Barcroft elementary/ south Arlington crisis

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This was posted on another thread, but I thought there might be people interested here as well.


The Affordable housing being crammed onto the western end of the Pike is of huge concern to all of the nearby neighborhoods.
If you live in Alcova heights, Douglas Park, Columbia Forrest, Nauck, Barcroft, Clarmemont etc... You need to make your voices heard.
There is a community meeting of the Concerned Citizens Group meeting on May 27, 7:30pm at Arlington Mill Community Center.
There is another meeting at Rappanhanock Coffee on June 1 at 10am.
Time is running out for us to voice our opinions and concerns. There are decisions being made that will impact our schools, property values and quality of life for decades to come. I urge people to make the time to be there.


Barcroft is really struggling, and if your child isn't zoned for that school it will likely be your problem soon. The proposed policies of the Arlington county board will cause these issues across all of south Arligton. This is not about being against affordable housing, this is about how we are accomplishing our goals as a county. The affordable housing lobby is very organized, very loud, and not concerned with the welfare of middle class arlingtonians and their children's education. We have to start advocating for ourselves. If not that board will take our silence as consent. Please try and make one of the two meetings.

North Arlington resident here who fled Alexandria. I tell you people that diversity is overrated, and you don't listen. No, you attack. And then, when you discover that diversity isn't the Benetton ad of your fantasies, you freak out. Sheesh.

Nothing like having a couple of kids who might have to go to school with the browns and the poors to bring out your inner racist, eh?

Woah, you appear to be replying to yourself. Did you mean to call yourself a racist?

Dude- can seriously tell where comments come from? I'm not tech savvy, but are you looking at IP's? Cuz... Dude.

Yes, or else you would have entire threads of people posting bogus comments in support of themself. I'm very glad that threads of that ilk are locked.

I don't think there's any way to tell if its different people in the same house, though. My husband and I have commented in the same thread before...would look like we were the same person to anyone examining the IP. (Although if the above two posts were two different people in the same house....that's kind of funny.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a crisis in many localities, including my county, Fairfax county, where multi-family housing is crammed into the eastern and southern portions of the county, and the rest of the county rules the roost, and wonders why there are so many low SES students taking up resources in other parts of the county.

+1. This is going on in close-in Maryland as well. People, low income housing is not going to be distributed into the wealthiest parts of the county. Children are not going to be bused around.

You have three options: focus on creating a stronger community within your school for all families, move, or switch your kids to private.

I have 3 children ranging in ages from 14 - 7. And have seen my kids' schools become less diverse with the influx of low-income Hispanic families into Montgomery county. My recommendation is to stick it out and give your local schools a try. Encourage your neighbors to do so as well. Work on building a community. Your child's academic outcomes are most determined by academic achievement of their parents. Your kids will be fine.

And I made the comment above as someone who lives in a lower SES area of Fairfax County, and is stupefied at the idiocy of McLean etc. residents who are threatening legal action due to lower SES students sucking up resources. It really isn't an accident that one area of the county shoulders more than its fair share of lower SES students, and for them to insinuate that we live high on the hog all on the backs of their tax dollars is infuriating.

We bought knowing what we were getting into.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This was posted on another thread, but I thought there might be people interested here as well.


The Affordable housing being crammed onto the western end of the Pike is of huge concern to all of the nearby neighborhoods.
If you live in Alcova heights, Douglas Park, Columbia Forrest, Nauck, Barcroft, Clarmemont etc... You need to make your voices heard.
There is a community meeting of the Concerned Citizens Group meeting on May 27, 7:30pm at Arlington Mill Community Center.
There is another meeting at Rappanhanock Coffee on June 1 at 10am.
Time is running out for us to voice our opinions and concerns. There are decisions being made that will impact our schools, property values and quality of life for decades to come. I urge people to make the time to be there.


Barcroft is really struggling, and if your child isn't zoned for that school it will likely be your problem soon. The proposed policies of the Arlington county board will cause these issues across all of south Arligton. This is not about being against affordable housing, this is about how we are accomplishing our goals as a county. The affordable housing lobby is very organized, very loud, and not concerned with the welfare of middle class arlingtonians and their children's education. We have to start advocating for ourselves. If not that board will take our silence as consent. Please try and make one of the two meetings.

North Arlington resident here who fled Alexandria. I tell you people that diversity is overrated, and you don't listen. No, you attack. And then, when you discover that diversity isn't the Benetton ad of your fantasies, you freak out. Sheesh.

I don't know who " you people " are... I am among a group of growing, well educated, middle class that has purchased a single family home south of 50. Most of us purchased in the last 6-7 years and are now having kids. We couldn't afford the north Arlington prices, but have made significant investments in our homes and communities. We work hard, and paid significantly to buy into Arlington. I really don't want to hear from older south Arligton residents, who bought decades ago, and don't have kids in the system. I also don't want to hear from northside liberals who are oh so supportive of affordable housing, so long as its not in their school zone/ backyard.
And I don't want to hear any snark about looking into schools before purchase. I did my due diligence. Our school ( not Barcroft) has been trending up. I don't want to see what happened over at Barcroft happen to our school. I also feel solidarity with the other members of our community and feel the need to lend support.

