Boundary Review Meetings

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why aren't they opening with JV/freshman sports? That's stupid. Are they going to be transporting kids back to other schools for sports? That would be a logistical nightmare.

They should open WITH JV and freshman levels set up and ready to go. They have three gyms and a soccer field!

They explained this on Friday in the Zoom meetings that they had. They cannot have any VHSL level programs or individual sports and allow kids to play on varsity teams at other schools. As soon as there is 1 VHSL sport at the HS, kids are not allowed to play at another HS for a different sport. If they have VHSL freshman and JV squads, the kids who could play varsity cannot play at a different HS.

The solution is to wait until they have the fields and number of students at the right experience levels to have varsity sports in all sports. They are hoping to have VHSL sports in the second year the school is open but understand that might not happen until the third year the school is open.

It is all or nothing. You can't have VHSL at any level in any sport and allow kids to play a different sport at a different school.

The right solution would be to wait until Western has enough space for three grades, open with fixed boundaries and VHSL sports, and dispense with this opt-in nonsense with extra bus routes for activities at other schools.

These people have absolutely lost their minds.

Because people won’t throw a hissy fit if you tell them their rising Juniors need to move? This will be fine, it will take a few years to have a full school and all that comes with it. That is life.

If they weren’t mucking things up with other unnecessary changes there’s no reason they couldn’t wait and open Western as a 9-11 school with established boundaries and the courses and activities families want and provide transportation to grandfathered students. Give rising juniors the option to attend Western or their current schools but otherwise no need for this stupid opt-in and bussing kids to other schools for sports crap.

It will be one to two years. I will be surprised if they get 500 sophomores, I can’t imagine that they would get enough juniors to offer the wide variety of classes that juniors would want.

You could research the history at schools like South County to know how this went when FCPS wasn’t being run by timid idiots.

[Anonymous]

Basically, moving Bren Mar is one the School Board thinks it can get away with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Basically, moving Bren Mar is one the School Board thinks it can get away with.

Lewis needs more kids but this is a very crappy way to go about it. It tells you Reid was so preoccupied with her dreams of a magnet aviation academy at Western that she dropped the ball and forced the School Board to do something in Scenario 5 that should have been done much earlier, and with more transparency.

Why they haven't canned her already is a mystery, although perhaps they know it would also reflect adversely on the Democratic School Board that hired her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why aren't they opening with JV/freshman sports? That's stupid. Are they going to be transporting kids back to other schools for sports? That would be a logistical nightmare.

They should open WITH JV and freshman levels set up and ready to go. They have three gyms and a soccer field!

They explained this on Friday in the Zoom meetings that they had. They cannot have any VHSL level programs or individual sports and allow kids to play on varsity teams at other schools. As soon as there is 1 VHSL sport at the HS, kids are not allowed to play at another HS for a different sport. If they have VHSL freshman and JV squads, the kids who could play varsity cannot play at a different HS.

The solution is to wait until they have the fields and number of students at the right experience levels to have varsity sports in all sports. They are hoping to have VHSL sports in the second year the school is open but understand that might not happen until the third year the school is open.

It is all or nothing. You can't have VHSL at any level in any sport and allow kids to play a different sport at a different school.

The right solution would be to wait until Western has enough space for three grades, open with fixed boundaries and VHSL sports, and dispense with this opt-in nonsense with extra bus routes for activities at other schools.

These people have absolutely lost their minds.

Because people won’t throw a hissy fit if you tell them their rising Juniors need to move? This will be fine, it will take a few years to have a full school and all that comes with it. That is life.

If they weren’t mucking things up with other unnecessary changes there’s no reason they couldn’t wait and open Western as a 9-11 school with established boundaries and the courses and activities families want and provide transportation to grandfathered students. Give rising juniors the option to attend Western or their current schools but otherwise no need for this stupid opt-in and bussing kids to other schools for sports crap.

It will be one to two years. I will be surprised if they get 500 sophomores, I can’t imagine that they would get enough juniors to offer the wide variety of classes that juniors would want.

You could research the history at schools like South County to know how this went when FCPS wasn’t being run by timid idiots.

They probably had more time to prepare for South County since they bought the land and built the building. Western was a building that became available and purchased. The process for opening it is going to be different. And people would be throwing a fit if they bought the building and didn’t open the school next year. They were screwed no matter what they did.

