Hearing Testimony on FCPS Proposed CIP

[Anonymous]

Lee is not closing. Just a troll.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow!!! Closing Lee. It makes sense since the other schools can absorb the kids but wow!

Yeah, no. Lee isn't closing.

[Anonymous]

I am in complete agreement that pockets of high-income families should not be "gerrymandered" in to the schools they want, but that is not the case for these few Rolling Valley subdivisions that go to Key/Lee. If, for instance, those subdivisions were high rise apartments with low income families I would absolutely feel the same way - that those few kids who spent 7 years at Rolling Valley building friendships, community, and support networks not to mention belonging to the same pools, sports teams, and churches as the RVES kids that go to West Springfield HS should absolutely be able to continue on with their community.

It's such a tiny group of people. If it were more equal then a split is fine, but it's only a very small group of kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not all of Hunt valley went to Lee. Just the area across the parkway. I’m curious about this because hunt valley is pretty full and it seems like they would want to address that. But then it would probably involve newington forest and south county.

Hunt valley is not very full.

My kids classes are between 24 to 2i kids.

We have no trailer classrooms. There is on trailer on campus and that is for something like music.

It is a nice, smaller school.

And yes, most of Hunt Valley has always been zoned for West Springfield High School. It has WSHS and over a half dozen other elementary schools between HV and Lee. There is not logical reason to have HV attending Lee when there are so many other schools that are closer.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Lee is a low performing school. Aren't smaller schools and smaller class sizes a priority for underperforming schools?

Yes, however segregation seems to have a more negative effect than smaller class size and schools. At least that's what's come out of most of the reports. Ideally there is some of both. Integration and smaller class sizes.

Smaller class sizes and smaller school sizes are not the same thing. The former may allow for more personal attention and instruction; the latter tends to lead to fewer course options, weak PTSAs, and extra-curricular programs that struggle to get off the ground.

FCPS has neglected Lee for many years, aided and abetted by weak school board members who don't stick up for the school. They should not be moving any kids out of West Springfield to Lee at the present time. Period.

I've posted before about Lee. FCPS and Fairfax County are addressing Lee HS by the renovation and revitalization of the mall. It's a long term plan.

You do not know what you are talking about... and you keep talking about it. Do you live anywhere near Lee/Springfield/the mall? If you did, you would know that that area has nothing to do with "revitalizing" Lee. Nothing. The mall is fine. But, it ain't gonna improve Lee.

Yes, I do live in the area and yes, home prices have gone up.

I agree.

The mall is slowly improving that area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Rezone those Rolling Valley kids to Saratoga Elementary. Then they will be completely in the Lee pyramid. All of those Rolling Valley kids that attend Key and Lee are near Rolling and the Parkway so they are close to Saratoga.

Which neighborhood from Rolling Valley is zoned for Lee?

It is a mistake for fcps to have split feeders where only a dozen or fewer kids zoned out of pyramid for middle or high school.

I think fcps should go zone by zone and fix that mistake like they did with the Daventry neighborhood so they no longer have this lack of continuity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow!!! Closing Lee. It makes sense since the other schools can absorb the kids but wow!

Don't get too excited. This is just conjecture by a random person posting on an anonymous forum.

There is one Saratoga poster who is VERY upset about being zoned for Lee. That poster posts often about wanting other schools to be reasoned so their kids attend Lee. It always sounds like her end game is to have Hunt Valley or Rolling Valley zoned entirely for Lee (even though the bulk of those homes were always zoned for West Springfield HS) so Saratoga can eventually be reasoned for West Springfield instead of Lee (even though that school is farther from WS than Hunt Valley or Rolling Valley, is outside of the West Springfield neighborhood in terms of sports and activity zones, and has always been zoned for Lee)

Closing Lee would make that dream of rezoning to WS closer to a reality for that poster. I guarantee if Lee were going to close, she would suddenly be arguing that West Springfield is under enrolled and needs to absorb Saratoga instead of her current argument that West Springfield is over enrolled and needs to be reasoned for Lee.

