Sandy Anderson email

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Once again, FCPS is looking thru their equity lens; this a part of the great plan to boost achievement and of course lessen the FARMS numbers. I hope parents refuse to accept this arrangement.

These equity moves only reduce the % of FARMS within the school's population, the moves do not lessen the FARMS numbers or help the existing FARMS population. One of two things will happen when high SES kids are cut over to Lewis as tribute: 1) They will immediately start taking opportunities that existing Lewis kids previously had like leadership/sports/club positions, to the detriment of the current Lewis population, or 2) Non-assimilation of the new 'rich kids', the face of which will be the white population. Lewis had 196 white students in 2023. The equity move will increase this number to 396, assuming an entire ES is moved over (4 HS grades, 100 students per grade, 50% white). It will be no secret to the entire student body, and particularly a 63% FARMS population that 'rich kids' were imported to make the failing school better, and the face of the imported 'rich kids' will be the white population that doubles in size from 10% to 20%. And yes, WSHS area is not Vienna/McLean/Tysons 'rich', but even small things like driving a car to school and having premium sports equipment makes one a target of resent. If I was a non-white and/or FARMS student I would resent these new kids and treat them differently, and with good reason. The message that the SB is unintentionally sending to these Lewis students (88% non-white) is that they are not good enough, so bring in the rich kids to make things better. And because of the existing Lewis population and the population that's projected to move over, the white kids will be seen as the 'rich kids'.

In any case, this is going to be a highly consequential social experiment within the school and a social and socioeconomic experience for whatever community is given as tribute to Lewis. I believe it will achieve equity goals for making living in West Springfield more on par with Springfield. Over the next 10 years you will see a yet-to-be-determined West Springfield neighborhood area decline at the community level in both property values and the quality of people living in the community. Think some areas of Woodbridge circa 2008 housing crash and the decline of those areas as new populations flooded in. This boundary transaction will be the example pointed to as families pay a premium for proximity to high schools that are not adjacent to urban population centers with section 8 housing and apartment dense areas.

Nonsense.

The power to overhaul boundaries every five years means the school board will prevent people from sorting themselves inequitably.

All schools will be maintained at an acceptable mix of socioeconomic and racial diversity.

What party is for providing some additional support and resources when needed to disadvantaged kids but not using other people’s kids as resources?

That’s the party that I’d like to belong to. Your vision is junk IMO and way worse than the conservative views on education, which I’m also not really into. Unfortunately, I think that Sandy Anderson and crew are aligned with your view.

Wish this board could just be moderate rather than extreme.

I’ve watched a handful of school board meetings and work sessions, and what you describe falls in line with the vision they’re presenting. The students they talk about moving are the ones in attendance islands that are bused to schools outside of their communities like Halley, Fort Hunt, and Groveton. They’ve mentioned academies for improving enrollment and shifting AP Center assignments. This isn’t to discredit parents concerns, as we have no idea what boundary changes are actually going to be presented, and they’ve done little to ease the rampant rumors.

In the three named examples, don’t the attendance islands exist to “provide equity”? They’re all examples of bussing poor kids to a better school. Hagel Circle is literally carved from the Lorton Station boundary. The Fort Hunt island is wild, but doesn’t involve bussing wealthy kids to the school. Almost all of the elementary schools in the Ft. Hunt/South of Old Town area besides Waynewood have similar boundaries. Removing the attendance islands will improve the schools where they currently exist at, but drag down wherever those islands are moved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Once again, FCPS is looking thru their equity lens; this a part of the great plan to boost achievement and of course lessen the FARMS numbers. I hope parents refuse to accept this arrangement.

These equity moves only reduce the % of FARMS within the school's population, the moves do not lessen the FARMS numbers or help the existing FARMS population. One of two things will happen when high SES kids are cut over to Lewis as tribute: 1) They will immediately start taking opportunities that existing Lewis kids previously had like leadership/sports/club positions, to the detriment of the current Lewis population, or 2) Non-assimilation of the new 'rich kids', the face of which will be the white population. Lewis had 196 white students in 2023. The equity move will increase this number to 396, assuming an entire ES is moved over (4 HS grades, 100 students per grade, 50% white). It will be no secret to the entire student body, and particularly a 63% FARMS population that 'rich kids' were imported to make the failing school better, and the face of the imported 'rich kids' will be the white population that doubles in size from 10% to 20%. And yes, WSHS area is not Vienna/McLean/Tysons 'rich', but even small things like driving a car to school and having premium sports equipment makes one a target of resent. If I was a non-white and/or FARMS student I would resent these new kids and treat them differently, and with good reason. The message that the SB is unintentionally sending to these Lewis students (88% non-white) is that they are not good enough, so bring in the rich kids to make things better. And because of the existing Lewis population and the population that's projected to move over, the white kids will be seen as the 'rich kids'.

