AACPS Redistricting

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There's been multiple news articles that recently came out about the lawsuit being initiated by Crofton parents, and in the background, the Board was found in violation of the open meetings act during its September 17 BOE meeting because they went into recess and discussed matters related to the redistricting with their legal counsel without voting to go into recess first.

I don't think that the Crofton appeal will be successful, but they are definitely going to make AACPS' life a living hell for the next few years. The school board is definitely tanking in public trust recently, including due to matters unrelated to redistricting. It's a shame because people seemed more excited and trusting when Bedell first took over and newer Board members took office.

I really like Bedell in general, but he and the BoE bungled this redistricting. Like a PP said, the mess really started when they separated out the process into two Phases.

[Anonymous]

I’m sure the Severna Park redistricting will never happen now that the Crofton one has been so heavily contested.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Severna park was in phase 1. There was not much pushback in that phase.

Crofton IS in phase 2 and the residents there are actually fighting the redistricting to try to KEEP the poorest/most diverse kids in the Crofton feeder (Nantucket elementary.) The redistricting as proposed has not at all been about diversifying school populations, which you seem to suggest. In the case of Crofton it would have effectively reduced the FARMS rate at CHS and made it whiter.

Yeah but majority white neighborhoods in Crofton Woods area stay in Crofton instead of moving to South River. The overarching theme in Crofton is “leave us alone.”

Um yeah, when you used our kids as numbers to prove your case that you needed to build Crofton High School, but are now discarding an oddly small cohort of them who will face the greatest change and burden of any other kids in the county? Yes, let us all go to the high school you USED US TO BUILD, and leave us alone.

The last time I checked, you all knew that Crofton High School would be over-capacity the day it serves all 4 grades. Then when redistricting started for Phase II, you all wanted to pretend your clearly overcrowded high school isn't overcrowded using ridiculous excuses.

1. "The lunches have plenty of empty tables": Yeah, no shit. The lunches take place during 3rd period, when seniors with partial schedules are already gone for the day. Also, you all conveniently leave out the fact that CrHS used to have an hour lunch system (which the students highly preferred) until it started serving all 4 grades. Beginning in the 2022-2023 school year, CrHS had to switch to 4 25-minute lunch blocks because it would be a fire hazard to have the amount of kids that would be in the cafeteria with the previous lunch block system and there aren't enough staff to cover that.


2. "The building feels spacious after seniors leave after 2nd period": That's probably true at every high school, doesn't change the fact that they're their for half of the school day. Also, not all seniors with a partial schedule take classes in the beginning of the day. Some take classes on A or B days only but are present for the full day, others come in later in the day.

3. "We can't build community with Arundel, we will be otherized as Crofton kids": Kids in Crofton attended Arundel High School up until 3 years ago and there were never issues with building community there at all. Nobody iced out Crofton kids for being from Crofton, nobody cares about what town anyone lives in. Most of the families moving to Arundel have Gambrills zip-codes--the same as Arundel High and many of the students already attending school there. Further, you're joining the Arundel cluster in middle school, when your kids are no more new than the kids from the other feeder elementary schools are. It's not like kids from Piney Orchard Elementary School magically know all the kids coming to Arundel Middle from Waugh Chapel Elementary School. EVERYONE is new to the Arundel cluster when they go to middle school because that's the first time the entire cluster is under one roof. In fact, numerous Arundel parents have been trying to set up events and do outreach with impacted Nantucket families to not only welcome the families with open arms, but also make the transition easier.

4. "We will be the only part of Crofton not attending Crofton schools": False. St. Stephens Church Road communities are within the Crofton CDP boundaries and are a stones throw from the Crofton cluster schools. They not only attend schools in a different cluster (Severn Run) but also take a bus up and down route 3, the same road you all claim is off limits for kids.


Instead of accepting the facts--which is that Crofton High and Middle are overcrowded, you all chose to deny those basic facts, come up with your own biased and skewed formulas for calculating SRC (like by using counseling suites as classrooms), and attacked/blocked/insulted anyone who accepted those basic facts. The school system did everything they could to keep Crofton together. They recalculated the SRC of CrHS where they were able to, they knocked down walls between offices to convert them into classrooms, and they expanded Crofton Middle School several times until the building was maxed out and could not be further expanded due to its layout. They can't do anymore without harming the quality of instruction at Crofton schools. Using counseling suites for SRC only hurts CrHS because now you're teaching kids out of a space that was not designed for teaching and learning, and the SRC of the school looks good on paper, which prevents the school from getting funds for an expansion. Redistricting Crofton was necessary at this point.

The nasty and immature behavior of many Crofton parents and their inability to accept basic facts and work with the Board is exactly what got them where they are today. They also taught children that kicking, screaming, treating adults with authority with disrespect, and acting like entitled brats is the way to get what you want. If you didn't want Nantucket to be split up, you should have accepted that Crofton schools are overcrowded and come up with an equitable redistricting plan instead--not moving a block of townhouses that have mostly Black residents out of Crofton schools while simultaneously screaming about protecting diversity in the Crofton cluster.

+100000

The Nantucket people absolutely bungled this from the beginning. The "Option Four" plan was outrageous and offended a lot of people who might have otherwise been on their side. Their behavior throughout has been disrespectful, mean, and rude. I know I'm not the only Crofton parent who was actively rooting for the split articulation. I'm looking forward to seeing the same group blow a bunch of money on their unsuccessful appeal.

It's ridiculous that they think they will be able to appeal this. What are they going to argue? All of the facts are on AACPS' side. Crofton High School and Crofton Middle School are overcrowded, the neighborhoods being moved to the Arundel cluster are some of the wealthiest and most expensive neighborhoods in the Crofton cluster, and AACPS already has split articulations at other schools.

The whole argument about diversity is a load of BS. This redistricting will actually make the demographics of the Arundel and Crofton clusters more balanced with each other. The 2019 redistricting for Crofton High School caused Black students to become more concentrated in the Arundel cluster after these same mostly white families pushed for route 3 to be the boundary between Crofton and Arundel and booted majority-Black Waugh Chapel Town Center communities out of the Crofton feeder system and placed them in the Arundel feeder system. People warned them of the diversity concerns and they didn't care. The effect was that Crofton Elementary and Middle got whiter while Arundel Middle and High got more Black. Moving the Nantucket neighborhoods to the Arundel cluster should actually make the racial and SES demographics of the Arundel and Crofton clusters closer to equal.

What other schools have split articulation in AACPS? My kids aren't in Crofton, and clearly I don't know the feeder pattern of every single school in the district, but split articulation in any situation seems like a terrible idea.

Ok, so what’s your solution? Leave CHS overcrowded?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Severna park was in phase 1. There was not much pushback in that phase.

Crofton IS in phase 2 and the residents there are actually fighting the redistricting to try to KEEP the poorest/most diverse kids in the Crofton feeder (Nantucket elementary.) The redistricting as proposed has not at all been about diversifying school populations, which you seem to suggest. In the case of Crofton it would have effectively reduced the FARMS rate at CHS and made it whiter.

Yeah but majority white neighborhoods in Crofton Woods area stay in Crofton instead of moving to South River. The overarching theme in Crofton is “leave us alone.”

Um yeah, when you used our kids as numbers to prove your case that you needed to build Crofton High School, but are now discarding an oddly small cohort of them who will face the greatest change and burden of any other kids in the county? Yes, let us all go to the high school you USED US TO BUILD, and leave us alone.

The last time I checked, you all knew that Crofton High School would be over-capacity the day it serves all 4 grades. Then when redistricting started for Phase II, you all wanted to pretend your clearly overcrowded high school isn't overcrowded using ridiculous excuses.

1. "The lunches have plenty of empty tables": Yeah, no shit. The lunches take place during 3rd period, when seniors with partial schedules are already gone for the day. Also, you all conveniently leave out the fact that CrHS used to have an hour lunch system (which the students highly preferred) until it started serving all 4 grades. Beginning in the 2022-2023 school year, CrHS had to switch to 4 25-minute lunch blocks because it would be a fire hazard to have the amount of kids that would be in the cafeteria with the previous lunch block system and there aren't enough staff to cover that.


2. "The building feels spacious after seniors leave after 2nd period": That's probably true at every high school, doesn't change the fact that they're their for half of the school day. Also, not all seniors with a partial schedule take classes in the beginning of the day. Some take classes on A or B days only but are present for the full day, others come in later in the day.

