FCPS Boundary Review Updates

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The biggest IB defenders are
Parents who use it to escape their zoned IB
Schools

We are at SLHS and most of the people in my neighborhood are happy there and think that it is crazy that we are thinking about principal placing to an AP school. Some have kids working on the diploma. Some just don't get the idea of leaving the school and friends for a different school because "IB is fine." I think most fall into the latter category. They are ok with their kids taking a few IB classes and honors classes. I think the reality is that most of the IB schools are places where a significant percentage of the population are not fully engaged in school as it is and the kids are mainly in gen ed classes. The kids who are really academically engaged or motivated will go for the diploma or transfer out. The other families are happy with what the IB offers and where their kids go to college and don't have a strong feeling.

I would guess then that you would have 10% of the population being very supportive of IB, 10% wanting a change to AP, 50% not caring, and 30 percent happy and unconcerned.

But I do have friends who think that IB is great and is better than AP. I have friends who just want our kid to stay at the base school with his friends because they are friends. Most of our neighbors think moving for AP is extreme and don't think that it matters that Calculus is taught as its own class or that IB physics is algebra based and not calculus based.

The only successful IB school in FCPS is Robinson.

None of the others come close in diplomas awarded.

Go to the Virginia Department of Education website and look at the yearly stats provided by FCPS.

It is clear that IB is a failure everywhere except for Robinson.

Robinson is very big, so it awards the most IB diplomas, but my recollection is that a higher percentage of the IB diploma candidates at Marshall receive IB diplomas than at Robinson or the six other FCPS schools with IB.

Regardless of whether you consider IB a failure or a success at some schools, most parents and students prefer AP over IB, and further efforts to redistrict kids into IB schools will land with a giant thud.

Robinson is not very big by FCPS standards.

The high school averages fewer than 2300 students.

Marshall has just over 2000 students.

Why not check the enrollment numbers for Robinson before making incorrect statements? It's really not that hard.

Robinson 9-12 Enrollment (March):

Current Year: 2495
2024: 2480
2023: 2518
2022: 2485
2021: 2548

I was comparing general education enrollment to general education enrollment, based off data on the school profile:

Robinson Marshall
2021-22 2322 1,932
2022-23 2336 1,996
2023-24 2298 2,033


https://schoolprofiles.fcps.edu/schlprfl/f?p=108:13::::0_CURRENT_SCHOOL_ID,P0_EDSL:390,0

https://schoolprofiles.fcps.edu/schlprfl/f?p=108:13::::0_CURRENT_SCHOOL_ID,P0_EDSL:070,0


Robinson is not extraordinarily large by FCPS, and Marshall is not a small school.


Lewis is a small school. WSHS is a large school. Marshall and Robinson are right in the middle.

Twist yourself into knots if you want. If you strip out some kids for Robinson, you'd have to strip them out for all the other schools as well.

Robinson has a higher than average HS enrollment for an FCPS high/secondary school, even if some schools like Chantilly, West Springfield, and Lake Braddock are larger.

[Anonymous]

News today that Gerry Connolly will not run for re-election in Virginia's 11th District (health reasons).

Will Karl Frisch try to run for his seat? If so, maybe they'll delay boundary changes. Karl is very much a political animal and won't want blowback from unpopular boundary changes interfering with his electoral aspirations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:News today that Gerry Connolly will not run for re-election in Virginia's 11th District (health reasons).

Will Karl Frisch try to run for his seat? If so, maybe they'll delay boundary changes. Karl is very much a political animal and won't want blowback from unpopular boundary changes interfering with his electoral aspirations.

If boundary changes go through I will spend a lot of money and time campaigning against Frisch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:News today that Gerry Connolly will not run for re-election in Virginia's 11th District (health reasons).

Will Karl Frisch try to run for his seat? If so, maybe they'll delay boundary changes. Karl is very much a political animal and won't want blowback from unpopular boundary changes interfering with his electoral aspirations.

If boundary changes go through I will spend a lot of money and time campaigning against Frisch.