We are opting in, it isn’t perfect but we are excited to attend the new school. My kid has no interest in playing sports so the lack of sports is not an issue for them. We have friends opting out and others opting in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why aren't they opening with JV/freshman sports? That's stupid. Are they going to be transporting kids back to other schools for sports? That would be a logistical nightmare.

They should open WITH JV and freshman levels set up and ready to go. They have three gyms and a soccer field!

They explained this on Friday in the Zoom meetings that they had. They cannot have any VHSL level programs or individual sports and allow kids to play on varsity teams at other schools. As soon as there is 1 VHSL sport at the HS, kids are not allowed to play at another HS for a different sport. If they have VHSL freshman and JV squads, the kids who could play varsity cannot play at a different HS.

The solution is to wait until they have the fields and number of students at the right experience levels to have varsity sports in all sports. They are hoping to have VHSL sports in the second year the school is open but understand that might not happen until the third year the school is open.

It is all or nothing. You can't have VHSL at any level in any sport and allow kids to play a different sport at a different school.

The right solution would be to wait until Western has enough space for three grades, open with fixed boundaries and VHSL sports, and dispense with this opt-in nonsense with extra bus routes for activities at other schools.

These people have absolutely lost their minds.

Because people won’t throw a hissy fit if you tell them their rising Juniors need to move? This will be fine, it will take a few years to have a full school and all that comes with it. That is life.

If they weren’t mucking things up with other unnecessary changes there’s no reason they couldn’t wait and open Western as a 9-11 school with established boundaries and the courses and activities families want and provide transportation to grandfathered students. Give rising juniors the option to attend Western or their current schools but otherwise no need for this stupid opt-in and bussing kids to other schools for sports crap.

It will be one to two years. I will be surprised if they get 500 sophomores, I can’t imagine that they would get enough juniors to offer the wide variety of classes that juniors would want.

You could research the history at schools like South County to know how this went when FCPS wasn’t being run by timid idiots.

They probably had more time to prepare for South County since they bought the land and built the building. Western was a building that became available and purchased. The process for opening it is going to be different. And people would be throwing a fit if they bought the building and didn’t open the school next year. They were screwed no matter what they did.

We are opting in, it isn’t perfect but we are excited to attend the new school. My kid has no interest in playing sports so the lack of sports is not an issue for them. We have friends opting out and others opting in.

Agree about South County and more time to prepare. i understand that the VHSL rule is somewhat confining to sports. However, there is no excuse that they do not plan to set boundaries until late Spring. They need to do it ASAP so that kids can get excited about it--and they will once they know who will go there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why aren't they opening with JV/freshman sports? That's stupid. Are they going to be transporting kids back to other schools for sports? That would be a logistical nightmare.

They should open WITH JV and freshman levels set up and ready to go. They have three gyms and a soccer field!

They explained this on Friday in the Zoom meetings that they had. They cannot have any VHSL level programs or individual sports and allow kids to play on varsity teams at other schools. As soon as there is 1 VHSL sport at the HS, kids are not allowed to play at another HS for a different sport. If they have VHSL freshman and JV squads, the kids who could play varsity cannot play at a different HS.

The solution is to wait until they have the fields and number of students at the right experience levels to have varsity sports in all sports. They are hoping to have VHSL sports in the second year the school is open but understand that might not happen until the third year the school is open.

It is all or nothing. You can't have VHSL at any level in any sport and allow kids to play a different sport at a different school.

The right solution would be to wait until Western has enough space for three grades, open with fixed boundaries and VHSL sports, and dispense with this opt-in nonsense with extra bus routes for activities at other schools.

These people have absolutely lost their minds.

Because people won’t throw a hissy fit if you tell them their rising Juniors need to move? This will be fine, it will take a few years to have a full school and all that comes with it. That is life.

If they weren’t mucking things up with other unnecessary changes there’s no reason they couldn’t wait and open Western as a 9-11 school with established boundaries and the courses and activities families want and provide transportation to grandfathered students. Give rising juniors the option to attend Western or their current schools but otherwise no need for this stupid opt-in and bussing kids to other schools for sports crap.

It will be one to two years. I will be surprised if they get 500 sophomores, I can’t imagine that they would get enough juniors to offer the wide variety of classes that juniors would want.

You could research the history at schools like South County to know how this went when FCPS wasn’t being run by timid idiots.

They probably had more time to prepare for South County since they bought the land and built the building. Western was a building that became available and purchased. The process for opening it is going to be different. And people would be throwing a fit if they bought the building and didn’t open the school next year. They were screwed no matter what they did.

