Why is the proposed region5 68% FARMS 70% URM, and region6 45% FARMS 52% URM?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm in Region 1, so not familiar with this part of the county, but yes OP, it does seem inequitable to me looking at it as an outsider.

Regions 5 and 6 could be combined to be one large region so all students could access the existing strong programs at Poolesville.

and/or

1 or 2 of Poolesville's 3 magnets could be moved to different, more centrally located high schools - Northwest, Seneca Valley?

I know the argument is that Poolesville "has" to host so many programs because it's a huge school with low in-boundary enrollment, but then.... redraw the boundaries? This is not that hard.

I’m not totally familiar with the geography out that way either, but I believe Poolesville borders the Agricultural Reserve, so it’s not like there are lots of nearby communities that could be rezoned to Poolesville High School without giving kids a significant commute. People are willing to make that commute for the special programs, but who want to make the commute for ordinary classes?

[Anonymous]

The region proposal is concerning special programs. For ordinary classes, you stay at your home school.

Please look at the map (slide 20 from MCPS’s most recent Oct 16 BOE presentation). Damascus is as far away from Poolesville as is Magruder, Richard Montgomery, and BCC, yet Damascus lobbied hard to be in the same region as Poolesville.

So there are communities that, despite being far away, will use their influence to try to make sure they have access to the established and renowned programs at Poolesville. I do not see how MCPS can justify the huge disparity in FARMS and URM between regions 5 and 6, if the school district is for equity and access.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The region proposal is concerning special programs. For ordinary classes, you stay at your home school.

Please look at the map (slide 20 from MCPS’s most recent Oct 16 BOE presentation). Damascus is as far away from Poolesville as is Magruder, Richard Montgomery, and BCC, yet Damascus lobbied hard to be in the same region as Poolesville.

So there are communities that, despite being far away, will use their influence to try to make sure they have access to the established and renowned programs at Poolesville. I do not see how MCPS can justify the huge disparity in FARMS and URM between regions 5 and 6, if the school district is for equity and access.

Really I think this region proposal is hot a mess and, given the new information about the declining enrollment, the proposal should be paused for a few years, just like Crown HS. There is no sense squabbling about these school assignments some rando administrator dreamed up alongside their special interest groups.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm in Region 1, so not familiar with this part of the county, but yes OP, it does seem inequitable to me looking at it as an outsider.

Regions 5 and 6 could be combined to be one large region so all students could access the existing strong programs at Poolesville.

and/or

1 or 2 of Poolesville's 3 magnets could be moved to different, more centrally located high schools - Northwest, Seneca Valley?

I know the argument is that Poolesville "has" to host so many programs because it's a huge school with low in-boundary enrollment, but then.... redraw the boundaries? This is not that hard.

I’m not totally familiar with the geography out that way either, but I believe Poolesville borders the Agricultural Reserve, so it’s not like there are lots of nearby communities that could be rezoned to Poolesville High School without giving kids a significant commute. People are willing to make that commute for the special programs, but who want to make the commute for ordinary classes?

You can get to PHS in under 30 minutes from just about anywhere west of I270/Falls Rd. Few lights on the more rural roads, and traffic is going the other way (east in the AM/west in the PM). There are plenty of areas which could be shifted to PHS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The region proposal is concerning special programs. For ordinary classes, you stay at your home school.

Please look at the map (slide 20 from MCPS’s most recent Oct 16 BOE presentation). Damascus is as far away from Poolesville as is Magruder, Richard Montgomery, and BCC, yet Damascus lobbied hard to be in the same region as Poolesville.

So there are communities that, despite being far away, will use their influence to try to make sure they have access to the established and renowned programs at Poolesville. I do not see how MCPS can justify the huge disparity in FARMS and URM between regions 5 and 6, if the school district is for equity and access.

Really I think this region proposal is hot a mess and, given the new information about the declining enrollment, the proposal should be paused for a few years, just like Crown HS. There is no sense squabbling about these school assignments some rando administrator dreamed up alongside their special interest groups.

I agree. School and program assignments within the proposed regions is not transparent and will increase inequity as students lose access to established programs.

Losing 2600 MCPS students last year and another projected 6000 in the next 6 years means a big budget loss and changing demographic, which means different student needs.

It doesn’t make sense to approve a poorly thought-out plan that will cost taxpayers many additional millions in a weak economy for a decreasing URM population, which is one of the target groups the region proposal is supposed to help.