3. "We can't build community with Arundel, we will be otherized as Crofton kids": Kids in Crofton attended Arundel High School up until 3 years ago and there were never issues with building community there at all. Nobody iced out Crofton kids for being from Crofton, nobody cares about what town anyone lives in. Most of the families moving to Arundel have Gambrills zip-codes--the same as Arundel High and many of the students already attending school there. Further, you're joining the Arundel cluster in middle school, when your kids are no more new than the kids from the other feeder elementary schools are. It's not like kids from Piney Orchard Elementary School magically know all the kids coming to Arundel Middle from Waugh Chapel Elementary School. EVERYONE is new to the Arundel cluster when they go to middle school because that's the first time the entire cluster is under one roof. In fact, numerous Arundel parents have been trying to set up events and do outreach with impacted Nantucket families to not only welcome the families with open arms, but also make the transition easier.

4. "We will be the only part of Crofton not attending Crofton schools": False. St. Stephens Church Road communities are within the Crofton CDP boundaries and are a stones throw from the Crofton cluster schools. They not only attend schools in a different cluster (Severn Run) but also take a bus up and down route 3, the same road you all claim is off limits for kids.


Instead of accepting the facts--which is that Crofton High and Middle are overcrowded, you all chose to deny those basic facts, come up with your own biased and skewed formulas for calculating SRC (like by using counseling suites as classrooms), and attacked/blocked/insulted anyone who accepted those basic facts. The school system did everything they could to keep Crofton together. They recalculated the SRC of CrHS where they were able to, they knocked down walls between offices to convert them into classrooms, and they expanded Crofton Middle School several times until the building was maxed out and could not be further expanded due to its layout. They can't do anymore without harming the quality of instruction at Crofton schools. Using counseling suites for SRC only hurts CrHS because now you're teaching kids out of a space that was not designed for teaching and learning, and the SRC of the school looks good on paper, which prevents the school from getting funds for an expansion. Redistricting Crofton was necessary at this point.

The nasty and immature behavior of many Crofton parents and their inability to accept basic facts and work with the Board is exactly what got them where they are today. They also taught children that kicking, screaming, treating adults with authority with disrespect, and acting like entitled brats is the way to get what you want. If you didn't want Nantucket to be split up, you should have accepted that Crofton schools are overcrowded and come up with an equitable redistricting plan instead--not moving a block of townhouses that have mostly Black residents out of Crofton schools while simultaneously screaming about protecting diversity in the Crofton cluster.

+100000

The Nantucket people absolutely bungled this from the beginning. The "Option Four" plan was outrageous and offended a lot of people who might have otherwise been on their side. Their behavior throughout has been disrespectful, mean, and rude. I know I'm not the only Crofton parent who was actively rooting for the split articulation. I'm looking forward to seeing the same group blow a bunch of money on their unsuccessful appeal.

It's ridiculous that they think they will be able to appeal this. What are they going to argue? All of the facts are on AACPS' side. Crofton High School and Crofton Middle School are overcrowded, the neighborhoods being moved to the Arundel cluster are some of the wealthiest and most expensive neighborhoods in the Crofton cluster, and AACPS already has split articulations at other schools.

The whole argument about diversity is a load of BS. This redistricting will actually make the demographics of the Arundel and Crofton clusters more balanced with each other. The 2019 redistricting for Crofton High School caused Black students to become more concentrated in the Arundel cluster after these same mostly white families pushed for route 3 to be the boundary between Crofton and Arundel and booted majority-Black Waugh Chapel Town Center communities out of the Crofton feeder system and placed them in the Arundel feeder system. People warned them of the diversity concerns and they didn't care. The effect was that Crofton Elementary and Middle got whiter while Arundel Middle and High got more Black. Moving the Nantucket neighborhoods to the Arundel cluster should actually make the racial and SES demographics of the Arundel and Crofton clusters closer to equal.

What other schools have split articulation in AACPS? My kids aren't in Crofton, and clearly I don't know the feeder pattern of every single school in the district, but split articulation in any situation seems like a terrible idea.

Other Schools in AACPS with Split Articulation:

MacArthur Middle School: Kids living in the attendance areas for Frank Hebron-Harman Elementary School and Van Bokkelen Elementary school feed to Severn Run High School, while the rest of the kids feed to Meade High School.
Corkran Middle School: Kids living in the attendance areas for Woodside Elementary and Oakwood Elementary School feed to Old Mill High School, while the rest of the kids feed to Glen Burnie High School.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Severna park was in phase 1. There was not much pushback in that phase.

Crofton IS in phase 2 and the residents there are actually fighting the redistricting to try to KEEP the poorest/most diverse kids in the Crofton feeder (Nantucket elementary.) The redistricting as proposed has not at all been about diversifying school populations, which you seem to suggest. In the case of Crofton it would have effectively reduced the FARMS rate at CHS and made it whiter.

Yeah but majority white neighborhoods in Crofton Woods area stay in Crofton instead of moving to South River. The overarching theme in Crofton is “leave us alone.”

Um yeah, when you used our kids as numbers to prove your case that you needed to build Crofton High School, but are now discarding an oddly small cohort of them who will face the greatest change and burden of any other kids in the county? Yes, let us all go to the high school you USED US TO BUILD, and leave us alone.

The last time I checked, you all knew that Crofton High School would be over-capacity the day it serves all 4 grades. Then when redistricting started for Phase II, you all wanted to pretend your clearly overcrowded high school isn't overcrowded using ridiculous excuses.

1. "The lunches have plenty of empty tables": Yeah, no shit. The lunches take place during 3rd period, when seniors with partial schedules are already gone for the day. Also, you all conveniently leave out the fact that CrHS used to have an hour lunch system (which the students highly preferred) until it started serving all 4 grades. Beginning in the 2022-2023 school year, CrHS had to switch to 4 25-minute lunch blocks because it would be a fire hazard to have the amount of kids that would be in the cafeteria with the previous lunch block system and there aren't enough staff to cover that.


2. "The building feels spacious after seniors leave after 2nd period": That's probably true at every high school, doesn't change the fact that they're their for half of the school day. Also, not all seniors with a partial schedule take classes in the beginning of the day. Some take classes on A or B days only but are present for the full day, others come in later in the day.

3. "We can't build community with Arundel, we will be otherized as Crofton kids": Kids in Crofton attended Arundel High School up until 3 years ago and there were never issues with building community there at all. Nobody iced out Crofton kids for being from Crofton, nobody cares about what town anyone lives in. Most of the families moving to Arundel have Gambrills zip-codes--the same as Arundel High and many of the students already attending school there. Further, you're joining the Arundel cluster in middle school, when your kids are no more new than the kids from the other feeder elementary schools are. It's not like kids from Piney Orchard Elementary School magically know all the kids coming to Arundel Middle from Waugh Chapel Elementary School. EVERYONE is new to the Arundel cluster when they go to middle school because that's the first time the entire cluster is under one roof. In fact, numerous Arundel parents have been trying to set up events and do outreach with impacted Nantucket families to not only welcome the families with open arms, but also make the transition easier.

4. "We will be the only part of Crofton not attending Crofton schools": False. St. Stephens Church Road communities are within the Crofton CDP boundaries and are a stones throw from the Crofton cluster schools. They not only attend schools in a different cluster (Severn Run) but also take a bus up and down route 3, the same road you all claim is off limits for kids.


Instead of accepting the facts--which is that Crofton High and Middle are overcrowded, you all chose to deny those basic facts, come up with your own biased and skewed formulas for calculating SRC (like by using counseling suites as classrooms), and attacked/blocked/insulted anyone who accepted those basic facts. The school system did everything they could to keep Crofton together. They recalculated the SRC of CrHS where they were able to, they knocked down walls between offices to convert them into classrooms, and they expanded Crofton Middle School several times until the building was maxed out and could not be further expanded due to its layout. They can't do anymore without harming the quality of instruction at Crofton schools. Using counseling suites for SRC only hurts CrHS because now you're teaching kids out of a space that was not designed for teaching and learning, and the SRC of the school looks good on paper, which prevents the school from getting funds for an expansion. Redistricting Crofton was necessary at this point.

The nasty and immature behavior of many Crofton parents and their inability to accept basic facts and work with the Board is exactly what got them where they are today. They also taught children that kicking, screaming, treating adults with authority with disrespect, and acting like entitled brats is the way to get what you want. If you didn't want Nantucket to be split up, you should have accepted that Crofton schools are overcrowded and come up with an equitable redistricting plan instead--not moving a block of townhouses that have mostly Black residents out of Crofton schools while simultaneously screaming about protecting diversity in the Crofton cluster.

+100000

The Nantucket people absolutely bungled this from the beginning. The "Option Four" plan was outrageous and offended a lot of people who might have otherwise been on their side. Their behavior throughout has been disrespectful, mean, and rude. I know I'm not the only Crofton parent who was actively rooting for the split articulation. I'm looking forward to seeing the same group blow a bunch of money on their unsuccessful appeal.

