Lee HS Enrollment Falls Below 1700

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Closing Lee would involve moving the Lee feeders to Edison, Annandale, WS, Hayfield, South County.

Then it requires schools from Edison, Annandale, WS and Hayfield out to South County, Lake Braddock, Woodson and Falls Church.

And schools from LB, Woodson and Falls Church to somewhere else.

This is not a wave the magic wand and make Lee disappear situation

It really wouldn't. Annandale has capacity, so no need to drag Woodson or Falls Church into this.

Of course, moving part of Lee to West Springfield probably would necessitate moving part of WS to Lake Braddock, and perhaps part of LB elsewhere (South County or Robinson). Life would go on.

You are so transparent about the purported county-wide chain effect this would trigger. Heck, the last time a school was closed (regular Jefferson) the entire student body moved to a single high school (Annandale). By your reckoning, the Jefferson kids would have had to move to each of Annandale, Stuart, Lee and Edison, and triggering further redistrictings to Falls Church, Woodson, Fort Hunt (now West Potomac), etc.

A number of schools in eastern Fairfax have extra capacity. Western Fairfax is a different story.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe the Gatehouse poster from the original thread on Lee could speak to this, but could FCPS get rid of IB at all the nearby schools that have it (Edison, Mt. Vernon, Annandale, Stuart, etc.) and start AP at those schools, keep IB at Lee, and have Lee as not only the neighborhood HS for that area but also allow transfers in for kids who want to do IB? Or would no one go for that ....

That is a good suggestion and could be done in tandem with moving part of West Springfield there.

You can't keep it a local school, add IB students from all those schools AND move part of West Springfield. It would be immediately overcrowded.

In the other thread gatehouse poster wrote the issue is the older esol students who are required to take SOL starting this year. It's expected they won't do well and likely of losing school accreditation.
1. I wondering if Older esol students can be moved to an alternative school, Is this not the easiest solution?

2. Instead of the HB lawnwood structures (no neighborhood students), Go with the Bailey and hunting magnet program structures (neighborhood and lottery students) but strink the boundary for Lee (draw a new boundary with consideration for spreading out the apartments and condos) and remove IB from other local HS. So less Lee in boundary students but good mix (equity) which open the school to accept lottery students, and less redistricting (reduce overcrowding at other HS). Plus Lee in boundary families can pupil place out for AP.

[Anonymous]

I don’t see a lot of excess capacity in the eastern HS. Annandale has over 2,100 students. The only reason they had 2,500 before was because of the modular - and having 2,500 was deemed “too much” and was the reason for the re-drawing of boundaries. Edison is closed to transfers because it is at capacity. Stuart is at/over capacity. It looks like there may be a little space at Hayfield. But there are no other options for absorbing Lee students. It would have to be a re-drawing of boundaries for many schools. Quite honestly, I think they should re-draw every boundary county-wide before they build any more schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t see a lot of excess capacity in the eastern HS. Annandale has over 2,100 students. The only reason they had 2,500 before was because of the modular - and having 2,500 was deemed “too much” and was the reason for the re-drawing of boundaries. Edison is closed to transfers because it is at capacity. Stuart is at/over capacity. It looks like there may be a little space at Hayfield. But there are no other options for absorbing Lee students. It would have to be a re-drawing of boundaries for many schools. Quite honestly, I think they should re-draw every boundary county-wide before they build any more schools.

Most of the eight schools being discussed in the proposal are projected to be under-enrolled and keep in mind that the goal here is to make more use of the projected excess capacity at Lee with a New IB magnet. You are analyzing this as if kids would only be redistricted out of Lee without considering the students who would be enrolling there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t see a lot of excess capacity in the eastern HS. Annandale has over 2,100 students. The only reason they had 2,500 before was because of the modular - and having 2,500 was deemed “too much” and was the reason for the re-drawing of boundaries. Edison is closed to transfers because it is at capacity. Stuart is at/over capacity. It looks like there may be a little space at Hayfield. But there are no other options for absorbing Lee students. It would have to be a re-drawing of boundaries for many schools. Quite honestly, I think they should re-draw every boundary county-wide before they build any more schools.

Most of the eight schools being discussed in the proposal are projected to be under-enrolled and keep in mind that the goal here is to make more use of the projected excess capacity at Lee with a New IB magnet. You are analyzing this as if kids would only be redistricted out of Lee without considering the students who would be enrolling there.

How many kids from all of those high schools, including Lee, graduate with the IB diploma?

I thought it is very few of them and not nearly enough to fill a high school.

[Anonymous]

Lee will probably not start out as a magnet, but can we all agree that there are too many IB schools in that area? Can at least this change happen?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lee will probably not start out as a magnet, but can we all agree that there are too many IB schools in that area? Can at least this change happen?

Way too many. There’s no reason for Lee and Edison and Annandale to all have IB. Lee and Edison are on the same road! You could take a nice jog between the two.

