Western High School Boundary Map options (A/B/C/D)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyway, I was at the meeting and the Oakton families are going to have their way. Reid will only listen to the people directly in front of her, and most of us were too scared of the repercussions to speak up. If you know who one of the leaders of this group is, you know why.

If you don't speak up, why should anyone believe that there's many of you who feel this way?

Clearly there are several posters on this board that feel as you do, but I don't see how one can blame Reid for hearing only one side when there's mostly only one side speaking up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Posting my thoughts from the meeting before reading others thoughts. I moved into the breakout room for questions virtually

1) They have a Principal, it is the man who opened Westfield.
2) It sounds like there are a lot of teachers interested in teaching at the new school.
3) the boundaries will not be decided until June.
4) Some very vocal Oakton parents really do not want to move. There were a lot of “Oakton isn’t at capacity, don’t make us move”
5) The school will be fully opt in for the first two years.
6) Sports will start as not paprt of the Virginia Sports league that all FCPS schools are a part of, students can choose to try out for their old base schools team if they want.
7) There will be sports but they are going to take time to grow and evolve, they know that.
8) Same for theatre and music and the like.
9) They will have all of the normal classes that Freshmen and Sophomores take
10) Oakton families really don’t want to move, at least the ones that were talking at this meeting.

Can you elaborate on this? Is she saying that KAA students can try out for their base school team whilst attending KAA? Or that you can elect to stay at your base school if you want to be part of the VSL?

The next two years are opt in to attending the new school. So 7th and 8th graders can choose their current base school or the new school. Sixth graders will not have a choice, at least that is what I heard. That in three years students will be required to attend the new school as their base school.

If a student chooses the new new school and wants to play the Virginia whatever league, I am sirry but I am not great with the acronyms or names, they can try out at the school that would have been their base school. They did not discuss transportation to the other school for practices and the like only that it would be an option.

I saw the Crossfield parent post, I understand. The issue you are having is that the vocal crowd is being very loud. If you want to counter you need to get people to the meetings and say what you think and contact your reps. as a Fox Mill parent, I am fine with Crossfield not moving because I think that your moving impacts our moving but Reid and comp are clearly hearing that the Oakton families don’t want to move. I did not hear the Oakton families saying they represented a specific ES.

But doesn’t “opt in” mean you still need to provide your own transportation if you want to remain at your previously zoned HS? This doesn’t seem equitable to families who can’t afford to provide their own transportation. This could result in a huge disparity.

No, they are providing transportation for those kids. That is what I heard, so I could have misheard but, transportation is provided for Junior and Seniors so it makes sense that there is transportation for the freshmen and Sophomores. Again, I could have misheard but they mentioned that they bought 10 school busses with the school so they think they can provide transportation for the kids who choose to stay at their base school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyway, I was at the meeting and the Oakton families are going to have their way. Reid will only listen to the people directly in front of her, and most of us were too scared of the repercussions to speak up. If you know who one of the leaders of this group is, you know why.

If you don't speak up, why should anyone believe that there's many of you who feel this way?

Clearly there are several posters on this board that feel as you do, but I don't see how one can blame Reid for hearing only one side when there's mostly only one side speaking up.

This has been explained. Certain parents who are leading the charge have shall we say a dominating personality and put themselves in charge of a lot of things at school and in the community so they can steer things in their own children’s favor. It’s not so easy to publicly go against people like that knowing it could hurt your child and relationships with neighbors. No matter what happens people have to see each other at school and outside of school. Most people want to avoid drama but some will unfortunately create it if you express disagreement with them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyway, I was at the meeting and the Oakton families are going to have their way. Reid will only listen to the people directly in front of her, and most of us were too scared of the repercussions to speak up. If you know who one of the leaders of this group is, you know why.

If you don't speak up, why should anyone believe that there's many of you who feel this way?

Clearly there are several posters on this board that feel as you do, but I don't see how one can blame Reid for hearing only one side when there's mostly only one side speaking up.

