FCPS' plans to address concerns at under-enrolled and over-enrolled schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about the homeowners and non-ESL students that live in the Lewis boundaries? They should be forced to move to other schools and see their home values suffer? Doesn't seem right to me.

Wtf are you babbling about? How would their home values suffer going to a better performing school with more kids? Seems like it would be a win for them.

But, to be fair, I don’t think they should have to move if they don’t want to. 1,500 students is only a critical shortfall if you are trying to make a blatant equity play. It’s the people in Lewis pyramid trying to bolster their own house value at the expense of their neighbors.

I'm asking why people in the Lewis pyramid who are not ESL should have to transfer to other schools to find similar cohorts and challenging classes. That is the situation now and will continue to be unless something is done to help the school. Why are some pyramids designated as the permanent home of the poor and ESL populations? That is how FCPS is treating them. How is that fair to the homeowners in the Lewis pyramid? They moved higher income areas from Gambrill Road and Daventry to West Springfield. That helped their property values. Was that fair to the homeowners still zoned to Lewis? Maybe some people are tired of being dumped on.

Did you not know your school pyramid before you bought your house?

And as for being dumped on, yeah, FCPS families are overwhelmingly tired of this boundary change crap. The school board wasted years on it instead of working to improve the school system. The opportunity cost is through the roof on boundary changes, and they’re going to run it back in four years. It’s insanity.

I’m so tired of this argument. So the “poors” should be the ones that suffer and their kids get a worse education than others?
Things will never be truly equal, but comparing Lewis to say Langley is a huge difference. Why should people in the Lewis pyramid have their backs turned on them by the school board because “they’re too poor to buy a house in a better neighborhood”

And by example, we bought our house in the Lewis pyramid in 2020 thinking we’d move when our kids are older, or things could change in the next ten-ish years. Fast forward to now, we’ve got a kid in kindergarten at Springfield Estates, which is a very good school, but it looks like the school board gives zero Fs about Key and Lewis. We have a very low interest rate on our mortgage, one spouse is fed, and one is a contractor. Mortgage rates are now high, prices are high, gas is expensive, food is expensive. Fed feels like they could be RIFed at any moment. But I guess according to DCUM trolls we should just move in order to have our kids get an equitable education? Noted, sounds so easy I’ll hop right on that. /s

Yes, this is exactly what you can expect to hear from this crowd…

“Suck it up”
“You knew what schools you were zoned for 15 years ago when you bought and should not have expected any improvement”
“Lewis is thriving as a small school!”
“It shouldn’t matter that the school can’t fill basic sports, academic programs”
“ MENTAL HEALTH!”
“Just give it a few more years…”

We pulled our kid last year and are in the process of moving.

[Anonymous]

I hope they show up to actually vote them out, instead of carry forward the status quo of woke idiots running the school board. Two years ago, we had a really competent challenger to Robyn Lady. And yet, the woke idiotic crowd that is now complaining up a storm about Robyn Lady all voted her in. Y'all deserve exactly what the school board is dishing out to you ... bc you're the ones to blame for this catastrophe!

I looked into how plausible it would be to overhaul the schoolboard with the next vote - and it sadly seems very unlikely. I was told in no certain terms - Sandy has her crew she likes and secures financial backing for them. New faces and independents do not stand a chance. Even with so many people unhappy with how things have gone the past several years, unless you are a Sandy Darling - you aren't getting in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about the homeowners and non-ESL students that live in the Lewis boundaries? They should be forced to move to other schools and see their home values suffer? Doesn't seem right to me.

Wtf are you babbling about? How would their home values suffer going to a better performing school with more kids? Seems like it would be a win for them.

But, to be fair, I don’t think they should have to move if they don’t want to. 1,500 students is only a critical shortfall if you are trying to make a blatant equity play. It’s the people in Lewis pyramid trying to bolster their own house value at the expense of their neighbors.

I'm asking why people in the Lewis pyramid who are not ESL should have to transfer to other schools to find similar cohorts and challenging classes. That is the situation now and will continue to be unless something is done to help the school. Why are some pyramids designated as the permanent home of the poor and ESL populations? That is how FCPS is treating them. How is that fair to the homeowners in the Lewis pyramid? They moved higher income areas from Gambrill Road and Daventry to West Springfield. That helped their property values. Was that fair to the homeowners still zoned to Lewis? Maybe some people are tired of being dumped on.

Did you not know your school pyramid before you bought your house?

And as for being dumped on, yeah, FCPS families are overwhelmingly tired of this boundary change crap. The school board wasted years on it instead of working to improve the school system. The opportunity cost is through the roof on boundary changes, and they’re going to run it back in four years. It’s insanity.