Same. I'd provide campaign donations to a box turtle if it ran in a primary with Frisch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:News today that Gerry Connolly will not run for re-election in Virginia's 11th District (health reasons).

Will Karl Frisch try to run for his seat? If so, maybe they'll delay boundary changes. Karl is very much a political animal and won't want blowback from unpopular boundary changes interfering with his electoral aspirations.

I'm sure he wants it but he lost a special election primary for a House of Delegate seat while outspending his opponent. He doesn't have the capacity to win the primary for Connolly's seat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:News today that Gerry Connolly will not run for re-election in Virginia's 11th District (health reasons).

Will Karl Frisch try to run for his seat? If so, maybe they'll delay boundary changes. Karl is very much a political animal and won't want blowback from unpopular boundary changes interfering with his electoral aspirations.

I have to assume that the front runner is Jeff McKay if he wants it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:News today that Gerry Connolly will not run for re-election in Virginia's 11th District (health reasons).

Will Karl Frisch try to run for his seat? If so, maybe they'll delay boundary changes. Karl is very much a political animal and won't want blowback from unpopular boundary changes interfering with his electoral aspirations.

Hopefully Karl will double down on boundary changes and DEI so the seat will be up for grabs.

[Anonymous]

Actually I just saw on Reddit that Connolly is endorsing James Walkinshaw of the BoS for his seat. Hopefully they avoid a nasty primary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Actually I just saw on Reddit that Connolly is endorsing James Walkinshaw of the BoS for his seat. Hopefully they avoid a nasty primary.

I wondered about that when Walkinshaw was posting a nice letter to Connolly and reminding everyone he used to be Connolly's chief of staff on socials.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, those who are most knowledgeable about the factors relevant to boundary discussions are a mix of current and former parents. The BRAC process is designed to select a group of current parents who may or may not be very knowledgeable and can be led down the desired path by FCPS staff and Thru Consulting. Of course, some are sharp and will challenge them and ask the right questions, but a lot of them seem unlikely to do much more than make sure they aren’t personally affected in what they’d consider a negative way.

That’s not intended as an insult, just a reminder that folks shouldn’t assume that what comes out of the BRAC process reflects the best possible thinking on the topic. People who’ve been largely sidelined should absolutely continue to monitor these proposals and challenge those they believe are ill-advised.

Agree. I follow this forum because I became interested during earlier boundary studies. I do post on this thread because I see similarities of earlier efforts. I understand some of the decisions and was a close observer of the 2008 study when I saw how politics (specifically the South Lakes PTA) could drive the results. Watching the SB meetings at that time when so many parents who had kids affected stood up to respectfully request that South Lakes switch to AP, was enlightening to me. The SB ignored those requests which were heartfelt. Another meeting for the community had SB members sitting with their backs to the attendees.
That boundary "study" we predetermined and I believe this one is, as well. Just look at the way they selected the BRAC committee. The groups selected are comprised mostly of activists. The selection of the pyramid reps--intended to give the appearance of a lack of bias--is just the opposite. The parents from my pyramid come from the same neighborhood school. I've no idea if they have children in the high school or not. The fact that they applied, would indicate that they do have a specific interest.

One thing I learned is that almost everyone wants to stay put. I cannot speak to the elementary schools across the county as there are too many to understand. However, no high school is going to continue to be overcrowded (maybe McLean and Centreville). And, no high school has too small a membership to offer a rigorous course selection.

I do not understand why we are going through this. It is not good for the students, their families, or the community, And, it will cost money we do not have.

They can talk about efficiency, but any time a change is made there will be a domino effect that makes it less efficient for others.

In my quick cursory review of the members, I found at least four that live in neighborhoods that are much closer to a different high school than they are zoned for. Hm maybe those people have ulterior motives for joining the BRAc?

Yeah, it really needs to be each elementary school. The fact that they pull a couple from each pyramid means it’s meaningless.

