FCPS Boundary Review Updates

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Plenty of blame to go around for the current situation in FCPS:

- Federal Government - lax enforcement of immigration laws for an extended period of time
- Fairfax County zoning - the lack of apartments or more affordable homes in some areas (or very little anyway) is one example, with too many apartments in other areas
- FCPS - sticking with bad programs that drove people away, AAP structure, making bad decisions in earlier boundary adjustments that made some schools worse off, liberal pupil placement that allowed families with more means to live in one school zone and attend another (not something poorer families can do)
- FCPS residents (current and former) - self segregating by only looking at schools with Great Schools above 7; over time this drove schools below a 7 down even further (a very insidious change).

So FCPS is not crazy to try to raise the scores of the schools by making some boundary changes. The schools themselves aren't necessarily bad - the administrators, faculty, and facilities are fine, but the schools are faced with high ELL and FRL numbers that set them up for trouble. If they continue to fail does the state step in? FCPS doesn't want that.

Now they could certainly try some things first - eliminate IB and getting rid of AAP middle school centers are a couple of examples.

This is crazy. Schools are definitely not all the same, some are good and some are really bad. High achieving schools are good because the PARENTS are investing in making sure their kids are learning. FCPS needs to improve the bad schools, not move children and use those kids to improve schools instead of doing the work of improving struggling schools. Moving kids around is just socialist ideology and uses kids like pawns instead of educating children. This SB just uses other people’s children as their own resource to carry out their social agenda and cover up the terrible job they are doing of educating. The SB and Reid and her gatehouse employees act with impunity, hide behind taxpayer (parent) funded lawyers and big law firms and appear to believe they have no accountability to students and parents.

Many schools have programs and populations that bring scores down. Doesn’t mean they are bad school. If you moved certain special ed programs and/or ESL kids into high achieving schools, the same would happen. I personally think every school should either have some ESL kids and/or specific Special Ed programs. You will see that these very good schools are the same as other schools that have these populations.

THIS! Why do people keep on trying to push some crazy conspiracy theory AND insult more than half of the students and schools in the county? Its almost like they are unable to have a normal discussion without freaking out.
I'm so sick of the conspiracy theorists accusing our FRM, EL, and disabled communities of being "bad kids" and that their "good kids" are going to be moved into low performing schools so that they can be superheros and save the day by raising test scores. Like that would even work!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whattttt im so confused. Per the new FAQ:

“The timeline for implementing new boundaries has not yet been determined, as it will depend on the outcomes of the boundary review process and the decisions made by the Fairfax County School Board. Similarly, any other related implementation decisions, including allowing current students to remain at their existing schools, have not yet been determined. These considerations will take into account operational feasibility and the district's educational goals.”

Seems pretty notable that they quietly updated their FAQ on the timing of this. And they canceled another one of the BRAC meetings earlier this week (according to a PP)? They didn't have one in March that I can tell. Things are not going well, I guess?

There was a BRAC meeting last night.
To do this right, the BRAC needs to be permitted to have time to look at the data and maps to ensure the best possible scenarios for community input. This is too important to be rushed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Plenty of blame to go around for the current situation in FCPS:

- Federal Government - lax enforcement of immigration laws for an extended period of time
- Fairfax County zoning - the lack of apartments or more affordable homes in some areas (or very little anyway) is one example, with too many apartments in other areas
- FCPS - sticking with bad programs that drove people away, AAP structure, making bad decisions in earlier boundary adjustments that made some schools worse off, liberal pupil placement that allowed families with more means to live in one school zone and attend another (not something poorer families can do)
- FCPS residents (current and former) - self segregating by only looking at schools with Great Schools above 7; over time this drove schools below a 7 down even further (a very insidious change).

So FCPS is not crazy to try to raise the scores of the schools by making some boundary changes. The schools themselves aren't necessarily bad - the administrators, faculty, and facilities are fine, but the schools are faced with high ELL and FRL numbers that set them up for trouble. If they continue to fail does the state step in? FCPS doesn't want that.

Now they could certainly try some things first - eliminate IB and getting rid of AAP middle school centers are a couple of examples.

