FCPS' plans to address concerns at under-enrolled and over-enrolled schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about the homeowners and non-ESL students that live in the Lewis boundaries? They should be forced to move to other schools and see their home values suffer? Doesn't seem right to me.

Wtf are you babbling about? How would their home values suffer going to a better performing school with more kids? Seems like it would be a win for them.

But, to be fair, I don’t think they should have to move if they don’t want to. 1,500 students is only a critical shortfall if you are trying to make a blatant equity play. It’s the people in Lewis pyramid trying to bolster their own house value at the expense of their neighbors.

I'm asking why people in the Lewis pyramid who are not ESL should have to transfer to other schools to find similar cohorts and challenging classes. That is the situation now and will continue to be unless something is done to help the school. Why are some pyramids designated as the permanent home of the poor and ESL populations? That is how FCPS is treating them. How is that fair to the homeowners in the Lewis pyramid? They moved higher income areas from Gambrill Road and Daventry to West Springfield. That helped their property values. Was that fair to the homeowners still zoned to Lewis? Maybe some people are tired of being dumped on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about the homeowners and non-ESL students that live in the Lewis boundaries? They should be forced to move to other schools and see their home values suffer? Doesn't seem right to me.

Wtf are you babbling about? How would their home values suffer going to a better performing school with more kids? Seems like it would be a win for them.

But, to be fair, I don’t think they should have to move if they don’t want to. 1,500 students is only a critical shortfall if you are trying to make a blatant equity play. It’s the people in Lewis pyramid trying to bolster their own house value at the expense of their neighbors.

I'm asking why people in the Lewis pyramid who are not ESL should have to transfer to other schools to find similar cohorts and challenging classes. That is the situation now and will continue to be unless something is done to help the school. Why are some pyramids designated as the permanent home of the poor and ESL populations? That is how FCPS is treating them. How is that fair to the homeowners in the Lewis pyramid? They moved higher income areas from Gambrill Road and Daventry to West Springfield. That helped their property values. Was that fair to the homeowners still zoned to Lewis? Maybe some people are tired of being dumped on.

Did you not know your school pyramid before you bought your house?

And as for being dumped on, yeah, FCPS families are overwhelmingly tired of this boundary change crap. The school board wasted years on it instead of working to improve the school system. The opportunity cost is through the roof on boundary changes, and they’re going to run it back in four years. It’s insanity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about the homeowners and non-ESL students that live in the Lewis boundaries? They should be forced to move to other schools and see their home values suffer? Doesn't seem right to me.

Wtf are you babbling about? How would their home values suffer going to a better performing school with more kids? Seems like it would be a win for them.

But, to be fair, I don’t think they should have to move if they don’t want to. 1,500 students is only a critical shortfall if you are trying to make a blatant equity play. It’s the people in Lewis pyramid trying to bolster their own house value at the expense of their neighbors.

I'm asking why people in the Lewis pyramid who are not ESL should have to transfer to other schools to find similar cohorts and challenging classes. That is the situation now and will continue to be unless something is done to help the school. Why are some pyramids designated as the permanent home of the poor and ESL populations? That is how FCPS is treating them. How is that fair to the homeowners in the Lewis pyramid? They moved higher income areas from Gambrill Road and Daventry to West Springfield. That helped their property values. Was that fair to the homeowners still zoned to Lewis? Maybe some people are tired of being dumped on.

DP. I can't tell you how many times I've seen threads started by people zoned for Lewis and other schools with similar ESOL/FARMS levels who contend that (1) every school has a sizable cohort of strong performers and challenging classes; and (2) their children have a leg up in the college admissions process over students at schools with larger cohorts of high-performing students.

Are these folks just lying? Your post suggests you're getting the short end of the stick, contrary to the other posters' claims that there's nothing better than being a big fish in a smaller pond.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about the homeowners and non-ESL students that live in the Lewis boundaries? They should be forced to move to other schools and see their home values suffer? Doesn't seem right to me.

Wtf are you babbling about? How would their home values suffer going to a better performing school with more kids? Seems like it would be a win for them.

But, to be fair, I don’t think they should have to move if they don’t want to. 1,500 students is only a critical shortfall if you are trying to make a blatant equity play. It’s the people in Lewis pyramid trying to bolster their own house value at the expense of their neighbors.