It's ridiculous that they think they will be able to appeal this. What are they going to argue? All of the facts are on AACPS' side. Crofton High School and Crofton Middle School are overcrowded, the neighborhoods being moved to the Arundel cluster are some of the wealthiest and most expensive neighborhoods in the Crofton cluster, and AACPS already has split articulations at other schools.

The whole argument about diversity is a load of BS. This redistricting will actually make the demographics of the Arundel and Crofton clusters more balanced with each other. The 2019 redistricting for Crofton High School caused Black students to become more concentrated in the Arundel cluster after these same mostly white families pushed for route 3 to be the boundary between Crofton and Arundel and booted majority-Black Waugh Chapel Town Center communities out of the Crofton feeder system and placed them in the Arundel feeder system. People warned them of the diversity concerns and they didn't care. The effect was that Crofton Elementary and Middle got whiter while Arundel Middle and High got more Black. Moving the Nantucket neighborhoods to the Arundel cluster should actually make the racial and SES demographics of the Arundel and Crofton clusters closer to equal.

What other schools have split articulation in AACPS? My kids aren't in Crofton, and clearly I don't know the feeder pattern of every single school in the district, but split articulation in any situation seems like a terrible idea.

Other Schools in AACPS with Split Articulation:

MacArthur Middle School: Kids living in the attendance areas for Frank Hebron-Harman Elementary School and Van Bokkelen Elementary school feed to Severn Run High School, while the rest of the kids feed to Meade High School.
Corkran Middle School: Kids living in the attendance areas for Woodside Elementary and Oakwood Elementary School feed to Old Mill High School, while the rest of the kids feed to Glen Burnie High School.

That’s different. Those kids haven’t had their seats at their high school stolen by townhouse dwellers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Severna park was in phase 1. There was not much pushback in that phase.

Crofton IS in phase 2 and the residents there are actually fighting the redistricting to try to KEEP the poorest/most diverse kids in the Crofton feeder (Nantucket elementary.) The redistricting as proposed has not at all been about diversifying school populations, which you seem to suggest. In the case of Crofton it would have effectively reduced the FARMS rate at CHS and made it whiter.

Yeah but majority white neighborhoods in Crofton Woods area stay in Crofton instead of moving to South River. The overarching theme in Crofton is “leave us alone.”

Um yeah, when you used our kids as numbers to prove your case that you needed to build Crofton High School, but are now discarding an oddly small cohort of them who will face the greatest change and burden of any other kids in the county? Yes, let us all go to the high school you USED US TO BUILD, and leave us alone.

The last time I checked, you all knew that Crofton High School would be over-capacity the day it serves all 4 grades. Then when redistricting started for Phase II, you all wanted to pretend your clearly overcrowded high school isn't overcrowded using ridiculous excuses.

1. "The lunches have plenty of empty tables": Yeah, no shit. The lunches take place during 3rd period, when seniors with partial schedules are already gone for the day. Also, you all conveniently leave out the fact that CrHS used to have an hour lunch system (which the students highly preferred) until it started serving all 4 grades. Beginning in the 2022-2023 school year, CrHS had to switch to 4 25-minute lunch blocks because it would be a fire hazard to have the amount of kids that would be in the cafeteria with the previous lunch block system and there aren't enough staff to cover that.


2. "The building feels spacious after seniors leave after 2nd period": That's probably true at every high school, doesn't change the fact that they're their for half of the school day. Also, not all seniors with a partial schedule take classes in the beginning of the day. Some take classes on A or B days only but are present for the full day, others come in later in the day.

3. "We can't build community with Arundel, we will be otherized as Crofton kids": Kids in Crofton attended Arundel High School up until 3 years ago and there were never issues with building community there at all. Nobody iced out Crofton kids for being from Crofton, nobody cares about what town anyone lives in. Most of the families moving to Arundel have Gambrills zip-codes--the same as Arundel High and many of the students already attending school there. Further, you're joining the Arundel cluster in middle school, when your kids are no more new than the kids from the other feeder elementary schools are. It's not like kids from Piney Orchard Elementary School magically know all the kids coming to Arundel Middle from Waugh Chapel Elementary School. EVERYONE is new to the Arundel cluster when they go to middle school because that's the first time the entire cluster is under one roof. In fact, numerous Arundel parents have been trying to set up events and do outreach with impacted Nantucket families to not only welcome the families with open arms, but also make the transition easier.

4. "We will be the only part of Crofton not attending Crofton schools": False. St. Stephens Church Road communities are within the Crofton CDP boundaries and are a stones throw from the Crofton cluster schools. They not only attend schools in a different cluster (Severn Run) but also take a bus up and down route 3, the same road you all claim is off limits for kids.


Instead of accepting the facts--which is that Crofton High and Middle are overcrowded, you all chose to deny those basic facts, come up with your own biased and skewed formulas for calculating SRC (like by using counseling suites as classrooms), and attacked/blocked/insulted anyone who accepted those basic facts. The school system did everything they could to keep Crofton together. They recalculated the SRC of CrHS where they were able to, they knocked down walls between offices to convert them into classrooms, and they expanded Crofton Middle School several times until the building was maxed out and could not be further expanded due to its layout. They can't do anymore without harming the quality of instruction at Crofton schools. Using counseling suites for SRC only hurts CrHS because now you're teaching kids out of a space that was not designed for teaching and learning, and the SRC of the school looks good on paper, which prevents the school from getting funds for an expansion. Redistricting Crofton was necessary at this point.

The nasty and immature behavior of many Crofton parents and their inability to accept basic facts and work with the Board is exactly what got them where they are today. They also taught children that kicking, screaming, treating adults with authority with disrespect, and acting like entitled brats is the way to get what you want. If you didn't want Nantucket to be split up, you should have accepted that Crofton schools are overcrowded and come up with an equitable redistricting plan instead--not moving a block of townhouses that have mostly Black residents out of Crofton schools while simultaneously screaming about protecting diversity in the Crofton cluster.

+100000

The Nantucket people absolutely bungled this from the beginning. The "Option Four" plan was outrageous and offended a lot of people who might have otherwise been on their side. Their behavior throughout has been disrespectful, mean, and rude. I know I'm not the only Crofton parent who was actively rooting for the split articulation. I'm looking forward to seeing the same group blow a bunch of money on their unsuccessful appeal.

It's ridiculous that they think they will be able to appeal this. What are they going to argue? All of the facts are on AACPS' side. Crofton High School and Crofton Middle School are overcrowded, the neighborhoods being moved to the Arundel cluster are some of the wealthiest and most expensive neighborhoods in the Crofton cluster, and AACPS already has split articulations at other schools.

The whole argument about diversity is a load of BS. This redistricting will actually make the demographics of the Arundel and Crofton clusters more balanced with each other. The 2019 redistricting for Crofton High School caused Black students to become more concentrated in the Arundel cluster after these same mostly white families pushed for route 3 to be the boundary between Crofton and Arundel and booted majority-Black Waugh Chapel Town Center communities out of the Crofton feeder system and placed them in the Arundel feeder system. People warned them of the diversity concerns and they didn't care. The effect was that Crofton Elementary and Middle got whiter while Arundel Middle and High got more Black. Moving the Nantucket neighborhoods to the Arundel cluster should actually make the racial and SES demographics of the Arundel and Crofton clusters closer to equal.

What other schools have split articulation in AACPS? My kids aren't in Crofton, and clearly I don't know the feeder pattern of every single school in the district, but split articulation in any situation seems like a terrible idea.

Other Schools in AACPS with Split Articulation:

MacArthur Middle School: Kids living in the attendance areas for Frank Hebron-Harman Elementary School and Van Bokkelen Elementary school feed to Severn Run High School, while the rest of the kids feed to Meade High School.
Corkran Middle School: Kids living in the attendance areas for Woodside Elementary and Oakwood Elementary School feed to Old Mill High School, while the rest of the kids feed to Glen Burnie High School.

That’s different. Those kids haven’t had their seats at their high school stolen by townhouse dwellers.

I hope this is sarcasm because that area of the county is the dumping ground for townhomes and apartments. The county and school system is committed to making it a super hyper electronic ghetto.

[Anonymous]

Crofton has a slight racist tinge to it, particularly the Crofton Woods area. Someone I know sold her house and moved to the Broadneck school area because she felt that Crofton was "becoming too much like Bowie" and wasn't very happy about demographic changes in the area in recent years. She claims she is not the only one in her neighborhood unhappy and wanting to move.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Severna park was in phase 1. There was not much pushback in that phase.

