Nancy Van Doren just went off the deep end

[Anonymous]

So, first they let in siblings and then see how many spots are left, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If they are trying to kill HB, they've stumbled upon a good way to do it. Implementing a sibling preference there means that far fewer families will have access to the program, significantly reducing HB's constituency.

I just read on AEM that they'll just add extra seats to H-B for siblings. Doesn't this mean that their program can - and will - get bigger? So shouldn't they plan to build more seats at the new H-B campus?

I saw that, too. They aren't going to get bigger, though. The HB folks will fight it and siblings will continue to get in at a rate that defies statistics.

I saw the email that was copied in there, but it looked like what they were saying is that the Superintendent plans to exercise his discretion to have the programs grow in accordance with the number of siblings admitted by preference. Which is all well and good, but if that is the intent then shouldn't it be part of the policy? It just seems like if the principal or boosters of HB, for example, prevail upon the Superintendent one year that HB is as big as it possibly can get, and the Superintendent declines to exercise his discretion to require HB to absorb siblings and expand. But under this officially adopted SB policy, the Superintendent/APS would still be required to grant the sibling preference. Or what if there's a new superintendent who disagrees with this exercise of discretion?

I guess I'm just not comfortable with the idea that the preference is codified in an official, binding policy, but you're just supposed to trust that the staff will implement it so that the programs are forced to add seats for any sibling who may be admitted by preference. It doesn't seem like there's going to be a whole lot of public visibility as to whether that discretion actually is exercised in the way proposed.

In some ways this does seem a little like hair-splitting, but I have 2 preschool aged kids; I already was somewhat uncomfortable with the idea that the SB seems only to want to create new high school seats in these special lottery programs. I am increasingly struggling to see a path forward for us in APS if admission is contingent not only on the lottery, but also on some unspoken, unofficial exercise of discretion among the APS staff which may change from year to year, from program to program, without any public notice. The more choice program seats they add, the more overcrowded the comprehensive high schools get, the more it seems important to have very clear, predictable policies governing the process.

But maybe I'm misunderstanding? I hope?

[Anonymous]

You are not misunderstanding. The way this is written, the seats automatically go to the siblings. That is how ATS operates

[Anonymous]

This policy makes no sense. When APS was generating numbers for the discussion of redrawing high school boundaries, they showed that for every ~400 high school students moved, there were about 100 siblings who might be impacted.

Currently, there are somewhat more than 400 high school students at HB. So does this new sibling policy mean that as many as 100 additional students could be added to HB grades 9-12 in any given year? I'm not sure I care one way or another but it seems like if that's the case, that's a policy decision that should be discussed.

And if my kid is on the waitlist, and 100 siblings get to hop in front of him? That is going to seriously piss me off. And I bet I'm not the only one.

This is a bullshit policy. BULLSHIT. HB families have been dealing with having their children in different high/middle schools for generations. It is not a hardship. It is a choice. And if you don't want to make that choice, then send your kids to your home school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This policy makes no sense. When APS was generating numbers for the discussion of redrawing high school boundaries, they showed that for every ~400 high school students moved, there were about 100 siblings who might be impacted.

Currently, there are somewhat more than 400 high school students at HB. So does this new sibling policy mean that as many as 100 additional students could be added to HB grades 9-12 in any given year? I'm not sure I care one way or another but it seems like if that's the case, that's a policy decision that should be discussed.

And if my kid is on the waitlist, and 100 siblings get to hop in front of him? That is going to seriously piss me off. And I bet I'm not the only one.

This is a bullshit policy. BULLSHIT. HB families have been dealing with having their children in different high/middle schools for generations. It is not a hardship. It is a choice. And if you don't want to make that choice, then send your kids to your home school.

Please write to each individual school board member. Encourage your friends to do the same thing! We have to shut this down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This policy makes no sense. When APS was generating numbers for the discussion of redrawing high school boundaries, they showed that for every ~400 high school students moved, there were about 100 siblings who might be impacted.

