New boundary study for Churchill, Clarksburg, Damascus, Gaithersburg, RM, Northwest, Poolesville, QO, SV, WM, Wootton

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:FARMS kids do not do better when they are bused.

That said, every child deserves to have fair access to a quality education. It looks bad when they have one school with a 1300 average SAT and one with a 950 SAT. But the kids with a 950 SAT would still score the same even if they moved to the 1300 average SAT school and vice versa.

I am a strong believer in the school within a school mindset that allows the ones that want to learn a separate peer group for their core classes.

People want stability in their schools. I hope the BOE doesn't go on a crusade to move kids around just because it's the "in thing to do"

Kids from poor families actually do do better when they attend low-poverty vs. high-poverty schools.

People are against change, period. But you can't have boundary changes without change.

This. The higher the poverty rate, the lower the performance. These need to be reduced:

SVHS- 49.9%
Gaithersburg- 57.6%
Watkins Mill- 64.4%

Seneca Valley High: 2023 Hispanic chronic absenteeism rate 51.0%:
https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/Demographics/ChronicAbsenteeism/3/99/1/6/15/0104/2023

Gaithersburg High: 2023 Hispanic chronic absenteeism rate 55.0%:
https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/Demographics/ChronicAbsenteeism/3/99/1/6/15/0551/2023

Watkins Mills High: 2023 Hispanic chronic absenteeism rate 58.9%:
https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/Demographics/ChronicAbsenteeism/3/99/1/6/15/0545/2023

When you move chronically absent students to a school farther away, will they suddenly show up for school?

No they won't, but the concern extends beyond them. In some ways, they're going to do what they want to do. It's really more about the ripple effect throughout the entire school. When a huge portion of the student body is plagued by chronic absenteeism the impact to the school is profound. For example, using Watkins Mills numbers- 1,715 students, 616 are chronically absent. Imagine what that does to the school. Teachers now have to dedicate significant time to help the absent students catch up, which disrupts classroom dynamics and affects the experience of the kids who consistently go to school and do want to learn. There's a high number of students who are disengaged and a high number of disciplinary issues. There's probably limited clubs and programs compared to the other schools that don't have this problem because the demand is low. There's probably very little to no school spirit. Very low parental engagement. A sense of apathy among a large number of students and staff. Higher than normal teacher turnover rates. What you end up with is a negative school culture that is not an ideal environment for learning. This is what MCPS cares about and why demographics is a big factor in boundary studies.

You move these kids to other schools so each school having 10-15% chronically absent is still causing issues, and more schools will have low moral. Possibly more Hispanic students will be absent due to the distance. The people who care about education will not accept their kids being bussed to poor performing schools so they will leave or go to private schools. Then none of the schools will be ideal environment for learning. It’s a lose lose situation. Seriously this is a problem that busing cannot solve.

In fact, Hispanic organizations have surveyed Hispanic students in MCPS and found that many immigrant Hispanic students don't go to school because they were poorly educated in their home countries and could not keep up with their grade-level work. You cannot solve this problem by bussing.

Again, the issue isn't so much the kids who don't want to go to school. I agree we can't fix that. The significant issue is the ripple effect that having a large number of chronically absent kids have on a school and the resulting environment that it causes. It negatively impacts the other students, the staff, and the overall culture of the school.

Again this problem is not solvable by bussing. Bussing will only make the ripple effect in a few schools be extended to more schools.

MCPS buses over 100,000 students, twice a day. This boundary study will almost certainly reduce busing by reassigning students in potential walk zones.

+1. All the kids who live near Crown who currently take the bus to Gaithersburg or Wootton will become walkers. That's a good thing.

Name a neighborhood in wootton that’s actually walkable to crown?

Most obviously: the Washingtonian area, which is literally across Fields Road from the Crown HS site.

https://gis.mcpsmd.org/ServiceAreaMaps/WoottonHS.pdf

There are also some areas south of 28 that look like they're within 2.0 miles walking distance of the Crown HS site, some of which are also within walking distance of Wootton.

South of 28 is really not walkable to crown. There may be some houses just within 2 miles but not the entire neighborhood so still need bus for the neighborhood.

Some of it is.

It's going to depend on how the MCPS transportation department determines the walk zone for Crown. If they don't think it's safe for students to cross 28, or Shady Grove, or Sam Eig, then they will remain bus riders even if less than 2 miles away from Crown.

Definitely not safe to walk 2 miles on highway 28 and cross it everyday for students.

28 isn't less safe than Georgia Ave, or Veirs Mill, or University, or Connecticut, or 355. MCPS expects high school students to walk along and cross those roads. MCPS even expects middle school students to walk along and cross those roads. So why not 28, too?

I agree, even though it may not be the most pedestrian friendly. And the county can always put up flashing school lights near where there’s a major school crossing. Parents with means will of course drop the kids off.

They don’t even clear the snow from some of the sidewalks adjoining state roads. Most of the sidewalks along falls rd 189 were never cleared in the last storms even 4 days later—this includes the pedestrian walkway path across 270.

How often do we get snow?

Enough that the kids shouldn’t have to be unable to walk to school for 4-6 days EACH time because the government won’t follow its own laws on clearing sidewalks.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FARMS kids do not do better when they are bused.

That said, every child deserves to have fair access to a quality education. It looks bad when they have one school with a 1300 average SAT and one with a 950 SAT. But the kids with a 950 SAT would still score the same even if they moved to the 1300 average SAT school and vice versa.

I am a strong believer in the school within a school mindset that allows the ones that want to learn a separate peer group for their core classes.

People want stability in their schools. I hope the BOE doesn't go on a crusade to move kids around just because it's the "in thing to do"

Kids from poor families actually do do better when they attend low-poverty vs. high-poverty schools.

People are against change, period. But you can't have boundary changes without change.

This. The higher the poverty rate, the lower the performance. These need to be reduced:

SVHS- 49.9%
Gaithersburg- 57.6%
Watkins Mill- 64.4%

Seneca Valley High: 2023 Hispanic chronic absenteeism rate 51.0%:
https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/Demographics/ChronicAbsenteeism/3/99/1/6/15/0104/2023

Gaithersburg High: 2023 Hispanic chronic absenteeism rate 55.0%:
https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/Demographics/ChronicAbsenteeism/3/99/1/6/15/0551/2023

Watkins Mills High: 2023 Hispanic chronic absenteeism rate 58.9%:
https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/Demographics/ChronicAbsenteeism/3/99/1/6/15/0545/2023

When you move chronically absent students to a school farther away, will they suddenly show up for school?

No they won't, but the concern extends beyond them. In some ways, they're going to do what they want to do. It's really more about the ripple effect throughout the entire school. When a huge portion of the student body is plagued by chronic absenteeism the impact to the school is profound. For example, using Watkins Mills numbers- 1,715 students, 616 are chronically absent. Imagine what that does to the school. Teachers now have to dedicate significant time to help the absent students catch up, which disrupts classroom dynamics and affects the experience of the kids who consistently go to school and do want to learn. There's a high number of students who are disengaged and a high number of disciplinary issues. There's probably limited clubs and programs compared to the other schools that don't have this problem because the demand is low. There's probably very little to no school spirit. Very low parental engagement. A sense of apathy among a large number of students and staff. Higher than normal teacher turnover rates. What you end up with is a negative school culture that is not an ideal environment for learning. This is what MCPS cares about and why demographics is a big factor in boundary studies.