I'm asking why people in the Lewis pyramid who are not ESL should have to transfer to other schools to find similar cohorts and challenging classes. That is the situation now and will continue to be unless something is done to help the school. Why are some pyramids designated as the permanent home of the poor and ESL populations? That is how FCPS is treating them. How is that fair to the homeowners in the Lewis pyramid? They moved higher income areas from Gambrill Road and Daventry to West Springfield. That helped their property values. Was that fair to the homeowners still zoned to Lewis? Maybe some people are tired of being dumped on.

DP. I can't tell you how many times I've seen threads started by people zoned for Lewis and other schools with similar ESOL/FARMS levels who contend that (1) every school has a sizable cohort of strong performers and challenging classes; and (2) their children have a leg up in the college admissions process over students at schools with larger cohorts of high-performing students.

Are these folks just lying? Your post suggests you're getting the short end of the stick, contrary to the other posters' claims that there's nothing better than being a big fish in a smaller pond.

I believe it to be wishful thinking on their part. And as Lewis continues to shrink it will be harder and harder to offer classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about the homeowners and non-ESL students that live in the Lewis boundaries? They should be forced to move to other schools and see their home values suffer? Doesn't seem right to me.

Wtf are you babbling about? How would their home values suffer going to a better performing school with more kids? Seems like it would be a win for them.

But, to be fair, I don’t think they should have to move if they don’t want to. 1,500 students is only a critical shortfall if you are trying to make a blatant equity play. It’s the people in Lewis pyramid trying to bolster their own house value at the expense of their neighbors.

I'm asking why people in the Lewis pyramid who are not ESL should have to transfer to other schools to find similar cohorts and challenging classes. That is the situation now and will continue to be unless something is done to help the school. Why are some pyramids designated as the permanent home of the poor and ESL populations? That is how FCPS is treating them. How is that fair to the homeowners in the Lewis pyramid? They moved higher income areas from Gambrill Road and Daventry to West Springfield. That helped their property values. Was that fair to the homeowners still zoned to Lewis? Maybe some people are tired of being dumped on.

Did you not know your school pyramid before you bought your house?

And as for being dumped on, yeah, FCPS families are overwhelmingly tired of this boundary change crap. The school board wasted years on it instead of working to improve the school system. The opportunity cost is through the roof on boundary changes, and they’re going to run it back in four years. It’s insanity.

I bought my house a long time ago and that is irrelevant. A resident anywhere in the county should expect that their schools will be reasonably equitable (not perfectly equal, but not so disparate that they are treated as pariahs). Lewis is clearly being separated from the rest of the other county high schools. Potentially with Mt. Vernon joining it with its shrinking enrollment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about the homeowners and non-ESL students that live in the Lewis boundaries? They should be forced to move to other schools and see their home values suffer? Doesn't seem right to me.

Wtf are you babbling about? How would their home values suffer going to a better performing school with more kids? Seems like it would be a win for them.

But, to be fair, I don’t think they should have to move if they don’t want to. 1,500 students is only a critical shortfall if you are trying to make a blatant equity play. It’s the people in Lewis pyramid trying to bolster their own house value at the expense of their neighbors.

I'm asking why people in the Lewis pyramid who are not ESL should have to transfer to other schools to find similar cohorts and challenging classes. That is the situation now and will continue to be unless something is done to help the school. Why are some pyramids designated as the permanent home of the poor and ESL populations? That is how FCPS is treating them. How is that fair to the homeowners in the Lewis pyramid? They moved higher income areas from Gambrill Road and Daventry to West Springfield. That helped their property values. Was that fair to the homeowners still zoned to Lewis? Maybe some people are tired of being dumped on.

Did you not know your school pyramid before you bought your house?

And as for being dumped on, yeah, FCPS families are overwhelmingly tired of this boundary change crap. The school board wasted years on it instead of working to improve the school system. The opportunity cost is through the roof on boundary changes, and they’re going to run it back in four years. It’s insanity.

I bought my house a long time ago and that is irrelevant. A resident anywhere in the county should expect that their schools will be reasonably equitable (not perfectly equal, but not so disparate that they are treated as pariahs). Lewis is clearly being separated from the rest of the other county high schools. Potentially with Mt. Vernon joining it with its shrinking enrollment.