We are opting in, it isn’t perfect but we are excited to attend the new school. My kid has no interest in playing sports so the lack of sports is not an issue for them. We have friends opting out and others opting in.

I don't think many people would have thrown a fit if they'd been honest, acknowledged from the start this was not a "turnkey" acquisition, and then set a realistic timetable for opening Western as a school with fixed boundaries that 9th and 10th grade students were required to attend, absent a valid pupil placement, and which 11th grade students could voluntarily choose to attend.

Since they say this is a tremendous bargain that's going to save FCPS hundreds of millions, and this has been repeated regularly, I would have thought you'd have said they'd be praised, not screwed, no matter what they did.

[Anonymous]

I work at a MS and many 8th graders were hyped up after the "new western HS" presentation today, I expect will be asking their parents to opt in. Weird that the boundaries/bussing won't be known for awhile yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I work at a MS and many 8th graders were hyped up after the "new western HS" presentation today, I expect will be asking their parents to opt in. Weird that the boundaries/bussing won't be known for awhile yet.

The point of the presentation is to hype kids up. Reid wants excitement for her opt-in school. The question is whether the enthusiasm wears off when families realize the lack of sports and the unclear boundaries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work at a MS and many 8th graders were hyped up after the "new western HS" presentation today, I expect will be asking their parents to opt in. Weird that the boundaries/bussing won't be known for awhile yet.

The point of the presentation is to hype kids up. Reid wants excitement for her opt-in school. The question is whether the enthusiasm wears off when families realize the lack of sports and the unclear boundaries.

If you attended the presentation on Friday you would know that the question about sports was asked a lot and answered a lot. The parents are very well aware of the sports situation. There was a 10 minute presentation and 50 minutes of questions. Lots and lots of questions. Which was good.

And I fully agree that is ridiculous that the borders have not been set. They should have been the first thing set and then adjust the boundaries for the rest of the county. A fair amount of the movement that was planned was in this area, the Western HS should have been to immediate focus of the redistricting process.

They are not hiding the sports issue. They are not hiding that the borders are not clear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work at a MS and many 8th graders were hyped up after the "new western HS" presentation today, I expect will be asking their parents to opt in. Weird that the boundaries/bussing won't be known for awhile yet.

The point of the presentation is to hype kids up. Reid wants excitement for her opt-in school. The question is whether the enthusiasm wears off when families realize the lack of sports and the unclear boundaries.

If you attended the presentation on Friday you would know that the question about sports was asked a lot and answered a lot. The parents are very well aware of the sports situation. There was a 10 minute presentation and 50 minutes of questions. Lots and lots of questions. Which was good.

And I fully agree that is ridiculous that the borders have not been set. They should have been the first thing set and then adjust the boundaries for the rest of the county. A fair amount of the movement that was planned was in this area, the Western HS should have been to immediate focus of the redistricting process.

They are not hiding the sports issue. They are not hiding that the borders are not clear.

I think when people see the actual opt-in form, it will weed out a lot of kids/families with some level of interest because it appears it will need to specify that:

* If you opt in, you agree to attend Western HS, space permitting, even if you ultimately do not live within the established boundary, in which case you will be responsible for arranging your own transportation; and

* If Western is over-subscribed, those who live within the established boundary may/will be given priority and you may be required to attend your currently assigned school.

So if you are zoned for Coates, McNair, Floris, or Oak Hill, and are interested in Western, your evaluation is rather different than if you are zoned for Fox Mill or Crossfield (or the Navy island), which may or may not end up within the boundary, or much different than if you are zoned to any other elementary schools that feed into Westfield, Chantilly, South Lakes, Oakton, or Centreville. which have next to no chances of ending up assigned to Western.

For many people, it's just too much uncertainty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Basically, moving Bren Mar is one the School Board thinks it can get away with.

100%

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why aren't they opening with JV/freshman sports? That's stupid. Are they going to be transporting kids back to other schools for sports? That would be a logistical nightmare.

They should open WITH JV and freshman levels set up and ready to go. They have three gyms and a soccer field!

They explained this on Friday in the Zoom meetings that they had. They cannot have any VHSL level programs or individual sports and allow kids to play on varsity teams at other schools. As soon as there is 1 VHSL sport at the HS, kids are not allowed to play at another HS for a different sport. If they have VHSL freshman and JV squads, the kids who could play varsity cannot play at a different HS.

