Boundary Review Meetings

[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:It was Crestwood.

Listening on line and the Board seems to not know what is going on or even to have any power. The consultants appear to be running the show.

That’s shocking. That wasn’t on any of the maps and they are pretty close to Lewis (well, all of Lewis’s boundaries are fairly close except perhaps the furthest ends of Saratoga).

Do we think this is some kind of move of Crestwood to WSHS and Hunt Valley to Lewis?

makes sense. HV is 200 more students than crestwood. so that adds students to Lewis which is underenrolled and reduces WSHS by 200 which is overenrolled. crestwood is also 50% FARMs and ESL while HV is like 10%. this helps with equitable outcomes between the schools.

Can someone explain how what they’re proposing to Halley and Gunston is equitable? They’re moving the Hagel Circle attendance island from Halley to Gunston (even though it’s still going to technically be an island). Hagel Circle is almost entirely FARMS. Halley will lose the majority of FARMS kids while Gunston will likely become a Title 1 school. In exchange for the increased students from Hagel Circle, they’re planning to move out a middle class neighborhood to Island Creek.

Bussing a low income neighborhood to a higher income school doesn’t work. Every neighborhood should be attending its closest school and this is extra true for lower income areas. Transportation is a real concern in high FARMS areas because not every household has a car, or maybe they only have 1 car for the whole household with multiple adults working in different areas. So if your kid misses the bus, there’s no way for them to get to school if walking isn’t realistic (which it absolutely is not from Hagel Circle to Halley). Parents are less likely to come to school conferences or events. Kids feel disconnected from the larger school community and it creates absenteeism.

I’m a South County parent although my kids are still in ES. If they move in Sangster’s small attendance island and most of HV south of the Parkway and don’t make any moves out, SCMS and HS are going to be overcrowded. No, I don’t really care which areas stay or go or come in to our boundaries in terms of the SES and which could give our school more “prestige,” I knew how the demographics were here when I bought and knew that it was a much larger income range compared to WS or Burke which seem more uniformly middle and UMC. But we can’t have a move in of a few hundred kids from WS and LB without a move out. Also worth noting there is significant room for development in Lorton - so a big new neighborhood could pop up at any moment, making the schools even more crowded and leading to “oops we need to make another boundary adjustment in 5-10 years” and a lot of instability.

Moving the kids from Halley to Gunston will not move a single kid out of SCMS or HS, so not sure what point you’re trying to make. Gunston is already a split feeder with the Mason Neck students going to SCMS/HS since it opened. Moving the Hagel Circle attendance island to Lorton Station would move those students to Hayfield. Additionally, there is a walking path in the back of Hagel Circle that leads to Lorton Station - getting to Gunston involves crossing Route 1 and walking down Gunston Road which doesn’t have sidewalks.

Hagel circle is fenced in. There is no proper path from the back of Hagel Circle. There are no trespassing signs posted all along there sir

FCPS adds entrances to fences to allow elementary kids to walk to their neighborhood schools.

Surely FCPS could work with that development to find a way to create a safe walking path from Hagel Circle to Lorton Station.

DP, and I don’t know that that’s a walkable distance BUT it’s certainly closer than Halley, and probably a little easier on the bus than the trip to Gunston. I’d imagine the bus would go from Hagel Cir. a little down Rt. 1 to Gunston Cove/Lorton Market, which never seems to be a hugely busy road, and then onto Lorton Road and Lorton Station Elementary is right there.

Distance wise, there are both about the same from Hagel Circle. Easier to get to Gunston since you just take a left and it leads you right to Gunston Elementary. But the main point made at the last boundary meeting and parents from Gunston was that Hagel Circle was walkable. Dr. Reid was misled and the board members are being made aware that it is a 30-40 minute walk.

Lorton Station is a much larger school than Gunston. The Gunston parents being forced out of Gunston to make room for the Hagel Circle by being moved to Island Creek are not happy. Halley’s Capacity will be at 68% without the Hagel Circle kids.

Suggestions:
1.) Add a gate to the back of Hagel Circle for the students to easily reach Lorton Station. This turns a 40 minute walk to 10 minutes. FCPS can facilitate this with the county.

2) Create an AAP center at Halley for the South County schools using Lorton Station. This will provide Lorton Station with the necessary capacity (despite them already currently having enough capacity without moving a single student) to accept the Hagel Circle students to their own neighborhood school.