This is crazy. Schools are definitely not all the same, some are good and some are really bad. High achieving schools are good because the PARENTS are investing in making sure their kids are learning. FCPS needs to improve the bad schools, not move children and use those kids to improve schools instead of doing the work of improving struggling schools. Moving kids around is just socialist ideology and uses kids like pawns instead of educating children. This SB just uses other people’s children as their own resource to carry out their social agenda and cover up the terrible job they are doing of educating. The SB and Reid and her gatehouse employees act with impunity, hide behind taxpayer (parent) funded lawyers and big law firms and appear to believe they have no accountability to students and parents.

Many schools have programs and populations that bring scores down. Doesn’t mean they are bad school. If you moved certain special ed programs and/or ESL kids into high achieving schools, the same would happen. I personally think every school should either have some ESL kids and/or specific Special Ed programs. You will see that these very good schools are the same as other schools that have these populations.

THIS! Why do people keep on trying to push some crazy conspiracy theory AND insult more than half of the students and schools in the county? Its almost like they are unable to have a normal discussion without freaking out.
I'm so sick of the conspiracy theorists accusing our FRM, EL, and disabled communities of being "bad kids" and that their "good kids" are going to be moved into low performing schools so that they can be superheros and save the day by raising test scores. Like that would even work!

Almost every high school in FCPS has a significant number of ESOL students. Even the "good" ones.
Many of the "good" schools also have programs for special education and disabled students.
So, your premise is wrong.

The problem is that the SB and Superintendent Reid apparently want to shift kids when it is not practical. Some of the communities they want to move have been assigned to their current schools long ago. This compromises the stability to which people are accustomed.

Would you want your child moved to improve the scores of another school? That is not a good reason.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

So the only way to have any impact is to make assertions about FCPS’s intentions and future proposals that may well turn out to be unfounded? Maybe that’s strategic, but it’s also dishonest. And I note that you apparently have no problem with past decisions by FCPS that increased disparities between nearby schools. I guess it was fine for FCPS to basically create a system of winners and losers as long as you came out ahead.

DP. I don't think that is the issue here.

For example: When GF was sent to Langley, Herndon was fine. People were happy with Herndon. The current issue with Herndon's membership had nothing to do with the Langley boundary. Langley needed more students then and Herndon was full. That is not the current situation. Herndon is well over 2000 and will continue to be. And, Langley continues to be in a corner of Fairfax County next to a nearby high school.

You are ignoring the enrollment pressures at McLean and Marshall when discussing Langley/Herndon. It was a non-issue back in 1994 when part of Great Falls got moved to Langley (both McLean and Marshall were under-enrolled then) but it's a big part of the equation now.

She’s not ignoring anything. She’s highlighting that the disparity among schools is largely organic and not due to some nefarious actors.

It’s the free market for housing that got us where we are, despite the equity crowd thinking it’s some Illuminati-type plot against minorities.

That’s a bunch of mumbo jimbo. We don’t have anything like a free market for housing in this county. It’s a tightly controlled market with development dependent on government zoning and various approvals.

And, when it comes to school boundaries, they aren’t “organic” either, but instead determined by a government body that, at various times, has made both intentional and unintentional decisions that magnified the disparities between schools. It’s the prospect that they might be mindful of that now that clearly frightens you so much.

So we should go after Fairfax families for the decisions made by the board of supervisors and prior school boards?

You like to frame this as some big conspiracy. You and the extreme right are all the same.

I neither accept your framing of the current situation (that is, that there is a plan to “go after” Fairfax families) nor your misleading characterization of my prior posts (as I’ve noted that the current situation is the result of both intentional decisions and unintended consequences).

I’m solidly in the center when it comes to both this and other policy issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Plenty of blame to go around for the current situation in FCPS:

- Federal Government - lax enforcement of immigration laws for an extended period of time
- Fairfax County zoning - the lack of apartments or more affordable homes in some areas (or very little anyway) is one example, with too many apartments in other areas
- FCPS - sticking with bad programs that drove people away, AAP structure, making bad decisions in earlier boundary adjustments that made some schools worse off, liberal pupil placement that allowed families with more means to live in one school zone and attend another (not something poorer families can do)
- FCPS residents (current and former) - self segregating by only looking at schools with Great Schools above 7; over time this drove schools below a 7 down even further (a very insidious change).

So FCPS is not crazy to try to raise the scores of the schools by making some boundary changes. The schools themselves aren't necessarily bad - the administrators, faculty, and facilities are fine, but the schools are faced with high ELL and FRL numbers that set them up for trouble. If they continue to fail does the state step in? FCPS doesn't want that.