Crofton IS in phase 2 and the residents there are actually fighting the redistricting to try to KEEP the poorest/most diverse kids in the Crofton feeder (Nantucket elementary.) The redistricting as proposed has not at all been about diversifying school populations, which you seem to suggest. In the case of Crofton it would have effectively reduced the FARMS rate at CHS and made it whiter.

Yeah but majority white neighborhoods in Crofton Woods area stay in Crofton instead of moving to South River. The overarching theme in Crofton is “leave us alone.”

Um yeah, when you used our kids as numbers to prove your case that you needed to build Crofton High School, but are now discarding an oddly small cohort of them who will face the greatest change and burden of any other kids in the county? Yes, let us all go to the high school you USED US TO BUILD, and leave us alone.

The last time I checked, you all knew that Crofton High School would be over-capacity the day it serves all 4 grades. Then when redistricting started for Phase II, you all wanted to pretend your clearly overcrowded high school isn't overcrowded using ridiculous excuses.

1. "The lunches have plenty of empty tables": Yeah, no shit. The lunches take place during 3rd period, when seniors with partial schedules are already gone for the day. Also, you all conveniently leave out the fact that CrHS used to have an hour lunch system (which the students highly preferred) until it started serving all 4 grades. Beginning in the 2022-2023 school year, CrHS had to switch to 4 25-minute lunch blocks because it would be a fire hazard to have the amount of kids that would be in the cafeteria with the previous lunch block system and there aren't enough staff to cover that.


2. "The building feels spacious after seniors leave after 2nd period": That's probably true at every high school, doesn't change the fact that they're their for half of the school day. Also, not all seniors with a partial schedule take classes in the beginning of the day. Some take classes on A or B days only but are present for the full day, others come in later in the day.

3. "We can't build community with Arundel, we will be otherized as Crofton kids": Kids in Crofton attended Arundel High School up until 3 years ago and there were never issues with building community there at all. Nobody iced out Crofton kids for being from Crofton, nobody cares about what town anyone lives in. Most of the families moving to Arundel have Gambrills zip-codes--the same as Arundel High and many of the students already attending school there. Further, you're joining the Arundel cluster in middle school, when your kids are no more new than the kids from the other feeder elementary schools are. It's not like kids from Piney Orchard Elementary School magically know all the kids coming to Arundel Middle from Waugh Chapel Elementary School. EVERYONE is new to the Arundel cluster when they go to middle school because that's the first time the entire cluster is under one roof. In fact, numerous Arundel parents have been trying to set up events and do outreach with impacted Nantucket families to not only welcome the families with open arms, but also make the transition easier.

4. "We will be the only part of Crofton not attending Crofton schools": False. St. Stephens Church Road communities are within the Crofton CDP boundaries and are a stones throw from the Crofton cluster schools. They not only attend schools in a different cluster (Severn Run) but also take a bus up and down route 3, the same road you all claim is off limits for kids.


Instead of accepting the facts--which is that Crofton High and Middle are overcrowded, you all chose to deny those basic facts, come up with your own biased and skewed formulas for calculating SRC (like by using counseling suites as classrooms), and attacked/blocked/insulted anyone who accepted those basic facts. The school system did everything they could to keep Crofton together. They recalculated the SRC of CrHS where they were able to, they knocked down walls between offices to convert them into classrooms, and they expanded Crofton Middle School several times until the building was maxed out and could not be further expanded due to its layout. They can't do anymore without harming the quality of instruction at Crofton schools. Using counseling suites for SRC only hurts CrHS because now you're teaching kids out of a space that was not designed for teaching and learning, and the SRC of the school looks good on paper, which prevents the school from getting funds for an expansion. Redistricting Crofton was necessary at this point.

The nasty and immature behavior of many Crofton parents and their inability to accept basic facts and work with the Board is exactly what got them where they are today. They also taught children that kicking, screaming, treating adults with authority with disrespect, and acting like entitled brats is the way to get what you want. If you didn't want Nantucket to be split up, you should have accepted that Crofton schools are overcrowded and come up with an equitable redistricting plan instead--not moving a block of townhouses that have mostly Black residents out of Crofton schools while simultaneously screaming about protecting diversity in the Crofton cluster.

+100000

The Nantucket people absolutely bungled this from the beginning. The "Option Four" plan was outrageous and offended a lot of people who might have otherwise been on their side. Their behavior throughout has been disrespectful, mean, and rude. I know I'm not the only Crofton parent who was actively rooting for the split articulation. I'm looking forward to seeing the same group blow a bunch of money on their unsuccessful appeal.

It's ridiculous that they think they will be able to appeal this. What are they going to argue? All of the facts are on AACPS' side. Crofton High School and Crofton Middle School are overcrowded, the neighborhoods being moved to the Arundel cluster are some of the wealthiest and most expensive neighborhoods in the Crofton cluster, and AACPS already has split articulations at other schools.

The whole argument about diversity is a load of BS. This redistricting will actually make the demographics of the Arundel and Crofton clusters more balanced with each other. The 2019 redistricting for Crofton High School caused Black students to become more concentrated in the Arundel cluster after these same mostly white families pushed for route 3 to be the boundary between Crofton and Arundel and booted majority-Black Waugh Chapel Town Center communities out of the Crofton feeder system and placed them in the Arundel feeder system. People warned them of the diversity concerns and they didn't care. The effect was that Crofton Elementary and Middle got whiter while Arundel Middle and High got more Black. Moving the Nantucket neighborhoods to the Arundel cluster should actually make the racial and SES demographics of the Arundel and Crofton clusters closer to equal.

What other schools have split articulation in AACPS? My kids aren't in Crofton, and clearly I don't know the feeder pattern of every single school in the district, but split articulation in any situation seems like a terrible idea.

Other Schools in AACPS with Split Articulation:

MacArthur Middle School: Kids living in the attendance areas for Frank Hebron-Harman Elementary School and Van Bokkelen Elementary school feed to Severn Run High School, while the rest of the kids feed to Meade High School.
Corkran Middle School: Kids living in the attendance areas for Woodside Elementary and Oakwood Elementary School feed to Old Mill High School, while the rest of the kids feed to Glen Burnie High School.

That’s different. Those kids haven’t had their seats at their high school stolen by townhouse dwellers.

I hope this is sarcasm because that area of the county is the dumping ground for townhomes and apartments. The county and school system is committed to making it a super hyper electronic ghetto.

But for that strip of new build townhouses, there would be plenty of room for all of Nantucket to attend Croton High School. They’re not really a part of the Crofton community. Send them to Arundel. They’d probably be more comfortable there anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Severna park was in phase 1. There was not much pushback in that phase.

Crofton IS in phase 2 and the residents there are actually fighting the redistricting to try to KEEP the poorest/most diverse kids in the Crofton feeder (Nantucket elementary.) The redistricting as proposed has not at all been about diversifying school populations, which you seem to suggest. In the case of Crofton it would have effectively reduced the FARMS rate at CHS and made it whiter.

Yeah but majority white neighborhoods in Crofton Woods area stay in Crofton instead of moving to South River. The overarching theme in Crofton is “leave us alone.”

Um yeah, when you used our kids as numbers to prove your case that you needed to build Crofton High School, but are now discarding an oddly small cohort of them who will face the greatest change and burden of any other kids in the county? Yes, let us all go to the high school you USED US TO BUILD, and leave us alone.

The last time I checked, you all knew that Crofton High School would be over-capacity the day it serves all 4 grades. Then when redistricting started for Phase II, you all wanted to pretend your clearly overcrowded high school isn't overcrowded using ridiculous excuses.

1. "The lunches have plenty of empty tables": Yeah, no shit. The lunches take place during 3rd period, when seniors with partial schedules are already gone for the day. Also, you all conveniently leave out the fact that CrHS used to have an hour lunch system (which the students highly preferred) until it started serving all 4 grades. Beginning in the 2022-2023 school year, CrHS had to switch to 4 25-minute lunch blocks because it would be a fire hazard to have the amount of kids that would be in the cafeteria with the previous lunch block system and there aren't enough staff to cover that.


2. "The building feels spacious after seniors leave after 2nd period": That's probably true at every high school, doesn't change the fact that they're their for half of the school day. Also, not all seniors with a partial schedule take classes in the beginning of the day. Some take classes on A or B days only but are present for the full day, others come in later in the day.

