Rezoning Lafayette ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Rezoning is always a possibility, no matter where you buy in DC. A few things to keep in mind though:

If DCPS moves Lafayette out of the Deal Wilson feeder pattern, then there has to be a middle and high school large enough to take them.

DCPS doesn't care about WOTP convenience. It honestly wouldn't surprise me if they moved Janney or Murch out of the feeder pattern despite proximity and left Shepherd, Lafayette, and Bancroft in. The #1 DCPS goal is to close the achievement gap.

There's some current hysteria by a group of perpetually outraged Lafayette parents regarding moving PK to EOTP as opposed to reducing it. They're convinced this is a nefarious plot to slowly physically move them out of the feeder pattern and let a bunch of brown OOB kids into their exclusive school. Despite the fact that many of them don't even have rising PK kids, they would rather Lafayette do away with PK than risk DCPS quietly picking up their homes and moving them east of the park in the middle of the night.

But moving Lafayette, Shepherd and Bancroft out of Deal/Wilson also would close the achievement gap and would make a certain amount of geographic sense. DCPS is not moving kids out of Deal/Wilson who can see those buildings from their front windows. Come on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They're not moving Shepherd out without also moving a WOTP elementary out, and Lafayette is the only one that makes any sense. They're not moving Murch or Janney out when many of those kids can literally walk across the street to Deal/Wilson.

As far as political will, when have WOTP parents ever had much true political pull in this city? And I'm going to guess the new Ward 4 council member would be all for moving Lafayette kids to a MS/HS across the park. But hey, Ward 4 voted for her. Enjoy the result.

All-lottery doesn't make sense on a number of levels: There aren't enough high-performing kids in the city to truly achieve the balance needed, and sprinkling those kids all over the place won't do much. There's also the matter of transportation, which, considering WMATA's very dire straits, would be a massive issue.

Moving Lafayette and Shepherd as a group to EOTP MS/HS would give those schools a sizable high-achieving cohort all at once. Of course, if it does happen, it likely will not affect anyone commenting here now: The changes won't kick in until 2024 at the earliest and almost certainly will contain a grandfather clause keeping all current Lafayette kids inbounds for Deal/Wilson.

Yup - in fact if it was just those 2 ES it would give you a higher performing cohort than the remaining cohort at Deal.

My kids will be past middle school age by the time any boundary changes are made, but I would have happily chosen a smaller middle school with Lafayette, Shepard, and another school (Bancroft?) over Deal. We lotteried unsuccessfully for Hardy. Deal is just too big for many kids.

The same conversation we're having about overcrowding at Deal right now is a conversation we'll very soon be having about overcrowding at Hardy. DCPS will ignore it until it reaches a crisis point, as it has at Deal. Hardy for all!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There will be a lot of other options on the table when the time comes, and the chances of Lafayette or Shepherd actually being rezoned as very small. There are other strategies for reducing the enrollment that do not involve dramatic boundary changes or reducing OOB spaces, some were discussed at great length last time. You should buy the house you like in the community you like.

Such as?

Seriously - what are the other options?

Moving Lafayette from Deal/Wilson to Coolidge isn't even dramatic at all - for a good part of the Lafayette population it is just as fast to drive across the park as it is to drive to Deal.

Murch, Janney and Hearst are all within walking distance of Deal/Wilson.

Where would you re-locate Stoddert, Key or Mann that is less of a trek than it is across the park from Lafayette to Coolidge?

So what are the other options?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There will be a lot of other options on the table when the time comes, and the chances of Lafayette or Shepherd actually being rezoned as very small. There are other strategies for reducing the enrollment that do not involve dramatic boundary changes or reducing OOB spaces, some were discussed at great length last time. You should buy the house you like in the community you like.

Such as?

Seriously - what are the other options?

Moving Lafayette from Deal/Wilson to Coolidge isn't even dramatic at all - for a good part of the Lafayette population it is just as fast to drive across the park as it is to drive to Deal.

Murch, Janney and Hearst are all within walking distance of Deal/Wilson.

Where would you re-locate Stoddert, Key or Mann that is less of a trek than it is across the park from Lafayette to Coolidge?

So what are the other options?

I think the only other viable option for reducing crowding at Deal and Wilson (and their feeder elementary schools) is ending feeder rights. As in, OOB students who lottery into Murch or Lafayette are not entitled to attend the schools they feed to—Deal and Wilson. Once you finish 5th grade, you need to re-lottery into Deal as an OOB student, a charter, or attend your IB middle school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There will be a lot of other options on the table when the time comes, and the chances of Lafayette or Shepherd actually being rezoned as very small. There are other strategies for reducing the enrollment that do not involve dramatic boundary changes or reducing OOB spaces, some were discussed at great length last time. You should buy the house you like in the community you like.

