Does anyone know the status of the Proposed BASIS Expansion

[Anonymous]

DCPSCB has started to see the light about the way the pushy BASIS franchise does business.

Finally.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DCPSCB has started to see the light about the way the pushy BASIS franchise does business.

Finally.

This. The pushy, entitled attitude of BASIS management really annoyed the PCSB, that was evident at the meeting.

[Anonymous]

This is somewhat off-topic, but as a parent to kids K and under, why in the world did DCPCSB ever approve Basis and Latin to start at 5th rather than 6th like DCPS middle schools? It seems really disruptive to DCPS and DCPCSC elementary schools to have so many students leaving at 5th because they feel like its now or never, including those who would really rather stay through 5th if they weren't worried about middle school. I feel like the cats out of the bag to change it, but I really really really don't understand the thinking behind it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCPSCB has started to see the light about the way the pushy BASIS franchise does business.

Finally.

This. The pushy, entitled attitude of BASIS management really annoyed the PCSB, that was evident at the meeting.

so the PCSB penalizes successful charter operators for being “pushy” while turning a blind eye to abject failure? great!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Disagree that many more CH parents will head to JA, EH and SH if most BASIS spits are pinned down by K-4 families. More like more will move or go private. BASIS has been the Hill’s most popular MS for more than a decade now for a reason.

Unlikely. Lots of parents on the Hill can't afford to move or go private. They will send their kids to Hill MS or other charters.

Depends on the school. Most IB Brent families can afford private ($$ real estate, little low cost housing) plus a sizable chunk of L-T, Maury & Watkins IB families. Obviously not all families will go private for a variety of reasons with financials as a heavy component, but I do think if BASIS middle school spots dry up, at least a third of families that would have gone there will move or go private instead.

You sent a kid to Brent? We sent several, over a decade. Most Brent families can't afford privates easily. I'm guessing that at least three quarters of my children's 4th grade cohorts at Brent stayed in public schools (but not necessarily DC public schools).

The vast majority of Brent parents own their homes. Virtually any of those families can afford privates if they want to. They may have other priorities and if their kid gets into BASIS, they're all set. But if BASIS seats dry up? They can afford to move or go private.

Lol no. Most Hill families (especially with multiple kids) don’t have an extra $80k around per year for private school. And private school admissions are selective and many are not accessible to the Hill. Yes they can move - but most of us like the Hill and try to make the schools work as long as we can.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCPSCB has started to see the light about the way the pushy BASIS franchise does business.

Finally.

This. The pushy, entitled attitude of BASIS management really annoyed the PCSB, that was evident at the meeting.

so the PCSB penalizes successful charter operators for being “pushy” while turning a blind eye to abject failure? great!

I'm no defender of the PCSB when it comes to how failure is handled, by BASIS is not the "success" you like to think. And they did approve the expansion, just not in the abnormally fast way BASIS wanted. If a few years of a normal growth pattern is a dealbreaker for BASIS, perhaps BASIS parents should be concerned about financial stability

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Disagree that many more CH parents will head to JA, EH and SH if most BASIS spits are pinned down by K-4 families. More like more will move or go private. BASIS has been the Hill’s most popular MS for more than a decade now for a reason.

Unlikely. Lots of parents on the Hill can't afford to move or go private. They will send their kids to Hill MS or other charters.

yep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is somewhat off-topic, but as a parent to kids K and under, why in the world did DCPCSB ever approve Basis and Latin to start at 5th rather than 6th like DCPS middle schools? It seems really disruptive to DCPS and DCPCSC elementary schools to have so many students leaving at 5th because they feel like its now or never, including those who would really rather stay through 5th if they weren't worried about middle school. I feel like the cats out of the bag to change it, but I really really really don't understand the thinking behind it.

The schools told the school board that starting in 5th grade would help kids do better. And PCSB doesn't really care if it hurts DCPS elementary and middle schools.
Honestly, DCPS doesn't even care if it hurts its own elementary and middle schools. If it did, it would get rid of the policy that kids who get in OOB to elementary schools have rights to the whole feeder pattern through grade 12. How many times have you seen on here people who are satisfied with their elementary schools but are leaving for a better feeder pattern...or who are concerned that if they don't play the lottery their kid will be left behind since all their friends are?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hill families who would have sent their kids to BASIS are, for the most part, not going to go down the Hill middle school path. They care about their kids’ education and are not going to roll the dice with those schools.

I disagree. A lot of Hill families enrolled in Basis in 5th out of a mistaken impression that the IB MS were “bad,” not because they like the Basis model. Many wash out of Basis and return. Fewer Basis spots would mean more enrollment in IB MS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCPSCB has started to see the light about the way the pushy BASIS franchise does business.

Finally.

This. The pushy, entitled attitude of BASIS management really annoyed the PCSB, that was evident at the meeting.

so the PCSB penalizes successful charter operators for being “pushy” while turning a blind eye to abject failure? great!