Now they could certainly try some things first - eliminate IB and getting rid of AAP middle school centers are a couple of examples.

This is crazy. Schools are definitely not all the same, some are good and some are really bad. High achieving schools are good because the PARENTS are investing in making sure their kids are learning. FCPS needs to improve the bad schools, not move children and use those kids to improve schools instead of doing the work of improving struggling schools. Moving kids around is just socialist ideology and uses kids like pawns instead of educating children. This SB just uses other people’s children as their own resource to carry out their social agenda and cover up the terrible job they are doing of educating. The SB and Reid and her gatehouse employees act with impunity, hide behind taxpayer (parent) funded lawyers and big law firms and appear to believe they have no accountability to students and parents.

Many schools have programs and populations that bring scores down. Doesn’t mean they are bad school. If you moved certain special ed programs and/or ESL kids into high achieving schools, the same would happen. I personally think every school should either have some ESL kids and/or specific Special Ed programs. You will see that these very good schools are the same as other schools that have these populations.

THIS! Why do people keep on trying to push some crazy conspiracy theory AND insult more than half of the students and schools in the county? Its almost like they are unable to have a normal discussion without freaking out.
I'm so sick of the conspiracy theorists accusing our FRM, EL, and disabled communities of being "bad kids" and that their "good kids" are going to be moved into low performing schools so that they can be superheros and save the day by raising test scores. Like that would even work!

Almost every high school in FCPS has a significant number of ESOL students. Even the "good" ones.
Many of the "good" schools also have programs for special education and disabled students.
So, your premise is wrong.

The problem is that the SB and Superintendent Reid apparently want to shift kids when it is not practical. Some of the communities they want to move have been assigned to their current schools long ago. This compromises the stability to which people are accustomed.

Would you want your child moved to improve the scores of another school? That is not a good reason.

You’re starting from an assumed outcome that you wouldn’t like and then working backwards to claim it could only result from an improper motive.

The fact that you rehash this on a more or less daily basis doesn’t make it any more convincing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Plenty of blame to go around for the current situation in FCPS:

- Federal Government - lax enforcement of immigration laws for an extended period of time
- Fairfax County zoning - the lack of apartments or more affordable homes in some areas (or very little anyway) is one example, with too many apartments in other areas
- FCPS - sticking with bad programs that drove people away, AAP structure, making bad decisions in earlier boundary adjustments that made some schools worse off, liberal pupil placement that allowed families with more means to live in one school zone and attend another (not something poorer families can do)
- FCPS residents (current and former) - self segregating by only looking at schools with Great Schools above 7; over time this drove schools below a 7 down even further (a very insidious change).

So FCPS is not crazy to try to raise the scores of the schools by making some boundary changes. The schools themselves aren't necessarily bad - the administrators, faculty, and facilities are fine, but the schools are faced with high ELL and FRL numbers that set them up for trouble. If they continue to fail does the state step in? FCPS doesn't want that.

Now they could certainly try some things first - eliminate IB and getting rid of AAP middle school centers are a couple of examples.

This is crazy. Schools are definitely not all the same, some are good and some are really bad. High achieving schools are good because the PARENTS are investing in making sure their kids are learning. FCPS needs to improve the bad schools, not move children and use those kids to improve schools instead of doing the work of improving struggling schools. Moving kids around is just socialist ideology and uses kids like pawns instead of educating children. This SB just uses other people’s children as their own resource to carry out their social agenda and cover up the terrible job they are doing of educating. The SB and Reid and her gatehouse employees act with impunity, hide behind taxpayer (parent) funded lawyers and big law firms and appear to believe they have no accountability to students and parents.

Many schools have programs and populations that bring scores down. Doesn’t mean they are bad school. If you moved certain special ed programs and/or ESL kids into high achieving schools, the same would happen. I personally think every school should either have some ESL kids and/or specific Special Ed programs. You will see that these very good schools are the same as other schools that have these populations.

THIS! Why do people keep on trying to push some crazy conspiracy theory AND insult more than half of the students and schools in the county? Its almost like they are unable to have a normal discussion without freaking out.
I'm so sick of the conspiracy theorists accusing our FRM, EL, and disabled communities of being "bad kids" and that their "good kids" are going to be moved into low performing schools so that they can be superheros and save the day by raising test scores. Like that would even work!