Gunston families should not be sent to an elementary school much further away when Lorton Station is an option.

Go visit Hagel Circle before you make a suggestion.

1. The fence there separates Hagel Circle property from private property, not County Property. Good luck getting around that!
2. The fence also separates the businesses, good luck getting them to cooperate. That is also private property, not county property.
3. My child is in the AAP program, I’d like to keep him there. Why should Lorton station lose that because Gunston Parents don’t want Hagel Circle at Gunston Elementary?
4. Why do you keep mentioning “their own neighborhood school”? Hagel Circle has never been a part of Lorton Station, it’s still technically on what is referred to as Gunston land. Even the homes in Hagel Circle are called, “Terrace Town Homes of Gunston”. Half of Lorton Station is newly developed. Hagel Circle was zoned for Gunston Elementary before the change to Halley Elementary for many years so they have much more ties to Gunston Elementary than Lorton Station.

No one is saying that the AAP center at Lorton Station should be taken away. It’s a shared center for Hayfield/SoCo. Give SoCo its own with the extra capacity at Halley. Or better yet get rid of AAP centers entirely so that you don’t have this capacity nonsense.

Also, the only reason Hagel Circle was zoned for Gunston was because it’s an older neighborhood that existed prior to Lorton Station being built. It’s physically part of the Lorton Station area. Gunston is the oldest elementary school in Lorton, it used to be the only school for Lorton so your argument holds little weight. The school board knows this.

[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:It was Crestwood.

Listening on line and the Board seems to not know what is going on or even to have any power. The consultants appear to be running the show.

That’s shocking. That wasn’t on any of the maps and they are pretty close to Lewis (well, all of Lewis’s boundaries are fairly close except perhaps the furthest ends of Saratoga).

Do we think this is some kind of move of Crestwood to WSHS and Hunt Valley to Lewis?

makes sense. HV is 200 more students than crestwood. so that adds students to Lewis which is underenrolled and reduces WSHS by 200 which is overenrolled. crestwood is also 50% FARMs and ESL while HV is like 10%. this helps with equitable outcomes between the schools.

Can someone explain how what they’re proposing to Halley and Gunston is equitable? They’re moving the Hagel Circle attendance island from Halley to Gunston (even though it’s still going to technically be an island). Hagel Circle is almost entirely FARMS. Halley will lose the majority of FARMS kids while Gunston will likely become a Title 1 school. In exchange for the increased students from Hagel Circle, they’re planning to move out a middle class neighborhood to Island Creek.

Bussing a low income neighborhood to a higher income school doesn’t work. Every neighborhood should be attending its closest school and this is extra true for lower income areas. Transportation is a real concern in high FARMS areas because not every household has a car, or maybe they only have 1 car for the whole household with multiple adults working in different areas. So if your kid misses the bus, there’s no way for them to get to school if walking isn’t realistic (which it absolutely is not from Hagel Circle to Halley). Parents are less likely to come to school conferences or events. Kids feel disconnected from the larger school community and it creates absenteeism.

I’m a South County parent although my kids are still in ES. If they move in Sangster’s small attendance island and most of HV south of the Parkway and don’t make any moves out, SCMS and HS are going to be overcrowded. No, I don’t really care which areas stay or go or come in to our boundaries in terms of the SES and which could give our school more “prestige,” I knew how the demographics were here when I bought and knew that it was a much larger income range compared to WS or Burke which seem more uniformly middle and UMC. But we can’t have a move in of a few hundred kids from WS and LB without a move out. Also worth noting there is significant room for development in Lorton - so a big new neighborhood could pop up at any moment, making the schools even more crowded and leading to “oops we need to make another boundary adjustment in 5-10 years” and a lot of instability.

Moving the kids from Halley to Gunston will not move a single kid out of SCMS or HS, so not sure what point you’re trying to make. Gunston is already a split feeder with the Mason Neck students going to SCMS/HS since it opened. Moving the Hagel Circle attendance island to Lorton Station would move those students to Hayfield. Additionally, there is a walking path in the back of Hagel Circle that leads to Lorton Station - getting to Gunston involves crossing Route 1 and walking down Gunston Road which doesn’t have sidewalks.