In any case, this is going to be a highly consequential social experiment within the school and a social and socioeconomic experience for whatever community is given as tribute to Lewis. I believe it will achieve equity goals for making living in West Springfield more on par with Springfield. Over the next 10 years you will see a yet-to-be-determined West Springfield neighborhood area decline at the community level in both property values and the quality of people living in the community. Think some areas of Woodbridge circa 2008 housing crash and the decline of those areas as new populations flooded in. This boundary transaction will be the example pointed to as families pay a premium for proximity to high schools that are not adjacent to urban population centers with section 8 housing and apartment dense areas.

Nonsense.

The power to overhaul boundaries every five years means the school board will prevent people from sorting themselves inequitably.

All schools will be maintained at an acceptable mix of socioeconomic and racial diversity.

What party is for providing some additional support and resources when needed to disadvantaged kids but not using other people’s kids as resources?

That’s the party that I’d like to belong to. Your vision is junk IMO and way worse than the conservative views on education, which I’m also not really into. Unfortunately, I think that Sandy Anderson and crew are aligned with your view.

Wish this board could just be moderate rather than extreme.

I’ve watched a handful of school board meetings and work sessions, and what you describe falls in line with the vision they’re presenting. The students they talk about moving are the ones in attendance islands that are bused to schools outside of their communities like Halley, Fort Hunt, and Groveton. They’ve mentioned academies for improving enrollment and shifting AP Center assignments. This isn’t to discredit parents concerns, as we have no idea what boundary changes are actually going to be presented, and they’ve done little to ease the rampant rumors.

In the three named examples, don’t the attendance islands exist to “provide equity”? They’re all examples of bussing poor kids to a better school. Hagel Circle is literally carved from the Lorton Station boundary. The Fort Hunt island is wild, but doesn’t involve bussing wealthy kids to the school. Almost all of the elementary schools in the Ft. Hunt/South of Old Town area besides Waynewood have similar boundaries. Removing the attendance islands will improve the schools where they currently exist at, but drag down wherever those islands are moved.

They can eliminate the islands or they can potentially redraw the boundaries to bridge the islands to the main attendance area, but in many cases the latter would also result in highly gerrymandered boundaries.

So they probably need to just eliminate the islands, consistent with the stated goal of reducing transportation times and accepting that this may mean higher concentrations of poverty at some schools. They can't really have it both ways.

[Anonymous]

I urge everyone who has questions or opposes the bussing of HVES students to Lewis HS to contact all members of the SB ASAP. The SB can and will make a decision without community input. Start here, https://www.fcps.edu/staff/sandy-anderson

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Once again, FCPS is looking thru their equity lens; this a part of the great plan to boost achievement and of course lessen the FARMS numbers. I hope parents refuse to accept this arrangement.

These equity moves only reduce the % of FARMS within the school's population, the moves do not lessen the FARMS numbers or help the existing FARMS population. One of two things will happen when high SES kids are cut over to Lewis as tribute: 1) They will immediately start taking opportunities that existing Lewis kids previously had like leadership/sports/club positions, to the detriment of the current Lewis population, or 2) Non-assimilation of the new 'rich kids', the face of which will be the white population. Lewis had 196 white students in 2023. The equity move will increase this number to 396, assuming an entire ES is moved over (4 HS grades, 100 students per grade, 50% white). It will be no secret to the entire student body, and particularly a 63% FARMS population that 'rich kids' were imported to make the failing school better, and the face of the imported 'rich kids' will be the white population that doubles in size from 10% to 20%. And yes, WSHS area is not Vienna/McLean/Tysons 'rich', but even small things like driving a car to school and having premium sports equipment makes one a target of resent. If I was a non-white and/or FARMS student I would resent these new kids and treat them differently, and with good reason. The message that the SB is unintentionally sending to these Lewis students (88% non-white) is that they are not good enough, so bring in the rich kids to make things better. And because of the existing Lewis population and the population that's projected to move over, the white kids will be seen as the 'rich kids'.

In any case, this is going to be a highly consequential social experiment within the school and a social and socioeconomic experience for whatever community is given as tribute to Lewis. I believe it will achieve equity goals for making living in West Springfield more on par with Springfield. Over the next 10 years you will see a yet-to-be-determined West Springfield neighborhood area decline at the community level in both property values and the quality of people living in the community. Think some areas of Woodbridge circa 2008 housing crash and the decline of those areas as new populations flooded in. This boundary transaction will be the example pointed to as families pay a premium for proximity to high schools that are not adjacent to urban population centers with section 8 housing and apartment dense areas.

Yikes! Are you saying that parents that left their war torn countries and risked their lives in search of a safer future for their children are low quality people? Ok, gotcha. Or is it something else?

