FCPS Boundary Review Updates

[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:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Come on, folks.

Let’s be realistic. The school board will never approve a move from Langley to Herndon. Herndon is over 60% capacity, and when/if South Lakes High School (SLHS) closes to transfers, Herndon’s enrollment will only increase.

Let’s stop talking about that scenario. It’s a waste of time.

They seem fairly anchored to leaving schools within the 60-105% range alone, but that's just one of their "guiding principles." They also refer to alignment with Policy 8130 and the SB (if not Thru) could identify that as an independent basis to move kids from Langley to Herndon regardless of whether Langley is over 105% or Herndon under 60%.

I'm not advocating for this. I just think that, politically, the optics are horrible if they propose to move kids who live within a mile or two of West Springfield to Lewis or South County, and do nothing to move at least some Langley kids to Herndon when Herndon is much closer. It makes it look as if all the talk about transportation efficiencies was a sham and they got bullied into leaving Langley alone. I've heard all the arguments about how traffic is worse in Herndon so the commuting times wouldn't be reduced as much as you'd think, but people will look at the maps and draw their own conclusions.

They don't really care about optics when it comes to Langley/Herndon.

For the past ten years, I've heard talk of moving Great Falls kids from Langley to Herndon. For some reason, certain posters keep bringing it up.

Doesn’t matter what they think. It's not going to happen.

Full stop.

Why because you and your rich friends founded some sort of association that is lobbying against it? Donating thousands to school board members? You're trying to buy your way out of being rezoned and everybody knows it.

I am in FairFACTs Matters and no where close to Langley nor Herndon. Nor WSHS and Lewis.

There’s also no requirement to donate anything.

+2 it’s literally just a FB group. You can join it whenever you want!

A Fb group that raised over $50,000.

They regularly pay for FOIA requests, which add up.

I wouldn't donate to them, but I hope they are using the funds for what they were intended for.

Thanks for that information. Sad that there has to be a group that needs FOIA. I am grateful to those who donate. If FCPS would be more transparent, FOIA would not be necessary.

It was only through FairFacts’ advocacy that the BRAC member list was disclosed and that they started putting their meeting notes online. Otherwise we’d all be in the dark about this.

Also noting they just posted this. Thus far, this has been the only way for community members to engage with the closed-door BRAC. The pyramid nor special interest members are not doing this unless you happen to have a direct connection.

“For those looking to send community feedback, please email us at [e-mail] with your questions or comments. We have already submitted three communications reflecting community feedback and will continue to share the most commonly asked questions moving forward. We will provide previous communications with community feedback below.“

How disgusting that these people are only sharing information with a small handful of members of the county who live in one specific area and not everyone.

Also it's clearly not a Facebook group when they have their own domain.

Maybe you don’t understand. Fairfacts matters is soliciting feedback to provide to Fairfax County, since they have spots on BRAC now. They are opening the dialogue to everyone across the county, not just one particular pyramid. Oh, and it seems that anyone can join- it’s a county-wide organization.

I’m guessing you understand and that you are just desperately trying to make them the bad guy, but just in case you didn’t understand, I figured i would directly address your concerns.

Are they politically motivated? Just answer the question.

If you're asking if the group is a bunch of Republicans calling attention to school boundaries in an effort to swing elections, the answer is a definitive "no."

There are certainly a handful of republicans who reminded the group in its first weeks that they voted for the fairfax dems who have had re-districting for equity on their agenda for years now. A few independents who tell the group to accept equity redistricting as the price to pay for all the dem stuff they want their school board to do.

Mostly it's democrats who just want to stay democrats and to work with the board for the outcome they want. The LAST thing they want is to vote for republicans or be called republicans.

This is true, but they’re also pretty fed up with certain members of the school board treating them like opponents rather than constituents

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How many students are leaving Armstrong for IB/AP placements? For a foreign language? Any? Are all those elementary school kids transferring out?

I’m confused. I thought Armstrong was an Elementary School. Why does it have IB/AP transfers? Are the foreign language transfers going to a nearby immersion program?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If FCPS zones part of Forestville ES to Armstrong, would anyone in that zone shift up too? Would a HS student previously in the Forestville boundary but now in the Armstrong boundary be shifted from Langley to Herndon, or would that “prior Forestville” become a split feeder?

