FCPS Boundary Review Updates

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The attendance islands also don’t want to be moved - it gets back to “why” and if there is not specific reasons we should be be disrupting kids and families.

There are certain islands and boundaries at the elementary level in higher FARMS areas where returning those neighborhoods to a closer school might have a positive impact on attendance and parent participation at the school vs. the kids being bussed to a school that’s further away.

We found the social engineer🙄

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rachna of the Braddock district held a town hall last night at WFES. Key points including the decrease of split feeders and not allowing any more to occur. That should glean some insights to Thru’s suggestions per their circled split feeder map. Would imagine attendance islands as well.

Did sound like a lot of geographical factors will be taking into consideration too (not crossing our major highways).

Was the 'not crossing our major highways' her words?

She mentioned the Beltway which is applicable for her district, not sure on others. Also, in my virtual community engagement session, the FCPS staff member mentioned “natural borders” like beltway, 66, etc.

That is very sensible. I-66 is major geographic boundary. Much more so than route 7, even with its barriers and multiple lanes of traffic. I-66 and route 7 are not the same thing.

Sending a students zoned in Waples across I-66 to Johnson/Fairfax would be absurd. You would be trading 2 years of whatever “benefit” you believe exists from a MS shift from Carson/Franklin to Johnson for 6 years of cross-66 transit through the heart of Fairfax, with 2-3 of those years being new, teenage drivers. That would be a ridiculous move.

I’m not advocating for the change, but highways as barriers is much different than something like Rt-7 or Rt-50. In most cases when a highway is a barrier, there is an overpass or underpass to cross it. There are McLean walkers who “cross” 267 daily. The bigger hassle Waples parents would experience is traffic on Rt-50 to get to Fairfax HS. Not the act of crossing I-66.

That is a good point and might explain why there is a pocket of Waples attendance on the south side of 66 (Fairfax Ridge, by the NRA). If you look at an attendance map and don’t understand local traffic or how the roads connect, it appears that Fairfax Ridge is closer to Providence Elementary and crosses the “geographical boundary” of 66. But the reality is, you would need to loop around, either on 50 or back towards Waples ES and then up towards Jermantown to get from Fairfax Ridge to Providence. Bus routes don’t happen as the bird flies.

Try it on Google Maps, Fairfax Ridge Development to Providence Elementary. The current attendance map avoids travel on 50. Route 50 is the bigger problem. Shifting Waples to KJ/Fairfax would make that a huge problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The attendance islands also don’t want to be moved - it gets back to “why” and if there is not specific reasons we should be be disrupting kids and families.

There are certain islands and boundaries at the elementary level in higher FARMS areas where returning those neighborhoods to a closer school might have a positive impact on attendance and parent participation at the school vs. the kids being bussed to a school that’s further away.

We found the social engineer🙄

Social engineering is bussing neighborhoods past multiple elementary schools to try and balance FARM rates, but okay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The attendance islands also don’t want to be moved - it gets back to “why” and if there is not specific reasons we should be be disrupting kids and families.

There are certain islands and boundaries at the elementary level in higher FARMS areas where returning those neighborhoods to a closer school might have a positive impact on attendance and parent participation at the school vs. the kids being bussed to a school that’s further away.

We found the social engineer🙄

Social engineering is bussing neighborhoods past multiple elementary schools to try and balance FARM rates, but okay.

DP. I agree. There is a big difference between “FARMS balancing” in the name of “equitable access to programming” and “certain islands and boundaries at the elementary level in higher FARMS areas where returning those neighborhoods to a closer school might have a positive impact on attendance and parent participation at the school vs. the kids being bussed to a school that’s further away.”

Based on my experience in the classroom, parent and community engagement are both very important to support all students. It is harder to achieve these goals for students who are bussed away from their community. “Farms balancing” in the name of equity hurts the shifted community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DP... there will never be a perfect time, which is how we got in the current mess with ridiculous attendance islands like Fort Hunt to begin with.

That said, they're also cart before the horse here on boundaries... if we're sticking with MS 7-8, IB programs, AAP centers, and other current programming (Special Ed centers, Immersion, etc.) ALL remaining as status quo, then by all means proceed. But if they're looking to change any of these things, that needs to get sorted out first before we go about doing boundary changes... unless the want to narrow scope to ONLY making changes needed to eliminate attendance islands and reduce split feeders or similar low-hanging fruit.

You do not have any idea how many students will still be in FCPS next year.

10% gone?

20%

50% of students no longer in FCPS??

[Anonymous]

Boundary realignments are data-driven. What FCPS is missing here is:

THE DATA IS BAD.

