Residents appeal MCPS boundary changes, challenge legality of diversity focus

[Anonymous]

It’s not about racial discrimination PP. it’s about whether MCPS is trying to racially balance the two middle schools. Look at the numbers above. Trying to racially balance a school or use racial quotas is unconstitutional, like it or not. See what you think.

[Anonymous]

Also yeah, it was always about Seneca Valley as well as Neelsville. If you think there would have been no controversy if Cabin Branch had been reassigned to Seneca Valley but stayed at Rocky Hill - well, I disagree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s not about racial discrimination PP. it’s about whether MCPS is trying to racially balance the two middle schools. Look at the numbers above. Trying to racially balance a school or use racial quotas is unconstitutional, like it or not. See what you think.

.

Calling it FARMS rebalancing doesn’t really matter with the way the FARMS numbers are in MCPS - highly correlated with race. A rose by any other name ........

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also yeah, it was always about Seneca Valley as well as Neelsville. If you think there would have been no controversy if Cabin Branch had been reassigned to Seneca Valley but stayed at Rocky Hill - well, I disagree.

You are probably right PP. But this appeal is really about the two middle schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s not about racial discrimination PP. it’s about whether MCPS is trying to racially balance the two middle schools. Look at the numbers above. Trying to racially balance a school or use racial quotas is unconstitutional, like it or not. See what you think.

Let's start with the fact that the numbers show that most of the students in Cabin Branch are African-American and Hispanic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s not about racial discrimination PP. it’s about whether MCPS is trying to racially balance the two middle schools. Look at the numbers above. Trying to racially balance a school or use racial quotas is unconstitutional, like it or not. See what you think.

.

Calling it FARMS rebalancing doesn’t really matter with the way the FARMS numbers are in MCPS - highly correlated with race. A rose by any other name ........

The same middle-class people who don't want to send their kids to higher-poverty schools, refuse to acknowledge that MCPS might have a valid and sincere interest in poverty rates at schools. I don't get it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s not about racial discrimination PP. it’s about whether MCPS is trying to racially balance the two middle schools. Look at the numbers above. Trying to racially balance a school or use racial quotas is unconstitutional, like it or not. See what you think.

.

Calling it FARMS rebalancing doesn’t really matter with the way the FARMS numbers are in MCPS - highly correlated with race. A rose by any other name ........

It matters because one of these is legal and one is not. You think MoCo is special, and the idea that "FARMS correlates to race" is some brand new observation you literally just made right now?

It isn't. This has been tested.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any change to articulation patterns was going to change demographics. So the only "safe" choice was not to change them at all, except that ignores the capacity issues.

When new schools open, or schools expand (as happened here), there will be shifts in articulation patterns. Almost be definition, that will mean some demographic changes, given residential segregation in our county.

I don't see a judge (or any deliberative body) buying the plaintiffs' argument here. Someone had to move. It turned out to be these folks. It it wasn't them, it would have been some other neighborhood, which would also have lost their minds.

Except it would've made more sense if other schools were chosen such as Ron McNair. Moving the cabin branch and Rural Boyds neighborhoods made no sense. One thing for sure though is that there are a lot of Asian students in Cabin Branch and a lot of white students in Rural Boyds.

Let's compare option 5 (without Cabin Branch) to option 11 (with Cabin Branch).

Option 5, Seneca Valley HS: 34.6% African-American, 14.5% Asian-American, 30.4% Hispanic, 16.5% white, 1952 students in 2024-25
Option 11A, Seneca Valley HS: 34.6% African-American, 13.7% Asian-American, 30.4% Hispanic, 17.5% white, 2154 students in 2024-25

Turning that into absolute numbers -

Option 5, Seneca Valley HS: 675 African-American, 283 Asian-American, 593 Hispanic, 322 white students in 2024-25
Option 11, Seneca Valley HS: 745 African-American, 295 Asian-American, 655 Hispanic, 377 white students in 2024-25

So MCPS projects that adding Cabin Branch will add 70 African-American, 12 Asian-American, 62 Hispanic, and 55 white students (202 total, plus more than one plus rounding error) to the Seneca Valley HS student body in 2024-25: 35% African-American, 6% Asian-American, 31% Hispanic, 27% white.

Now, you may or may not believe these numbers - I have questions of my own - but those are MCPS's projections. Those are the numbers you would need to demonstrate that MCPS engaged in racial discrimination against white and Asian-American students.

Please feel free to check my numbers and tell me if I read the tables wrong or copied numbers over wrong.

This was never about Seneca Valley. This was about Neelsville.

Reread, PP. According to various people on this thread, MCPS's decision to send Cabin Branch to Neelsville MS/Seneca Valley HS is racial discrimination against Asian-American and white people. But according to MCPS, 2/3 of the kids who will go to Seneca Valley HS from Cabin Branch will be African-American or Hispanic. So, how's that work?

NP here. Please tell me how you got the racial make up of the students who live in Cabin Branch by those numbers. There is NO racial breakdown of kids from that neighborhood (yes I live there and yes Central Office confirmed they don't have that racial breakdown).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s not about racial discrimination PP. it’s about whether MCPS is trying to racially balance the two middle schools. Look at the numbers above. Trying to racially balance a school or use racial quotas is unconstitutional, like it or not. See what you think.

.

Calling it FARMS rebalancing doesn’t really matter with the way the FARMS numbers are in MCPS - highly correlated with race. A rose by any other name ........

The same middle-class people who don't want to send their kids to higher-poverty schools, refuse to acknowledge that MCPS might have a valid and sincere interest in poverty rates at schools. I don't get it.

I understand that. But the state BOE really needs to weigh in here on the legal side. They might say it’s fine. Then MCPS can move ahead with their redistricting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s not about racial discrimination PP. it’s about whether MCPS is trying to racially balance the two middle schools. Look at the numbers above. Trying to racially balance a school or use racial quotas is unconstitutional, like it or not. See what you think.

.

Calling it FARMS rebalancing doesn’t really matter with the way the FARMS numbers are in MCPS - highly correlated with race. A rose by any other name ........

It matters because one of these is legal and one is not. You think MoCo is special, and the idea that "FARMS correlates to race" is some brand new observation you literally just made right now?

It isn't. This has been tested.

When?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

NP here. Please tell me how you got the racial make up of the students who live in Cabin Branch by those numbers. There is NO racial breakdown of kids from that neighborhood (yes I live there and yes Central Office confirmed they don't have that racial breakdown).

For Seneca Valley HS, Option 11 = Option 5 + Cabin Branch. Right? So if you subtract the Option 5 numbers from the Option 11 numbers, you get Cabin Branch.

[Anonymous]

What we need to look at is why MCPS spends so much money on various research projects, studies, etc and not just ... TEACHING STUDENTS!!!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What we need to look at is why MCPS spends so much money on various research projects, studies, etc and not just ... TEACHING STUDENTS!!!!!

You think MCPS should have just reassigned students without doing a boundary study?

[Anonymous]

The number I’m interested in is how many people work in central office.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What we need to look at is why MCPS spends so much money on various research projects, studies, etc and not just ... TEACHING STUDENTS!!!!!

You think MCPS should have just reassigned students without doing a boundary study?

They have to do boundary studies. I’m talking about all the other initiatives going on. Seems like a lot of waste and nonsense. What happened to empowered teachers and principals? Why isn’t all the money for compensatory education (for the FARMS kids) spent in the schools for the kids?