School Board Forum on "Boundary and Capacity"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, do some of you actually think a "western high school" is going to be built? Seriously?? The only reason it's ever included in budget discussions is to appease parents. They have no intention of ever building it.

NP. I think they intended to build it. But the population of the county has changed significantly and projections are for Fairfax County to continue to shrink.

The western high school is not going to happen any time soon.

As of December enrollment is up 920 since the start of the SY.

That is division-wide. Overall, enrollment is still down about 8000 kids from pre-Covid, the county’s population is declining, and birth rates are down nationally.

There may be pockets in Fairfax where they need to add capacity, but with all the expansions of high schools in western Fairfax the need for a new western high school has largely dissipated.

Hasn’t the building of large new subdivisions slowed or stopped in Western Fairfax County? I recently read in the local news that data centers are planned for Chantilly not new homes. The new housing in Reston appears to be largely aimed at childless professionals. The plans for a large new town (with housing, shops, cinema, recreation, and offices) at the Innovation Center Metro stop appear to be mostly on the Loudoun County side.

I highly doubt any new western high school in the foreseeable future. The prospects look dimmer as time moves on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, do some of you actually think a "western high school" is going to be built? Seriously?? The only reason it's ever included in budget discussions is to appease parents. They have no intention of ever building it.

NP. I think they intended to build it. But the population of the county has changed significantly and projections are for Fairfax County to continue to shrink.

The western high school is not going to happen any time soon.

As of December enrollment is up 920 since the start of the SY.

That is division-wide. Overall, enrollment is still down about 8000 kids from pre-Covid, the county’s population is declining, and birth rates are down nationally.

There may be pockets in Fairfax where they need to add capacity, but with all the expansions of high schools in western Fairfax the need for a new western high school has largely dissipated.

I understand.
I was responding to the PP that wrote, “projections are for Fairfax County to continue to shrink”, so I was thinking of FCPS as a whole division, not just the western part when I posted. While the current enrollment is down from the 189,000 in 2019-2020, the current numbers don’t show shrinking enrollment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The forum isn’t streamed so you will have to go to gatehouse if you want to watch it.

Many SB work sessions are live-streamed or recorded (and then made available on You Tube). It would seem like they were trying to hide the ball if they had a work session on “boundaries and capacity” and didn’t record it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, do some of you actually think a "western high school" is going to be built? Seriously?? The only reason it's ever included in budget discussions is to appease parents. They have no intention of ever building it.

NP. I think they intended to build it. But the population of the county has changed significantly and projections are for Fairfax County to continue to shrink.

The western high school is not going to happen any time soon.

As of December enrollment is up 920 since the start of the SY.

That is division-wide. Overall, enrollment is still down about 8000 kids from pre-Covid, the county’s population is declining, and birth rates are down nationally.

There may be pockets in Fairfax where they need to add capacity, but with all the expansions of high schools in western Fairfax the need for a new western high school has largely dissipated.

I understand.
I was responding to the PP that wrote, “projections are for Fairfax County to continue to shrink”, so I was thinking of FCPS as a whole division, not just the western part when I posted. While the current enrollment is down from the 189,000 in 2019-2020, the current numbers don’t show shrinking enrollment.

Their five-year projections are for student enrollment to be flat and still well below the 2019-20 numbers.

[Anonymous]

Need is still there. Zip code 20171 is a mess. Schools are flooding with students in that zip code and so many new housing developments popping up there with townhomes and apartments. It’s a real disappointment. It’s a vastly ignored community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Need is still there. Zip code 20171 is a mess. Schools are flooding with students in that zip code and so many new housing developments popping up there with townhomes and apartments. It’s a real disappointment. It’s a vastly ignored community.

Oakton and Herndon were both recently renovated and expanded. South Lakes also got an expansion even though it wasn’t in the renovation queue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Need is still there. Zip code 20171 is a mess. Schools are flooding with students in that zip code and so many new housing developments popping up there with townhomes and apartments. It’s a real disappointment. It’s a vastly ignored community.

Oakton and Herndon were both recently renovated and expanded. South Lakes also got an expansion even though it wasn’t in the renovation queue.

It’s easier to renovate and expand existing schools (or tear down/rebuild) than going through the very long process, sometimes controversial, of opening a new high school.

Also, the FCPS demographers are probably predicting a long term school age population plateau or decline.

Locally, for comparison, only MCPS is building new high schools and reopening closed ones to keep the population of schools below 3,000, except for the largest schools like Montgomery Blair. On the other hand, FCPS has not reopened one closed high school or built a new one in almost 20 years. They prefer to build additions like at West Potomac. It’s just a different philosophy, not a better or worse one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The forum isn’t streamed so you will have to go to gatehouse if you want to watch it.