Hagel circle is fenced in. There is no proper path from the back of Hagel Circle. There are no trespassing signs posted all along there sir

FCPS adds entrances to fences to allow elementary kids to walk to their neighborhood schools.

Surely FCPS could work with that development to find a way to create a safe walking path from Hagel Circle to Lorton Station.

DP, and I don’t know that that’s a walkable distance BUT it’s certainly closer than Halley, and probably a little easier on the bus than the trip to Gunston. I’d imagine the bus would go from Hagel Cir. a little down Rt. 1 to Gunston Cove/Lorton Market, which never seems to be a hugely busy road, and then onto Lorton Road and Lorton Station Elementary is right there.

Distance wise, there are both about the same from Hagel Circle. Easier to get to Gunston since you just take a left and it leads you right to Gunston Elementary. But the main point made at the last boundary meeting and parents from Gunston was that Hagel Circle was walkable. Dr. Reid was misled and the board members are being made aware that it is a 30-40 minute walk.

Lorton Station is a much larger school than Gunston. The Gunston parents being forced out of Gunston to make room for the Hagel Circle by being moved to Island Creek are not happy. Halley’s Capacity will be at 68% without the Hagel Circle kids.

Suggestions:
1.) Add a gate to the back of Hagel Circle for the students to easily reach Lorton Station. This turns a 40 minute walk to 10 minutes. FCPS can facilitate this with the county.

2) Create an AAP center at Halley for the South County schools using Lorton Station. This will provide Lorton Station with the necessary capacity (despite them already currently having enough capacity without moving a single student) to accept the Hagel Circle students to their own neighborhood school.

Gunston families should not be sent to an elementary school much further away when Lorton Station is an option.

Go visit Hagel Circle before you make a suggestion.

1. The fence there separates Hagel Circle property from private property, not County Property. Good luck getting around that!
2. The fence also separates the businesses, good luck getting them to cooperate. That is also private property, not county property.
3. My child is in the AAP program, I’d like to keep him there. Why should Lorton station lose that because Gunston Parents don’t want Hagel Circle at Gunston Elementary?
4. Why do you keep mentioning “their own neighborhood school”? Hagel Circle has never been a part of Lorton Station, it’s still technically on what is referred to as Gunston land. Even the homes in Hagel Circle are called, “Terrace Town Homes of Gunston”. Half of Lorton Station is newly developed. Hagel Circle was zoned for Gunston Elementary before the change to Halley Elementary for many years so they have much more ties to Gunston Elementary than Lorton Station.

No one is saying that the AAP center at Lorton Station should be taken away. It’s a shared center for Hayfield/SoCo. Give SoCo its own with the extra capacity at Halley. Or better yet get rid of AAP centers entirely so that you don’t have this capacity nonsense.

Also, the only reason Hagel Circle was zoned for Gunston was because it’s an older neighborhood that existed prior to Lorton Station being built. It’s physically part of the Lorton Station area. Gunston is the oldest elementary school in Lorton, it used to be the only school for Lorton so your argument holds little weight. The school board knows this.

If you study your response, or anyone that is reasonable, you can see your argument makes no sense. What does “physically a part of the Lorton Station area” mean? Look on the map and you will see exactly where Lorton Station is, it’s not part of or connected to Hagel Circle.

You’re missing the point, Hagel Circle is fenced in. There is no way there except for a long walk between 30-40 min.

Stop dragging this nonsense by trying to push Hagel Circle out of Gunston Elementary. It’s not right and actually it’s discriminatory. You know the real reason why it’s being done and once again, if analyzed, not one of the arguments made on the 22nd of October held any weight. Dr. Reid, parents, and other FCPS officials were misled about the walkability aspect of it.

[Anonymous]

What is next step on boundaries so we will see revisions to scenario 4?

[Anonymous]

When are the next meetings?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When are the next meetings?

There aren't any. The next maps will come out and if you want to comment on them, you'll probably have to use that boundary tool. They didn't promise meetings after every iteration of the map came out. I think there will be one last meeting in Dec. or Jan. when the school board accepts feedback on the final map and that's it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ya'll need to wave the white flag, and accept whatever school the school board wants to send your kids to.

They received a resounding mandate last night to do whatever they want to do to your kids education (or lack thereof) however they want to do it, under any timeline, without grandfathering if need be.

They know that there will be zero consequences in the next election for rezoning anyone.

