APS/SA boundary redrawing - meeting tonight

[Anonymous]

Where does everyone see the carveout of Gilliam Place from Barcroft. As I see the map, Barcroft boundary continues all th way up Columbia Pike to the corner of Glebe. What am I missing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where does everyone see the carveout of Gilliam Place from Barcroft. As I see the map, Barcroft boundary continues all th way up Columbia Pike to the corner of Glebe. What am I missing?

There is no carve-out. Gilliam Place is in Alcova Heights and going to Barcroft.

The proposed boundary carves out 2 PU from north-east Alcova Heights to Fleet. That's basically right across Glebe road from the TJ/Fleet property (with a block of homes/duplexes in between).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where does everyone see the carveout of Gilliam Place from Barcroft. As I see the map, Barcroft boundary continues all th way up Columbia Pike to the corner of Glebe. What am I missing?

There is no carve-out. Gilliam Place is in Alcova Heights and going to Barcroft.

The proposed boundary carves out 2 PU from north-east Alcova Heights to Fleet. That's basically right across Glebe road from the TJ/Fleet property (with a block of homes/duplexes in between).

And one of us (me) was saying that Gilliam Place *should* be taken out of Barcroft, by moving the rest of Alcova to Fleet. I am honestly confused by that choice, snark about the AH mafia aside. Why wouldn't all of Alcova go to Fleet and then Barcroft would have room for a couple of those Abingdon units across the Pike? That makes more sense from an alignment perspective too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New to this discussion. So, part of what I see is this - the county sees that once Gillian Place comes on board, Barcroft will not only be insanely overcrowded, again, but it will jump well above 80%FRL. So, Barcroft needs to shed some poor folks, so hey send the kids south of the Pike away to Drew since there is no other place with seats.

Drew is already in a poor neighborhood, so who cares! Barcroft parents have become just a tad more vocal over the years, especially after Arlington Mill was assigned to Barcroft instead of Carlin Springs.

Remember, Barcroft used to be one of the most overcrowded schools in the county, second only to Oakridge. Relief at Barcroft was one of reasons Fleet was built in the first place.

APS uses the term "shifting demographics" to describe the now annual opening of very large 100% CAF buildings with hundreds of units that swamp local schools.. To name a few: Arlington Mill, gilliam, the Berkeley and now also Columbia Hills, a 229 unit 100% CAF building opening next year in Columbia Forest (140 units are 2 and 3 bedroom) and will be zoned to abingdon. It's across the street from the Drew zoned portion of CF So that leads me to believe that APS is maybe trying to spread around these giant complexes to various elementary schools as best they can, even when the powers that be cram them into the same half mile stretch of Columbia pike.

If APS would actually treat the entire district like one school system, they could "spread around these giant complexes" to more elementary schools and not concentrate poverty in a handful of schools. But they refuse to do boundaries across Route 50 or in a north/south direction instead of east/west.

It is unfathomable that APS has decided to prioritize proximity above all else in this time of overcrowding and continued growth. We don't have this luxury to continue catering to people's "preferences" and alleged "needs" and clear prejudices and sense of entitlements to go to the school closest to their home - poor or rich, I don't care. This whole approach is a complete disservice to our kids, to our schools, to Arlington County. APS doesn't give a sh** that has been identified as a highly segregated school system - one of the wealthiest and THE smallest county in the COUNTRY - but OMG did we jump and fight to make sure we weren't classified as hyper-segregated! It's perfectly fine to miss that cut-off by a point or two; but god forbid we technically meet the definition. Well how about changing your boundary policies to get off that list insteaof teetering on the category edge and justifying it?

Get over yourself. Yes the county is small but traffic sucks. In our two working parent household, every minute counts. As it is now we are racing to pick up kids before extended day closes, get them home, fed and to bed at a decent time. So yes, proximity is my number one prioroity. If diversity is so important, then the county board has to address it through housing policy. Not bussing my kids around.

Get over your self. Everyone lives in a working parent household. You know whether the school is 1 mile or 2 miles away is immaterial. You just don't want to go to a school that has more poor kids. Don't hide behind traffic woes.

