Taylor's Feb Rec for Crown Boundary Study

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Truth bomb: When MCPS and Montgomery County itself are so low on funds because of so many compounding factors, it wouldn't matter if God herself opposed these options. Community opinion has absolutely no bearing when the money simply isn't there. And yes, I agree that it is appalling that we are in this spot but alas, here we are so let's please stop with the idea that it is "against the will of the people." Even if this is an indisputable fact (many would say it is not but that is besides the point), it literally does not matter.

So financial mismanagement and failure to follow the law don’t matter. Only money does?

Of course they do-that's not at all what I am saying here. To the extent that there is a "remedy" needed-it would be procedural and not impact the outcome. Financial mismanagement in the past is actually not relevant here.

It is highly relevant if that was the pre-determined reason for pushing Option H over all the other options. This is especially important as the chronology indicates MCPS planned to close Wootton far earlier than it disclosed publicly.

Financial mismanagement in the past IS the reason for Option H. I think all agree on that.

Maybe you just think that because past mistakes were made, another fiscally unsound decision should be made today? Sort of "Two wrongs make a right" logic?

Many of us think that the most fiscally sound decision should be made today, regardless of how we got here.

I don’t think anyone’s saying “two wrongs make a right.” The concern is more that Option H might just be baking in past mistakes instead of actually fixing them.

Saying this is the most fiscally sound option only works if that’s actually been shown. If the decision is being driven by the fact that Crown is already built, rather than a full, transparent look at alternatives, then it starts to feel like we’re just making the current plan work—not choosing the best one.

The real question is did MCPS actually compare all the options and show the data? Is the data MCPS shared flawed? (Some have analyzed the data and found that it is). Or are we just assuming this is the most cost-effective path because of where things already stand?

Crown is a sunk cost. We can't get that money back, so we have to make it work.

Bingo bango

Holding school makes it work too - and Taylor proposed that as an option. Why do that if the data didn’t support it?

Because people didn’t pay impact taxes to fund a holding school.

Bingo...MCPS and superitendnt has an obligation to find a solution that provides maximum benefit to most students as defined by FAA factors. That is exactly what happened here.

Then why did he propose using Crown as a holding school if you are convinced it’s not a viable option? Certainly Taylor knew the financial status of MCPS with regard to renovating Magruder before he did so.

It was other people asking for that option (G) and was a terrible idea from the start. Proposing it doesn’t mean it was recommended either. There is only ONE recommendation

That’s why I wrote proposed. People on this and other threads keep claiming that Option G was never viable. So why did Taylor even propose it? If he knew the budget didn’t support renovation of Magruder, why was using Crown as a holding school for Magruder ever considered, much less proposed?

If Option H was always going to be the recommendation, why the smokescreen of the other options? To give an illusion of options when there really weren’t any?

Remember that last Fall, Magruder's scheduled renovations weren't until many years into the next CIP cycle. Renovations were all planned to be on-site. Then T referred to a study they had done that showed the significant savings of using a holding school to make renovations happen faster and save a bunch of money. Using a holding school advanced the timeline for renovations for Magruder, allowing Magruder to be renovated the first year of the next CIP cycle in 2033. At no point did any of the options propose that Magruder be renovated in this cycle, since MCPS said that the money isn't funded for this cycle. It's a horrible situation for Magruder to have to wait that long, a problem long in the making due to lack of funds. I suspect that when evaluating using Crown as a holding school, they decided that it didn't make sense to deny the Crown communities a permanent school for several years waiting for Magruder's turn in the CIP and then Wootton's. I wonder also whether state funding would be jeopardized if they went with Crown as a holding school and then told the state that it had to stay as a holding school indefinitely until Magruder (and then Wootton) was complete. It would be one thing if Magruder was funded this cycle, but to make Crown wait for Magruder to be complete in 2035 and then for Wootton to be funded and complete (by 2037?) would completely undermine the purpose of Crown. Plus I heard Magruder told MCPS that they didn't want to go to Crown for years - they only wanted to go there if their timeline could be moved up in this cycle. So it makes sense to me that they chose to move Wootton to Crown to be joined with Crown kids and use Wootton as a holding school down the road when needs arise.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Brown Station parent here. We don’t want to go to Wootton current building. It’s too far! We want to stay in Quince Orchard. We feel we are being moved from QO to lessen FARMS at QO. We don’t understand why the whole Option H kicks us out of our established pyramid. QO is losing 2 high FARMS schools. Does someone in central office has kids at QO?

