School Board Forum on "Boundary and Capacity"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I for one would applaud a politician doing what’s right over the risk of their political careers. Politics should not be a long term full time career.

So we’re in agreement then. They should stay away from redistricting.

They should make the decisions that are best for the educational outcomes of kids and for professional success of their prime human resource, i.e. teachers. Does district management play a role in those goals? Absolutely.

And as the school board discussed a week ago, redistricting is absolutely detrimental to kids, especially poor kids.

Based on their feelings. Need to look beyond that at many other factors.

It’s clear you didn’t listen to the session, because that first sentence is just flat out incorrect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The SB should take the bandaid off and redraw the lines across the board. Call people’s bluff about leaving the system and/or county. Truth is people make a lot of money off jobs in this area and they’re addicted or have jobs here that don’t really exist elsewhere.

The bluff isn't people leaving the system, the bluff is political careers ending. Even if they could deal with the blow back, your county rep doesn't want to deal with irate calls from parents and pressure to vote against school budgets until the idea dies, but that's what would happen. For redistricting county wide to work, all of the county level politicians representing the areas that lose out would have to accept that their careers are over. Depending on how widespread the anger is, McKay might be done too. It's not worth it for any of them

And really, it’s not a bluff. Some people have no concept of how much a redistricting is playing with fire. Want a really bad school district? Have all the rich families that you so despise leave the system.

Nobody is leaving FCPS. They're trapped in the homes they got for ultra cheap and nobody is making any quick sales anytime soon. Only the very wealthy can do that, and most of them are already private.

It's a ridiculous notion anyway. You mean to tell me everyone in Vienna and Clifton and Burke a Chantilly is going to leave because a few more brown and black kids go to their schools? Oh please. People are racist but not stupid with their money.

Not a ridiculous notion. You’re forgetting the fluidity that exists in FCPS. At the very most, all it takes is renting an extra apartment in the desired school district. For $2000 per month you could go to almost any school in the county.

And you also (incorrectly) assume that the FCPS population is static when that is very much not the case. Even if current residents are stuck, people absolutely decide where to move based on schools, and your redistricting plan would be a real turn off for large swaths of people making rational decisions about what school district they want their kids to be in.

So, to sum up, you are so very wrong on multiple levels.

What are you smoking? Just no. You are wrong all over here. Do you even have children?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The SB should take the bandaid off and redraw the lines across the board. Call people’s bluff about leaving the system and/or county. Truth is people make a lot of money off jobs in this area and they’re addicted or have jobs here that don’t really exist elsewhere.

The bluff isn't people leaving the system, the bluff is political careers ending. Even if they could deal with the blow back, your county rep doesn't want to deal with irate calls from parents and pressure to vote against school budgets until the idea dies, but that's what would happen. For redistricting county wide to work, all of the county level politicians representing the areas that lose out would have to accept that their careers are over. Depending on how widespread the anger is, McKay might be done too. It's not worth it for any of them

And really, it’s not a bluff. Some people have no concept of how much a redistricting is playing with fire. Want a really bad school district? Have all the rich families that you so despise leave the system.

Nobody is leaving FCPS. They're trapped in the homes they got for ultra cheap and nobody is making any quick sales anytime soon. Only the very wealthy can do that, and most of them are already private.

It's a ridiculous notion anyway. You mean to tell me everyone in Vienna and Clifton and Burke a Chantilly is going to leave because a few more brown and black kids go to their schools? Oh please. People are racist but not stupid with their money.

Not a ridiculous notion. You’re forgetting the fluidity that exists in FCPS. At the very most, all it takes is renting an extra apartment in the desired school district. For $2000 per month you could go to almost any school in the county.

And you also (incorrectly) assume that the FCPS population is static when that is very much not the case. Even if current residents are stuck, people absolutely decide where to move based on schools, and your redistricting plan would be a real turn off for large swaths of people making rational decisions about what school district they want their kids to be in.

So, to sum up, you are so very wrong on multiple levels.

What are you smoking? Just no. You are wrong all over here. Do you even have children?

Ha, just because you don’t like it, doesn’t make it false. Literally every statement is supported with verifiable facts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The SB should take the bandaid off and redraw the lines across the board. Call people’s bluff about leaving the system and/or county. Truth is people make a lot of money off jobs in this area and they’re addicted or have jobs here that don’t really exist elsewhere.

The bluff isn't people leaving the system, the bluff is political careers ending. Even if they could deal with the blow back, your county rep doesn't want to deal with irate calls from parents and pressure to vote against school budgets until the idea dies, but that's what would happen. For redistricting county wide to work, all of the county level politicians representing the areas that lose out would have to accept that their careers are over. Depending on how widespread the anger is, McKay might be done too. It's not worth it for any of them

And really, it’s not a bluff. Some people have no concept of how much a redistricting is playing with fire. Want a really bad school district? Have all the rich families that you so despise leave the system.

