Split articulation (bussing) for the new BCC Middle School?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Since minimal busing is the RCF goal, maybe CCES should feel that way too., send CCES to Westland with Westbrook, BE and Somerset. We are geographically closer to Westland and the school has more capacity for 4 schools than the new middle. NCC, Rosemary Hills and Rock Creek Forest take all the poor kids that are geographically closer to the new middle which will have more room to grow with the PL. You all will have a sky high Farms rate but seems you are ok with that. Quit using and abusing CCES kids to artificially lower farms rates of schools that are not anywhere close to their community and are in fact in entirely different towns! Since you all want to play ball, let's do the really fair thing and give our community a break. We do our part. Someone else step up.

All school boundaries are artificial.

Also, the school district is Montgomery County Public Schools, not Chevy Chase Public Schools.

[Anonymous]

If the town of chevy chase wants to try and set up its own school system from scratch they are welcome to try, but until then it's a little strange to argue that they don't want to go to school with kids from different "towns".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is pretty much no one going to RHPS now for whom it would be a burden to go to the new MS. For most people it would be closer, for some it might be halfway and for a few it might be slightly closer to Westland, but I don't see how going to the new school would be a burden.

Totally disagree. I live in Chevy Chase and the new MS site is really far away from my house and in a direction I would never drive otherwise.

Wouldn't there be school bus service from Chevy Chase to the new middle school?

Yes, I am sure there would be. But I would end up going there for sports events, parent teacher night, times when kid misses bus, etc. etc.

You want them to base the school assignments on whether you are used to driving in that direction? You sound like a 5 year old.

No, that's really not what I was saying. I was just pointing out that my child already will be bussed from the far end of CC for three years to go to RHPS, so it would be nice if the same population of kids didn't then have to ALSO get bussed way out to the new MS.

[Anonymous]

This fight is why we do private school for our three kids, the whole RHES mess reeks of bureaucrats playing society's doctor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is pretty much no one going to RHPS now for whom it would be a burden to go to the new MS. For most people it would be closer, for some it might be halfway and for a few it might be slightly closer to Westland, but I don't see how going to the new school would be a burden.

Totally disagree. I live in Chevy Chase and the new MS site is really far away from my house and in a direction I would never drive otherwise.

Wouldn't there be school bus service from Chevy Chase to the new middle school?

Yes, I am sure there would be. But I would end up going there for sports events, parent teacher night, times when kid misses bus, etc. etc.

You want them to base the school assignments on whether you are used to driving in that direction? You sound like a 5 year old.

No, that's really not what I was saying. I was just pointing out that my child already will be bussed from the far end of CC for three years to go to RHPS, so it would be nice if the same population of kids didn't then have to ALSO get bussed way out to the new MS.

And my point is that if you look at the maps, for most CCES families the new MS will be as close or closer as Westland. It's certainly possible you personally are a little closer to Westland than the new site but it's certainly not obvious geographically which way CCES as a whole should be assigned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Agree 100%. It also signals to the RHPS parents that the decades long sacrifice and effort to lower farms and for greater economic diversity was for nothing. It would send a terrible elitist message to the wider BCC cluster of creating another Pyle out of Westland. They said over and over again in the meeting, their first concert is equity. Option 5 is the least equitable on the table. As the CCES representative angrily said said "it iis downright offensive".

I don't know the history - can you tell me what you're talking about in terms of the RHPS long-term sacrifice?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is pretty much no one going to RHPS now for whom it would be a burden to go to the new MS. For most people it would be closer, for some it might be halfway and for a few it might be slightly closer to Westland, but I don't see how going to the new school would be a burden.

Totally disagree. I live in Chevy Chase and the new MS site is really far away from my house and in a direction I would never drive otherwise.

Wouldn't there be school bus service from Chevy Chase to the new middle school?

Yes, I am sure there would be. But I would end up going there for sports events, parent teacher night, times when kid misses bus, etc. etc.

You want them to base the school assignments on whether you are used to driving in that direction? You sound like a 5 year old.

No, that's really not what I was saying. I was just pointing out that my child already will be bussed from the far end of CC for three years to go to RHPS, so it would be nice if the same population of kids didn't then have to ALSO get bussed way out to the new MS.

And my point is that if you look at the maps, for most CCES families the new MS will be as close or closer as Westland. It's certainly possible you personally are a little closer to Westland than the new site but it's certainly not obvious geographically which way CCES as a whole should be assigned.

Ok, well, that isn't the point you made before. You instead just chiding me for sounding like a 4 year old. I happen to agree with you that the geographic boundary for CCES is oddly long and narrow, but none of us want to take up that battle now, do we?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This fight is why we do private school for our three kids, the whole RHES mess reeks of bureaucrats playing society's doctor.

How much do you pay per year to be unaffected by MCPS decisions on zoning for Westland MS and B-CC MS #2? Well, however many tens of thousands it is, I guess you think it's worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

No, that's really not what I was saying. I was just pointing out that my child already will be bussed from the far end of CC for three years to go to RHPS, so it would be nice if the same population of kids didn't then have to ALSO get bussed way out to the new MS.