LOL, go look up immigration statistics for any year and you will learn that the asylum seeker category you describe is but a small fraction of legal immigrants. Then, as an example for Woodbridge declining, go look up Woodbridge High School. It was a respectable high school up into the early 2000s. Look at how its population has changed since then, and examine how the school has performed in recent years. Spoiler alert: it's not legal asylum seekers who are bringing the school down.

[Anonymous]

I read Herndon will likely lose accreditation when the new standards are implemented. Any word on boundary adjustments there?

[Anonymous]

Lewis is also on the list of losing accreditation, so Reid and the SB are now implementing busing to save the school. So many resources have been thrown at Lewis with no improvement. The low crime/incident rate reported by Lewis is suspect, does not sync with reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I read Herndon will likely lose accreditation when the new standards are implemented. Any word on boundary adjustments there?

I don't doubt it, but where did you read this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lewis is also on the list of losing accreditation, so Reid and the SB are now implementing busing to save the school. So many resources have been thrown at Lewis with no improvement. The low crime/incident rate reported by Lewis is suspect, does not sync with reality.

Standardized tests only affect a school's evaluation and not the individual student's grade/outcome. SOL tests are not part of an academic record and if my child is moved to Lewis I will work with other parents to encourage our children to intentionally fail SOL tests. It will be retaliation that is low effort, low cost, and will have a high impact on FCPS and the SB.

[Anonymous]

Herndon is nowhere remotely close to losing accreditation. Those are just falsehoods spread by Great Falls residents who don’t want district boundaries changed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Herndon is nowhere remotely close to losing accreditation. Those are just falsehoods spread by Great Falls residents who don’t want district boundaries changed.

Source? Otherwise you’re just speculating to serve your own agenda.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Herndon is nowhere remotely close to losing accreditation. Those are just falsehoods spread by Great Falls residents who don’t want district boundaries changed.

Source? Otherwise you’re just speculating to serve your own agenda.

Different poster. The idea that Herndon HS is failing is ludicrous. Academically, it is a middle of the road FCPS high school that outperforms roughly half of FCPS high schools in published metrics. The majority of its graduates go to college and it sends a sizable number of students to top tier Virginia colleges and a fair number to Ivy League schools. With greater parental involvement and/or a smaller percentage of ESL students dragging down overall test scores, it would be among the top tier of FCPS high schools.

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1198891.page

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Herndon is nowhere remotely close to losing accreditation. Those are just falsehoods spread by Great Falls residents who don’t want district boundaries changed.

Source? Otherwise you’re just speculating to serve your own agenda.

Different poster. The idea that Herndon HS is failing is ludicrous. Academically, it is a middle of the road FCPS high school that outperforms roughly half of FCPS high schools in published metrics. The majority of its graduates go to college and it sends a sizable number of students to top tier Virginia colleges and a fair number to Ivy League schools. With greater parental involvement and/or a smaller percentage of ESL students dragging down overall test scores, it would be among the top tier of FCPS high schools.

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1198891.page

Apples and oranges. We’re talking about accreditation, not your definition of whether a school is failing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Herndon is nowhere remotely close to losing accreditation. Those are just falsehoods spread by Great Falls residents who don’t want district boundaries changed.

Source? Otherwise you’re just speculating to serve your own agenda.

Different poster. The idea that Herndon HS is failing is ludicrous. Academically, it is a middle of the road FCPS high school that outperforms roughly half of FCPS high schools in published metrics. The majority of its graduates go to college and it sends a sizable number of students to top tier Virginia colleges and a fair number to Ivy League schools. With greater parental involvement and/or a smaller percentage of ESL students dragging down overall test scores, it would be among the top tier of FCPS high schools.

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1198891.page

Apples and oranges. We’re talking about accreditation, not your definition of whether a school is failing.

DP here and regardless, I don’t think Herndon is in a bad enough spot to risk losing accreditation. But depending on the new rules and standards, Lewis might be. There was a time 10-15 years ago when FCPS thought it was headed in that direction, but the state changed their accreditation standards and then it was ok, so FCPS breathed a sigh of relief and washed their hands of the whole thing. And if Lewis is seriously at risk, Mount Vernon probably is as well.

[Anonymous]

So the Republicans at the state level are trying to tighten the screws on accreditation to identify more “failing” public schools and make the case for vouchers, and the conservatives at West Springfield and Langley are now convinced that local Democrats are taking steps to preserve public schools’ accreditation.

Sounds like a case of getting hoisted by one’s own petard.

[Anonymous]

Actually living under Democrats policy is very different than just voting for Democrats, putting up your "all are welcome" yard signs, but then never actually having those policies impact your life.

Now that open borders are tanking our schools AND some are being forced to actually send their kids to those tanked schools, it's a horse of a different color. I say bring on the vouchers if nothing is going to be done to stop the flow. And I say this as someone who has always supported public schools over private.