Almost every high school in FCPS has a significant number of ESOL students. Even the "good" ones.
Many of the "good" schools also have programs for special education and disabled students.
So, your premise is wrong.

The problem is that the SB and Superintendent Reid apparently want to shift kids when it is not practical. Some of the communities they want to move have been assigned to their current schools long ago. This compromises the stability to which people are accustomed.

Would you want your child moved to improve the scores of another school? That is not a good reason.

You’re starting from an assumed outcome that you wouldn’t like and then working backwards to claim it could only result from an improper motive.

The fact that you rehash this on a more or less daily basis doesn’t make it any more convincing.

You are correct that I do not want my neighborhood moved. Many of us rehash this because it is true and it appears that the SB is not listening.
The SB and Superintendent made it clear what their motive was. The fact that they have changed some of the language does not change their motive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Again, this is reframing the issue and sidestepping the point, which is that redrawing boundaries to “improve individual school scores” is just a plan to mask poor performing students and schools by moving higher achieving students with different demographics to improve scores. This isn’t a conspiracy, it’s been shown all over the place. Gatehouse needs to stop overpaying a bunch of admin staff and actually improve instruction and schools themselves, not use UMC children to achieve what they determine to be their version of “equity.”

DP. Except they haven’t released any plans yet and we know their practice over the past 15 years was to do just the opposite - tinker with boundaries at the margins in ways that typically increased rather than mitigated disparities between nearby schools.

It’s odd that you’ve gotten so worked up over the mere possibility that they might do something that would burst your segregated bubble. Would it really be so horrible to wait until there are actual proposals on the table before reacting so negatively?

DP. Waiting for the proposals serves the school board. It’ll be far too late at that point, and you know that.

Don’t silence families shilling for the school board. It’s a really bad look, especially when you pretend that it’s the sensible thing to do.

So the only way to have any impact is to make assertions about FCPS’s intentions and future proposals that may well turn out to be unfounded? Maybe that’s strategic, but it’s also dishonest. And I note that you apparently have no problem with past decisions by FCPS that increased disparities between nearby schools. I guess it was fine for FCPS to basically create a system of winners and losers as long as you came out ahead.

I don’t think you proofread your second paragraph.

When the school board avoids providing information about relevant criteria, passes the buck/blame to Thru for half a million through a no bid contract that bypassed the RFP process, and continues to say the changes are necessary but provides shifting valid reasons why, you can’t be upset when parents cry foul.

It serves their agenda to be silent.

There is a difference between being silent and manufacturing phony arguments to attack people doing jobs you'd never have the courage or patience to take on. Much easier to be a keyboard warrior treating them like the hired help who didn't get your dishes clean enough after the party.

GD, you clamor about boundary change opponents being racist, Then you post $hit like this.

You should look in the mirror every once in a while.

I haven’t called you racist. But you or your allies have basically said it’s fine to attack the SB and FCPS staff by assuming what you’d consider the worst about their current intentions and future plans because it’s now or never.

You wouldn’t want people to deal with you like that in your personal or professional lives, but you have no problem doing so here. It seems like a self-defeating strategy to me, given that they have a good idea where many of you live.

Is that a threat? Given a lot of the pro boundary posts are very likely coming from gatehouse, that’s extremely concerning.

I thought the school board was making changes based on equity and other categories. Are you saying they are going to go after certain Fairfax families because of our zip code?

It’s a prediction. I had a conversation with a former School Board member several years ago where she volunteered that a certain community “needed to be taught a lesson” based on their comments to and interactions with one of her colleagues about boundary issues at a community meeting. Since that community has only gotten more aggressive and derogatory over the past year or so, it’s fair to assume it’s not lost on current SB members, either. Time will tell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Plenty of blame to go around for the current situation in FCPS:

- Federal Government - lax enforcement of immigration laws for an extended period of time
- Fairfax County zoning - the lack of apartments or more affordable homes in some areas (or very little anyway) is one example, with too many apartments in other areas
- FCPS - sticking with bad programs that drove people away, AAP structure, making bad decisions in earlier boundary adjustments that made some schools worse off, liberal pupil placement that allowed families with more means to live in one school zone and attend another (not something poorer families can do)
- FCPS residents (current and former) - self segregating by only looking at schools with Great Schools above 7; over time this drove schools below a 7 down even further (a very insidious change).

