APS Elementary Planning Mtg at Swanson - Option 1 in, Option 2 out, McKinley Moms out of contro

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hope tonight was better.

Doesn’t sound like it from the ABC7 news report. A certain Emilie Heller who agrees to be interviewed with her name attached is shown shouting at staff in multiple clips. She’s the same person who admits to being the yeller in last night’s presentation. She’s acting like a lunatic.

post a link please

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hope tonight was better.

Doesn’t sound like it from the ABC7 news report. A certain Emilie Heller who agrees to be interviewed with her name attached is shown shouting at staff in multiple clips. She’s the same person who admits to being the yeller in last night’s presentation. She’s acting like a lunatic.

post a link please

https://wjla.com/news/local/youre-ignoring-us-arlington-families-speak-out-against-proposed-school-reassignments

Sadly she wasn’t directly interviewed just recorded shouting.

I would have like to her reasoned argument beyond ‘we are walkers and will now have to take a bus’

If this media frenzy helps her cause, either Key will be turned neighborhood and immersion dissolved or we get those crazy long boundaries, and thousands of kids get on a long bus ride thanks to EH.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hope tonight was better.

Doesn’t sound like it from the ABC7 news report. A certain Emilie Heller who agrees to be interviewed with her name attached is shown shouting at staff in multiple clips. She’s the same person who admits to being the yeller in last night’s presentation. She’s acting like a lunatic.

post a link please

https://wjla.com/news/local/youre-ignoring-us-arlington-families-speak-out-against-proposed-school-reassignments

Sadly she wasn’t directly interviewed just recorded shouting.

I would have like to her reasoned argument beyond ‘we are walkers and will now have to take a bus’

If this media frenzy helps her cause, either Key will be turned neighborhood and immersion dissolved or we get those crazy long boundaries, and thousands of kids get on a long bus ride thanks to EH.

I don't know her PU, but hopefully she ends up at Tuckahoe. Keep her away from Ashlawn.

[Anonymous]

But her kids can still walk, so I’m sure it’s all worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The one thing that is for certain: APS has, wittingly or unwittingly, turned parents and school communities against one another. Calling your fellow McKinley parents crazy because they’re freaking out over what they perceive as a significant loss for their community? Referring to the Key supporters as the “Key crazies” because they have the nerve to express concern over the impact the move will have on the immersion program? You all have either too much time or too much anger for your own good. It’s elementary school!!!!! It will be ok regardless of where your kid ends up. And if opposition to the proposal bugs you, tune it out. Be nice to strangers. Meditate. Forgive parents who become a little unhinged when it feels like they’re getting screwed. This too shall pass ....

Listen to her comments! She screamed at one point to break up or blow up Tuckahoe. So she herself targeted other communities. She lack principles in her arguments other than nothing that impacts me.

Calling people mentally ill and crazy on an anonymous internet site isn’t exactly awesome either. Why do you care if some random woman at a school board meeting has principles? That was my only point. You can keep railing against whomever you please.

Why do I care if she has principles and makes life miserable for staff with her aggressive and disruptive behavior? Because staff said afterwards it may go to the other way of doing boundary changes — making a decision and sending letters over the summer notifying your new school assignment. Remember all the times APS has gotten data and other facts completely wrong but were revealed in the community process? Or the McKinley debacle when staff forgot to include entire planning units in their calculations? Not a chance for the community to catch anything. No input when your one planning unit gets carved off for middle school or high school because they forgot to check that sort of thing.

+1. I think certain members of the community don’t appreciate the impact of their increasing levels of crazy on the community engagement process. Maybe they haven’t been in APS long enough (or at least not paying attention long enough) to see how APS has been pulling back on community engagement, reducing the data and tools they make available to the community, etc. Every time the community uses engagement as a weapon to abuse the staff, engagement gets a bit shallower (and rightly so, in my mind).

It's interesting to me that you think it's gotten worse. I think it's actually much better than it used to be back in the day when John Chadwick led these meetings.

I agree the engagement process is improved this time. There is no less opportunity to provide feedback; just fewer opportunities for individual PTAs to exert direct, private, and pressure and intimidation. Anyone can still meet one-on-one with Board members during office hours, via email, etc. But now everyone gets to witness those "backroom deal shenanigans" firsthand rather than hearing about them through rumors and speculation and conspiracy theories.

Rather than pulling back on the data, staff has reached out to community members to help ensure they're working with the best data they can and APS continues to work with the County to improve its forecasting data as well. It'll never be perfect; but efforts are certainly going in the right direction.

Engagement isn't getting "shallower" - staff is getting better at sticking to the overall view and repeating their messages and answers rather than getting looped into debates with immature, entitled "adults."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The one thing that is for certain: APS has, wittingly or unwittingly, turned parents and school communities against one another. Calling your fellow McKinley parents crazy because they’re freaking out over what they perceive as a significant loss for their community? Referring to the Key supporters as the “Key crazies” because they have the nerve to express concern over the impact the move will have on the immersion program? You all have either too much time or too much anger for your own good. It’s elementary school!!!!! It will be ok regardless of where your kid ends up. And if opposition to the proposal bugs you, tune it out. Be nice to strangers. Meditate. Forgive parents who become a little unhinged when it feels like they’re getting screwed. This too shall pass ....