They are probably doing that because otherwise that proposed region QO is in would have a much higher overall FARMS rate compared to surrounding proposed regions. It makes sense to me.

Another theory is that Ridgeview MS is going to have a utilization of 43% and Lakelands Park MS will have a utilization of 57% after this round of boundary study. Given the geography, the next round of boundary study may include folding Ridgeview into LPMS. There's enough space in LPMS to hold both schools projected enrollment.

I suspect that was a fake post from a Wootton parent not wanting Brown Station at their school. Not a large number of Brown Station parents on dcum lets be honest. Do better.

lecturing people to do better while also making a big ol assumption about Brown Station parents.

Hi fake poster!

Shall we do a community meet up? It would be great for everyone to show their faces. Or drop a line in your testimony or in one of the Whatsapp chats with your best post. Please! We wanna know who’s who here.

Will there be 🤡🤡 there?

That guy is so obnoxious. He also needs to read How to Win Friends and Influence People because damn, his language is offensive AF. Why does the Save Wootton crowd allow him to spew venom at families?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Brown Station parent here. We don’t want to go to Wootton current building. It’s too far! We want to stay in Quince Orchard. We feel we are being moved from QO to lessen FARMS at QO. We don’t understand why the whole Option H kicks us out of our established pyramid. QO is losing 2 high FARMS schools. Does someone in central office has kids at QO?

They are probably doing that because otherwise that proposed region QO is in would have a much higher overall FARMS rate compared to surrounding proposed regions. It makes sense to me.

Another theory is that Ridgeview MS is going to have a utilization of 43% and Lakelands Park MS will have a utilization of 57% after this round of boundary study. Given the geography, the next round of boundary study may include folding Ridgeview into LPMS. There's enough space in LPMS to hold both schools projected enrollment.

I suspect that was a fake post from a Wootton parent not wanting Brown Station at their school. Not a large number of Brown Station parents on dcum lets be honest. Do better.

lecturing people to do better while also making a big ol assumption about Brown Station parents.

Hi fake poster!

Shall we do a community meet up? It would be great for everyone to show their faces. Or drop a line in your testimony or in one of the Whatsapp chats with your best post. Please! We wanna know who’s who here.

Will there be 🤡🤡 there?

That guy is so obnoxious. He also needs to read How to Win Friends and Influence People because damn, his language is offensive AF. Why does the Save Wootton crowd allow him to spew venom at families?

They don't care about any of that as long as it gets them more support and money for their lawsuit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Brown Station parent here. We don’t want to go to Wootton current building. It’s too far! We want to stay in Quince Orchard. We feel we are being moved from QO to lessen FARMS at QO. We don’t understand why the whole Option H kicks us out of our established pyramid. QO is losing 2 high FARMS schools. Does someone in central office has kids at QO?

They are probably doing that because otherwise that proposed region QO is in would have a much higher overall FARMS rate compared to surrounding proposed regions. It makes sense to me.

Another theory is that Ridgeview MS is going to have a utilization of 43% and Lakelands Park MS will have a utilization of 57% after this round of boundary study. Given the geography, the next round of boundary study may include folding Ridgeview into LPMS. There's enough space in LPMS to hold both schools projected enrollment.

I suspect that was a fake post from a Wootton parent not wanting Brown Station at their school. Not a large number of Brown Station parents on dcum lets be honest. Do better.

lecturing people to do better while also making a big ol assumption about Brown Station parents.

Hi fake poster!

Shall we do a community meet up? It would be great for everyone to show their faces. Or drop a line in your testimony or in one of the Whatsapp chats with your best post. Please! We wanna know who’s who here.

Will there be 🤡🤡 there?