That's fine, just answer me two questions:

1) When you bought, did you regard "diversity" as a desirable attribute, list it on your criteria?
2) On other threads, do you attack people in N. Arlington for sending kids to majority white schools and tout the suppose benefits of diversity?

If not, fine. But there are a LOT of people who do this.

Big Nope to all. Don't get me wrong I'm ok with my kid being a minority- I'm not cool with my kid being in a failing school.

[Anonymous]

APS needs to start busing kids around to 'spread the love.'

except, of course, the community wants less busing but more walkers, because buses are expensive and bad for environment.

[Anonymous]

You can't win, it seems. So you want to raise your kids in a down to earth not über wealthy neighborhood in what is overall considered an excellent school district, but if you choose not to buy into the north or can't afford to, you're stuck having disproportionately poor school population because the political clout is in the north. Also, although you're one of the people who intentionally moved into a neighborhood with diversity, everyone points the finger at you as being a racist when you point out that it's not ideal to have a school population comprised almost entirely of FARMs-eligible /English learners. It's a great way to shut you up , because no one likes to be called a racist. Even though numerous studies support your observation. I've been there and while I think it's ridiculously unfair and you're almost certainly correct that you're getting screwed over by NIMBYs who decided to shift the burdens of affordable housing to your hood, it's also entirely predictable and consistent with the way things have always worked. We eventually did some soul searching and realized for us, the best choice was to move to the North. It's not that bad up here and I spend zero time worrying about schools, which has completely changed my life.

[Anonymous]

If I could move north, I would. But I bought fairly recently and would lose a ton of money. I moved knowing that there were lots of Latino kids at Barcroft, I am half Latina myself and speak Spanish. But, I did not know the school would become overwhelmingly low income due to county affordable housing policy. Now I am stuck.

Everyone wants their kids to have access to a great education. That access is deniedat Barcroft now. My kid goes there.

We need to get to the politicians. Are they like members of congress, can we go to their offices and have meetings with them?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If I could move north, I would. But I bought fairly recently and would lose a ton of money. I moved knowing that there were lots of Latino kids at Barcroft, I am half Latina myself and speak Spanish. But, I did not know the school would become overwhelmingly low income due to county affordable housing policy. Now I am stuck.

Everyone wants their kids to have access to a great education. That access is deniedat Barcroft now. My kid goes there.

We need to get to the politicians. Are they like members of congress, can we go to their offices and have meetings with them?

Hello neighbor! Please try to make one of the meetings. We are trying to find a way to break through. The above poster sounds like they have much experience, and maybe I'm young and naive... But I feel like we have to try. Hope to see you there.

[Anonymous]

I think there is some sour grapes with the residents buying the higher priced homes in south arlington once their kids start schools. It's all gum drops and jujubes until they are in the south arlington public schools. Just search redfin south arlington new builds and homes above 800K and you'll probably find all the complainers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think there is some sour grapes with the residents buying the higher priced homes in south arlington once their kids start schools. It's all gum drops and jujubes until they are in the south arlington public schools. Just search redfin south arlington new builds and homes above 800K and you'll probably find all the complainers.

Try all of the homes. You can't buy into these neighborhoods under 600K these days. I'm not talking renovated houses. These are older homes that might be reasonably well maintained, but are by no means new. My neighborhood has a mix of high and low... But the low ain't that low.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You can't win, it seems. So you want to raise your kids in a down to earth not über wealthy neighborhood in what is overall considered an excellent school district, but if you choose not to buy into the north or can't afford to, you're stuck having disproportionately poor school population because the political clout is in the north. Also, although you're one of the people who intentionally moved into a neighborhood with diversity, everyone points the finger at you as being a racist when you point out that it's not ideal to have a school population comprised almost entirely of FARMs-eligible /English learners. It's a great way to shut you up , because no one likes to be called a racist. Even though numerous studies support your observation. I've been there and while I think it's ridiculously unfair and you're almost certainly correct that you're getting screwed over by NIMBYs who decided to shift the burdens of affordable housing to your hood, it's also entirely predictable and consistent with the way things have always worked. We eventually did some soul searching and realized for us, the best choice was to move to the North. It's not that bad up here and I spend zero time worrying about schools, which has completely changed my life.

The solution is actually pretty simple - all housing becomes market rate. I don't support affordable housing at all even though realistically. I as a middle class person, benefit from affordable housing. No, I don't actually qualify but I live in an apartment close by to low income housing. Developers are not keen to put in money to this area so my older apartment is market rate but at a cheaper market rate.