This has been explained. Certain parents who are leading the charge have shall we say a dominating personality and put themselves in charge of a lot of things at school and in the community so they can steer things in their own children’s favor. It’s not so easy to publicly go against people like that knowing it could hurt your child and relationships with neighbors. No matter what happens people have to see each other at school and outside of school. Most people want to avoid drama but some will unfortunately create it if you express disagreement with them.

Sounds like Reid is one of those who does not want to publicly confront. The question is--what does she do otherwise. Sounds like her flexible plan indicates that she does listen to the squeaky wheel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyway, I was at the meeting and the Oakton families are going to have their way. Reid will only listen to the people directly in front of her, and most of us were too scared of the repercussions to speak up. If you know who one of the leaders of this group is, you know why.

If you don't speak up, why should anyone believe that there's many of you who feel this way?

Clearly there are several posters on this board that feel as you do, but I don't see how one can blame Reid for hearing only one side when there's mostly only one side speaking up.

This has been explained. Certain parents who are leading the charge have shall we say a dominating personality and put themselves in charge of a lot of things at school and in the community so they can steer things in their own children’s favor. It’s not so easy to publicly go against people like that knowing it could hurt your child and relationships with neighbors. No matter what happens people have to see each other at school and outside of school. Most people want to avoid drama but some will unfortunately create it if you express disagreement with them.

Again:

If you are an Oakton parent, write the SB members. All of them.

Your main argument: distance and transportation
Secondary: community

Pick an option and tell why it is the best for lots of reasons. I personally prefer Option A. I don't think there is any chance that Meren would support an option that moves Floris and Fox Mill. I also don't think it is reasonable to have the closest neighborhood to KAA go to Westfield --as it does in C and D.

McDaniel has brought up the distance.
Frisch has brought up that Oakton will soon be overcrowded.
If your kids play sports currently, it is likely that they play CYA and most will go to Chantilly or KAA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyway, I was at the meeting and the Oakton families are going to have their way. Reid will only listen to the people directly in front of her, and most of us were too scared of the repercussions to speak up. If you know who one of the leaders of this group is, you know why.

If you don't speak up, why should anyone believe that there's many of you who feel this way?

Clearly there are several posters on this board that feel as you do, but I don't see how one can blame Reid for hearing only one side when there's mostly only one side speaking up.

This has been explained. Certain parents who are leading the charge have shall we say a dominating personality and put themselves in charge of a lot of things at school and in the community so they can steer things in their own children’s favor. It’s not so easy to publicly go against people like that knowing it could hurt your child and relationships with neighbors. No matter what happens people have to see each other at school and outside of school. Most people want to avoid drama but some will unfortunately create it if you express disagreement with them.

Again:

If you are an Oakton parent, write the SB members. All of them.

Your main argument: distance and transportation
Secondary: community

Pick an option and tell why it is the best for lots of reasons. I personally prefer Option A. I don't think there is any chance that Meren would support an option that moves Floris and Fox Mill. I also don't think it is reasonable to have the closest neighborhood to KAA go to Westfield --as it does in C and D.

McDaniel has brought up the distance.
Frisch has brought up that Oakton will soon be overcrowded.
If your kids play sports currently, it is likely that they play CYA and most will go to Chantilly or KAA.

I have done so using the distance and transportation arguments.

The reality is this is a zero sum game where be person advocating for one outcome can come at the direct expense of what another person wants. Most people are emotionally mature enough to understand that different people can have different opinions and aren’t trying to ruin other people’s lives. Unfortunately some can’t handle this and have expressed anger over people supporting a different boundary option than them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everyone is excited about the new school except for a loud group of AAP parents who are obsessed with Oakton. They have somehow roped Navy into it, even though Navy isn't going to be impacted. It's so weird.

Crossfield AAP students go to Navy then Carson.

Clearly you're not familiar with the area.