No -- everyone doesn't live in a TWO working parent household. And as someone else said, we aren't talking 1 versus 2 miles. Stop your undertones of calling me racist because I want my kids in a school close to home, with other kids who live nearby and in the community where we live. I didn't buy in to your social engineering. And I'm sure you are one of those who just sings the praises of diversity, but what you really mean is diversity of skin color and background -- not political views. And once you hear someone like me say they support the 2nd amendment or something like that, you want to shut me up. So take your whining liberal views and open up to what you really want -- a community that may not LOOK like you but THINKS exactly like you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^^I wasn't in the SAWG but I did go to the meetings about what was going to happen at Drew. The parent and PTA communities from Abingdon, Henry, Hoffman-Boston, Oakridge, and I think Randolph too were all participating from the start, because those schools could potentially send students to Drew. I frankly do not understand how there could have been any sort of commitment to draw from only Hoffman-Boston and Oakridge, because doing so doesn't make geographical or numeric sense.

Of course it makes sense to draw from SOME of Abingdon's boundary. But Columbia Forest? It's clear in the other direction, 2 miles away from Drew. They had to draw all kinds of crazy gerrymandered lines across multiple big streets to pull that neighborhood into Drew. Those kids will be getting bused past TWO schools that are closer to them, and have no connection whatsoever to Drew's neighborhood. That's no accident, it's APS purposefully sacrificing some students so that more well-off neighborhood kids can go to the highly-rated school of their choice.

So what boundaries would you draw from Abingdon then?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New to this discussion. So, part of what I see is this - the county sees that once Gillian Place comes on board, Barcroft will not only be insanely overcrowded, again, but it will jump well above 80%FRL. So, Barcroft needs to shed some poor folks, so hey send the kids south of the Pike away to Drew since there is no other place with seats.

Drew is already in a poor neighborhood, so who cares! Barcroft parents have become just a tad more vocal over the years, especially after Arlington Mill was assigned to Barcroft instead of Carlin Springs.

Remember, Barcroft used to be one of the most overcrowded schools in the county, second only to Oakridge. Relief at Barcroft was one of reasons Fleet was built in the first place.

APS uses the term "shifting demographics" to describe the now annual opening of very large 100% CAF buildings with hundreds of units that swamp local schools.. To name a few: Arlington Mill, gilliam, the Berkeley and now also Columbia Hills, a 229 unit 100% CAF building opening next year in Columbia Forest (140 units are 2 and 3 bedroom) and will be zoned to abingdon. It's across the street from the Drew zoned portion of CF So that leads me to believe that APS is maybe trying to spread around these giant complexes to various elementary schools as best they can, even when the powers that be cram them into the same half mile stretch of Columbia pike.

If APS would actually treat the entire district like one school system, they could "spread around these giant complexes" to more elementary schools and not concentrate poverty in a handful of schools. But they refuse to do boundaries across Route 50 or in a north/south direction instead of east/west.

It is unfathomable that APS has decided to prioritize proximity above all else in this time of overcrowding and continued growth. We don't have this luxury to continue catering to people's "preferences" and alleged "needs" and clear prejudices and sense of entitlements to go to the school closest to their home - poor or rich, I don't care. This whole approach is a complete disservice to our kids, to our schools, to Arlington County. APS doesn't give a sh** that has been identified as a highly segregated school system - one of the wealthiest and THE smallest county in the COUNTRY - but OMG did we jump and fight to make sure we weren't classified as hyper-segregated! It's perfectly fine to miss that cut-off by a point or two; but god forbid we technically meet the definition. Well how about changing your boundary policies to get off that list insteaof teetering on the category edge and justifying it?

Get over yourself. Yes the county is small but traffic sucks. In our two working parent household, every minute counts. As it is now we are racing to pick up kids before extended day closes, get them home, fed and to bed at a decent time. So yes, proximity is my number one prioroity. If diversity is so important, then the county board has to address it through housing policy. Not bussing my kids around.

Get over your self. Everyone lives in a working parent household. You know whether the school is 1 mile or 2 miles away is immaterial. You just don't want to go to a school that has more poor kids. Don't hide behind traffic woes.

