AAP Work Session Scheduled for Jan. 14, 3:30 pm

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Clearly you are not a parent at Haycock if you think Ms. Strauss has done a good job advocating for that school over the last 10 years.

I don't think she's done a good job on Haycock overall. I think she's done a good job generally as the Dranesville representative, and is doing a good job right now where Haycock is concerned.

I felt like Louise Epstein, had she been elected to replace Janie, would have advocated only for the AAP community. Maybe that's what some of you want. Nobody else matters to you.

Nope - equal treatment for all. I personally think that the school board focuses way too much on AAP and should spend a little time making sure they give appropriate attention to all groups of kids. Ms. Epstein clearly overly advocates for AAP but she is dead on with the rest of her focus on the mis-management of FCPS. Now that Mr. Tisdadt is gone things hopefully will improve but it's a long way to go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At least Patty was trying to solve the problem. Maybe it wasn't a solution people liked but she was trying to find one. She was listening to all of the Haycock parents' complaining about overcrowding and how awful the renovation was going to be. She was trying to give them a little extra indoor space and some breathing room for the renovation, while at the same time solving her constituents' problem. It was not a perfect solution, but she was trying. Did you expect her to blow off her constituents' concerns?

Shame on Janie for not engaging in any creative problem solving. Janie knew what she wanted to do and she shoved it through rather than trying to find something that could work for everyone.

Oh and by the way, Janie knew about the proposal before last Friday, so why didn't she mention it to her constituents if she's oh so good at public engagement?

Oh, Louise, you are still in la-la-land. Patty has shown up at WHICH Haycock renovation meetings? Which PTA meetings? Oh, that's right: she hasn't been at any of them.

Parroting the angriest and most vengeful parent suggestions (if Cluster 2 kids have to go to Lemon Road then you will ALL go to Lemon Road, ha, ha, ha) is not statesmanship. It's not good policy. But it makes people feel like you're an advocate... without actually having to do the tough stuff of politics. You know, compromise.

The right solution is a compromise. It hasn't been shoved down anybody's throat. There is no solution that works for everyone. Sorry, Louise, keep pitching those dreamworld suggestions... but we see right through you.

You're right. A compromise would have been a good solution. Where exactly have the base parents compromised? The Cluster 2 parents agreed to having the rising 3rd graders go to LR and now they are being asked to give again and send all of the kids there? Why should Cluster 2 parents be the ONLY ones giving? What are the other Haycock parents giving? It's not a compromise when only one side gives.

Well the thing is Haycock families have been compromising over the last 5 years as more and more out-of-Haycock students have come to the AAP center there and the school has been more and more overcrowded. Haycock neighborhood children will have spent up to 5 of their 7 years at Haycock in trailers rather than in the building so out-of-neighborhood students can be there, etc. I think that is plenty of compromise.

Not true. My ds has been at Haycock for 4 years, he was only in the building one year. My dd is in her first year there and is in a trailer. The AAP kids are generally not in the building.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's usually the county pushing kids out. This time it was initiated and perpetuated by parents. The cluster 2 kids were targeted in an attempt to solve a problem that was caused by the population growth of the base school population. That's why this is different and why it is so hurtful.

You could not be more wrong. Parents had NOTHING to do with this proposal that was brought to Haycock in October. Everyone in that room was just as shocked. You should direct your ire at Marty Smith and the other cluster superintendents who clearly have not been doing their jobs. Nor did they do a good job when they presented this to the communtiy. yes, the Haycock community clearly has been growing. And the community has been telling this to FCPS for at least 7 years, but Dean Tisdadt's and Janie sTrauss' refusal to listen has resulted in this. In addition, if you look at enrollment, 3-4 years ago, only a handful of AAP students were comign from cluster 2. Now it's 2 classfuls. It is a combination of that, not just one population over the other. And again, the parents did not come up with this plan unlike the plans presented by Ms. Reed.

In the spring of 2011, there was a meeting with parents and Carol Horn on rolling out the AAP curriculum in the McLean schools. At that meeting, there were very vocal parents asking why there are cluster 2 kids at Haycock. Do you want me to name them?

Later, there was a meeting with Marty Smith about the renovation and overcrowding (the notes are available on line). The same questions were asked. Clearly, Haycock base parents had singled out the Cluster 2 kids long before October.