The solution is to wait until they have the fields and number of students at the right experience levels to have varsity sports in all sports. They are hoping to have VHSL sports in the second year the school is open but understand that might not happen until the third year the school is open.

It is all or nothing. You can't have VHSL at any level in any sport and allow kids to play a different sport at a different school.

The right solution would be to wait until Western has enough space for three grades, open with fixed boundaries and VHSL sports, and dispense with this opt-in nonsense with extra bus routes for activities at other schools.

These people have absolutely lost their minds.

Because people won’t throw a hissy fit if you tell them their rising Juniors need to move? This will be fine, it will take a few years to have a full school and all that comes with it. That is life.

If they weren’t mucking things up with other unnecessary changes there’s no reason they couldn’t wait and open Western as a 9-11 school with established boundaries and the courses and activities families want and provide transportation to grandfathered students. Give rising juniors the option to attend Western or their current schools but otherwise no need for this stupid opt-in and bussing kids to other schools for sports crap.

It will be one to two years. I will be surprised if they get 500 sophomores, I can’t imagine that they would get enough juniors to offer the wide variety of classes that juniors would want.

You could research the history at schools like South County to know how this went when FCPS wasn’t being run by timid idiots.

They probably had more time to prepare for South County since they bought the land and built the building. Western was a building that became available and purchased. The process for opening it is going to be different. And people would be throwing a fit if they bought the building and didn’t open the school next year. They were screwed no matter what they did.

We are opting in, it isn’t perfect but we are excited to attend the new school. My kid has no interest in playing sports so the lack of sports is not an issue for them. We have friends opting out and others opting in.

I don't think many people would have thrown a fit if they'd been honest, acknowledged from the start this was not a "turnkey" acquisition, and then set a realistic timetable for opening Western as a school with fixed boundaries that 9th and 10th grade students were required to attend, absent a valid pupil placement, and which 11th grade students could voluntarily choose to attend.

Since they say this is a tremendous bargain that's going to save FCPS hundreds of millions, and this has been repeated regularly, I would have thought you'd have said they'd be praised, not screwed, no matter what they did.

You keep using that word. They have done zero renovations so far and will open to 9th and 10th graders. They didn't even have to buy furniture. That is turnkey. No one promised a 4 year high school opening on day one like you keep asserting.

[Anonymous]

For schools that have not heard of “changes to scenario 4” should we assume scenario 4 is set minus the changes to Lewis/Vienna changes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work at a MS and many 8th graders were hyped up after the "new western HS" presentation today, I expect will be asking their parents to opt in. Weird that the boundaries/bussing won't be known for awhile yet.

The point of the presentation is to hype kids up. Reid wants excitement for her opt-in school. The question is whether the enthusiasm wears off when families realize the lack of sports and the unclear boundaries.

If you attended the presentation on Friday you would know that the question about sports was asked a lot and answered a lot. The parents are very well aware of the sports situation. There was a 10 minute presentation and 50 minutes of questions. Lots and lots of questions. Which was good.

And I fully agree that is ridiculous that the borders have not been set. They should have been the first thing set and then adjust the boundaries for the rest of the county. A fair amount of the movement that was planned was in this area, the Western HS should have been to immediate focus of the redistricting process.

They are not hiding the sports issue. They are not hiding that the borders are not clear.

I think when people see the actual opt-in form, it will weed out a lot of kids/families with some level of interest because it appears it will need to specify that:

* If you opt in, you agree to attend Western HS, space permitting, even if you ultimately do not live within the established boundary, in which case you will be responsible for arranging your own transportation; and

* If Western is over-subscribed, those who live within the established boundary may/will be given priority and you may be required to attend your currently assigned school.

So if you are zoned for Coates, McNair, Floris, or Oak Hill, and are interested in Western, your evaluation is rather different than if you are zoned for Fox Mill or Crossfield (or the Navy island), which may or may not end up within the boundary, or much different than if you are zoned to any other elementary schools that feed into Westfield, Chantilly, South Lakes, Oakton, or Centreville. which have next to no chances of ending up assigned to Western.

For many people, it's just too much uncertainty.

I suspect they will only get kids opting in from those first four schools. I don't think anyone from Fox Mill or Crossfield will want to risk not having transportation, nor will they want to risk younger children not being able to go to the same high school as their older child. I know I wouldn't.

[Anonymous]

When are we supposed to be getting Scenario 5???