They'd say it would be too unwieldy to have that many BRAC members, and they might not be wrong, but the flip side is that folks should insist that there be separate community meetings later for every pyramid, where parents from each ES that feeds into a MS and HS in the pyramid have a chance to express their views.

It doesn’t matter who is on BRAC. They won’t be making any decisions. I don’t understand the posters here who are so obsessed with BRAC and seem to think they will be selecting changes. They provide feedback just like any of the many other advisory committees.

The expectation is that, when a set of specific recommendations or options is presented, Reid and the School Board will play up the idea that they were developed by independent consultants (Thru) and vetted with the BRAC, whether the BRAC formally endorses them or not. And then others will have an opportunity to weigh in, but they'll feel like they are fighting an uphill battle at that point. So there's understandible irritation that FCPS stacked the deck with "friendly" BRAC members from various special interest groups and that even the pyramid members may not prove representative of the pyramids they are supposed to represent.

I think that's the issue more than an assumption that the BRAC will actually make the decisions. Ultimately, that's on the School Board, and they'll be held accountable for that, as much as they might like to claim they are just ratifying Thru/BRAC recommendations.

Unless they have gag orders in place for BRAC post map release, I anticipate that a lot of committee members are going to go public with their disapproval of the changes. BRAC members from all over the county are opposed to the changes. Even their own hand - picked committee doesn’t want the comprehensive changes discussed.

But, the NDA's!

When Thru did Lancaster, they moved 10% of the community--at least I think that is what I read. Can you imagine the response if they move 20,000 students in FCPS?

Just looking at the limited area I know, it seems that some of the adjustments are not practical--and those were pretty simple opportunities. This split feeder thing should be very interesting. Lots in my area and I don't see any easy solutions.

The BRAC NDA guidelines are around student demographics, not what happens in the meetings.

It’s annoying that the members don’t provide insights unless you have a direct connection to them like an established friend or neighbor.

FairFACTs Matters even got members added to BRAC and when someone asked last Friday for updates, it’s been crickets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:News today that Gerry Connolly will not run for re-election in Virginia's 11th District (health reasons).

Will Karl Frisch try to run for his seat? If so, maybe they'll delay boundary changes. Karl is very much a political animal and won't want blowback from unpopular boundary changes interfering with his electoral aspirations.

No, he's too stupid run for congress.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, those who are most knowledgeable about the factors relevant to boundary discussions are a mix of current and former parents. The BRAC process is designed to select a group of current parents who may or may not be very knowledgeable and can be led down the desired path by FCPS staff and Thru Consulting. Of course, some are sharp and will challenge them and ask the right questions, but a lot of them seem unlikely to do much more than make sure they aren’t personally affected in what they’d consider a negative way.

That’s not intended as an insult, just a reminder that folks shouldn’t assume that what comes out of the BRAC process reflects the best possible thinking on the topic. People who’ve been largely sidelined should absolutely continue to monitor these proposals and challenge those they believe are ill-advised.

Agree. I follow this forum because I became interested during earlier boundary studies. I do post on this thread because I see similarities of earlier efforts. I understand some of the decisions and was a close observer of the 2008 study when I saw how politics (specifically the South Lakes PTA) could drive the results. Watching the SB meetings at that time when so many parents who had kids affected stood up to respectfully request that South Lakes switch to AP, was enlightening to me. The SB ignored those requests which were heartfelt. Another meeting for the community had SB members sitting with their backs to the attendees.
That boundary "study" we predetermined and I believe this one is, as well. Just look at the way they selected the BRAC committee. The groups selected are comprised mostly of activists. The selection of the pyramid reps--intended to give the appearance of a lack of bias--is just the opposite. The parents from my pyramid come from the same neighborhood school. I've no idea if they have children in the high school or not. The fact that they applied, would indicate that they do have a specific interest.

One thing I learned is that almost everyone wants to stay put. I cannot speak to the elementary schools across the county as there are too many to understand. However, no high school is going to continue to be overcrowded (maybe McLean and Centreville). And, no high school has too small a membership to offer a rigorous course selection.

