Is it time to break into smaller school districts in MoCo

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gotta get the poors their own district.

It's not about that. It's about how local needs are different. Poolesville has different weather patterns than Silver Spring. They probably need way more school closures than we do in the southern part of the county.

Most of the covid cases are also in the east side of the county. North county is green. They should be able to open at least hybrid, but they can't because we are one school district.

You could let individual schools make their own weather closure decisions, although the magnet programs complicate that a bit.

Special ed

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gotta get the poors their own district.

It's not about that. It's about how local needs are different. Poolesville has different weather patterns than Silver Spring. They probably need way more school closures than we do in the southern part of the county.

Most of the covid cases are also in the east side of the county. North county is green. They should be able to open at least hybrid, but they can't because we are one school district.

Yep get the poors with their wage-working Covid-carrying parents outta my school district

You can look at it that way, or you could look at it as a way for the poorer areas to be able to address their needs more easily. They would not have to wait in line to get the hvac fixed along with a whole lot of other schools.

Taxes go to the county. The county could provide more funds to the certain districts, much like Title 1 funding.

Our cluster has about 25% FARMS rate, with at least one Title 1 school, so it's not like we have no FARMs kids

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it time to break into smaller school districts in MoCo? This pandemic has me questioning how the school system is setup in the county. It’s gotten to big to manage. Is it time to break it up to smaller manageable school districts within the county? This is done in Texas, California etc.

LOL not this again. You know this can't happen right?

Why can’t this happen? Genuinely want understand.

Because smaller districts generally serves to exacerbate inequalities and racial/socio-economic segregation. The current trend is in the opposite direction.

The county is setup where this already occurs minus the magnet programs. I think you could have more equity when the districts are smaller and tailored to meet the needs of its student population versus generalizing everyone into large bucket categories.

It would be interesting as apart of the county boundary study for the consulting company to evaluate breaking apart MCPS into smaller districts and evaluate the benefits and weaknesses of this model compared to the current situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gotta get the poors their own district.

It's not about that. It's about how local needs are different. Poolesville has different weather patterns than Silver Spring. They probably need way more school closures than we do in the southern part of the county.

Most of the covid cases are also in the east side of the county. North county is green. They should be able to open at least hybrid, but they can't because we are one school district.

Yep get the poors with their wage-working Covid-carrying parents outta my school district

You can look at it that way, or you could look at it as a way for the poorer areas to be able to address their needs more easily. They would not have to wait in line to get the hvac fixed along with a whole lot of other schools.

Taxes go to the county. The county could provide more funds to the certain districts, much like Title 1 funding.

Our cluster has about 25% FARMS rate, with at least one Title 1 school, so it's not like we have no FARMs kids

You do know it doesn't really work that way in practice though, right? There's plenty of areas in the country where school districts are by city, so there are lots of examples to look at.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it time to break into smaller school districts in MoCo? This pandemic has me questioning how the school system is setup in the county. It’s gotten to big to manage. Is it time to break it up to smaller manageable school districts within the county? This is done in Texas, California etc.

LOL not this again. You know this can't happen right?

Why can’t this happen? Genuinely want understand.

Because smaller districts generally serves to exacerbate inequalities and racial/socio-economic segregation. The current trend is in the opposite direction.

The county is setup where this already occurs minus the magnet programs. I think you could have more equity when the districts are smaller and tailored to meet the needs of its student population versus generalizing everyone into large bucket categories.

It would be interesting as apart of the county boundary study for the consulting company to evaluate breaking apart MCPS into smaller districts and evaluate the benefits and weaknesses of this model compared to the current situation.

This is well-studied. The Milwaukee-area public schools are a good example of what happens if you do that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gotta get the poors their own district.

It's not about that. It's about how local needs are different. Poolesville has different weather patterns than Silver Spring. They probably need way more school closures than we do in the southern part of the county.

Most of the covid cases are also in the east side of the county. North county is green. They should be able to open at least hybrid, but they can't because we are one school district.

Yep get the poors with their wage-working Covid-carrying parents outta my school district

It's how I read this as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gotta get the poors their own district.

It's not about that. It's about how local needs are different. Poolesville has different weather patterns than Silver Spring. They probably need way more school closures than we do in the southern part of the county.

Most of the covid cases are also in the east side of the county. North county is green. They should be able to open at least hybrid, but they can't because we are one school district.

Yep get the poors with their wage-working Covid-carrying parents outta my school district

You can look at it that way, or you could look at it as a way for the poorer areas to be able to address their needs more easily. They would not have to wait in line to get the hvac fixed along with a whole lot of other schools.

Taxes go to the county. The county could provide more funds to the certain districts, much like Title 1 funding.

Our cluster has about 25% FARMS rate, with at least one Title 1 school, so it's not like we have no FARMs kids

You do know it doesn't really work that way in practice though, right? There's plenty of areas in the country where school districts are by city, so there are lots of examples to look at.