3. "We can't build community with Arundel, we will be otherized as Crofton kids": Kids in Crofton attended Arundel High School up until 3 years ago and there were never issues with building community there at all. Nobody iced out Crofton kids for being from Crofton, nobody cares about what town anyone lives in. Most of the families moving to Arundel have Gambrills zip-codes--the same as Arundel High and many of the students already attending school there. Further, you're joining the Arundel cluster in middle school, when your kids are no more new than the kids from the other feeder elementary schools are. It's not like kids from Piney Orchard Elementary School magically know all the kids coming to Arundel Middle from Waugh Chapel Elementary School. EVERYONE is new to the Arundel cluster when they go to middle school because that's the first time the entire cluster is under one roof. In fact, numerous Arundel parents have been trying to set up events and do outreach with impacted Nantucket families to not only welcome the families with open arms, but also make the transition easier.

4. "We will be the only part of Crofton not attending Crofton schools": False. St. Stephens Church Road communities are within the Crofton CDP boundaries and are a stones throw from the Crofton cluster schools. They not only attend schools in a different cluster (Severn Run) but also take a bus up and down route 3, the same road you all claim is off limits for kids.


Instead of accepting the facts--which is that Crofton High and Middle are overcrowded, you all chose to deny those basic facts, come up with your own biased and skewed formulas for calculating SRC (like by using counseling suites as classrooms), and attacked/blocked/insulted anyone who accepted those basic facts. The school system did everything they could to keep Crofton together. They recalculated the SRC of CrHS where they were able to, they knocked down walls between offices to convert them into classrooms, and they expanded Crofton Middle School several times until the building was maxed out and could not be further expanded due to its layout. They can't do anymore without harming the quality of instruction at Crofton schools. Using counseling suites for SRC only hurts CrHS because now you're teaching kids out of a space that was not designed for teaching and learning, and the SRC of the school looks good on paper, which prevents the school from getting funds for an expansion. Redistricting Crofton was necessary at this point.

The nasty and immature behavior of many Crofton parents and their inability to accept basic facts and work with the Board is exactly what got them where they are today. They also taught children that kicking, screaming, treating adults with authority with disrespect, and acting like entitled brats is the way to get what you want. If you didn't want Nantucket to be split up, you should have accepted that Crofton schools are overcrowded and come up with an equitable redistricting plan instead--not moving a block of townhouses that have mostly Black residents out of Crofton schools while simultaneously screaming about protecting diversity in the Crofton cluster.

+100000

The Nantucket people absolutely bungled this from the beginning. The "Option Four" plan was outrageous and offended a lot of people who might have otherwise been on their side. Their behavior throughout has been disrespectful, mean, and rude. I know I'm not the only Crofton parent who was actively rooting for the split articulation. I'm looking forward to seeing the same group blow a bunch of money on their unsuccessful appeal.

It's ridiculous that they think they will be able to appeal this. What are they going to argue? All of the facts are on AACPS' side. Crofton High School and Crofton Middle School are overcrowded, the neighborhoods being moved to the Arundel cluster are some of the wealthiest and most expensive neighborhoods in the Crofton cluster, and AACPS already has split articulations at other schools.

The whole argument about diversity is a load of BS. This redistricting will actually make the demographics of the Arundel and Crofton clusters more balanced with each other. The 2019 redistricting for Crofton High School caused Black students to become more concentrated in the Arundel cluster after these same mostly white families pushed for route 3 to be the boundary between Crofton and Arundel and booted majority-Black Waugh Chapel Town Center communities out of the Crofton feeder system and placed them in the Arundel feeder system. People warned them of the diversity concerns and they didn't care. The effect was that Crofton Elementary and Middle got whiter while Arundel Middle and High got more Black. Moving the Nantucket neighborhoods to the Arundel cluster should actually make the racial and SES demographics of the Arundel and Crofton clusters closer to equal.

What other schools have split articulation in AACPS? My kids aren't in Crofton, and clearly I don't know the feeder pattern of every single school in the district, but split articulation in any situation seems like a terrible idea.

Other Schools in AACPS with Split Articulation:

MacArthur Middle School: Kids living in the attendance areas for Frank Hebron-Harman Elementary School and Van Bokkelen Elementary school feed to Severn Run High School, while the rest of the kids feed to Meade High School.
Corkran Middle School: Kids living in the attendance areas for Woodside Elementary and Oakwood Elementary School feed to Old Mill High School, while the rest of the kids feed to Glen Burnie High School.

That’s different. Those kids haven’t had their seats at their high school stolen by townhouse dwellers.

I hope this is sarcasm because that area of the county is the dumping ground for townhomes and apartments. The county and school system is committed to making it a super hyper electronic ghetto.

But for that strip of new build townhouses, there would be plenty of room for all of Nantucket to attend Croton High School. They’re not really a part of the Crofton community. Send them to Arundel. They’d probably be more comfortable there anyway.

Whoa, what does this even mean?

Signed,

Someone who grew up in Crofton, went to arundel, and now lives in odenton and has a kid who will go arundel

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Severna park was in phase 1. There was not much pushback in that phase.

Crofton IS in phase 2 and the residents there are actually fighting the redistricting to try to KEEP the poorest/most diverse kids in the Crofton feeder (Nantucket elementary.) The redistricting as proposed has not at all been about diversifying school populations, which you seem to suggest. In the case of Crofton it would have effectively reduced the FARMS rate at CHS and made it whiter.

Yeah but majority white neighborhoods in Crofton Woods area stay in Crofton instead of moving to South River. The overarching theme in Crofton is “leave us alone.”

Um yeah, when you used our kids as numbers to prove your case that you needed to build Crofton High School, but are now discarding an oddly small cohort of them who will face the greatest change and burden of any other kids in the county? Yes, let us all go to the high school you USED US TO BUILD, and leave us alone.

The last time I checked, you all knew that Crofton High School would be over-capacity the day it serves all 4 grades. Then when redistricting started for Phase II, you all wanted to pretend your clearly overcrowded high school isn't overcrowded using ridiculous excuses.

1. "The lunches have plenty of empty tables": Yeah, no shit. The lunches take place during 3rd period, when seniors with partial schedules are already gone for the day. Also, you all conveniently leave out the fact that CrHS used to have an hour lunch system (which the students highly preferred) until it started serving all 4 grades. Beginning in the 2022-2023 school year, CrHS had to switch to 4 25-minute lunch blocks because it would be a fire hazard to have the amount of kids that would be in the cafeteria with the previous lunch block system and there aren't enough staff to cover that.


2. "The building feels spacious after seniors leave after 2nd period": That's probably true at every high school, doesn't change the fact that they're their for half of the school day. Also, not all seniors with a partial schedule take classes in the beginning of the day. Some take classes on A or B days only but are present for the full day, others come in later in the day.

3. "We can't build community with Arundel, we will be otherized as Crofton kids": Kids in Crofton attended Arundel High School up until 3 years ago and there were never issues with building community there at all. Nobody iced out Crofton kids for being from Crofton, nobody cares about what town anyone lives in. Most of the families moving to Arundel have Gambrills zip-codes--the same as Arundel High and many of the students already attending school there. Further, you're joining the Arundel cluster in middle school, when your kids are no more new than the kids from the other feeder elementary schools are. It's not like kids from Piney Orchard Elementary School magically know all the kids coming to Arundel Middle from Waugh Chapel Elementary School. EVERYONE is new to the Arundel cluster when they go to middle school because that's the first time the entire cluster is under one roof. In fact, numerous Arundel parents have been trying to set up events and do outreach with impacted Nantucket families to not only welcome the families with open arms, but also make the transition easier.

4. "We will be the only part of Crofton not attending Crofton schools": False. St. Stephens Church Road communities are within the Crofton CDP boundaries and are a stones throw from the Crofton cluster schools. They not only attend schools in a different cluster (Severn Run) but also take a bus up and down route 3, the same road you all claim is off limits for kids.


Instead of accepting the facts--which is that Crofton High and Middle are overcrowded, you all chose to deny those basic facts, come up with your own biased and skewed formulas for calculating SRC (like by using counseling suites as classrooms), and attacked/blocked/insulted anyone who accepted those basic facts. The school system did everything they could to keep Crofton together. They recalculated the SRC of CrHS where they were able to, they knocked down walls between offices to convert them into classrooms, and they expanded Crofton Middle School several times until the building was maxed out and could not be further expanded due to its layout. They can't do anymore without harming the quality of instruction at Crofton schools. Using counseling suites for SRC only hurts CrHS because now you're teaching kids out of a space that was not designed for teaching and learning, and the SRC of the school looks good on paper, which prevents the school from getting funds for an expansion. Redistricting Crofton was necessary at this point.

