Superintendent's Recommendation for Richard Montgomery ES #5 Boundaries

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:While some parents from RP may be happy to see balanced schools being changed to economically segregated schools, everyone in RP doesn't want to lose socioeconomic diversity.

I am not from RP. I am from Beall and I think this is complete nonsense.

If they want to come up with better options, the map is going to be all over the place and every school including mine and Twinbrook, will have massive disruptions and far drives to even out the playing field. Because the only options that I see are moving high FARMS areas out out of Twinbrook and Beall to RP and CG. And since those areas are closer to other schools, they will have to trade with non-FARMS areas like mine to also be bussed away from their closer schools to elsewhere. They will also have to bus kids further away to go into RM5 because the entire surrounding area is low income. The only reason RP even had FARMS was because of RP2. It is walkable to RM5. That isn't their fault. The only reason CG has FARMS is because of the small amount of apartments near the school. They are suburb schools that consist of single family homes. Families on FARMS do not live in single family homes. The schools closer to the urban areas and small homes, condos, and apartments have higher FARMS. That is how the whole county is. That is why there is no FARMS in Potomac, Darnestown, Poolesville....

I don't want entire areas pulled all over the place. I don't know of any other cluster that does this and we have some of the worst traffic. I think the cost would be expensive and the busses can not get to areas earlier to make up for the time because they are hauling in kids from middle school. Not to mention if a bus in only picking up one cluster far away that only half fills a bus, where else do they go to fill that bus. Are parents ready for Tier 2 kids to not walk in from their bus stop until 4:45pm? Making up 10-20min extra routes to help the FARMS by maybe 10% some places, seems impossible for the bus service and something the school budget shouldn't have to pay more for.

Thank you! I bet people arguing for more bussing are not even from the cluster,

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many voices outside of RM cluster have expressed deep concerns about intentionally creating economic segregation schools which goes against the stated goal of MCPS. Here are two relevant lines from MCPS .


- Guidance in MCPS Regulation FAA-RA to “promote the creation of a diverse student body in each of the affected schools,”

- MCPS Regulation FAA-RA states that boundary plans walking access to the school should be maximized and transportation distances
minimized when other factors do not require otherwise.”

Socioeconomic diversity is one of the the main factor and if it means you sacrifice distance then you do sacrifice. Ignoring socioeconomic diversity and focusing solely on distance will be a violation of MCPS regulation. Even now, you can find 100s of examples where distance is sacrificed for other factors. There is no reason to not to do the same in RM#5. Intentionally we should not be creating economically segregated schools. RP is losing all socioeconomic diversity and at the same time we are putting all poor kids in one place to create a second high poverty school in RM cluster. It's unfair to students attending RP and it will be unfair for students attending RM#5 to attend economically segregated schools.

A large number of parents and organizations have spoken against the economic segregation of kids. MCPS has stated goal as well to not create such situations.

The school system can only do so much to counter-act socio-economic segregation. A better route is to gather up parents who want more integration and diversity to advocate/work with the City of Rockville's and MoCo's housing agencies to work on buying single family homes in Potomac Woods, Horizon Hill, and Falls Ridge to convert into low-income housing in those neighborhoods. There will then be more economic integration and diversity in those neighborhoods and children can still go to neighborhood schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Are you in the cluster? Because 10 min bus ride is a mythical creature not in existence here. We live less than 2 miles away from school and bus ride is anywhere from 15 to 25 min. 355 traffic is horrible. Bussing kids from further out is a disservice to the kids. No one wants to sit on the bus for 30+ min.

I am not the same PP, but it's perfectly possible to come up with options with more balanced school without creating any bus ride of 30+ min. I have read few alternative options and none of them bus kids from one end to other end of cluster. I also don't think that it's worth while to have SES diversity if any option put 30+ minute bus ride for anyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Are you in the cluster? Because 10 min bus ride is a mythical creature not in existence here. We live less than 2 miles away from school and bus ride is anywhere from 15 to 25 min. 355 traffic is horrible. Bussing kids from further out is a disservice to the kids. No one wants to sit on the bus for 30+ min.

