APS Boundary tool--anyone get it to work yet?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Pretty much anyone arguing for strictly geography to be considered. Also, it's mostly classism. So there's that.

Bullshit. The is efficiency, contiguity and alignment which most people would probably list if not even looking at any sort of demographic numbers. My spouse looked at the demographics that were available outside of just the free lunch data and the fact of the matter is that most if the poorer neighborhoods are clustered in the south do it is really difficult to achieve balance among all 3 schools. As others have noted in prior postings above the county is largely to blame for approving all of the affirdable units in the south with no requirement to factor in how this impacts the current school system.

I think that pp meant that by paying what they did they ensured proximity to their preferred school.
BS. I chose W-L after having gone to a similarity diverse (but good academically) HS filled with kids of different races and SES backgrounds. I bought a house before my kids started Kindergartem zoned specifically for W-L, as well as another diverse N Arlington elementary school.

My kids walk to elementary and we planned to have them walk to WL in coming years. We are 0.97 miles through neighborhoods to W-L, but our planning unit (a chunk out of the middle of a cohesive neighborhood) is under consideration for a move to Yorktown. The distance ranges from 1.0-1.6 miles.

If I were racist, I'd be ecstatic instead of upset.

We are in the same boat as you. Don't want to possibly move to yorktown. But the more honest quwstion us how would you feel about moving to wakefield. Also you also showed support that you want contiguity, efficiency and alignment.

I want to maintain my walkability to HS. Wakefield is an even longer bus ride. Much longer.

I didn't pay $1 million+ for Wakefield. For the County to take walkers and instead add 45 min to and from their homes in the morning (waiting for bus; bus stops, etc) is a County that is not thinking properly--especially when they made such a big deal about more sleep for HS students. It's untenable to use my children to support their social objective and increase the amount of bussing when they claim to want AC as car-free as possible.

You didn't pay $1 million for any school. You bought a house. The end.

I am not the poster above who said they paid $1 million so they wouldn't have to be in Wakefield, but it's also true that housing prices are strongly tied to school zones. To say it's not true, is naive.

I didn't say that housing prices are not influenced by schools. I'm not some rube who just fell from a turnip truck passing through Arlington.

I simply stated that things change and you have no more right to attend the school you were zoned for at the time of house purchase because you paid $1 million than someone who paid a mere $700,000. It doesn't work like that. The only way to guarantee a school through money is by paying tuition at a private school. It was your mistake not to realize this.

Sounds like you are somewhere between WL and Wakefield. Too bad for you. We are way further north. so yeah, our $1 million+ was well spent.

Nope, my PU isn't under consideration for a move. I just don't think anyone is any more or less entitled to a public school based on the price paid for a home. I can get on board with proximity being a factor, one of many, but not housing prices.

[Anonymous]

I simply stated that things change and you have no more right to attend the school you were zoned for at the time of house purchase because you paid $1 million than someone who paid a mere $700,000. It doesn't work like that. The only way to guarantee a school through money is by paying tuition at a private school. It was your mistake not to realize this.


Sounds like you are somewhere between WL and Wakefield. Too bad for you. We are way further north. so yeah, our $1 million+ was well spent.


Nope, my PU isn't under consideration for a move. I just don't think anyone is any more or less entitled to a public school based on the price paid for a home. I can get on board with proximity being a factor, one of many, but not housing prices.

I think the PP meant that they paid $1M plus to ensure they were close to their desired school. Given that most of Yorktown is within 1.5 miles of the planning units, supporting proximity would help them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:And ps- reading thread like this, with you whiny little North Arlington b*tches is why I haven't moved north.

Yet you want your kids out of Wakefield...

Enjoy!

And now S Arlington is the whiny little bitch crying unfair?

Please stop posting. You are making north Arlington look petty and stupid. I have friends that live near Arlington Ridge, and they will have no trouble buying a home north. They'll give up metro or whatever. I have friends all over Arlington, and while they may have to give up some positive aspects of their current house, they can all afford North Arlington. If people happily living in the Wakefield zone move north, we are all f#€ked.
This county can't afford a failing Wakefield. There are enough people willing to give it a shot now. That will change if the demographics slide toward majority Farm's students. How are you people not understanding this?

There is a lot of talk about how the county can't afford a failing Wakefield, how this won't be good for property values, etc.