I’m so tired of this argument. So the “poors” should be the ones that suffer and their kids get a worse education than others?
Things will never be truly equal, but comparing Lewis to say Langley is a huge difference. Why should people in the Lewis pyramid have their backs turned on them by the school board because “they’re too poor to buy a house in a better neighborhood”

And by example, we bought our house in the Lewis pyramid in 2020 thinking we’d move when our kids are older, or things could change in the next ten-ish years. Fast forward to now, we’ve got a kid in kindergarten at Springfield Estates, which is a very good school, but it looks like the school board gives zero Fs about Key and Lewis. We have a very low interest rate on our mortgage, one spouse is fed, and one is a contractor. Mortgage rates are now high, prices are high, gas is expensive, food is expensive. Fed feels like they could be RIFed at any moment. But I guess according to DCUM trolls we should just move in order to have our kids get an equitable education? Noted, sounds so easy I’ll hop right on that. /s

Yes, this is exactly what you can expect to hear from this crowd…

“Suck it up”
“You knew what schools you were zoned for 15 years ago when you bought and should not have expected any improvement”
“Lewis is thriving as a small school!”
“It shouldn’t matter that the school can’t fill basic sports, academic programs”
“ MENTAL HEALTH!”
“Just give it a few more years…”

We pulled our kid last year and are in the process of moving.

Make sure you check out the schools that your new home is zoned for so that you don’t have to continue to try to mooch off your neighbors there. Life is easier when you put in the effort on the front end.

Bon voyage!

[Anonymous]

Weren’t there supposed to be meetings between the Lewis community and high-level FCPS staff about what the Lewis community would like to see for their school?

Did those meetings happen? Did anything actionable come out of them?

I think Lewis is just digging itself into a deeper hole if people anchor on adding students as the only answer to whatever currently bothers them about Lewis.

If I were there, I’d be asking for the elimination of the IB program (too anemic), the elimination of the Leadership program (other schools have Leadership electives, so making a big deal out of a “Leadership program” comes across as patronizing, like highlighting after-school etiquette classes), a realistic and public timetable for renovating Lewis, and/or the relocation or addition of Academy classes with a mix of academic and vocational offerings.

Should FCPS then fail to respond to those requests, I’d then ask for a commitment to close the school and reassign students once enrollment dips below a certain level (but realistically that’s probably more like 1100 kids than 1500).

The IB program at Lewis is clearly underwhelming but by other measures Lewis is not the lowest-performing high school in the county, and it recently got recognized as doing well by the VDOE. Most of the “pariah” talk is associated with this negative feedback loop where Lewis parents make it sound distressed and West Springfield parents say
“if that’s the case why would we want to send our kids there” - it’s all taken on a “chicken vs. egg” tenor. Remove that from the equation and focus on other potential changes that don’t depend on reassigning kids who might never show up at Lewis even if the boundaries changed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about the homeowners and non-ESL students that live in the Lewis boundaries? They should be forced to move to other schools and see their home values suffer? Doesn't seem right to me.

Wtf are you babbling about? How would their home values suffer going to a better performing school with more kids? Seems like it would be a win for them.

But, to be fair, I don’t think they should have to move if they don’t want to. 1,500 students is only a critical shortfall if you are trying to make a blatant equity play. It’s the people in Lewis pyramid trying to bolster their own house value at the expense of their neighbors.

I'm asking why people in the Lewis pyramid who are not ESL should have to transfer to other schools to find similar cohorts and challenging classes. That is the situation now and will continue to be unless something is done to help the school. Why are some pyramids designated as the permanent home of the poor and ESL populations? That is how FCPS is treating them. How is that fair to the homeowners in the Lewis pyramid? They moved higher income areas from Gambrill Road and Daventry to West Springfield. That helped their property values. Was that fair to the homeowners still zoned to Lewis? Maybe some people are tired of being dumped on.

Did you not know your school pyramid before you bought your house?

And as for being dumped on, yeah, FCPS families are overwhelmingly tired of this boundary change crap. The school board wasted years on it instead of working to improve the school system. The opportunity cost is through the roof on boundary changes, and they’re going to run it back in four years. It’s insanity.