Such as?

Seriously - what are the other options?

Moving Lafayette from Deal/Wilson to Coolidge isn't even dramatic at all - for a good part of the Lafayette population it is just as fast to drive across the park as it is to drive to Deal.

Murch, Janney and Hearst are all within walking distance of Deal/Wilson.

Where would you re-locate Stoddert, Key or Mann that is less of a trek than it is across the park from Lafayette to Coolidge?

So what are the other options?

I think the only other viable option for reducing crowding at Deal and Wilson (and their feeder elementary schools) is ending feeder rights. As in, OOB students who lottery into Murch or Lafayette are not entitled to attend the schools they feed to—Deal and Wilson. Once you finish 5th grade, you need to re-lottery into Deal as an OOB student, a charter, or attend your IB middle school.

That doesn't solve the numbers problem today and definitely won't solve it tomorrow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There will be a lot of other options on the table when the time comes, and the chances of Lafayette or Shepherd actually being rezoned as very small. There are other strategies for reducing the enrollment that do not involve dramatic boundary changes or reducing OOB spaces, some were discussed at great length last time. You should buy the house you like in the community you like.

Such as?

Seriously - what are the other options?

Moving Lafayette from Deal/Wilson to Coolidge isn't even dramatic at all - for a good part of the Lafayette population it is just as fast to drive across the park as it is to drive to Deal.

Murch, Janney and Hearst are all within walking distance of Deal/Wilson.

Where would you re-locate Stoddert, Key or Mann that is less of a trek than it is across the park from Lafayette to Coolidge?

So what are the other options?

I think the only other viable option for reducing crowding at Deal and Wilson (and their feeder elementary schools) is ending feeder rights. As in, OOB students who lottery into Murch or Lafayette are not entitled to attend the schools they feed to—Deal and Wilson. Once you finish 5th grade, you need to re-lottery into Deal as an OOB student, a charter, or attend your IB middle school.

That doesn't solve the numbers problem today and definitely won't solve it tomorrow.

Neither will rezoning, though. During the last rezoning hundreds if not thousands of kids were excluded from the plans because they were already attending these schools. Parents will fight to make sure their kids can still attend Deal and Wilson, even if they’re in PK.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There will be a lot of other options on the table when the time comes, and the chances of Lafayette or Shepherd actually being rezoned as very small. There are other strategies for reducing the enrollment that do not involve dramatic boundary changes or reducing OOB spaces, some were discussed at great length last time. You should buy the house you like in the community you like.

Such as?

Seriously - what are the other options?

Moving Lafayette from Deal/Wilson to Coolidge isn't even dramatic at all - for a good part of the Lafayette population it is just as fast to drive across the park as it is to drive to Deal.

Murch, Janney and Hearst are all within walking distance of Deal/Wilson.

Where would you re-locate Stoddert, Key or Mann that is less of a trek than it is across the park from Lafayette to Coolidge?

So what are the other options?

I think the only other viable option for reducing crowding at Deal and Wilson (and their feeder elementary schools) is ending feeder rights. As in, OOB students who lottery into Murch or Lafayette are not entitled to attend the schools they feed to—Deal and Wilson. Once you finish 5th grade, you need to re-lottery into Deal as an OOB student, a charter, or attend your IB middle school.

That doesn't solve the numbers problem today and definitely won't solve it tomorrow.

Neither will rezoning, though. During the last rezoning hundreds if not thousands of kids were excluded from the plans because they were already attending these schools. Parents will fight to make sure their kids can still attend Deal and Wilson, even if they’re in PK.

Ummm no not true - Lafayatte has had some graduating classes as large as 160 kids and Shepherd Park I believe is graduating about 50-60 per year. 200 kids alone is enough for a middle school (that's bigger than Hardy started with) and comfortably gets Deal back within capacity and gets Wilson pretty close as well.

[Anonymous]

They could move Oyster and Bancroft to MacFarland and Roosevelt with the other bilingual programs (make Oyster a PK-5 program spread across the current Oyster and Adams campuses and you also get a lot more bilingual PK seats), and Shepherd and Lafayette to Wells and Coolidge. If you need to enlarge these schools, fine--you'll spend no more than you would enlarging Deal and Wilson, and you'll create more diverse and high-performing schools. Moving the early college magnet from Coolidge to Cardozo or Dunbar would also free up some space.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They could move Oyster and Bancroft to MacFarland and Roosevelt with the other bilingual programs (make Oyster a PK-5 program spread across the current Oyster and Adams campuses and you also get a lot more bilingual PK seats), and Shepherd and Lafayette to Wells and Coolidge. If you need to enlarge these schools, fine--you'll spend no more than you would enlarging Deal and Wilson, and you'll create more diverse and high-performing schools. Moving the early college magnet from Coolidge to Cardozo or Dunbar would also free up some space.