I am not the same PP, but it's perfectly possible to come up with options with more balanced school without creating any bus ride of 30+ min. I have read few alternative options and none of them bus kids from one end to other end of cluster. I also don't think that it's worth while to have SES diversity if any option put 30+ minute bus ride for anyone.

I haven't read any. Please post them or your own perfectly possible options.

[Anonymous]

The Board of Education is having a working session this Thursday, Nov 9 to reconvene the Boundary Committee and run the numbers and discuss alternative options to the Superintendent's recommendation. The public can attend and watch questions at the end.

You can watch them online at http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/boe/meetings/live.aspx
Meetings are also broadcast live on Comcast Channel 34, Verizon FIOS Channel 36, and RCN Channel 88. Meetings are rebroadcast at 1 p.m. on the Saturday and Sunday following the meeting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Board of Education is having a working session this Thursday, Nov 9 to reconvene the Boundary Committee and run the numbers and discuss alternative options to the Superintendent's recommendation. The public can attend and watch questions at the end.

You can watch them online at http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/boe/meetings/live.aspx
Meetings are also broadcast live on Comcast Channel 34, Verizon FIOS Channel 36, and RCN Channel 88. Meetings are rebroadcast at 1 p.m. on the Saturday and Sunday following the meeting.

More of our school budget going to a decision they could have made months ago. Sick of my taxes going towards this political BS. Can the BOE ever do anything sufficiently?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Board of Education is having a working session this Thursday, Nov 9 to reconvene the Boundary Committee and run the numbers and discuss alternative options to the Superintendent's recommendation. The public can attend and watch questions at the end.

You can watch them online at http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/boe/meetings/live.aspx
Meetings are also broadcast live on Comcast Channel 34, Verizon FIOS Channel 36, and RCN Channel 88. Meetings are rebroadcast at 1 p.m. on the Saturday and Sunday following the meeting.

Are the work sessions listed somewhere different? The website says there will be hearings on Monday the 6th and Wednesday the 8th, but the agenda contain very little content so ai can’t tell what they will actually discuss.

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/boe/meetings/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many voices outside of RM cluster have expressed deep concerns about intentionally creating economic segregation schools which goes against the stated goal of MCPS. Here are two relevant lines from MCPS .


- Guidance in MCPS Regulation FAA-RA to “promote the creation of a diverse student body in each of the affected schools,”

- MCPS Regulation FAA-RA states that boundary plans walking access to the school should be maximized and transportation distances
minimized when other factors do not require otherwise.”

Socioeconomic diversity is one of the the main factor and if it means you sacrifice distance then you do sacrifice. Ignoring socioeconomic diversity and focusing solely on distance will be a violation of MCPS regulation. Even now, you can find 100s of examples where distance is sacrificed for other factors. There is no reason to not to do the same in RM#5. Intentionally we should not be creating economically segregated schools. RP is losing all socioeconomic diversity and at the same time we are putting all poor kids in one place to create a second high poverty school in RM cluster. It's unfair to students attending RP and it will be unfair for students attending RM#5 to attend economically segregated schools.

A large number of parents and organizations have spoken against the economic segregation of kids. MCPS has stated goal as well to not create such situations.

The school system can only do so much to counter-act socio-economic segregation. A better route is to gather up parents who want more integration and diversity to advocate/work with the City of Rockville's and MoCo's housing agencies to work on buying single family homes in Potomac Woods, Horizon Hill, and Falls Ridge to convert into low-income housing in those neighborhoods. There will then be more economic integration and diversity in those neighborhoods and children can still go to neighborhood schools.

I doubt Rockville/MoCo has enough money to buy up SFH homes in those expensive areas just to build low income housing. Never gonna happen. Also, if you add multi-family units in those areas, RP would end up over capacity.. again, and/or it would require re-zoning. I don't think MCPS is going to rezone this area again in the next 10 years. Let's be realistic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many voices outside of RM cluster have expressed deep concerns about intentionally creating economic segregation schools which goes against the stated goal of MCPS. Here are two relevant lines from MCPS .