I’m so tired of this argument. So the “poors” should be the ones that suffer and their kids get a worse education than others?
Things will never be truly equal, but comparing Lewis to say Langley is a huge difference. Why should people in the Lewis pyramid have their backs turned on them by the school board because “they’re too poor to buy a house in a better neighborhood”

And by example, we bought our house in the Lewis pyramid in 2020 thinking we’d move when our kids are older, or things could change in the next ten-ish years. Fast forward to now, we’ve got a kid in kindergarten at Springfield Estates, which is a very good school, but it looks like the school board gives zero Fs about Key and Lewis. We have a very low interest rate on our mortgage, one spouse is fed, and one is a contractor. Mortgage rates are now high, prices are high, gas is expensive, food is expensive. Fed feels like they could be RIFed at any moment. But I guess according to DCUM trolls we should just move in order to have our kids get an equitable education? Noted, sounds so easy I’ll hop right on that. /s

Yes, this is exactly what you can expect to hear from this crowd…

“Suck it up”
“You knew what schools you were zoned for 15 years ago when you bought and should not have expected any improvement”
“Lewis is thriving as a small school!”
“It shouldn’t matter that the school can’t fill basic sports, academic programs”
“ MENTAL HEALTH!”
“Just give it a few more years…”

We pulled our kid last year and are in the process of moving.

Make sure you check out the schools that your new home is zoned for so that you don’t have to continue to try to mooch off your neighbors there. Life is easier when you put in the effort on the front end.

Bon voyage!

What does this even mean? Such a troll response

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Weren’t there supposed to be meetings between the Lewis community and high-level FCPS staff about what the Lewis community would like to see for their school?

Did those meetings happen? Did anything actionable come out of them?

I think Lewis is just digging itself into a deeper hole if people anchor on adding students as the only answer to whatever currently bothers them about Lewis.

If I were there, I’d be asking for the elimination of the IB program (too anemic), the elimination of the Leadership program (other schools have Leadership electives, so making a big deal out of a “Leadership program” comes across as patronizing, like highlighting after-school etiquette classes), a realistic and public timetable for renovating Lewis, and/or the relocation or addition of Academy classes with a mix of academic and vocational offerings.

Should FCPS then fail to respond to those requests, I’d then ask for a commitment to close the school and reassign students once enrollment dips below a certain level (but realistically that’s probably more like 1100 kids than 1500).

The IB program at Lewis is clearly underwhelming but by other measures Lewis is not the lowest-performing high school in the county, and it recently got recognized as doing well by the VDOE. Most of the “pariah” talk is associated with this negative feedback loop where Lewis parents make it sound distressed and West Springfield parents say
“if that’s the case why would we want to send our kids there” - it’s all taken on a “chicken vs. egg” tenor. Remove that from the equation and focus on other potential changes that don’t depend on reassigning kids who might never show up at Lewis even if the boundaries changed.

Are you having to fight this hard just to keep your assigned school from falling behind every other high school in the county? Didn’t think so.

Parents should not be the ones carrying the burden of fixing systemic issues. That is exactly what we fund the school system to do.

My frustration is not with families who understandably do not want to uproot their kids. It is with a school board that seems unwilling to take meaningful action, even when those decisions are difficult, to ensure balanced opportunities across all our public schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about the homeowners and non-ESL students that live in the Lewis boundaries? They should be forced to move to other schools and see their home values suffer? Doesn't seem right to me.

Wtf are you babbling about? How would their home values suffer going to a better performing school with more kids? Seems like it would be a win for them.

But, to be fair, I don’t think they should have to move if they don’t want to. 1,500 students is only a critical shortfall if you are trying to make a blatant equity play. It’s the people in Lewis pyramid trying to bolster their own house value at the expense of their neighbors.

I'm asking why people in the Lewis pyramid who are not ESL should have to transfer to other schools to find similar cohorts and challenging classes. That is the situation now and will continue to be unless something is done to help the school. Why are some pyramids designated as the permanent home of the poor and ESL populations? That is how FCPS is treating them. How is that fair to the homeowners in the Lewis pyramid? They moved higher income areas from Gambrill Road and Daventry to West Springfield. That helped their property values. Was that fair to the homeowners still zoned to Lewis? Maybe some people are tired of being dumped on.

Did you not know your school pyramid before you bought your house?

And as for being dumped on, yeah, FCPS families are overwhelmingly tired of this boundary change crap. The school board wasted years on it instead of working to improve the school system. The opportunity cost is through the roof on boundary changes, and they’re going to run it back in four years. It’s insanity.