If you go back 30 years ago, Edison, Mount Vernon, Falls Church, Stuart (now Justice), Langley, Madison, Marshall, and McLean all had lower enrollments than Lewis has this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about the homeowners and non-ESL students that live in the Lewis boundaries? They should be forced to move to other schools and see their home values suffer? Doesn't seem right to me.

Wtf are you babbling about? How would their home values suffer going to a better performing school with more kids? Seems like it would be a win for them.

But, to be fair, I don’t think they should have to move if they don’t want to. 1,500 students is only a critical shortfall if you are trying to make a blatant equity play. It’s the people in Lewis pyramid trying to bolster their own house value at the expense of their neighbors.

I'm asking why people in the Lewis pyramid who are not ESL should have to transfer to other schools to find similar cohorts and challenging classes. That is the situation now and will continue to be unless something is done to help the school. Why are some pyramids designated as the permanent home of the poor and ESL populations? That is how FCPS is treating them. How is that fair to the homeowners in the Lewis pyramid? They moved higher income areas from Gambrill Road and Daventry to West Springfield. That helped their property values. Was that fair to the homeowners still zoned to Lewis? Maybe some people are tired of being dumped on.

Did you not know your school pyramid before you bought your house?

And as for being dumped on, yeah, FCPS families are overwhelmingly tired of this boundary change crap. The school board wasted years on it instead of working to improve the school system. The opportunity cost is through the roof on boundary changes, and they’re going to run it back in four years. It’s insanity.

I bought my house a long time ago and that is irrelevant. A resident anywhere in the county should expect that their schools will be reasonably equitable (not perfectly equal, but not so disparate that they are treated as pariahs). Lewis is clearly being separated from the rest of the other county high schools. Potentially with Mt. Vernon joining it with its shrinking enrollment.

Oh yeah, you’re totally right, schools are irrelevant when families choose their house. In fact, no one really cares where their kids go to school.

Do you even hear yourself?

To learn, you should go to a boundary change meeting and try to peddle that line. See what reaction you get. It took the school board two years, but by the end, they finally understood that school boundary changes are the most rage-inducing thing they can do. People across the county hate their school board members for what they’ve done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Moving students is not the answer.

Make the school better. There is nothing wrong with a 1500 population high

I went to a suburban high school. There were 276 people in my graduating class.

Sure, a very large school is able to offer more variety of classes, but just because some different classes are offered does not mean that every kid who is interested will be able to take it

But, once more, what is IB doing for Lewis? Is it an advantage or a disadvantage. In my view, it is a huge disadvantage. It is far less flexible than AP and it is more difficult to get college credit for them. It also enables a mass exodus of transfers to AP high schools.

Going down a division isn't bad -- until you realize that all the schools in the vicinity are a higher division. Which means if Lewis wants to play schools of a similar size and the same division, the students will have to travel beyond FCPS boundaries, traveling more than an hour or so. That's more money spent for transportation, and also the massive amounts of time Lewis students will spent on a bus being carted around. In the meantime, there are schools minutes away, like Edison and Hayfield and WSHS, but Lewis would be in a different division.

Also pointing out that the nearby schools are overcrowded. WSHS is overcrowded to the point where kids can't make sports teams unless they've been playing since they were five years old.

IB is not the magic fairy godmother that people think it is. You don't wave it away and think that suddenly students will unfurl into existence like a sparkling ball gown. It doesn't work that way. Not with an IB school right next door to Lewis.

Move Daventry to Lewis and Bren Mar Park to Lewis. Edison and WSHS both get some relief and Lewis gets 500+ new students. Done.

I would probably move those Keene Mill neighborhoods above to Lewis before Daventry, since they are the closest to Lewis with the easiest commute.

Right….. make a triple split feeder out of Keene mill or split feeder of Irving? Makes no sense. How about fix
Lewis?

Just rebutting the person who keeps saying that Daventry should be moved. There are several Keene Mill neighborhoods closer to Lewis than Daventry or any other WSHS neighborhood.