I am not in the B-CC cluster. There is an elementary school that is 2 miles away from us. My kid "was bused" (although we actually thought of this as "took the school bus") to an elementary school 5 miles away. Also, there is a middle school that is 2 miles away from us. My kid takes the school bus to a middle school 6 miles away. Also, there is a high school that is 4 miles away from us. My kid will take the school bus to a high school 6 miles away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is pretty much no one going to RHPS now for whom it would be a burden to go to the new MS. For most people it would be closer, for some it might be halfway and for a few it might be slightly closer to Westland, but I don't see how going to the new school would be a burden.

Totally disagree. I live in Chevy Chase and the new MS site is really far away from my house and in a direction I would never drive otherwise.

Exactly, we really need to unlink NCC and CC ideally which is why there are options like #3.

I actually think 5 is the best.

If you think that MCPS is going to put all of the poor kids in the cluster in the same middle school, you haven't been paying attention.

Technically all the poor kids go to the same middle school now don't they? And why is creating a desirable highly rated and functioning middle school that will draw more upwardly mobile people to the area a bad thing? The new school will still be above avg and attract people who look to avoid Silver Spring schools and Westland might finally make a run at Pyle in terms of performance. Combined with logistically what is best for most everybody and minimal bussing it seems like a no brainier to me.

Suggesting it is ok to have one superior school for the "upwardly mobile" and another "sub par" but "good enough" school for everyone else or or the "others just gross when there are options on the table that are equitable. I hope I don't know you in real life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

No, that's really not what I was saying. I was just pointing out that my child already will be bussed from the far end of CC for three years to go to RHPS, so it would be nice if the same population of kids didn't then have to ALSO get bussed way out to the new MS.

I am not in the B-CC cluster. There is an elementary school that is 2 miles away from us. My kid "was bused" (although we actually thought of this as "took the school bus") to an elementary school 5 miles away. Also, there is a middle school that is 2 miles away from us. My kid takes the school bus to a middle school 6 miles away. Also, there is a high school that is 4 miles away from us. My kid will take the school bus to a high school 6 miles away.

You also probably have land and no traffic. I live in Chevy Chase and can walk to three different Elementary schools in around 15 minutes including BE, Somerset and Chevy Chase (3-6) but yet my 5 year old is bused many miles away to RHPS for the sake of economic diversity. Fine, ok, but then MCPS has no room to tell me diversity doesn't matter and neighborhood schools matter more. Then why has MCPS totured families in my neighborhood decades if economic diversity isn't important?.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are in Bethesda Elementary territory. It might make sense to send us to the new middle. I'd be fine with that - not sure it really matters. I'm not a fan of split articulation - I would rather they send all of BE to the new school.

Likewise. And my kid is a toddler so we will definitely be affected one way or the other. But we are in the East Bethesda neighborhood and used to be zoned for Rosemary Hills anyway until they changed it a couple of years ago, so we were always prepared that geography might not be the determining factor. Since our kids would ride the bus to either school, we don't care which one it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

You also probably have land and no traffic. I live in Chevy Chase and can walk to three different Elementary schools in around 15 minutes including BE, Somerset and Chevy Chase (3-6) but yet my 5 year old is bused many miles away to RHPS for the sake of economic diversity. Fine, ok, but then MCPS has no room to tell me diversity doesn't matter and neighborhood schools matter more. Then why has MCPS totured families in my neighborhood decades if economic diversity isn't important?.

MCPS has tortured families in your neighborhood? Sending a five-year-old on a 3-mile, 20-minute school bus ride is torture?

Also, when did MCPS say that economic diversity isn't important?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you think that MCPS is going to put all of the poor kids in the cluster in the same middle school, you haven't been paying attention.

Technically all the poor kids go to the same middle school now don't they? And why is creating a desirable highly rated and functioning middle school that will draw more upwardly mobile people to the area a bad thing? The new school will still be above avg and attract people who look to avoid Silver Spring schools and Westland might finally make a run at Pyle in terms of performance. Combined with logistically what is best for most everybody and minimal bussing it seems like a no brainier to me.

This insults the intelligence of everybody reading your post. You know, I know, and everybody knows that "everybody in the same middle school" and "all of the poor kids in one of the two middle schools" are not the same thing.

Also, it is not MCPS's function to maintain or improve your (or anybody else's) property values.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

You also probably have land and no traffic. I live in Chevy Chase and can walk to three different Elementary schools in around 15 minutes including BE, Somerset and Chevy Chase (3-6) but yet my 5 year old is bused many miles away to RHPS for the sake of economic diversity. Fine, ok, but then MCPS has no room to tell me diversity doesn't matter and neighborhood schools matter more. Then why has MCPS totured families in my neighborhood decades if economic diversity isn't important?.

MCPS has tortured families in your neighborhood? Sending a five-year-old on a 3-mile, 20-minute school bus ride is torture?

Also, when did MCPS say that economic diversity isn't important?

+1-- no one is sent "many miles" to RHPS. You should dial back the sense of injury.