So FCPS is not crazy to try to raise the scores of the schools by making some boundary changes. The schools themselves aren't necessarily bad - the administrators, faculty, and facilities are fine, but the schools are faced with high ELL and FRL numbers that set them up for trouble. If they continue to fail does the state step in? FCPS doesn't want that.

Now they could certainly try some things first - eliminate IB and getting rid of AAP middle school centers are a couple of examples.

This is crazy. Schools are definitely not all the same, some are good and some are really bad. High achieving schools are good because the PARENTS are investing in making sure their kids are learning. FCPS needs to improve the bad schools, not move children and use those kids to improve schools instead of doing the work of improving struggling schools. Moving kids around is just socialist ideology and uses kids like pawns instead of educating children. This SB just uses other people’s children as their own resource to carry out their social agenda and cover up the terrible job they are doing of educating. The SB and Reid and her gatehouse employees act with impunity, hide behind taxpayer (parent) funded lawyers and big law firms and appear to believe they have no accountability to students and parents.

Many schools have programs and populations that bring scores down. Doesn’t mean they are bad school. If you moved certain special ed programs and/or ESL kids into high achieving schools, the same would happen. I personally think every school should either have some ESL kids and/or specific Special Ed programs. You will see that these very good schools are the same as other schools that have these populations.

THIS! Why do people keep on trying to push some crazy conspiracy theory AND insult more than half of the students and schools in the county? Its almost like they are unable to have a normal discussion without freaking out.
I'm so sick of the conspiracy theorists accusing our FRM, EL, and disabled communities of being "bad kids" and that their "good kids" are going to be moved into low performing schools so that they can be superheros and save the day by raising test scores. Like that would even work!

Almost every high school in FCPS has a significant number of ESOL students. Even the "good" ones.
Many of the "good" schools also have programs for special education and disabled students.
So, your premise is wrong.

The problem is that the SB and Superintendent Reid apparently want to shift kids when it is not practical. Some of the communities they want to move have been assigned to their current schools long ago. This compromises the stability to which people are accustomed.

Would you want your child moved to improve the scores of another school? That is not a good reason.

There is a great disparity between schools with specific SPED programs and ESL at ES level. Not all schools have programs for severe needs. Not all schools have large ESL or FRM students. Just look at all of the center schools. Maybe if they added the special programs to AAP centers, these schools scores would drop as well. Has nothing to do with failing schools.

Are there schools in FCPS that are a hot mess? Yes. But Great Schools and test scores are not indicators of a great school. My kid goes to a school that has not great test scores. But they have a large ESL and FRM population and have special programs for SPED students. If you took those programs out and kids out, scores would be higher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Plenty of blame to go around for the current situation in FCPS:

- Federal Government - lax enforcement of immigration laws for an extended period of time
- Fairfax County zoning - the lack of apartments or more affordable homes in some areas (or very little anyway) is one example, with too many apartments in other areas
- FCPS - sticking with bad programs that drove people away, AAP structure, making bad decisions in earlier boundary adjustments that made some schools worse off, liberal pupil placement that allowed families with more means to live in one school zone and attend another (not something poorer families can do)
- FCPS residents (current and former) - self segregating by only looking at schools with Great Schools above 7; over time this drove schools below a 7 down even further (a very insidious change).

So FCPS is not crazy to try to raise the scores of the schools by making some boundary changes. The schools themselves aren't necessarily bad - the administrators, faculty, and facilities are fine, but the schools are faced with high ELL and FRL numbers that set them up for trouble. If they continue to fail does the state step in? FCPS doesn't want that.

Now they could certainly try some things first - eliminate IB and getting rid of AAP middle school centers are a couple of examples.

This is crazy. Schools are definitely not all the same, some are good and some are really bad. High achieving schools are good because the PARENTS are investing in making sure their kids are learning. FCPS needs to improve the bad schools, not move children and use those kids to improve schools instead of doing the work of improving struggling schools. Moving kids around is just socialist ideology and uses kids like pawns instead of educating children. This SB just uses other people’s children as their own resource to carry out their social agenda and cover up the terrible job they are doing of educating. The SB and Reid and her gatehouse employees act with impunity, hide behind taxpayer (parent) funded lawyers and big law firms and appear to believe they have no accountability to students and parents.