This is true. I was at that meeting and absolutely horrified to learn that we were so unwanted.

[Anonymous]

For all the parents who have children that will be uprooted and worried about them, I feel for you. Please spend more time with these children, and less on this forum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Clearly you are not a parent at Haycock if you think Ms. Strauss has done a good job advocating for that school over the last 10 years.

I don't think she's done a good job on Haycock overall. I think she's done a good job generally as the Dranesville representative, and is doing a good job right now where Haycock is concerned.

I felt like Louise Epstein, had she been elected to replace Janie, would have advocated only for the AAP community. Maybe that's what some of you want. Nobody else matters to you.

+1

I give Dranesville voters lots of credit on this one. Looks to me like Janie Strauss hasn't been perfect, but then again what is a perfect representative, anyway? Louise Epstein has re-surfaced on this AAP issue in typical fashion. I've seen her at the meetings. Notice she's not suggesting any actual solutions, but is very quick to criticize everything and anything about FCPS. Her brand of advocacy is us-vs.-them, very divisive, interest-group-driven stuff. She wants anybody who's ever had a complaint with FCPS to vote for her. Sorry, Louise, but it seems like the grown-ups in Dranesville actually understand that nobody ever gets EVERYTHING they want, and are generally pretty happy with FCPS despite their occasional (vocal) complaints. And they like advocacy, but not advocacy that will throw everybody else (Title 1 kids, gen. ed. kids) under the bus.

[Anonymous]

15:55 -- well said. I am a neighborhood parent and I can't figure out why some base parents cannot understand that your kids have just as much right to be at Haycock as theirs do. Both groups were assigned by FCPS and both can be reassigned by FCPS. It breaks my beart what that group of base parents are saying and how meanly they are acting. I feel for your families and your children so much.

This action will not solve overcrowding (see the FIVE kindergarten classes, all neighborhood kids)and no larger building is forthcoming. So we will be here again in a few years and I wonder if base families who are threatened with rezoning will be so comfortable with no grandfathering then.)

[Anonymous]

17:23 -- are you the same Louise basher who posted that weird post above accusing someone of being Louise? If so, please go away and remove your chip. There are a wide range of opinions on this topic and Louise is not the only one who can espouse one of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Clearly you are not a parent at Haycock if you think Ms. Strauss has done a good job advocating for that school over the last 10 years.

I don't think she's done a good job on Haycock overall. I think she's done a good job generally as the Dranesville representative, and is doing a good job right now where Haycock is concerned.

I felt like Louise Epstein, had she been elected to replace Janie, would have advocated only for the AAP community. Maybe that's what some of you want. Nobody else matters to you.

Nope - equal treatment for all. I personally think that the school board focuses way too much on AAP and should spend a little time making sure they give appropriate attention to all groups of kids. Ms. Epstein clearly overly advocates for AAP but she is dead on with the rest of her focus on the mis-management of FCPS. Now that Mr. Tisdadt is gone things hopefully will improve but it's a long way to go.

It would be a unique idea if the schools and Board spent nearly as much time worrying about the 81% of kids not in AAP..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:15:55 -- well said. I am a neighborhood parent and I can't figure out why some base parents cannot understand that your kids have just as much right to be at Haycock as theirs do. Both groups were assigned by FCPS and both can be reassigned by FCPS. It breaks my beart what that group of base parents are saying and how meanly they are acting. I feel for your families and your children so much.

This action will not solve overcrowding (see the FIVE kindergarten classes, all neighborhood kids)and no larger building is forthcoming. So we will be here again in a few years and I wonder if base families who are threatened with rezoning will be so comfortable with no grandfathering then.)

Thank you for being so kind. It's a shame that some Haycock parents are making the base school parents seem so callous and heartless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:15:55 -- well said. I am a neighborhood parent and I can't figure out why some base parents cannot understand that your kids have just as much right to be at Haycock as theirs do. Both groups were assigned by FCPS and both can be reassigned by FCPS. It breaks my beart what that group of base parents are saying and how meanly they are acting. I feel for your families and your children so much.

This action will not solve overcrowding (see the FIVE kindergarten classes, all neighborhood kids)and no larger building is forthcoming. So we will be here again in a few years and I wonder if base families who are threatened with rezoning will be so comfortable with no grandfathering then.)