The nasty and immature behavior of many Crofton parents and their inability to accept basic facts and work with the Board is exactly what got them where they are today. They also taught children that kicking, screaming, treating adults with authority with disrespect, and acting like entitled brats is the way to get what you want. If you didn't want Nantucket to be split up, you should have accepted that Crofton schools are overcrowded and come up with an equitable redistricting plan instead--not moving a block of townhouses that have mostly Black residents out of Crofton schools while simultaneously screaming about protecting diversity in the Crofton cluster.

+100000

The Nantucket people absolutely bungled this from the beginning. The "Option Four" plan was outrageous and offended a lot of people who might have otherwise been on their side. Their behavior throughout has been disrespectful, mean, and rude. I know I'm not the only Crofton parent who was actively rooting for the split articulation. I'm looking forward to seeing the same group blow a bunch of money on their unsuccessful appeal.

It's ridiculous that they think they will be able to appeal this. What are they going to argue? All of the facts are on AACPS' side. Crofton High School and Crofton Middle School are overcrowded, the neighborhoods being moved to the Arundel cluster are some of the wealthiest and most expensive neighborhoods in the Crofton cluster, and AACPS already has split articulations at other schools.

The whole argument about diversity is a load of BS. This redistricting will actually make the demographics of the Arundel and Crofton clusters more balanced with each other. The 2019 redistricting for Crofton High School caused Black students to become more concentrated in the Arundel cluster after these same mostly white families pushed for route 3 to be the boundary between Crofton and Arundel and booted majority-Black Waugh Chapel Town Center communities out of the Crofton feeder system and placed them in the Arundel feeder system. People warned them of the diversity concerns and they didn't care. The effect was that Crofton Elementary and Middle got whiter while Arundel Middle and High got more Black. Moving the Nantucket neighborhoods to the Arundel cluster should actually make the racial and SES demographics of the Arundel and Crofton clusters closer to equal.

What other schools have split articulation in AACPS? My kids aren't in Crofton, and clearly I don't know the feeder pattern of every single school in the district, but split articulation in any situation seems like a terrible idea.

Other Schools in AACPS with Split Articulation:

MacArthur Middle School: Kids living in the attendance areas for Frank Hebron-Harman Elementary School and Van Bokkelen Elementary school feed to Severn Run High School, while the rest of the kids feed to Meade High School.
Corkran Middle School: Kids living in the attendance areas for Woodside Elementary and Oakwood Elementary School feed to Old Mill High School, while the rest of the kids feed to Glen Burnie High School.

That’s different. Those kids haven’t had their seats at their high school stolen by townhouse dwellers.

I hope this is sarcasm because that area of the county is the dumping ground for townhomes and apartments. The county and school system is committed to making it a super hyper electronic ghetto.

But for that strip of new build townhouses, there would be plenty of room for all of Nantucket to attend Croton High School. They’re not really a part of the Crofton community. Send them to Arundel. They’d probably be more comfortable there anyway.

Whoa, what does this even mean?

Signed,

Someone who grew up in Crofton, went to arundel, and now lives in odenton and has a kid who will go arundel

It means that Crofton High School was built to serve the Crofton community. Then a developer threw up 100 or so townhouses west of Route 3 a few years ago, and those kids were zoned for Crofton High, effectively displacing Nantucket Elementary kids. Nantucket kids are an indispensable part of the Crofton community and have been their entire lives. The Crofton community resents the River Walk kids for displacing Nantucket kids. It’s a bad situation for everyone that could be solved by simply sending everyone west of Route 3 to Arundel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Severna park was in phase 1. There was not much pushback in that phase.

Crofton IS in phase 2 and the residents there are actually fighting the redistricting to try to KEEP the poorest/most diverse kids in the Crofton feeder (Nantucket elementary.) The redistricting as proposed has not at all been about diversifying school populations, which you seem to suggest. In the case of Crofton it would have effectively reduced the FARMS rate at CHS and made it whiter.

Yeah but majority white neighborhoods in Crofton Woods area stay in Crofton instead of moving to South River. The overarching theme in Crofton is “leave us alone.”

Um yeah, when you used our kids as numbers to prove your case that you needed to build Crofton High School, but are now discarding an oddly small cohort of them who will face the greatest change and burden of any other kids in the county? Yes, let us all go to the high school you USED US TO BUILD, and leave us alone.

The last time I checked, you all knew that Crofton High School would be over-capacity the day it serves all 4 grades. Then when redistricting started for Phase II, you all wanted to pretend your clearly overcrowded high school isn't overcrowded using ridiculous excuses.

1. "The lunches have plenty of empty tables": Yeah, no shit. The lunches take place during 3rd period, when seniors with partial schedules are already gone for the day. Also, you all conveniently leave out the fact that CrHS used to have an hour lunch system (which the students highly preferred) until it started serving all 4 grades. Beginning in the 2022-2023 school year, CrHS had to switch to 4 25-minute lunch blocks because it would be a fire hazard to have the amount of kids that would be in the cafeteria with the previous lunch block system and there aren't enough staff to cover that.


2. "The building feels spacious after seniors leave after 2nd period": That's probably true at every high school, doesn't change the fact that they're their for half of the school day. Also, not all seniors with a partial schedule take classes in the beginning of the day. Some take classes on A or B days only but are present for the full day, others come in later in the day.

3. "We can't build community with Arundel, we will be otherized as Crofton kids": Kids in Crofton attended Arundel High School up until 3 years ago and there were never issues with building community there at all. Nobody iced out Crofton kids for being from Crofton, nobody cares about what town anyone lives in. Most of the families moving to Arundel have Gambrills zip-codes--the same as Arundel High and many of the students already attending school there. Further, you're joining the Arundel cluster in middle school, when your kids are no more new than the kids from the other feeder elementary schools are. It's not like kids from Piney Orchard Elementary School magically know all the kids coming to Arundel Middle from Waugh Chapel Elementary School. EVERYONE is new to the Arundel cluster when they go to middle school because that's the first time the entire cluster is under one roof. In fact, numerous Arundel parents have been trying to set up events and do outreach with impacted Nantucket families to not only welcome the families with open arms, but also make the transition easier.

4. "We will be the only part of Crofton not attending Crofton schools": False. St. Stephens Church Road communities are within the Crofton CDP boundaries and are a stones throw from the Crofton cluster schools. They not only attend schools in a different cluster (Severn Run) but also take a bus up and down route 3, the same road you all claim is off limits for kids.


Instead of accepting the facts--which is that Crofton High and Middle are overcrowded, you all chose to deny those basic facts, come up with your own biased and skewed formulas for calculating SRC (like by using counseling suites as classrooms), and attacked/blocked/insulted anyone who accepted those basic facts. The school system did everything they could to keep Crofton together. They recalculated the SRC of CrHS where they were able to, they knocked down walls between offices to convert them into classrooms, and they expanded Crofton Middle School several times until the building was maxed out and could not be further expanded due to its layout. They can't do anymore without harming the quality of instruction at Crofton schools. Using counseling suites for SRC only hurts CrHS because now you're teaching kids out of a space that was not designed for teaching and learning, and the SRC of the school looks good on paper, which prevents the school from getting funds for an expansion. Redistricting Crofton was necessary at this point.

The nasty and immature behavior of many Crofton parents and their inability to accept basic facts and work with the Board is exactly what got them where they are today. They also taught children that kicking, screaming, treating adults with authority with disrespect, and acting like entitled brats is the way to get what you want. If you didn't want Nantucket to be split up, you should have accepted that Crofton schools are overcrowded and come up with an equitable redistricting plan instead--not moving a block of townhouses that have mostly Black residents out of Crofton schools while simultaneously screaming about protecting diversity in the Crofton cluster.

+100000

The Nantucket people absolutely bungled this from the beginning. The "Option Four" plan was outrageous and offended a lot of people who might have otherwise been on their side. Their behavior throughout has been disrespectful, mean, and rude. I know I'm not the only Crofton parent who was actively rooting for the split articulation. I'm looking forward to seeing the same group blow a bunch of money on their unsuccessful appeal.

It's ridiculous that they think they will be able to appeal this. What are they going to argue? All of the facts are on AACPS' side. Crofton High School and Crofton Middle School are overcrowded, the neighborhoods being moved to the Arundel cluster are some of the wealthiest and most expensive neighborhoods in the Crofton cluster, and AACPS already has split articulations at other schools.

The whole argument about diversity is a load of BS. This redistricting will actually make the demographics of the Arundel and Crofton clusters more balanced with each other. The 2019 redistricting for Crofton High School caused Black students to become more concentrated in the Arundel cluster after these same mostly white families pushed for route 3 to be the boundary between Crofton and Arundel and booted majority-Black Waugh Chapel Town Center communities out of the Crofton feeder system and placed them in the Arundel feeder system. People warned them of the diversity concerns and they didn't care. The effect was that Crofton Elementary and Middle got whiter while Arundel Middle and High got more Black. Moving the Nantucket neighborhoods to the Arundel cluster should actually make the racial and SES demographics of the Arundel and Crofton clusters closer to equal.