No -- everyone doesn't live in a TWO working parent household. And as someone else said, we aren't talking 1 versus 2 miles. Stop your undertones of calling me racist because I want my kids in a school close to home, with other kids who live nearby and in the community where we live. I didn't buy in to your social engineering. And I'm sure you are one of those who just sings the praises of diversity, but what you really mean is diversity of skin color and background -- not political views. And once you hear someone like me say they support the 2nd amendment or something like that, you want to shut me up. So take your whining liberal views and open up to what you really want -- a community that may not LOOK like you but THINKS exactly like you.

Wait are you zoned for Reed in the area that borders the Drew zone. I mean I live over there (I am in Nauck). It takes me all of 2-3 minutes to drive from Drew to Columbia Heights. I am actually think the driving time from Reed to Columbia Heights and Drew to Columbia Heights is pretty much identical. If you are in fact talking about that area then the argument about driving time makes zero sense. That area is close to both schools that the difference in driving time is negligible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New to this discussion. So, part of what I see is this - the county sees that once Gillian Place comes on board, Barcroft will not only be insanely overcrowded, again, but it will jump well above 80%FRL. So, Barcroft needs to shed some poor folks, so hey send the kids south of the Pike away to Drew since there is no other place with seats.

Drew is already in a poor neighborhood, so who cares! Barcroft parents have become just a tad more vocal over the years, especially after Arlington Mill was assigned to Barcroft instead of Carlin Springs.

Remember, Barcroft used to be one of the most overcrowded schools in the county, second only to Oakridge. Relief at Barcroft was one of reasons Fleet was built in the first place.

APS uses the term "shifting demographics" to describe the now annual opening of very large 100% CAF buildings with hundreds of units that swamp local schools.. To name a few: Arlington Mill, gilliam, the Berkeley and now also Columbia Hills, a 229 unit 100% CAF building opening next year in Columbia Forest (140 units are 2 and 3 bedroom) and will be zoned to abingdon. It's across the street from the Drew zoned portion of CF So that leads me to believe that APS is maybe trying to spread around these giant complexes to various elementary schools as best they can, even when the powers that be cram them into the same half mile stretch of Columbia pike.

If APS would actually treat the entire district like one school system, they could "spread around these giant complexes" to more elementary schools and not concentrate poverty in a handful of schools. But they refuse to do boundaries across Route 50 or in a north/south direction instead of east/west.

It is unfathomable that APS has decided to prioritize proximity above all else in this time of overcrowding and continued growth. We don't have this luxury to continue catering to people's "preferences" and alleged "needs" and clear prejudices and sense of entitlements to go to the school closest to their home - poor or rich, I don't care. This whole approach is a complete disservice to our kids, to our schools, to Arlington County. APS doesn't give a sh** that has been identified as a highly segregated school system - one of the wealthiest and THE smallest county in the COUNTRY - but OMG did we jump and fight to make sure we weren't classified as hyper-segregated! It's perfectly fine to miss that cut-off by a point or two; but god forbid we technically meet the definition. Well how about changing your boundary policies to get off that list insteaof teetering on the category edge and justifying it?

Get over yourself. Yes the county is small but traffic sucks. In our two working parent household, every minute counts. As it is now we are racing to pick up kids before extended day closes, get them home, fed and to bed at a decent time. So yes, proximity is my number one prioroity. If diversity is so important, then the county board has to address it through housing policy. Not bussing my kids around.

Get over your self. Everyone lives in a working parent household. You know whether the school is 1 mile or 2 miles away is immaterial. You just don't want to go to a school that has more poor kids. Don't hide behind traffic woes.

No -- everyone doesn't live in a TWO working parent household. And as someone else said, we aren't talking 1 versus 2 miles. Stop your undertones of calling me racist because I want my kids in a school close to home, with other kids who live nearby and in the community where we live. I didn't buy in to your social engineering. And I'm sure you are one of those who just sings the praises of diversity, but what you really mean is diversity of skin color and background -- not political views. And once you hear someone like me say they support the 2nd amendment or something like that, you want to shut me up. So take your whining liberal views and open up to what you really want -- a community that may not LOOK like you but THINKS exactly like you.