How about the fact that a failing Wakefield means we are failing CHILDREN? WTF is wrong with you people? Basically 75% of the people on this thread could boil their position down to: "I got mine, so screw you."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread has got me looking at north Arlington real estate. I'm surprised at the number of homes my family could afford, zoned Yorktown.
So I've learned from this thread that WL is the truly sought after school in Arlington. Everyone is losing their minds at the prospect of being zoned to Yorktown or Wakefield. I assume for different reasons. I'm not crazy about Yorktown and our commute would suck, but we will have to consider moving into 22207 if Wakefield gets worse. We are ... cautiously ok with it now. I don't think I'd tolerate even a small shift in the wrong direction.

Bingo.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:People need to get their heads out of their asses and use their brains. If they don't take demographics into consideration, what exactly do they think is going to happen to WL in a couple of years? More and more people are going to try and shoehorn into whatever the new boundary is, especially if they increase the Wakefield FARMS rate. Hell, I bought for a home zoned Wakefield and have been totally fine with it, but I'll move in bounds for WL when the time comes, if Wakefield's demographics deteriorate.
We'll be right back where we started. It's a system wide problem, and has to be addressed as such.

Do you really think everyone will be successful at selling their homes in s. Arlington and moving to north? If thry could have they already would be here.

Yes, you ignorant snob, I do. If Wakefield becomes a no go school for every home buyer, you will also have new residents to Arlington not considering south Arlington and crowding into the North in even greater numbers. Use your brain.

THIS, FOR THE CHEAP SEATS.

And plus also, the county cannot afford to destabilize one of its three high schools, and tank the housing values of thousands of property owners zoned Wakefield. The county relies on the taxes, based on real estate assessments, to fund services to all parts of Arlington. If every home in south Arlington zoned Wakefield suddenly depreciates, the county will have less money for the services all residents enjoy. Good luck getting a fourth HS of any kind then. Bye, bye, additional 1300 seats.

I did use my brain. I bought a house in N. Arlington very close to my choice HS. You and others in S. Arlington decided to take a risk by buying into neighborhoods zoned for Wakefield. The market price reflects this disparity. Contrary to your claims that everyone will move, I don't think there is enough inventory for everyone who would like to do so to be able to do it. Moreover, when i was single, and newly married but childless, I did live in S. Arlington. It's even closer to my office in DC, and the rental market there remains strong (we as other childless renters there do not care about the quality of the schools in S. Arlington). So, I don't believe it will be all doom and gloom as you predict for the majority of property taxes (i.e., apt complexes and commercial real estate buildings). Once I started thinking about where to settle down long term, I bought a house in the north. It sounds like you are now bitter that your choice may negatively impacting your kids.

The poster who talks about tanking housing values should really be directing this wrath at the County Board. They're the ones who are approving more and more affordable housing units, which is further excaberating the overcrowding in the south of poorer students. The last time I checked it was not the school board's responsibility to consider plummeting housing values in the south but to think about what benefits the entire school population not just the poor students. The SB has identified SIX factors that should be weighed in deciding who needs to be moved out of WL, not just demographics.

What do you really expect most rational parents in the North to do? Agree to bussing their kids to a HS across town that has weaker academics when they would prefer to be closer to their neighborhood schools? Sorry, if the rest of us would prefer not to be part of that social experiment at the expense of our kids' educations. You are free to move up here, since you claim that most would be able to do so. If the prices in Wakefield decrease, the prices in the northern parts may increase. That appreciation may offset some of the decpreciation in the south, so the net effect on property taxes may not be as substantial as you claim.

What is funny is that the prior threads accused parents in the north of racism, but it's actually now turned to a discussion of property values.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Somebody is trying to make the ASF-Swanson-YHS trifecta that currently does not exist.

Homes in that potential planning unit are already the priciest PER SQ foot then anywhere else in the County. It's a shame they are splitting up a neighborhood and making neighbors ride a bus 40 min each way when they've could walk to subsidize their dreams. Some have definitely bought into the lemming-view that the whiter YHS is better for their dear children even if it means driving them personally, handing over the keys to their Mercedes or the dreaded bus (somebody no high schooler wants to ever have to ride$.

I'm sorry but WTH? There is no place in this county that is 40 minutes away from any other place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Somebody is trying to make the ASF-Swanson-YHS trifecta that currently does not exist.

