When does proposed FCPS CIP 2025-2029 come out?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The five-year projection has Lewis at 1423 students and West Springfield at 2925.

This does not seem sustainable. Surely preparatory work for a boundary change is underway.

This is ridiculous. The enrollment at West Springfield will be more than twice that of Lewis. Roughly 731 per grade at WS and 356 per grade at Lewis. I'm sure the programs at the two schools are and will be equivalent.

Maybe the new CIP will include funding for a new addition at W Springfield? Is the current capacity 2,700?

Why would you even say something like this when there are literally 100s of seats available next door at Lewis? I can only assume you are a troll.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The five-year projection has Lewis at 1423 students and West Springfield at 2925.

This does not seem sustainable. Surely preparatory work for a boundary change is underway.

This is ridiculous. The enrollment at West Springfield will be more than twice that of Lewis. Roughly 731 per grade at WS and 356 per grade at Lewis. I'm sure the programs at the two schools are and will be equivalent.

Maybe the new CIP will include funding for a new addition at W Springfield? Is the current capacity 2,700?

Why would you even say something like this when there are literally 100s of seats available next door at Lewis? I can only assume you are a troll.

If there are other disparities like this across the county, the only sensible solution is to redraw boundaries across the school system. FCPS better get started on that initiative or else build more seats. No major changes have happened since the South Lakes boundary change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The five-year projection has Lewis at 1423 students and West Springfield at 2925.

This does not seem sustainable. Surely preparatory work for a boundary change is underway.

This is ridiculous. The enrollment at West Springfield will be more than twice that of Lewis. Roughly 731 per grade at WS and 356 per grade at Lewis. I'm sure the programs at the two schools are and will be equivalent.

Maybe the new CIP will include funding for a new addition at W Springfield? Is the current capacity 2,700?

WS literally just finished their renovation and expansion after jumping the queue. They're already at 110% capacity according to the 2024 capacity dashboard. It's another 40 years for them to get their next renovation.

Is that a mistake in the CIP? How can West Springfield be at 110% overcapacity already?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The five-year projection has Lewis at 1423 students and West Springfield at 2925.

This does not seem sustainable. Surely preparatory work for a boundary change is underway.

This is ridiculous. The enrollment at West Springfield will be more than twice that of Lewis. Roughly 731 per grade at WS and 356 per grade at Lewis. I'm sure the programs at the two schools are and will be equivalent.

Maybe the new CIP will include funding for a new addition at W Springfield? Is the current capacity 2,700?

WS literally just finished their renovation and expansion after jumping the queue. They're already at 110% capacity according to the 2024 capacity dashboard. It's another 40 years for them to get their next renovation.

Isn’t Lewis getting rid of IB or adding AP? That would remove the main impediment to moving a decent chunk of West Springfield to Lewis. If this new School Board gives a crap about equity they should be directing staff to prepare for this now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The five-year projection has Lewis at 1423 students and West Springfield at 2925.

This does not seem sustainable. Surely preparatory work for a boundary change is underway.

This is ridiculous. The enrollment at West Springfield will be more than twice that of Lewis. Roughly 731 per grade at WS and 356 per grade at Lewis. I'm sure the programs at the two schools are and will be equivalent.

Maybe the new CIP will include funding for a new addition at W Springfield? Is the current capacity 2,700?

WS literally just finished their renovation and expansion after jumping the queue. They're already at 110% capacity according to the 2024 capacity dashboard. It's another 40 years for them to get their next renovation.

Isn’t Lewis getting rid of IB or adding AP? That would remove the main impediment to moving a decent chunk of West Springfield to Lewis. If this new School Board gives a crap about equity they should be directing staff to prepare for this now.

They don’t have to act according to your definition of equity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The five-year projection has Lewis at 1423 students and West Springfield at 2925.

This does not seem sustainable. Surely preparatory work for a boundary change is underway.

This is ridiculous. The enrollment at West Springfield will be more than twice that of Lewis. Roughly 731 per grade at WS and 356 per grade at Lewis. I'm sure the programs at the two schools are and will be equivalent.

Maybe the new CIP will include funding for a new addition at W Springfield? Is the current capacity 2,700?

WS literally just finished their renovation and expansion after jumping the queue. They're already at 110% capacity according to the 2024 capacity dashboard. It's another 40 years for them to get their next renovation.

Isn’t Lewis getting rid of IB or adding AP? That would remove the main impediment to moving a decent chunk of West Springfield to Lewis. If this new School Board gives a crap about equity they should be directing staff to prepare for this now.

They don’t have to act according to your definition of equity.

Then their definition of equity means nothing. A school with 1400 kids does not offer the same breadth of opportunities as a school with 2800 kids.

[Anonymous]

Regarding the overcrowding at West Springfield, it’s obviously something none of the FCPS planners predicted with its population going slightly downward a few years ago. In fact, one upscale neighborhood, Daventry was just moved from Lee (now Lewis) to West Springfield a couple years before the pandemic. So I doubt FCPS would move that specific neighborhood back to Lewis.