What other schools have split articulation in AACPS? My kids aren't in Crofton, and clearly I don't know the feeder pattern of every single school in the district, but split articulation in any situation seems like a terrible idea.

Other Schools in AACPS with Split Articulation:

MacArthur Middle School: Kids living in the attendance areas for Frank Hebron-Harman Elementary School and Van Bokkelen Elementary school feed to Severn Run High School, while the rest of the kids feed to Meade High School.
Corkran Middle School: Kids living in the attendance areas for Woodside Elementary and Oakwood Elementary School feed to Old Mill High School, while the rest of the kids feed to Glen Burnie High School.

That’s different. Those kids haven’t had their seats at their high school stolen by townhouse dwellers.

I hope this is sarcasm because that area of the county is the dumping ground for townhomes and apartments. The county and school system is committed to making it a super hyper electronic ghetto.

But for that strip of new build townhouses, there would be plenty of room for all of Nantucket to attend Croton High School. They’re not really a part of the Crofton community. Send them to Arundel. They’d probably be more comfortable there anyway.

Whoa, what does this even mean?

Signed,

Someone who grew up in Crofton, went to arundel, and now lives in odenton and has a kid who will go arundel

It means that Crofton High School was built to serve the Crofton community. Then a developer threw up 100 or so townhouses west of Route 3 a few years ago, and those kids were zoned for Crofton High, effectively displacing Nantucket Elementary kids. Nantucket kids are an indispensable part of the Crofton community and have been their entire lives. The Crofton community resents the River Walk kids for displacing Nantucket kids. It’s a bad situation for everyone that could be solved by simply sending everyone west of Route 3 to Arundel.

I grew up in Crofton and you sound positively awful.

[Anonymous]

The appeal has been filed!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Severna park was in phase 1. There was not much pushback in that phase.

Crofton IS in phase 2 and the residents there are actually fighting the redistricting to try to KEEP the poorest/most diverse kids in the Crofton feeder (Nantucket elementary.) The redistricting as proposed has not at all been about diversifying school populations, which you seem to suggest. In the case of Crofton it would have effectively reduced the FARMS rate at CHS and made it whiter.

Yeah but majority white neighborhoods in Crofton Woods area stay in Crofton instead of moving to South River. The overarching theme in Crofton is “leave us alone.”

Um yeah, when you used our kids as numbers to prove your case that you needed to build Crofton High School, but are now discarding an oddly small cohort of them who will face the greatest change and burden of any other kids in the county? Yes, let us all go to the high school you USED US TO BUILD, and leave us alone.

The last time I checked, you all knew that Crofton High School would be over-capacity the day it serves all 4 grades. Then when redistricting started for Phase II, you all wanted to pretend your clearly overcrowded high school isn't overcrowded using ridiculous excuses.

1. "The lunches have plenty of empty tables": Yeah, no shit. The lunches take place during 3rd period, when seniors with partial schedules are already gone for the day. Also, you all conveniently leave out the fact that CrHS used to have an hour lunch system (which the students highly preferred) until it started serving all 4 grades. Beginning in the 2022-2023 school year, CrHS had to switch to 4 25-minute lunch blocks because it would be a fire hazard to have the amount of kids that would be in the cafeteria with the previous lunch block system and there aren't enough staff to cover that.


2. "The building feels spacious after seniors leave after 2nd period": That's probably true at every high school, doesn't change the fact that they're their for half of the school day. Also, not all seniors with a partial schedule take classes in the beginning of the day. Some take classes on A or B days only but are present for the full day, others come in later in the day.

3. "We can't build community with Arundel, we will be otherized as Crofton kids": Kids in Crofton attended Arundel High School up until 3 years ago and there were never issues with building community there at all. Nobody iced out Crofton kids for being from Crofton, nobody cares about what town anyone lives in. Most of the families moving to Arundel have Gambrills zip-codes--the same as Arundel High and many of the students already attending school there. Further, you're joining the Arundel cluster in middle school, when your kids are no more new than the kids from the other feeder elementary schools are. It's not like kids from Piney Orchard Elementary School magically know all the kids coming to Arundel Middle from Waugh Chapel Elementary School. EVERYONE is new to the Arundel cluster when they go to middle school because that's the first time the entire cluster is under one roof. In fact, numerous Arundel parents have been trying to set up events and do outreach with impacted Nantucket families to not only welcome the families with open arms, but also make the transition easier.

4. "We will be the only part of Crofton not attending Crofton schools": False. St. Stephens Church Road communities are within the Crofton CDP boundaries and are a stones throw from the Crofton cluster schools. They not only attend schools in a different cluster (Severn Run) but also take a bus up and down route 3, the same road you all claim is off limits for kids.


Instead of accepting the facts--which is that Crofton High and Middle are overcrowded, you all chose to deny those basic facts, come up with your own biased and skewed formulas for calculating SRC (like by using counseling suites as classrooms), and attacked/blocked/insulted anyone who accepted those basic facts. The school system did everything they could to keep Crofton together. They recalculated the SRC of CrHS where they were able to, they knocked down walls between offices to convert them into classrooms, and they expanded Crofton Middle School several times until the building was maxed out and could not be further expanded due to its layout. They can't do anymore without harming the quality of instruction at Crofton schools. Using counseling suites for SRC only hurts CrHS because now you're teaching kids out of a space that was not designed for teaching and learning, and the SRC of the school looks good on paper, which prevents the school from getting funds for an expansion. Redistricting Crofton was necessary at this point.

The nasty and immature behavior of many Crofton parents and their inability to accept basic facts and work with the Board is exactly what got them where they are today. They also taught children that kicking, screaming, treating adults with authority with disrespect, and acting like entitled brats is the way to get what you want. If you didn't want Nantucket to be split up, you should have accepted that Crofton schools are overcrowded and come up with an equitable redistricting plan instead--not moving a block of townhouses that have mostly Black residents out of Crofton schools while simultaneously screaming about protecting diversity in the Crofton cluster.

+100000

The Nantucket people absolutely bungled this from the beginning. The "Option Four" plan was outrageous and offended a lot of people who might have otherwise been on their side. Their behavior throughout has been disrespectful, mean, and rude. I know I'm not the only Crofton parent who was actively rooting for the split articulation. I'm looking forward to seeing the same group blow a bunch of money on their unsuccessful appeal.

It's ridiculous that they think they will be able to appeal this. What are they going to argue? All of the facts are on AACPS' side. Crofton High School and Crofton Middle School are overcrowded, the neighborhoods being moved to the Arundel cluster are some of the wealthiest and most expensive neighborhoods in the Crofton cluster, and AACPS already has split articulations at other schools.

The whole argument about diversity is a load of BS. This redistricting will actually make the demographics of the Arundel and Crofton clusters more balanced with each other. The 2019 redistricting for Crofton High School caused Black students to become more concentrated in the Arundel cluster after these same mostly white families pushed for route 3 to be the boundary between Crofton and Arundel and booted majority-Black Waugh Chapel Town Center communities out of the Crofton feeder system and placed them in the Arundel feeder system. People warned them of the diversity concerns and they didn't care. The effect was that Crofton Elementary and Middle got whiter while Arundel Middle and High got more Black. Moving the Nantucket neighborhoods to the Arundel cluster should actually make the racial and SES demographics of the Arundel and Crofton clusters closer to equal.

What other schools have split articulation in AACPS? My kids aren't in Crofton, and clearly I don't know the feeder pattern of every single school in the district, but split articulation in any situation seems like a terrible idea.

Other Schools in AACPS with Split Articulation:

MacArthur Middle School: Kids living in the attendance areas for Frank Hebron-Harman Elementary School and Van Bokkelen Elementary school feed to Severn Run High School, while the rest of the kids feed to Meade High School.
Corkran Middle School: Kids living in the attendance areas for Woodside Elementary and Oakwood Elementary School feed to Old Mill High School, while the rest of the kids feed to Glen Burnie High School.

That’s different. Those kids haven’t had their seats at their high school stolen by townhouse dwellers.

I hope this is sarcasm because that area of the county is the dumping ground for townhomes and apartments. The county and school system is committed to making it a super hyper electronic ghetto.

But for that strip of new build townhouses, there would be plenty of room for all of Nantucket to attend Croton High School. They’re not really a part of the Crofton community. Send them to Arundel. They’d probably be more comfortable there anyway.