Not the person you're responding to, but I wish people would see all of Arlington as their community, just like we should see all of America and those within it as American. You can support the 2nd Amendment and be my friend. We can disagree, but that's okay. We can get along. But if you never see me, then you can't understand our differences, just like I can't appreciate yours.

Arlington is small - I don't see why we can't all go to the same schools. Sure, there are some that are just too far, but most of these schools are actually pretty close together, compared to many other parts of the country. I take my kids to playdates in NW DC. I don't see a problem with going to school across Rt 50, meet some new and different people and be better for it. I don't think that's whining at all. Being open minded is not bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But they also pull out the VPI kids. Every single option school has two VPI classes who are guaranteed spots for K. If you compare the resident vs. actual fr/l numbers at the poorest schools, the kids choosing to attend schools outside of their neighborhoods are helping to balance the poverty levels. The best thing would be to put the option schools in places that have no other way to balance, even better if it's to a school where there aren't that many walkers, as a result of geography/uncrossable roads.

Sure but what is the Data on the number of those kids that stay on in K? I knew several that move back to their neighborhood school after VPI.

Yes it does help balance that out some but MORE upper income people are leaving disticts like Drew to go to Montessori and Immersion than there are VPI kids coming in.

But yes Claremont is a horrible location for a choice school because it IS in a walkable neighborhood and there really isn't another school close to the Columbia Forest and Claremont neighborhoods (Outside of Abingdon) Randolph is the next closest but it can't do busses. So kids are going to have to be bussed somewhere.

It's 100% at ATS and pretty close to that at Campbell. Not sure about the numbers for Immersion, but it's probably similar, other wise the poverty level at Randolph would be into the 90s, rather than "just" 70%. Montessori has no VPI kids, so that's absolutely a problem, one that could be fixed by changing the fee structure (making it free for a percentage of very low-income families and charging slightly more at the upper end of the sliding scale).

Most of those VPI kids at Campbell are already in the area; so it's like going to a neighborhood school.

But all the kids stay at ATS. Likely they do at Claremont and Key. Like everyone, once they're in a school the majority stay.

Do you have the stats for this out of curiosity?

They have the exact number of economically disadvantaged students as the VPI admission allows. As of last year, they had 18 ED students per grade level, K-5, plus two current VPI classes of 17 students each, totalling 142 ED students at the school. That's either a coincidence wherein the same number of VPI students leave and different ED students win a spot in the genes lottery, or I am right. I haven't done the math for the other option schools, because it's harder to tell with the others because admission policies have been in flux. But I think you are vastly over-stating the number of ED kids who leave the schools where they attend VPI. This is why APS has adopted the admission policy and why the options schools each have VPI classrooms as policy.

18 ED per grade level but 2 VPI classes with 17 each wan almost half of them leave unless I’m reading that wrong?

No, to clarify there are 142 students w/meal benefits at the school. That's two classrooms of 17 VPI (34), plus 18 each in K-5. Last year was the first year they had 2 VPI classes. Every other grade level had just one of 18 students each. That's (18x6)+34=142.

Oh ok! Although that is still proves my other point about choice schools only attracting non-ED kids. It means no other ED kid applied to the school and just the VPI kids moved on. You didn’t say what school this is but I think you’re Claremont and it has a few ED neighborhoods surrounding it. Did none of those kids apply?

Sorry to take so long to reply. The old way of applying (outside of VPI preference), was very cumbersome for anyone other than a privileged parent to accomplish. You had to go to an open house at your neighborhood school, plus one at the option school. That's four hours on two separate days, and you probably had to travel a certain distance to get to at least one of those schools. No big surprise there weren't more ED students in the general lottery. Whereas APS holds the VPI application night in one place, outside of traditional working hours, children are permitted to come, and it's usually held at a school located near where a majority of ED families live. And there are staff member to walk you though filling out the form, bilingual ones, too. For many years, this was the way. It was only through the VPI "back door" that an ED family had an equal shot at getting in. I think this process only changed for the Fall of 2017.