I’m so tired of this argument. So the “poors” should be the ones that suffer and their kids get a worse education than others?
Things will never be truly equal, but comparing Lewis to say Langley is a huge difference. Why should people in the Lewis pyramid have their backs turned on them by the school board because “they’re too poor to buy a house in a better neighborhood”

And by example, we bought our house in the Lewis pyramid in 2020 thinking we’d move when our kids are older, or things could change in the next ten-ish years. Fast forward to now, we’ve got a kid in kindergarten at Springfield Estates, which is a very good school, but it looks like the school board gives zero Fs about Key and Lewis. We have a very low interest rate on our mortgage, one spouse is fed, and one is a contractor. Mortgage rates are now high, prices are high, gas is expensive, food is expensive. Fed feels like they could be RIFed at any moment. But I guess according to DCUM trolls we should just move in order to have our kids get an equitable education? Noted, sounds so easy I’ll hop right on that. /s

Yes, this is exactly what you can expect to hear from this crowd…

“Suck it up”
“You knew what schools you were zoned for 15 years ago when you bought and should not have expected any improvement”
“Lewis is thriving as a small school!”
“It shouldn’t matter that the school can’t fill basic sports, academic programs”
“ MENTAL HEALTH!”
“Just give it a few more years…”

We pulled our kid last year and are in the process of moving.

Make sure you check out the schools that your new home is zoned for so that you don’t have to continue to try to mooch off your neighbors there. Life is easier when you put in the effort on the front end.

Bon voyage!

What does this even mean? Such a troll response

It’s just the usual response that everyone knew or should have known what they were getting when they decided to buy or rent in a particular area.

It’s a convenient thing to say if the FCPS gods have blessed you, but of course no one can fully anticipate all of FCPS’s decisions. It’s not like they act consistently or based on any clear principles.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Weren’t there supposed to be meetings between the Lewis community and high-level FCPS staff about what the Lewis community would like to see for their school?

Did those meetings happen? Did anything actionable come out of them?

I think Lewis is just digging itself into a deeper hole if people anchor on adding students as the only answer to whatever currently bothers them about Lewis.

If I were there, I’d be asking for the elimination of the IB program (too anemic), the elimination of the Leadership program (other schools have Leadership electives, so making a big deal out of a “Leadership program” comes across as patronizing, like highlighting after-school etiquette classes), a realistic and public timetable for renovating Lewis, and/or the relocation or addition of Academy classes with a mix of academic and vocational offerings.

Should FCPS then fail to respond to those requests, I’d then ask for a commitment to close the school and reassign students once enrollment dips below a certain level (but realistically that’s probably more like 1100 kids than 1500).

The IB program at Lewis is clearly underwhelming but by other measures Lewis is not the lowest-performing high school in the county, and it recently got recognized as doing well by the VDOE. Most of the “pariah” talk is associated with this negative feedback loop where Lewis parents make it sound distressed and West Springfield parents say
“if that’s the case why would we want to send our kids there” - it’s all taken on a “chicken vs. egg” tenor. Remove that from the equation and focus on other potential changes that don’t depend on reassigning kids who might never show up at Lewis even if the boundaries changed.

Are you having to fight this hard just to keep your assigned school from falling behind every other high school in the county? Didn’t think so.

Parents should not be the ones carrying the burden of fixing systemic issues. That is exactly what we fund the school system to do.

My frustration is not with families who understandably do not want to uproot their kids. It is with a school board that seems unwilling to take meaningful action, even when those decisions are difficult, to ensure balanced opportunities across all our public schools.

We have a School Board comprised mostly of third-rate intellects with the attention span of gnats, the moral compass of jackals, and the political aspirations of Kennedys. They work with FCPS employees who will always conduct business as usual, unless directed otherwise by the School Board, because they don’t want to be second-guessed.

The sooner you recognize this, and don’t look for them to prioritize your interests without your organizing, the better off and happier you’ll be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about the homeowners and non-ESL students that live in the Lewis boundaries? They should be forced to move to other schools and see their home values suffer? Doesn't seem right to me.

Wtf are you babbling about? How would their home values suffer going to a better performing school with more kids? Seems like it would be a win for them.

But, to be fair, I don’t think they should have to move if they don’t want to. 1,500 students is only a critical shortfall if you are trying to make a blatant equity play. It’s the people in Lewis pyramid trying to bolster their own house value at the expense of their neighbors.

I'm asking why people in the Lewis pyramid who are not ESL should have to transfer to other schools to find similar cohorts and challenging classes. That is the situation now and will continue to be unless something is done to help the school. Why are some pyramids designated as the permanent home of the poor and ESL populations? That is how FCPS is treating them. How is that fair to the homeowners in the Lewis pyramid? They moved higher income areas from Gambrill Road and Daventry to West Springfield. That helped their property values. Was that fair to the homeowners still zoned to Lewis? Maybe some people are tired of being dumped on.

Did you not know your school pyramid before you bought your house?

And as for being dumped on, yeah, FCPS families are overwhelmingly tired of this boundary change crap. The school board wasted years on it instead of working to improve the school system. The opportunity cost is through the roof on boundary changes, and they’re going to run it back in four years. It’s insanity.

