School Boundaries and "One Fairfax"

[Anonymous]

Funny that now that Madison is going to get an addition, it has changed its pupil placement policy and is now letting more than twice as many kids place into the school as are transferring out (in prior years they tried to keep the numbers roughly equal). That will push up the school’s enrollment and allow school officials to claim the addition there is necessary, when it fact Madison is letting over 100 kids transfer into the school next year who could have stayed at their base schools.

So many games.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They should change the Lee/West Springfield boundaries for sure. Top reason for changes is to address overcrowding. Sounds like that’s been an ongoing problem at WSHS.

It is not an issue. That was a temporary issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They should change the Lee/West Springfield boundaries for sure. Top reason for changes is to address overcrowding. Sounds like that’s been an ongoing problem at WSHS.

It is not an issue. That was a temporary issue.

FCPS has West Springfield at 10% over capacity by 2023.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Boundary changes are hard because people have made long term financial decisions (like purchasing a home) based on school boundaries. It's not so simple to just change these. I'm in a neighborhood that I'm pretty sure would stay as it's currently structured, simply because of proximity to the schools we're assigned to, but I really feel for people who might face changes. There are very few situations where you'd be getting a better deal with boundary changes. You're talking about moving people who have chosen to pay more for a house to be in a better school zone to a worse school zone and changing their housing value drastically. Not a good solution.

I think they should work harder to improve the schools as they exist. We are at an elementary school that is only 46% white and 40% FARMs with a high ESL rate. My kids are white upper middle class and we love this school. The principal and teachers are excellent. There are challenges, of course, but the wider community supports the school as well (churches help with food over weekends and summer, coat drives, etc.). There are ways to meet a school's needs where it is instead of trying to change the student population. I also think there's an element of racism in the thought that adding "white rich kids" will improve a school.

Or course it does. People base their views of school on test scores ("good" schools) and test scores are directly correlated with socioeconomic status. The teachers at "top" schools aka schools with very low FARMS rates are no better than teachers at a high FARMS school. They just have a student population that comes in more ready to learn and with every possible advantage given to them. If you moved all the student from a "good" school to a "bad" school while keeping the staff the same the "bad" school would change overnight and suddenly have top test scores.

It's no longer just the white kids. It's mostly the Asian kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They should change the Lee/West Springfield boundaries for sure. Top reason for changes is to address overcrowding. Sounds like that’s been an ongoing problem at WSHS.

It is not an issue. That was a temporary issue.

FCPS has West Springfield at 10% over capacity by 2023.

The West Springfield boundaries are hard because they’re relatively compact, not all gerrymandered like the boundaries are in the western part of the county. The most logical thing to do there isn’t to send kids to Lee, it’s to send kids from the southern part of the attendance area to also under-enrolled but physically closer South County. But, if the decisions have to be made with an eye toward balancing SES factors, that would mean sending feeders to Lee even if it makes Lee have a huge attendance area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Boundary changes are hard because people have made long term financial decisions (like purchasing a home) based on school boundaries. It's not so simple to just change these. I'm in a neighborhood that I'm pretty sure would stay as it's currently structured, simply because of proximity to the schools we're assigned to, but I really feel for people who might face changes. There are very few situations where you'd be getting a better deal with boundary changes. You're talking about moving people who have chosen to pay more for a house to be in a better school zone to a worse school zone and changing their housing value drastically. Not a good solution.

I think they should work harder to improve the schools as they exist. We are at an elementary school that is only 46% white and 40% FARMs with a high ESL rate. My kids are white upper middle class and we love this school. The principal and teachers are excellent. There are challenges, of course, but the wider community supports the school as well (churches help with food over weekends and summer, coat drives, etc.). There are ways to meet a school's needs where it is instead of trying to change the student population. I also think there's an element of racism in the thought that adding "white rich kids" will improve a school.