That guy is so obnoxious. He also needs to read How to Win Friends and Influence People because damn, his language is offensive AF. Why does the Save Wootton crowd allow him to spew venom at families?

running sponsored posts on fb from his business to save Wootton probably has something to do with it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Brown Station parent here. We don’t want to go to Wootton current building. It’s too far! We want to stay in Quince Orchard. We feel we are being moved from QO to lessen FARMS at QO. We don’t understand why the whole Option H kicks us out of our established pyramid. QO is losing 2 high FARMS schools. Does someone in central office has kids at QO?

They are probably doing that because otherwise that proposed region QO is in would have a much higher overall FARMS rate compared to surrounding proposed regions. It makes sense to me.

Another theory is that Ridgeview MS is going to have a utilization of 43% and Lakelands Park MS will have a utilization of 57% after this round of boundary study. Given the geography, the next round of boundary study may include folding Ridgeview into LPMS. There's enough space in LPMS to hold both schools projected enrollment.

I suspect that was a fake post from a Wootton parent not wanting Brown Station at their school. Not a large number of Brown Station parents on dcum lets be honest. Do better.

lecturing people to do better while also making a big ol assumption about Brown Station parents.

Hi fake poster!

Shall we do a community meet up? It would be great for everyone to show their faces. Or drop a line in your testimony or in one of the Whatsapp chats with your best post. Please! We wanna know who’s who here.

Will there be 🤡🤡 there?

That guy is so obnoxious. He also needs to read How to Win Friends and Influence People because damn, his language is offensive AF. Why does the Save Wootton crowd allow him to spew venom at families?

running sponsored posts on fb from his business to save Wootton probably has something to do with it

Who are we talking about? I missed something...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Brown Station parent here. We don’t want to go to Wootton current building. It’s too far! We want to stay in Quince Orchard. We feel we are being moved from QO to lessen FARMS at QO. We don’t understand why the whole Option H kicks us out of our established pyramid. QO is losing 2 high FARMS schools. Does someone in central office has kids at QO?

They are probably doing that because otherwise that proposed region QO is in would have a much higher overall FARMS rate compared to surrounding proposed regions. It makes sense to me.

Another theory is that Ridgeview MS is going to have a utilization of 43% and Lakelands Park MS will have a utilization of 57% after this round of boundary study. Given the geography, the next round of boundary study may include folding Ridgeview into LPMS. There's enough space in LPMS to hold both schools projected enrollment.

I suspect that was a fake post from a Wootton parent not wanting Brown Station at their school. Not a large number of Brown Station parents on dcum lets be honest. Do better.

lecturing people to do better while also making a big ol assumption about Brown Station parents.

Hi fake poster!

Shall we do a community meet up? It would be great for everyone to show their faces. Or drop a line in your testimony or in one of the Whatsapp chats with your best post. Please! We wanna know who’s who here.

Will there be 🤡🤡 there?

That guy is so obnoxious. He also needs to read How to Win Friends and Influence People because damn, his language is offensive AF. Why does the Save Wootton crowd allow him to spew venom at families?

running sponsored posts on fb from his business to save Wootton probably has something to do with it

Who are we talking about? I missed something...

Local businesses running sponsored posts to Save Wootton, Save Wootton running bots to drive up Youtube video views, same same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:great thoughtful perspective today from Brow Station ES. Basically Brown Station and Northwest High School are getting screwed by option H. https://moderatelymoco.com/brown-station-community-raises-segregation-concerns-over-mcps-boundary-proposal/ Increased FARMs, getting cut off from special programs, bussing longer distances. MCPS is segregating black and brown kids to Germantown.

The same way Darnestown got segregated to Northwest despite being so close to QO? And now Poolesville? Spare me.

Yeah I feel for Brown Station but I think this is really more of an issue of real segregation in neighborhoods than of MCPS manufacturing school based segregation. Diamond and Darnestown are both closer to QO than Brown Station is, so it’s certainly a bit odd that Darnestown and Diamond have been districted to Northwest and Brown Station to QO.

And the Clemente thing isn’t about concentrating lower income students - in fact Clemente’s FARMS % is going slightly down now - but is rather because of the new regional programming, where Brown Station needs to attend a region 6 MS and not a region 5 one.

