Boundary Review Meetings

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They posted slides for some of the topics at the 12/4 board meeting. One of them is on the transportation of kids "grandfathered" in as part of phasing, and it appears to recommend that transportation NOT be provided. They estimated it'd cost $10.4m to do so.

To be specific Reid's recommendation at the end of the deck is "Provide transportation based only on new boundary adjustments."

The phrasing is odd, but the intent is clear - save $10.4 million by only providing transportation to schools based on the revised boundaries.

And it doesn't matter what grade your kid is in. If they are a rising senior at a high school, you're on your own to arrange their transportation. Same if they are a rising 8th grader or a rising 6th grader.

To be clear, this is a departure from both (1) the county-wide boundary adjustments decades ago; and (2) the more recent one-off boundary changes. When FCPS used to adjust boundaries county-wide, they started with the proposition that the need to grandfather with transportation would serve as a constraint on how many boundaries were changed. With the more recent one-off boundary changes, there was generous phasing and transportation provided.

The recommendation is not surprising, because they never treated transportation costs as a potential constraint on what boundaries they might change. But, by the same token, their boundary proposals are random and anything but comprehensive or courageous. So it's just the subset of families that happen to get caught up in their desire to show they "did something" that will bear the brunt of this recommendation.

That is a most confusing recommendation with more time spent on cute graphics than actual cost analysis. We have current high school students that under the latest recommendation would be assigned a new high school. Is she recommending our children would be covered? I think so. If they decide it cost too much, hopefully they prioritize current high school at the top as that has the greatest impact. Imagine students at an AP school being sent to an IB school or vice versa.

[Anonymous]

That is a most confusing recommendation with more time spent on cute graphics than actual cost analysis. We have current high school students that under the latest recommendation would be assigned a new high school. Is she recommending our children would be covered? I think so. If they decide it cost too much, hopefully they prioritize current high school at the top as that has the greatest impact. Imagine students at an AP school being sent to an IB school or vice versa.

Excellent post. I had not thought about the bolded. But, it is an example of all the lack of planning and consideration to this mess.

Do they ever sit down and think "what is the down side of this? How could it impact students? How could it impact families? "

They need to eliminate the IB program at traditional high schools. If they want to make it a magnet or two, then do it--but not where you in-boundary school has a different program from the school next door.

Have they ever done a survey of the families that live in boundary at a school of what they want? They should not include those that opt-in because they may have an ulterior motive.

From what i read here--and the people I know--I'm pretty confident the families in boundary at South Lake would much prefer AP.

If a program is not succeeding for most students--or a large amount of students--why keep it?
It is expensive and confusing.

[Anonymous]

The real question is what can we do to have an actual impact on getting rid of IB? Meren won't listen. She drags her feet on everything. How can we force the issue to get a real, serious consideration?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The real question is what can we do to have an actual impact on getting rid of IB? Meren won't listen. She drags her feet on everything. How can we force the issue to get a real, serious consideration?

It is not just South Lakes. It is not successful.

[Anonymous]

https://www.ffxnow.com/2025/12/03/fairfax-county-staff-tentatively-forecast-131m-budget-gap-as-real-estate-tax-growth-slows/

But wait, I thought the school board doesn’t care about property values. Oops.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://www.ffxnow.com/2025/12/03/fairfax-county-staff-tentatively-forecast-131m-budget-gap-as-real-estate-tax-growth-slows/

But wait, I thought the school board doesn’t care about property values. Oops.

They don’t. They’re just going to rely on the new meals tax and jack that up next year as soon as they can.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.ffxnow.com/2025/12/03/fairfax-county-staff-tentatively-forecast-131m-budget-gap-as-real-estate-tax-growth-slows/

But wait, I thought the school board doesn’t care about property values. Oops.

They don’t. They’re just going to rely on the new meals tax and jack that up next year as soon as they can.

It is how they choose to spend the funds that is the problem. Look at the top heavy administration in the county. Slick slide shows do not mean good information. Just look at the mess of the presentation for Western.

[Anonymous]

Tonight Rachna posted details on the board meeting tomorrow on Facebook and conveniently left off the boundary review and transportation item. Gosh, I wonder why.

[Anonymous]

When are we going to see the next map “scenario 5”?

[Anonymous]

Didn’t BrAC have a meeting December 2nd ?

[Anonymous]

That’s what I thought that maybe we would see final recommendations from BRAC?

[Anonymous]

Is the January vote scheduled? Incoming HS students will start with schedules…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is the January vote scheduled? Incoming HS students will start with schedules…

The school board doesn’t care about your kids or their well-being.

[Anonymous]

True - you would think we would know when we would see next map?

[Anonymous]

No Busing. Except for a few equity comments based on last night's discussion the board seems likely to vote with the superintendent's recommendation at the next board meeting and provide no transportation for those being impacted by the boundary change.