I personally thing she needs to advocate to be reasoned for South County not WSHS, or maybe even Hayfield. It makes the most sense geographically and capacity wise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am in complete agreement that pockets of high-income families should not be "gerrymandered" in to the schools they want, but that is not the case for these few Rolling Valley subdivisions that go to Key/Lee. If, for instance, those subdivisions were high rise apartments with low income families I would absolutely feel the same way - that those few kids who spent 7 years at Rolling Valley building friendships, community, and support networks not to mention belonging to the same pools, sports teams, and churches as the RVES kids that go to West Springfield HS should absolutely be able to continue on with their community.

It's such a tiny group of people. If it were more equal then a split is fine, but it's only a very small group of kids.

I agree.

It is poor planning to send only a tiny number of kids from one elementary school out of pyramid for middle and high school.

That is a zoning mistake that needs to be corrected district wide, one school at a time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not all of Hunt valley went to Lee. Just the area across the parkway. I’m curious about this because hunt valley is pretty full and it seems like they would want to address that. But then it would probably involve newington forest and south county.

Hunt valley is not very full.

My kids classes are between 24 to 2i kids.

We have no trailer classrooms. There is on trailer on campus and that is for something like music.

It is a nice, smaller school.

And yes, most of Hunt Valley has always been zoned for West Springfield High School. It has WSHS and over a half dozen other elementary schools between HV and Lee. There is not logical reason to have HV attending Lee when there are so many other schools that are closer.

I wasn't talking about the whole of HV going to Lee. The neighborhoods across the parkway used to go to Lee so I'm just curious if HV continued to grow, would these neighborhoods ever be zoned back to Lee but now that South County exists (it did not when rezoned 12 years ago), would that be another option?

[Anonymous]

FCPS (at least in the eastern part of the county) has blatantly set up a system of high SES/low SES schools. It has concentrated poverty at certain schools in a misguided effort to provide “enhanced services” for lower income populations at those schools. It’s not working.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FCPS (at least in the eastern part of the county) has blatantly set up a system of high SES/low SES schools. It has concentrated poverty at certain schools in a misguided effort to provide “enhanced services” for lower income populations at those schools. It’s not working.

+1. I've heard it was done intentionally as well. They will have to do an entire redistricting at the elementary, middle, and high school level to fix it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FCPS (at least in the eastern part of the county) has blatantly set up a system of high SES/low SES schools. It has concentrated poverty at certain schools in a misguided effort to provide “enhanced services” for lower income populations at those schools. It’s not working.

They need to go back to neighborhood schools zoned by neighborhood.

It is better for the kids.

Gerrymandered zones trying to pull in this neighborhood or that just makes people move away and then the school declines.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCPS (at least in the eastern part of the county) has blatantly set up a system of high SES/low SES schools. It has concentrated poverty at certain schools in a misguided effort to provide “enhanced services” for lower income populations at those schools. It’s not working.

+1. I've heard it was done intentionally as well. They will have to do an entire redistricting at the elementary, middle, and high school level to fix it.

At this point it Is not fixable in the sevens corner area.

Anyone you redone into a school like Bailey's Crossroads will either sell and move or pull their kids to send to private school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCPS (at least in the eastern part of the county) has blatantly set up a system of high SES/low SES schools. It has concentrated poverty at certain schools in a misguided effort to provide “enhanced services” for lower income populations at those schools. It’s not working.

+1. I've heard it was done intentionally as well. They will have to do an entire redistricting at the elementary, middle, and high school level to fix it.

Boundaries should be reviewed every 5 years or so to ensure that they continue to make sense as new development occurs, new roads constructed, etc.. Unfortunately, the school board is reluctant to do so because they know that parents (voters) would revolt but they need to have the guts to do the right thing instead of worrying about getting re-elected.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am in complete agreement that pockets of high-income families should not be "gerrymandered" in to the schools they want, but that is not the case for these few Rolling Valley subdivisions that go to Key/Lee. If, for instance, those subdivisions were high rise apartments with low income families I would absolutely feel the same way - that those few kids who spent 7 years at Rolling Valley building friendships, community, and support networks not to mention belonging to the same pools, sports teams, and churches as the RVES kids that go to West Springfield HS should absolutely be able to continue on with their community.

It's such a tiny group of people. If it were more equal then a split is fine, but it's only a very small group of kids.

Again, identify the other West Springfield families you are prepared to move to Lee if these Lee families move to West Springfield. Of all the split feeders FCPS could choose to eliminate, this one ought to be pretty far down the list.