I’m so tired of this argument. So the “poors” should be the ones that suffer and their kids get a worse education than others?
Things will never be truly equal, but comparing Lewis to say Langley is a huge difference. Why should people in the Lewis pyramid have their backs turned on them by the school board because “they’re too poor to buy a house in a better neighborhood”

And by example, we bought our house in the Lewis pyramid in 2020 thinking we’d move when our kids are older, or things could change in the next ten-ish years. Fast forward to now, we’ve got a kid in kindergarten at Springfield Estates, which is a very good school, but it looks like the school board gives zero Fs about Key and Lewis. We have a very low interest rate on our mortgage, one spouse is fed, and one is a contractor. Mortgage rates are now high, prices are high, gas is expensive, food is expensive. Fed feels like they could be RIFed at any moment. But I guess according to DCUM trolls we should just move in order to have our kids get an equitable education? Noted, sounds so easy I’ll hop right on that. /s

Yes, this is exactly what you can expect to hear from this crowd…

“Suck it up”
“You knew what schools you were zoned for 15 years ago when you bought and should not have expected any improvement”
“Lewis is thriving as a small school!”
“It shouldn’t matter that the school can’t fill basic sports, academic programs”
“ MENTAL HEALTH!”
“Just give it a few more years…”

We pulled our kid last year and are in the process of moving.

Make sure you check out the schools that your new home is zoned for so that you don’t have to continue to try to mooch off your neighbors there. Life is easier when you put in the effort on the front end.

Bon voyage!

+1. The PP took a gamble on buying a house zoned for the worst high school in Fairfax County. They could have either purchased less house in a more well regarded school, but they chose not too. They even acknowledge that they knew about the issues with the school when they purchased. Sorry, let me get out my violin for you. My house has downsides, but when we purchased the number 1 consideration was the schools. That area of Fairfax County was a nonstarter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about the homeowners and non-ESL students that live in the Lewis boundaries? They should be forced to move to other schools and see their home values suffer? Doesn't seem right to me.

Wtf are you babbling about? How would their home values suffer going to a better performing school with more kids? Seems like it would be a win for them.

But, to be fair, I don’t think they should have to move if they don’t want to. 1,500 students is only a critical shortfall if you are trying to make a blatant equity play. It’s the people in Lewis pyramid trying to bolster their own house value at the expense of their neighbors.

I'm asking why people in the Lewis pyramid who are not ESL should have to transfer to other schools to find similar cohorts and challenging classes. That is the situation now and will continue to be unless something is done to help the school. Why are some pyramids designated as the permanent home of the poor and ESL populations? That is how FCPS is treating them. How is that fair to the homeowners in the Lewis pyramid? They moved higher income areas from Gambrill Road and Daventry to West Springfield. That helped their property values. Was that fair to the homeowners still zoned to Lewis? Maybe some people are tired of being dumped on.

Did you not know your school pyramid before you bought your house?

And as for being dumped on, yeah, FCPS families are overwhelmingly tired of this boundary change crap. The school board wasted years on it instead of working to improve the school system. The opportunity cost is through the roof on boundary changes, and they’re going to run it back in four years. It’s insanity.

I’m so tired of this argument. So the “poors” should be the ones that suffer and their kids get a worse education than others?
Things will never be truly equal, but comparing Lewis to say Langley is a huge difference. Why should people in the Lewis pyramid have their backs turned on them by the school board because “they’re too poor to buy a house in a better neighborhood”

And by example, we bought our house in the Lewis pyramid in 2020 thinking we’d move when our kids are older, or things could change in the next ten-ish years. Fast forward to now, we’ve got a kid in kindergarten at Springfield Estates, which is a very good school, but it looks like the school board gives zero Fs about Key and Lewis. We have a very low interest rate on our mortgage, one spouse is fed, and one is a contractor. Mortgage rates are now high, prices are high, gas is expensive, food is expensive. Fed feels like they could be RIFed at any moment. But I guess according to DCUM trolls we should just move in order to have our kids get an equitable education? Noted, sounds so easy I’ll hop right on that. /s

Yes, this is exactly what you can expect to hear from this crowd…

“Suck it up”
“You knew what schools you were zoned for 15 years ago when you bought and should not have expected any improvement”
“Lewis is thriving as a small school!”
“It shouldn’t matter that the school can’t fill basic sports, academic programs”
“ MENTAL HEALTH!”
“Just give it a few more years…”

We pulled our kid last year and are in the process of moving.

Make sure you check out the schools that your new home is zoned for so that you don’t have to continue to try to mooch off your neighbors there. Life is easier when you put in the effort on the front end.