The policies simply continue to hurt the people they are supposed to help. There is no possible way a family of 4 with an income of $40K is ever going to get ahead by living in Arlington. Never. It's a shame really. Sometimes, I think the liberals in the area just like to keep the low income families around to make themselves feel better. It's certainly not because they are concerned about these actual families and their ability to get out of poverty and move up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can't win, it seems. So you want to raise your kids in a down to earth not über wealthy neighborhood in what is overall considered an excellent school district, but if you choose not to buy into the north or can't afford to, you're stuck having disproportionately poor school population because the political clout is in the north. Also, although you're one of the people who intentionally moved into a neighborhood with diversity, everyone points the finger at you as being a racist when you point out that it's not ideal to have a school population comprised almost entirely of FARMs-eligible /English learners. It's a great way to shut you up , because no one likes to be called a racist. Even though numerous studies support your observation. I've been there and while I think it's ridiculously unfair and you're almost certainly correct that you're getting screwed over by NIMBYs who decided to shift the burdens of affordable housing to your hood, it's also entirely predictable and consistent with the way things have always worked. We eventually did some soul searching and realized for us, the best choice was to move to the North. It's not that bad up here and I spend zero time worrying about schools, which has completely changed my life.

The solution is actually pretty simple - all housing becomes market rate. I don't support affordable housing at all even though realistically. I as a middle class person, benefit from affordable housing. No, I don't actually qualify but I live in an apartment close by to low income housing. Developers are not keen to put in money to this area so my older apartment is market rate but at a cheaper market rate.

The policies simply continue to hurt the people they are supposed to help. There is no possible way a family of 4 with an income of $40K is ever going to get ahead by living in Arlington. Never. It's a shame really. Sometimes, I think the liberals in the area just like to keep the low income families around to make themselves feel better. It's certainly not because they are concerned about these actual families and their ability to get out of poverty and move up.

Actually,market rate is worse than committed affordable, from a schools perspective. The families in the low-cost market rate apartments are always moving around and the low-rent buildings attract a lot of...low-rent people. Lots of single people crowding into an apartment, etc. The families in committed affordable stay there for much longer periods, so less turnover in the classroom, and the housing situation is generally more safe and stable.

[Anonymous]

Can you show me comps where prices are lower than several years ago? We're in Barcroft zone but have no kids so this school crisis is news to us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can't win, it seems. So you want to raise your kids in a down to earth not über wealthy neighborhood in what is overall considered an excellent school district, but if you choose not to buy into the north or can't afford to, you're stuck having disproportionately poor school population because the political clout is in the north. Also, although you're one of the people who intentionally moved into a neighborhood with diversity, everyone points the finger at you as being a racist when you point out that it's not ideal to have a school population comprised almost entirely of FARMs-eligible /English learners. It's a great way to shut you up , because no one likes to be called a racist. Even though numerous studies support your observation. I've been there and while I think it's ridiculously unfair and you're almost certainly correct that you're getting screwed over by NIMBYs who decided to shift the burdens of affordable housing to your hood, it's also entirely predictable and consistent with the way things have always worked. We eventually did some soul searching and realized for us, the best choice was to move to the North. It's not that bad up here and I spend zero time worrying about schools, which has completely changed my life.

The solution is actually pretty simple - all housing becomes market rate. I don't support affordable housing at all even though realistically. I as a middle class person, benefit from affordable housing. No, I don't actually qualify but I live in an apartment close by to low income housing. Developers are not keen to put in money to this area so my older apartment is market rate but at a cheaper market rate.

The policies simply continue to hurt the people they are supposed to help. There is no possible way a family of 4 with an income of $40K is ever going to get ahead by living in Arlington. Never. It's a shame really. Sometimes, I think the liberals in the area just like to keep the low income families around to make themselves feel better. It's certainly not because they are concerned about these actual families and their ability to get out of poverty and move up.

Actually,market rate is worse than committed affordable, from a schools perspective. The families in the low-cost market rate apartments are always moving around and the low-rent buildings attract a lot of...low-rent people. Lots of single people crowding into an apartment, etc. The families in committed affordable stay there for much longer periods, so less turnover in the classroom, and the housing situation is generally more safe and stable.

That may very well be true, but if you read the county report on affordable housing you will see that the market rate housing is a very important factor, as far as percentage available. It's on record stating that the county will do what it can to maintain all exisiting market rate affordable housing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can you show me comps where prices are lower than several years ago? We're in Barcroft zone but have no kids so this school crisis is news to us.

I would suggest you look at a real estate site and see what things have sold for in the last year or so. I've only heard antecdotal accounts of people being advised to not list their homes ( by realtors) at this time due to the school crisis. If you are planning to stay for the long haul, I would think you will be ok. However, if kids are in your future I would start looking into the school situation and get involved. The board has very specific goals they want to meet for affordable housing. They are good goals, and need to be a priority in our county. Unfortunately they do not seem to be taking a well thought out approach. If we don't hold them accountable they will move forward with the solutions that are easiest for them, and tell our smaller neighborhoods to just , " come to grips with it"
If you would like to learn more please try to make one of the meetings.

[Anonymous]

I will be coming to the meetings to learn more. New poster here. I love how the "I moved to North Arlington poster" is trying to bully/ guilt people in to just shutting up. As if saying I told you so makes it right. The board represents the entire county, not just North Arlington.