Many schools have programs and populations that bring scores down. Doesn’t mean they are bad school. If you moved certain special ed programs and/or ESL kids into high achieving schools, the same would happen. I personally think every school should either have some ESL kids and/or specific Special Ed programs. You will see that these very good schools are the same as other schools that have these populations.

THIS! Why do people keep on trying to push some crazy conspiracy theory AND insult more than half of the students and schools in the county? Its almost like they are unable to have a normal discussion without freaking out.
I'm so sick of the conspiracy theorists accusing our FRM, EL, and disabled communities of being "bad kids" and that their "good kids" are going to be moved into low performing schools so that they can be superheros and save the day by raising test scores. Like that would even work!

Almost every high school in FCPS has a significant number of ESOL students. Even the "good" ones.
Many of the "good" schools also have programs for special education and disabled students.
So, your premise is wrong.

The problem is that the SB and Superintendent Reid apparently want to shift kids when it is not practical. Some of the communities they want to move have been assigned to their current schools long ago. This compromises the stability to which people are accustomed.

Would you want your child moved to improve the scores of another school? That is not a good reason.

There is a great disparity between schools with specific SPED programs and ESL at ES level. Not all schools have programs for severe needs. Not all schools have large ESL or FRM students. Just look at all of the center schools. Maybe if they added the special programs to AAP centers, these schools scores would drop as well. Has nothing to do with failing schools.

Are there schools in FCPS that are a hot mess? Yes. But Great Schools and test scores are not indicators of a great school. My kid goes to a school that has not great test scores. But they have a large ESL and FRM population and have special programs for SPED students. If you took those programs out and kids out, scores would be higher.

PP said "high schools"

Elementary schools should be looked at it locally and separately.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Plenty of blame to go around for the current situation in FCPS:

- Federal Government - lax enforcement of immigration laws for an extended period of time
- Fairfax County zoning - the lack of apartments or more affordable homes in some areas (or very little anyway) is one example, with too many apartments in other areas
- FCPS - sticking with bad programs that drove people away, AAP structure, making bad decisions in earlier boundary adjustments that made some schools worse off, liberal pupil placement that allowed families with more means to live in one school zone and attend another (not something poorer families can do)
- FCPS residents (current and former) - self segregating by only looking at schools with Great Schools above 7; over time this drove schools below a 7 down even further (a very insidious change).

So FCPS is not crazy to try to raise the scores of the schools by making some boundary changes. The schools themselves aren't necessarily bad - the administrators, faculty, and facilities are fine, but the schools are faced with high ELL and FRL numbers that set them up for trouble. If they continue to fail does the state step in? FCPS doesn't want that.

Now they could certainly try some things first - eliminate IB and getting rid of AAP middle school centers are a couple of examples.

This is crazy. Schools are definitely not all the same, some are good and some are really bad. High achieving schools are good because the PARENTS are investing in making sure their kids are learning. FCPS needs to improve the bad schools, not move children and use those kids to improve schools instead of doing the work of improving struggling schools. Moving kids around is just socialist ideology and uses kids like pawns instead of educating children. This SB just uses other people’s children as their own resource to carry out their social agenda and cover up the terrible job they are doing of educating. The SB and Reid and her gatehouse employees act with impunity, hide behind taxpayer (parent) funded lawyers and big law firms and appear to believe they have no accountability to students and parents.

Many schools have programs and populations that bring scores down. Doesn’t mean they are bad school. If you moved certain special ed programs and/or ESL kids into high achieving schools, the same would happen. I personally think every school should either have some ESL kids and/or specific Special Ed programs. You will see that these very good schools are the same as other schools that have these populations.

THIS! Why do people keep on trying to push some crazy conspiracy theory AND insult more than half of the students and schools in the county? Its almost like they are unable to have a normal discussion without freaking out.
I'm so sick of the conspiracy theorists accusing our FRM, EL, and disabled communities of being "bad kids" and that their "good kids" are going to be moved into low performing schools so that they can be superheros and save the day by raising test scores. Like that would even work!

Almost every high school in FCPS has a significant number of ESOL students. Even the "good" ones.
Many of the "good" schools also have programs for special education and disabled students.
So, your premise is wrong.

The problem is that the SB and Superintendent Reid apparently want to shift kids when it is not practical. Some of the communities they want to move have been assigned to their current schools long ago. This compromises the stability to which people are accustomed.