I’ll give you Darnestown and, of course, housing segregation is at the root of so much of this. But Diamond and Brown Station are literally walking distance from each other and, even though Diamond is slightly closer distance-wise, drive times are nearly identical for at least some of the communities given how Diamond is tucked back in a neighborhood and Brown Station is on a main road. Half of Diamond is at Northwest now and the FARMS rate significantly decreases at QO and significantly increases at Northwest (and not solely due to the Brown Station move). I tend to agree with you that MCPS isn’t deliberately trying to concentrate poverty - I lean more toward thinking this is coming from their fixation on contiguous boundaries and what looks good on a map. But given the move is basically neutral on two of the FAA factors (proximity and utilization) and clear net negative on the other two (demographic balance and stability) this feels like dereliction of duty.

+1000

Taylor has shown us time and again in this process that demographics is not a factor for him, but pretty maps are. Pretty maps is not one of the FAA factors but he is the Superintendent and BOE is to afraid to question him

[Anonymous]

Unfortunately I have to watch the videos at least 1x and it adds to the view count but at least I can find the data mistakes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:great thoughtful perspective today from Brow Station ES. Basically Brown Station and Northwest High School are getting screwed by option H. https://moderatelymoco.com/brown-station-community-raises-segregation-concerns-over-mcps-boundary-proposal/ Increased FARMs, getting cut off from special programs, bussing longer distances. MCPS is segregating black and brown kids to Germantown.

The same way Darnestown got segregated to Northwest despite being so close to QO? And now Poolesville? Spare me.

Yeah I feel for Brown Station but I think this is really more of an issue of real segregation in neighborhoods than of MCPS manufacturing school based segregation. Diamond and Darnestown are both closer to QO than Brown Station is, so it’s certainly a bit odd that Darnestown and Diamond have been districted to Northwest and Brown Station to QO.

And the Clemente thing isn’t about concentrating lower income students - in fact Clemente’s FARMS % is going slightly down now - but is rather because of the new regional programming, where Brown Station needs to attend a region 6 MS and not a region 5 one.

I’ll give you Darnestown and, of course, housing segregation is at the root of so much of this. But Diamond and Brown Station are literally walking distance from each other and, even though Diamond is slightly closer distance-wise, drive times are nearly identical for at least some of the communities given how Diamond is tucked back in a neighborhood and Brown Station is on a main road. Half of Diamond is at Northwest now and the FARMS rate significantly decreases at QO and significantly increases at Northwest (and not solely due to the Brown Station move). I tend to agree with you that MCPS isn’t deliberately trying to concentrate poverty - I lean more toward thinking this is coming from their fixation on contiguous boundaries and what looks good on a map. But given the move is basically neutral on two of the FAA factors (proximity and utilization) and clear net negative on the other two (demographic balance and stability) this feels like dereliction of duty.

+1000

Taylor has shown us time and again in this process that demographics is not a factor for him, but pretty maps are. Pretty maps is not one of the FAA factors but he is the Superintendent and BOE is to afraid to question him

"Pretty maps" could be considered satisfying three of the four factors. Policy FAA has 4 different criteria for boundary studies.

1. Demographic characteristics of student population
2. Geography
3. Stability of school assignments over time
4. Facility Utilization

Geography and Stability of School Assignments (if kids are closer to their schools, it's probably more likely they'll stay in that boundary, instead of in an island) are satisfied by student blocks being close to their schools. Facility Utilization has a segment about "should be fiscally responsible to minimize capital and operating costs whenever possible), so closer bus rides also matches that.

Option 3 for the Crown / Damascus boundary study tried to emphasize Demographics and people HATED those maps. The problem is that the county residential areas have done a pretty good job of geographically sorting ourselves by income and wealth, so trying to make a nice, compact map ends up concentrating FARMS and EML to different schools.

P.S. As a legal matter (not moral or "ought to be"), all four of those factors are considered aspirational and not mandatory.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:great thoughtful perspective today from Brow Station ES. Basically Brown Station and Northwest High School are getting screwed by option H. https://moderatelymoco.com/brown-station-community-raises-segregation-concerns-over-mcps-boundary-proposal/ Increased FARMs, getting cut off from special programs, bussing longer distances. MCPS is segregating black and brown kids to Germantown.

