Woodward HS boundary study - BCC, Blair, Einstein, WJ, Kennedy, Northwood, Wheaton, Whitman impacts

[Anonymous]

If you live in Chevy Chase is it likely they will go from BCC to a new HS? Which one would that be?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you live in Chevy Chase is it likely they will go from BCC to a new HS? Which one would that be?

No one can answer this question, but if you want a guess, I'd say Chevy Chase is more likely to stay at BCC than areas along the cluster's edges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So I am a little over a mile to Whitman and currently zoned for there. And about 2.5 miles to WJ and 1.5 miles to BCC. I know we don’t have crystal balls but what are the odds I just get to stay zoned for Whitman and don’t get moved? We currently do have bus service to both Pyle and Whitman FWIW and aren’t in the “walk zone”.

There's no way to know. But if you're along the edges of the Whitman cluster, you're more likely to move to an adjacent cluster than if you are in middle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So I am a little over a mile to Whitman and currently zoned for there. And about 2.5 miles to WJ and 1.5 miles to BCC. I know we don’t have crystal balls but what are the odds I just get to stay zoned for Whitman and don’t get moved? We currently do have bus service to both Pyle and Whitman FWIW and aren’t in the “walk zone”.

There's no way to know. But if you're along the edges of the Whitman cluster, you're more likely to move to an adjacent cluster than if you are in middle.

Sounds like they're in the walk zone even. I think it's crazy they have so many schools so near. Over on the SE part of the county we have nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So I am a little over a mile to Whitman and currently zoned for there. And about 2.5 miles to WJ and 1.5 miles to BCC. I know we don’t have crystal balls but what are the odds I just get to stay zoned for Whitman and don’t get moved? We currently do have bus service to both Pyle and Whitman FWIW and aren’t in the “walk zone”.

There's no way to know. But if you're along the edges of the Whitman cluster, you're more likely to move to an adjacent cluster than if you are in middle.

Sounds like they're in the walk zone even. I think it's crazy they have so many schools so near. Over on the SE part of the county we have nothing.

They said they have bus service to both Pyle and Whitman, therefore they are not in the walk zone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looking at Policy FAA and Policy FAA-RA, I don't see any prohibition against reassigning students in the walk zone of one school to be bussed to another school. I often see posters saying as long as you are a walker you will not be reassigned. Is that really true? I can see how it's unlikely they'd reassign someone who lives very close to a school, but the walk zones for high schools are up to 2 miles away. I can't imagine all those neighborhoods will be excluded from consideration from reassignment.

That's not accurate. The maximum walking distance for high schools is 2.0 miles, but that doesn't mean everyone within 2.0 miles of their assigned high school is in the walk zone for that high school. For example, for B-CC, there are a lot of areas east of Connecticut Avenue that are within 2.0 miles walking distance of BCC, but they're in the bus zone, not the walk zone.

There is no prohibition against reassigning students from School #1, where they are in the walk zone, to School #2, where they will be bused. It's just that, in all of the recent boundary studies, MCPS/BOE have chosen not to do that.

Unnecessary busing shows contempt for taxpayers, especially with Elrich's tax hikes.

If you're interested in reducing unnecessary busing, you should work on getting the county to add sidewalks and safe crossings, so that students who live within 1/1.5/2 miles of their assigned school can safely walk, instead of getting bused. For example, why don't students in Somerset walk to their "neighborhood school", B-CC?

That does cost money, though.

The fact that there are multiple areas within 2 miles of BCC that are bused because of safety concerns while there are similarly situated students who attend Einstein and have to cross either Connecticut or University that don’t receive busing is ridiculous and really exemplifies how the students in the DCC have been treated by MCPS.

Which neighborhoods should or should not be bused?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looking at Policy FAA and Policy FAA-RA, I don't see any prohibition against reassigning students in the walk zone of one school to be bussed to another school. I often see posters saying as long as you are a walker you will not be reassigned. Is that really true? I can see how it's unlikely they'd reassign someone who lives very close to a school, but the walk zones for high schools are up to 2 miles away. I can't imagine all those neighborhoods will be excluded from consideration from reassignment.