Most of those cities allocate property tax by the city. I'm stating that the budget would be provided at the county level.

Lower income areas could get more funding, again like Title 1 funding. Right now, the budget is for the entire school district which means that poorer areas still have to wait in line to get their needs met.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gotta get the poors their own district.

It's not about that. It's about how local needs are different. Poolesville has different weather patterns than Silver Spring. They probably need way more school closures than we do in the southern part of the county.

Most of the covid cases are also in the east side of the county. North county is green. They should be able to open at least hybrid, but they can't because we are one school district.

Yep get the poors with their wage-working Covid-carrying parents outta my school district

You can look at it that way, or you could look at it as a way for the poorer areas to be able to address their needs more easily. They would not have to wait in line to get the hvac fixed along with a whole lot of other schools.

Taxes go to the county. The county could provide more funds to the certain districts, much like Title 1 funding.

Our cluster has about 25% FARMS rate, with at least one Title 1 school, so it's not like we have no FARMs kids

You do know it doesn't really work that way in practice though, right? There's plenty of areas in the country where school districts are by city, so there are lots of examples to look at.

Most of those cities allocate property tax by the city. I'm stating that the budget would be provided at the county level.

Lower income areas could get more funding, again like Title 1 funding. Right now, the budget is for the entire school district which means that poorer areas still have to wait in line to get their needs met.

That's partially true, though most of those areas still use state-level funding to even out some of the inequalities.

And assuming funding is still some through the county (and state), it doesn't really address the example you provided of HVAC systems. Capital improvements would still be allocated differently in the budget, meaning you'd still have a problem of the loudest parents getting the most money.

[Anonymous]

And the more I think about this, the more I think it makes no sense to have multiple districts under an entity that makes funding decisions for capital improvements. If there's excess capacity at a neighboring school, the right thing to do from a monetary perspective is to re-draw the boundaries for the schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gotta get the poors their own district.

It's not about that. It's about how local needs are different. Poolesville has different weather patterns than Silver Spring. They probably need way more school closures than we do in the southern part of the county.

Most of the covid cases are also in the east side of the county. North county is green. They should be able to open at least hybrid, but they can't because we are one school district.

Yep get the poors with their wage-working Covid-carrying parents outta my school district

You can look at it that way, or you could look at it as a way for the poorer areas to be able to address their needs more easily. They would not have to wait in line to get the hvac fixed along with a whole lot of other schools.

Taxes go to the county. The county could provide more funds to the certain districts, much like Title 1 funding.

Our cluster has about 25% FARMS rate, with at least one Title 1 school, so it's not like we have no FARMs kids

You do know it doesn't really work that way in practice though, right? There's plenty of areas in the country where school districts are by city, so there are lots of examples to look at.

Most of those cities allocate property tax by the city. I'm stating that the budget would be provided at the county level.

Lower income areas could get more funding, again like Title 1 funding. Right now, the budget is for the entire school district which means that poorer areas still have to wait in line to get their needs met.

That's partially true, though most of those areas still use state-level funding to even out some of the inequalities.

And assuming funding is still some through the county (and state), it doesn't really address the example you provided of HVAC systems. Capital improvements would still be allocated differently in the budget, meaning you'd still have a problem of the loudest parents getting the most money.

? budget would include CIP. This would be for the entire budget. Separate districts can prioritize based on their own needs.

I keep reading on here how Silver Spring/TP parents on the loudest, so based on what you wrote, they'd get more funding. win/win.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gotta get the poors their own district.

It's not about that. It's about how local needs are different. Poolesville has different weather patterns than Silver Spring. They probably need way more school closures than we do in the southern part of the county.

Most of the covid cases are also in the east side of the county. North county is green. They should be able to open at least hybrid, but they can't because we are one school district.

Yep get the poors with their wage-working Covid-carrying parents outta my school district

You can look at it that way, or you could look at it as a way for the poorer areas to be able to address their needs more easily. They would not have to wait in line to get the hvac fixed along with a whole lot of other schools.

Taxes go to the county. The county could provide more funds to the certain districts, much like Title 1 funding.

Our cluster has about 25% FARMS rate, with at least one Title 1 school, so it's not like we have no FARMs kids

You do know it doesn't really work that way in practice though, right? There's plenty of areas in the country where school districts are by city, so there are lots of examples to look at.

Most of those cities allocate property tax by the city. I'm stating that the budget would be provided at the county level.

Lower income areas could get more funding, again like Title 1 funding. Right now, the budget is for the entire school district which means that poorer areas still have to wait in line to get their needs met.

That's partially true, though most of those areas still use state-level funding to even out some of the inequalities.

And assuming funding is still some through the county (and state), it doesn't really address the example you provided of HVAC systems. Capital improvements would still be allocated differently in the budget, meaning you'd still have a problem of the loudest parents getting the most money.