Bon voyage!

+1. The PP took a gamble on buying a house zoned for the worst high school in Fairfax County. They could have either purchased less house in a more well regarded school, but they chose not too. They even acknowledge that they knew about the issues with the school when they purchased. Sorry, let me get out my violin for you. My house has downsides, but when we purchased the number 1 consideration was the schools. That area of Fairfax County was a nonstarter.

I’m not disputing your points. I also didn’t ask for sympathy, and the “we win, you lose” tone isn’t helpful.

We live in a 1200 sq ft townhouse, which is what we could afford. The idea that we should have “downgraded” more, or somehow predicted this, isn’t realistic.

We moved to the county expecting access to good schools. Instead, we’re watching our assigned school fall continue to fall behind with little action to address it. That’s the issue.

If your kids are in a good position, great for you. But dismissing other families’ concerns instead of pushing for better across the board is part of the problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about the homeowners and non-ESL students that live in the Lewis boundaries? They should be forced to move to other schools and see their home values suffer? Doesn't seem right to me.

Wtf are you babbling about? How would their home values suffer going to a better performing school with more kids? Seems like it would be a win for them.

But, to be fair, I don’t think they should have to move if they don’t want to. 1,500 students is only a critical shortfall if you are trying to make a blatant equity play. It’s the people in Lewis pyramid trying to bolster their own house value at the expense of their neighbors.

I'm asking why people in the Lewis pyramid who are not ESL should have to transfer to other schools to find similar cohorts and challenging classes. That is the situation now and will continue to be unless something is done to help the school. Why are some pyramids designated as the permanent home of the poor and ESL populations? That is how FCPS is treating them. How is that fair to the homeowners in the Lewis pyramid? They moved higher income areas from Gambrill Road and Daventry to West Springfield. That helped their property values. Was that fair to the homeowners still zoned to Lewis? Maybe some people are tired of being dumped on.

Did you not know your school pyramid before you bought your house?

And as for being dumped on, yeah, FCPS families are overwhelmingly tired of this boundary change crap. The school board wasted years on it instead of working to improve the school system. The opportunity cost is through the roof on boundary changes, and they’re going to run it back in four years. It’s insanity.

I’m so tired of this argument. So the “poors” should be the ones that suffer and their kids get a worse education than others?
Things will never be truly equal, but comparing Lewis to say Langley is a huge difference. Why should people in the Lewis pyramid have their backs turned on them by the school board because “they’re too poor to buy a house in a better neighborhood”

And by example, we bought our house in the Lewis pyramid in 2020 thinking we’d move when our kids are older, or things could change in the next ten-ish years. Fast forward to now, we’ve got a kid in kindergarten at Springfield Estates, which is a very good school, but it looks like the school board gives zero Fs about Key and Lewis. We have a very low interest rate on our mortgage, one spouse is fed, and one is a contractor. Mortgage rates are now high, prices are high, gas is expensive, food is expensive. Fed feels like they could be RIFed at any moment. But I guess according to DCUM trolls we should just move in order to have our kids get an equitable education? Noted, sounds so easy I’ll hop right on that. /s

Yes, this is exactly what you can expect to hear from this crowd…

“Suck it up”
“You knew what schools you were zoned for 15 years ago when you bought and should not have expected any improvement”
“Lewis is thriving as a small school!”
“It shouldn’t matter that the school can’t fill basic sports, academic programs”
“ MENTAL HEALTH!”
“Just give it a few more years…”

We pulled our kid last year and are in the process of moving.

Make sure you check out the schools that your new home is zoned for so that you don’t have to continue to try to mooch off your neighbors there. Life is easier when you put in the effort on the front end.

Bon voyage!

+1. The PP took a gamble on buying a house zoned for the worst high school in Fairfax County. They could have either purchased less house in a more well regarded school, but they chose not too. They even acknowledge that they knew about the issues with the school when they purchased. Sorry, let me get out my violin for you. My house has downsides, but when we purchased the number 1 consideration was the schools. That area of Fairfax County was a nonstarter.

I’m not disputing your points. I also didn’t ask for sympathy, and the “we win, you lose” tone isn’t helpful.

We live in a 1200 sq ft townhouse, which is what we could afford. The idea that we should have “downgraded” more, or somehow predicted this, isn’t realistic.

We moved to the county expecting access to good schools. Instead, we’re watching our assigned school fall continue to fall behind with little action to address it. That’s the issue.

If your kids are in a good position, great for you. But dismissing other families’ concerns instead of pushing for better across the board is part of the problem.