The larger classes at Haycock are the upper grades with AAP kids. If every grade was the size of this year's kindergarten class, Haycock would have 756 students, not 960, and there would not be nearly so many trailers. And there would be no need to change base boundaries any time soon after the upcoming renovation.

Apart from expressing your compassion, I guess I don't see your point. We spent years and years patiently explaining our concerns to FCPS, and welcoming more families to the school. But we've ended up with a severely crowded facility that is stressing out our wonderful teachers, and we need a solution now. I don't know why it's "mean" to favor a reassignment of Cluster 2 students to another school with capacity, but "nice" to pretend the overcrowding doesn't exist or to ignore the social dynamics that can arise when AAP students outnumber GenEd students in some grades.

[Anonymous]

This whole situation is very sad. Sad that the whole Haycock community was put in this position. Sad that there is not room for everyone at Haycock. Sad that FCPS has ignored pleas from parents at Haycock for many years about overcrowding. Haycock parents have been advocating for a renovation/addition for over 7 years. Both are long overdue.
Next year if LR opens its doors with 3rd,4th,5th grades at the new AAP center, it will be 147 less students at Haycock and 2 classes per grade at LR. These numbers are significant to both schools. (3rd-49, 4th-52,5th-46).
No one likes to feel pushed out and certainly this was not initiated by the Haycock parents, it was a plan recommended by the school board and cluster superintendents. Haycock teachers and staff and children feel like they have been "pushed in" for the last several years. Adding more trailers or quads does not address the issue of overcrowding effectively---it just adds further stress to the core space in the 65 year old cafeteria, bathrooms. Schools need balance between different programs to function well. When one program takes over the school, that is not good for anyone. There is no balance between 3-6 gen ed and aap. AAP is 2 1/2 x bigger than gen ed. If FCPS is going to widen the net in identifying AAP students, then the reality is that FCPS needs more AAP centers. This is not the fault of Cluster 2 students, nor Cluster 1 students. But it is the reality. How do you decide what is the best way to reduce the population? I would argue that the last to do go is the neighborhood students--whether AAP or gen ed. Parents of these students have invested in the surrounding community. Haycock has been a welcoming place for many years and is very inclusive. It is unfortunate that by advocating for a population that will fit into the new building and a population that does not overwhelm the teachers, staff, surrounding roads, and building itself, parents from Haycock are called names like, "elitist" and "selfish". It is because Haycock parents care so much that they are advocating for what is best for the majority of students. This is a very difficult situation but it is up to the parents to act like grown ups and be good examples for our children. We need to remember that this is about children and they are watching us try to solve a difficult problem. Lets strive to be good role models.

[Anonymous]

But are they widening the net?? I think they are decreasing it, at least decreasing the pool size this year. It will be interesting to see.

[Anonymous]

Great posts, 18:17 and 18:18. Thank you.

[Anonymous]

The language used by that group of base parents has been mean. Essentially, get out of OUR school. There has been no appreciation for the fact that those cluster II kids were assigned to Haycock and it is their school, too. Opening a new Cluster 2 center for rising third graders is not mean. Advocating that the kids not be grandfathered is mean. And FCPS did NOT propose no grandfathering. That was Janie Strauss guided by this group of base parents who are anti-AAP. It is amazing to me that those parents suddenly feel Janie is their savior. Janie is a skilled politician to have let Haycock get to this crisis situation and then unleash an us vs them fight that does not solve the problem and manage to make herself look like a champion for her voters!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The language used by that group of base parents has been mean. Essentially, get out of OUR school. There has been no appreciation for the fact that those cluster II kids were assigned to Haycock and it is their school, too. Opening a new Cluster 2 center for rising third graders is not mean. Advocating that the kids not be grandfathered is mean. And FCPS did NOT propose no grandfathering. That was Janie Strauss guided by this group of base parents who are anti-AAP. It is amazing to me that those parents suddenly feel Janie is their savior. Janie is a skilled politician to have let Haycock get to this crisis situation and then unleash an us vs them fight that does not solve the problem and manage to make herself look like a champion for her voters!

Advocating for grandfathering means no meaningful reduction in enrollment next year.