You move these kids to other schools so each school having 10-15% chronically absent is still causing issues, and more schools will have low moral. Possibly more Hispanic students will be absent due to the distance. The people who care about education will not accept their kids being bussed to poor performing schools so they will leave or go to private schools. Then none of the schools will be ideal environment for learning. It’s a lose lose situation. Seriously this is a problem that busing cannot solve.

In fact, Hispanic organizations have surveyed Hispanic students in MCPS and found that many immigrant Hispanic students don't go to school because they were poorly educated in their home countries and could not keep up with their grade-level work. You cannot solve this problem by bussing.

Again, the issue isn't so much the kids who don't want to go to school. I agree we can't fix that. The significant issue is the ripple effect that having a large number of chronically absent kids have on a school and the resulting environment that it causes. It negatively impacts the other students, the staff, and the overall culture of the school.

Again this problem is not solvable by bussing. Bussing will only make the ripple effect in a few schools be extended to more schools.

MCPS buses over 100,000 students, twice a day. This boundary study will almost certainly reduce busing by reassigning students in potential walk zones.

+1. All the kids who live near Crown who currently take the bus to Gaithersburg or Wootton will become walkers. That's a good thing.

Name a neighborhood in wootton that’s actually walkable to crown?

Most obviously: the Washingtonian area, which is literally across Fields Road from the Crown HS site.

https://gis.mcpsmd.org/ServiceAreaMaps/WoottonHS.pdf

There are also some areas south of 28 that look like they're within 2.0 miles walking distance of the Crown HS site, some of which are also within walking distance of Wootton.

South of 28 is really not walkable to crown. There may be some houses just within 2 miles but not the entire neighborhood so still need bus for the neighborhood.

Some of it is.

It's going to depend on how the MCPS transportation department determines the walk zone for Crown. If they don't think it's safe for students to cross 28, or Shady Grove, or Sam Eig, then they will remain bus riders even if less than 2 miles away from Crown.

Definitely not safe to walk 2 miles on highway 28 and cross it everyday for students.

28 isn't less safe than Georgia Ave, or Veirs Mill, or University, or Connecticut, or 355. MCPS expects high school students to walk along and cross those roads. MCPS even expects middle school students to walk along and cross those roads. So why not 28, too?

I agree, even though it may not be the most pedestrian friendly. And the county can always put up flashing school lights near where there’s a major school crossing. Parents with means will of course drop the kids off.

They don’t even clear the snow from some of the sidewalks adjoining state roads. Most of the sidewalks along falls rd 189 were never cleared in the last storms even 4 days later—this includes the pedestrian walkway path across 270.

How often do we get snow?

Enough that the kids shouldn’t have to be unable to walk to school for 4-6 days EACH time because the government won’t follow its own laws on clearing sidewalks.

Most years there's 1-2 inches once or twice that melts by mid-day. Some years we even get none, but once every decade we get a real storm that shuts things down for a day or two. For the most part snow isn't a factor.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[ok quote=Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FARMS kids do not do better when they are bused.

That said, every child deserves to have fair access to a quality education. It looks bad when they have one school with a 1300 average SAT and one with a 950 SAT. But the kids with a 950 SAT would still score the same even if they moved to the 1300 average SAT school and vice versa.

I am a strong believer in the school within a school mindset that allows the ones that want to learn a separate peer group for their core classes.

People want stability in their schools. I hope the BOE doesn't go on a crusade to move kids around just because it's the "in thing to do"

Kids from poor families actually do do better when they attend low-poverty vs. high-poverty schools.

People are against change, period. But you can't have boundary changes without change.

This. The higher the poverty rate, the lower the performance. These need to be reduced:

SVHS- 49.9%
Gaithersburg- 57.6%
Watkins Mill- 64.4%

Seneca Valley High: 2023 Hispanic chronic absenteeism rate 51.0%:
https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/Demographics/ChronicAbsenteeism/3/99/1/6/15/0104/2023

Gaithersburg High: 2023 Hispanic chronic absenteeism rate 55.0%:
https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/Demographics/ChronicAbsenteeism/3/99/1/6/15/0551/2023

Watkins Mills High: 2023 Hispanic chronic absenteeism rate 58.9%:
https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/Demographics/ChronicAbsenteeism/3/99/1/6/15/0545/2023

When you move chronically absent students to a school farther away, will they suddenly show up for school?

No they won't, but the concern extends beyond them. In some ways, they're going to do what they want to do. It's really more about the ripple effect throughout the entire school. When a huge portion of the student body is plagued by chronic absenteeism the impact to the school is profound. For example, using Watkins Mills numbers- 1,715 students, 616 are chronically absent. Imagine what that does to the school. Teachers now have to dedicate significant time to help the absent students catch up, which disrupts classroom dynamics and affects the experience of the kids who consistently go to school and do want to learn. There's a high number of students who are disengaged and a high number of disciplinary issues. There's probably limited clubs and programs compared to the other schools that don't have this problem because the demand is low. There's probably very little to no school spirit. Very low parental engagement. A sense of apathy among a large number of students and staff. Higher than normal teacher turnover rates. What you end up with is a negative school culture that is not an ideal environment for learning. This is what MCPS cares about and why demographics is a big factor in boundary studies.

You move these kids to other schools so each school having 10-15% chronically absent is still causing issues, and more schools will have low moral. Possibly more Hispanic students will be absent due to the distance. The people who care about education will not accept their kids being bussed to poor performing schools so they will leave or go to private schools. Then none of the schools will be ideal environment for learning. It’s a lose lose situation. Seriously this is a problem that busing cannot solve.

In fact, Hispanic organizations have surveyed Hispanic students in MCPS and found that many immigrant Hispanic students don't go to school because they were poorly educated in their home countries and could not keep up with their grade-level work. You cannot solve this problem by bussing.

Again, the issue isn't so much the kids who don't want to go to school. I agree we can't fix that. The significant issue is the ripple effect that having a large number of chronically absent kids have on a school and the resulting environment that it causes. It negatively impacts the other students, the staff, and the overall culture of the school.

Again this problem is not solvable by bussing. Bussing will only make the ripple effect in a few schools be extended to more schools.

MCPS buses over 100,000 students, twice a day. This boundary study will almost certainly reduce busing by reassigning students in potential walk zones.

+1. All the kids who live near Crown who currently take the bus to Gaithersburg or Wootton will become walkers. That's a good thing.

Name a neighborhood in wootton that’s actually walkable to crown?

Most obviously: the Washingtonian area, which is literally across Fields Road from the Crown HS site.

https://gis.mcpsmd.org/ServiceAreaMaps/WoottonHS.pdf

There are also some areas south of 28 that look like they're within 2.0 miles walking distance of the Crown HS site, some of which are also within walking distance of Wootton.

South of 28 is really not walkable to crown. There may be some houses just within 2 miles but not the entire neighborhood so still need bus for the neighborhood.

Some of it is.

It's going to depend on how the MCPS transportation department determines the walk zone for Crown. If they don't think it's safe for students to cross 28, or Shady Grove, or Sam Eig, then they will remain bus riders even if less than 2 miles away from Crown.

Definitely not safe to walk 2 miles on highway 28 and cross it everyday for students.

28 isn't less safe than Georgia Ave, or Veirs Mill, or University, or Connecticut, or 355. MCPS expects high school students to walk along and cross those roads. MCPS even expects middle school students to walk along and cross those roads. So why not 28, too?

I agree, even though it may not be the most pedestrian friendly. And the county can always put up flashing school lights near where there’s a major school crossing. Parents with means will of course drop the kids off.

They don’t even clear the snow from some of the sidewalks adjoining state roads. Most of the sidewalks along falls rd 189 were never cleared in the last storms even 4 days later—this includes the pedestrian walkway path across 270.