For boundaries to really change to alter demographics at schools like Lewis, feeder patterns would have to change for a large number of neighborhoods. But in recent years, since the South Lakes boundary change, FCPS has appeared to prefer building additions and pursuing renovations. Some stellar projects have come out of this (Oakton, langley, West Springfield, Falls Church in a couple years).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Regarding the overcrowding at West Springfield, it’s obviously something none of the FCPS planners predicted with its population going slightly downward a few years ago. In fact, one upscale neighborhood, Daventry was just moved from Lee (now Lewis) to West Springfield a couple years before the pandemic. So I doubt FCPS would move that specific neighborhood back to Lewis.

For boundaries to really change to alter demographics at schools like Lewis, feeder patterns would have to change for a large number of neighborhoods. But in recent years, since the South Lakes boundary change, FCPS has appeared to prefer building additions and pursuing renovations. Some stellar projects have come out of this (Oakton, langley, West Springfield, Falls Church in a couple years).

They can’t afford to keep doing that. The renovation cycle is now over 40 years. And they are projecting Lewis at just over 1400 in a few years. That’s about where South Lakes was when they moved kids there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Regarding the overcrowding at West Springfield, it’s obviously something none of the FCPS planners predicted with its population going slightly downward a few years ago. In fact, one upscale neighborhood, Daventry was just moved from Lee (now Lewis) to West Springfield a couple years before the pandemic. So I doubt FCPS would move that specific neighborhood back to Lewis.

For boundaries to really change to alter demographics at schools like Lewis, feeder patterns would have to change for a large number of neighborhoods. But in recent years, since the South Lakes boundary change, FCPS has appeared to prefer building additions and pursuing renovations. Some stellar projects have come out of this (Oakton, langley, West Springfield, Falls Church in a couple years).

They can’t afford to keep doing that. The renovation cycle is now over 40 years. And they are projecting Lewis at just over 1400 in a few years. That’s about where South Lakes was when they moved kids there.

Yes. People quickly forget that South Lakes was in a similar position to Lewis before its boundary change that brought in a wealthier demographic. (Friends of mine went to South Lakes in the 00s, and it’s stunning how its reputation and desirability did a complete 180 after boundaries changed.)

[Anonymous]

The interesting thing with Centreville expansion is that the Centreville enrollment is dropping by about 100 students per year and soon will have an enrollment of about 2200… at about the time they are midway through expansion.

So 2200 students in a school built for 3000. A couple hundred Chantilly kids seems to make sense for a boundary adjustment to relieve that school.

Where did all the Centreville/Liberty MS kids go? Right after Covid, the enrollment almost instantly drops by 100 per year for the pyramid.

[Anonymous]

We need the school board members to stay out of boundaries so they can be redone objectively instead of politically/catering to the loudest voices. There isn’t enough money to just keep adding capacity at favored schools (not to mention ignoring other schools).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The interesting thing with Centreville expansion is that the Centreville enrollment is dropping by about 100 students per year and soon will have an enrollment of about 2200… at about the time they are midway through expansion.

So 2200 students in a school built for 3000. A couple hundred Chantilly kids seems to make sense for a boundary adjustment to relieve that school.

Where did all the Centreville/Liberty MS kids go? Right after Covid, the enrollment almost instantly drops by 100 per year for the pyramid.

Every single person at at Chantilly( especially students) will scream bloody murder and fight tooth and nail to make sure there aren't any boundary changes. Most students like the current student body size, they just want a bigger building and smaller class size( i.e. more teachers). We have a very engaged student body is that is fighting hard for a reno and boundary changes only undermine the likelihood of that. Please don't talk about our school on this forum when you probably have never stepped foot in Western Fairfax or left your McLean/Langley Bubble.

[Anonymous]

If they are projecting Lewis at about 1400 in a few years it goes to show what a total waste Keys Gamarra’s “leadership academy” is turning out to be.

They need to accelerate the replacement of IB with AP and redistrict part of WSHS as soon as possible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The interesting thing with Centreville expansion is that the Centreville enrollment is dropping by about 100 students per year and soon will have an enrollment of about 2200… at about the time they are midway through expansion.

So 2200 students in a school built for 3000. A couple hundred Chantilly kids seems to make sense for a boundary adjustment to relieve that school.

Where did all the Centreville/Liberty MS kids go? Right after Covid, the enrollment almost instantly drops by 100 per year for the pyramid.

Every single person at at Chantilly( especially students) will scream bloody murder and fight tooth and nail to make sure there aren't any boundary changes. Most students like the current student body size, they just want a bigger building and smaller class size( i.e. more teachers). We have a very engaged student body is that is fighting hard for a reno and boundary changes only undermine the likelihood of that. Please don't talk about our school on this forum when you probably have never stepped foot in Western Fairfax or left your McLean/Langley Bubble.

DP. Chantilly isn’t in the renovation queue. Centreville is, and is already scheduled to get an expansion to 3000 that should leave it with hundreds of extra seats according to the latest projections.

If they could move 200 McLean kids to Langley, in many cases against their wishes, they can move some Chantilly kids to Centreville. Both schools would then have about 2550 kids (vs 2200 at Centreville and 2900 at Chantilly).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We need the school board members to stay out of boundaries so they can be redone objectively instead of politically/catering to the loudest voices. There isn’t enough money to just keep adding capacity at favored schools (not to mention ignoring other schools).

Were school board members simply more enlightened roughly 15- 20 years ago when the South Lakes HS boundaries were redone? Why is that much harder to do these days?