Cliff Notes summary of MCPS boundary study fight?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are many of us who don't care about diversity and we aren't racist

There are people across the county of all races and SES levels in fact based on the fact that people are choosing where to live

The PC bs the board is trying to force down everyones throats is tiresome and being called racist or classist if you disagree is also tiresome

You might not be racist.

But describing the residential segregation in the county as "people choosing where to live" is, at minimum, ignorant of history and current reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[q

What's wrong with being concerned about our property values? For a lot of people, their homes are a big investment, and any positive outcome in a well-managed investment will most likely be inherited by the children. I mean isn't that the goal for most people? To give the next generation a chance at a better life? For some, it's having elected officials redraw the school boundaries to their benefit. For others, it's maintaining a certain amount of wealth for the future (which doesn't mean they were all born with money), and making sure their kids attend top-notch schools. I don't believe either point of view is necessarily wrong when everyone has different needs.

What is wrong is that the superintendent and BOE are doing a terrible job of funding and maintaining schools. Maybe we wouldn't be having this fight to begin with if they had better decision-making and money management to fit the needs of each school. Instead, they just want to cover up their mistakes. I've always been told every school in MCPS is fantastic, but clearly that isn't the case.

It is fine for you to be concerned about your property value.

It is not fine for MCPS and the board of education to make decisions based on your concern about your property value.

It's also not fine for MCPS and the BOE to act like they're Robin Hood.

Changing school boundaries, which may or may not affect the price you will get for your property when you sell it, is not robbing you. It just isn't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Ask the people who are pitching fits about it.

And your "better yet" solution not only avoids the issue, but ignores one of the specific aims of the analysis.The analysis is about capacity and geography; it is also about demographics.

It doesn't ignore it, because if you address capacity you will of necessity be adjusting demographics at the same time -- and probably in ways that are more palatable to opponents of redistricting than long-distance busing to "desegregate" schools.

That's just not true. There are a lot of schools in MCPS that are not over or under capacity. And adjusting for capacity does not inherently entail adjusting for demographics, just like adjusting for demographics does not inherently entail adjusting for capacity.

[Anonymous]

Why is Wootton included in Crown if it is under capacity?

[Anonymous]

Wootton is projected to be over capacity by 200 seats or more by the end of the six-year planning period.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wootton is projected to be over capacity by 200 seats or more by the end of the six-year planning period.

It is not. According to the CIP, Wootton is projected to be under capacity through 2034.

http://gis.mcpsmd.org/cipmasterpdfs/CIP21_Chap4_Wootton.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why is Wootton included in Crown if it is under capacity?

Part of the Wootton zone is directly across the street from the Crown site.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

So really what proponents are talking about is redisributing students to flatten out FARMS levels -- or at least make the differences in FARMS not so stark. Because race and class are correlated in this country, of course that may mean changes in the racial mix of the student bodies at various schools. But make no mistake, every school in MCPS --- EVERY school -- is already racially integrated.

This is true only insofar as there is no school in MCPS that is 100% one particular race/ethnicity.

If you think New Hampshire Estates PS or Westbrook ES are racially integrated, then your definition of integration must be different from mine.

Westbrook is 25% nonwhite. It's racially integrated, though I'll grant you it's safe to say that it is predominantly white.

You make a stronger case with New Hampshire Estates, which is 72 percent Hispanic, 21 percent black and less than 5 percent white. Maybe adjusting boundaries will improve the socioeconomic mix in a school like that.

Westbrook Elementary is in the southwest corner of the county, in Bethesda. You'd have to bus kids pretty far in or out of there to appreciably change the racial mix, given the racial and econonic mix of that area of the county.

NHE is 67% ESOL and almost 90% FARMs. It's also 71% Hispanic.

and 8 miles down the road . . .

Westbrook - fewer than 5% in FARMs and ESOL and 74% white. I don't consider this integrated.

These schools have TWO VERY DIFFERENT cultures. Do you honestly think the folks in Bethesda would go for some "trading" based on these statistics? Liberal elites are all talk.

No one is suggesting "trading" NHE and Westbrook kids. The choice of NHE is also kind of weird because it is somewhat unique. It is K-2, but the overall school zone (NHE and Oak View) isn't contiguous. It is also bounded on two sides by very busy multi-lane roads, and one of its boundaries is the border with PG County. http://gis.mcpsmd.org/ServiceAreaMaps/NewHampshireEstatesOakViewES.pdf

So, it is unique in several ways, not just the degree to which it is dealing with concentrated poverty.

A better example might be Sligo Creek ES, which is 9 percent FARMS but surrounded by schools that are over 40 percent.

I know where it is. I grew up in SS. I also know the system inside and out.

SS and Bethesda are congested. A two-mile difference doesn't matter in their eyes. What matters is diversity - and that's defined by race and SES. Since Sligo Creek ES has low FARMs and is majority white, the county will not do "an exchange" between SCES and WES. ain't happening

You weren't around when the lines were redrawn btw Blair and BCC. That was years ago. So this isn't new.