The same way Darnestown got segregated to Northwest despite being so close to QO? And now Poolesville? Spare me.

Yeah I feel for Brown Station but I think this is really more of an issue of real segregation in neighborhoods than of MCPS manufacturing school based segregation. Diamond and Darnestown are both closer to QO than Brown Station is, so it’s certainly a bit odd that Darnestown and Diamond have been districted to Northwest and Brown Station to QO.

And the Clemente thing isn’t about concentrating lower income students - in fact Clemente’s FARMS % is going slightly down now - but is rather because of the new regional programming, where Brown Station needs to attend a region 6 MS and not a region 5 one.

I’ll give you Darnestown and, of course, housing segregation is at the root of so much of this. But Diamond and Brown Station are literally walking distance from each other and, even though Diamond is slightly closer distance-wise, drive times are nearly identical for at least some of the communities given how Diamond is tucked back in a neighborhood and Brown Station is on a main road. Half of Diamond is at Northwest now and the FARMS rate significantly decreases at QO and significantly increases at Northwest (and not solely due to the Brown Station move). I tend to agree with you that MCPS isn’t deliberately trying to concentrate poverty - I lean more toward thinking this is coming from their fixation on contiguous boundaries and what looks good on a map. But given the move is basically neutral on two of the FAA factors (proximity and utilization) and clear net negative on the other two (demographic balance and stability) this feels like dereliction of duty.

+1000

Taylor has shown us time and again in this process that demographics is not a factor for him, but pretty maps are. Pretty maps is not one of the FAA factors but he is the Superintendent and BOE is to afraid to question him

"Pretty maps" could be considered satisfying three of the four factors. Policy FAA has 4 different criteria for boundary studies.

1. Demographic characteristics of student population
2. Geography
3. Stability of school assignments over time
4. Facility Utilization

Geography and Stability of School Assignments (if kids are closer to their schools, it's probably more likely they'll stay in that boundary, instead of in an island) are satisfied by student blocks being close to their schools. Facility Utilization has a segment about "should be fiscally responsible to minimize capital and operating costs whenever possible), so closer bus rides also matches that.

Option 3 for the Crown / Damascus boundary study tried to emphasize Demographics and people HATED those maps. The problem is that the county residential areas have done a pretty good job of geographically sorting ourselves by income and wealth, so trying to make a nice, compact map ends up concentrating FARMS and EML to different schools.

P.S. As a legal matter (not moral or "ought to be"), all four of those factors are considered aspirational and not mandatory.

You're really stretching the bounds of logic here in so many ways. He is changing the articulation of Brown Station, which goes against the stability factor. He is increasing the demographic disparity between QO and NW quite substantially, which goes against the demographic factor. He isn't helping geographic proximity much if at all. You're assuming this plan somehow saves money on buses, but it's not at all clear to me how that is supposed to happen. Of course, the policy offers the Superintendent great discretion and in that sense he is following the letter of it but clearly not the intent. In other words he deems a very marginal improvement in proximity and MAYBE bus costs is considered worth a quite substantial increase in the demographic disparity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who does everyone think is going to get moved out of Churchill and where will they go when they realize Churchill does actually end up at 112% capacity in Taylor's plan.

Seven Locks to Whitman.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:great thoughtful perspective today from Brow Station ES. Basically Brown Station and Northwest High School are getting screwed by option H. https://moderatelymoco.com/brown-station-community-raises-segregation-concerns-over-mcps-boundary-proposal/ Increased FARMs, getting cut off from special programs, bussing longer distances. MCPS is segregating black and brown kids to Germantown.

The same way Darnestown got segregated to Northwest despite being so close to QO? And now Poolesville? Spare me.

Yeah I feel for Brown Station but I think this is really more of an issue of real segregation in neighborhoods than of MCPS manufacturing school based segregation. Diamond and Darnestown are both closer to QO than Brown Station is, so it’s certainly a bit odd that Darnestown and Diamond have been districted to Northwest and Brown Station to QO.

And the Clemente thing isn’t about concentrating lower income students - in fact Clemente’s FARMS % is going slightly down now - but is rather because of the new regional programming, where Brown Station needs to attend a region 6 MS and not a region 5 one.