How often do we get snow?

Enough that the kids shouldn’t have to be unable to walk to school for 4-6 days EACH time because the government won’t follow its own laws on clearing sidewalks.

Most years there's 1-2 inches once or twice that melts by mid-day. Some years we even get none, but once every decade we get a real storm that shuts things down for a day or two. For the most part snow isn't a factor.

False. Many years, we get lots of little snows where the cold stays after. They need to clean the sidewalks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many of these schools lack real diversity and need some busing.

Busing is a band-aid. I'd rather see MCPS invest in well thought-out programs at specific schools that are attractive and open to students in upcounty/midcounty.

You notice how the two HS magnet programs are in opposite corners of the county that's inconvenient for the majority of the county? There was another thread a few months back about Crown. The capacity at Crown wasn't even necessary if current boundaries were shifted?

I want to know how many overpaid MCPS Central Office / BOE staff at Hungerford send their kids to College Gardens ES or live in Kings Farm? Someone on the thread was pushing hard to insist that those areas would 100% certain be part of Crown.

That’s funny because the word on the street is that the rest of King Farm will be shifted from RM to Gaithersburg, not exactly a “win”.

Word on what street? Why wouldn’t all of KF go to Crown?

Half of King Farm is already assigned to Gaithersburg, and moving the rest of the neighborhood north to G'burg and shifting a low income neighborhood that currently attends Gaithersburg to Crown will help balance FARMS. This has floated around for quite awhile. And again, I'm not hoping for that outcome.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FARMS kids do not do better when they are bused.

That said, every child deserves to have fair access to a quality education. It looks bad when they have one school with a 1300 average SAT and one with a 950 SAT. But the kids with a 950 SAT would still score the same even if they moved to the 1300 average SAT school and vice versa.

I am a strong believer in the school within a school mindset that allows the ones that want to learn a separate peer group for their core classes.

People want stability in their schools. I hope the BOE doesn't go on a crusade to move kids around just because it's the "in thing to do"

Kids from poor families actually do do better when they attend low-poverty vs. high-poverty schools.

People are against change, period. But you can't have boundary changes without change.

This. The higher the poverty rate, the lower the performance. These need to be reduced:

SVHS- 49.9%
Gaithersburg- 57.6%
Watkins Mill- 64.4%

Seneca Valley High: 2023 Hispanic chronic absenteeism rate 51.0%:
https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/Demographics/ChronicAbsenteeism/3/99/1/6/15/0104/2023

Gaithersburg High: 2023 Hispanic chronic absenteeism rate 55.0%:
https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/Demographics/ChronicAbsenteeism/3/99/1/6/15/0551/2023

Watkins Mills High: 2023 Hispanic chronic absenteeism rate 58.9%:
https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/Demographics/ChronicAbsenteeism/3/99/1/6/15/0545/2023

When you move chronically absent students to a school farther away, will they suddenly show up for school?

No they won't, but the concern extends beyond them. In some ways, they're going to do what they want to do. It's really more about the ripple effect throughout the entire school. When a huge portion of the student body is plagued by chronic absenteeism the impact to the school is profound. For example, using Watkins Mills numbers- 1,715 students, 616 are chronically absent. Imagine what that does to the school. Teachers now have to dedicate significant time to help the absent students catch up, which disrupts classroom dynamics and affects the experience of the kids who consistently go to school and do want to learn. There's a high number of students who are disengaged and a high number of disciplinary issues. There's probably limited clubs and programs compared to the other schools that don't have this problem because the demand is low. There's probably very little to no school spirit. Very low parental engagement. A sense of apathy among a large number of students and staff. Higher than normal teacher turnover rates. What you end up with is a negative school culture that is not an ideal environment for learning. This is what MCPS cares about and why demographics is a big factor in boundary studies.

You move these kids to other schools so each school having 10-15% chronically absent is still causing issues, and more schools will have low moral. Possibly more Hispanic students will be absent due to the distance. The people who care about education will not accept their kids being bussed to poor performing schools so they will leave or go to private schools. Then none of the schools will be ideal environment for learning. It’s a lose lose situation. Seriously this is a problem that busing cannot solve.

In fact, Hispanic organizations have surveyed Hispanic students in MCPS and found that many immigrant Hispanic students don't go to school because they were poorly educated in their home countries and could not keep up with their grade-level work. You cannot solve this problem by bussing.

Again, the issue isn't so much the kids who don't want to go to school. I agree we can't fix that. The significant issue is the ripple effect that having a large number of chronically absent kids have on a school and the resulting environment that it causes. It negatively impacts the other students, the staff, and the overall culture of the school.

Again this problem is not solvable by bussing. Bussing will only make the ripple effect in a few schools be extended to more schools.

MCPS buses over 100,000 students, twice a day. This boundary study will almost certainly reduce busing by reassigning students in potential walk zones.

+1. All the kids who live near Crown who currently take the bus to Gaithersburg or Wootton will become walkers. That's a good thing.

Name a neighborhood in wootton that’s actually walkable to crown?

Most obviously: the Washingtonian area, which is literally across Fields Road from the Crown HS site.

https://gis.mcpsmd.org/ServiceAreaMaps/WoottonHS.pdf

There are also some areas south of 28 that look like they're within 2.0 miles walking distance of the Crown HS site, some of which are also within walking distance of Wootton.

You would be introducing split articulation to remove people, who do not want to go to Crown, out of a school that is not over capacity. What's the point?

So you think MCPS should continue to bus kids to Wootton, even when they live across the street from a different high school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FARMS kids do not do better when they are bused.

That said, every child deserves to have fair access to a quality education. It looks bad when they have one school with a 1300 average SAT and one with a 950 SAT. But the kids with a 950 SAT would still score the same even if they moved to the 1300 average SAT school and vice versa.

I am a strong believer in the school within a school mindset that allows the ones that want to learn a separate peer group for their core classes.

People want stability in their schools. I hope the BOE doesn't go on a crusade to move kids around just because it's the "in thing to do"

Kids from poor families actually do do better when they attend low-poverty vs. high-poverty schools.

People are against change, period. But you can't have boundary changes without change.

This. The higher the poverty rate, the lower the performance. These need to be reduced:

SVHS- 49.9%
Gaithersburg- 57.6%
Watkins Mill- 64.4%

Seneca Valley High: 2023 Hispanic chronic absenteeism rate 51.0%:
https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/Demographics/ChronicAbsenteeism/3/99/1/6/15/0104/2023

Gaithersburg High: 2023 Hispanic chronic absenteeism rate 55.0%:
https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/Demographics/ChronicAbsenteeism/3/99/1/6/15/0551/2023

Watkins Mills High: 2023 Hispanic chronic absenteeism rate 58.9%:
https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/Demographics/ChronicAbsenteeism/3/99/1/6/15/0545/2023

When you move chronically absent students to a school farther away, will they suddenly show up for school?

No they won't, but the concern extends beyond them. In some ways, they're going to do what they want to do. It's really more about the ripple effect throughout the entire school. When a huge portion of the student body is plagued by chronic absenteeism the impact to the school is profound. For example, using Watkins Mills numbers- 1,715 students, 616 are chronically absent. Imagine what that does to the school. Teachers now have to dedicate significant time to help the absent students catch up, which disrupts classroom dynamics and affects the experience of the kids who consistently go to school and do want to learn. There's a high number of students who are disengaged and a high number of disciplinary issues. There's probably limited clubs and programs compared to the other schools that don't have this problem because the demand is low. There's probably very little to no school spirit. Very low parental engagement. A sense of apathy among a large number of students and staff. Higher than normal teacher turnover rates. What you end up with is a negative school culture that is not an ideal environment for learning. This is what MCPS cares about and why demographics is a big factor in boundary studies.