Not at Claremont, and that's all I will say. I don't know why their fr/l number isn't higher, but I suspect it is not because kids leave after pre-K.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Not the person you're responding to, but I wish people would see all of Arlington as their community, just like we should see all of America and those within it as American. You can support the 2nd Amendment and be my friend. We can disagree, but that's okay. We can get along. But if you never see me, then you can't understand our differences, just like I can't appreciate yours.

Arlington is small - I don't see why we can't all go to the same schools. Sure, there are some that are just too far, but most of these schools are actually pretty close together, compared to many other parts of the country. I take my kids to playdates in NW DC. I don't see a problem with going to school across Rt 50, meet some new and different people and be better for it. I don't think that's whining at all. Being open minded is not bad.

NP, that's a nice idea but it isn't the reality. Arlington may be small but it is incredibly dense. There are a million threads in real estate touting the benefits of almost every other part of the region besides Arlington. People don't move here for large houses and large lots. They move here for convenience and close-in proximity. Traffic and commutes play a huge part in many people's decisions regarding where to live here, in a way that just isn't the case in other parts of the country. Upending the school system in a way that would have serious impacts on working families' day-to-day life is a huge deal, and calling people racists or classists is ridiculous. Right now, we have two stop signs between our house and our kids' school. The commute to do extended day drop-off before heading to work is literally 1min, then the few minutes to get them in the building. Yesterday I had to get one of my kids to south Arlington for an activity right after school. Granted it was raining, but the 3.5mi trip took thirty minutes. On a day with good weather that trip is still 15-20min.

Day in and day out that's a tremendous amount of time to add to families' daily routines and commutes. A weekend playdate, sure, I'll go wherever. Every single day, might as well have bought the larger and nicer house in Oakton if I'm going to add all that time to our daily commutes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Not the person you're responding to, but I wish people would see all of Arlington as their community, just like we should see all of America and those within it as American. You can support the 2nd Amendment and be my friend. We can disagree, but that's okay. We can get along. But if you never see me, then you can't understand our differences, just like I can't appreciate yours.

Arlington is small - I don't see why we can't all go to the same schools. Sure, there are some that are just too far, but most of these schools are actually pretty close together, compared to many other parts of the country. I take my kids to playdates in NW DC. I don't see a problem with going to school across Rt 50, meet some new and different people and be better for it. I don't think that's whining at all. Being open minded is not bad.

NP, that's a nice idea but it isn't the reality. Arlington may be small but it is incredibly dense. There are a million threads in real estate touting the benefits of almost every other part of the region besides Arlington. People don't move here for large houses and large lots. They move here for convenience and close-in proximity. Traffic and commutes play a huge part in many people's decisions regarding where to live here, in a way that just isn't the case in other parts of the country. Upending the school system in a way that would have serious impacts on working families' day-to-day life is a huge deal, and calling people racists or classists is ridiculous. Right now, we have two stop signs between our house and our kids' school. The commute to do extended day drop-off before heading to work is literally 1min, then the few minutes to get them in the building. Yesterday I had to get one of my kids to south Arlington for an activity right after school. Granted it was raining, but the 3.5mi trip took thirty minutes. On a day with good weather that trip is still 15-20min.

Day in and day out that's a tremendous amount of time to add to families' daily routines and commutes. A weekend playdate, sure, I'll go wherever. Every single day, might as well have bought the larger and nicer house in Oakton if I'm going to add all that time to our daily commutes.

I wrote that. I lived in Oakton. That commute is far worse than a few ~15 mins to get the kids. We're dense, but that doesn't mean it has to be so segregated. Schools used to be a melting pot. I think the county should encourage broader engagement. Maybe it can't happen at the elementary level, but it could happen at middle or high school more. And people are willing to drive - look at the success of the option schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New to this discussion. So, part of what I see is this - the county sees that once Gillian Place comes on board, Barcroft will not only be insanely overcrowded, again, but it will jump well above 80%FRL. So, Barcroft needs to shed some poor folks, so hey send the kids south of the Pike away to Drew since there is no other place with seats.

Drew is already in a poor neighborhood, so who cares! Barcroft parents have become just a tad more vocal over the years, especially after Arlington Mill was assigned to Barcroft instead of Carlin Springs.