Nothing will end "bright flight." Note that it's no longer "white flight," as educated parents with means will find the 'best" schools for their kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wootton is projected to be over capacity by 200 seats or more by the end of the six-year planning period.

It is not. According to the CIP, Wootton is projected to be under capacity through 2034.

http://gis.mcpsmd.org/cipmasterpdfs/CIP21_Chap4_Wootton.pdf

\

From your link:

Capital Project: Previous projections indicated that enrollment at Thomas S. Wootton High School would exceed capacity by 200 seats or more by the end of the six-year planning period. An FY 2018 appropriation was approved for a facility planning to conduct a capacity study. Expenditures are approved in the six-year period to open a new high school on the Crown Farm site to address overutilization in the mid-county region. Although an FY 2019 appropriation for planning was recommended by the Board of Education for this new school, the County Council delayed the funds by one year to begin in FY 2020. An FY 2020 appropriation was approved for planning to begin the architectural design for this project. Based on the expenditures shown in the recommended CIP, the new school is scheduled to open September 2025. An appropriation will be recommended in the next full CIP for construction funding. In order for this project to be completed on time, county and state funding must be provided at the levels recommended in this CIP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP is right.

The latest is that some parents are apparently threatening to take legal action against the boundary analysis (on what grounds I don't know). The BOE is meeting tomorrow to discuss how they might respond.

Rich white liberals file law suits to protect their privilege. Poor white conservatives vote for Trump to protect theirs. Different methods, same animus.

[Anonymous]

I know where it is. I grew up in SS. I also know the system inside and out.

SS and Bethesda are congested. A two-mile difference doesn't matter in their eyes. What matters is diversity - and that's defined by race and SES. Since Sligo Creek ES has low FARMs and is majority white, the county will not do "an exchange" between SCES and WES. ain't happening

You weren't around when the lines were redrawn btw Blair and BCC. That was years ago. So this isn't new.

Nothing will end "bright flight." Note that it's no longer "white flight," as educated parents with means will find the 'best" schools for their kids.

You may know the system "inside and out" but no one is talking about a "switch." The point of mentioning SCES wasn't suggest a switch with WES. It was to point out that you don't have to bus kids across the county to find boundaries where you have a overutlized and more segregated school adjacent to underutlized schools with concentrated poverty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[q

What's wrong with being concerned about our property values? For a lot of people, their homes are a big investment, and any positive outcome in a well-managed investment will most likely be inherited by the children. I mean isn't that the goal for most people? To give the next generation a chance at a better life? For some, it's having elected officials redraw the school boundaries to their benefit. For others, it's maintaining a certain amount of wealth for the future (which doesn't mean they were all born with money), and making sure their kids attend top-notch schools. I don't believe either point of view is necessarily wrong when everyone has different needs.

What is wrong is that the superintendent and BOE are doing a terrible job of funding and maintaining schools. Maybe we wouldn't be having this fight to begin with if they had better decision-making and money management to fit the needs of each school. Instead, they just want to cover up their mistakes. I've always been told every school in MCPS is fantastic, but clearly that isn't the case.

It is fine for you to be concerned about your property value.

It is not fine for MCPS and the board of education to make decisions based on your concern about your property value.

It's also not fine for MCPS and the BOE to act like they're Robin Hood.

Changing school boundaries, which may or may not affect the price you will get for your property when you sell it, is not robbing you. It just isn't.

I guess you haven't been paying attention.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[q

What's wrong with being concerned about our property values? For a lot of people, their homes are a big investment, and any positive outcome in a well-managed investment will most likely be inherited by the children. I mean isn't that the goal for most people? To give the next generation a chance at a better life? For some, it's having elected officials redraw the school boundaries to their benefit. For others, it's maintaining a certain amount of wealth for the future (which doesn't mean they were all born with money), and making sure their kids attend top-notch schools. I don't believe either point of view is necessarily wrong when everyone has different needs.

What is wrong is that the superintendent and BOE are doing a terrible job of funding and maintaining schools. Maybe we wouldn't be having this fight to begin with if they had better decision-making and money management to fit the needs of each school. Instead, they just want to cover up their mistakes. I've always been told every school in MCPS is fantastic, but clearly that isn't the case.

It is fine for you to be concerned about your property value.

It is not fine for MCPS and the board of education to make decisions based on your concern about your property value.

It's also not fine for MCPS and the BOE to act like they're Robin Hood.

Changing school boundaries, which may or may not affect the price you will get for your property when you sell it, is not robbing you. It just isn't.

I guess you haven't been paying attention.

Please explain how it's robbery, then.

[Anonymous]

If Crown doesn't open til Fall, 2024 and Woodward, Fall, 2025, then it seems like there will only be changes around the edges before that. That suggests that any kid past 5th or 6th grade is unlikely to see any change, at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If Crown doesn't open til Fall, 2024 and Woodward, Fall, 2025, then it seems like there will only be changes around the edges before that. That suggests that any kid past 5th or 6th grade is unlikely to see any change, at all.

Crown is planned to open in 2025 too.