That's not accurate. The maximum walking distance for high schools is 2.0 miles, but that doesn't mean everyone within 2.0 miles of their assigned high school is in the walk zone for that high school. For example, for B-CC, there are a lot of areas east of Connecticut Avenue that are within 2.0 miles walking distance of BCC, but they're in the bus zone, not the walk zone.

There is no prohibition against reassigning students from School #1, where they are in the walk zone, to School #2, where they will be bused. It's just that, in all of the recent boundary studies, MCPS/BOE have chosen not to do that.

Unnecessary busing shows contempt for taxpayers, especially with Elrich's tax hikes.

If you're interested in reducing unnecessary busing, you should work on getting the county to add sidewalks and safe crossings, so that students who live within 1/1.5/2 miles of their assigned school can safely walk, instead of getting bused. For example, why don't students in Somerset walk to their "neighborhood school", B-CC?

That does cost money, though.

The fact that there are multiple areas within 2 miles of BCC that are bused because of safety concerns while there are similarly situated students who attend Einstein and have to cross either Connecticut or University that don’t receive busing is ridiculous and really exemplifies how the students in the DCC have been treated by MCPS.

Yes, at minimum it is inconsistent that MCPS doesn't expect B-CC students to cross Connecticut Avenue in Chevy Chase, where it's less dangerous, but does expect Einstein students to cross Connecticut Avenue in Wheaton, where it's more dangerous.

Are there school zone crossings at connecticut avenue with the flashing lights and a speed limit to allow students to safely cross it to Einstein? If so, that should be implemented for BCC students to also cross Connecticut ave.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looking at Policy FAA and Policy FAA-RA, I don't see any prohibition against reassigning students in the walk zone of one school to be bussed to another school. I often see posters saying as long as you are a walker you will not be reassigned. Is that really true? I can see how it's unlikely they'd reassign someone who lives very close to a school, but the walk zones for high schools are up to 2 miles away. I can't imagine all those neighborhoods will be excluded from consideration from reassignment.

That's not accurate. The maximum walking distance for high schools is 2.0 miles, but that doesn't mean everyone within 2.0 miles of their assigned high school is in the walk zone for that high school. For example, for B-CC, there are a lot of areas east of Connecticut Avenue that are within 2.0 miles walking distance of BCC, but they're in the bus zone, not the walk zone.

There is no prohibition against reassigning students from School #1, where they are in the walk zone, to School #2, where they will be bused. It's just that, in all of the recent boundary studies, MCPS/BOE have chosen not to do that.

Unnecessary busing shows contempt for taxpayers, especially with Elrich's tax hikes.

If you're interested in reducing unnecessary busing, you should work on getting the county to add sidewalks and safe crossings, so that students who live within 1/1.5/2 miles of their assigned school can safely walk, instead of getting bused. For example, why don't students in Somerset walk to their "neighborhood school", B-CC?

That does cost money, though.

The fact that there are multiple areas within 2 miles of BCC that are bused because of safety concerns while there are similarly situated students who attend Einstein and have to cross either Connecticut or University that don’t receive busing is ridiculous and really exemplifies how the students in the DCC have been treated by MCPS.

Yes, at minimum it is inconsistent that MCPS doesn't expect B-CC students to cross Connecticut Avenue in Chevy Chase, where it's less dangerous, but does expect Einstein students to cross Connecticut Avenue in Wheaton, where it's more dangerous.

Are there school zone crossings at connecticut avenue with the flashing lights and a speed limit to allow students to safely cross it to Einstein? If so, that should be implemented for BCC students to also cross Connecticut ave.

No, there aren't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looking at Policy FAA and Policy FAA-RA, I don't see any prohibition against reassigning students in the walk zone of one school to be bussed to another school. I often see posters saying as long as you are a walker you will not be reassigned. Is that really true? I can see how it's unlikely they'd reassign someone who lives very close to a school, but the walk zones for high schools are up to 2 miles away. I can't imagine all those neighborhoods will be excluded from consideration from reassignment.

That's not accurate. The maximum walking distance for high schools is 2.0 miles, but that doesn't mean everyone within 2.0 miles of their assigned high school is in the walk zone for that high school. For example, for B-CC, there are a lot of areas east of Connecticut Avenue that are within 2.0 miles walking distance of BCC, but they're in the bus zone, not the walk zone.

There is no prohibition against reassigning students from School #1, where they are in the walk zone, to School #2, where they will be bused. It's just that, in all of the recent boundary studies, MCPS/BOE have chosen not to do that.