I think they would look to move everyone to the new pyramid except for grandfathered kids. But who knows. They’ve been incredibly coy about the actual reason and goals for the comprehensive review

But making all those pupil placed kids come back would prevent that, right? Armstrong would be full, right?

I have no clue about Armstrong/the enrollment/where it’s even located. The only arguments I’ve seen is moving great falls to fill Herndon HS seats. If Armstrong is under capacity moving forestville kids doesn’t change the Herndon HS kids who are pupil placing out. I am not following this argument you’re trying to prove

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parents buy in into a school pyramid.. they aspire for their kids to go to certain schools. Usually it’s the most expensive lifetime purchase for folks and we put in every last penny into the down payment so that our DCs could go to the top rated school we could afford…

Don’t tell me a certain HS is perfectly fine… If you think so, move your own kids there.

That isn’t an argument against redistricting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If FCPS zones part of Forestville ES to Armstrong, would anyone in that zone shift up too? Would a HS student previously in the Forestville boundary but now in the Armstrong boundary be shifted from Langley to Herndon, or would that “prior Forestville” become a split feeder?

I think they would look to move everyone to the new pyramid except for grandfathered kids. But who knows. They’ve been incredibly coy about the actual reason and goals for the comprehensive review

But making all those pupil placed kids come back would prevent that, right? Armstrong would be full, right?

If you think the school board should consider pupil placement over boundary changes, I’d recommend reaching out to them tonight or tomorrow to express that opinion.

Great idea. How many students are pupil placed out of Armstrong each year?

[Anonymous]

This is true, but they’re also pretty fed up with certain members of the school board treating them like opponents rather than constituents

I think it is clear that some of the members have really good intentions--but may be misguided. Some have political ambitions. And, some have an agenda.

Some with the good intentions probably really think that redrawing boundaries is the answer--but they are not realistic. Many have never seen the day to day operations or are familiar with areas of the county outside their own microcosm.

Some of the members are just concerned with making the test scores look better for some of the schools. But, the scores might look better, but the students will not benefit. Neither the students at the struggling schools or the new students shipped in to make the scores look better.

The answer: Do your job and figure out how to help the struggling students. It is not easy, but that would be the right and caring thing to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If FCPS zones part of Forestville ES to Armstrong, would anyone in that zone shift up too? Would a HS student previously in the Forestville boundary but now in the Armstrong boundary be shifted from Langley to Herndon, or would that “prior Forestville” become a split feeder?

I think they would look to move everyone to the new pyramid except for grandfathered kids. But who knows. They’ve been incredibly coy about the actual reason and goals for the comprehensive review

But making all those pupil placed kids come back would prevent that, right? Armstrong would be full, right?

If you think the school board should consider pupil placement over boundary changes, I’d recommend reaching out to them tonight or tomorrow to express that opinion.

Great idea. How many students are pupil placed out of Armstrong each year?

Again where are you going with this Armstrong argument? Who do you want there? Great falls? Looking at a map there are schools closer to Armstrong than forestville. Aldrin, Forest edge, lake Anne ES, Herndon ES…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If FCPS zones part of Forestville ES to Armstrong, would anyone in that zone shift up too? Would a HS student previously in the Forestville boundary but now in the Armstrong boundary be shifted from Langley to Herndon, or would that “prior Forestville” become a split feeder?

I think they would look to move everyone to the new pyramid except for grandfathered kids. But who knows. They’ve been incredibly coy about the actual reason and goals for the comprehensive review

But making all those pupil placed kids come back would prevent that, right? Armstrong would be full, right?

If you think the school board should consider pupil placement over boundary changes, I’d recommend reaching out to them tonight or tomorrow to express that opinion.

Great idea. How many students are pupil placed out of Armstrong each year?

No one is talking about kids pupil placing out of elementary schools. It’s high schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If FCPS zones part of Forestville ES to Armstrong, would anyone in that zone shift up too? Would a HS student previously in the Forestville boundary but now in the Armstrong boundary be shifted from Langley to Herndon, or would that “prior Forestville” become a split feeder?

