Western High School Boundary Map options (A/B/C/D)

[Anonymous]

And this is the problem with vocal parents -- Reid and the board need to understand that the parents who are vocal are the ones who have time and they are a minority. There are a lot of people at Crossfield who either don't care or are excited about the new high school (mainly due to the commute), but guess what? We care about the short commute because we have jobs and it makes our lives easier, but we have jobs, so we don't have time to organize and create fancy websites and call people at Gatehouse to give us new information!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And this is the problem with vocal parents -- Reid and the board need to understand that the parents who are vocal are the ones who have time and they are a minority. There are a lot of people at Crossfield who either don't care or are excited about the new high school (mainly due to the commute), but guess what? We care about the short commute because we have jobs and it makes our lives easier, but we have jobs, so we don't have time to organize and create fancy websites and call people at Gatehouse to give us new information!

But you could create a petition to demonstrate to Reid your cause has support if you believe it does or send a joint letter if you have not done so. Board meetings also allow people to send digital videos. There are ways to advocate that don’t require much time.

[Anonymous]

If option E is real I think you are going to see Lees Corner parents banding together to push back on it. And that’s when it could get interesting. The school board will have to decide which group of parents to please and which to piss off.

This is why the boundaries should be drawn using defined objective criteria rather than feelings and fears. Someone is going to be upset no matter what they do, so being able to point to objective criteria and stick to them is the only sensible way to handle all these changes. The school board has given people way too much of an opening to present their case. I know some of you think they would be terrible for not getting input, but look at the mess that’s been created all across the county now. Too many cooks in the kitchen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And this is the problem with vocal parents -- Reid and the board need to understand that the parents who are vocal are the ones who have time and they are a minority. There are a lot of people at Crossfield who either don't care or are excited about the new high school (mainly due to the commute), but guess what? We care about the short commute because we have jobs and it makes our lives easier, but we have jobs, so we don't have time to organize and create fancy websites and call people at Gatehouse to give us new information!

But you could create a petition to demonstrate to Reid your cause has support if you believe it does or send a joint letter if you have not done so. Board meetings also allow people to send digital videos. There are ways to advocate that don’t require much time.

And, lay out the reasons for preferring the new school. The people who spoke to remain at Oakton only used emotion. Of course, if you are a sports person, you want sports. The new school will have that if the leadership gets moving and establishes a boundary. How can anyone know anything with the way this has been rolled out.

I'm sorry, wanting your younger child to ride in the car with your older child is not a good reason for Crossfield to stay at Oakton.

The reasons for Crossfield are clear:
Proximity --a school that is extremely close rather than one that requires school buses and teen drivers to use I66 or winding and dangerous backroads.
Also, after school activities are more accessible for the families that need to provide transport for these activities.
Financial savings--transportation has to be a savings of millions. How many routes can an Oakton bus driver from Franklin Farm make per day compared to a driver to Carson? Has anyone asked that question?
Community--I'm willing to bet that the vast majority of Crossfield shops at Franklin Farm shopping center--along with their Franklin Farm neighbors who attend Chantilly and will almost definitely be going to the new school. I also suspect that they play CYA sports over Vienna or Reston.
If they attend church, I also suspect it is in the same churches as the neighbors across the parkway--not the ones in Oakton.

These are real issues--not emotional ones. They also match the outline for the comprehensive boundary study.

[Anonymous]

9:07 here:

One more important factor

Oakton is at very slightly over capacity and massive new construction is underway in the boundary--and very close to the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If option E is real I think you are going to see Lees Corner parents banding together to push back on it. And that’s when it could get interesting. The school board will have to decide which group of parents to please and which to piss off.

This is why the boundaries should be drawn using defined objective criteria rather than feelings and fears. Someone is going to be upset no matter what they do, so being able to point to objective criteria and stick to them is the only sensible way to handle all these changes. The school board has given people way too much of an opening to present their case. I know some of you think they would be terrible for not getting input, but look at the mess that’s been created all across the county now. Too many cooks in the kitchen.