Nobody is leaving FCPS. They're trapped in the homes they got for ultra cheap and nobody is making any quick sales anytime soon. Only the very wealthy can do that, and most of them are already private.

It's a ridiculous notion anyway. You mean to tell me everyone in Vienna and Clifton and Burke a Chantilly is going to leave because a few more brown and black kids go to their schools? Oh please. People are racist but not stupid with their money.

Not a ridiculous notion. You’re forgetting the fluidity that exists in FCPS. At the very most, all it takes is renting an extra apartment in the desired school district. For $2000 per month you could go to almost any school in the county.

And you also (incorrectly) assume that the FCPS population is static when that is very much not the case. Even if current residents are stuck, people absolutely decide where to move based on schools, and your redistricting plan would be a real turn off for large swaths of people making rational decisions about what school district they want their kids to be in.

So, to sum up, you are so very wrong on multiple levels.

What are you smoking? Just no. You are wrong all over here. Do you even have children?

Ha, just because you don’t like it, doesn’t make it false. Literally every statement is supported with verifiable facts.

+1. Seems accurate to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The SB should take the bandaid off and redraw the lines across the board. Call people’s bluff about leaving the system and/or county. Truth is people make a lot of money off jobs in this area and they’re addicted or have jobs here that don’t really exist elsewhere.

The bluff isn't people leaving the system, the bluff is political careers ending. Even if they could deal with the blow back, your county rep doesn't want to deal with irate calls from parents and pressure to vote against school budgets until the idea dies, but that's what would happen. For redistricting county wide to work, all of the county level politicians representing the areas that lose out would have to accept that their careers are over. Depending on how widespread the anger is, McKay might be done too. It's not worth it for any of them

And really, it’s not a bluff. Some people have no concept of how much a redistricting is playing with fire. Want a really bad school district? Have all the rich families that you so despise leave the system.

Nobody is leaving FCPS. They're trapped in the homes they got for ultra cheap and nobody is making any quick sales anytime soon. Only the very wealthy can do that, and most of them are already private.

It's a ridiculous notion anyway. You mean to tell me everyone in Vienna and Clifton and Burke an Chantilly is going to leave because a few more brown and black kids go to their schools? Oh please. People are racist but not stupid with their money.

To take one example, where are you going to find these additional brown and black kids to go to school in Vienna? Are you planning to bus them from Herndon or Bailey's Crossroads or Route 1? What if those kids currently walk to school or have after-school jobs? Do you think they want to spend an extra 90 minutes on a bus when they could be helping out their families? And, of course, do you think the folks at Madison are going to willingly accept that their kids are at Herndon, Justice, or Mount Vernon rather than Madison?

Basically, you're suggesting we swap contiguous or largely contiguous boundaries for either a lottery system or checker-board boundaries, and there's virtually no support for this in the county. People can and would leave the county rather than put up with it (and there's evidence to that effect from other school systems that adopted a lottery approach).

Ummm

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The SB should take the bandaid off and redraw the lines across the board. Call people’s bluff about leaving the system and/or county. Truth is people make a lot of money off jobs in this area and they’re addicted or have jobs here that don’t really exist elsewhere.

The bluff isn't people leaving the system, the bluff is political careers ending. Even if they could deal with the blow back, your county rep doesn't want to deal with irate calls from parents and pressure to vote against school budgets until the idea dies, but that's what would happen. For redistricting county wide to work, all of the county level politicians representing the areas that lose out would have to accept that their careers are over. Depending on how widespread the anger is, McKay might be done too. It's not worth it for any of them

And really, it’s not a bluff. Some people have no concept of how much a redistricting is playing with fire. Want a really bad school district? Have all the rich families that you so despise leave the system.

Nobody is leaving FCPS. They're trapped in the homes they got for ultra cheap and nobody is making any quick sales anytime soon. Only the very wealthy can do that, and most of them are already private.

It's a ridiculous notion anyway. You mean to tell me everyone in Vienna and Clifton and Burke an Chantilly is going to leave because a few more brown and black kids go to their schools? Oh please. People are racist but not stupid with their money.

To take one example, where are you going to find these additional brown and black kids to go to school in Vienna? Are you planning to bus them from Herndon or Bailey's Crossroads or Route 1? What if those kids currently walk to school or have after-school jobs? Do you think they want to spend an extra 90 minutes on a bus when they could be helping out their families? And, of course, do you think the folks at Madison are going to willingly accept that their kids are at Herndon, Justice, or Mount Vernon rather than Madison?