I'm no defender of the PCSB when it comes to how failure is handled, by BASIS is not the "success" you like to think. And they did approve the expansion, just not in the abnormally fast way BASIS wanted. If a few years of a normal growth pattern is a dealbreaker for BASIS, perhaps BASIS parents should be concerned about financial stability

I would think the PCSB is interested in being more careful about expansions, considering population and existing unfilled capacity, and authorizing only schools that are a good fit for the city's needs. We have a lot of perfectly good elementary schools in much of the city, and BASIS is unwilling to locate in a low-income area so it's not a good fit. BASIS wants this so they can wash kids out earlier, but why should that be a priority for the PCSB?

Btw, BASIS is easier to get into than either Latin campus this year. Wonder why that is.... It's funny that being functionally a test-in school for 7-12 hasn't produced better results.

[Anonymous]

Has Basis ever been more difficult to get into than Latin? I do not think so. Sure, some people have always ranked Basis ahead of both Latins. Cooper also early on had lottery spaces for 6th graders which means some people landed there despite bad lottery numbers the year earlier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Has Basis ever been more difficult to get into than Latin? I do not think so. Sure, some people have always ranked Basis ahead of both Latins. Cooper also early on had lottery spaces for 6th graders which means some people landed there despite bad lottery numbers the year earlier.

I haven't dug back in the years, but I think it's hard to say with COVID making things weird and also the process with Cooper and it's building. But BASIS, in the past few years, accepting about 2/3 of its applicants who didn't match elsewhere they ranked higher. Which is fine but it's not like it's God's gift to DC the way they think it is.

Ps 7-12th at BASIS is a test-in school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hill families who would have sent their kids to BASIS are, for the most part, not going to go down the Hill middle school path. They care about their kids’ education and are not going to roll the dice with those schools.

I disagree. A lot of Hill families enrolled in Basis in 5th out of a mistaken impression that the IB MS were “bad,” not because they like the Basis model. Many wash out of Basis and return. Fewer Basis spots would mean more enrollment in IB MS.

The IB middle schools are "bad" by any objective measure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hill families who would have sent their kids to BASIS are, for the most part, not going to go down the Hill middle school path. They care about their kids’ education and are not going to roll the dice with those schools.

I disagree. A lot of Hill families enrolled in Basis in 5th out of a mistaken impression that the IB MS were “bad,” not because they like the Basis model. Many wash out of Basis and return. Fewer Basis spots would mean more enrollment in IB MS.

The IB middle schools are "bad" by any objective measure.

Enough - every thread does not need to be derailed into this 'who is best' contest. There is not one 'objective' measure to compare schools. There is the PARCC/CAPE, sure, but as been discussed WAY too much on this forum is how limited/skewed that one snapshot is when capturing what is happening at an entire school. Kids and families determine satisfaction with a school for a myriad for a reasons. Knocking out a ton of advanced courses early as BASIS does is not necessarily wrong, but it is not for all kids/families. There are great teachers doing great things in a lot of schools, and that isn't seen by looking at a data point. For a lot of families, the extra curricular offerings of public schools really do make a difference as well. So just stop with the 'all schools are 'bad'' - it's just repeating the same thing without actually being informed about why some families are happy with the schools they are at.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hill families who would have sent their kids to BASIS are, for the most part, not going to go down the Hill middle school path. They care about their kids’ education and are not going to roll the dice with those schools.

I disagree. A lot of Hill families enrolled in Basis in 5th out of a mistaken impression that the IB MS were “bad,” not because they like the Basis model. Many wash out of Basis and return. Fewer Basis spots would mean more enrollment in IB MS.

The IB middle schools are "bad" by any objective measure.

Enough - every thread does not need to be derailed into this 'who is best' contest. There is not one 'objective' measure to compare schools. There is the PARCC/CAPE, sure, but as been discussed WAY too much on this forum is how limited/skewed that one snapshot is when capturing what is happening at an entire school. Kids and families determine satisfaction with a school for a myriad for a reasons. Knocking out a ton of advanced courses early as BASIS does is not necessarily wrong, but it is not for all kids/families. There are great teachers doing great things in a lot of schools, and that isn't seen by looking at a data point. For a lot of families, the extra curricular offerings of public schools really do make a difference as well. So just stop with the 'all schools are 'bad'' - it's just repeating the same thing without actually being informed about why some families are happy with the schools they are at.

+ 1

There are clearly people thriving at lots of Hill schools, including DCPS upper elementaries, middle schools, and at Eastern. Is there room for improvement? Sure. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t kids there today getting a solid education and enjoying sports and clubs. We are a stronger community when our neighborhood schools are utilized and supported. And as always, talking to real families who attend and having conversations with teachers and administrators at those schools will give you a far better picture of what is going on than the tired blanket messaging that is shared here all too often.