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Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS)
Annandale boundary study community dialogue meetings
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Anonymous
I agree. The FAQ was updated with a question about the target number of students at Annandale HS: http://www.fcps.edu/fts/planning/annandalestudy/regional/pdfs/faq.pdf === Each of the options vary in the amount of student population reduction that occurs at Annandale High School. Based on the target numbers I have heard (reduction of 400-600 students) it seems some of the four option presented do not go far enough to get the numbers down far enough. Does the County have consensus on a taregt number for student reduction at Annandale? Currently, the capacity of Annandale High School is 2552, which includes a 14 room modular that was installed this spring. The 14 room modular is intended to be a temporary solution in order to deal with the existing overcrowding at the school until the enrollment can be reduced through a boundary change or a non-boundary change option proposed in the Annandale Regional Study. The target capacity for Annandale High School after the proposed changes is 2350, which will retain 6-8 rooms of the 14 room modular. Staff’s intent through the Annandale Regional Study is to bring the enrollments at or below the targeted capacity of 2350 for Annandale High School. === According to the data presented by FCPS, option 1 results in over 2350 students (2402 students) in 2016-17. Option 1 does not go far enough and therefore Options 2 and 3 are better for the central goal of reducing the overcrowding at Annandale HS. |
Anonymous
| I wonder what's going to happen when parents realize Lacey will be over 70% ESOL students? That's a much higher percentage than any of the other ES in the area. I think very few non-ESOL parents will send their kids to such a school, and it will end up 95% ESOL in a year or two. We were prepared to try Belvedere, but I don't think we can handle this. |
Anonymous
Great observation -- another argument against Option 1. |
Anonymous
The ESOL percentages for Lacey will be off the charts under any of Options #1-3. Not sure it really will matter whether it's 74% or 86%; very few native-English speakers will send their kids to that school. Parents who live in that part of Annandale know it's a diverse area, but the current ES don't have nearly as high a percentage of ESOL students. To put this in perspective, Lacey will have almost twice as high an ESOL percentage as Hybla Valley, which serves the poorest section of Alexandria near Route 1, or Graham Road, which serves the poorest section of Falls Church near Seven Corners. Either FCSP has the numbers wrong, or a lot of parents will exit FCPS. Maybe the School Board doesn't care. |
Anonymous
DING DING DING! We have a winner! There's a new note posted on the FCPS website today: http://www.fcps.edu/fts/planning/annandalestudy/regional/communitymeetings.htm Staff detected a coding discrepancy for ESOL students and has adjusted the percentages in each of the tables at each level. The most significant change is for the new elementary school at the Lacey site, which had previously over-estimated ESOL percentages for the new school. |
Anonymous
What's the prize? Dinner for two with Dean Tisdadt? I think I'll pass. |
Anonymous
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Anonymous
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FCPS has posted a (convoluted) survey asking for feedback:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CommunityDialogueFeedbackForm |
Anonymous
| AH, more surveys and "feeback" so that the factions that do not want a boundary change in fear of having too many minorities at ahs can spend all day filing out multiple surveys. The board has already made up its mind that it doesn't want to change the boundaries. |
Anonymous
I don't have the sense the School Board has already decided not to change the boundaries, which would require turning Holmes and Poe into 6-7 and 8-9 middle schools and Annandale into the county's only 10-12 high school. What makes you think otherwise? Are were you just looking to be snarky about what other parents may favor? |
Anonymous
http://annandale.patch.com/articles/school-board-members-impressed-by-annandale-study-options “I was so very impressed with the thoughtful discussion that I heard going on last night, and so proud of my community for the openness and civility with which they treated each others views,” said Evans via e-mail to Annandale Patch about the meeting. “This gives us a basis for discussing community priorities as we figure out the best way to solve Annandale’s overcrowding problems as well as the best way to create our brand-new elementary school at the Lacey Center site.” Wilson agreed, applauding everyone who worked on the options and gave their input for the study. “This is only the second time we have used this particular meeting format. After a somewhat rough beginning with the southwest boundary study, I think we have worked out most of the 'bugs' and are developing a process which truly lets the public be engaged,” said Wilson. Part of the benefit of the small group format used at Monday’s meeting is to allow parents the opportunity to voice their concerns directly to school board members who are scheduled to take action on solutions at their meeting on July 28. Right now, Wilson said she’s still in “listening mode”. “All too often, the School Board is accused of having already made up their minds on boundary issues, and the community meetings are just ‘window dressing.’ That is definitely not the case – and I am still exploring possible improvements to the scenarios,” said Wilson. “In fact, one parent offered a suggestion last night that neither staff nor I had considered. We will explore the idea. There are certainly parts of certain plans that I believe are more workable than others, but I’m not rejecting or endorsing any of the options at this point.” All community feedback from the meetings will be used to create a recommendation the committee will present to the School Board at their June 23 meeting, followed by public hearings on July 11-12. Evans added that the school board has to option to take parts of each of the options in order to create a “logical solution” rather than choosing one of the options presented. “Without taking a position on any one scenario, whatever combination we choose needs to provide true relief at AHS while keeping it the magical, vibrant school it is today,” said Evans. |
Anonymous
| PP here, if you look at responses to participant surveys and statements made over the last year, you'll see a preference to keep the racial mix in ahs that would be altered with boundary changes. I did read from the committee that it has already responded that they would not end the wakefield split feeder issue because Frost is already over crowded. Even the option with Frost would require a new building with no funds to pay for it - so out of the question. Repeatedly, concerns expressed tend to focus on reactions that boundary changes means that AHS will be essentially lose its character and extra curriculars because of the overwhelming population of minority kids that will be left. The language is often more politically correct - diveristy, "magical vibrant school that it is today" etc, but its meaning is obvious. Those are code words.... No focus at all on how FC can put its efforts into building up the wonderful base of minority students that will remain regardless of what option is chosen. Nothing on getting immigrant parents involved, or their kids on the football team or on the school paper. |
Anonymous
That doesn't mean the School Board has decided to opt for Option #4, which would keep the current boundaries intact but assign students from different grades to Holmes, Poe and Annandale. Nor does the fact that the School Board may not want to send more kids to Frost mean there won't be a boundary change, since Option #3 and other options yet-to-be-identified may include sending some or all of the current Wakefield Forest students to Lake Braddock. Annandale is already one of the most diverse schools in FCPS, and there are many efforts to reach out to parents of minority students (in many different languages). It's a fact that low-income minority students - who may not have the same degree of parental support and may themselves hold down after-school jobs - are less likely to participate in extra-curricular activities than students from more affluent backgrounds. Do you really think minority parents would feel better if the wealthiest neighborhoods currently assigned to Annandale were redistricted to Woodson, so long as there were a few more flyers in Spanish encouraging Hispanic girls to try out for Cheerleading, or e-mails in Amharic encouraging Ethiopian boys to play soccer? I'm a bit cynical as to the motivations behind your post, since the most active participants in this entire process seem to be some Wakefield Forest parents who would like to be moved out of Annandale. Your post seems designed to ridicule anyone who points out this might not be the best solution to the overcrowding. |
Anonymous
If the option to move Wakefield Forest students to Frost were approved, the students would go into trailers. http://www.fcps.edu/fts/planning/annandalestudy/regional/pdfs/faq.pdf Posted: May 19, 2011 1. It appears that Frost will be over crowded if the Wakefield Forest students move there from Poe. There is mention of the need for a building addition at Frost if this option is selected. Could a building addition be built in time for the proposed move? Are there other options for reducing the impact at Frost such as moving the GT program that are being considered. It seems the GT program could combine with Lake Braddock which has capacity. Any changes to attendance boundaries will not go into effect until the Fall of 2012. Frost Middle School is due for renovation and additional capacity will be part of that renovation to keep the Frost capacity in line with the capacity at Woodson High School. Currently the enrollment at Frost exceeds capacity. The proposed renovation, scheduled for the latter half of this decade, may not be ready in time to accommodate the students that will be reassigned to Frost Middle as a result of the proposed boundary change. The funding for the permanent addition will be included in the 2013 bond referendum for approval by the voters. If the School Board approves the option that proposes Wakefield Forest students be reassigned from Poe to Frost, mobile classrooms will be installed to accommodate these additional students. |