Or course it does. People base their views of school on test scores ("good" schools) and test scores are directly correlated with socioeconomic status. The teachers at "top" schools aka schools with very low FARMS rates are no better than teachers at a high FARMS school. They just have a student population that comes in more ready to learn and with every possible advantage given to them. If you moved all the student from a "good" school to a "bad" school while keeping the staff the same the "bad" school would change overnight and suddenly have top test scores.

It's no longer just the white kids. It's mostly the Asian kids.

I don't think it's racial. I think it's SES--but, anyone who doesn't want their kid moved is called a racist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They should change the Lee/West Springfield boundaries for sure. Top reason for changes is to address overcrowding. Sounds like that’s been an ongoing problem at WSHS.

It is not an issue. That was a temporary issue.

FCPS has West Springfield at 10% over capacity by 2023.

The West Springfield boundaries are hard because they’re relatively compact, not all gerrymandered like the boundaries are in the western part of the county. The most logical thing to do there isn’t to send kids to Lee, it’s to send kids from the southern part of the attendance area to also under-enrolled but physically closer South County. But, if the decisions have to be made with an eye toward balancing SES factors, that would mean sending feeders to Lee even if it makes Lee have a huge attendance area.

NP: not gerrymandered? Daventry played so many games to get realigned from lee to ws. They should have been moving all the houses along okm up until Greely to Lee to alleviate wshs overcrowding pre renovation. Instead, the wealthiest lee subset managed to get realigned to ws. Saratoga houses are trying to follow suit to south county. I taught at key for years. The boundaries are made not by what benefits the majority of children, but what benefits the wealthiest of children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They should change the Lee/West Springfield boundaries for sure. Top reason for changes is to address overcrowding. Sounds like that’s been an ongoing problem at WSHS.

It is not an issue. That was a temporary issue.

FCPS has West Springfield at 10% over capacity by 2023.

The West Springfield boundaries are hard because they’re relatively compact, not all gerrymandered like the boundaries are in the western part of the county. The most logical thing to do there isn’t to send kids to Lee, it’s to send kids from the southern part of the attendance area to also under-enrolled but physically closer South County. But, if the decisions have to be made with an eye toward balancing SES factors, that would mean sending feeders to Lee even if it makes Lee have a huge attendance area.

Not at all gerrymandered.

It is a compact circle, not a bunch of tentacles.

WSHS is set up like a neighborhood school. Fcps should use that as a model. If you look at results, the neighborhood school works well for all the kids, especially lower performing groups.

NP: not gerrymandered? Daventry played so many games to get realigned from lee to ws. They should have been moving all the houses along okm up until Greely to Lee to alleviate wshs overcrowding pre renovation. Instead, the wealthiest lee subset managed to get realigned to ws. Saratoga houses are trying to follow suit to south county. I taught at key for years. The boundaries are made not by what benefits the majority of children, but what benefits the wealthiest of children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They should change the Lee/West Springfield boundaries for sure. Top reason for changes is to address overcrowding. Sounds like that’s been an ongoing problem at WSHS.

It is not an issue. That was a temporary issue.

FCPS has West Springfield at 10% over capacity by 2023.

The West Springfield boundaries are hard because they’re relatively compact, not all gerrymandered like the boundaries are in the western part of the county. The most logical thing to do there isn’t to send kids to Lee, it’s to send kids from the southern part of the attendance area to also under-enrolled but physically closer South County. But, if the decisions have to be made with an eye toward balancing SES factors, that would mean sending feeders to Lee even if it makes Lee have a huge attendance area.

NP: not gerrymandered? Daventry played so many games to get realigned from lee to ws. They should have been moving all the houses along okm up until Greely to Lee to alleviate wshs overcrowding pre renovation. Instead, the wealthiest lee subset managed to get realigned to ws. Saratoga houses are trying to follow suit to south county. I taught at key for years. The boundaries are made not by what benefits the majority of children, but what benefits the wealthiest of children.

Not at all gerrymandered.

It is a compact circle, not a bunch of tentacles.