Whoa, what does this even mean?

Signed,

Someone who grew up in Crofton, went to arundel, and now lives in odenton and has a kid who will go arundel

It means that Crofton High School was built to serve the Crofton community. Then a developer threw up 100 or so townhouses west of Route 3 a few years ago, and those kids were zoned for Crofton High, effectively displacing Nantucket Elementary kids. Nantucket kids are an indispensable part of the Crofton community and have been their entire lives. The Crofton community resents the River Walk kids for displacing Nantucket kids. It’s a bad situation for everyone that could be solved by simply sending everyone west of Route 3 to Arundel.

I grew up in Crofton and you sound positively awful.

You sound naive. If some students need to move, it shouldn’t be kids with deep, longstanding roots in the community whose families fought for the construction of this school. Nantucket kids deserve better.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Severna park was in phase 1. There was not much pushback in that phase.

Crofton IS in phase 2 and the residents there are actually fighting the redistricting to try to KEEP the poorest/most diverse kids in the Crofton feeder (Nantucket elementary.) The redistricting as proposed has not at all been about diversifying school populations, which you seem to suggest. In the case of Crofton it would have effectively reduced the FARMS rate at CHS and made it whiter.

Yeah but majority white neighborhoods in Crofton Woods area stay in Crofton instead of moving to South River. The overarching theme in Crofton is “leave us alone.”

Um yeah, when you used our kids as numbers to prove your case that you needed to build Crofton High School, but are now discarding an oddly small cohort of them who will face the greatest change and burden of any other kids in the county? Yes, let us all go to the high school you USED US TO BUILD, and leave us alone.

The last time I checked, you all knew that Crofton High School would be over-capacity the day it serves all 4 grades. Then when redistricting started for Phase II, you all wanted to pretend your clearly overcrowded high school isn't overcrowded using ridiculous excuses.

1. "The lunches have plenty of empty tables": Yeah, no shit. The lunches take place during 3rd period, when seniors with partial schedules are already gone for the day. Also, you all conveniently leave out the fact that CrHS used to have an hour lunch system (which the students highly preferred) until it started serving all 4 grades. Beginning in the 2022-2023 school year, CrHS had to switch to 4 25-minute lunch blocks because it would be a fire hazard to have the amount of kids that would be in the cafeteria with the previous lunch block system and there aren't enough staff to cover that.


2. "The building feels spacious after seniors leave after 2nd period": That's probably true at every high school, doesn't change the fact that they're their for half of the school day. Also, not all seniors with a partial schedule take classes in the beginning of the day. Some take classes on A or B days only but are present for the full day, others come in later in the day.

3. "We can't build community with Arundel, we will be otherized as Crofton kids": Kids in Crofton attended Arundel High School up until 3 years ago and there were never issues with building community there at all. Nobody iced out Crofton kids for being from Crofton, nobody cares about what town anyone lives in. Most of the families moving to Arundel have Gambrills zip-codes--the same as Arundel High and many of the students already attending school there. Further, you're joining the Arundel cluster in middle school, when your kids are no more new than the kids from the other feeder elementary schools are. It's not like kids from Piney Orchard Elementary School magically know all the kids coming to Arundel Middle from Waugh Chapel Elementary School. EVERYONE is new to the Arundel cluster when they go to middle school because that's the first time the entire cluster is under one roof. In fact, numerous Arundel parents have been trying to set up events and do outreach with impacted Nantucket families to not only welcome the families with open arms, but also make the transition easier.

4. "We will be the only part of Crofton not attending Crofton schools": False. St. Stephens Church Road communities are within the Crofton CDP boundaries and are a stones throw from the Crofton cluster schools. They not only attend schools in a different cluster (Severn Run) but also take a bus up and down route 3, the same road you all claim is off limits for kids.


Instead of accepting the facts--which is that Crofton High and Middle are overcrowded, you all chose to deny those basic facts, come up with your own biased and skewed formulas for calculating SRC (like by using counseling suites as classrooms), and attacked/blocked/insulted anyone who accepted those basic facts. The school system did everything they could to keep Crofton together. They recalculated the SRC of CrHS where they were able to, they knocked down walls between offices to convert them into classrooms, and they expanded Crofton Middle School several times until the building was maxed out and could not be further expanded due to its layout. They can't do anymore without harming the quality of instruction at Crofton schools. Using counseling suites for SRC only hurts CrHS because now you're teaching kids out of a space that was not designed for teaching and learning, and the SRC of the school looks good on paper, which prevents the school from getting funds for an expansion. Redistricting Crofton was necessary at this point.

The nasty and immature behavior of many Crofton parents and their inability to accept basic facts and work with the Board is exactly what got them where they are today. They also taught children that kicking, screaming, treating adults with authority with disrespect, and acting like entitled brats is the way to get what you want. If you didn't want Nantucket to be split up, you should have accepted that Crofton schools are overcrowded and come up with an equitable redistricting plan instead--not moving a block of townhouses that have mostly Black residents out of Crofton schools while simultaneously screaming about protecting diversity in the Crofton cluster.

+100000

The Nantucket people absolutely bungled this from the beginning. The "Option Four" plan was outrageous and offended a lot of people who might have otherwise been on their side. Their behavior throughout has been disrespectful, mean, and rude. I know I'm not the only Crofton parent who was actively rooting for the split articulation. I'm looking forward to seeing the same group blow a bunch of money on their unsuccessful appeal.

It's ridiculous that they think they will be able to appeal this. What are they going to argue? All of the facts are on AACPS' side. Crofton High School and Crofton Middle School are overcrowded, the neighborhoods being moved to the Arundel cluster are some of the wealthiest and most expensive neighborhoods in the Crofton cluster, and AACPS already has split articulations at other schools.

The whole argument about diversity is a load of BS. This redistricting will actually make the demographics of the Arundel and Crofton clusters more balanced with each other. The 2019 redistricting for Crofton High School caused Black students to become more concentrated in the Arundel cluster after these same mostly white families pushed for route 3 to be the boundary between Crofton and Arundel and booted majority-Black Waugh Chapel Town Center communities out of the Crofton feeder system and placed them in the Arundel feeder system. People warned them of the diversity concerns and they didn't care. The effect was that Crofton Elementary and Middle got whiter while Arundel Middle and High got more Black. Moving the Nantucket neighborhoods to the Arundel cluster should actually make the racial and SES demographics of the Arundel and Crofton clusters closer to equal.

What other schools have split articulation in AACPS? My kids aren't in Crofton, and clearly I don't know the feeder pattern of every single school in the district, but split articulation in any situation seems like a terrible idea.

Other Schools in AACPS with Split Articulation:

MacArthur Middle School: Kids living in the attendance areas for Frank Hebron-Harman Elementary School and Van Bokkelen Elementary school feed to Severn Run High School, while the rest of the kids feed to Meade High School.
Corkran Middle School: Kids living in the attendance areas for Woodside Elementary and Oakwood Elementary School feed to Old Mill High School, while the rest of the kids feed to Glen Burnie High School.

That’s different. Those kids haven’t had their seats at their high school stolen by townhouse dwellers.

I hope this is sarcasm because that area of the county is the dumping ground for townhomes and apartments. The county and school system is committed to making it a super hyper electronic ghetto.

But for that strip of new build townhouses, there would be plenty of room for all of Nantucket to attend Croton High School. They’re not really a part of the Crofton community. Send them to Arundel. They’d probably be more comfortable there anyway.

Whoa, what does this even mean?

Signed,

Someone who grew up in Crofton, went to arundel, and now lives in odenton and has a kid who will go arundel

It means that Crofton High School was built to serve the Crofton community. Then a developer threw up 100 or so townhouses west of Route 3 a few years ago, and those kids were zoned for Crofton High, effectively displacing Nantucket Elementary kids. Nantucket kids are an indispensable part of the Crofton community and have been their entire lives. The Crofton community resents the River Walk kids for displacing Nantucket kids. It’s a bad situation for everyone that could be solved by simply sending everyone west of Route 3 to Arundel.

I grew up in Crofton and you sound positively awful.

You sound naive. If some students need to move, it shouldn’t be kids with deep, longstanding roots in the community whose families fought for the construction of this school. Nantucket kids deserve better.

Except kids on the west side of Route 3 have attended Crofton Middle School since Crofton Middle even existed, and Nantucket families were the ones historically always attending the Arundel cluster. A lot of the Nantucket homes moving to Arundel are just as new, and sometimes even newer, than the communities on the west side of Route 3 that got displaced.

[Anonymous]

It’s so funny how people want to blame Riverwalk and not the massive development of almost 200 homes that is Wilson’s Grove.