Basically, you're suggesting we swap contiguous or largely contiguous boundaries for either a lottery system or checker-board boundaries, and there's virtually no support for this in the county. People can and would leave the county rather than put up with it (and there's evidence to that effect from other school systems that adopted a lottery approach).

Ummm

That’s not going to get you very far w/anyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The SB should take the bandaid off and redraw the lines across the board. Call people’s bluff about leaving the system and/or county. Truth is people make a lot of money off jobs in this area and they’re addicted or have jobs here that don’t really exist elsewhere.

The bluff isn't people leaving the system, the bluff is political careers ending. Even if they could deal with the blow back, your county rep doesn't want to deal with irate calls from parents and pressure to vote against school budgets until the idea dies, but that's what would happen. For redistricting county wide to work, all of the county level politicians representing the areas that lose out would have to accept that their careers are over. Depending on how widespread the anger is, McKay might be done too. It's not worth it for any of them

And really, it’s not a bluff. Some people have no concept of how much a redistricting is playing with fire. Want a really bad school district? Have all the rich families that you so despise leave the system.

Nobody is leaving FCPS. They're trapped in the homes they got for ultra cheap and nobody is making any quick sales anytime soon. Only the very wealthy can do that, and most of them are already private.

West Potoamic takes in the Route 1 Corridor, not Mount Vernon

It's a ridiculous notion anyway. You mean to tell me everyone in Vienna and Clifton and Burke an Chantilly is going to leave because a few more brown and black kids go to their schools? Oh please. People are racist but not stupid with their money.

To take one example, where are you going to find these additional brown and black kids to go to school in Vienna? Are you planning to bus them from Herndon or Bailey's Crossroads or Route 1? What if those kids currently walk to school or have after-school jobs? Do you think they want to spend an extra 90 minutes on a bus when they could be helping out their families? And, of course, do you think the folks at Madison are going to willingly accept that their kids are at Herndon, Justice, or Mount Vernon rather than Madison?

Basically, you're suggesting we swap contiguous or largely contiguous boundaries for either a lottery system or checker-board boundaries, and there's virtually no support for this in the county. People can and would leave the county rather than put up with it (and there's evidence to that effect from other school systems that adopted a lottery approach).

[Anonymous]

I think the only redistricting that should happen is for overcrowded/undercrowded schools and to fix split feeders.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the only redistricting that should happen is for overcrowded/undercrowded schools and to fix split feeders.

Some redistricting changes require more changes, and those changes require yet other changes. It’s the domino effect. Which has thus far been used as justification to do nothing.

[Anonymous]

I would rather see them drill down on what schools really need renovations and additions rather than start moving kids around like fungible widgets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would rather see them drill down on what schools really need renovations and additions rather than start moving kids around like fungible widgets.

+100

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would rather see them drill down on what schools really need renovations and additions rather than start moving kids around like fungible widgets.

I would rather see them build smaller combined middle/high facilities so we have more granularity and they can build new schools without needing vast amounts of land, which don't exist anymore. Every school doesn't need huge athletics fields, particularly in a school system that's supposed to be focused on academics. If you want your kids in sports, do it on your own time and dime.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the only redistricting that should happen is for overcrowded/undercrowded schools and to fix split feeders.

Some redistricting changes require more changes, and those changes require yet other changes. It’s the domino effect. Which has thus far been used as justification to do nothing.

Bingo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would rather see them drill down on what schools really need renovations and additions rather than start moving kids around like fungible widgets.

I would rather see them build smaller combined middle/high facilities so we have more granularity and they can build new schools without needing vast amounts of land, which don't exist anymore. Every school doesn't need huge athletics fields, particularly in a school system that's supposed to be focused on academics. If you want your kids in sports, do it on your own time and dime.

Dr. Reid is keen to add additional sports, and it’s probably a good way to keep more kids engaged.

It’s a non-starter to suggest some schools have all the bells and whistles, but we can just ship other kids off to schools without fields or decent facilities. And the last time they built a secondary school (South County), it was with the express understanding that school would eventually become a high school with a separate middle school constructed.

We’re a large, wealthy county. There simply needs to be a firm commitment to making sure all the schools are places where kids can comfortably learn and play.

[Anonymous]

So we just build additions forever and ignore the available space? That just doesn't make sense. The addition should never have happened at West Potomac. The West Springfield addition grew several times over the course of the planning and building - just so they didn't have to move anyone to Lewis. The county population has stagnated. Fewer families with children can afford to live here. Can we find a high school to close if we aren't going to use space wisely? Or how about some elementary schools - the taxpayers shouldn't have to continue to fund bad management. I personally can't wait to leave.