They have little to no idea who will still be left after the summer. Especially BIPOCs, since the heightened immigration enforcement focus will impact BIPOCs more than the whites.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The attendance islands also don’t want to be moved - it gets back to “why” and if there is not specific reasons we should be be disrupting kids and families.

There are certain islands and boundaries at the elementary level in higher FARMS areas where returning those neighborhoods to a closer school might have a positive impact on attendance and parent participation at the school vs. the kids being bussed to a school that’s further away.

We found the social engineer🙄

We already know attendance is a problem in the lower income/higher FARMS areas. Every teacher and administrator can tell you this. Low attendance negatively impacts grades and scores on state tests. They want to get rid of stuff like the Ft. Hunt attendance island, where some kids are bussed clear across Rt. 1 past multiple other ES to attend Ft. Hunt/West Potomac instead of likely Mt. Vernon Woods and Mt. Vernon HS. They’ve noticed with longer bus commutes, more kids are likely to miss school because if they miss the bus, there may be no other way to get them to school if there’s no car in the household or another adult already took it to work and the kids are outside of walking distance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The attendance islands also don’t want to be moved - it gets back to “why” and if there is not specific reasons we should be be disrupting kids and families.

There are certain islands and boundaries at the elementary level in higher FARMS areas where returning those neighborhoods to a closer school might have a positive impact on attendance and parent participation at the school vs. the kids being bussed to a school that’s further away.

We found the social engineer🙄

We already know attendance is a problem in the lower income/higher FARMS areas. Every teacher and administrator can tell you this. Low attendance negatively impacts grades and scores on state tests. They want to get rid of stuff like the Ft. Hunt attendance island, where some kids are bussed clear across Rt. 1 past multiple other ES to attend Ft. Hunt/West Potomac instead of likely Mt. Vernon Woods and Mt. Vernon HS. They’ve noticed with longer bus commutes, more kids are likely to miss school because if they miss the bus, there may be no other way to get them to school if there’s no car in the household or another adult already took it to work and the kids are outside of walking distance.

Who is they? Matt (“Mateo”) Dunne? He’s the designated successor to the disgusting Karen Corbett Sanders, who made sure an obscene amount of money was spent expanding West Potomac when hundreds of seats were available at Mount Vernon. And now this sleazeball wants to pretend we have to operate more efficiently all over the county? GMAFB. All these people ever want to do is improve their own pyramids at the expense of others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The attendance islands also don’t want to be moved - it gets back to “why” and if there is not specific reasons we should be be disrupting kids and families.

There are certain islands and boundaries at the elementary level in higher FARMS areas where returning those neighborhoods to a closer school might have a positive impact on attendance and parent participation at the school vs. the kids being bussed to a school that’s further away.

We found the social engineer🙄

We already know attendance is a problem in the lower income/higher FARMS areas. Every teacher and administrator can tell you this. Low attendance negatively impacts grades and scores on state tests. They want to get rid of stuff like the Ft. Hunt attendance island, where some kids are bussed clear across Rt. 1 past multiple other ES to attend Ft. Hunt/West Potomac instead of likely Mt. Vernon Woods and Mt. Vernon HS. They’ve noticed with longer bus commutes, more kids are likely to miss school because if they miss the bus, there may be no other way to get them to school if there’s no car in the household or another adult already took it to work and the kids are outside of walking distance.

Who is they? Matt (“Mateo”) Dunne? He’s the designated successor to the disgusting Karen Corbett Sanders, who made sure an obscene amount of money was spent expanding West Potomac when hundreds of seats were available at Mount Vernon. And now this sleazeball wants to pretend we have to operate more efficiently all over the county? GMAFB. All these people ever want to do is improve their own pyramids at the expense of others.

WP’s excess capacity will be needed in a few years to take kids currently attending Edison, where there is a bunch of re-development planned.

But regardless, one of the goals of the boundary changes was to reduce commute times where possible so … the irregular ES boundaries are going to be under a microscope 🤷‍♀️

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The attendance islands also don’t want to be moved - it gets back to “why” and if there is not specific reasons we should be be disrupting kids and families.

There are certain islands and boundaries at the elementary level in higher FARMS areas where returning those neighborhoods to a closer school might have a positive impact on attendance and parent participation at the school vs. the kids being bussed to a school that’s further away.

We found the social engineer🙄

We already know attendance is a problem in the lower income/higher FARMS areas. Every teacher and administrator can tell you this. Low attendance negatively impacts grades and scores on state tests. They want to get rid of stuff like the Ft. Hunt attendance island, where some kids are bussed clear across Rt. 1 past multiple other ES to attend Ft. Hunt/West Potomac instead of likely Mt. Vernon Woods and Mt. Vernon HS. They’ve noticed with longer bus commutes, more kids are likely to miss school because if they miss the bus, there may be no other way to get them to school if there’s no car in the household or another adult already took it to work and the kids are outside of walking distance.