Many SB work sessions are live-streamed or recorded (and then made available on You Tube). It would seem like they were trying to hide the ball if they had a work session on “boundaries and capacity” and didn’t record it.

Work sessions are streamed. Forums are not. No one is hiding the ball. This is how they always do it.

[Anonymous]

Some Franklin Farm kids need to be sent to Herndon. Franklin Middle needs to feed to Oakton.

Some Westfield and Chantilly kids need to be sent to Centerville (Virginia Run/Bull Run and Poplar Tree (make is a split feeder).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Need is still there. Zip code 20171 is a mess. Schools are flooding with students in that zip code and so many new housing developments popping up there with townhomes and apartments. It’s a real disappointment. It’s a vastly ignored community.

Oakton and Herndon were both recently renovated and expanded. South Lakes also got an expansion even though it wasn’t in the renovation queue.

It’s easier to renovate and expand existing schools (or tear down/rebuild) than going through the very long process, sometimes controversial, of opening a new high school.

Also, the FCPS demographers are probably predicting a long term school age population plateau or decline.

Locally, for comparison, only MCPS is building new high schools and reopening closed ones to keep the population of schools below 3,000, except for the largest schools like Montgomery Blair. On the other hand, FCPS has not reopened one closed high school or built a new one in almost 20 years. They prefer to build additions like at West Potomac. It’s just a different philosophy, not a better or worse one.

It's not a philosophy. It is fear. School Board is afraid to do what is right - change boundaries. Taxpayers lose.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The forum isn’t streamed so you will have to go to gatehouse if you want to watch it.

Many SB work sessions are live-streamed or recorded (and then made available on You Tube). It would seem like they were trying to hide the ball if they had a work session on “boundaries and capacity” and didn’t record it.

Work sessions are streamed. Forums are not. No one is hiding the ball. This is how they always do it.

The so-called forum on “boundaries and capacity” is under the broader heading “Budget WS” scheduled for 2/13.

If they don’t stream and/or archive that discussion, they are hiding the ball to avoid scrutiny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Need is still there. Zip code 20171 is a mess. Schools are flooding with students in that zip code and so many new housing developments popping up there with townhomes and apartments. It’s a real disappointment. It’s a vastly ignored community.

Oakton and Herndon were both recently renovated and expanded. South Lakes also got an expansion even though it wasn’t in the renovation queue.

It’s easier to renovate and expand existing schools (or tear down/rebuild) than going through the very long process, sometimes controversial, of opening a new high school.

Also, the FCPS demographers are probably predicting a long term school age population plateau or decline.

Locally, for comparison, only MCPS is building new high schools and reopening closed ones to keep the population of schools below 3,000, except for the largest schools like Montgomery Blair. On the other hand, FCPS has not reopened one closed high school or built a new one in almost 20 years. They prefer to build additions like at West Potomac. It’s just a different philosophy, not a better or worse one.

Loudoun is also building new schools. APS also opened a new HB Woodlawn and turned the old Woodlawn building into a new middle school (Hamm MS).

FCPS planning has consistently been the worst in the region by a long shot. It’s been driven by fear, incompetence, and avarice. Expanding West Potomac to a ridiculous 3000 seats when there was capacity at Mount Vernon and other overcrowded schools went ignored was just one manifestation of the years-long train wreck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Need is still there. Zip code 20171 is a mess. Schools are flooding with students in that zip code and so many new housing developments popping up there with townhomes and apartments. It’s a real disappointment. It’s a vastly ignored community.

Oakton and Herndon were both recently renovated and expanded. South Lakes also got an expansion even though it wasn’t in the renovation queue.

It’s easier to renovate and expand existing schools (or tear down/rebuild) than going through the very long process, sometimes controversial, of opening a new high school.

Also, the FCPS demographers are probably predicting a long term school age population plateau or decline.

Locally, for comparison, only MCPS is building new high schools and reopening closed ones to keep the population of schools below 3,000, except for the largest schools like Montgomery Blair. On the other hand, FCPS has not reopened one closed high school or built a new one in almost 20 years. They prefer to build additions like at West Potomac. It’s just a different philosophy, not a better or worse one.

It's not a philosophy. It is fear. School Board is afraid to do what is right - change boundaries. Taxpayers lose.

They know a lot of people wait until after their own schools get expensive renovations and expansions before they suddenly start pinching pennies and demanding that other kids get redistricted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Interesting. What about western high school? The voice of our community is getting so marginalized. It’s really disappointing.

Agreed. The meeting is a farce. It is purely for show.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting. What about western high school? The voice of our community is getting so marginalized. It’s really disappointing.

Agreed. The meeting is a farce. It is purely for show.

+1

The Board will decide, based on:

1) their own personal interests (ie does a new school infringe on their favorite dog park?)

2) equity (through their lens, exclusively)

) . . .

Last place: constituent’s interests.