Unnecessary busing shows contempt for taxpayers, especially with Elrich's tax hikes.

If you're interested in reducing unnecessary busing, you should work on getting the county to add sidewalks and safe crossings, so that students who live within 1/1.5/2 miles of their assigned school can safely walk, instead of getting bused. For example, why don't students in Somerset walk to their "neighborhood school", B-CC?

That does cost money, though.

The fact that there are multiple areas within 2 miles of BCC that are bused because of safety concerns while there are similarly situated students who attend Einstein and have to cross either Connecticut or University that don’t receive busing is ridiculous and really exemplifies how the students in the DCC have been treated by MCPS.

Which neighborhoods should or should not be bused?

Has the board ever done a cost/benefit of putting in more sidewalks and crosswalks versus the cost of bussing? I would LOVE more investment in walking infrastructure and that would benefit everyone! Would gladly give up a bus even up to 3 miles away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looking at Policy FAA and Policy FAA-RA, I don't see any prohibition against reassigning students in the walk zone of one school to be bussed to another school. I often see posters saying as long as you are a walker you will not be reassigned. Is that really true? I can see how it's unlikely they'd reassign someone who lives very close to a school, but the walk zones for high schools are up to 2 miles away. I can't imagine all those neighborhoods will be excluded from consideration from reassignment.

That's not accurate. The maximum walking distance for high schools is 2.0 miles, but that doesn't mean everyone within 2.0 miles of their assigned high school is in the walk zone for that high school. For example, for B-CC, there are a lot of areas east of Connecticut Avenue that are within 2.0 miles walking distance of BCC, but they're in the bus zone, not the walk zone.

There is no prohibition against reassigning students from School #1, where they are in the walk zone, to School #2, where they will be bused. It's just that, in all of the recent boundary studies, MCPS/BOE have chosen not to do that.

Unnecessary busing shows contempt for taxpayers, especially with Elrich's tax hikes.

If you're interested in reducing unnecessary busing, you should work on getting the county to add sidewalks and safe crossings, so that students who live within 1/1.5/2 miles of their assigned school can safely walk, instead of getting bused. For example, why don't students in Somerset walk to their "neighborhood school", B-CC?

That does cost money, though.

The fact that there are multiple areas within 2 miles of BCC that are bused because of safety concerns while there are similarly situated students who attend Einstein and have to cross either Connecticut or University that don’t receive busing is ridiculous and really exemplifies how the students in the DCC have been treated by MCPS.

Which neighborhoods should or should not be bused?

Has the board ever done a cost/benefit of putting in more sidewalks and crosswalks versus the cost of bussing? I would LOVE more investment in walking infrastructure and that would benefit everyone! Would gladly give up a bus even up to 3 miles away.

Whose cost, whose benefit? MCPS pays for school buses and does not seem to be very interested in sidewalks. The county transportation department pays for sidewalks, or sometimes the state, and doesn't care what MCPS pays for school buses. It's very unfortunate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looking at Policy FAA and Policy FAA-RA, I don't see any prohibition against reassigning students in the walk zone of one school to be bussed to another school. I often see posters saying as long as you are a walker you will not be reassigned. Is that really true? I can see how it's unlikely they'd reassign someone who lives very close to a school, but the walk zones for high schools are up to 2 miles away. I can't imagine all those neighborhoods will be excluded from consideration from reassignment.

That's not accurate. The maximum walking distance for high schools is 2.0 miles, but that doesn't mean everyone within 2.0 miles of their assigned high school is in the walk zone for that high school. For example, for B-CC, there are a lot of areas east of Connecticut Avenue that are within 2.0 miles walking distance of BCC, but they're in the bus zone, not the walk zone.

There is no prohibition against reassigning students from School #1, where they are in the walk zone, to School #2, where they will be bused. It's just that, in all of the recent boundary studies, MCPS/BOE have chosen not to do that.

Unnecessary busing shows contempt for taxpayers, especially with Elrich's tax hikes.

If you're interested in reducing unnecessary busing, you should work on getting the county to add sidewalks and safe crossings, so that students who live within 1/1.5/2 miles of their assigned school can safely walk, instead of getting bused. For example, why don't students in Somerset walk to their "neighborhood school", B-CC?

