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Question: Has any "suggestions" been made about particular moves? Or is everyone just confused?
Do we have theories on who would be moved?
So the starting point would be the schools that are severely overcrowded. Taking those schools and trying to shift those populations to schools not as crowded.
https://www.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/pdf/Proposed-FCPS-FY-2025-29-CIP.pdf
Langley at 98% capacity and Herndon at 71% should have great falls worried
You’re using last year’s numbers. Enrollment is down a lot at Langley, they can absorb the McLean attendance island without going above capacity.
There are two Mclean attendance islands, and they are most definitely on the block to be absorbed.
I know, but the one to its south isn’t going to Langley because that’d be an even worse attendance island.
The one should go to Falls Church HS, then they might actually put some money in that school and it would raise its performance overall. The other should go to Marshall. The would be help in equity.
Makes no sense. One island, if moved, would go to Langley and the other to Falls Church or Marshall.
Moving the southern island to Falls Church would be neutral in terms of FCHS’s performance. It basically has the same overall demographics as Falls Church. It’s poorer than Marshall and moving it there would reduce Marshall’s overall academic scores.
I don’t have any objection to the McLean attendance island going to Langley. It doesn’t put Langley over capacity, even without any other moves.
Your issue isn't going to be whether you "consent" to the McLean attendance island going to Langley. It's whether it becomes the pretext to move a chunk of Great Falls to Herndon. They have the authority to do that regardless of whether Langley is then sitting at 95% capacity, 99% capacity, or 101% capacity, if they're projecting Herndon will be at 71% capacity in five years.
As you know, the issue isn’t Herndon High, is Herndon Middle, which would be significantly overcapacity with that move.
And I’m not sure why the school board would want to pick a fight with residents by moving a school that isn’t crowded.
I'm not going to argue with you. You're at their disposal, not mine, but some of them would likely relish picking a fight with you.
Would love to know who and why they would relish a “fight” with constituents especially when it involved impacting children.
Have you really not been paying attention?
First, eight of the Board members (a 2/3 majority) don't consider you to be their constituents and some of them think it will enhance their reputation with their constituents if they move McLean and Langley kids around.
Second, two of the four who should be viewing you as their constituents (Lady and McDaniel) seem all-in on boundary changes. Moon and McElveen seem much less enthusiastic about county-wide changes, but will they go to bat for people or just distance themselves from what's happening around them?
Pretty messed up to enhance their reputation by sticking it to a bunch of kids for no reason. But maybe I’ve come to expect too much from elected officials in Fairfax county.
They will have a grab bag of justifications if they so choose. In terms of reasons, claiming that they are shortening commutes and avoiding 29% under-enrollment at HHS will stack up nicely with eliminating an attendance island, which was OK to have around for 40 years not doing anyone any harm (and perhaps doing some kids some good) but is now apparently intolerable.
The whole study is a mess borne of a desire to avoid accountability and now spiraling into something potentially much worse.
Just to reiterate though, Herndon middle is the one that’ll be overcrowded. And by their own hand-picked study (provided to the boundary review advisory committee on December 6), only commutes over an hour has any detrimental impact on academics or sleep. It’ll be a move made in spite and would likely cause political damage to the school board and its party.
You don't think shifting around the rest of the county including sending kids from good schools to bad schools while leaving Langley (with no poor kids and one of the most affluent student bodies in the state) alone wouldn't be even worse for their political careers?
I think there are really only two or three areas in their sights, so there is a world, as others have mentioned, where they fix the split feeders and call it a day.
Way better outcome all around (including for their political careers) than moves for the sake of sticking it to people based on stereotypes of perceived wealth.
Politically, the best move would be to live boundaries alone and make it easier for families zoned for bad schools to easily transfer
You are literally arguing to deal these schools their finally blow. The state could then get involved and direct other changes that could include distribution of those students to surrounding schools.
And what of the students that can't transfer?
FCPS needs to do everything possible to stop the transfers.
If those schools have to reorganize as academies or magnets, good. Kids shouldn’t be zoned to failing schools in a district that has some of the best schools in the state
People shouldn't refer to "failing" schools without clear, objective, and reasonable metrics for what constitutes "failure" or "success."
Some schools that get tagged as "failing" may have the most dedicated teachers and staff and may be doing more to raise a kid's performance than some of the "top" schools. It all depends on the starting point of the students when they enter the school.
Those are things you say when the test scores are far lower than neighboring schools
You clearly don't understand demographics. I question your education.
Demographics are destiny for schools. The schools are objectively bad and parents who don’t want that for their kids should have a way out
Let's do a thought experiment. Starting point the year 2000. Numbers just made up for the thought experiment. School A has scores of 85% passing. School B has scores of 90% passing. Transient population. Seemingly very little difference.
Year 2005. Word spreads that School B does slightly better than School A on scores, so new community members move to school B zone. Now School A drops to 80% passing, while School B stays at 90% passing.
Year 2010. Word spreads that School B now does even better than School A, so even more new community members move to School B. School A passing rate drops to 70% and enrollment falls, increasingly made up of families new to the country...School B continues to hum along at 90% passing.
Year 2015. Great Schools shows a disparity in rankings between Schools A and B. Even more new community members move to School B, while less fortunate immigrants are not able to make that choice. Scores drop at School A to 60% passing while School B continues to pass at 90%.
Year 2020. Now the problem is a glaring disparity to the point where people absolutely have no intention of ever sending their kids to School A. Enrollment number continues to fall and become even poorer at School A. Passing rate at School A drops to 50%. School B continues to pass at 90%.
None of this is necessarily the fault of the school or teachers at School A. They are dealing with a completely different population. It demonstrates that a disparity like this doesn't pop up overnight but happens over years.
Fairfax and its transient population have MADE these schools what they are.