I think they would look to move everyone to the new pyramid except for grandfathered kids. But who knows. They’ve been incredibly coy about the actual reason and goals for the comprehensive review

But making all those pupil placed kids come back would prevent that, right? Armstrong would be full, right?

I have no clue about Armstrong/the enrollment/where it’s even located. The only arguments I’ve seen is moving great falls to fill Herndon HS seats. If Armstrong is under capacity moving forestville kids doesn’t change the Herndon HS kids who are pupil placing out. I am not following this argument you’re trying to prove

It’s the school that is at about 70% capacity that jigsaw puzzle fits into all those Herndon addresses that are current zoned for Forestville.

Of course moving Forestville kids does not affect high school out-placements. That is the point. Arguing for a pause based on high-school out-placements does not address your highest risk: elementary school level shifts that alter boundaries that impact high school attendance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How many students are leaving Armstrong for IB/AP placements? For a foreign language? Any? Are all those elementary school kids transferring out?

Huh?

AP, IB and language transfers are a high school thing.

[Anonymous]

Look at the map:

https://www.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/pdf/SY2024-25ElementarySchoolBoundarieswithHighSchoolBoundaries.pdf

Everything west of route 7 that is currently zoned to Forestville, but that has a Herndon address, is at risk of being peeled off of Forestville and sent to either Armstrong or Aldrin. Arguing about 300 IB/AP/language outplacements at the high school level does not alter that reality.

None of Thru’s proposals involved shifting an ES entirely from one pyramid to another. They were all “boundary adjustments” that alter ES attendance. That should be your focus. Those west of 7 pockets are the highest risk to flip to Herndon high via a redraw of the ES boundaries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If FCPS zones part of Forestville ES to Armstrong, would anyone in that zone shift up too? Would a HS student previously in the Forestville boundary but now in the Armstrong boundary be shifted from Langley to Herndon, or would that “prior Forestville” become a split feeder?

I think they would look to move everyone to the new pyramid except for grandfathered kids. But who knows. They’ve been incredibly coy about the actual reason and goals for the comprehensive review

But making all those pupil placed kids come back would prevent that, right? Armstrong would be full, right?

If you think the school board should consider pupil placement over boundary changes, I’d recommend reaching out to them tonight or tomorrow to express that opinion.

Great idea. How many students are pupil placed out of Armstrong each year?

Elementary schools don't pupil place.

You need to research the structure and programs available at FCPS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many students are leaving Armstrong for IB/AP placements? For a foreign language? Any? Are all those elementary school kids transferring out?

Huh?

AP, IB and language transfers are a high school thing.

Exactly. That’s why the “300 transfers out” argument is weak and silly. You should be focused on ES boundaries and their impact on HS attendance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If FCPS zones part of Forestville ES to Armstrong, would anyone in that zone shift up too? Would a HS student previously in the Forestville boundary but now in the Armstrong boundary be shifted from Langley to Herndon, or would that “prior Forestville” become a split feeder?

I think they would look to move everyone to the new pyramid except for grandfathered kids. But who knows. They’ve been incredibly coy about the actual reason and goals for the comprehensive review

But making all those pupil placed kids come back would prevent that, right? Armstrong would be full, right?

If you think the school board should consider pupil placement over boundary changes, I’d recommend reaching out to them tonight or tomorrow to express that opinion.

Great idea. How many students are pupil placed out of Armstrong each year?

Elementary schools don't pupil place.

You need to research the structure and programs available at FCPS

You are catching on. Slowly….

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If FCPS zones part of Forestville ES to Armstrong, would anyone in that zone shift up too? Would a HS student previously in the Forestville boundary but now in the Armstrong boundary be shifted from Langley to Herndon, or would that “prior Forestville” become a split feeder?

I think they would look to move everyone to the new pyramid except for grandfathered kids. But who knows. They’ve been incredibly coy about the actual reason and goals for the comprehensive review

But making all those pupil placed kids come back would prevent that, right? Armstrong would be full, right?

If you think the school board should consider pupil placement over boundary changes, I’d recommend reaching out to them tonight or tomorrow to express that opinion.

Great idea. How many students are pupil placed out of Armstrong each year?

Elementary schools don't pupil place.

You need to research the structure and programs available at FCPS

Sure they do. Example: placing in a school where mom or dad teaches.