That does cost money, though.

The fact that there are multiple areas within 2 miles of BCC that are bused because of safety concerns while there are similarly situated students who attend Einstein and have to cross either Connecticut or University that don’t receive busing is ridiculous and really exemplifies how the students in the DCC have been treated by MCPS.

Which neighborhoods should or should not be bused?

It’s not a matter of should or shouldn’t, but it should be a uniform analysis across the board. If Connecticut is too unsafe for BCC kids to cross, it should also be too unsafe for Einstein kids to cross.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looking at Policy FAA and Policy FAA-RA, I don't see any prohibition against reassigning students in the walk zone of one school to be bussed to another school. I often see posters saying as long as you are a walker you will not be reassigned. Is that really true? I can see how it's unlikely they'd reassign someone who lives very close to a school, but the walk zones for high schools are up to 2 miles away. I can't imagine all those neighborhoods will be excluded from consideration from reassignment.

That's not accurate. The maximum walking distance for high schools is 2.0 miles, but that doesn't mean everyone within 2.0 miles of their assigned high school is in the walk zone for that high school. For example, for B-CC, there are a lot of areas east of Connecticut Avenue that are within 2.0 miles walking distance of BCC, but they're in the bus zone, not the walk zone.

There is no prohibition against reassigning students from School #1, where they are in the walk zone, to School #2, where they will be bused. It's just that, in all of the recent boundary studies, MCPS/BOE have chosen not to do that.

Unnecessary busing shows contempt for taxpayers, especially with Elrich's tax hikes.

If you're interested in reducing unnecessary busing, you should work on getting the county to add sidewalks and safe crossings, so that students who live within 1/1.5/2 miles of their assigned school can safely walk, instead of getting bused. For example, why don't students in Somerset walk to their "neighborhood school", B-CC?

That does cost money, though.

The fact that there are multiple areas within 2 miles of BCC that are bused because of safety concerns while there are similarly situated students who attend Einstein and have to cross either Connecticut or University that don’t receive busing is ridiculous and really exemplifies how the students in the DCC have been treated by MCPS.

Which neighborhoods should or should not be bused?

It’s not a matter of should or shouldn’t, but it should be a uniform analysis across the board. If Connecticut is too unsafe for BCC kids to cross, it should also be too unsafe for Einstein kids to cross.

Different portions of the road can have different traffic volumes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looking at Policy FAA and Policy FAA-RA, I don't see any prohibition against reassigning students in the walk zone of one school to be bussed to another school. I often see posters saying as long as you are a walker you will not be reassigned. Is that really true? I can see how it's unlikely they'd reassign someone who lives very close to a school, but the walk zones for high schools are up to 2 miles away. I can't imagine all those neighborhoods will be excluded from consideration from reassignment.

That's not accurate. The maximum walking distance for high schools is 2.0 miles, but that doesn't mean everyone within 2.0 miles of their assigned high school is in the walk zone for that high school. For example, for B-CC, there are a lot of areas east of Connecticut Avenue that are within 2.0 miles walking distance of BCC, but they're in the bus zone, not the walk zone.

There is no prohibition against reassigning students from School #1, where they are in the walk zone, to School #2, where they will be bused. It's just that, in all of the recent boundary studies, MCPS/BOE have chosen not to do that.

Unnecessary busing shows contempt for taxpayers, especially with Elrich's tax hikes.

If you're interested in reducing unnecessary busing, you should work on getting the county to add sidewalks and safe crossings, so that students who live within 1/1.5/2 miles of their assigned school can safely walk, instead of getting bused. For example, why don't students in Somerset walk to their "neighborhood school", B-CC?

That does cost money, though.

The fact that there are multiple areas within 2 miles of BCC that are bused because of safety concerns while there are similarly situated students who attend Einstein and have to cross either Connecticut or University that don’t receive busing is ridiculous and really exemplifies how the students in the DCC have been treated by MCPS.

Which neighborhoods should or should not be bused?

It’s not a matter of should or shouldn’t, but it should be a uniform analysis across the board. If Connecticut is too unsafe for BCC kids to cross, it should also be too unsafe for Einstein kids to cross.

Different portions of the road can have different traffic volumes.