Would you want your child moved to improve the scores of another school? That is not a good reason.

Are you living under a rock? The ELL populations at FCPS high schools are very different:

English Learners - 2023-2024 numbers (percent of student population)

Lewis - 34%
Annandale - 33.5%
Mt. Vernon - 24%
Herndon - 32%
Justice - 41.5%

Langley - 3%
West Springfield - 5%
Madison - 5.8%
Oakton - 7.25%
McLean - 6.5%

[Anonymous]

That is an interesting list. So are you proposing to shift students from low ELL schools to high ELL schools to balance things out. Interesting idea. I bet it makes sense to make those moves based on proximity. Very interesting, as a boundary adjustment problem.

Let’s take a look at just a couple on the list:

Annandale - 33.5%
Justice - 41.5%

Now let’s look at the closest school with less than 10% ELL:

Langley - 3% (9 miles to Justice, 13 miles to Annandale)
West Springfield - 5% (10 miles to Justice, 5.5 miles to Annandale)
Madison - 5.8% (11 miles to Justice, 10 miles to Annandale)
Oakton - 7.25% (9 miles to Justice, 10 miles to Annandale)
McLean - 6.5% (7 miles to Justice, 10 miles to Annandale)

And the winner is:

Woodson - 6.3% (8.6 miles to Justice, 5.7 miles to Annandale)

What’s that you say? Woodson wasn’t on the list? Who would do such a thing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Plenty of blame to go around for the current situation in FCPS:

- Federal Government - lax enforcement of immigration laws for an extended period of time
- Fairfax County zoning - the lack of apartments or more affordable homes in some areas (or very little anyway) is one example, with too many apartments in other areas
- FCPS - sticking with bad programs that drove people away, AAP structure, making bad decisions in earlier boundary adjustments that made some schools worse off, liberal pupil placement that allowed families with more means to live in one school zone and attend another (not something poorer families can do)
- FCPS residents (current and former) - self segregating by only looking at schools with Great Schools above 7; over time this drove schools below a 7 down even further (a very insidious change).

So FCPS is not crazy to try to raise the scores of the schools by making some boundary changes. The schools themselves aren't necessarily bad - the administrators, faculty, and facilities are fine, but the schools are faced with high ELL and FRL numbers that set them up for trouble. If they continue to fail does the state step in? FCPS doesn't want that.

Now they could certainly try some things first - eliminate IB and getting rid of AAP middle school centers are a couple of examples.

This is crazy. Schools are definitely not all the same, some are good and some are really bad. High achieving schools are good because the PARENTS are investing in making sure their kids are learning. FCPS needs to improve the bad schools, not move children and use those kids to improve schools instead of doing the work of improving struggling schools. Moving kids around is just socialist ideology and uses kids like pawns instead of educating children. This SB just uses other people’s children as their own resource to carry out their social agenda and cover up the terrible job they are doing of educating. The SB and Reid and her gatehouse employees act with impunity, hide behind taxpayer (parent) funded lawyers and big law firms and appear to believe they have no accountability to students and parents.

Many schools have programs and populations that bring scores down. Doesn’t mean they are bad school. If you moved certain special ed programs and/or ESL kids into high achieving schools, the same would happen. I personally think every school should either have some ESL kids and/or specific Special Ed programs. You will see that these very good schools are the same as other schools that have these populations.

THIS! Why do people keep on trying to push some crazy conspiracy theory AND insult more than half of the students and schools in the county? Its almost like they are unable to have a normal discussion without freaking out.
I'm so sick of the conspiracy theorists accusing our FRM, EL, and disabled communities of being "bad kids" and that their "good kids" are going to be moved into low performing schools so that they can be superheros and save the day by raising test scores. Like that would even work!

Almost every high school in FCPS has a significant number of ESOL students. Even the "good" ones.
Many of the "good" schools also have programs for special education and disabled students.
So, your premise is wrong.

The problem is that the SB and Superintendent Reid apparently want to shift kids when it is not practical. Some of the communities they want to move have been assigned to their current schools long ago. This compromises the stability to which people are accustomed.

Would you want your child moved to improve the scores of another school? That is not a good reason.