Remember, Barcroft used to be one of the most overcrowded schools in the county, second only to Oakridge. Relief at Barcroft was one of reasons Fleet was built in the first place.

APS uses the term "shifting demographics" to describe the now annual opening of very large 100% CAF buildings with hundreds of units that swamp local schools.. To name a few: Arlington Mill, gilliam, the Berkeley and now also Columbia Hills, a 229 unit 100% CAF building opening next year in Columbia Forest (140 units are 2 and 3 bedroom) and will be zoned to abingdon. It's across the street from the Drew zoned portion of CF So that leads me to believe that APS is maybe trying to spread around these giant complexes to various elementary schools as best they can, even when the powers that be cram them into the same half mile stretch of Columbia pike.

If APS would actually treat the entire district like one school system, they could "spread around these giant complexes" to more elementary schools and not concentrate poverty in a handful of schools. But they refuse to do boundaries across Route 50 or in a north/south direction instead of east/west.

It is unfathomable that APS has decided to prioritize proximity above all else in this time of overcrowding and continued growth. We don't have this luxury to continue catering to people's "preferences" and alleged "needs" and clear prejudices and sense of entitlements to go to the school closest to their home - poor or rich, I don't care. This whole approach is a complete disservice to our kids, to our schools, to Arlington County. APS doesn't give a sh** that has been identified as a highly segregated school system - one of the wealthiest and THE smallest county in the COUNTRY - but OMG did we jump and fight to make sure we weren't classified as hyper-segregated! It's perfectly fine to miss that cut-off by a point or two; but god forbid we technically meet the definition. Well how about changing your boundary policies to get off that list insteaof teetering on the category edge and justifying it?

Get over yourself. Yes the county is small but traffic sucks. In our two working parent household, every minute counts. As it is now we are racing to pick up kids before extended day closes, get them home, fed and to bed at a decent time. So yes, proximity is my number one prioroity. If diversity is so important, then the county board has to address it through housing policy. Not bussing my kids around.

Get over your self. Everyone lives in a working parent household. You know whether the school is 1 mile or 2 miles away is immaterial. You just don't want to go to a school that has more poor kids. Don't hide behind traffic woes.

No -- everyone doesn't live in a TWO working parent household. And as someone else said, we aren't talking 1 versus 2 miles. Stop your undertones of calling me racist because I want my kids in a school close to home, with other kids who live nearby and in the community where we live. I didn't buy in to your social engineering. And I'm sure you are one of those who just sings the praises of diversity, but what you really mean is diversity of skin color and background -- not political views. And once you hear someone like me say they support the 2nd amendment or something like that, you want to shut me up. So take your whining liberal views and open up to what you really want -- a community that may not LOOK like you but THINKS exactly like you.

Color
Me
Shocked

About your political leanings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New to this discussion. So, part of what I see is this - the county sees that once Gillian Place comes on board, Barcroft will not only be insanely overcrowded, again, but it will jump well above 80%FRL. So, Barcroft needs to shed some poor folks, so hey send the kids south of the Pike away to Drew since there is no other place with seats.

Drew is already in a poor neighborhood, so who cares! Barcroft parents have become just a tad more vocal over the years, especially after Arlington Mill was assigned to Barcroft instead of Carlin Springs.

Remember, Barcroft used to be one of the most overcrowded schools in the county, second only to Oakridge. Relief at Barcroft was one of reasons Fleet was built in the first place.

APS uses the term "shifting demographics" to describe the now annual opening of very large 100% CAF buildings with hundreds of units that swamp local schools.. To name a few: Arlington Mill, gilliam, the Berkeley and now also Columbia Hills, a 229 unit 100% CAF building opening next year in Columbia Forest (140 units are 2 and 3 bedroom) and will be zoned to abingdon. It's across the street from the Drew zoned portion of CF So that leads me to believe that APS is maybe trying to spread around these giant complexes to various elementary schools as best they can, even when the powers that be cram them into the same half mile stretch of Columbia pike.

If APS would actually treat the entire district like one school system, they could "spread around these giant complexes" to more elementary schools and not concentrate poverty in a handful of schools. But they refuse to do boundaries across Route 50 or in a north/south direction instead of east/west.

