Where will new Sligo Creek ES be?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:SCES needs to be rezoned end of story and it will. The boundaries make zero aense and are inequitable.

What’s inequitable about it? Don’t know the boundaries.

It is one of the wealthiest schools in the immediate area. It directly borders a title 1 school (ESS) as well as two focus schools (Woodlin and highland view). French immersion definitely keeps farms down at SCES, but the disparity is greater than that. The border is also wonky in shape and not intuitive on its own. Tbh I don’t actually think there needs to be an ES in the current spot — kids who walk to SCES could mostly walk to ESS or HV.

First, Woodlin is not a Focus school. It's FARMS rate as compared to other Silver Spring schools has it only above Rock Creek Forest (which includes Spanish immersion) and below Pine Crest, Rosemary Hills, Piney Branch, and Takoma Park ES. Second, I've had kids in both the French Immersion and "academy" (neighborhood) program and it's absolutely true that the FI program brings the FARMS rate down considerably. Without FI the FARMS rate would likely be a bit higher than Woodlin's.

Not sure why else you think the boundaries make "zero sense" or are "inequitable" although it's true that on the easternmost edge of the catchment, ESS is slightly walkable. Oak View and Highland View are also sort of walkable from certain areas (if you consider a mile to be walkable) but that doesn't necessarily mean the boundaries are nonsensical. It means there are a lot of elementary-aged children concentrated in 20910 and environs. I don't think any of these schools are severely undercapacity.

I live on the ESS/SCES border and have had kids attend both schools. ESS is not slightly but highly walkable for the SCES zone south of Wayne. SCES is so much nicer than ESS (much nicer and better funded PTA) and it is absolutely tragic given the proximity. All the affordable housing complexes are zoned for ESS, which makes PP’s claim that SCES is THE elementary school serving the urban core of DTSS problematic. Of course FI changes the balance at SCES. Looking at the numbers, I don’t think it fully accounts for the inequity.

French Immersion is about 40-45% of the school and accounts for maybe 80% of the PTA fundraising. I also don't know if folks realize there is also a very highly regarded autism program and students come from outside the catchment to attend - while it's small, the FARMS rate for this group is likely lower as well.

Also, I don't know what your definition of "highly walkable" is, but we are "south of Wayne" and the walk to ESS is maybe 25 minutes? About 5 to SCES. If you're on Thayer or whatever the boundary is, sure, it's close.

ESS articulates to TPMS and Blair which is a huge advantage! You get to attend the best MS and HS in east county while paying no Takoma Park property taxes. I suspect folks wouldn't object to being rezoned to ESS if the articulation was the same for everyone, but knowing MCPS, it will probably result in some split articulation thing where some ESS kids go to Eastern. [no knock on Eastern, it's a great school, but outside of the magnet I would rather my kid attend TMPS].

If you're just looking on the boundary map, ESS looks close, but for a chunk of the ESS zone south of Wayne, Nolte Park gets in the way. There is a direct way to walk there which involves basically going through a path in the woods but I wouldn't want my older elementary schooler who walks by himself to SCES take that route alone. You can walk around it on city streets but it takes a lot longer.

Honestly looking at the zone you could just cede the little section north of Colesville but that includes the Parkside location which is one of the new school options.

If it is Parkside, I think ultimately that is the section of SCES that gets served by the new school. If the current location is out, does the population of DTSS currently zoned for Sligo prefer Parkside to (potentially long) walking to ESS or HVES? Keeping in mind the zoning changes the demographics of those schools.

I don't foresee the ESS boundary moving. That school is one classroom under enrollment currently. That boundary will likely remain as it is currently.

Is it? I thought the building was somewhat under capacity, with numbers moving downward slowly over the next few years. I had thought that part of the point of reviewing boundaries was to address demographic inequity. People screamed over Option 3, but this is an opportunity to address inequity locally. You could tweak these boundaries without making assignments crazy. Although it's silly that this wasn't done as part of the current study.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Taylor should assert dominance by building a replacement elementary on Silver Spring Intermediate Park or buy the old John Nevins school just south of Carroll, which conveniently for sale right now. Then carve up the Takoma/Piney Branch ES catchment. Split the Takoma Park electorate, enjoy the infighting and meltdown.