I’ll give you Darnestown and, of course, housing segregation is at the root of so much of this. But Diamond and Brown Station are literally walking distance from each other and, even though Diamond is slightly closer distance-wise, drive times are nearly identical for at least some of the communities given how Diamond is tucked back in a neighborhood and Brown Station is on a main road. Half of Diamond is at Northwest now and the FARMS rate significantly decreases at QO and significantly increases at Northwest (and not solely due to the Brown Station move). I tend to agree with you that MCPS isn’t deliberately trying to concentrate poverty - I lean more toward thinking this is coming from their fixation on contiguous boundaries and what looks good on a map. But given the move is basically neutral on two of the FAA factors (proximity and utilization) and clear net negative on the other two (demographic balance and stability) this feels like dereliction of duty.

+1000

Taylor has shown us time and again in this process that demographics is not a factor for him, but pretty maps are. Pretty maps is not one of the FAA factors but he is the Superintendent and BOE is to afraid to question him

"Pretty maps" could be considered satisfying three of the four factors. Policy FAA has 4 different criteria for boundary studies.

1. Demographic characteristics of student population
2. Geography
3. Stability of school assignments over time
4. Facility Utilization

Geography and Stability of School Assignments (if kids are closer to their schools, it's probably more likely they'll stay in that boundary, instead of in an island) are satisfied by student blocks being close to their schools. Facility Utilization has a segment about "should be fiscally responsible to minimize capital and operating costs whenever possible), so closer bus rides also matches that.

Option 3 for the Crown / Damascus boundary study tried to emphasize Demographics and people HATED those maps. The problem is that the county residential areas have done a pretty good job of geographically sorting ourselves by income and wealth, so trying to make a nice, compact map ends up concentrating FARMS and EML to different schools.

P.S. As a legal matter (not moral or "ought to be"), all four of those factors are considered aspirational and not mandatory.

The policy doesn't say "if wealthy people who have benefited financially from structural racism want to ensure the persistence of structural racism, the BOE should ignore the demographic factor"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:great thoughtful perspective today from Brow Station ES. Basically Brown Station and Northwest High School are getting screwed by option H. https://moderatelymoco.com/brown-station-community-raises-segregation-concerns-over-mcps-boundary-proposal/ Increased FARMs, getting cut off from special programs, bussing longer distances. MCPS is segregating black and brown kids to Germantown.

The same way Darnestown got segregated to Northwest despite being so close to QO? And now Poolesville? Spare me.

Yeah I feel for Brown Station but I think this is really more of an issue of real segregation in neighborhoods than of MCPS manufacturing school based segregation. Diamond and Darnestown are both closer to QO than Brown Station is, so it’s certainly a bit odd that Darnestown and Diamond have been districted to Northwest and Brown Station to QO.

And the Clemente thing isn’t about concentrating lower income students - in fact Clemente’s FARMS % is going slightly down now - but is rather because of the new regional programming, where Brown Station needs to attend a region 6 MS and not a region 5 one.

I’ll give you Darnestown and, of course, housing segregation is at the root of so much of this. But Diamond and Brown Station are literally walking distance from each other and, even though Diamond is slightly closer distance-wise, drive times are nearly identical for at least some of the communities given how Diamond is tucked back in a neighborhood and Brown Station is on a main road. Half of Diamond is at Northwest now and the FARMS rate significantly decreases at QO and significantly increases at Northwest (and not solely due to the Brown Station move). I tend to agree with you that MCPS isn’t deliberately trying to concentrate poverty - I lean more toward thinking this is coming from their fixation on contiguous boundaries and what looks good on a map. But given the move is basically neutral on two of the FAA factors (proximity and utilization) and clear net negative on the other two (demographic balance and stability) this feels like dereliction of duty.

+1000

Taylor has shown us time and again in this process that demographics is not a factor for him, but pretty maps are. Pretty maps is not one of the FAA factors but he is the Superintendent and BOE is to afraid to question him

"Pretty maps" could be considered satisfying three of the four factors. Policy FAA has 4 different criteria for boundary studies.