Homes in that potential planning unit are already the priciest PER SQ foot then anywhere else in the County. It's a shame they are splitting up a neighborhood and making neighbors ride a bus 40 min each way when they've could walk to subsidize their dreams. Some have definitely bought into the lemming-view that the whiter YHS is better for their dear children even if it means driving them personally, handing over the keys to their Mercedes or the dreaded bus (somebody no high schooler wants to ever have to ride$.

I'm sorry but WTH? There is no place in this county that is 40 minutes away from any other place.

Unless your kids are the last ones on the bus route, those furthest away could easily be on the bus for that long. Think about it, the bus has to make many stops. Have you tried getting to Wakefield after school lets out (think after school sports). We've had soccer practice nearby and we got stuck on traffic all the way (with no bus stops).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And ps- reading thread like this, with you whiny little North Arlington b*tches is why I haven't moved north.

Yet you want your kids out of Wakefield...

Enjoy!

And now S Arlington is the whiny little bitch crying unfair?

Please stop posting. You are making north Arlington look petty and stupid. I have friends that live near Arlington Ridge, and they will have no trouble buying a home north. They'll give up metro or whatever. I have friends all over Arlington, and while they may have to give up some positive aspects of their current house, they can all afford North Arlington. If people happily living in the Wakefield zone move north, we are all f#€ked.
This county can't afford a failing Wakefield. There are enough people willing to give it a shot now. That will change if the demographics slide toward majority Farm's students. How are you people not understanding this?

There is a lot of talk about how the county can't afford a failing Wakefield, how this won't be good for property values, etc.

How about the fact that a failing Wakefield means we are failing CHILDREN? WTF is wrong with you people? Basically 75% of the people on this thread could boil their position down to: "I got mine, so screw you."

How about the fact that these Wakefield families freely chose to send their kids to Wakefield, and now they are pissed at the fact that not all parents agree with them?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Somebody is trying to make the ASF-Swanson-YHS trifecta that currently does not exist.

Homes in that potential planning unit are already the priciest PER SQ foot then anywhere else in the County. It's a shame they are splitting up a neighborhood and making neighbors ride a bus 40 min each way when they've could walk to subsidize their dreams. Some have definitely bought into the lemming-view that the whiter YHS is better for their dear children even if it means driving them personally, handing over the keys to their Mercedes or the dreaded bus (somebody no high schooler wants to ever have to ride$.

I'm sorry but WTH? There is no place in this county that is 40 minutes away from any other place.

Sure there is. It's called traffic, dunce.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Somebody is trying to make the ASF-Swanson-YHS trifecta that currently does not exist.

Homes in that potential planning unit are already the priciest PER SQ foot then anywhere else in the County. It's a shame they are splitting up a neighborhood and making neighbors ride a bus 40 min each way when they've could walk to subsidize their dreams. Some have definitely bought into the lemming-view that the whiter YHS is better for their dear children even if it means driving them personally, handing over the keys to their Mercedes or the dreaded bus (somebody no high schooler wants to ever have to ride$.

I'm sorry but WTH? There is no place in this county that is 40 minutes away from any other place.

Bus routes are rambling, have multiple stops and occupy the same roads with loads of other traffic. Kids on the far end of the route can have a lengthy ride.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And ps- reading thread like this, with you whiny little North Arlington b*tches is why I haven't moved north.

Yet you want your kids out of Wakefield...

Enjoy!

And now S Arlington is the whiny little bitch crying unfair?

Please stop posting. You are making north Arlington look petty and stupid. I have friends that live near Arlington Ridge, and they will have no trouble buying a home north. They'll give up metro or whatever. I have friends all over Arlington, and while they may have to give up some positive aspects of their current house, they can all afford North Arlington. If people happily living in the Wakefield zone move north, we are all f#€ked.
This county can't afford a failing Wakefield. There are enough people willing to give it a shot now. That will change if the demographics slide toward majority Farm's students. How are you people not understanding this?

There is a lot of talk about how the county can't afford a failing Wakefield, how this won't be good for property values, etc.

How about the fact that a failing Wakefield means we are failing CHILDREN? WTF is wrong with you people? Basically 75% of the people on this thread could boil their position down to: "I got mine, so screw you."

Lady---I moved out of DC because I was zoned for Wilson. You can move out of Wakefield zone. I could of sat and cried and cried and whined---but I got mine by changing my location. If you bought in to an area knowing the school was Wakefield---that's on you.