Besides, Keene Mill is not a split feeder at this point. AAP kids zoned for a different pyramid attending Keene Mill for AAP do not make Keene Mill a split feeder. Those kids are choosing to attend a special program in a different pyramid. Having those AAP kids return to Lake Braddock for middle school does not mean that Keene Mill would become a "triple" split feeder if those neighborhoods closest to Lewis were rezoned to Lewis. Keene Mill with its special program accepting out of bounds AAP kids is no more of a split feeder than Orange Hunt accepting out of bound students for language immersion.

The problem with split feeders is that kids break up friendships and community. You are advocating that in an AAP class at Keene mill, kids would be matriculating to 3 schools: Lewis, Braddock and WSHS. To any kid in those classes, it would be a three way split feeder.

A bad example for your point is using Orange Hunt. Everyone currently in the immersion program at OHES was told that the kids matriculate from OHES to WIMS then to WSHS. That said, yes, this may be changing this year, it is hard to know. Also, transportation to this program is not provided which keeps many of the kids in the area as parents don’t usually trek from that far to get their kid to school everyday.Transportation is given for Keene Mill AAP students.

Of course, no one addressed all the points about diversity of Keene Mill etc. I am NOT the person saying Daventry should be moved and in all the Region 4 meetings I attended, I heard Sangster parents and Hunt Vally parents talking about Daventry, but not Keene mill ones.

The neighborhoods someone keeps bringing up are smaller than Daventry and again, many KMES kids walk to WSHS. And almost all walk to Irving.

Every single neighborhood brought up: Daventry, and the KMES ones are attending the closest high school to their house.

Lewis shouldn’t have more kids anyway. They are making progress there in no small part because they have smaller class sizes which ESL and low income kids do better with.

Keene Mill is not a split feeder.

Every elementary school in the WSHS pyramid sends students to Lake Braddock for AAP. Keene Mill is not unique or special in that regard.

Being an AAP center that pulls in out of bound kids who return to their zoned neighborhood middle school does not mean that Keene Mill is a split feeder.

There are zero houses zoned for Keene Mill that split off to a different pyramid for middle school.

The only split feeder in the WSHS pyramid is Rolling Valley, which actually has neighborhoods zoned to Lewis.

Keene Mill is not a split feeder no matter how much some want to use the AAP center as a reason why some other neighborhood like Daventry should get rezoned

It is a split feeder to all the AAP kids who have to say goodbye to friends. Why is that so different to you? Because you are an adult with a silly argument to make? If the argument to get ride of split feeders is because they are bad FOR THE KIDS and the Keene Mill kids already have to deal with being a center school split among 2 high schools, making it become a SPLIT FEEDER (in your definition) would be more detrimental to it than just taking a regular elementary school and having it be a split feeder.

Adding in more movement to that school where students there already contend with being a center school and having a glut of kids from 1 other feeder already in grades 3-6 is EVEN WORSE than having a regular elementary school become one. Because, you have to think about what the KIDS experience there friendships, not how adults want lines to be drawn. THis is the entire argument as to why split feeders should be eliminated. But you think compounding already complex issues is fine because…..


Meanwhile, you would take away a good chunk of the diversity at WSHS by taking kids from KMES(most diverse school in WSHS pyramid) out of WSHS AND kill a walk zone or create a split feeder at Irving…. Neither of which are positives.

AGAIN I AM NOT saying DAVENTRY should move. I never have, I never will, but the argument to move KMES is not compelling and ill thought out.

No matter how you slice it, Keene Mill is not a split feeder.

[Anonymous]

The AAP kids at Keene Mill can choose to attend Lake Braddock or choose to attend Irving. That is not a split feeder. That is a choice that most other students and families do not have.

The Rolling Valley students do not get that choice. Rolling Valley is a split feeder. Keene Mill is not.

Not to mention that the the non AAP kids are segregated from the AAP kids at Keene Mill, with almost no overlap. The AAP kids debating between Irving and Lake Braddock are not being ripped away from their elementary school friends. They are making a tough decision, yes, but are given a privileged choice that very few students in FCPS have, the ability to choose between two fantastic high quality middle schools, including following their friends if they want.

That is not a split feeder. Keene Mill is not a split feeder.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The AAP kids at Keene Mill can choose to attend Lake Braddock or choose to attend Irving. That is not a split feeder. That is a choice that most other students and families do not have.

The Rolling Valley students do not get that choice. Rolling Valley is a split feeder. Keene Mill is not.