You move these kids to other schools so each school having 10-15% chronically absent is still causing issues, and more schools will have low moral. Possibly more Hispanic students will be absent due to the distance. The people who care about education will not accept their kids being bussed to poor performing schools so they will leave or go to private schools. Then none of the schools will be ideal environment for learning. It’s a lose lose situation. Seriously this is a problem that busing cannot solve.

In fact, Hispanic organizations have surveyed Hispanic students in MCPS and found that many immigrant Hispanic students don't go to school because they were poorly educated in their home countries and could not keep up with their grade-level work. You cannot solve this problem by bussing.

Again, the issue isn't so much the kids who don't want to go to school. I agree we can't fix that. The significant issue is the ripple effect that having a large number of chronically absent kids have on a school and the resulting environment that it causes. It negatively impacts the other students, the staff, and the overall culture of the school.

Again this problem is not solvable by bussing. Bussing will only make the ripple effect in a few schools be extended to more schools.

MCPS buses over 100,000 students, twice a day. This boundary study will almost certainly reduce busing by reassigning students in potential walk zones.

+1. All the kids who live near Crown who currently take the bus to Gaithersburg or Wootton will become walkers. That's a good thing.

Name a neighborhood in wootton that’s actually walkable to crown?

Most obviously: the Washingtonian area, which is literally across Fields Road from the Crown HS site.

https://gis.mcpsmd.org/ServiceAreaMaps/WoottonHS.pdf

There are also some areas south of 28 that look like they're within 2.0 miles walking distance of the Crown HS site, some of which are also within walking distance of Wootton.

You would be introducing split articulation to remove people, who do not want to go to Crown, out of a school that is not over capacity. What's the point?

So you think MCPS should continue to bus kids to Wootton, even when they live across the street from a different high school?

Wootton will end up similarly with most students being bussed since there aren’t many houses in the walk zone and some of them are also walk zones of Churchill and RM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FARMS kids do not do better when they are bused.

That said, every child deserves to have fair access to a quality education. It looks bad when they have one school with a 1300 average SAT and one with a 950 SAT. But the kids with a 950 SAT would still score the same even if they moved to the 1300 average SAT school and vice versa.

I am a strong believer in the school within a school mindset that allows the ones that want to learn a separate peer group for their core classes.

People want stability in their schools. I hope the BOE doesn't go on a crusade to move kids around just because it's the "in thing to do"

Kids from poor families actually do do better when they attend low-poverty vs. high-poverty schools.

People are against change, period. But you can't have boundary changes without change.

This. The higher the poverty rate, the lower the performance. These need to be reduced:

SVHS- 49.9%
Gaithersburg- 57.6%
Watkins Mill- 64.4%

Seneca Valley High: 2023 Hispanic chronic absenteeism rate 51.0%:
https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/Demographics/ChronicAbsenteeism/3/99/1/6/15/0104/2023

Gaithersburg High: 2023 Hispanic chronic absenteeism rate 55.0%:
https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/Demographics/ChronicAbsenteeism/3/99/1/6/15/0551/2023

Watkins Mills High: 2023 Hispanic chronic absenteeism rate 58.9%:
https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/Demographics/ChronicAbsenteeism/3/99/1/6/15/0545/2023

When you move chronically absent students to a school farther away, will they suddenly show up for school?

No they won't, but the concern extends beyond them. In some ways, they're going to do what they want to do. It's really more about the ripple effect throughout the entire school. When a huge portion of the student body is plagued by chronic absenteeism the impact to the school is profound. For example, using Watkins Mills numbers- 1,715 students, 616 are chronically absent. Imagine what that does to the school. Teachers now have to dedicate significant time to help the absent students catch up, which disrupts classroom dynamics and affects the experience of the kids who consistently go to school and do want to learn. There's a high number of students who are disengaged and a high number of disciplinary issues. There's probably limited clubs and programs compared to the other schools that don't have this problem because the demand is low. There's probably very little to no school spirit. Very low parental engagement. A sense of apathy among a large number of students and staff. Higher than normal teacher turnover rates. What you end up with is a negative school culture that is not an ideal environment for learning. This is what MCPS cares about and why demographics is a big factor in boundary studies.

You move these kids to other schools so each school having 10-15% chronically absent is still causing issues, and more schools will have low moral. Possibly more Hispanic students will be absent due to the distance. The people who care about education will not accept their kids being bussed to poor performing schools so they will leave or go to private schools. Then none of the schools will be ideal environment for learning. It’s a lose lose situation. Seriously this is a problem that busing cannot solve.

In fact, Hispanic organizations have surveyed Hispanic students in MCPS and found that many immigrant Hispanic students don't go to school because they were poorly educated in their home countries and could not keep up with their grade-level work. You cannot solve this problem by bussing.

Again, the issue isn't so much the kids who don't want to go to school. I agree we can't fix that. The significant issue is the ripple effect that having a large number of chronically absent kids have on a school and the resulting environment that it causes. It negatively impacts the other students, the staff, and the overall culture of the school.

Again this problem is not solvable by bussing. Bussing will only make the ripple effect in a few schools be extended to more schools.

MCPS buses over 100,000 students, twice a day. This boundary study will almost certainly reduce busing by reassigning students in potential walk zones.

+1. All the kids who live near Crown who currently take the bus to Gaithersburg or Wootton will become walkers. That's a good thing.

Name a neighborhood in wootton that’s actually walkable to crown?

Most obviously: the Washingtonian area, which is literally across Fields Road from the Crown HS site.

https://gis.mcpsmd.org/ServiceAreaMaps/WoottonHS.pdf

There are also some areas south of 28 that look like they're within 2.0 miles walking distance of the Crown HS site, some of which are also within walking distance of Wootton.

You would be introducing split articulation to remove people, who do not want to go to Crown, out of a school that is not over capacity. What's the point?

So you think MCPS should continue to bus kids to Wootton, even when they live across the street from a different high school?

Wootton will end up similarly with most students being bussed since there aren’t many houses in the walk zone and some of them are also walk zones of Churchill and RM.

Just look at the map, the lakewood country club and some parks are taking a big portion of 2 mile radius circle of wootton high school. The current school boundary is already making good use of proximity except for the rio triangle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many of these schools lack real diversity and need some busing.

Busing is a band-aid. I'd rather see MCPS invest in well thought-out programs at specific schools that are attractive and open to students in upcounty/midcounty.

You notice how the two HS magnet programs are in opposite corners of the county that's inconvenient for the majority of the county? There was another thread a few months back about Crown. The capacity at Crown wasn't even necessary if current boundaries were shifted?

I want to know how many overpaid MCPS Central Office / BOE staff at Hungerford send their kids to College Gardens ES or live in Kings Farm? Someone on the thread was pushing hard to insist that those areas would 100% certain be part of Crown.

That’s funny because the word on the street is that the rest of King Farm will be shifted from RM to Gaithersburg, not exactly a “win”.

Word on what street? Why wouldn’t all of KF go to Crown?

Half of King Farm is already assigned to Gaithersburg, and moving the rest of the neighborhood north to G'burg and shifting a low income neighborhood that currently attends Gaithersburg to Crown will help balance FARMS. This has floated around for quite awhile. And again, I'm not hoping for that outcome.

Agree this is most likely. The part of CG that would have been the farthest from GH and is the closest to RM was shifted the Beall a few years ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FARMS kids do not do better when they are bused.