Who is they? Matt (“Mateo”) Dunne? He’s the designated successor to the disgusting Karen Corbett Sanders, who made sure an obscene amount of money was spent expanding West Potomac when hundreds of seats were available at Mount Vernon. And now this sleazeball wants to pretend we have to operate more efficiently all over the county? GMAFB. All these people ever want to do is improve their own pyramids at the expense of others.

And this is where comprehensive boundary reviews come in because Mount Vernon’s empty seats don’t exist in a vacuum. There are 200 students pupil placing to Hayfield, presumably for AP. So shuffling a bunch of WP kids from an AP school to MV, which is under enrolled because students are transferring out using an IB loophole isn’t going to fix anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The attendance islands also don’t want to be moved - it gets back to “why” and if there is not specific reasons we should be be disrupting kids and families.

There are certain islands and boundaries at the elementary level in higher FARMS areas where returning those neighborhoods to a closer school might have a positive impact on attendance and parent participation at the school vs. the kids being bussed to a school that’s further away.

We found the social engineer🙄

We already know attendance is a problem in the lower income/higher FARMS areas. Every teacher and administrator can tell you this. Low attendance negatively impacts grades and scores on state tests. They want to get rid of stuff like the Ft. Hunt attendance island, where some kids are bussed clear across Rt. 1 past multiple other ES to attend Ft. Hunt/West Potomac instead of likely Mt. Vernon Woods and Mt. Vernon HS. They’ve noticed with longer bus commutes, more kids are likely to miss school because if they miss the bus, there may be no other way to get them to school if there’s no car in the household or another adult already took it to work and the kids are outside of walking distance.

There won’t be any FARMS kids next year. Most of their parents will “self-deport” back to Central America and take their kids out of FCPS.

Pause the process now!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The attendance islands also don’t want to be moved - it gets back to “why” and if there is not specific reasons we should be be disrupting kids and families.

There are certain islands and boundaries at the elementary level in higher FARMS areas where returning those neighborhoods to a closer school might have a positive impact on attendance and parent participation at the school vs. the kids being bussed to a school that’s further away.

We found the social engineer🙄

We already know attendance is a problem in the lower income/higher FARMS areas. Every teacher and administrator can tell you this. Low attendance negatively impacts grades and scores on state tests. They want to get rid of stuff like the Ft. Hunt attendance island, where some kids are bussed clear across Rt. 1 past multiple other ES to attend Ft. Hunt/West Potomac instead of likely Mt. Vernon Woods and Mt. Vernon HS. They’ve noticed with longer bus commutes, more kids are likely to miss school because if they miss the bus, there may be no other way to get them to school if there’s no car in the household or another adult already took it to work and the kids are outside of walking distance.

Who is they? Matt (“Mateo”) Dunne? He’s the designated successor to the disgusting Karen Corbett Sanders, who made sure an obscene amount of money was spent expanding West Potomac when hundreds of seats were available at Mount Vernon. And now this sleazeball wants to pretend we have to operate more efficiently all over the county? GMAFB. All these people ever want to do is improve their own pyramids at the expense of others.

And this is where comprehensive boundary reviews come in because Mount Vernon’s empty seats don’t exist in a vacuum. There are 200 students pupil placing to Hayfield, presumably for AP. So shuffling a bunch of WP kids from an AP school to MV, which is under enrolled because students are transferring out using an IB loophole isn’t going to fix anything.

Some of those placing out of Mt. Vernon may be military kids from Fort Belvoir. There was a state law passed a few years back that allow kids residing on a military base in Va. to chose their schooling option. From what I understand, Hayfield is where most of the middle and high schoolers from Ft. Belvoir who pupil place end up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The attendance islands also don’t want to be moved - it gets back to “why” and if there is not specific reasons we should be be disrupting kids and families.

There are certain islands and boundaries at the elementary level in higher FARMS areas where returning those neighborhoods to a closer school might have a positive impact on attendance and parent participation at the school vs. the kids being bussed to a school that’s further away.

We found the social engineer🙄

We already know attendance is a problem in the lower income/higher FARMS areas. Every teacher and administrator can tell you this. Low attendance negatively impacts grades and scores on state tests. They want to get rid of stuff like the Ft. Hunt attendance island, where some kids are bussed clear across Rt. 1 past multiple other ES to attend Ft. Hunt/West Potomac instead of likely Mt. Vernon Woods and Mt. Vernon HS. They’ve noticed with longer bus commutes, more kids are likely to miss school because if they miss the bus, there may be no other way to get them to school if there’s no car in the household or another adult already took it to work and the kids are outside of walking distance.