I do not understand why we are going through this. It is not good for the students, their families, or the community, And, it will cost money we do not have.

They can talk about efficiency, but any time a change is made there will be a domino effect that makes it less efficient for others.

In my quick cursory review of the members, I found at least four that live in neighborhoods that are much closer to a different high school than they are zoned for. Hm maybe those people have ulterior motives for joining the BRAc?

Yeah, it really needs to be each elementary school. The fact that they pull a couple from each pyramid means it’s meaningless.

They'd say it would be too unwieldy to have that many BRAC members, and they might not be wrong, but the flip side is that folks should insist that there be separate community meetings later for every pyramid, where parents from each ES that feeds into a MS and HS in the pyramid have a chance to express their views.

It doesn’t matter who is on BRAC. They won’t be making any decisions. I don’t understand the posters here who are so obsessed with BRAC and seem to think they will be selecting changes. They provide feedback just like any of the many other advisory committees.

The expectation is that, when a set of specific recommendations or options is presented, Reid and the School Board will play up the idea that they were developed by independent consultants (Thru) and vetted with the BRAC, whether the BRAC formally endorses them or not. And then others will have an opportunity to weigh in, but they'll feel like they are fighting an uphill battle at that point. So there's understandible irritation that FCPS stacked the deck with "friendly" BRAC members from various special interest groups and that even the pyramid members may not prove representative of the pyramids they are supposed to represent.

I think that's the issue more than an assumption that the BRAC will actually make the decisions. Ultimately, that's on the School Board, and they'll be held accountable for that, as much as they might like to claim they are just ratifying Thru/BRAC recommendations.

Unless they have gag orders in place for BRAC post map release, I anticipate that a lot of committee members are going to go public with their disapproval of the changes. BRAC members from all over the county are opposed to the changes. Even their own hand - picked committee doesn’t want the comprehensive changes discussed.

But, the NDA's!

When Thru did Lancaster, they moved 10% of the community--at least I think that is what I read. Can you imagine the response if they move 20,000 students in FCPS?

Just looking at the limited area I know, it seems that some of the adjustments are not practical--and those were pretty simple opportunities. This split feeder thing should be very interesting. Lots in my area and I don't see any easy solutions.

The BRAC NDA guidelines are around student demographics, not what happens in the meetings.

It’s annoying that the members don’t provide insights unless you have a direct connection to them like an established friend or neighbor.

FairFACTs Matters even got members added to BRAC and when someone asked last Friday for updates, it’s been crickets.

Is this a MAGA group?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Actually I just saw on Reddit that Connolly is endorsing James Walkinshaw of the BoS for his seat. Hopefully they avoid a nasty primary.

I wondered about that when Walkinshaw was posting a nice letter to Connolly and reminding everyone he used to be Connolly's chief of staff on socials.

Funny. I was just at a Fairfax Democrats gathering over the weekend where walkinshaw spoke and he mentioned he was gerry connelly’s former chief of staff at least twice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Actually I just saw on Reddit that Connolly is endorsing James Walkinshaw of the BoS for his seat. Hopefully they avoid a nasty primary.

I wondered about that when Walkinshaw was posting a nice letter to Connolly and reminding everyone he used to be Connolly's chief of staff on socials.

Funny. I was just at a Fairfax Democrats gathering over the weekend where walkinshaw spoke and he mentioned he was gerry connelly’s former chief of staff at least twice.

Makes sense that he would endorse him. Also I hadn’t realized that McKay at some point moved to Kingstowne which is actually in Don Beyer’s district anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:News today that Gerry Connolly will not run for re-election in Virginia's 11th District (health reasons).

Will Karl Frisch try to run for his seat? If so, maybe they'll delay boundary changes. Karl is very much a political animal and won't want blowback from unpopular boundary changes interfering with his electoral aspirations.

Most likely someone from the Board of Supervisors, not the School Board. SB to BOS to US Rep.