1. Demographic characteristics of student population
2. Geography
3. Stability of school assignments over time
4. Facility Utilization

Geography and Stability of School Assignments (if kids are closer to their schools, it's probably more likely they'll stay in that boundary, instead of in an island) are satisfied by student blocks being close to their schools. Facility Utilization has a segment about "should be fiscally responsible to minimize capital and operating costs whenever possible), so closer bus rides also matches that.

Option 3 for the Crown / Damascus boundary study tried to emphasize Demographics and people HATED those maps. The problem is that the county residential areas have done a pretty good job of geographically sorting ourselves by income and wealth, so trying to make a nice, compact map ends up concentrating FARMS and EML to different schools.

P.S. As a legal matter (not moral or "ought to be"), all four of those factors are considered aspirational and not mandatory.

The policy doesn't say "if wealthy people who have benefited financially from structural racism want to ensure the persistence of structural racism, the BOE should ignore the demographic factor"

The thing I learned from reading up on COMAR and the Clarksburg lawsuit, is that essentially the BOE and MCPS can do whatever they want to do as long as they follow the policy and procedures in Policy FAA.

So, they won't ignore the demographic factor, but they will pay lip service to it.

If we want MCPS and the BOE to prioritize the Demographic factor, then we have to elect board members who prioritize it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:great thoughtful perspective today from Brow Station ES. Basically Brown Station and Northwest High School are getting screwed by option H. https://moderatelymoco.com/brown-station-community-raises-segregation-concerns-over-mcps-boundary-proposal/ Increased FARMs, getting cut off from special programs, bussing longer distances. MCPS is segregating black and brown kids to Germantown.

The same way Darnestown got segregated to Northwest despite being so close to QO? And now Poolesville? Spare me.

Yeah I feel for Brown Station but I think this is really more of an issue of real segregation in neighborhoods than of MCPS manufacturing school based segregation. Diamond and Darnestown are both closer to QO than Brown Station is, so it’s certainly a bit odd that Darnestown and Diamond have been districted to Northwest and Brown Station to QO.

And the Clemente thing isn’t about concentrating lower income students - in fact Clemente’s FARMS % is going slightly down now - but is rather because of the new regional programming, where Brown Station needs to attend a region 6 MS and not a region 5 one.

I’ll give you Darnestown and, of course, housing segregation is at the root of so much of this. But Diamond and Brown Station are literally walking distance from each other and, even though Diamond is slightly closer distance-wise, drive times are nearly identical for at least some of the communities given how Diamond is tucked back in a neighborhood and Brown Station is on a main road. Half of Diamond is at Northwest now and the FARMS rate significantly decreases at QO and significantly increases at Northwest (and not solely due to the Brown Station move). I tend to agree with you that MCPS isn’t deliberately trying to concentrate poverty - I lean more toward thinking this is coming from their fixation on contiguous boundaries and what looks good on a map. But given the move is basically neutral on two of the FAA factors (proximity and utilization) and clear net negative on the other two (demographic balance and stability) this feels like dereliction of duty.

+1000

Taylor has shown us time and again in this process that demographics is not a factor for him, but pretty maps are. Pretty maps is not one of the FAA factors but he is the Superintendent and BOE is to afraid to question him

"Pretty maps" could be considered satisfying three of the four factors. Policy FAA has 4 different criteria for boundary studies.

1. Demographic characteristics of student population
2. Geography
3. Stability of school assignments over time
4. Facility Utilization

Geography and Stability of School Assignments (if kids are closer to their schools, it's probably more likely they'll stay in that boundary, instead of in an island) are satisfied by student blocks being close to their schools. Facility Utilization has a segment about "should be fiscally responsible to minimize capital and operating costs whenever possible), so closer bus rides also matches that.

Option 3 for the Crown / Damascus boundary study tried to emphasize Demographics and people HATED those maps. The problem is that the county residential areas have done a pretty good job of geographically sorting ourselves by income and wealth, so trying to make a nice, compact map ends up concentrating FARMS and EML to different schools.

P.S. As a legal matter (not moral or "ought to be"), all four of those factors are considered aspirational and not mandatory.