? budget would include CIP. This would be for the entire budget. Separate districts can prioritize based on their own needs.

I keep reading on here how Silver Spring/TP parents on the loudest, so based on what you wrote, they'd get more funding. win/win.

How does the county decide when and where to build new high schools? Particularly if other schools in the county are underutilized?

[Anonymous]

Most of the people pushing for smaller districts really just want protection from being redrawn into a less desirable cluster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gotta get the poors their own district.

It's not about that. It's about how local needs are different. Poolesville has different weather patterns than Silver Spring. They probably need way more school closures than we do in the southern part of the county.

Most of the covid cases are also in the east side of the county. North county is green. They should be able to open at least hybrid, but they can't because we are one school district.

Yep get the poors with their wage-working Covid-carrying parents outta my school district

You can look at it that way, or you could look at it as a way for the poorer areas to be able to address their needs more easily. They would not have to wait in line to get the hvac fixed along with a whole lot of other schools.

Taxes go to the county. The county could provide more funds to the certain districts, much like Title 1 funding.

Our cluster has about 25% FARMS rate, with at least one Title 1 school, so it's not like we have no FARMs kids

You do know it doesn't really work that way in practice though, right? There's plenty of areas in the country where school districts are by city, so there are lots of examples to look at.

Most of those cities allocate property tax by the city. I'm stating that the budget would be provided at the county level.

Lower income areas could get more funding, again like Title 1 funding. Right now, the budget is for the entire school district which means that poorer areas still have to wait in line to get their needs met.

That's partially true, though most of those areas still use state-level funding to even out some of the inequalities.

And assuming funding is still some through the county (and state), it doesn't really address the example you provided of HVAC systems. Capital improvements would still be allocated differently in the budget, meaning you'd still have a problem of the loudest parents getting the most money.

? budget would include CIP. This would be for the entire budget. Separate districts can prioritize based on their own needs.

I keep reading on here how Silver Spring/TP parents on the loudest, so based on what you wrote, they'd get more funding. win/win.

How does the county decide when and where to build new high schools? Particularly if other schools in the county are underutilized?

Like we do now.. based on population size. If the schools are under utilized they would lose funding. It should follow the population size.

I'm originally from out west. School budget for each school district is determined by the state/county, and there can be multiple school districts in the county.

You can also have reciprocal agreements with the neighboring district when schools in one district get overcrowded.

This is not a novel idea. It can be done.

[Anonymous]

I mean, I'm happy to let folks spin their wheels in this direction. It will NEVER happen for lots of good reasons, including the need for an actual ballot initiative on the topic, not to mention the critical mass of folks who would oppose it living in the eastern part of the county.

But....if folks are expending their political efforts on splitting the school district rather than ridiculous court cases about magnet admissions, then have at it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gotta get the poors their own district.

It's not about that. It's about how local needs are different. Poolesville has different weather patterns than Silver Spring. They probably need way more school closures than we do in the southern part of the county.

Most of the covid cases are also in the east side of the county. North county is green. They should be able to open at least hybrid, but they can't because we are one school district.

Yep get the poors with their wage-working Covid-carrying parents outta my school district

You can look at it that way, or you could look at it as a way for the poorer areas to be able to address their needs more easily. They would not have to wait in line to get the hvac fixed along with a whole lot of other schools.

Taxes go to the county. The county could provide more funds to the certain districts, much like Title 1 funding.

Our cluster has about 25% FARMS rate, with at least one Title 1 school, so it's not like we have no FARMs kids

You do know it doesn't really work that way in practice though, right? There's plenty of areas in the country where school districts are by city, so there are lots of examples to look at.

Most of those cities allocate property tax by the city. I'm stating that the budget would be provided at the county level.

Lower income areas could get more funding, again like Title 1 funding. Right now, the budget is for the entire school district which means that poorer areas still have to wait in line to get their needs met.

That's partially true, though most of those areas still use state-level funding to even out some of the inequalities.

And assuming funding is still some through the county (and state), it doesn't really address the example you provided of HVAC systems. Capital improvements would still be allocated differently in the budget, meaning you'd still have a problem of the loudest parents getting the most money.

? budget would include CIP. This would be for the entire budget. Separate districts can prioritize based on their own needs.

I keep reading on here how Silver Spring/TP parents on the loudest, so based on what you wrote, they'd get more funding. win/win.

How does the county decide when and where to build new high schools? Particularly if other schools in the county are underutilized?

Like we do now.. based on population size. If the schools are under utilized they would lose funding. It should follow the population size.

I'm originally from out west. School budget for each school district is determined by the state/county, and there can be multiple school districts in the county.

You can also have reciprocal agreements with the neighboring district when schools in one district get overcrowded.

This is not a novel idea. It can be done.

I don’t know if you’ve figure this out yet but MOCO isn’t filled with big thinkers. Every solution has a problem in this county, and a separate tax.