Honestly if they wanted to just get this done with the least amount of noise and pushback from the community, they should just go with Option B and call it a day. Probably not what Meren or the greater SLHS community would want for that school, but it'll be lot less combative.

[Anonymous]

i cannot imagine FCPS putting forward a serious proposal that leaves an HS at 60% capacity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:i cannot imagine FCPS putting forward a serious proposal that leaves an HS at 60% capacity.

I think that scenario is just them playing around with the software and half done, and they didn't mean for people to see it yet. But if I were a Lees Corner or Navy/Franklin/Chantilly family I would definitely start paying attention.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If option E is real I think you are going to see Lees Corner parents banding together to push back on it. And that’s when it could get interesting. The school board will have to decide which group of parents to please and which to piss off.

This is why the boundaries should be drawn using defined objective criteria rather than feelings and fears. Someone is going to be upset no matter what they do, so being able to point to objective criteria and stick to them is the only sensible way to handle all these changes. The school board has given people way too much of an opening to present their case. I know some of you think they would be terrible for not getting input, but look at the mess that’s been created all across the county now. Too many cooks in the kitchen.

Honestly if they wanted to just get this done with the least amount of noise and pushback from the community, they should just go with Option B and call it a day. Probably not what Meren or the greater SLHS community would want for that school, but it'll be lot less combative.

Sure, Jan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If option E is real I think you are going to see Lees Corner parents banding together to push back on it. And that’s when it could get interesting. The school board will have to decide which group of parents to please and which to piss off.

This is why the boundaries should be drawn using defined objective criteria rather than feelings and fears. Someone is going to be upset no matter what they do, so being able to point to objective criteria and stick to them is the only sensible way to handle all these changes. The school board has given people way too much of an opening to present their case. I know some of you think they would be terrible for not getting input, but look at the mess that’s been created all across the county now. Too many cooks in the kitchen.

Honestly if they wanted to just get this done with the least amount of noise and pushback from the community, they should just go with Option B and call it a day. Probably not what Meren or the greater SLHS community would want for that school, but it'll be lot less combative.

Sure, Jan.

Crystal clear: Option A with the rest of Floris added.
Reduces crowding at Chantilly, Westfield, and Oakton
Reduces transportation costs

Common sense solution

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And this is the problem with vocal parents -- Reid and the board need to understand that the parents who are vocal are the ones who have time and they are a minority. There are a lot of people at Crossfield who either don't care or are excited about the new high school (mainly due to the commute), but guess what? We care about the short commute because we have jobs and it makes our lives easier, but we have jobs, so we don't have time to organize and create fancy websites and call people at Gatehouse to give us new information!

But you could create a petition to demonstrate to Reid your cause has support if you believe it does or send a joint letter if you have not done so. Board meetings also allow people to send digital videos. There are ways to advocate that don’t require much time.

And, lay out the reasons for preferring the new school. The people who spoke to remain at Oakton only used emotion. Of course, if you are a sports person, you want sports. The new school will have that if the leadership gets moving and establishes a boundary. How can anyone know anything with the way this has been rolled out.

I'm sorry, wanting your younger child to ride in the car with your older child is not a good reason for Crossfield to stay at Oakton.

The reasons for Crossfield are clear:
Proximity --a school that is extremely close rather than one that requires school buses and teen drivers to use I66 or winding and dangerous backroads.
Also, after school activities are more accessible for the families that need to provide transport for these activities.
Financial savings--transportation has to be a savings of millions. How many routes can an Oakton bus driver from Franklin Farm make per day compared to a driver to Carson? Has anyone asked that question?
Community--I'm willing to bet that the vast majority of Crossfield shops at Franklin Farm shopping center--along with their Franklin Farm neighbors who attend Chantilly and will almost definitely be going to the new school. I also suspect that they play CYA sports over Vienna or Reston.
If they attend church, I also suspect it is in the same churches as the neighbors across the parkway--not the ones in Oakton.