Read the tea leaves and save your energy.

What is: How to totally misread last night’s results for a thousand, Alex.

Now, in a couple of years if they clean sweep the school board elections, that would be a better signal.

Of course they will clean sweep the school board elections.

They know after last night that they have support to do whatever they want to do however they want to do it.

You all know you will vote them back into office no matter who runs, and they know it too.

Anyone who is fighting the rezoning is fairly delusional that their opinion matters to the school board. They know and you know that they will either get reelected, or someone far worse/more extreme/more left than them will get elected, no matter which neighborhoods get rezoned.

I don’t buy that for a second. There are areas that have successfully fought boundary changes through each turn of the map. And don’t forget, the puppet masters of the school board is the Democratic Party, and margins statewide are much much closer. Sure, maybe the bond passes 70-30 in Fairfax, but push too hard and vouchers statewide become a real possibility.

What is the actual % of students who will be affected by redistricting? And maybe more to the point, how many will be affected negatively? 1%? This is a non-issue for almost everyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ya'll need to wave the white flag, and accept whatever school the school board wants to send your kids to.

They received a resounding mandate last night to do whatever they want to do to your kids education (or lack thereof) however they want to do it, under any timeline, without grandfathering if need be.

They know that there will be zero consequences in the next election for rezoning anyone.

Read the tea leaves and save your energy.

What is: How to totally misread last night’s results for a thousand, Alex.

Now, in a couple of years if they clean sweep the school board elections, that would be a better signal.

Of course they will clean sweep the school board elections.

They know after last night that they have support to do whatever they want to do however they want to do it.

You all know you will vote them back into office no matter who runs, and they know it too.

Anyone who is fighting the rezoning is fairly delusional that their opinion matters to the school board. They know and you know that they will either get reelected, or someone far worse/more extreme/more left than them will get elected, no matter which neighborhoods get rezoned.

I don’t buy that for a second. There are areas that have successfully fought boundary changes through each turn of the map. And don’t forget, the puppet masters of the school board is the Democratic Party, and margins statewide are much much closer. Sure, maybe the bond passes 70-30 in Fairfax, but push too hard and vouchers statewide become a real possibility.

What is the actual % of students who will be affected by redistricting? And maybe more to the point, how many will be affected negatively? 1%? This is a non-issue for almost everyone.

Exactly. Families who live on the boundaries of schools are the ones affected and that is a relatively small percentage of kids and parents. And it is not one or two kids but a group of kids that will be moving together, which will make the transition easier for the kids. They will move with friends and classmates, just like they would do going into MS or HS.

I have learned that people are far more attached to schools then I ever have been and will be. I have good memories, for the most part, of school but I never had a desire for my kid to attend the same schools I did because they were so amazing. I want school to be a positive experience for my kid, but it shouldn't be his identity. But so many people seem to be invested in their schools in ways that I don't understand.

That said, most people are not going to be affected by the moves. The only reason this might touch them is the amount of time the School Board has spent on it. The expenditure on the new school maybe but I think it is an easy case to make why it was needed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ya'll need to wave the white flag, and accept whatever school the school board wants to send your kids to.

They received a resounding mandate last night to do whatever they want to do to your kids education (or lack thereof) however they want to do it, under any timeline, without grandfathering if need be.

They know that there will be zero consequences in the next election for rezoning anyone.

Read the tea leaves and save your energy.

What is: How to totally misread last night’s results for a thousand, Alex.

Now, in a couple of years if they clean sweep the school board elections, that would be a better signal.

Of course they will clean sweep the school board elections.

They know after last night that they have support to do whatever they want to do however they want to do it.

You all know you will vote them back into office no matter who runs, and they know it too.

Anyone who is fighting the rezoning is fairly delusional that their opinion matters to the school board. They know and you know that they will either get reelected, or someone far worse/more extreme/more left than them will get elected, no matter which neighborhoods get rezoned.

I don’t buy that for a second. There are areas that have successfully fought boundary changes through each turn of the map. And don’t forget, the puppet masters of the school board is the Democratic Party, and margins statewide are much much closer. Sure, maybe the bond passes 70-30 in Fairfax, but push too hard and vouchers statewide become a real possibility.

What is the actual % of students who will be affected by redistricting? And maybe more to the point, how many will be affected negatively? 1%? This is a non-issue for almost everyone.

