Forum Index
»
Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS)
FCPS comprehensive boundary review
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
|
Fairfax voters have brought this upon themselves over the years by voting for liberal policies at the local, state, and federal level. The poverty in the county was not generated from within the borders of this country. Not that I blame immigrants from coming here or think they are bad people, but they bring huge educational challenges (among other things). The biggest problem has been the pace at which they have arrived. Twenty years ago, the F/R level in Fairfax was half of what it is now. At some HS it exceeds 60%. Raising the F/R lunch rate so far and quickly has consequences.
Vote accordingly going forward. |
Anonymous
As best I can tell, the "new Western high school" is neither a carrot nor a stick, but merely a mirage. |
Anonymous
Realistically that isn’t going to happen because poverty is concentrated in certain areas. Can you even think of any areas where a troubled neighborhood currently attends a school that’s at least decent overall, but could get moved to a school that’s currently let’s say average but would become a lot more troubled with the addition of another low income complex? |
Anonymous
The latest CIP estimates that a new western HS would cost $271 million. That seems low, since the Centreville renovation is budgeted for $291 million. In addition, the CIP indicates that $23.5 million has already been funded for site acquisition, but no site would be acquired until 2030. They have kicked the can down the road on this school for over a decade, while expanding multiple schools (Herndon, Oakton, South Lakes, and Madison) and planning an expansion of a fifth school in western Fairfax (Centreville). It long ago ceased seeming like a real thing, much less a priority. If they could find a way to reallocate the money designated for the Fairfax/Oakton elementary school to Dunn Loring, they'll be able to think of something else to do with the $23.5 million. |
Anonymous
That's not going to happen unless they don't only reassign schools, but reassign where people live. When they last did county-wide redistricting in the mid-80s, the schools were much more similar to each other. There weren't huge differences in demographics and every high school had AP, not IB. If they make major changes to high school boundaries, especially without ensuring that the academic offerings at all the schools are very similar, they'll be a fair amount of maneuvering and attrition. Some will look for ways to pupil place back to their "old" pyramids. Others will sell their houses and move back into their "old" pyramids. Others will stay put, but go private. Others will leave the county entirely. And the residual - which will vary by school - will accept the new assignments. Overall it will reduce FCPS enrollment at a time when enrollments are already declining and there will be fewer kids in K-12 due to larger demographic trends. |
Anonymous
What you are describing would happen on the margins. Take Herndon HS. In 2023-24, it had an enrollment of 2278 and was 55% FARMS. Assume Forestville ES was moved there. That would theoretically move about 350 kids from a 6% FARMS school to Herndon. But there would be some attrition, especially among non-FARMS families, so lets assume Herndon picks up 275 kids that are 7% FARMS instead. Net result is Herndon under this scenario goes from 55% FARMS to 50% FARMS. It would incrementally increase the demand at HHS for advanced courses, but it's not going to result in "quite the jump" in test scores. |
Anonymous
|
High performing high schools will not guarantee your kid will be a high performer. There will always be outliers. Kids that focus on academics, find their crowd even in low performing schools. It is up to us, as parents to instill the good work ethics, and to make sure our kids are spending time with a good crowd.
My kid went to a low performing school. She found a crowd focused on athletics and academics and did just fine. I volunteered regurlarly, met parents and made sure my kid was on the right track. Now she is at a top 25 university, along with a few of her high school friends. I wish home values were not tied so closely to school districts. Those websites that give schools grades, do not fully reflect the gains that are happening in these schools. Schools with high ELL numbers, will obviously have lower scores, but that does not mean your native English speaker cannot excel. |
Anonymous
They want to make you a change agent for ensuring that the next school over has those programs/electives. Or, alternatively, they could strip your current schools of those programs (and potentially turn them into online classes) so you're still not getting what you originally thought you were getting. |
Anonymous
If they are going to hire consultants then they clearly can cut staff. Why are we paying for a whole azz department with full time staff and benefits etc. AND paying consultants to do their job? |
Anonymous
DP, but there are probably some areas zoned to Westfield that, if reassigned to Herndon, would further drive up the FARMS rates at Herndon. Thinking in particular of Coates, which is about 65% FARMS. |
Anonymous
I thought it was more about ensuring all schools pass state accreditation what with the governor’s strict new standards. That’s why FCPS is focusing on boundaries as the solution. It would be tough to help some schools like Justice though due to their location, hemmed in by wealthy Arlington and Falls Church City in the case of the Justice boundaries. I could be wrong, but accreditation appears to be the impetus. |
Anonymous
I truly don’t think they’re going to move any low income areas to low income schools even if that’s the physically closer move. Halley ES in Lorton has an attendance island on the other side of 95 that’s almost all low income/section 8. There’s no way they move that out of Halley/South County even if it’s physically closer to Gunston or Lorton Station. I’m sure the consultants are looking at some of this with fresh eyes and not knowing the history and thinking, “what the ****,” but the SB can easily wave it away with oh we need that low income neighborhood at this or that school to balance the enrollment or because otherwise certain schools will be under-enrolled. |
Anonymous
I think they are more interested in disputing the validity of the new standards than really trying to ensure all schools meet them. |
Anonymous
I suppose one can never under-estimate their ability to talk out of both sides of their mouths, but it really does call into question their motivations if they aren't going to clean up some of the attendance islands. |
Anonymous
| I was really hoping that the boundary study would be in conjunction with removal of AAP Centers, which are completely unnecessary. |