[Anonymous]

All of this bickering aside, I think APS really screwed up by not putting the IB program at Wakefield or creating some other kind of shiny object to draw people to it, something more universally appealing than just the extension of the immersion program. The one thing I know about APS parents is that if there is a program that is SPECIAL or EXCLUSIVE or COVETED that starts small, stays small, is self-selective, and has great results (test scores), it will be the HOTTEST thing in town. A program like this placed at Wakefield could have balanced the schools out on its own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Somebody is trying to make the ASF-Swanson-YHS trifecta that currently does not exist.

Homes in that potential planning unit are already the priciest PER SQ foot then anywhere else in the County. It's a shame they are splitting up a neighborhood and making neighbors ride a bus 40 min each way when they've could walk to subsidize their dreams. Some have definitely bought into the lemming-view that the whiter YHS is better for their dear children even if it means driving them personally, handing over the keys to their Mercedes or the dreaded bus (somebody no high schooler wants to ever have to ride$.

I'm sorry but WTH? There is no place in this county that is 40 minutes away from any other place.

Bus routes are rambling, have multiple stops and occupy the same roads with loads of other traffic. Kids on the far end of the route can have a lengthy ride.

My kids elementary school is 0.65 miles from their bus stop.

They have to be at the bus stop for an 8:19 AM pick-up and school doesn't start until 9 am. In the afternoon, if I pick up--my kids are home at 3:50---the bussed kids don't get home until 4:15pm on a good day...and this is a route INCREDIBLY CLOSE to the school and very few extra stops. Add a few more miles and, yes, those unlucky HIGH Schoolers will be getting up and leaving a full 45-50 min earlier than if they were walking or biking the 1.1 miles.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Somebody is trying to make the ASF-Swanson-YHS trifecta that currently does not exist.

Homes in that potential planning unit are already the priciest PER SQ foot then anywhere else in the County. It's a shame they are splitting up a neighborhood and making neighbors ride a bus 40 min each way when they've could walk to subsidize their dreams. Some have definitely bought into the lemming-view that the whiter YHS is better for their dear children even if it means driving them personally, handing over the keys to their Mercedes or the dreaded bus (somebody no high schooler wants to ever have to ride$.

I'm sorry but WTH? There is no place in this county that is 40 minutes away from any other place.

Bus routes are rambling, have multiple stops and occupy the same roads with loads of other traffic. Kids on the far end of the route can have a lengthy ride.

My kids elementary school is 0.65 miles from their bus stop.

They have to be at the bus stop for an 8:19 AM pick-up and school doesn't start until 9 am. In the afternoon, if I pick up--my kids are home at 3:50---the bussed kids don't get home until 4:15pm on a good day...and this is a route INCREDIBLY CLOSE to the school and very few extra stops. Add a few more miles and, yes, those unlucky HIGH Schoolers will be getting up and leaving a full 45-50 min earlier than if they were walking or biking the 1.1 miles.

+100 and going up LEE HWY is hell with traffic and lights. The bus to YHS will easily add that time. I get pissed when my kids practice at YHS or Discovery because it takes much longer to get there.

We go directly through the neighborhood to get the 1.2 miles to WL. NEVER ANY TRAFFIC on that route.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Somebody is trying to make the ASF-Swanson-YHS trifecta that currently does not exist.

Homes in that potential planning unit are already the priciest PER SQ foot then anywhere else in the County. It's a shame they are splitting up a neighborhood and making neighbors ride a bus 40 min each way when they've could walk to subsidize their dreams. Some have definitely bought into the lemming-view that the whiter YHS is better for their dear children even if it means driving them personally, handing over the keys to their Mercedes or the dreaded bus (somebody no high schooler wants to ever have to ride$.

I'm sorry but WTH? There is no place in this county that is 40 minutes away from any other place.

Bus routes are rambling, have multiple stops and occupy the same roads with loads of other traffic. Kids on the far end of the route can have a lengthy ride.

My kids elementary school is 0.65 miles from their bus stop.

They have to be at the bus stop for an 8:19 AM pick-up and school doesn't start until 9 am. In the afternoon, if I pick up--my kids are home at 3:50---the bussed kids don't get home until 4:15pm on a good day...and this is a route INCREDIBLY CLOSE to the school and very few extra stops. Add a few more miles and, yes, those unlucky HIGH Schoolers will be getting up and leaving a full 45-50 min earlier than if they were walking or biking the 1.1 miles.

Your kids take a bus to go half a mile to school?!? Why do they even have a bus within the one mile walk zone?!? Sounds like a waste of bus money since you all should be walking anyway.