There won’t be any FARMS kids next year. Most of their parents will “self-deport” back to Central America and take their kids out of FCPS.

Pause the process now!

Really? Have we seen a significant drop in attendance this year? I suspect that while there has been some decline it is pretty minimal. Why do you think people would self deport when the extra months that they stay int he country allow them to continue to earn more money than they would in their home country? The FARMs/ELL folks that you are hoping self deport are here for jobs that pay enough to take care of the people who are here and their families in their home country. They are likely to be just fine with waiting to be arrested and being deported on the US dime then to decide to self deport.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The attendance islands also don’t want to be moved - it gets back to “why” and if there is not specific reasons we should be be disrupting kids and families.

There are certain islands and boundaries at the elementary level in higher FARMS areas where returning those neighborhoods to a closer school might have a positive impact on attendance and parent participation at the school vs. the kids being bussed to a school that’s further away.

We found the social engineer🙄

We already know attendance is a problem in the lower income/higher FARMS areas. Every teacher and administrator can tell you this. Low attendance negatively impacts grades and scores on state tests. They want to get rid of stuff like the Ft. Hunt attendance island, where some kids are bussed clear across Rt. 1 past multiple other ES to attend Ft. Hunt/West Potomac instead of likely Mt. Vernon Woods and Mt. Vernon HS. They’ve noticed with longer bus commutes, more kids are likely to miss school because if they miss the bus, there may be no other way to get them to school if there’s no car in the household or another adult already took it to work and the kids are outside of walking distance.

Who is they? Matt (“Mateo”) Dunne? He’s the designated successor to the disgusting Karen Corbett Sanders, who made sure an obscene amount of money was spent expanding West Potomac when hundreds of seats were available at Mount Vernon. And now this sleazeball wants to pretend we have to operate more efficiently all over the county? GMAFB. All these people ever want to do is improve their own pyramids at the expense of others.

WP’s excess capacity will be needed in a few years to take kids currently attending Edison, where there is a bunch of re-development planned.

But regardless, one of the goals of the boundary changes was to reduce commute times where possible so … the irregular ES boundaries are going to be under a microscope 🤷‍♀️

That’s utterly speculative. And FCPS has been completely arbitrary when it comes to addressing actual overcrowding, much less addressing potential future growth.

But the likes of Corbett Sanders and Dunne are all about protecting their own pyramid while pontificating about what needs to happen in the rest of the county. So tired of their BS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The attendance islands also don’t want to be moved - it gets back to “why” and if there is not specific reasons we should be be disrupting kids and families.

There are certain islands and boundaries at the elementary level in higher FARMS areas where returning those neighborhoods to a closer school might have a positive impact on attendance and parent participation at the school vs. the kids being bussed to a school that’s further away.

We found the social engineer🙄

We already know attendance is a problem in the lower income/higher FARMS areas. Every teacher and administrator can tell you this. Low attendance negatively impacts grades and scores on state tests. They want to get rid of stuff like the Ft. Hunt attendance island, where some kids are bussed clear across Rt. 1 past multiple other ES to attend Ft. Hunt/West Potomac instead of likely Mt. Vernon Woods and Mt. Vernon HS. They’ve noticed with longer bus commutes, more kids are likely to miss school because if they miss the bus, there may be no other way to get them to school if there’s no car in the household or another adult already took it to work and the kids are outside of walking distance.

Who is they? Matt (“Mateo”) Dunne? He’s the designated successor to the disgusting Karen Corbett Sanders, who made sure an obscene amount of money was spent expanding West Potomac when hundreds of seats were available at Mount Vernon. And now this sleazeball wants to pretend we have to operate more efficiently all over the county? GMAFB. All these people ever want to do is improve their own pyramids at the expense of others.

And this is where comprehensive boundary reviews come in because Mount Vernon’s empty seats don’t exist in a vacuum. There are 200 students pupil placing to Hayfield, presumably for AP. So shuffling a bunch of WP kids from an AP school to MV, which is under enrolled because students are transferring out using an IB loophole isn’t going to fix anything.

Some of those placing out of Mt. Vernon may be military kids from Fort Belvoir. There was a state law passed a few years back that allow kids residing on a military base in Va. to chose their schooling option. From what I understand, Hayfield is where most of the middle and high schoolers from Ft. Belvoir who pupil place end up.

I've been told from a reliable source that 60% of the transfers out of MVHS are students who do reside on base.