And yes to ending feeder rights--if you get in OOB to a school you get into that school, not the middle and high school it feeds into. If an MS or HS has extra space, people can lottery in for that. No reason why a family who won the lottery with a 3yo needs to be lucky for the next 15-20+ years (including siblings). It sucks for people who move to DC later or for whatever reason couldn't trek across town with a toddler. This would also help people stay at ESs that they like rather than lotterying every year for a chance at a better MS/HS feeder.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They could move Oyster and Bancroft to MacFarland and Roosevelt with the other bilingual programs (make Oyster a PK-5 program spread across the current Oyster and Adams campuses and you also get a lot more bilingual PK seats), and Shepherd and Lafayette to Wells and Coolidge. If you need to enlarge these schools, fine--you'll spend no more than you would enlarging Deal and Wilson, and you'll create more diverse and high-performing schools. Moving the early college magnet from Coolidge to Cardozo or Dunbar would also free up some space.

And yes to ending feeder rights--if you get in OOB to a school you get into that school, not the middle and high school it feeds into. If an MS or HS has extra space, people can lottery in for that. No reason why a family who won the lottery with a 3yo needs to be lucky for the next 15-20+ years (including siblings). It sucks for people who move to DC later or for whatever reason couldn't trek across town with a toddler. This would also help people stay at ESs that they like rather than lotterying every year for a chance at a better MS/HS feeder.

It's easy for people who live in-bounds for Deal and Wilson feeders to say this is the solution, but booting kids who currently expect to have feeder rights after lotterying in doesn't really seem fair. (And I say that as the parent of in-bound Janney kids.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They could move Oyster and Bancroft to MacFarland and Roosevelt with the other bilingual programs (make Oyster a PK-5 program spread across the current Oyster and Adams campuses and you also get a lot more bilingual PK seats), and Shepherd and Lafayette to Wells and Coolidge. If you need to enlarge these schools, fine--you'll spend no more than you would enlarging Deal and Wilson, and you'll create more diverse and high-performing schools. Moving the early college magnet from Coolidge to Cardozo or Dunbar would also free up some space.

And yes to ending feeder rights--if you get in OOB to a school you get into that school, not the middle and high school it feeds into. If an MS or HS has extra space, people can lottery in for that. No reason why a family who won the lottery with a 3yo needs to be lucky for the next 15-20+ years (including siblings). It sucks for people who move to DC later or for whatever reason couldn't trek across town with a toddler. This would also help people stay at ESs that they like rather than lotterying every year for a chance at a better MS/HS feeder.

It's easy for people who live in-bounds for Deal and Wilson feeders to say this is the solution, but booting kids who currently expect to have feeder rights after lotterying in doesn't really seem fair. (And I say that as the parent of in-bound Janney kids.)

+1. We're in bounds too, but you can't just rip away their futures that they were given.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They could move Oyster and Bancroft to MacFarland and Roosevelt with the other bilingual programs (make Oyster a PK-5 program spread across the current Oyster and Adams campuses and you also get a lot more bilingual PK seats), and Shepherd and Lafayette to Wells and Coolidge. If you need to enlarge these schools, fine--you'll spend no more than you would enlarging Deal and Wilson, and you'll create more diverse and high-performing schools. Moving the early college magnet from Coolidge to Cardozo or Dunbar would also free up some space.

And yes to ending feeder rights--if you get in OOB to a school you get into that school, not the middle and high school it feeds into. If an MS or HS has extra space, people can lottery in for that. No reason why a family who won the lottery with a 3yo needs to be lucky for the next 15-20+ years (including siblings). It sucks for people who move to DC later or for whatever reason couldn't trek across town with a toddler. This would also help people stay at ESs that they like rather than lotterying every year for a chance at a better MS/HS feeder.

It's easy for people who live in-bounds for Deal and Wilson feeders to say this is the solution, but booting kids who currently expect to have feeder rights after lotterying in doesn't really seem fair. (And I say that as the parent of in-bound Janney kids.)

+1. We're in bounds too, but you can't just rip away their futures that they were given.

But you’re totally OK with 200+ kids being fed into Wells and Coolidge? Because it’ll be fine?

[Anonymous]

Just to put it in perspective, if you rezone Lafayette, suddenly Lafayette kids will be trying to lottery into Murch. Now are you concerned about their OOB rights?

[Anonymous]

I agree with a PP - move to Bethesda or Chevy Chase. These schools are just not worth scheming or fretting over.

[Anonymous]

Move in boundary for Bethesda Chevy Chase HS and you’ll Still be close to DC.