Listen to her comments! She screamed at one point to break up or blow up Tuckahoe. So she herself targeted other communities. She lack principles in her arguments other than nothing that impacts me.

Calling people mentally ill and crazy on an anonymous internet site isn’t exactly awesome either. Why do you care if some random woman at a school board meeting has principles? That was my only point. You can keep railing against whomever you please.

Why do I care if she has principles and makes life miserable for staff with her aggressive and disruptive behavior? Because staff said afterwards it may go to the other way of doing boundary changes — making a decision and sending letters over the summer notifying your new school assignment. Remember all the times APS has gotten data and other facts completely wrong but were revealed in the community process? Or the McKinley debacle when staff forgot to include entire planning units in their calculations? Not a chance for the community to catch anything. No input when your one planning unit gets carved off for middle school or high school because they forgot to check that sort of thing.

+1. I think certain members of the community don’t appreciate the impact of their increasing levels of crazy on the community engagement process. Maybe they haven’t been in APS long enough (or at least not paying attention long enough) to see how APS has been pulling back on community engagement, reducing the data and tools they make available to the community, etc. Every time the community uses engagement as a weapon to abuse the staff, engagement gets a bit shallower (and rightly so, in my mind).

It's interesting to me that you think it's gotten worse. I think it's actually much better than it used to be back in the day when John Chadwick led these meetings.

I agree the engagement process is improved this time. There is no less opportunity to provide feedback; just fewer opportunities for individual PTAs to exert direct, private, and pressure and intimidation. Anyone can still meet one-on-one with Board members during office hours, via email, etc. But now everyone gets to witness those "backroom deal shenanigans" firsthand rather than hearing about them through rumors and speculation and conspiracy theories.

Rather than pulling back on the data, staff has reached out to community members to help ensure they're working with the best data they can and APS continues to work with the County to improve its forecasting data as well. It'll never be perfect; but efforts are certainly going in the right direction.

Engagement isn't getting "shallower" - staff is getting better at sticking to the overall view and repeating their messages and answers rather than getting looped into debates with immature, entitled "adults."

Agree. The meetings with the PTA presidents were a great way to keep the focus on the county, not individual schools.

[Anonymous]

1000% agree! The meetings with individual schools is what led to the perception that only some schools had the opportunity to engage.

The focus on transparency is fantastic.

[Anonymous]

I also agree that APS has been very engaged and transparent. Some people confuse 'you don't listen to me' with 'you don't agree with me.'

[Anonymous]

They’re bringing the public in much later in the process, once the decision is all but made. Gone are the days of six different options for the community to rank and considering the community’s preference in selecting the ultimate recommendation, instead we now get one option that they’re going to go with, one alternative designed to push people to support the intended recommendation, and an explanation for why they chose the option they’ll be recommending.

Granted, I think this is better because the community showed it can’t handle having real input in the process, but it is different.

[Anonymous]

that sign, with its reference to being a neighborhood school since 1951, was not a good idea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:that sign, with its reference to being a neighborhood school since 1951, was not a good idea.

Why?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The one thing that is for certain: APS has, wittingly or unwittingly, turned parents and school communities against one another. Calling your fellow McKinley parents crazy because they’re freaking out over what they perceive as a significant loss for their community? Referring to the Key supporters as the “Key crazies” because they have the nerve to express concern over the impact the move will have on the immersion program? You all have either too much time or too much anger for your own good. It’s elementary school!!!!! It will be ok regardless of where your kid ends up. And if opposition to the proposal bugs you, tune it out. Be nice to strangers. Meditate. Forgive parents who become a little unhinged when it feels like they’re getting screwed. This too shall pass ....

Your post makes no sense.

[Anonymous]

All roads in Arlington lead to high schools that are mediocre-plus at best, with unimpressive college admission stats. So I’m not fully understanding the fear here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I also agree that APS has been very engaged and transparent. Some people confuse 'you don't listen to me' with 'you don't agree with me.'

This 100%. The staff has been very clear about the alternatives they considered and why they weren't chosen and (as someone with no skin in the game) the recommendation seems reasonable. The only objections really come down to "I personally will be inconvenienced so the plan is bad.". Not agreeing with you is not the same as not listening.

I also think the charge that they already knew what they wanted to do before putting it out for wider community input is ridiculous. It's their job to figure this out! Of course they should have a well-informed point of view!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I also agree that APS has been very engaged and transparent. Some people confuse 'you don't listen to me' with 'you don't agree with me.'

This 100%. The staff has been very clear about the alternatives they considered and why they weren't chosen and (as someone with no skin in the game) the recommendation seems reasonable. The only objections really come down to "I personally will be inconvenienced so the plan is bad.". Not agreeing with you is not the same as not listening.

I also think the charge that they already knew what they wanted to do before putting it out for wider community input is ridiculous. It's their job to figure this out! Of course they should have a well-informed point of view!

+100 to both of the above posts