The policy doesn't say "if wealthy people who have benefited financially from structural racism want to ensure the persistence of structural racism, the BOE should ignore the demographic factor"

The thing I learned from reading up on COMAR and the Clarksburg lawsuit, is that essentially the BOE and MCPS can do whatever they want to do as long as they follow the policy and procedures in Policy FAA.

So, they won't ignore the demographic factor, but they will pay lip service to it.

If we want MCPS and the BOE to prioritize the Demographic factor, then we have to elect board members who prioritize it.

I agree with you that they have discretion to do what Taylor is proposing. As a taxpayer and parent (zoned for a cluster that isn't part of the Crown study) I do strongly disagree with this approach

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Anonymous wrote:great thoughtful perspective today from Brow Station ES. Basically Brown Station and Northwest High School are getting screwed by option H. https://moderatelymoco.com/brown-station-community-raises-segregation-concerns-over-mcps-boundary-proposal/ Increased FARMs, getting cut off from special programs, bussing longer distances. MCPS is segregating black and brown kids to Germantown.

The same way Darnestown got segregated to Northwest despite being so close to QO? And now Poolesville? Spare me.

Yeah I feel for Brown Station but I think this is really more of an issue of real segregation in neighborhoods than of MCPS manufacturing school based segregation. Diamond and Darnestown are both closer to QO than Brown Station is, so it’s certainly a bit odd that Darnestown and Diamond have been districted to Northwest and Brown Station to QO.

And the Clemente thing isn’t about concentrating lower income students - in fact Clemente’s FARMS % is going slightly down now - but is rather because of the new regional programming, where Brown Station needs to attend a region 6 MS and not a region 5 one.

I’ll give you Darnestown and, of course, housing segregation is at the root of so much of this. But Diamond and Brown Station are literally walking distance from each other and, even though Diamond is slightly closer distance-wise, drive times are nearly identical for at least some of the communities given how Diamond is tucked back in a neighborhood and Brown Station is on a main road. Half of Diamond is at Northwest now and the FARMS rate significantly decreases at QO and significantly increases at Northwest (and not solely due to the Brown Station move). I tend to agree with you that MCPS isn’t deliberately trying to concentrate poverty - I lean more toward thinking this is coming from their fixation on contiguous boundaries and what looks good on a map. But given the move is basically neutral on two of the FAA factors (proximity and utilization) and clear net negative on the other two (demographic balance and stability) this feels like dereliction of duty.

+1000

Taylor has shown us time and again in this process that demographics is not a factor for him, but pretty maps are. Pretty maps is not one of the FAA factors but he is the Superintendent and BOE is to afraid to question him

"Pretty maps" could be considered satisfying three of the four factors. Policy FAA has 4 different criteria for boundary studies.

1. Demographic characteristics of student population
2. Geography
3. Stability of school assignments over time
4. Facility Utilization

Geography and Stability of School Assignments (if kids are closer to their schools, it's probably more likely they'll stay in that boundary, instead of in an island) are satisfied by student blocks being close to their schools. Facility Utilization has a segment about "should be fiscally responsible to minimize capital and operating costs whenever possible), so closer bus rides also matches that.

Option 3 for the Crown / Damascus boundary study tried to emphasize Demographics and people HATED those maps. The problem is that the county residential areas have done a pretty good job of geographically sorting ourselves by income and wealth, so trying to make a nice, compact map ends up concentrating FARMS and EML to different schools.

P.S. As a legal matter (not moral or "ought to be"), all four of those factors are considered aspirational and not mandatory.

The policy doesn't say "if wealthy people who have benefited financially from structural racism want to ensure the persistence of structural racism, the BOE should ignore the demographic factor"

The thing I learned from reading up on COMAR and the Clarksburg lawsuit, is that essentially the BOE and MCPS can do whatever they want to do as long as they follow the policy and procedures in Policy FAA.

So, they won't ignore the demographic factor, but they will pay lip service to it.

If we want MCPS and the BOE to prioritize the Demographic factor, then we have to elect board members who prioritize it.

Tbh this is part of why this part of the map is so surprising to me. Because they are prioritizing it with moving Wootton in the face of such vocal opposition. So it feels really inconsistent that they’re overlooking it here. I can’t imagine dealing with diamond families would be worse than dealing with the Wootton crowd.