- Guidance in MCPS Regulation FAA-RA to “promote the creation of a diverse student body in each of the affected schools,”

- MCPS Regulation FAA-RA states that boundary plans walking access to the school should be maximized and transportation distances
minimized when other factors do not require otherwise.”

Socioeconomic diversity is one of the the main factor and if it means you sacrifice distance then you do sacrifice. Ignoring socioeconomic diversity and focusing solely on distance will be a violation of MCPS regulation. Even now, you can find 100s of examples where distance is sacrificed for other factors. There is no reason to not to do the same in RM#5. Intentionally we should not be creating economically segregated schools. RP is losing all socioeconomic diversity and at the same time we are putting all poor kids in one place to create a second high poverty school in RM cluster. It's unfair to students attending RP and it will be unfair for students attending RM#5 to attend economically segregated schools.

A large number of parents and organizations have spoken against the economic segregation of kids. MCPS has stated goal as well to not create such situations.

The school system can only do so much to counter-act socio-economic segregation. A better route is to gather up parents who want more integration and diversity to advocate/work with the City of Rockville's and MoCo's housing agencies to work on buying single family homes in Potomac Woods, Horizon Hill, and Falls Ridge to convert into low-income housing in those neighborhoods. There will then be more economic integration and diversity in those neighborhoods and children can still go to neighborhood schools.

I doubt Rockville/MoCo has enough money to buy up SFH homes in those expensive areas just to build low income housing. Never gonna happen. Also, if you add multi-family units in those areas, RP would end up over capacity.. again, and/or it would require re-zoning. I don't think MCPS is going to rezone this area again in the next 10 years. Let's be realistic.

As soon as Crown will be built, they will rezone. Most likely moves are King Farm and Fallsgrove. So another rezone will be in a few years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many voices outside of RM cluster have expressed deep concerns about intentionally creating economic segregation schools which goes against the stated goal of MCPS. Here are two relevant lines from MCPS .


- Guidance in MCPS Regulation FAA-RA to “promote the creation of a diverse student body in each of the affected schools,”

- MCPS Regulation FAA-RA states that boundary plans walking access to the school should be maximized and transportation distances
minimized when other factors do not require otherwise.”

Socioeconomic diversity is one of the the main factor and if it means you sacrifice distance then you do sacrifice. Ignoring socioeconomic diversity and focusing solely on distance will be a violation of MCPS regulation. Even now, you can find 100s of examples where distance is sacrificed for other factors. There is no reason to not to do the same in RM#5. Intentionally we should not be creating economically segregated schools. RP is losing all socioeconomic diversity and at the same time we are putting all poor kids in one place to create a second high poverty school in RM cluster. It's unfair to students attending RP and it will be unfair for students attending RM#5 to attend economically segregated schools.

A large number of parents and organizations have spoken against the economic segregation of kids. MCPS has stated goal as well to not create such situations.

The school system can only do so much to counter-act socio-economic segregation. A better route is to gather up parents who want more integration and diversity to advocate/work with the City of Rockville's and MoCo's housing agencies to work on buying single family homes in Potomac Woods, Horizon Hill, and Falls Ridge to convert into low-income housing in those neighborhoods. There will then be more economic integration and diversity in those neighborhoods and children can still go to neighborhood schools.

Are you serious? Good lord. It the county could afford that they should have been buying up homes in the Potomac and Bethesda school zones to increase their FARMS past 0-3%. The least expensive home in the areas you mentioned above would be 700K. Why would the county buy even one home and who would pay for all the utilities.

Some people never cease to amaze me what they think the government should do to even the playing field. Kids (even illegal kids) are already give free education, free transportation, free meals, free English lessons if needed. Welfare, HUD, food stamps, etc... Now we should give away half a million to million dollar homes to the poor?? We just keep enabling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Are you serious? Good lord. It the county could afford that they should have been buying up homes in the Potomac and Bethesda school zones to increase their FARMS past 0-3%. The least expensive home in the areas you mentioned above would be 700K. Why would the county buy even one home and who would pay for all the utilities.

Some people never cease to amaze me what they think the government should do to even the playing field. Kids (even illegal kids) are already give free education, free transportation, free meals, free English lessons if needed. Welfare, HUD, food stamps, etc... Now we should give away half a million to million dollar homes to the poor?? We just keep enabling.