That said, every child deserves to have fair access to a quality education. It looks bad when they have one school with a 1300 average SAT and one with a 950 SAT. But the kids with a 950 SAT would still score the same even if they moved to the 1300 average SAT school and vice versa.

I am a strong believer in the school within a school mindset that allows the ones that want to learn a separate peer group for their core classes.

People want stability in their schools. I hope the BOE doesn't go on a crusade to move kids around just because it's the "in thing to do"

Kids from poor families actually do do better when they attend low-poverty vs. high-poverty schools.

People are against change, period. But you can't have boundary changes without change.

This. The higher the poverty rate, the lower the performance. These need to be reduced:

SVHS- 49.9%
Gaithersburg- 57.6%
Watkins Mill- 64.4%

Seneca Valley High: 2023 Hispanic chronic absenteeism rate 51.0%:
https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/Demographics/ChronicAbsenteeism/3/99/1/6/15/0104/2023

Gaithersburg High: 2023 Hispanic chronic absenteeism rate 55.0%:
https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/Demographics/ChronicAbsenteeism/3/99/1/6/15/0551/2023

Watkins Mills High: 2023 Hispanic chronic absenteeism rate 58.9%:
https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/Demographics/ChronicAbsenteeism/3/99/1/6/15/0545/2023

When you move chronically absent students to a school farther away, will they suddenly show up for school?

No they won't, but the concern extends beyond them. In some ways, they're going to do what they want to do. It's really more about the ripple effect throughout the entire school. When a huge portion of the student body is plagued by chronic absenteeism the impact to the school is profound. For example, using Watkins Mills numbers- 1,715 students, 616 are chronically absent. Imagine what that does to the school. Teachers now have to dedicate significant time to help the absent students catch up, which disrupts classroom dynamics and affects the experience of the kids who consistently go to school and do want to learn. There's a high number of students who are disengaged and a high number of disciplinary issues. There's probably limited clubs and programs compared to the other schools that don't have this problem because the demand is low. There's probably very little to no school spirit. Very low parental engagement. A sense of apathy among a large number of students and staff. Higher than normal teacher turnover rates. What you end up with is a negative school culture that is not an ideal environment for learning. This is what MCPS cares about and why demographics is a big factor in boundary studies.

You move these kids to other schools so each school having 10-15% chronically absent is still causing issues, and more schools will have low moral. Possibly more Hispanic students will be absent due to the distance. The people who care about education will not accept their kids being bussed to poor performing schools so they will leave or go to private schools. Then none of the schools will be ideal environment for learning. It’s a lose lose situation. Seriously this is a problem that busing cannot solve.

In fact, Hispanic organizations have surveyed Hispanic students in MCPS and found that many immigrant Hispanic students don't go to school because they were poorly educated in their home countries and could not keep up with their grade-level work. You cannot solve this problem by bussing.

Again, the issue isn't so much the kids who don't want to go to school. I agree we can't fix that. The significant issue is the ripple effect that having a large number of chronically absent kids have on a school and the resulting environment that it causes. It negatively impacts the other students, the staff, and the overall culture of the school.

Again this problem is not solvable by bussing. Bussing will only make the ripple effect in a few schools be extended to more schools.

MCPS buses over 100,000 students, twice a day. This boundary study will almost certainly reduce busing by reassigning students in potential walk zones.

+1. All the kids who live near Crown who currently take the bus to Gaithersburg or Wootton will become walkers. That's a good thing.

Name a neighborhood in wootton that’s actually walkable to crown?

Most obviously: the Washingtonian area, which is literally across Fields Road from the Crown HS site.

https://gis.mcpsmd.org/ServiceAreaMaps/WoottonHS.pdf

There are also some areas south of 28 that look like they're within 2.0 miles walking distance of the Crown HS site, some of which are also within walking distance of Wootton.

You would be introducing split articulation to remove people, who do not want to go to Crown, out of a school that is not over capacity. What's the point?

So you think MCPS should continue to bus kids to Wootton, even when they live across the street from a different high school?

Sure, because these gerrymandered boundaries that ignore proximity and benefit wealthy families are fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FARMS kids do not do better when they are bused.

That said, every child deserves to have fair access to a quality education. It looks bad when they have one school with a 1300 average SAT and one with a 950 SAT. But the kids with a 950 SAT would still score the same even if they moved to the 1300 average SAT school and vice versa.

I am a strong believer in the school within a school mindset that allows the ones that want to learn a separate peer group for their core classes.

People want stability in their schools. I hope the BOE doesn't go on a crusade to move kids around just because it's the "in thing to do"

Kids from poor families actually do do better when they attend low-poverty vs. high-poverty schools.

People are against change, period. But you can't have boundary changes without change.

This. The higher the poverty rate, the lower the performance. These need to be reduced:

SVHS- 49.9%
Gaithersburg- 57.6%
Watkins Mill- 64.4%

Seneca Valley High: 2023 Hispanic chronic absenteeism rate 51.0%:
https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/Demographics/ChronicAbsenteeism/3/99/1/6/15/0104/2023

Gaithersburg High: 2023 Hispanic chronic absenteeism rate 55.0%:
https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/Demographics/ChronicAbsenteeism/3/99/1/6/15/0551/2023

Watkins Mills High: 2023 Hispanic chronic absenteeism rate 58.9%:
https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/Demographics/ChronicAbsenteeism/3/99/1/6/15/0545/2023

When you move chronically absent students to a school farther away, will they suddenly show up for school?

No they won't, but the concern extends beyond them. In some ways, they're going to do what they want to do. It's really more about the ripple effect throughout the entire school. When a huge portion of the student body is plagued by chronic absenteeism the impact to the school is profound. For example, using Watkins Mills numbers- 1,715 students, 616 are chronically absent. Imagine what that does to the school. Teachers now have to dedicate significant time to help the absent students catch up, which disrupts classroom dynamics and affects the experience of the kids who consistently go to school and do want to learn. There's a high number of students who are disengaged and a high number of disciplinary issues. There's probably limited clubs and programs compared to the other schools that don't have this problem because the demand is low. There's probably very little to no school spirit. Very low parental engagement. A sense of apathy among a large number of students and staff. Higher than normal teacher turnover rates. What you end up with is a negative school culture that is not an ideal environment for learning. This is what MCPS cares about and why demographics is a big factor in boundary studies.

You move these kids to other schools so each school having 10-15% chronically absent is still causing issues, and more schools will have low moral. Possibly more Hispanic students will be absent due to the distance. The people who care about education will not accept their kids being bussed to poor performing schools so they will leave or go to private schools. Then none of the schools will be ideal environment for learning. It’s a lose lose situation. Seriously this is a problem that busing cannot solve.

In fact, Hispanic organizations have surveyed Hispanic students in MCPS and found that many immigrant Hispanic students don't go to school because they were poorly educated in their home countries and could not keep up with their grade-level work. You cannot solve this problem by bussing.

Again, the issue isn't so much the kids who don't want to go to school. I agree we can't fix that. The significant issue is the ripple effect that having a large number of chronically absent kids have on a school and the resulting environment that it causes. It negatively impacts the other students, the staff, and the overall culture of the school.

Again this problem is not solvable by bussing. Bussing will only make the ripple effect in a few schools be extended to more schools.

MCPS buses over 100,000 students, twice a day. This boundary study will almost certainly reduce busing by reassigning students in potential walk zones.

+1. All the kids who live near Crown who currently take the bus to Gaithersburg or Wootton will become walkers. That's a good thing.

Name a neighborhood in wootton that’s actually walkable to crown?