HVES might have some interesting changes coming in the future, but I don't see ESes within the City of Takoma Park having any changes made. Perhaps we can claw back the $12 million in recreational facilities (pool/HS-size gym) currently planned in the new Piney Branch ES to pay for critically needed HVAC replacements elsewhere in the county.

+1 … unless Taylor chooses intermediate park, nolte, the Georgia Ave location, etc. If any of those are getting a new elementary, I think the Takoma Park homes zoned for Piney Branch ES north of Piney Branch road would be fair game given proximity to the new school or redrawn lines for ESS and others. But I tend to agree with others that the new location being Parkside is a fait accompli.

Why does everyone think it's going to be Parkside? Do people have knowledgeable inside sources from MCPS pointing towards this, or is it just your speculation what MCPS will be most likely to pick based on your guesses about their interests and priorities?

Speculation. Parkside is one of only two sites that were proposed that are within the current SCES catchment zone. The other is currently occupied by a daycare. They could go with a site outside the zone, but I think they are getting enough pressure from the community over their plans that they might view Parkside as a "concession." Mind you, I don't think it actually is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Taylor should assert dominance by building a replacement elementary on Silver Spring Intermediate Park or buy the old John Nevins school just south of Carroll, which conveniently for sale right now. Then carve up the Takoma/Piney Branch ES catchment. Split the Takoma Park electorate, enjoy the infighting and meltdown.

HVES might have some interesting changes coming in the future, but I don't see ESes within the City of Takoma Park having any changes made. Perhaps we can claw back the $12 million in recreational facilities (pool/HS-size gym) currently planned in the new Piney Branch ES to pay for critically needed HVAC replacements elsewhere in the county.

+1 … unless Taylor chooses intermediate park, nolte, the Georgia Ave location, etc. If any of those are getting a new elementary, I think the Takoma Park homes zoned for Piney Branch ES north of Piney Branch road would be fair game given proximity to the new school or redrawn lines for ESS and others. But I tend to agree with others that the new location being Parkside is a fait accompli.

Why does everyone think it's going to be Parkside? Do people have knowledgeable inside sources from MCPS pointing towards this, or is it just your speculation what MCPS will be most likely to pick based on your guesses about their interests and priorities?

Speculation. Parkside is one of only two sites that were proposed that are within the current SCES catchment zone. The other is currently occupied by a daycare. They could go with a site outside the zone, but I think they are getting enough pressure from the community over their plans that they might view Parkside as a "concession." Mind you, I don't think it actually is.

Why are the SCES folks so focused on having it within the current boundaries? Are they not aware that by the time the building is built, there will be new boundaries from the upcoming elementary school boundary study? Even if SCES were to stay in their current location I doubt their boundaries would stay the same... if it moves to Parkside I assume the folks in that small northern part of the SCES area would get to go there but I'd be surprised if many of the ones in the southern part do.

Is there just so much going on right now that people don't understand that there will likely be big changes to elementary school boundaries in 2028 or 2029 for all of us?

[Anonymous]

No, it's not because there is so much going on. It's because Taylor is screwing this community and they are trying to figure out if they will actually get a minor benefit from this proposal (a new school building). Likely, many of them won't even get that because they will be rezoned.

Taylor opened his remarks at SCES last week with a lengthy description of the condition at Piney Branch and said he is asking this community to make an "enormous sacrifice." He has also publicly called SCES and SSIMS "dominoes" in his plan.

The complete disregard for this community -- and blatant favoring of another -- is really really upsetting.

[Anonymous]

I haven’t seen the holding school document he promised. This whole process is a cluster.