DP. Here’s the thing - if you seek to improve your schools by messing with my kids, I will fight you every damn step of the way. I don’t dismiss your concerns, but boundary changes just hurt a lot of people AND degrades the entire school system. If the school system wanted to fix your school without using our kids as their resource, then it would have my full support.

Equity redistricting just doesn’t work.

[Anonymous]

It sounds like Lewis families need to come out in force at these additional boundary meetings. But will they? I only remember seeing a handful of Lewis parents at the last round. I don't think their school board member is doing them any favors.

[Anonymous]

New poster here. I’ve lived in the Lewis school district for over 25 years and I remember when Lewis was well-regarded and on par with neighboring schools. FCPS created the problem at Lewis by removing higher SES neighborhoods from the school. Those were the families that ran the PTA, supported extracurricular activities, and improved test scores. The only way the school will improve is to add higher SES neighborhoods to Lewis in sufficient numbers to effectively change the demographics. It needs to be done comprehensively rather than on a piecemeal basis.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about the homeowners and non-ESL students that live in the Lewis boundaries? They should be forced to move to other schools and see their home values suffer? Doesn't seem right to me.

Wtf are you babbling about? How would their home values suffer going to a better performing school with more kids? Seems like it would be a win for them.

But, to be fair, I don’t think they should have to move if they don’t want to. 1,500 students is only a critical shortfall if you are trying to make a blatant equity play. It’s the people in Lewis pyramid trying to bolster their own house value at the expense of their neighbors.

I'm asking why people in the Lewis pyramid who are not ESL should have to transfer to other schools to find similar cohorts and challenging classes. That is the situation now and will continue to be unless something is done to help the school. Why are some pyramids designated as the permanent home of the poor and ESL populations? That is how FCPS is treating them. How is that fair to the homeowners in the Lewis pyramid? They moved higher income areas from Gambrill Road and Daventry to West Springfield. That helped their property values. Was that fair to the homeowners still zoned to Lewis? Maybe some people are tired of being dumped on.

Did you not know your school pyramid before you bought your house?

And as for being dumped on, yeah, FCPS families are overwhelmingly tired of this boundary change crap. The school board wasted years on it instead of working to improve the school system. The opportunity cost is through the roof on boundary changes, and they’re going to run it back in four years. It’s insanity.

I’m so tired of this argument. So the “poors” should be the ones that suffer and their kids get a worse education than others?
Things will never be truly equal, but comparing Lewis to say Langley is a huge difference. Why should people in the Lewis pyramid have their backs turned on them by the school board because “they’re too poor to buy a house in a better neighborhood”

And by example, we bought our house in the Lewis pyramid in 2020 thinking we’d move when our kids are older, or things could change in the next ten-ish years. Fast forward to now, we’ve got a kid in kindergarten at Springfield Estates, which is a very good school, but it looks like the school board gives zero Fs about Key and Lewis. We have a very low interest rate on our mortgage, one spouse is fed, and one is a contractor. Mortgage rates are now high, prices are high, gas is expensive, food is expensive. Fed feels like they could be RIFed at any moment. But I guess according to DCUM trolls we should just move in order to have our kids get an equitable education? Noted, sounds so easy I’ll hop right on that. /s

Yes, this is exactly what you can expect to hear from this crowd…

“Suck it up”
“You knew what schools you were zoned for 15 years ago when you bought and should not have expected any improvement”
“Lewis is thriving as a small school!”
“It shouldn’t matter that the school can’t fill basic sports, academic programs”
“ MENTAL HEALTH!”
“Just give it a few more years…”

We pulled our kid last year and are in the process of moving.

Make sure you check out the schools that your new home is zoned for so that you don’t have to continue to try to mooch off your neighbors there. Life is easier when you put in the effort on the front end.

Bon voyage!

+1. The PP took a gamble on buying a house zoned for the worst high school in Fairfax County. They could have either purchased less house in a more well regarded school, but they chose not too. They even acknowledge that they knew about the issues with the school when they purchased. Sorry, let me get out my violin for you. My house has downsides, but when we purchased the number 1 consideration was the schools. That area of Fairfax County was a nonstarter.

I’m not disputing your points. I also didn’t ask for sympathy, and the “we win, you lose” tone isn’t helpful.

We live in a 1200 sq ft townhouse, which is what we could afford. The idea that we should have “downgraded” more, or somehow predicted this, isn’t realistic.

We moved to the county expecting access to good schools. Instead, we’re watching our assigned school fall continue to fall behind with little action to address it. That’s the issue.

If your kids are in a good position, great for you. But dismissing other families’ concerns instead of pushing for better across the board is part of the problem.

