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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Advocating that the kids not be grandfathered is mean.

Advocating for no grandfathering is also precedent setting. It has not been done before.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Advocating that the kids not be grandfathered is mean.

Advocating for no grandfathering is also precedent setting. It has not been done before.

How do you address the overcrowding if it is mean to reduce the overcrowding?

[Anonymous]

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

You are delusional. So... FCPS staff have underestimated enrollment numbers for years but Janie Strauss knew precisely what the "sweet spot" would be for enrollment to grow just large enough to push out Cluster 2 students but keep a center at Haycock (to maintain its value)? Come on. Enrollment at Haycock grew by 120 students between last year and this year, and it's NOT just AAP growth driving those numbers. That is crazy growth! I don't doubt that Janie and everybody else at FCPS would have preferred that Haycock stay manageable through the renovation in order to avoid this kind of horrible in-fighting. What School Board member really relishes angering and disappointing people? Your comments are so cynical as to be outrageous.

Now that we're in this pickle, parents are definitely behaving horribly toward one another. But that's on them, not some grand conspiracy at FCPS.

[Anonymous]

No, I did not mean she designed this whole thing. I meant that she has allowed it to grow for 7-10 years without addressing it. Now, when it is at this level, she has designed a solution that leaves her looking good.

[Anonymous]

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

There are many boundary and program changes within FCPS, and grandfathering is addressed on a case-by-case basis. At the elementary level, it would be rare to grandfather everyone at a school affected by a change. In deciding whether grandfathering is appropriate, School Board members have to weigh multiple factors and both they and other parents invariably get called all sorts of things. "Mean" is usually one of the nicer things said.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Advocating that the kids not be grandfathered is mean.

Advocating for no grandfathering is also precedent setting. It has not been done before.

How do you address the overcrowding if it is mean to reduce the overcrowding?

Move the AAP Center out and make Haycock a Local Level IV Center. Grandfather kids that are already there.

http://www.boarddocs.com/vsba/fairfax/Board.nsf/files/93UP3K62A8BD/$file/New%20Proposal%20ES_AAP%20Centers_011413.pdf

HAYCOCK ELEM
Estimated enrollment
2013-2014
Rising third grade only
Total Enrollment: 953?49-29 = 875
Capacity = 776



HAYCOCK ELEM
Estimated enrollment
2016-2017
With full implementation
Total Enrollment: 981?196-116 = 669
Capacity = 776

[Anonymous]

Advocating for no grandfathering is also precedent setting. It has not been done before.

More misinformation... I seem to remember great discussion about grandfathering during lots and lots of boundary studies (like Fairfax High/Lanier Middle?). FCPS tries to grandfather when possible (because they don't like these fights any more than we do), but they don't always do it. Here it looks like grandfathering would be irresponsible and unsafe, given that the renovation is going through. I don't appreciate the comments of people who just want to deny the overcrowding. If I could wave my magic wand and not have overcrowding, I'd do it... but here we are. And stop just placing blame for the overcrowding on one group (base kids, AAP kids) or one person (Janie Strauss). Be helpful. Talk about solutions. What's the best solution? In my book, splitting the AAP Center seems like the best solution to a tough problem. Seems like that's what Haycock's principal and Lemon Road's principal want... I get that it's not optimal for some kids, but this is a public school system, and sometimes the public solution doesn't serve everybody's private desires.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, I did not mean she designed this whole thing. I meant that she has allowed it to grow for 7-10 years without addressing it. Now, when it is at this level, she has designed a solution that leaves her looking good.

If Janie Strauss "looks good" in this situation, it is primarily because some AAP parents browbeat FCPS Staff into drafting a recommendation that provided minimal relief to the overcrowding at Haycock and forced people like Janie and Kelly Shears to step up and be the adults in the room.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, I did not mean she designed this whole thing. I meant that she has allowed it to grow for 7-10 years without addressing it. Now, when it is at this level, she has designed a solution that leaves her looking good.

If Janie Strauss "looks good" in this situation, it is primarily because some AAP parents browbeat FCPS Staff into drafting a recommendation that provided minimal relief to the overcrowding at Haycock and forced people like Janie and Kelly Shears to step up and be the adults in the room.

The AAP parents did not browbeat the staff into recommending grandfathering. I had a lot of discussions with staff. They told me that they strongly prefer to grandfather where possible because it's better for the children. I understand that some think it's not feasible at Haycock due to the numbers and that's likely what the board will decide, but please don't mischaracterize what happened.


I do have to quibble with Janie Strauss being the adult in the room. For the longest time, Janie wouldn't even meet with the Cluster 2 parents. That's not exactly being the adult in the room.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, I did not mean she designed this whole thing. I meant that she has allowed it to grow for 7-10 years without addressing it. Now, when it is at this level, she has designed a solution that leaves her looking good.

If Janie Strauss "looks good" in this situation, it is primarily because some AAP parents browbeat FCPS Staff into drafting a recommendation that provided minimal relief to the overcrowding at Haycock and forced people like Janie and Kelly Shears to step up and be the adults in the room.

no one looks good out of this mess. we all look like idiots rather equally

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

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

There won't be meaningful reduction anyway, but that's water under the bridge at this point.

[Anonymous]

If Janie Strauss "looks good" in this situation, it is primarily because some AAP parents browbeat FCPS Staff into drafting a recommendation that provided minimal relief to the overcrowding at Haycock and forced people like Janie and Kelly Shears to step up and be the adults in the room.

I love how this always seems to go with some parents... if an SB member does something "right," it's because they've been "browbeaten" into it. But when they do something "wrong," they were willfully blind/ignorant/incompetent, etc.

If you guys really hate FCPS so much, go elsewhere. Your kids (and mine) are getting one of the best educations around -- for free. And from what I've seen in MoCo (please, no MoCo flames!), we're getting it for a fraction of what it costs taxpayers elsewhere. I just looked it up: the SB members make $20,000 a year. In exchange, they get our eternal damnation and abuse. Wow.

[Anonymous]

I agree that the school board members work their tails off for what they get paid.

[Anonymous]

They really do! Just the number of meetings and public appearances they make require so much time. Let alone the reading, corresponding and analyzing. When in grad school, I used to think I'd like to be on a School Board one day but I think it is too thankless a job for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Advocating for no grandfathering is also precedent setting. It has not been done before.

More misinformation... I seem to remember great discussion about grandfathering during lots and lots of boundary studies (like Fairfax High/Lanier Middle?). FCPS tries to grandfather when possible (because they don't like these fights any more than we do), but they don't always do it. Here it looks like grandfathering would be irresponsible and unsafe, given that the renovation is going through. I don't appreciate the comments of people who just want to deny the overcrowding. If I could wave my magic wand and not have overcrowding, I'd do it... but here we are. And stop just placing blame for the overcrowding on one group (base kids, AAP kids) or one person (Janie Strauss). Be helpful. Talk about solutions. What's the best solution? In my book, splitting the AAP Center seems like the best solution to a tough problem. Seems like that's what Haycock's principal and Lemon Road's principal want... I get that it's not optimal for some kids, but this is a public school system, and sometimes the public solution doesn't serve everybody's private desires.

Just wait for when the other AAP Centers are moved around, and grandfathering will NOT be offered because of the precedent set by the Haycock people.