Are you living under a rock? The ELL populations at FCPS high schools are very different:

English Learners - 2023-2024 numbers (percent of student population)

Lewis - 34%
Annandale - 33.5%
Mt. Vernon - 24%
Herndon - 32%
Justice - 41.5%

Langley - 3%
West Springfield - 5%
Madison - 5.8%
Oakton - 7.25%
McLean - 6.5%

Woodson was 6.1%. So they should be in the top 5.

[Anonymous]

It’s interesting, when APS did their surveys, they found immigrant communities wanted to be together not spread out across the county. It makes sense that an immigrant wants to have some friends from their language/culture. My grandparents cherished their friends from their European country who lived close the them in the USA also.

The assumption that spreading out the ESL community would be helpful doesn’t include the input of the ESL families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Plenty of blame to go around for the current situation in FCPS:

- Federal Government - lax enforcement of immigration laws for an extended period of time
- Fairfax County zoning - the lack of apartments or more affordable homes in some areas (or very little anyway) is one example, with too many apartments in other areas
- FCPS - sticking with bad programs that drove people away, AAP structure, making bad decisions in earlier boundary adjustments that made some schools worse off, liberal pupil placement that allowed families with more means to live in one school zone and attend another (not something poorer families can do)
- FCPS residents (current and former) - self segregating by only looking at schools with Great Schools above 7; over time this drove schools below a 7 down even further (a very insidious change).

So FCPS is not crazy to try to raise the scores of the schools by making some boundary changes. The schools themselves aren't necessarily bad - the administrators, faculty, and facilities are fine, but the schools are faced with high ELL and FRL numbers that set them up for trouble. If they continue to fail does the state step in? FCPS doesn't want that.

Now they could certainly try some things first - eliminate IB and getting rid of AAP middle school centers are a couple of examples.

This is crazy. Schools are definitely not all the same, some are good and some are really bad. High achieving schools are good because the PARENTS are investing in making sure their kids are learning. FCPS needs to improve the bad schools, not move children and use those kids to improve schools instead of doing the work of improving struggling schools. Moving kids around is just socialist ideology and uses kids like pawns instead of educating children. This SB just uses other people’s children as their own resource to carry out their social agenda and cover up the terrible job they are doing of educating. The SB and Reid and her gatehouse employees act with impunity, hide behind taxpayer (parent) funded lawyers and big law firms and appear to believe they have no accountability to students and parents.

Many schools have programs and populations that bring scores down. Doesn’t mean they are bad school. If you moved certain special ed programs and/or ESL kids into high achieving schools, the same would happen. I personally think every school should either have some ESL kids and/or specific Special Ed programs. You will see that these very good schools are the same as other schools that have these populations.

THIS! Why do people keep on trying to push some crazy conspiracy theory AND insult more than half of the students and schools in the county? Its almost like they are unable to have a normal discussion without freaking out.
I'm so sick of the conspiracy theorists accusing our FRM, EL, and disabled communities of being "bad kids" and that their "good kids" are going to be moved into low performing schools so that they can be superheros and save the day by raising test scores. Like that would even work!

Almost every high school in FCPS has a significant number of ESOL students. Even the "good" ones.
Many of the "good" schools also have programs for special education and disabled students.
So, your premise is wrong.

The problem is that the SB and Superintendent Reid apparently want to shift kids when it is not practical. Some of the communities they want to move have been assigned to their current schools long ago. This compromises the stability to which people are accustomed.

Would you want your child moved to improve the scores of another school? That is not a good reason.

Are you living under a rock? The ELL populations at FCPS high schools are very different:

English Learners - 2023-2024 numbers (percent of student population)

Lewis - 34%
Annandale - 33.5%
Mt. Vernon - 24%
Herndon - 32%
Justice - 41.5%

Langley - 3%
West Springfield - 5%
Madison - 5.8%
Oakton - 7.25%
McLean - 6.5%

Woodson was 6.1%. So they should be in the top 5.

And South County was 6.0.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s interesting, when APS did their surveys, they found immigrant communities wanted to be together not spread out across the county. It makes sense that an immigrant wants to have some friends from their language/culture. My grandparents cherished their friends from their European country who lived close the them in the USA also.

The assumption that spreading out the ESL community would be helpful doesn’t include the input of the ESL families.

+1

And, I am pretty sure you cannot spread them out without busing them a greater distance. Then, becoming part of the community becomes problematic: after school activities; parental support; after school jobs; babysitting siblings; and additional truancy.

Not a good idea.

Fix the problems where they are.