[Anonymous]

Why can't PBES just be at the Grosvenor holding school, like several other DCC schools have been?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Taylor should assert dominance by building a replacement elementary on Silver Spring Intermediate Park or buy the old John Nevins school just south of Carroll, which conveniently for sale right now. Then carve up the Takoma/Piney Branch ES catchment. Split the Takoma Park electorate, enjoy the infighting and meltdown.

HVES might have some interesting changes coming in the future, but I don't see ESes within the City of Takoma Park having any changes made. Perhaps we can claw back the $12 million in recreational facilities (pool/HS-size gym) currently planned in the new Piney Branch ES to pay for critically needed HVAC replacements elsewhere in the county.

+1 … unless Taylor chooses intermediate park, nolte, the Georgia Ave location, etc. If any of those are getting a new elementary, I think the Takoma Park homes zoned for Piney Branch ES north of Piney Branch road would be fair game given proximity to the new school or redrawn lines for ESS and others. But I tend to agree with others that the new location being Parkside is a fait accompli.

Why does everyone think it's going to be Parkside? Do people have knowledgeable inside sources from MCPS pointing towards this, or is it just your speculation what MCPS will be most likely to pick based on your guesses about their interests and priorities?

Speculation. Parkside is one of only two sites that were proposed that are within the current SCES catchment zone. The other is currently occupied by a daycare. They could go with a site outside the zone, but I think they are getting enough pressure from the community over their plans that they might view Parkside as a "concession." Mind you, I don't think it actually is.

Why are the SCES folks so focused on having it within the current boundaries? Are they not aware that by the time the building is built, there will be new boundaries from the upcoming elementary school boundary study? Even if SCES were to stay in their current location I doubt their boundaries would stay the same... if it moves to Parkside I assume the folks in that small northern part of the SCES area would get to go there but I'd be surprised if many of the ones in the southern part do.

Is there just so much going on right now that people don't understand that there will likely be big changes to elementary school boundaries in 2028 or 2029 for all of us?

I think many people do understand and they oppose this plan. The “new SCES” language is there to quell opposition as much as possible and yes I think the people buying into it are being naive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, it's not because there is so much going on. It's because Taylor is screwing this community and they are trying to figure out if they will actually get a minor benefit from this proposal (a new school building). Likely, many of them won't even get that because they will be rezoned.

Taylor opened his remarks at SCES last week with a lengthy description of the condition at Piney Branch and said he is asking this community to make an "enormous sacrifice." He has also publicly called SCES and SSIMS "dominoes" in his plan.

The complete disregard for this community -- and blatant favoring of another -- is really really upsetting.

Agreed. What can be done about the constant favoring of Takoma Park? How can this conversation be moved from an online forum into the actual MCPS/MoCo arena? How can this be challenged and changed?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, it's not because there is so much going on. It's because Taylor is screwing this community and they are trying to figure out if they will actually get a minor benefit from this proposal (a new school building). Likely, many of them won't even get that because they will be rezoned.

Taylor opened his remarks at SCES last week with a lengthy description of the condition at Piney Branch and said he is asking this community to make an "enormous sacrifice." He has also publicly called SCES and SSIMS "dominoes" in his plan.

The complete disregard for this community -- and blatant favoring of another -- is really really upsetting.

Agreed. What can be done about the constant favoring of Takoma Park? How can this conversation be moved from an online forum into the actual MCPS/MoCo arena? How can this be challenged and changed?

Agreed. Some ideas:

(1) Advocate for changes to BOE public hearing discussion format. It is unfair that public officials get dedicated time to speak on behalf of their community at all public hearings while towns without elected officials don’t get equal time/ space to share concerns. As a result, incorporated towns with mayors (like Takoma Park) get to take up a disproportionate share of the public hearing conversations and can make their concerns more visible to the Board.

(2) Source and help elect officials who do not live in Takoma Park and will advocate for communities in a more fair, less biased way. Long term, but ultimately the best way to make change.

This isn’t my area of expertise. I’m sure there are others ways to advocate for change. The trouble is that there is SO MUCH to advocate for these days regarding MCPS that it is hard to prioritize.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why can't PBES just be at the Grosvenor holding school, like several other DCC schools have been?