WSHS is set up like a neighborhood school. Fcps should use that as a model. If you look at results, the neighborhood school works well for all the kids, especially lower performing groups.

[Anonymous]

Haha social republic of Fairfax , dumb dumb dumb

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They should change the Lee/West Springfield boundaries for sure. Top reason for changes is to address overcrowding. Sounds like that’s been an ongoing problem at WSHS.

It is not an issue. That was a temporary issue.

FCPS has West Springfield at 10% over capacity by 2023.

The West Springfield boundaries are hard because they’re relatively compact, not all gerrymandered like the boundaries are in the western part of the county. The most logical thing to do there isn’t to send kids to Lee, it’s to send kids from the southern part of the attendance area to also under-enrolled but physically closer South County. But, if the decisions have to be made with an eye toward balancing SES factors, that would mean sending feeders to Lee even if it makes Lee have a huge attendance area.

NP: not gerrymandered? Daventry played so many games to get realigned from lee to ws. They should have been moving all the houses along okm up until Greely to Lee to alleviate wshs overcrowding pre renovation. Instead, the wealthiest lee subset managed to get realigned to ws. Saratoga houses are trying to follow suit to south county. I taught at key for years. The boundaries are made not by what benefits the majority of children, but what benefits the wealthiest of children.

Not at all gerrymandered.

It is a compact circle, not a bunch of tentacles.

WSHS is set up like a neighborhood school. Fcps should use that as a model. If you look at results, the neighborhood school works well for all the kids, especially lower performing groups.

Daventry and Hunt Valley should never have been moved out of Lee. They were by far the wealthiest elementary schools feeding Lee. Both single digit F/R lunch numbers. All the other feeders are high F/R. Lee has also been several hundred students under enrolled since they moved Hunt Valley out.

There is no going back now. FCPS screwed Lee.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They should change the Lee/West Springfield boundaries for sure. Top reason for changes is to address overcrowding. Sounds like that’s been an ongoing problem at WSHS.

It is not an issue. That was a temporary issue.

FCPS has West Springfield at 10% over capacity by 2023.

The West Springfield boundaries are hard because they’re relatively compact, not all gerrymandered like the boundaries are in the western part of the county. The most logical thing to do there isn’t to send kids to Lee, it’s to send kids from the southern part of the attendance area to also under-enrolled but physically closer South County. But, if the decisions have to be made with an eye toward balancing SES factors, that would mean sending feeders to Lee even if it makes Lee have a huge attendance area.

NP: not gerrymandered? Daventry played so many games to get realigned from lee to ws. They should have been moving all the houses along okm up until Greely to Lee to alleviate wshs overcrowding pre renovation. Instead, the wealthiest lee subset managed to get realigned to ws. Saratoga houses are trying to follow suit to south county. I taught at key for years. The boundaries are made not by what benefits the majority of children, but what benefits the wealthiest of children.

Not at all gerrymandered.

It is a compact circle, not a bunch of tentacles.

WSHS is set up like a neighborhood school. Fcps should use that as a model. If you look at results, the neighborhood school works well for all the kids, especially lower performing groups.

Daventry and Hunt Valley should never have been moved out of Lee. They were by far the wealthiest elementary schools feeding Lee. Both single digit F/R lunch numbers. All the other feeders are high F/R. Lee has also been several hundred students under enrolled since they moved Hunt Valley out.

There is no going back now. FCPS screwed Lee.

This happened under the Democratic school board and Tammy Kaufax hasn’t lifted a finger to help. But, hey, Lee has IB and maybe 20 IB diploma candidates so it’s all good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They should change the Lee/West Springfield boundaries for sure. Top reason for changes is to address overcrowding. Sounds like that’s been an ongoing problem at WSHS.

It is not an issue. That was a temporary issue.

FCPS has West Springfield at 10% over capacity by 2023.