It is unfathomable that APS has decided to prioritize proximity above all else in this time of overcrowding and continued growth. We don't have this luxury to continue catering to people's "preferences" and alleged "needs" and clear prejudices and sense of entitlements to go to the school closest to their home - poor or rich, I don't care. This whole approach is a complete disservice to our kids, to our schools, to Arlington County. APS doesn't give a sh** that has been identified as a highly segregated school system - one of the wealthiest and THE smallest county in the COUNTRY - but OMG did we jump and fight to make sure we weren't classified as hyper-segregated! It's perfectly fine to miss that cut-off by a point or two; but god forbid we technically meet the definition. Well how about changing your boundary policies to get off that list insteaof teetering on the category edge and justifying it?

Get over yourself. Yes the county is small but traffic sucks. In our two working parent household, every minute counts. As it is now we are racing to pick up kids before extended day closes, get them home, fed and to bed at a decent time. So yes, proximity is my number one prioroity. If diversity is so important, then the county board has to address it through housing policy. Not bussing my kids around.

Get over your self. Everyone lives in a working parent household. You know whether the school is 1 mile or 2 miles away is immaterial. You just don't want to go to a school that has more poor kids. Don't hide behind traffic woes.

No -- everyone doesn't live in a TWO working parent household. And as someone else said, we aren't talking 1 versus 2 miles. Stop your undertones of calling me racist because I want my kids in a school close to home, with other kids who live nearby and in the community where we live. I didn't buy in to your social engineering. And I'm sure you are one of those who just sings the praises of diversity, but what you really mean is diversity of skin color and background -- not political views. And once you hear someone like me say they support the 2nd amendment or something like that, you want to shut me up. So take your whining liberal views and open up to what you really want -- a community that may not LOOK like you but THINKS exactly like you.

Oh boohoo. Buck up. You're a white collar professional in a high income household in one of the wealthiest counties in america. You don't get points because your wife works or you sit in traffic. And I could give a f about whether you're a republican. It's frankly preferable to these faux liberals. Stop denying the racial and class dimensions of your preferences. It fools no one. It is racist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Oh boohoo. Buck up. You're a white collar professional in a high income household in one of the wealthiest counties in america. You don't get points because your wife works or you sit in traffic. And I could give a f about whether you're a republican. It's frankly preferable to these faux liberals. Stop denying the racial and class dimensions of your preferences. It fools no one. It is racist.

Ooooook. So what is your realistic master plan to fix segregation in APS? Or are you just yelling at clouds? You can't change where people live, where the school buildings are located, or the overall budget. We're all ears.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:New to this discussion. So, part of what I see is this - the county sees that once Gillian Place comes on board, Barcroft will not only be insanely overcrowded, again, but it will jump well above 80%FRL. So, Barcroft needs to shed some poor folks, so hey send the kids south of the Pike away to Drew since there is no other place with seats.

Drew is already in a poor neighborhood, so who cares! Barcroft parents have become just a tad more vocal over the years, especially after Arlington Mill was assigned to Barcroft instead of Carlin Springs.

Remember, Barcroft used to be one of the most overcrowded schools in the county, second only to Oakridge. Relief at Barcroft was one of reasons Fleet was built in the first place.

APS uses the term "shifting demographics" to describe the now annual opening of very large 100% CAF buildings with hundreds of units that swamp local schools.. To name a few: Arlington Mill, gilliam, the Berkeley and now also Columbia Hills, a 229 unit 100% CAF building opening next year in Columbia Forest (140 units are 2 and 3 bedroom) and will be zoned to abingdon. It's across the street from the Drew zoned portion of CF So that leads me to believe that APS is maybe trying to spread around these giant complexes to various elementary schools as best they can, even when the powers that be cram them into the same half mile stretch of Columbia pike.

If APS would actually treat the entire district like one school system, they could "spread around these giant complexes" to more elementary schools and not concentrate poverty in a handful of schools. But they refuse to do boundaries across Route 50 or in a north/south direction instead of east/west.