And different traffic profiles. Downtown, urban traffic v suburban commuter traffic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looking at Policy FAA and Policy FAA-RA, I don't see any prohibition against reassigning students in the walk zone of one school to be bussed to another school. I often see posters saying as long as you are a walker you will not be reassigned. Is that really true? I can see how it's unlikely they'd reassign someone who lives very close to a school, but the walk zones for high schools are up to 2 miles away. I can't imagine all those neighborhoods will be excluded from consideration from reassignment.

That's not accurate. The maximum walking distance for high schools is 2.0 miles, but that doesn't mean everyone within 2.0 miles of their assigned high school is in the walk zone for that high school. For example, for B-CC, there are a lot of areas east of Connecticut Avenue that are within 2.0 miles walking distance of BCC, but they're in the bus zone, not the walk zone.

There is no prohibition against reassigning students from School #1, where they are in the walk zone, to School #2, where they will be bused. It's just that, in all of the recent boundary studies, MCPS/BOE have chosen not to do that.

Unnecessary busing shows contempt for taxpayers, especially with Elrich's tax hikes.

If you're interested in reducing unnecessary busing, you should work on getting the county to add sidewalks and safe crossings, so that students who live within 1/1.5/2 miles of their assigned school can safely walk, instead of getting bused. For example, why don't students in Somerset walk to their "neighborhood school", B-CC?

That does cost money, though.

The fact that there are multiple areas within 2 miles of BCC that are bused because of safety concerns while there are similarly situated students who attend Einstein and have to cross either Connecticut or University that don’t receive busing is ridiculous and really exemplifies how the students in the DCC have been treated by MCPS.

Which neighborhoods should or should not be bused?

It’s not a matter of should or shouldn’t, but it should be a uniform analysis across the board. If Connecticut is too unsafe for BCC kids to cross, it should also be too unsafe for Einstein kids to cross.

Different portions of the road can have different traffic volumes.

Yup and the volume of traffic where Connecticut splits into Connecticut and University is not that different from the area of Connecticut near BCC. But Bethesda parents wouldn’t know that because the horror of being familiar with an area near Wheaton

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looking at Policy FAA and Policy FAA-RA, I don't see any prohibition against reassigning students in the walk zone of one school to be bussed to another school. I often see posters saying as long as you are a walker you will not be reassigned. Is that really true? I can see how it's unlikely they'd reassign someone who lives very close to a school, but the walk zones for high schools are up to 2 miles away. I can't imagine all those neighborhoods will be excluded from consideration from reassignment.

That's not accurate. The maximum walking distance for high schools is 2.0 miles, but that doesn't mean everyone within 2.0 miles of their assigned high school is in the walk zone for that high school. For example, for B-CC, there are a lot of areas east of Connecticut Avenue that are within 2.0 miles walking distance of BCC, but they're in the bus zone, not the walk zone.

There is no prohibition against reassigning students from School #1, where they are in the walk zone, to School #2, where they will be bused. It's just that, in all of the recent boundary studies, MCPS/BOE have chosen not to do that.

Unnecessary busing shows contempt for taxpayers, especially with Elrich's tax hikes.

If you're interested in reducing unnecessary busing, you should work on getting the county to add sidewalks and safe crossings, so that students who live within 1/1.5/2 miles of their assigned school can safely walk, instead of getting bused. For example, why don't students in Somerset walk to their "neighborhood school", B-CC?

That does cost money, though.

The fact that there are multiple areas within 2 miles of BCC that are bused because of safety concerns while there are similarly situated students who attend Einstein and have to cross either Connecticut or University that don’t receive busing is ridiculous and really exemplifies how the students in the DCC have been treated by MCPS.

Which neighborhoods should or should not be bused?

Has the board ever done a cost/benefit of putting in more sidewalks and crosswalks versus the cost of bussing? I would LOVE more investment in walking infrastructure and that would benefit everyone! Would gladly give up a bus even up to 3 miles away.

Whose cost, whose benefit? MCPS pays for school buses and does not seem to be very interested in sidewalks. The county transportation department pays for sidewalks, or sometimes the state, and doesn't care what MCPS pays for school buses. It's very unfortunate.

Good point on the benefit side - I just meant cost savings. I am totally ok with bus funding going to sidewalks/walking infrastructure if it can reduce the quantity of bussing. Maybe they could strike a joint deal with the transportation department.