[Anonymous]

If nothing else, I hope Reid and the school board come away with an understanding that neighborhoods are divided on whether or not they want to go to the new school and each side has good reasons for it. It would be nice if they left some extra capacity and were fairly generous with pupil placing at least for the first five years or something. Then families who wanted to keep the long bus ride to their old school could continue to do so and families who wanted the chance to go to a high school closer to home, maybe being on their own for transportation, could choose that option. I could see a kid who attends Franklin for example wanting to attend the new school with friends from Oak Hill and sports/activities rather than Oakton.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't believe they will go with Option B. I just don't see Meren letting them empty out South Lakes. And, it really makes sense to send Crossfield kids to the new school because of the bus ride--and Oakton is going to soon be overcrowded and it may be too late for them to get assigned to the new school.

Ideally, I would suggest getting rid of IB at South Lakes and/or allowing generous pupil placement to the new school for those Fox Mill kids. Historically, they are unlikely to do that.

This person kept saying this without an evidence. Did you ever speak with Meren?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Posting my thoughts from the meeting before reading others thoughts. I moved into the breakout room for questions virtually

1) They have a Principal, it is the man who opened Westfield.
2) It sounds like there are a lot of teachers interested in teaching at the new school.
3) the boundaries will not be decided until June.
4) Some very vocal Oakton parents really do not want to move. There were a lot of “Oakton isn’t at capacity, don’t make us move”
5) The school will be fully opt in for the first two years.
6) Sports will start as not paprt of the Virginia Sports league that all FCPS schools are a part of, students can choose to try out for their old base schools team if they want.
7) There will be sports but they are going to take time to grow and evolve, they know that.
8) Same for theatre and music and the like.
9) They will have all of the normal classes that Freshmen and Sophomores take
10) Oakton families really don’t want to move, at least the ones that were talking at this meeting.

Can you elaborate on this? Is she saying that KAA students can try out for their base school team whilst attending KAA? Or that you can elect to stay at your base school if you want to be part of the VSL?

The next two years are opt in to attending the new school. So 7th and 8th graders can choose their current base school or the new school. Sixth graders will not have a choice, at least that is what I heard. That in three years students will be required to attend the new school as their base school.

If a student chooses the new new school and wants to play the Virginia whatever league, I am sirry but I am not great with the acronyms or names, they can try out at the school that would have been their base school. They did not discuss transportation to the other school for practices and the like only that it would be an option.

I saw the Crossfield parent post, I understand. The issue you are having is that the vocal crowd is being very loud. If you want to counter you need to get people to the meetings and say what you think and contact your reps. as a Fox Mill parent, I am fine with Crossfield not moving because I think that your moving impacts our moving but Reid and comp are clearly hearing that the Oakton families don’t want to move. I did not hear the Oakton families saying they represented a specific ES.

But doesn’t “opt in” mean you still need to provide your own transportation if you want to remain at your previously zoned HS? This doesn’t seem equitable to families who can’t afford to provide their own transportation. This could result in a huge disparity.

No, they are providing transportation for those kids. That is what I heard, so I could have misheard but, transportation is provided for Junior and Seniors so it makes sense that there is transportation for the freshmen and Sophomores. Again, I could have misheard but they mentioned that they bought 10 school busses with the school so they think they can provide transportation for the kids who choose to stay at their base school.

It's beyond outrageous that they'll provide transportation for kids who opt out of attending the fancy ass new school that we are spending $150-200 million to aqquire, but likely won't provide transportation to kids everywhere else in the county affected by boundary changes.

There has never been a bigger group of pandering, foolish idiots in charge of FCPS. Michelle Reid needs to be fired.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reid wants to prolong the boundary discussion for Western HS until June. And for the next two years it will be kinda open enrollment but only for Chantilly, Centreville, Westfield, South Lakes and Oakton boundary.

Did I hear this right?

I don’t even know it’s legal. Basically it’s like a charter school for two years but open for only certain area.