You're right, that would be poor housing policy. A better option would be to change the zoning to allow developers to buy the properties and and redevelop them as multi-family housing, with a certain percentage of units set aside as workforce and affordable housing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Are you serious? Good lord. It the county could afford that they should have been buying up homes in the Potomac and Bethesda school zones to increase their FARMS past 0-3%. The least expensive home in the areas you mentioned above would be 700K. Why would the county buy even one home and who would pay for all the utilities.

Some people never cease to amaze me what they think the government should do to even the playing field. Kids (even illegal kids) are already give free education, free transportation, free meals, free English lessons if needed. Welfare, HUD, food stamps, etc... Now we should give away half a million to million dollar homes to the poor?? We just keep enabling.

You're right, that would be poor housing policy. A better option would be to change the zoning to allow developers to buy the properties and and redevelop them as multi-family housing, with a certain percentage of units set aside as workforce and affordable housing.

I admit I don't much about real estate laws and such, but what is preventing developers from buying those home now and building townhomes there? For example, there is no assocation in HH to stop someone from building multi-family units. I suppose the city/county could prevent it, but would they really? Also, how many multi-family units can be built on one lot? It's extremely rare for multiple houses next to each other to be on the market at the same time such that a develope can buy all of them to build multi-family units.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many voices outside of RM cluster have expressed deep concerns about intentionally creating economic segregation schools which goes against the stated goal of MCPS. Here are two relevant lines from MCPS .


- Guidance in MCPS Regulation FAA-RA to “promote the creation of a diverse student body in each of the affected schools,”

- MCPS Regulation FAA-RA states that boundary plans walking access to the school should be maximized and transportation distances
minimized when other factors do not require otherwise.”

Socioeconomic diversity is one of the the main factor and if it means you sacrifice distance then you do sacrifice. Ignoring socioeconomic diversity and focusing solely on distance will be a violation of MCPS regulation. Even now, you can find 100s of examples where distance is sacrificed for other factors. There is no reason to not to do the same in RM#5. Intentionally we should not be creating economically segregated schools. RP is losing all socioeconomic diversity and at the same time we are putting all poor kids in one place to create a second high poverty school in RM cluster. It's unfair to students attending RP and it will be unfair for students attending RM#5 to attend economically segregated schools.

A large number of parents and organizations have spoken against the economic segregation of kids. MCPS has stated goal as well to not create such situations.

The school system can only do so much to counter-act socio-economic segregation. A better route is to gather up parents who want more integration and diversity to advocate/work with the City of Rockville's and MoCo's housing agencies to work on buying single family homes in Potomac Woods, Horizon Hill, and Falls Ridge to convert into low-income housing in those neighborhoods. There will then be more economic integration and diversity in those neighborhoods and children can still go to neighborhood schools.

I doubt Rockville/MoCo has enough money to buy up SFH homes in those expensive areas just to build low income housing. Never gonna happen. Also, if you add multi-family units in those areas, RP would end up over capacity.. again, and/or it would require re-zoning. I don't think MCPS is going to rezone this area again in the next 10 years. Let's be realistic.

As soon as Crown will be built, they will rezone. Most likely moves are King Farm and Fallsgrove. So another rezone will be in a few years.

I doubt that Crown will be built in the next few years. And even so, I doubt Fallsgrove will move to Crown HS because that would cause the other ESs around there to be over capacity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I doubt that Crown will be built in the next few years. And even so, I doubt Fallsgrove will move to Crown HS because that would cause the other ESs around there to be over capacity.

Fallsgrove can stay at Ritchie Park for ES and go to Crown for high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I admit I don't much about real estate laws and such, but what is preventing developers from buying those home now and building townhomes there? For example, there is no assocation in HH to stop someone from building multi-family units. I suppose the city/county could prevent it, but would they really? Also, how many multi-family units can be built on one lot? It's extremely rare for multiple houses next to each other to be on the market at the same time such that a develope can buy all of them to build multi-family units.

Zoning laws.