Exactly. Families who live on the boundaries of schools are the ones affected and that is a relatively small percentage of kids and parents. And it is not one or two kids but a group of kids that will be moving together, which will make the transition easier for the kids. They will move with friends and classmates, just like they would do going into MS or HS.

I have learned that people are far more attached to schools then I ever have been and will be. I have good memories, for the most part, of school but I never had a desire for my kid to attend the same schools I did because they were so amazing. I want school to be a positive experience for my kid, but it shouldn't be his identity. But so many people seem to be invested in their schools in ways that I don't understand.

That said, most people are not going to be affected by the moves. The only reason this might touch them is the amount of time the School Board has spent on it. The expenditure on the new school maybe but I think it is an easy case to make why it was needed.

They are now talking about giving current 7th graders and up an option whether to attend the new Western HS. Will similar consideration be given to other students affected by boundary changes elsewhere in the county?

FCPS seems to be sending mixed signals about how disruptive it is to be assigned to a new or different school. Half the time we are told it’s no big deal and kids should be resilient. And then they appear to be bending over backwards to give kids in at least some areas extended periods of time not to attend a new school.

Some consistency here might be nice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ya'll need to wave the white flag, and accept whatever school the school board wants to send your kids to.

They received a resounding mandate last night to do whatever they want to do to your kids education (or lack thereof) however they want to do it, under any timeline, without grandfathering if need be.

They know that there will be zero consequences in the next election for rezoning anyone.

Read the tea leaves and save your energy.

What is: How to totally misread last night’s results for a thousand, Alex.

Now, in a couple of years if they clean sweep the school board elections, that would be a better signal.

Of course they will clean sweep the school board elections.

They know after last night that they have support to do whatever they want to do however they want to do it.

You all know you will vote them back into office no matter who runs, and they know it too.

Anyone who is fighting the rezoning is fairly delusional that their opinion matters to the school board. They know and you know that they will either get reelected, or someone far worse/more extreme/more left than them will get elected, no matter which neighborhoods get rezoned.

I don’t buy that for a second. There are areas that have successfully fought boundary changes through each turn of the map. And don’t forget, the puppet masters of the school board is the Democratic Party, and margins statewide are much much closer. Sure, maybe the bond passes 70-30 in Fairfax, but push too hard and vouchers statewide become a real possibility.

What is the actual % of students who will be affected by redistricting? And maybe more to the point, how many will be affected negatively? 1%? This is a non-issue for almost everyone.

Exactly. Families who live on the boundaries of schools are the ones affected and that is a relatively small percentage of kids and parents. And it is not one or two kids but a group of kids that will be moving together, which will make the transition easier for the kids. They will move with friends and classmates, just like they would do going into MS or HS.

I have learned that people are far more attached to schools then I ever have been and will be. I have good memories, for the most part, of school but I never had a desire for my kid to attend the same schools I did because they were so amazing. I want school to be a positive experience for my kid, but it shouldn't be his identity. But so many people seem to be invested in their schools in ways that I don't understand.

That said, most people are not going to be affected by the moves. The only reason this might touch them is the amount of time the School Board has spent on it. The expenditure on the new school maybe but I think it is an easy case to make why it was needed.

Sounds like you had a tough time making friends in grade school. I truly feel sorry for you. Others of us realize just how incredible and formative those years and friends were for us, and stability was the key factor for us.

You can’t do math if you think this only impacts 1% of the students. That number is a gross underestimate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ya'll need to wave the white flag, and accept whatever school the school board wants to send your kids to.

They received a resounding mandate last night to do whatever they want to do to your kids education (or lack thereof) however they want to do it, under any timeline, without grandfathering if need be.

They know that there will be zero consequences in the next election for rezoning anyone.

Read the tea leaves and save your energy.

What is: How to totally misread last night’s results for a thousand, Alex.

Now, in a couple of years if they clean sweep the school board elections, that would be a better signal.

Of course they will clean sweep the school board elections.

They know after last night that they have support to do whatever they want to do however they want to do it.

You all know you will vote them back into office no matter who runs, and they know it too.

Anyone who is fighting the rezoning is fairly delusional that their opinion matters to the school board. They know and you know that they will either get reelected, or someone far worse/more extreme/more left than them will get elected, no matter which neighborhoods get rezoned.