Seriously? The School Board needs to step in now.

What an awful thing to do to the community. She needs to go now.

Get someone with a modicum of common sense.

What is her plan? See how many show up and then draw the boundaries?
Sports? Activities?

This is ridiculous.

That person is lying. All she said was that students who are 7th and up will have the choice to go to their current base school, so they don't know what the numbers are going to be in the fall. That's literally it.

PP here.

I'm pretty sure my understanding is correct.

Reid mentioned that opt-in for the new school would be available for Centerville kids along with Chantilly, SLHS, Westfield, and Oakton. How would Centreville kids get into the new school if there is an actual boundary?

Reid also said that they don't have to rush to come up with a boundary now, implying this is open enrollment for kids in those five HS boundaries for the first two years.

This isn't the first time Reid has said this either. During the open house, she floated the idea that out-of-boundary kids may get into the Western school for the first two years.

[Anonymous]

Reading about the plans for the new western HS are depressing. All the opt-in, opt-out options and preliminary arrangements sound like something DCPS would do if they opened a new school and didn't know if anyone would want to attend. It's the polar opposite of what FCPS used to do and LCPS still does when opening new schools - open it when it's ready and then operate on the assumption that it's not just acceptable, but a great opportunity, for those assigned to the new school.

The whole thing is just a testament to how FCPS has lost its way. Michelle Reid is now not just up to the task of running FCPS; she's doing affirmative damage to the school system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Reading about the plans for the new western HS are depressing. All the opt-in, opt-out options and preliminary arrangements sound like something DCPS would do if they opened a new school and didn't know if anyone would want to attend. It's the polar opposite of what FCPS used to do and LCPS still does when opening new schools - open it when it's ready and then operate on the assumption that it's not just acceptable, but a great opportunity, for those assigned to the new school.

The whole thing is just a testament to how FCPS has lost its way. Michelle Reid is now not just up to the task of running FCPS; she's doing affirmative damage to the school system.

I think part of it is that the school just isn't ready to hold 2000 kids as of today. If you did the tour last week you would see that they will need to knock down walls, build out additional buildings, turn one of the 3 gyms into 2 floors of of classrooms, and build out additional cafeteria space since the 2 cafeterias are tiny. There's just no way to get that done before an august start, so they have to ease into it and maybe operate one of either the current boys side or girls side while the opposite side is built out and the other athletic fields are constructed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reading about the plans for the new western HS are depressing. All the opt-in, opt-out options and preliminary arrangements sound like something DCPS would do if they opened a new school and didn't know if anyone would want to attend. It's the polar opposite of what FCPS used to do and LCPS still does when opening new schools - open it when it's ready and then operate on the assumption that it's not just acceptable, but a great opportunity, for those assigned to the new school.

The whole thing is just a testament to how FCPS has lost its way. Michelle Reid is now not just up to the task of running FCPS; she's doing affirmative damage to the school system.

I think part of it is that the school just isn't ready to hold 2000 kids as of today. If you did the tour last week you would see that they will need to knock down walls, build out additional buildings, turn one of the 3 gyms into 2 floors of of classrooms, and build out additional cafeteria space since the 2 cafeterias are tiny. There's just no way to get that done before an august start, so they have to ease into it and maybe operate one of either the current boys side or girls side while the opposite side is built out and the other athletic fields are constructed.

These things can still easily be accomplished by starting with grades 9 and some 10 next year. The school is only 10 years old, it is absolutely ridiculous to slow roll the full opening for 5 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyway, I was at the meeting and the Oakton families are going to have their way. Reid will only listen to the people directly in front of her, and most of us were too scared of the repercussions to speak up. If you know who one of the leaders of this group is, you know why.

I know what you’re saying. It’s a shame people have to worry about being badmouthed and treated poorly by neighbors and school community members for having a different opinion, with negative repercussions for their kids. But I suspect that’s what would happen.

It's already happening.