Most obviously: the Washingtonian area, which is literally across Fields Road from the Crown HS site.

https://gis.mcpsmd.org/ServiceAreaMaps/WoottonHS.pdf

There are also some areas south of 28 that look like they're within 2.0 miles walking distance of the Crown HS site, some of which are also within walking distance of Wootton.

You would be introducing split articulation to remove people, who do not want to go to Crown, out of a school that is not over capacity. What's the point?

The DEI folks don’t care.

Is this the latest fictional boogeyman for the far-right?

Are you saying DEI initiatives are fictional? As in, there are no DEI efforts?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FARMS kids do not do better when they are bused.

That said, every child deserves to have fair access to a quality education. It looks bad when they have one school with a 1300 average SAT and one with a 950 SAT. But the kids with a 950 SAT would still score the same even if they moved to the 1300 average SAT school and vice versa.

I am a strong believer in the school within a school mindset that allows the ones that want to learn a separate peer group for their core classes.

People want stability in their schools. I hope the BOE doesn't go on a crusade to move kids around just because it's the "in thing to do"

Kids from poor families actually do do better when they attend low-poverty vs. high-poverty schools.

People are against change, period. But you can't have boundary changes without change.

This. The higher the poverty rate, the lower the performance. These need to be reduced:

SVHS- 49.9%
Gaithersburg- 57.6%
Watkins Mill- 64.4%

Seneca Valley High: 2023 Hispanic chronic absenteeism rate 51.0%:
https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/Demographics/ChronicAbsenteeism/3/99/1/6/15/0104/2023

Gaithersburg High: 2023 Hispanic chronic absenteeism rate 55.0%:
https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/Demographics/ChronicAbsenteeism/3/99/1/6/15/0551/2023

Watkins Mills High: 2023 Hispanic chronic absenteeism rate 58.9%:
https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/Demographics/ChronicAbsenteeism/3/99/1/6/15/0545/2023

When you move chronically absent students to a school farther away, will they suddenly show up for school?

No they won't, but the concern extends beyond them. In some ways, they're going to do what they want to do. It's really more about the ripple effect throughout the entire school. When a huge portion of the student body is plagued by chronic absenteeism the impact to the school is profound. For example, using Watkins Mills numbers- 1,715 students, 616 are chronically absent. Imagine what that does to the school. Teachers now have to dedicate significant time to help the absent students catch up, which disrupts classroom dynamics and affects the experience of the kids who consistently go to school and do want to learn. There's a high number of students who are disengaged and a high number of disciplinary issues. There's probably limited clubs and programs compared to the other schools that don't have this problem because the demand is low. There's probably very little to no school spirit. Very low parental engagement. A sense of apathy among a large number of students and staff. Higher than normal teacher turnover rates. What you end up with is a negative school culture that is not an ideal environment for learning. This is what MCPS cares about and why demographics is a big factor in boundary studies.

You move these kids to other schools so each school having 10-15% chronically absent is still causing issues, and more schools will have low moral. Possibly more Hispanic students will be absent due to the distance. The people who care about education will not accept their kids being bussed to poor performing schools so they will leave or go to private schools. Then none of the schools will be ideal environment for learning. It’s a lose lose situation. Seriously this is a problem that busing cannot solve.

In fact, Hispanic organizations have surveyed Hispanic students in MCPS and found that many immigrant Hispanic students don't go to school because they were poorly educated in their home countries and could not keep up with their grade-level work. You cannot solve this problem by bussing.

Again, the issue isn't so much the kids who don't want to go to school. I agree we can't fix that. The significant issue is the ripple effect that having a large number of chronically absent kids have on a school and the resulting environment that it causes. It negatively impacts the other students, the staff, and the overall culture of the school.

Again this problem is not solvable by bussing. Bussing will only make the ripple effect in a few schools be extended to more schools.

MCPS buses over 100,000 students, twice a day. This boundary study will almost certainly reduce busing by reassigning students in potential walk zones.

+1. All the kids who live near Crown who currently take the bus to Gaithersburg or Wootton will become walkers. That's a good thing.

Name a neighborhood in wootton that’s actually walkable to crown?

Most obviously: the Washingtonian area, which is literally across Fields Road from the Crown HS site.

https://gis.mcpsmd.org/ServiceAreaMaps/WoottonHS.pdf

There are also some areas south of 28 that look like they're within 2.0 miles walking distance of the Crown HS site, some of which are also within walking distance of Wootton.

You would be introducing split articulation to remove people, who do not want to go to Crown, out of a school that is not over capacity. What's the point?

So you think MCPS should continue to bus kids to Wootton, even when they live across the street from a different high school?

The Rio island is obviously going to Crown. The rest of the boundary is well situated. People complain about it “looking weird” but are never able to suggest an improvement to the boundary.

The population distribution and layout of high schools place heavy constraints on the boundaries. That is why they look weird.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FARMS kids do not do better when they are bused.

That said, every child deserves to have fair access to a quality education. It looks bad when they have one school with a 1300 average SAT and one with a 950 SAT. But the kids with a 950 SAT would still score the same even if they moved to the 1300 average SAT school and vice versa.

I am a strong believer in the school within a school mindset that allows the ones that want to learn a separate peer group for their core classes.

People want stability in their schools. I hope the BOE doesn't go on a crusade to move kids around just because it's the "in thing to do"

Kids from poor families actually do do better when they attend low-poverty vs. high-poverty schools.

People are against change, period. But you can't have boundary changes without change.

This. The higher the poverty rate, the lower the performance. These need to be reduced:

SVHS- 49.9%
Gaithersburg- 57.6%
Watkins Mill- 64.4%

Seneca Valley High: 2023 Hispanic chronic absenteeism rate 51.0%:
https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/Demographics/ChronicAbsenteeism/3/99/1/6/15/0104/2023

Gaithersburg High: 2023 Hispanic chronic absenteeism rate 55.0%:
https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/Demographics/ChronicAbsenteeism/3/99/1/6/15/0551/2023

Watkins Mills High: 2023 Hispanic chronic absenteeism rate 58.9%:
https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/Demographics/ChronicAbsenteeism/3/99/1/6/15/0545/2023

When you move chronically absent students to a school farther away, will they suddenly show up for school?

No they won't, but the concern extends beyond them. In some ways, they're going to do what they want to do. It's really more about the ripple effect throughout the entire school. When a huge portion of the student body is plagued by chronic absenteeism the impact to the school is profound. For example, using Watkins Mills numbers- 1,715 students, 616 are chronically absent. Imagine what that does to the school. Teachers now have to dedicate significant time to help the absent students catch up, which disrupts classroom dynamics and affects the experience of the kids who consistently go to school and do want to learn. There's a high number of students who are disengaged and a high number of disciplinary issues. There's probably limited clubs and programs compared to the other schools that don't have this problem because the demand is low. There's probably very little to no school spirit. Very low parental engagement. A sense of apathy among a large number of students and staff. Higher than normal teacher turnover rates. What you end up with is a negative school culture that is not an ideal environment for learning. This is what MCPS cares about and why demographics is a big factor in boundary studies.

You move these kids to other schools so each school having 10-15% chronically absent is still causing issues, and more schools will have low moral. Possibly more Hispanic students will be absent due to the distance. The people who care about education will not accept their kids being bussed to poor performing schools so they will leave or go to private schools. Then none of the schools will be ideal environment for learning. It’s a lose lose situation. Seriously this is a problem that busing cannot solve.

In fact, Hispanic organizations have surveyed Hispanic students in MCPS and found that many immigrant Hispanic students don't go to school because they were poorly educated in their home countries and could not keep up with their grade-level work. You cannot solve this problem by bussing.