I don’t buy that for a second. There are areas that have successfully fought boundary changes through each turn of the map. And don’t forget, the puppet masters of the school board is the Democratic Party, and margins statewide are much much closer. Sure, maybe the bond passes 70-30 in Fairfax, but push too hard and vouchers statewide become a real possibility.

What is the actual % of students who will be affected by redistricting? And maybe more to the point, how many will be affected negatively? 1%? This is a non-issue for almost everyone.

Exactly. Families who live on the boundaries of schools are the ones affected and that is a relatively small percentage of kids and parents. And it is not one or two kids but a group of kids that will be moving together, which will make the transition easier for the kids. They will move with friends and classmates, just like they would do going into MS or HS.

I have learned that people are far more attached to schools then I ever have been and will be. I have good memories, for the most part, of school but I never had a desire for my kid to attend the same schools I did because they were so amazing. I want school to be a positive experience for my kid, but it shouldn't be his identity. But so many people seem to be invested in their schools in ways that I don't understand.

That said, most people are not going to be affected by the moves. The only reason this might touch them is the amount of time the School Board has spent on it. The expenditure on the new school maybe but I think it is an easy case to make why it was needed.

Sounds like you had a tough time making friends in grade school. I truly feel sorry for you. Others of us realize just how incredible and formative those years and friends were for us, and stability was the key factor for us.

You can’t do math if you think this only impacts 1% of the students. That number is a gross underestimate.

I cannot speak to the numbers, but if it is your child, that doesn't matter. Easy to be fine with other kids switching.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ya'll need to wave the white flag, and accept whatever school the school board wants to send your kids to.

They received a resounding mandate last night to do whatever they want to do to your kids education (or lack thereof) however they want to do it, under any timeline, without grandfathering if need be.

They know that there will be zero consequences in the next election for rezoning anyone.

Read the tea leaves and save your energy.

What is: How to totally misread last night’s results for a thousand, Alex.

Now, in a couple of years if they clean sweep the school board elections, that would be a better signal.

Of course they will clean sweep the school board elections.

They know after last night that they have support to do whatever they want to do however they want to do it.

You all know you will vote them back into office no matter who runs, and they know it too.

Anyone who is fighting the rezoning is fairly delusional that their opinion matters to the school board. They know and you know that they will either get reelected, or someone far worse/more extreme/more left than them will get elected, no matter which neighborhoods get rezoned.

I don’t buy that for a second. There are areas that have successfully fought boundary changes through each turn of the map. And don’t forget, the puppet masters of the school board is the Democratic Party, and margins statewide are much much closer. Sure, maybe the bond passes 70-30 in Fairfax, but push too hard and vouchers statewide become a real possibility.

What is the actual % of students who will be affected by redistricting? And maybe more to the point, how many will be affected negatively? 1%? This is a non-issue for almost everyone.

Exactly. Families who live on the boundaries of schools are the ones affected and that is a relatively small percentage of kids and parents. And it is not one or two kids but a group of kids that will be moving together, which will make the transition easier for the kids. They will move with friends and classmates, just like they would do going into MS or HS.

I have learned that people are far more attached to schools then I ever have been and will be. I have good memories, for the most part, of school but I never had a desire for my kid to attend the same schools I did because they were so amazing. I want school to be a positive experience for my kid, but it shouldn't be his identity. But so many people seem to be invested in their schools in ways that I don't understand.

That said, most people are not going to be affected by the moves. The only reason this might touch them is the amount of time the School Board has spent on it. The expenditure on the new school maybe but I think it is an easy case to make why it was needed.

I live on one of these boundaries and my kids will be affected. Their friends will not follow them because their friends live well within the school boundaries and will stay at the same school. My kids friends aren't the kids that may live on the same street, but they live a few minutes away.

Maybe you can't understand someone's attachment to a school, but that doesn't mean it's not important. My kids are very much attached to their school and there is a HUGE community pride in it. Even their favorite colors tend to be the school colors. I don't think that's unheard of. Where I grew up, it was par for the course to show pride in your HS and everyone always talked about which one they went to. I do think that in NOVA there is a more transient community that may not build those type of bonds with people moving around all the time, but people and schools that create them shouldn't be ignored.