Not to mention that the the non AAP kids are segregated from the AAP kids at Keene Mill, with almost no overlap. The AAP kids debating between Irving and Lake Braddock are not being ripped away from their elementary school friends. They are making a tough decision, yes, but are given a privileged choice that very few students in FCPS have, the ability to choose between two fantastic high quality middle schools, including following their friends if they want.

That is not a split feeder. Keene Mill is not a split feeder.

Why are split feeders bad?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Moving students is not the answer.

Make the school better. There is nothing wrong with a 1500 population high

I went to a suburban high school. There were 276 people in my graduating class.

Sure, a very large school is able to offer more variety of classes, but just because some different classes are offered does not mean that every kid who is interested will be able to take it

But, once more, what is IB doing for Lewis? Is it an advantage or a disadvantage. In my view, it is a huge disadvantage. It is far less flexible than AP and it is more difficult to get college credit for them. It also enables a mass exodus of transfers to AP high schools.

Going down a division isn't bad -- until you realize that all the schools in the vicinity are a higher division. Which means if Lewis wants to play schools of a similar size and the same division, the students will have to travel beyond FCPS boundaries, traveling more than an hour or so. That's more money spent for transportation, and also the massive amounts of time Lewis students will spent on a bus being carted around. In the meantime, there are schools minutes away, like Edison and Hayfield and WSHS, but Lewis would be in a different division.

Also pointing out that the nearby schools are overcrowded. WSHS is overcrowded to the point where kids can't make sports teams unless they've been playing since they were five years old.

IB is not the magic fairy godmother that people think it is. You don't wave it away and think that suddenly students will unfurl into existence like a sparkling ball gown. It doesn't work that way. Not with an IB school right next door to Lewis.

Move Daventry to Lewis and Bren Mar Park to Lewis. Edison and WSHS both get some relief and Lewis gets 500+ new students. Done.

I would probably move those Keene Mill neighborhoods above to Lewis before Daventry, since they are the closest to Lewis with the easiest commute.

Right….. make a triple split feeder out of Keene mill or split feeder of Irving? Makes no sense. How about fix
Lewis?

Just rebutting the person who keeps saying that Daventry should be moved. There are several Keene Mill neighborhoods closer to Lewis than Daventry or any other WSHS neighborhood.

Besides, Keene Mill is not a split feeder at this point. AAP kids zoned for a different pyramid attending Keene Mill for AAP do not make Keene Mill a split feeder. Those kids are choosing to attend a special program in a different pyramid. Having those AAP kids return to Lake Braddock for middle school does not mean that Keene Mill would become a "triple" split feeder if those neighborhoods closest to Lewis were rezoned to Lewis. Keene Mill with its special program accepting out of bounds AAP kids is no more of a split feeder than Orange Hunt accepting out of bound students for language immersion.

The problem with split feeders is that kids break up friendships and community. You are advocating that in an AAP class at Keene mill, kids would be matriculating to 3 schools: Lewis, Braddock and WSHS. To any kid in those classes, it would be a three way split feeder.

A bad example for your point is using Orange Hunt. Everyone currently in the immersion program at OHES was told that the kids matriculate from OHES to WIMS then to WSHS. That said, yes, this may be changing this year, it is hard to know. Also, transportation to this program is not provided which keeps many of the kids in the area as parents don’t usually trek from that far to get their kid to school everyday.Transportation is given for Keene Mill AAP students.

Of course, no one addressed all the points about diversity of Keene Mill etc. I am NOT the person saying Daventry should be moved and in all the Region 4 meetings I attended, I heard Sangster parents and Hunt Vally parents talking about Daventry, but not Keene mill ones.

The neighborhoods someone keeps bringing up are smaller than Daventry and again, many KMES kids walk to WSHS. And almost all walk to Irving.

Every single neighborhood brought up: Daventry, and the KMES ones are attending the closest high school to their house.

Lewis shouldn’t have more kids anyway. They are making progress there in no small part because they have smaller class sizes which ESL and low income kids do better with.

Keene Mill is not a split feeder.

Every elementary school in the WSHS pyramid sends students to Lake Braddock for AAP. Keene Mill is not unique or special in that regard.