DP but there are affordable TH’s in almost every pyramid except like, Langley/McLean/Oakton/Madison. This is really coming across like, “I bought an inexpensive, convenient home, but don’t want to make a schools trade-off, so now I’m hoping a bunch of people get moved to my school so they can pull it up by osmosis.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about the homeowners and non-ESL students that live in the Lewis boundaries? They should be forced to move to other schools and see their home values suffer? Doesn't seem right to me.

Wtf are you babbling about? How would their home values suffer going to a better performing school with more kids? Seems like it would be a win for them.

But, to be fair, I don’t think they should have to move if they don’t want to. 1,500 students is only a critical shortfall if you are trying to make a blatant equity play. It’s the people in Lewis pyramid trying to bolster their own house value at the expense of their neighbors.

I'm asking why people in the Lewis pyramid who are not ESL should have to transfer to other schools to find similar cohorts and challenging classes. That is the situation now and will continue to be unless something is done to help the school. Why are some pyramids designated as the permanent home of the poor and ESL populations? That is how FCPS is treating them. How is that fair to the homeowners in the Lewis pyramid? They moved higher income areas from Gambrill Road and Daventry to West Springfield. That helped their property values. Was that fair to the homeowners still zoned to Lewis? Maybe some people are tired of being dumped on.

Did you not know your school pyramid before you bought your house?

And as for being dumped on, yeah, FCPS families are overwhelmingly tired of this boundary change crap. The school board wasted years on it instead of working to improve the school system. The opportunity cost is through the roof on boundary changes, and they’re going to run it back in four years. It’s insanity.

I’m so tired of this argument. So the “poors” should be the ones that suffer and their kids get a worse education than others?
Things will never be truly equal, but comparing Lewis to say Langley is a huge difference. Why should people in the Lewis pyramid have their backs turned on them by the school board because “they’re too poor to buy a house in a better neighborhood”

And by example, we bought our house in the Lewis pyramid in 2020 thinking we’d move when our kids are older, or things could change in the next ten-ish years. Fast forward to now, we’ve got a kid in kindergarten at Springfield Estates, which is a very good school, but it looks like the school board gives zero Fs about Key and Lewis. We have a very low interest rate on our mortgage, one spouse is fed, and one is a contractor. Mortgage rates are now high, prices are high, gas is expensive, food is expensive. Fed feels like they could be RIFed at any moment. But I guess according to DCUM trolls we should just move in order to have our kids get an equitable education? Noted, sounds so easy I’ll hop right on that. /s

Yes, this is exactly what you can expect to hear from this crowd…

“Suck it up”
“You knew what schools you were zoned for 15 years ago when you bought and should not have expected any improvement”
“Lewis is thriving as a small school!”
“It shouldn’t matter that the school can’t fill basic sports, academic programs”
“ MENTAL HEALTH!”
“Just give it a few more years…”

We pulled our kid last year and are in the process of moving.

Make sure you check out the schools that your new home is zoned for so that you don’t have to continue to try to mooch off your neighbors there. Life is easier when you put in the effort on the front end.

Bon voyage!

+1. The PP took a gamble on buying a house zoned for the worst high school in Fairfax County. They could have either purchased less house in a more well regarded school, but they chose not too. They even acknowledge that they knew about the issues with the school when they purchased. Sorry, let me get out my violin for you. My house has downsides, but when we purchased the number 1 consideration was the schools. That area of Fairfax County was a nonstarter.

I’m not disputing your points. I also didn’t ask for sympathy, and the “we win, you lose” tone isn’t helpful.

We live in a 1200 sq ft townhouse, which is what we could afford. The idea that we should have “downgraded” more, or somehow predicted this, isn’t realistic.

We moved to the county expecting access to good schools. Instead, we’re watching our assigned school fall continue to fall behind with little action to address it. That’s the issue.

If your kids are in a good position, great for you. But dismissing other families’ concerns instead of pushing for better across the board is part of the problem.

DP. Here’s the thing - if you seek to improve your schools by messing with my kids, I will fight you every damn step of the way. I don’t dismiss your concerns, but boundary changes just hurt a lot of people AND degrades the entire school system. If the school system wanted to fix your school without using our kids as their resource, then it would have my full support.

Equity redistricting just doesn’t work.

I like a lot of Lewis parents are advocating to fix problems at the school first without any redistricting involved. The problem is that the school board is turning their backs on them.

But also to play devils advocate, since apparently DCUM is under the impression that you need to pick your home 20 years in advance in a good school district, if you think your kids have a chance of being moved, then maybe you should have foreseen this possibility and moved within an inch of your favored high school. Boundaries are never set in stone. Sorry you’re one of the poors that picked a house on the edge of your boundary.