Our schools would change and all the school changes are good schools to good schools. There isn't much of a different in academics. But my kids are constantly worrying about the change because they've made their home at their school and that is where their community/people/friends are at. I hate that they have to think about this on top of all the other pressures at school.

The school boundary adjustment process just seems like an abomination in how FCPS is gong about it. Never in my professional career have I seen a process like this and I would be fired if I ever failed this badly at it.

[Anonymous]

FCPS seems to be sending mixed signals about how disruptive it is to be assigned to a new or different school. Half the time we are told it’s no big deal and kids should be resilient. And then they appear to be bending over backwards to give kids in at least some areas extended periods of time not to attend a new school.

Some consistency here might be nice.

This.

Reid reminds me of someone in a corn maze. She takes a step in one direction and hits a wall--so, what does she do? She pivots and goes in a different direction. Problem is, there may be a wall there, as well.

Did Reid and staff ever have a serious plan on this? Did they ever "worse case" anything?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ya'll need to wave the white flag, and accept whatever school the school board wants to send your kids to.

They received a resounding mandate last night to do whatever they want to do to your kids education (or lack thereof) however they want to do it, under any timeline, without grandfathering if need be.

They know that there will be zero consequences in the next election for rezoning anyone.

Read the tea leaves and save your energy.

What is: How to totally misread last night’s results for a thousand, Alex.

Now, in a couple of years if they clean sweep the school board elections, that would be a better signal.

Of course they will clean sweep the school board elections.

They know after last night that they have support to do whatever they want to do however they want to do it.

You all know you will vote them back into office no matter who runs, and they know it too.

Anyone who is fighting the rezoning is fairly delusional that their opinion matters to the school board. They know and you know that they will either get reelected, or someone far worse/more extreme/more left than them will get elected, no matter which neighborhoods get rezoned.

I don’t buy that for a second. There are areas that have successfully fought boundary changes through each turn of the map. And don’t forget, the puppet masters of the school board is the Democratic Party, and margins statewide are much much closer. Sure, maybe the bond passes 70-30 in Fairfax, but push too hard and vouchers statewide become a real possibility.

What is the actual % of students who will be affected by redistricting? And maybe more to the point, how many will be affected negatively? 1%? This is a non-issue for almost everyone.

Exactly. Families who live on the boundaries of schools are the ones affected and that is a relatively small percentage of kids and parents. And it is not one or two kids but a group of kids that will be moving together, which will make the transition easier for the kids. They will move with friends and classmates, just like they would do going into MS or HS.

I have learned that people are far more attached to schools then I ever have been and will be. I have good memories, for the most part, of school but I never had a desire for my kid to attend the same schools I did because they were so amazing. I want school to be a positive experience for my kid, but it shouldn't be his identity. But so many people seem to be invested in their schools in ways that I don't understand.

That said, most people are not going to be affected by the moves. The only reason this might touch them is the amount of time the School Board has spent on it. The expenditure on the new school maybe but I think it is an easy case to make why it was needed.

Sounds like you had a tough time making friends in grade school. I truly feel sorry for you. Others of us realize just how incredible and formative those years and friends were for us, and stability was the key factor for us.

You can’t do math if you think this only impacts 1% of the students. That number is a gross underestimate.

Nope, I had friends. I still talk with them on Facebook. We moved in between my Sophomore and Junior year, it was fine. I was unhappy to leave my friends at my original HS but made friends at my new HS. I attended the dances and played sports and joined clubs. I enjoyed myself, did well in school and went to college. I had high school classmates at my wedding. I suspect that there are plenty of military families that can point to moving regularly and their kids adapting and finding friends. I know at my kids ES the teacher would send an email out to the parents when a new student was joining the class and asking us to talk to our children about ways they can welcome the new student. Kids moved in and out and it was ok.

My kid is at a school that might be moved, we are all fine with the move. He'll be at a new school with kids he knows, and he'll make friends with new kids. Just like he did when he moved from ES to MS and just like he will do in HS. He will join clubs and activities and try out for teams, regardless of the name of the school.

I am pretty sure one of the boundary meetings put out that the number of kids moved will be about 1% but I could be misremembering that. 1% of 180,000, using rough numbers, is probably low, 1,800 kids, obviously low. Whatever the number is, there will be some pain but it is not going to be the mass trauma that parents think unless they have built up the importance of attending this specific school and only this school. Otherwise, kids will adapt to a new school with new friends just fine.