The West Springfield boundaries are hard because they’re relatively compact, not all gerrymandered like the boundaries are in the western part of the county. The most logical thing to do there isn’t to send kids to Lee, it’s to send kids from the southern part of the attendance area to also under-enrolled but physically closer South County. But, if the decisions have to be made with an eye toward balancing SES factors, that would mean sending feeders to Lee even if it makes Lee have a huge attendance area.

NP: not gerrymandered? Daventry played so many games to get realigned from lee to ws. They should have been moving all the houses along okm up until Greely to Lee to alleviate wshs overcrowding pre renovation. Instead, the wealthiest lee subset managed to get realigned to ws. Saratoga houses are trying to follow suit to south county. I taught at key for years. The boundaries are made not by what benefits the majority of children, but what benefits the wealthiest of children.

Not at all gerrymandered.

It is a compact circle, not a bunch of tentacles.

WSHS is set up like a neighborhood school. Fcps should use that as a model. If you look at results, the neighborhood school works well for all the kids, especially lower performing groups.

Daventry and Hunt Valley should never have been moved out of Lee. They were by far the wealthiest elementary schools feeding Lee. Both single digit F/R lunch numbers. All the other feeders are high F/R. Lee has also been several hundred students under enrolled since they moved Hunt Valley out.

There is no going back now. FCPS screwed Lee.

When was Hunt Valley zoned for Lee? That’s a hike. West Springfield or SC are both closer. I realize physical proximity isn’t the only concern, but Hunt Valley to Lee is a bad drive in the mornings.

And Daventry is just one neighborhood, not going to make that much of a difference either way. Though the way they did the move was somewhat under the table, I’ll give you that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They should change the Lee/West Springfield boundaries for sure. Top reason for changes is to address overcrowding. Sounds like that’s been an ongoing problem at WSHS.

It is not an issue. That was a temporary issue.

FCPS has West Springfield at 10% over capacity by 2023.

The West Springfield boundaries are hard because they’re relatively compact, not all gerrymandered like the boundaries are in the western part of the county. The most logical thing to do there isn’t to send kids to Lee, it’s to send kids from the southern part of the attendance area to also under-enrolled but physically closer South County. But, if the decisions have to be made with an eye toward balancing SES factors, that would mean sending feeders to Lee even if it makes Lee have a huge attendance area.

NP: not gerrymandered? Daventry played so many games to get realigned from lee to ws. They should have been moving all the houses along okm up until Greely to Lee to alleviate wshs overcrowding pre renovation. Instead, the wealthiest lee subset managed to get realigned to ws. Saratoga houses are trying to follow suit to south county. I taught at key for years. The boundaries are made not by what benefits the majority of children, but what benefits the wealthiest of children.

Not at all gerrymandered.

It is a compact circle, not a bunch of tentacles.

WSHS is set up like a neighborhood school. Fcps should use that as a model. If you look at results, the neighborhood school works well for all the kids, especially lower performing groups.

Daventry and Hunt Valley should never have been moved out of Lee. They were by far the wealthiest elementary schools feeding Lee. Both single digit F/R lunch numbers. All the other feeders are high F/R. Lee has also been several hundred students under enrolled since they moved Hunt Valley out.

There is no going back now. FCPS screwed Lee.

When was Hunt Valley zoned for Lee? That’s a hike. West Springfield or SC are both closer. I realize physical proximity isn’t the only concern, but Hunt Valley to Lee is a bad drive in the mornings.

And Daventry is just one neighborhood, not going to make that much of a difference either way. Though the way they did the move was somewhat under the table, I’ll give you that.

Before South County opened, the southern portion of Hunt Valley was zoned for Lee. (The northern part was zoned for West Springfield.) That area was not slated to move in FCPS's initial boundary proposals for opening South County, but the community saw their opportunity, I guess, and tried to get themselves moved to either South County or West Springfield.

[Anonymous]

The West Springfield/Lee situation is like Langley/Herndon, except that West Springfield and Lee are actually close to each other.