Again, the issue isn't so much the kids who don't want to go to school. I agree we can't fix that. The significant issue is the ripple effect that having a large number of chronically absent kids have on a school and the resulting environment that it causes. It negatively impacts the other students, the staff, and the overall culture of the school.

Again this problem is not solvable by bussing. Bussing will only make the ripple effect in a few schools be extended to more schools.

MCPS buses over 100,000 students, twice a day. This boundary study will almost certainly reduce busing by reassigning students in potential walk zones.

+1. All the kids who live near Crown who currently take the bus to Gaithersburg or Wootton will become walkers. That's a good thing.

Name a neighborhood in wootton that’s actually walkable to crown?

Most obviously: the Washingtonian area, which is literally across Fields Road from the Crown HS site.

https://gis.mcpsmd.org/ServiceAreaMaps/WoottonHS.pdf

There are also some areas south of 28 that look like they're within 2.0 miles walking distance of the Crown HS site, some of which are also within walking distance of Wootton.

You would be introducing split articulation to remove people, who do not want to go to Crown, out of a school that is not over capacity. What's the point?

So you think MCPS should continue to bus kids to Wootton, even when they live across the street from a different high school?

The Rio island is obviously going to Crown. The rest of the boundary is well situated. People complain about it “looking weird” but are never able to suggest an improvement to the boundary.

The population distribution and layout of high schools place heavy constraints on the boundaries. That is why they look weird.

It doesn’t look weird. Other HS boundaries are way more weird (e.g, Gaithersburg HS). In other counties (e.g. fairfax) same thing happens with the high school at the corner of the boundaries. Just some wootton envy people want to be rezoned in or DEI folks want to bus in/bus out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FARMS kids do not do better when they are bused.

That said, every child deserves to have fair access to a quality education. It looks bad when they have one school with a 1300 average SAT and one with a 950 SAT. But the kids with a 950 SAT would still score the same even if they moved to the 1300 average SAT school and vice versa.

I am a strong believer in the school within a school mindset that allows the ones that want to learn a separate peer group for their core classes.

People want stability in their schools. I hope the BOE doesn't go on a crusade to move kids around just because it's the "in thing to do"

Kids from poor families actually do do better when they attend low-poverty vs. high-poverty schools.

People are against change, period. But you can't have boundary changes without change.

This. The higher the poverty rate, the lower the performance. These need to be reduced:

SVHS- 49.9%
Gaithersburg- 57.6%
Watkins Mill- 64.4%

Seneca Valley High: 2023 Hispanic chronic absenteeism rate 51.0%:
https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/Demographics/ChronicAbsenteeism/3/99/1/6/15/0104/2023

Gaithersburg High: 2023 Hispanic chronic absenteeism rate 55.0%:
https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/Demographics/ChronicAbsenteeism/3/99/1/6/15/0551/2023

Watkins Mills High: 2023 Hispanic chronic absenteeism rate 58.9%:
https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/Demographics/ChronicAbsenteeism/3/99/1/6/15/0545/2023

When you move chronically absent students to a school farther away, will they suddenly show up for school?

No they won't, but the concern extends beyond them. In some ways, they're going to do what they want to do. It's really more about the ripple effect throughout the entire school. When a huge portion of the student body is plagued by chronic absenteeism the impact to the school is profound. For example, using Watkins Mills numbers- 1,715 students, 616 are chronically absent. Imagine what that does to the school. Teachers now have to dedicate significant time to help the absent students catch up, which disrupts classroom dynamics and affects the experience of the kids who consistently go to school and do want to learn. There's a high number of students who are disengaged and a high number of disciplinary issues. There's probably limited clubs and programs compared to the other schools that don't have this problem because the demand is low. There's probably very little to no school spirit. Very low parental engagement. A sense of apathy among a large number of students and staff. Higher than normal teacher turnover rates. What you end up with is a negative school culture that is not an ideal environment for learning. This is what MCPS cares about and why demographics is a big factor in boundary studies.

You move these kids to other schools so each school having 10-15% chronically absent is still causing issues, and more schools will have low moral. Possibly more Hispanic students will be absent due to the distance. The people who care about education will not accept their kids being bussed to poor performing schools so they will leave or go to private schools. Then none of the schools will be ideal environment for learning. It’s a lose lose situation. Seriously this is a problem that busing cannot solve.

In fact, Hispanic organizations have surveyed Hispanic students in MCPS and found that many immigrant Hispanic students don't go to school because they were poorly educated in their home countries and could not keep up with their grade-level work. You cannot solve this problem by bussing.

Again, the issue isn't so much the kids who don't want to go to school. I agree we can't fix that. The significant issue is the ripple effect that having a large number of chronically absent kids have on a school and the resulting environment that it causes. It negatively impacts the other students, the staff, and the overall culture of the school.

Again this problem is not solvable by bussing. Bussing will only make the ripple effect in a few schools be extended to more schools.

MCPS buses over 100,000 students, twice a day. This boundary study will almost certainly reduce busing by reassigning students in potential walk zones.

+1. All the kids who live near Crown who currently take the bus to Gaithersburg or Wootton will become walkers. That's a good thing.

Name a neighborhood in wootton that’s actually walkable to crown?

Most obviously: the Washingtonian area, which is literally across Fields Road from the Crown HS site.

https://gis.mcpsmd.org/ServiceAreaMaps/WoottonHS.pdf

There are also some areas south of 28 that look like they're within 2.0 miles walking distance of the Crown HS site, some of which are also within walking distance of Wootton.

You would be introducing split articulation to remove people, who do not want to go to Crown, out of a school that is not over capacity. What's the point?

So you think MCPS should continue to bus kids to Wootton, even when they live across the street from a different high school?

The Rio island is obviously going to Crown. The rest of the boundary is well situated. People complain about it “looking weird” but are never able to suggest an improvement to the boundary.

The population distribution and layout of high schools place heavy constraints on the boundaries. That is why they look weird.

It doesn’t look weird. Other HS boundaries are way more weird (e.g, Gaithersburg HS). In other counties (e.g. fairfax) same thing happens with the high school at the corner of the boundaries. Just some wootton envy people want to be rezoned in or DEI folks want to bus in/bus out.

The issue is really why MCPS builds HS so close to each other. Crown is really not an ideal site to be so close to multiple HS so it ends up with most students being bussed no matter what.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FARMS kids do not do better when they are bused.

That said, every child deserves to have fair access to a quality education. It looks bad when they have one school with a 1300 average SAT and one with a 950 SAT. But the kids with a 950 SAT would still score the same even if they moved to the 1300 average SAT school and vice versa.

I am a strong believer in the school within a school mindset that allows the ones that want to learn a separate peer group for their core classes.

People want stability in their schools. I hope the BOE doesn't go on a crusade to move kids around just because it's the "in thing to do"

Kids from poor families actually do do better when they attend low-poverty vs. high-poverty schools.

People are against change, period. But you can't have boundary changes without change.

This. The higher the poverty rate, the lower the performance. These need to be reduced:

SVHS- 49.9%
Gaithersburg- 57.6%
Watkins Mill- 64.4%

Seneca Valley High: 2023 Hispanic chronic absenteeism rate 51.0%:
https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/Demographics/ChronicAbsenteeism/3/99/1/6/15/0104/2023

Gaithersburg High: 2023 Hispanic chronic absenteeism rate 55.0%:
https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/Demographics/ChronicAbsenteeism/3/99/1/6/15/0551/2023

Watkins Mills High: 2023 Hispanic chronic absenteeism rate 58.9%:
https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/Demographics/ChronicAbsenteeism/3/99/1/6/15/0545/2023

When you move chronically absent students to a school farther away, will they suddenly show up for school?