I still think that they could keep Lee as both a neighborhood school and an IB magnet. Send the Saratoga kids to either Hayfield or South County, and one of the elementary schools on the western part of the Lee boundary to WS. The IB magnet wouldn’t be as big as they maybe want it to be but there’d still be plenty of capacity.

[Anonymous]

As existing AP schools close to transfers, it makes perfect sense some of the under-enrolled IB programs would be shut down. Parents no longer have the pupil placement option for AP. The question is whether trying to make Lee an IB magnet at the same time is feasible.

[Anonymous]

Agree there are too many IB in the Eastern Fairfax. I would like to write to the school board. What's the best way to get my support for one IB in this area heard?
I'm in Tamara Kaufax district, no children in high school yet, would like to send them to a IB program (if they are interested), the magnet program does not need to be at Lee.

Also should I reach out to the SB member at large? What about McKay? Superintendent? Others?
What organizations may also support the one IB idea? Springfield Civil Association?

Thanks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agree there are too many IB in the Eastern Fairfax. I would like to write to the school board. What's the best way to get my support for one IB in this area heard?
I'm in Tamara Kaufax district, no children in high school yet, would like to send them to a IB program (if they are interested), the magnet program does not need to be at Lee.

Also should I reach out to the SB member at large? What about McKay? Superintendent? Others?
What organizations may also support the one IB idea? Springfield Civil Association?

Thanks

just go on to fcps.edu and you will see a link for School Board. And that will bring you to a page where you can find your rep and email all the reps if you like. It's pretty automated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, I am going to agree with the skeptical posters. No, they aren't going to be shouting this from the rooftops because it is going to cause push back and drama. That's not how unpopular decisions are going to be executed, IME, with FCPS as a parent. My guess is that the following is going on:

1. There probably is a problem at Lee and people are being tasked with figuring out a solution. I am guessing this is one solution among others, but I bet there are people deliberating and weighing this. I wouldn't be surprised if someone is doing research or work on what this would look like (the regional IB center model and closing Lee). I would also guess they are looking at moving people back to Lee from West Springfield or other schools to bolster the population. My guess is nothing is off the table.

2. I totally believe they would pull the fast change. When TJ opened, I was a FCPS student. And it was QUICK. And Annandale was an overcrowded shitshow for years. I don't trust FCPS. Sure, there will be studies and meeting, but when the decision is made, it's made.

3. I live in Western Fairfax. I would love for the new high school to open. South Lakes. Centreville, and Chantilly are bursting at the seams. I would not be surprised if our new high school is tied to this. I remember when Clifton elementary closed to move WS up on the renovation list. This whole thing is super political. I don't expect reps to admit the backroom conversations. They never have.

True. One example is that Saratoga was initially slated for South County HS during the planning phase. Both schools even have the same mascot, the Stallions. At the last minute, political deals kept Saratoga at Lee in favor of sending the Mason Neck area to South County instead.

I completely agree with this. The whole show of public input is just that...a show. When a decision is made, it's made. And they aren't going to broadcast the sausage being made. I definitely see something dramatic like this happening under the cover of other decisions like opening a new West county high school.

[Anonymous]

I completely agree with this. The whole show of public input is just that...a show. When a decision is made, it's made. And they aren't going to broadcast the sausage being made. I definitely see something dramatic like this happening under the cover of other decisions like opening a new West county high school.

This is true of every boundary "discussion" in the county. Certainly, it is not limited to South County. In fact, it is not even limited to boundary decisions.

See the name change at Stuart. That was all pre-arranged from the very beginning. Unfortunately, the two SB members who started the whole thing forgot that FCPS already had a "Marshall" High School. From the time they began the discussion of getting rid of "Stuart" they had decided that it would be "Thurgood Marshall." If other SB members had not realized that two Marshall Highs would not be wise, it would have happened. Some even thought they could pull it off--that it didn't matter.

[Anonymous]

No point in writing to the school board?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I completely agree with this. The whole show of public input is just that...a show. When a decision is made, it's made. And they aren't going to broadcast the sausage being made. I definitely see something dramatic like this happening under the cover of other decisions like opening a new West county high school.

This is true of every boundary "discussion" in the county. Certainly, it is not limited to South County. In fact, it is not even limited to boundary decisions.

See the name change at Stuart. That was all pre-arranged from the very beginning. Unfortunately, the two SB members who started the whole thing forgot that FCPS already had a "Marshall" High School. From the time they began the discussion of getting rid of "Stuart" they had decided that it would be "Thurgood Marshall." If other SB members had not realized that two Marshall Highs would not be wise, it would have happened. Some even thought they could pull it off--that it didn't matter.

DP. I thought it would be fine to have a Marshall and a Thurgood Marshall. There's South County and South Lakes, West Potomac and West Springfield and Westfield. Not that confusing. But I know, you don't like it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No point in writing to the school board?

Sure, write to the school board.