behind their proposed boundary changes publicly and through their defense of it might ease some minds. There also would be less panic if people knew what was actually being considered. As it is, no one knows whether what they are considering is actually reasonable or not.

I'm interested that so much of the discussion on this thread is about WSHS. Is that just because that's the community most on this board? Because I think there are other areas, West Potomac/Mt. Vernon springs to mind, that are just as problematic. Are those people just not tracking this or does everyone think they won't be included?

So they use taxpayer money to expand West Potomac to 3000 seats and then they turn around and say, “oops, we goofed” and move kids out of expanded West Po to Mount Vernon? Not sure they will be quite so willing to put their incompetence on full display.

Same thing just happened at WSHS/Lewis. Why is WSHS in the hot seat and not West Po?

They should make Lewis a vocational type school or trades program. I think it would be fantastic for the surrounding population.

Or make it some sports or arts focused school. My child goes to basketball skills training in Springfield. Something like that offered would be popular I think.

Edison already has that and it is right down the street from Lewis. Overkill to have two similar programs next to each other.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's situations like this that will get more UMC northern Virginians onboard with school vouchers. Glenn Youngkin /Republicans just need to pitch it properly. People are unhappy.

Exactly- I am wondering if Kyle was a republican plant in the Democratic Party.

Who knows but they need some counterbalance on the board

The Blue Virginia folks would disagree.

Many of these people unhappy with the idea of rezoning blindly and happily voted all blue, with out researching their local candidates and their issues.

If they had researched McDaniels, Frisch, and many of the other school board candidates, they would not be at all surprised by this rezoning based on "equity"

I am not.

My friends who voted against McDaniel are not.

You get what you vote for.

In this case, it might be very unhappy teenagers, rising juniors who are cut off from school, sports and club leadership opportunities for their college applications due to being forced to transfer while in high school over political rezoning, and the loss of $100,000 in home equity/property value almost overnight.

Many of you voted for this by default when you decided blue no matter who should apply to local elections.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For WS and Lewis, if the projections for enrollment are accurate, a change in boundaries is simply a numbers game. Having an overcapacity school with 2900 students next to an under capacity school with 1425 students doesn't work. The overcapacity school is crowded and the under capacity school can't offer the same level of courses. And basically any of the students you pull over to Lewis will likely be better off than the current student body.

People can complain and move away or go private (though seats at private aren't that abundant), but this is definitely one change that could happen.

And the root cause long term of this is the border, so think about that when voting.

It’s really the only change that needs to happen at the HS level.

Ok now the trolls have hit. This thread is dead and won’t be helpful discussion at all anymore. Jeff should shut it down

[Anonymous]

It’s amazing how much potential this has to hurt any other equity initiatives in the county. For instance, I foresee a challenge to any redistricting based on the new policy, which references One Fairfax, a policy previously adopted by the school board.

And before you dismiss a potential lawsuit along these lines, you should remember that the current Supreme Court is 6-3. It’d be hilarious if this ends up killing One Fairfax altogether.

Icarus is getting awfully close to the Sun here.

[Anonymous]

The school board is rushing this through because they want the kids actually transferred before the school board elections in 2027 so the rezoning cannot be halted or reversed by the next school board, knowing that many seats will flip over this issue.

Rezoning is an ugly process.

This schoop board eliminated some of the safe guards, including, I believe, the meticulous boundary studies and processes that would have delayed or blocked a lot of the rezoning.

They did this in darkness, not letting parents know until it was a done deal.

Rest assured, if they are saying they are ready to have kids, current freshman and below, at their new high schools schools in Fall 2025, then they already have the new schools assigned and just need their show vote.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For WS and Lewis, if the projections for enrollment are accurate, a change in boundaries is simply a numbers game. Having an overcapacity school with 2900 students next to an under capacity school with 1425 students doesn't work. The overcapacity school is crowded and the under capacity school can't offer the same level of courses. And basically any of the students you pull over to Lewis will likely be better off than the current student body.

People can complain and move away or go private (though seats at private aren't that abundant), but this is definitely one change that could happen.

And the root cause long term of this is the border, so think about that when voting.

It’s really the only change that needs to happen at the HS level.

Ok now the trolls have hit. This thread is dead and won’t be helpful discussion at all anymore. Jeff should shut it down

DP. I find it hilarious that you whine to the moderator because other people have a different opinion than you. We tell our three year old that she’s too old to whine.

Jeff, Jeff, other people are disagreeing with me!