These are real issues--not emotional ones. They also match the outline for the comprehensive boundary study.

I attend church in Arlington despite there being the same denomination on the corner of 286/franklin farm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And this is the problem with vocal parents -- Reid and the board need to understand that the parents who are vocal are the ones who have time and they are a minority. There are a lot of people at Crossfield who either don't care or are excited about the new high school (mainly due to the commute), but guess what? We care about the short commute because we have jobs and it makes our lives easier, but we have jobs, so we don't have time to organize and create fancy websites and call people at Gatehouse to give us new information!

But you could create a petition to demonstrate to Reid your cause has support if you believe it does or send a joint letter if you have not done so. Board meetings also allow people to send digital videos. There are ways to advocate that don’t require much time.

And, lay out the reasons for preferring the new school. The people who spoke to remain at Oakton only used emotion. Of course, if you are a sports person, you want sports. The new school will have that if the leadership gets moving and establishes a boundary. How can anyone know anything with the way this has been rolled out.

I'm sorry, wanting your younger child to ride in the car with your older child is not a good reason for Crossfield to stay at Oakton.

The reasons for Crossfield are clear:
Proximity --a school that is extremely close rather than one that requires school buses and teen drivers to use I66 or winding and dangerous backroads.
Also, after school activities are more accessible for the families that need to provide transport for these activities.
Financial savings--transportation has to be a savings of millions. How many routes can an Oakton bus driver from Franklin Farm make per day compared to a driver to Carson? Has anyone asked that question?
Community--I'm willing to bet that the vast majority of Crossfield shops at Franklin Farm shopping center--along with their Franklin Farm neighbors who attend Chantilly and will almost definitely be going to the new school. I also suspect that they play CYA sports over Vienna or Reston.
If they attend church, I also suspect it is in the same churches as the neighbors across the parkway--not the ones in Oakton.

These are real issues--not emotional ones. They also match the outline for the comprehensive boundary study.

Every argument you made also applies to Navy and not just crossfield. Though it comes from the viewpoint of franklin farm, not the east side of west ox which is a different story.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think most in the area are excited about having a school. I also think a lot of Crossfield people would like to go there, but you have people like the speakers the other night that make it about their own opinions. Using the pandemic as an excuse and construction at Crossfield as a reason to stay at Oakton? When the distance to Oakton is at least twice as long and very, very difficult. 66 or windy roads.

It’s not only the two speakers from Crossfield. If you joined the community meeting between the School Board members and the Crossfield families, you would see most of the families want to stay at Oakton.

The speakers chose to speak up because that’s what the board member suggested.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If option E is real I think you are going to see Lees Corner parents banding together to push back on it. And that’s when it could get interesting. The school board will have to decide which group of parents to please and which to piss off.

This is why the boundaries should be drawn using defined objective criteria rather than feelings and fears. Someone is going to be upset no matter what they do, so being able to point to objective criteria and stick to them is the only sensible way to handle all these changes. The school board has given people way too much of an opening to present their case. I know some of you think they would be terrible for not getting input, but look at the mess that’s been created all across the county now. Too many cooks in the kitchen.

Honestly if they wanted to just get this done with the least amount of noise and pushback from the community, they should just go with Option B and call it a day. Probably not what Meren or the greater SLHS community would want for that school, but it'll be lot less combative.

This is actually true. Meren makes everything difficult.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think most in the area are excited about having a school. I also think a lot of Crossfield people would like to go there, but you have people like the speakers the other night that make it about their own opinions. Using the pandemic as an excuse and construction at Crossfield as a reason to stay at Oakton? When the distance to Oakton is at least twice as long and very, very difficult. 66 or windy roads.

It’s not only the two speakers from Crossfield. If you joined the community meeting between the School Board members and the Crossfield families, you would see most of the families want to stay at Oakton.

The speakers chose to speak up because that’s what the board member suggested.

+1