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Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)
Superintendent's Recommendation for Richard Montgomery ES #5 Boundaries
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Anonymous
Bold part is a sad situation to be honest. I picked RP over some other areas for Socioeconomic Diversity. It doesn't have to resemble RM cluster, but it will be nice to have some diversity in school. Thanks for taking time to write the entire history. I was not aware of this. Geographic proximity should be a factor along with socioeconomic diversity. |
Anonymous
Exactly! If you like the RM diversity, have a $700k-$850k budget, and want the driving commutability to VA/DC that living west of I-270 gives, HH is a ideal. Potomac Woods, Falls Ridge, etc., on the other side of Falls are also good choices, but all still RP. |
Anonymous
That is really the issue at heart here. RP is on the edge of one the wealthiest sections of the entire RM cluster. The only multifamily dwellings near it are in Park Potomac, which is also a very wealthy area. There are also multifamily dwellings in Falls Grove, which is a far distance from most ESs in the cluster, but there also the units are generally not occupied with lower income families. Thus, it is very hard to get much socioeconomic diversity into RP, especially since the school is small. It isn't near a low-income area. It isn't big enough to pull students from farther away. It is on the absolute edge of the cluster. |
Anonymous
If you really want socioeconomic diversity, why did you pick Horizon Hill? It is NOT a diverse neighborhood economically. There is no affordable or low-income housing, no MPDUs (like other neighborhoods in RP - including Fallsgrove), it is only single family homes in the $7-800k range. Why should you expect other neighborhoods to have to bus their children to RP when there is a new school in their neighborhood just so you can have more diversity at your school? If SE diversity is so important to you (and I'm not arguing it's not important), then perhaps Horizon Hill should ask to be zoned for RM ES #5 and bussed over there. Part of the lack of diversity conundrum is due to old housing policies causing SES segregation. All of the newer neighborhoods being built in Rockville include some amount of affordable housing, including King Farm and Fallsgrove. If people are really upset about this, then use this as a platform to start looking into advocating for changes in city and county policies around affordable housing and start working to make more low-income housing options available throughout the city instead of in pockets and clusters. |
Anonymous
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This situation is really ridiculous. The diversity in RP is not changing that much. 22% to 11% FARMS does not change color or socioeconomic. There are still many families of color and SES from 40K to high 5 figures. RP used to be all white and prodimately Jewish. That is not the case anymore even with the boundary changes as the entire area and new families are from various cultures, religions, and races. The FARMS was 9% Hispanic. 6% Black and 7% White/Asian. It is for those that make under 40K.
People coming on here crying about a difference of SES between making $30K on FARMS vs 40K not on FARMS (and technically losing more of their money not being on help) while you are all making 100K plus is the irony. |
Anonymous
YOU ARE STILL GETTING THE RM DIVERSITY. Last time I checked you aren't being rezoned out of JW/RM. And please stop your BS of wanting an 800K house to hang out with those that make less than 39K a year at Ritchie Park. Just stop because that wasn't happening even now. The Fallsgrove moms with their yoga everyday wear and their $500 handbags would have never allowed that. There are cliques in RP and the kids in RP2 and 6 are lucky to get a brand new school with a healthy local community. RP is and still will be the worst school with the worst principal in the cluster. |
Anonymous
Disagree. There is no elementary school large enough to handle them. |
Anonymous
THIS |
Anonymous
1 in 5 kids poor to 1 in 10 kids poor is a meaningful difference, I think. |
Anonymous
only $500? |
Anonymous
I didn't expect other neighborhoods to have to bus their children to RP. I just checked fact sheet before buying. It showed reasonable diversity. Anyway, kids are being bused from Falls grove as well and that's not really a low socioeconomic area. I wasn't aware of history of Falls grove. Some one posted the details and now I know about it. School had diversity and house we liked was in HH. If we had liked a house with some other school with diversity, we would have bought it. It's not easy to find both. You are right about low income housing available throughout the city being a better idea than putting all of them in one area. |
Anonymous
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"YOU ARE STILL GETTING THE RM DIVERSITY. Last time I checked you aren't being rezoned out of JW/RM. And please stop your BS of wanting an 800K house to hang out with those that make less than 39K a year at Ritchie Park. Just stop because that wasn't happening even now. The Fallsgrove moms with their yoga everyday wear and their $500 handbags would have never allowed that. There are cliques in RP and the kids in RP2 and 6 are lucky to get a brand new school with a healthy local community. RP is and still will be the worst school with the worst principal in the cluster." Why are you so mad that families in the RP community want and value diversity. Yes, the kids come together at JW and RM but why does that have to be when diversity begins when it does not have to be that way. There is a huge difference in the FARMS rates for 2 of the 5 schools in our cluster. Why not work to address it now when we can. The decisions that will be made will impact our community for years to come. Your stereotypes says a lot more about you than it does about anyone else and that ignorance is exactly what trickles down to the children. |
Anonymous
So you think total family income of $40K means middle class? I sure don't. How do you know the true SES? It is either below 39K or over. That is it. No inbetween. What I do know is the FARMS is spread evenly over all races at RP if the above percentages are accurate. |
Anonymous
The RP community wants and values diversity??? Funny how no one cared about Twinbrook before this boundary restudy. If RP wants diversity so bad, send Fallsgrove to Twinbrook and send part of Twinbrook to RP. Then everyone can have the 30-40% FARMS you all crave. Who cares about length of trip, breaking up communities, and busses. |
Anonymous
I think that perhaps you're not familiar with the income eligibility requirements for FARMS. It's based on the size of the household. For a household of 2, the maximum income is $30,044. For a household of 3, the maximum income is $37,777. For a household of 4, the maximum income is $45,510. And so on: https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2017-04-10/pdf/2017-07043.pdf Now, it's possible that everybody not on FARMS at Ritchie Park is just over the income eligibility limit. I think it's unlikely, but it's possible. So FARMS at Ritchie Park is probably a good indicator of poverty, even if it's not perfect. Last year, 23.1% of students at Ritchie Park was on FARMS. With an enrollment of 510, that's 118 students. 6.3% of students at Ritchie Park were black students on FARMS, or 32 students. 9.2% of students at Ritchie Park were Hispanic students on FARMS, or 47 students. 47+32 = 75, so 64% of students on FARMS at Ritchie Park are black or Hispanic students. Overall, 30.5% of students at Ritchie Park are black or Hispanic students. What are the equivalent numbers projected to be, after the rezoning? |