Being an AAP center that pulls in out of bound kids who return to their zoned neighborhood middle school does not mean that Keene Mill is a split feeder.

There are zero houses zoned for Keene Mill that split off to a different pyramid for middle school.

The only split feeder in the WSHS pyramid is Rolling Valley, which actually has neighborhoods zoned to Lewis.

Keene Mill is not a split feeder no matter how much some want to use the AAP center as a reason why some other neighborhood like Daventry should get rezoned

It is a split feeder to all the AAP kids who have to say goodbye to friends. Why is that so different to you? Because you are an adult with a silly argument to make? If the argument to get ride of split feeders is because they are bad FOR THE KIDS and the Keene Mill kids already have to deal with being a center school split among 2 high schools, making it become a SPLIT FEEDER (in your definition) would be more detrimental to it than just taking a regular elementary school and having it be a split feeder.

Adding in more movement to that school where students there already contend with being a center school and having a glut of kids from 1 other feeder already in grades 3-6 is EVEN WORSE than having a regular elementary school become one. Because, you have to think about what the KIDS experience there friendships, not how adults want lines to be drawn. THis is the entire argument as to why split feeders should be eliminated. But you think compounding already complex issues is fine because…..


Meanwhile, you would take away a good chunk of the diversity at WSHS by taking kids from KMES(most diverse school in WSHS pyramid) out of WSHS AND kill a walk zone or create a split feeder at Irving…. Neither of which are positives.

AGAIN I AM NOT saying DAVENTRY should move. I never have, I never will, but the argument to move KMES is not compelling and ill thought out.

No matter how you slice it, Keene Mill is not a split feeder.

My points still stand whether you call KMES a split feeder or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about the homeowners and non-ESL students that live in the Lewis boundaries? They should be forced to move to other schools and see their home values suffer? Doesn't seem right to me.

Wtf are you babbling about? How would their home values suffer going to a better performing school with more kids? Seems like it would be a win for them.

But, to be fair, I don’t think they should have to move if they don’t want to. 1,500 students is only a critical shortfall if you are trying to make a blatant equity play. It’s the people in Lewis pyramid trying to bolster their own house value at the expense of their neighbors.

I'm asking why people in the Lewis pyramid who are not ESL should have to transfer to other schools to find similar cohorts and challenging classes. That is the situation now and will continue to be unless something is done to help the school. Why are some pyramids designated as the permanent home of the poor and ESL populations? That is how FCPS is treating them. How is that fair to the homeowners in the Lewis pyramid? They moved higher income areas from Gambrill Road and Daventry to West Springfield. That helped their property values. Was that fair to the homeowners still zoned to Lewis? Maybe some people are tired of being dumped on.

Gambrill Road was moved back to WSHS 20+ years ago because it was a split feeder. The kids went to Hunt Valley and Irving and then Lee. The neighborhoods wanted their kids to not lose all their friends for HS. I don’t know the history of Daventry.

We all spent 2 years arguing this issue in other threads. The school board didn’t move the WSHS neighborhoods to Lewis. There are a few changes they are still looking at, including Rolling Valley and eliminating an attendance island. I’d suggest focusing on those areas because that’s what the school board said it would do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about the homeowners and non-ESL students that live in the Lewis boundaries? They should be forced to move to other schools and see their home values suffer? Doesn't seem right to me.

Wtf are you babbling about? How would their home values suffer going to a better performing school with more kids? Seems like it would be a win for them.

But, to be fair, I don’t think they should have to move if they don’t want to. 1,500 students is only a critical shortfall if you are trying to make a blatant equity play. It’s the people in Lewis pyramid trying to bolster their own house value at the expense of their neighbors.

I’ve never heard any Lewis parent talk about their property values in advocating for a boundary change. Only the desire to for their child(ren) to have a high school experience similar to neighboring high schools.

On the flip side, I’ve seen multiple posts over the years worrying about the potential loss of value for homes rezoned out of certain schools. But that seems to be acceptable, in this community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about the homeowners and non-ESL students that live in the Lewis boundaries? They should be forced to move to other schools and see their home values suffer? Doesn't seem right to me.

Wtf are you babbling about? How would their home values suffer going to a better performing school with more kids? Seems like it would be a win for them.