No they won't, but the concern extends beyond them. In some ways, they're going to do what they want to do. It's really more about the ripple effect throughout the entire school. When a huge portion of the student body is plagued by chronic absenteeism the impact to the school is profound. For example, using Watkins Mills numbers- 1,715 students, 616 are chronically absent. Imagine what that does to the school. Teachers now have to dedicate significant time to help the absent students catch up, which disrupts classroom dynamics and affects the experience of the kids who consistently go to school and do want to learn. There's a high number of students who are disengaged and a high number of disciplinary issues. There's probably limited clubs and programs compared to the other schools that don't have this problem because the demand is low. There's probably very little to no school spirit. Very low parental engagement. A sense of apathy among a large number of students and staff. Higher than normal teacher turnover rates. What you end up with is a negative school culture that is not an ideal environment for learning. This is what MCPS cares about and why demographics is a big factor in boundary studies.

You move these kids to other schools so each school having 10-15% chronically absent is still causing issues, and more schools will have low moral. Possibly more Hispanic students will be absent due to the distance. The people who care about education will not accept their kids being bussed to poor performing schools so they will leave or go to private schools. Then none of the schools will be ideal environment for learning. It’s a lose lose situation. Seriously this is a problem that busing cannot solve.

In fact, Hispanic organizations have surveyed Hispanic students in MCPS and found that many immigrant Hispanic students don't go to school because they were poorly educated in their home countries and could not keep up with their grade-level work. You cannot solve this problem by bussing.

Again, the issue isn't so much the kids who don't want to go to school. I agree we can't fix that. The significant issue is the ripple effect that having a large number of chronically absent kids have on a school and the resulting environment that it causes. It negatively impacts the other students, the staff, and the overall culture of the school.

Again this problem is not solvable by bussing. Bussing will only make the ripple effect in a few schools be extended to more schools.

MCPS buses over 100,000 students, twice a day. This boundary study will almost certainly reduce busing by reassigning students in potential walk zones.

+1. All the kids who live near Crown who currently take the bus to Gaithersburg or Wootton will become walkers. That's a good thing.

Name a neighborhood in wootton that’s actually walkable to crown?

Most obviously: the Washingtonian area, which is literally across Fields Road from the Crown HS site.

https://gis.mcpsmd.org/ServiceAreaMaps/WoottonHS.pdf

There are also some areas south of 28 that look like they're within 2.0 miles walking distance of the Crown HS site, some of which are also within walking distance of Wootton.

You would be introducing split articulation to remove people, who do not want to go to Crown, out of a school that is not over capacity. What's the point?

The DEI folks don’t care.

Is this the latest fictional boogeyman for the far-right?

Yes, it is. People on the far-right have even said so, explicitly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FARMS kids do not do better when they are bused.

That said, every child deserves to have fair access to a quality education. It looks bad when they have one school with a 1300 average SAT and one with a 950 SAT. But the kids with a 950 SAT would still score the same even if they moved to the 1300 average SAT school and vice versa.

I am a strong believer in the school within a school mindset that allows the ones that want to learn a separate peer group for their core classes.

People want stability in their schools. I hope the BOE doesn't go on a crusade to move kids around just because it's the "in thing to do"

Kids from poor families actually do do better when they attend low-poverty vs. high-poverty schools.

People are against change, period. But you can't have boundary changes without change.

This. The higher the poverty rate, the lower the performance. These need to be reduced:

SVHS- 49.9%
Gaithersburg- 57.6%
Watkins Mill- 64.4%

Seneca Valley High: 2023 Hispanic chronic absenteeism rate 51.0%:
https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/Demographics/ChronicAbsenteeism/3/99/1/6/15/0104/2023

Gaithersburg High: 2023 Hispanic chronic absenteeism rate 55.0%:
https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/Demographics/ChronicAbsenteeism/3/99/1/6/15/0551/2023

Watkins Mills High: 2023 Hispanic chronic absenteeism rate 58.9%:
https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/Demographics/ChronicAbsenteeism/3/99/1/6/15/0545/2023

When you move chronically absent students to a school farther away, will they suddenly show up for school?

No they won't, but the concern extends beyond them. In some ways, they're going to do what they want to do. It's really more about the ripple effect throughout the entire school. When a huge portion of the student body is plagued by chronic absenteeism the impact to the school is profound. For example, using Watkins Mills numbers- 1,715 students, 616 are chronically absent. Imagine what that does to the school. Teachers now have to dedicate significant time to help the absent students catch up, which disrupts classroom dynamics and affects the experience of the kids who consistently go to school and do want to learn. There's a high number of students who are disengaged and a high number of disciplinary issues. There's probably limited clubs and programs compared to the other schools that don't have this problem because the demand is low. There's probably very little to no school spirit. Very low parental engagement. A sense of apathy among a large number of students and staff. Higher than normal teacher turnover rates. What you end up with is a negative school culture that is not an ideal environment for learning. This is what MCPS cares about and why demographics is a big factor in boundary studies.

You move these kids to other schools so each school having 10-15% chronically absent is still causing issues, and more schools will have low moral. Possibly more Hispanic students will be absent due to the distance. The people who care about education will not accept their kids being bussed to poor performing schools so they will leave or go to private schools. Then none of the schools will be ideal environment for learning. It’s a lose lose situation. Seriously this is a problem that busing cannot solve.

In fact, Hispanic organizations have surveyed Hispanic students in MCPS and found that many immigrant Hispanic students don't go to school because they were poorly educated in their home countries and could not keep up with their grade-level work. You cannot solve this problem by bussing.

Again, the issue isn't so much the kids who don't want to go to school. I agree we can't fix that. The significant issue is the ripple effect that having a large number of chronically absent kids have on a school and the resulting environment that it causes. It negatively impacts the other students, the staff, and the overall culture of the school.

Again this problem is not solvable by bussing. Bussing will only make the ripple effect in a few schools be extended to more schools.

MCPS buses over 100,000 students, twice a day. This boundary study will almost certainly reduce busing by reassigning students in potential walk zones.

+1. All the kids who live near Crown who currently take the bus to Gaithersburg or Wootton will become walkers. That's a good thing.

Name a neighborhood in wootton that’s actually walkable to crown?

Most obviously: the Washingtonian area, which is literally across Fields Road from the Crown HS site.

https://gis.mcpsmd.org/ServiceAreaMaps/WoottonHS.pdf

There are also some areas south of 28 that look like they're within 2.0 miles walking distance of the Crown HS site, some of which are also within walking distance of Wootton.

You would be introducing split articulation to remove people, who do not want to go to Crown, out of a school that is not over capacity. What's the point?

So you think MCPS should continue to bus kids to Wootton, even when they live across the street from a different high school?

The Rio island is obviously going to Crown. The rest of the boundary is well situated. People complain about it “looking weird” but are never able to suggest an improvement to the boundary.

The population distribution and layout of high schools place heavy constraints on the boundaries. That is why they look weird.

It doesn’t look weird. Other HS boundaries are way more weird (e.g, Gaithersburg HS). In other counties (e.g. fairfax) same thing happens with the high school at the corner of the boundaries. Just some wootton envy people want to be rezoned in or DEI folks want to bus in/bus out.

The issue is really why MCPS builds HS so close to each other. Crown is really not an ideal site to be so close to multiple HS so it ends up with most students being bussed no matter what.

Because that's where the land is available to build a high school.