It is unfathomable that APS has decided to prioritize proximity above all else in this time of overcrowding and continued growth. We don't have this luxury to continue catering to people's "preferences" and alleged "needs" and clear prejudices and sense of entitlements to go to the school closest to their home - poor or rich, I don't care. This whole approach is a complete disservice to our kids, to our schools, to Arlington County. APS doesn't give a sh** that has been identified as a highly segregated school system - one of the wealthiest and THE smallest county in the COUNTRY - but OMG did we jump and fight to make sure we weren't classified as hyper-segregated! It's perfectly fine to miss that cut-off by a point or two; but god forbid we technically meet the definition. Well how about changing your boundary policies to get off that list insteaof teetering on the category edge and justifying it?

Get over yourself. Yes the county is small but traffic sucks. In our two working parent household, every minute counts. As it is now we are racing to pick up kids before extended day closes, get them home, fed and to bed at a decent time. So yes, proximity is my number one prioroity. If diversity is so important, then the county board has to address it through housing policy. Not bussing my kids around.

Get over your self. Everyone lives in a working parent household. You know whether the school is 1 mile or 2 miles away is immaterial. You just don't want to go to a school that has more poor kids. Don't hide behind traffic woes.

No -- everyone doesn't live in a TWO working parent household. And as someone else said, we aren't talking 1 versus 2 miles. Stop your undertones of calling me racist because I want my kids in a school close to home, with other kids who live nearby and in the community where we live. I didn't buy in to your social engineering. And I'm sure you are one of those who just sings the praises of diversity, but what you really mean is diversity of skin color and background -- not political views. And once you hear someone like me say they support the 2nd amendment or something like that, you want to shut me up. So take your whining liberal views and open up to what you really want -- a community that may not LOOK like you but THINKS exactly like you.

Oh boohoo. Buck up. You're a white collar professional in a high income household in one of the wealthiest counties in america. You don't get points because your wife works or you sit in traffic. And I could give a f about whether you're a republican. It's frankly preferable to these faux liberals. Stop denying the racial and class dimensions of your preferences. It fools no one. It is racist.

No. It isn't racist. But, if you'd like to think that everyone who wants to have their kids at a school close to their home is racist, go ahead. That makes all the families in the Williamsburg/Yorktown island who wanted to be re-zoned closer to home racist. Your argument would have to make the jump that they didn't want to go to school with a bunch of white kids because they are racist.

You want to label people as racist so they stop fighting for neighborhood schools. It is a scare tactic plain and simple. I'm sorry you don't like the composition of your school. I never said I liked mine either. What I need is it to be close to my house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Oh boohoo. Buck up. You're a white collar professional in a high income household in one of the wealthiest counties in america. You don't get points because your wife works or you sit in traffic. And I could give a f about whether you're a republican. It's frankly preferable to these faux liberals. Stop denying the racial and class dimensions of your preferences. It fools no one. It is racist.

Ooooook. So what is your realistic master plan to fix segregation in APS? Or are you just yelling at clouds? You can't change where people live, where the school buildings are located, or the overall budget. We're all ears.

1. Drop walkability as the top priority. Yes, we do have the money for buses. We're building a $100m pool that will require annual subsidies and maintenance costs in excess of $1m.

2. Move option schools to high poverty areas where the poor students who would benefit most from exposure to MC habits and peers and strong PTA would most easily access them. this is non coercive; it's a choice to attend such schools and people will go the extra mile if they see the value of the program.

3. Have an honest conversation about the follow on costs of building high density AH in a limited area. Increase funding for area infrastructure, including roads and schools. Try driving on he western pike this weekend. The road is in terrible condition from constant construction, far worse than any other stretch in the entire county. I don't care if the state has jurisdiction, it needs repairs.

4. Set a modest goal that no school will have a farms rate above 50 percent. If it's 3% like Tuckahoe, fine. But no more of the 85% bullsh1t.

5. don't bother trying to bus kids across the county. Make regional clusters and draw from there to create balanced schools. By the end of the bussing era, kids in Nauck were only being bused to Abingdon, Randolph, and Barcroft. None of those schools is more than a 10 minute drive from the next, even in rush hour.