I get concerns moving to a school that is struggling, like Lewis or Herndon or Mt Vernon. I fully understand the concerns there. There are different class offerings and club opportunities and sports opportunities. The environment is obviously different. I don't have a solution. But when you have schools that are over crowded and schools that are under enrolled it is not a surprise that kids would be moved. And the class offerings will increase as more kids move to the schools who need and want those classes. But I understand why people are unhappy with that type of a move.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ya'll need to wave the white flag, and accept whatever school the school board wants to send your kids to.

They received a resounding mandate last night to do whatever they want to do to your kids education (or lack thereof) however they want to do it, under any timeline, without grandfathering if need be.

They know that there will be zero consequences in the next election for rezoning anyone.

Read the tea leaves and save your energy.

What is: How to totally misread last night’s results for a thousand, Alex.

Now, in a couple of years if they clean sweep the school board elections, that would be a better signal.

Of course they will clean sweep the school board elections.

They know after last night that they have support to do whatever they want to do however they want to do it.

You all know you will vote them back into office no matter who runs, and they know it too.

Anyone who is fighting the rezoning is fairly delusional that their opinion matters to the school board. They know and you know that they will either get reelected, or someone far worse/more extreme/more left than them will get elected, no matter which neighborhoods get rezoned.

I don’t buy that for a second. There are areas that have successfully fought boundary changes through each turn of the map. And don’t forget, the puppet masters of the school board is the Democratic Party, and margins statewide are much much closer. Sure, maybe the bond passes 70-30 in Fairfax, but push too hard and vouchers statewide become a real possibility.

What is the actual % of students who will be affected by redistricting? And maybe more to the point, how many will be affected negatively? 1%? This is a non-issue for almost everyone.

Exactly. Families who live on the boundaries of schools are the ones affected and that is a relatively small percentage of kids and parents. And it is not one or two kids but a group of kids that will be moving together, which will make the transition easier for the kids. They will move with friends and classmates, just like they would do going into MS or HS.

I have learned that people are far more attached to schools then I ever have been and will be. I have good memories, for the most part, of school but I never had a desire for my kid to attend the same schools I did because they were so amazing. I want school to be a positive experience for my kid, but it shouldn't be his identity. But so many people seem to be invested in their schools in ways that I don't understand.

That said, most people are not going to be affected by the moves. The only reason this might touch them is the amount of time the School Board has spent on it. The expenditure on the new school maybe but I think it is an easy case to make why it was needed.

I live on one of these boundaries and my kids will be affected. Their friends will not follow them because their friends live well within the school boundaries and will stay at the same school. My kids friends aren't the kids that may live on the same street, but they live a few minutes away.

Maybe you can't understand someone's attachment to a school, but that doesn't mean it's not important. My kids are very much attached to their school and there is a HUGE community pride in it. Even their favorite colors tend to be the school colors. I don't think that's unheard of. Where I grew up, it was par for the course to show pride in your HS and everyone always talked about which one they went to. I do think that in NOVA there is a more transient community that may not build those type of bonds with people moving around all the time, but people and schools that create them shouldn't be ignored.

Our schools would change and all the school changes are good schools to good schools. There isn't much of a different in academics. But my kids are constantly worrying about the change because they've made their home at their school and that is where their community/people/friends are at. I hate that they have to think about this on top of all the other pressures at school.

The school boundary adjustment process just seems like an abomination in how FCPS is gong about it. Never in my professional career have I seen a process like this and I would be fired if I ever failed this badly at it.

DP. Sounds like you need to do a better job of teaching your kids how to adapt to potential change. One of my kids might be moved and we aren’t thrilled about it, but we are trying to look at the bright side and not treating it like it’s the end of the world. There are much bigger challenges in life. Parents tend to feed their kids’ anxiety.

[Anonymous]

I suspect that there are plenty of military families that can point to moving regularly and their kids adapting and finding friends.

Not so much in high school.
Military family here.

MANY families I know have stayed put while spouse is deployed if kids are in high school. This is very common.
Many also choose to retire when kids are in high school rather than move their families. They are reaching retirement age when kids are in high school.

I was talking to a friend recently--a grandmother who was raised in a military family. Fifty years later she still resents the move she had to make in high school.

And, yes, there are many who also liked the lifestyle.