What, and make those delicate flowers bus more than 10 minutes away? Are you kidding??

Seriously though, I think most folks know PBES is a grade 3-5 school so we are not even talking about the youngest kids here. Woodlin (K-5) had to bus to Grosvenor for 2 years. The plan for Highland View is to bus them up to Fairland. How about we let Highland View use SCES for their holding school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Taylor should assert dominance by building a replacement elementary on Silver Spring Intermediate Park or buy the old John Nevins school just south of Carroll, which conveniently for sale right now. Then carve up the Takoma/Piney Branch ES catchment. Split the Takoma Park electorate, enjoy the infighting and meltdown.

HVES might have some interesting changes coming in the future, but I don't see ESes within the City of Takoma Park having any changes made. Perhaps we can claw back the $12 million in recreational facilities (pool/HS-size gym) currently planned in the new Piney Branch ES to pay for critically needed HVAC replacements elsewhere in the county.

+1 … unless Taylor chooses intermediate park, nolte, the Georgia Ave location, etc. If any of those are getting a new elementary, I think the Takoma Park homes zoned for Piney Branch ES north of Piney Branch road would be fair game given proximity to the new school or redrawn lines for ESS and others. But I tend to agree with others that the new location being Parkside is a fait accompli.

Why does everyone think it's going to be Parkside? Do people have knowledgeable inside sources from MCPS pointing towards this, or is it just your speculation what MCPS will be most likely to pick based on your guesses about their interests and priorities?

Yes, there are knowledgeable inside sources pointing towards Parkside. No public discussion on this from MCPS because a site selection "process" must legally take place first.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Others might have inside info. All speculation here though. Seems to me like the least bad option. It’s in the current Sligo Creek ES zone, wouldn’t involve taking over/eliminating a beloved existing park, isn’t on the other side of the beltway, isn’t currently occupied by a different Montgomery County agency, etc.

But screw all that - make Takoma Park pay for its misdeeds. If they want a pool and nearby holding school that badly, put the school at Intermediate Park and then eat a big chunk of Takoma/Piney Branch ES’s zone that includes everything east of Philadelphia and north of Carroll, push ESS borders north to absorb a portion of Sligo Creek ES’s former zone, and watch the fireworks.

Would love to see Takoma Park scramble for what it would no doubt identify as "equity." LOL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why can't PBES just be at the Grosvenor holding school, like several other DCC schools have been?

What, and make those delicate flowers bus more than 10 minutes away? Are you kidding??

Seriously though, I think most folks know PBES is a grade 3-5 school so we are not even talking about the youngest kids here. Woodlin (K-5) had to bus to Grosvenor for 2 years. The plan for Highland View is to bus them up to Fairland. How about we let Highland View use SCES for their holding school?

Can't Highland View kids walk to SCES? Why does PBES get it as a holding school and not them?

[Anonymous]

If enrollment is dropping, and they're going to be redoing all the ES boundaries in a couple years anyway, why do they even need to build a new SCES?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Others might have inside info. All speculation here though. Seems to me like the least bad option. It’s in the current Sligo Creek ES zone, wouldn’t involve taking over/eliminating a beloved existing park, isn’t on the other side of the beltway, isn’t currently occupied by a different Montgomery County agency, etc.

But screw all that - make Takoma Park pay for its misdeeds. If they want a pool and nearby holding school that badly, put the school at Intermediate Park and then eat a big chunk of Takoma/Piney Branch ES’s zone that includes everything east of Philadelphia and north of Carroll, push ESS borders north to absorb a portion of Sligo Creek ES’s former zone, and watch the fireworks.

Would love to see Takoma Park scramble for what it would no doubt identify as "equity." LOL.

They’re shameless. And that’s why you take the historic district away from Piney Branch ES. The inequity of making [checks notes] the whitest, richest Takoma Park residents attend a school two blocks North of Piney Branch road!