But, to be fair, I don’t think they should have to move if they don’t want to. 1,500 students is only a critical shortfall if you are trying to make a blatant equity play. It’s the people in Lewis pyramid trying to bolster their own house value at the expense of their neighbors.

I'm asking why people in the Lewis pyramid who are not ESL should have to transfer to other schools to find similar cohorts and challenging classes. That is the situation now and will continue to be unless something is done to help the school. Why are some pyramids designated as the permanent home of the poor and ESL populations? That is how FCPS is treating them. How is that fair to the homeowners in the Lewis pyramid? They moved higher income areas from Gambrill Road and Daventry to West Springfield. That helped their property values. Was that fair to the homeowners still zoned to Lewis? Maybe some people are tired of being dumped on.

Did you not know your school pyramid before you bought your house?

And as for being dumped on, yeah, FCPS families are overwhelmingly tired of this boundary change crap. The school board wasted years on it instead of working to improve the school system. The opportunity cost is through the roof on boundary changes, and they’re going to run it back in four years. It’s insanity.

I’m so tired of this argument. So the “poors” should be the ones that suffer and their kids get a worse education than others?
Things will never be truly equal, but comparing Lewis to say Langley is a huge difference. Why should people in the Lewis pyramid have their backs turned on them by the school board because “they’re too poor to buy a house in a better neighborhood”

And by example, we bought our house in the Lewis pyramid in 2020 thinking we’d move when our kids are older, or things could change in the next ten-ish years. Fast forward to now, we’ve got a kid in kindergarten at Springfield Estates, which is a very good school, but it looks like the school board gives zero Fs about Key and Lewis. We have a very low interest rate on our mortgage, one spouse is fed, and one is a contractor. Mortgage rates are now high, prices are high, gas is expensive, food is expensive. Fed feels like they could be RIFed at any moment. But I guess according to DCUM trolls we should just move in order to have our kids get an equitable education? Noted, sounds so easy I’ll hop right on that. /s

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about the homeowners and non-ESL students that live in the Lewis boundaries? They should be forced to move to other schools and see their home values suffer? Doesn't seem right to me.

Wtf are you babbling about? How would their home values suffer going to a better performing school with more kids? Seems like it would be a win for them.

But, to be fair, I don’t think they should have to move if they don’t want to. 1,500 students is only a critical shortfall if you are trying to make a blatant equity play. It’s the people in Lewis pyramid trying to bolster their own house value at the expense of their neighbors.

I'm asking why people in the Lewis pyramid who are not ESL should have to transfer to other schools to find similar cohorts and challenging classes. That is the situation now and will continue to be unless something is done to help the school. Why are some pyramids designated as the permanent home of the poor and ESL populations? That is how FCPS is treating them. How is that fair to the homeowners in the Lewis pyramid? They moved higher income areas from Gambrill Road and Daventry to West Springfield. That helped their property values. Was that fair to the homeowners still zoned to Lewis? Maybe some people are tired of being dumped on.

Did you not know your school pyramid before you bought your house?

And as for being dumped on, yeah, FCPS families are overwhelmingly tired of this boundary change crap. The school board wasted years on it instead of working to improve the school system. The opportunity cost is through the roof on boundary changes, and they’re going to run it back in four years. It’s insanity.

I bought my house a long time ago and that is irrelevant. A resident anywhere in the county should expect that their schools will be reasonably equitable (not perfectly equal, but not so disparate that they are treated as pariahs). Lewis is clearly being separated from the rest of the other county high schools. Potentially with Mt. Vernon joining it with its shrinking enrollment.

Oh yeah, you’re totally right, schools are irrelevant when families choose their house. In fact, no one really cares where their kids go to school.

Do you even hear yourself?

To learn, you should go to a boundary change meeting and try to peddle that line. See what reaction you get. It took the school board two years, but by the end, they finally understood that school boundary changes are the most rage-inducing thing they can do. People across the county hate their school board members for what they’ve done.

I hope they show up to actually vote them out, instead of carry forward the status quo of woke idiots running the school board. Two years ago, we had a really competent challenger to Robyn Lady. And yet, the woke idiotic crowd that is now complaining up a storm about Robyn Lady all voted her in. Y'all deserve exactly what the school board is dishing out to you ... bc you're the ones to blame for this catastrophe!