Currently, there are somewhat more than 400 high school students at HB. So does this new sibling policy mean that as many as 100 additional students could be added to HB grades 9-12 in any given year? I'm not sure I care one way or another but it seems like if that's the case, that's a policy decision that should be discussed.

And if my kid is on the waitlist, and 100 siblings get to hop in front of him? That is going to seriously piss me off. And I bet I'm not the only one.

This is a bullshit policy. BULLSHIT. HB families have been dealing with having their children in different high/middle schools for generations. It is not a hardship. It is a choice. And if you don't want to make that choice, then send your kids to your home school.

Please write to each individual school board member. Encourage your friends to do the same thing! We have to shut this down.

Yep!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This policy makes no sense. When APS was generating numbers for the discussion of redrawing high school boundaries, they showed that for every ~400 high school students moved, there were about 100 siblings who might be impacted.

Currently, there are somewhat more than 400 high school students at HB. So does this new sibling policy mean that as many as 100 additional students could be added to HB grades 9-12 in any given year? I'm not sure I care one way or another but it seems like if that's the case, that's a policy decision that should be discussed.

And if my kid is on the waitlist, and 100 siblings get to hop in front of him? That is going to seriously piss me off. And I bet I'm not the only one.

This is a bullshit policy. BULLSHIT. HB families have been dealing with having their children in different high/middle schools for generations. It is not a hardship. It is a choice. And if you don't want to make that choice, then send your kids to your home school.

They can't grow H-B by 100 or more students unless they plan to build it bigger. It's not like they can add trailers to the field they don't have. Maybe they'll just have them sit up on the roof? Glad we're spending $100 million for a school that will be too small the day it opens. These idiots. Don't they think anything through?

[Anonymous]

This policy is BS. They can't add siblings without taking away neighborhood seats. Welcome to the era of HB Dynasty Families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This policy makes no sense. When APS was generating numbers for the discussion of redrawing high school boundaries, they showed that for every ~400 high school students moved, there were about 100 siblings who might be impacted.

Currently, there are somewhat more than 400 high school students at HB. So does this new sibling policy mean that as many as 100 additional students could be added to HB grades 9-12 in any given year? I'm not sure I care one way or another but it seems like if that's the case, that's a policy decision that should be discussed.

And if my kid is on the waitlist, and 100 siblings get to hop in front of him? That is going to seriously piss me off. And I bet I'm not the only one.

This is a bullshit policy. BULLSHIT. HB families have been dealing with having their children in different high/middle schools for generations. It is not a hardship. It is a choice. And if you don't want to make that choice, then send your kids to your home school.

Please write to each individual school board member. Encourage your friends to do the same thing! We have to shut this down.

Done, just sent off my letter

[Anonymous]

Re-posting the emails for board members since they were posted three or four pages ago. Send it to them individually, and cc: the school.board and engage emails.

[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

and include the general Engage! email as well: [e-mail]

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Re-posting the emails for board members since they were posted three or four pages ago. Send it to them individually, and cc: the school.board and engage emails.

[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

and include the general Engage! email as well: [e-mail]

Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Also, the new draft of the policy changes the way sibling preference works now. As it works now, an older student can pull in a younger but not vice versa. But now, if your second kid wins the lottery, they can put their OLDER sibling first in line over others on the wait list.

Can't believe they are giving sibling preference at HB. It will make that school utterly inaccessible. Unreal.

[Anonymous]

Oh. And it will also significantly disadvantage newcomer (i.e., immigrant) families. So much for equity. It's the Arlington Way.

[Anonymous]

Newcomers and families with only one child can forget getting into HB.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also, the new draft of the policy changes the way sibling preference works now. As it works now, an older student can pull in a younger but not vice versa. But now, if your second kid wins the lottery, they can put their OLDER sibling first in line over others on the wait list.

Can't believe they are giving sibling preference at HB. It will make that school utterly inaccessible. Unreal.

And accessibility was one of the big drivers for these changes too. Go figure.