King Abdullah Academy Closing: FCPS Buy for HS?

[Anonymous]

So it is righting a wrong by displacing families and children who have attended this school in some form for 35 plus years? This entire thread is all about school redistricting. That's exactly the point, where to place a school, depending on demographics, land, etc., always changes. Go to every single county in this country and tell me that never happens, that something is always "supposed" to be for one purpose forever. You sound like someone who would be eager to kick your neighbor out even if they have been there a long time simply because in your mind something was supposed to be another way. and you seem to hold unnecessary grudges out of what..hate? why be so degrading and spiteful to well-meaning parents and children. i feel sorry for you carrying around such heavy weight of whatever it is you are dealing with. again i have no association to the school but i think there could have been a better way especially given fcps had alot of funding. i have heard many parents at kaa have asked fcps to sit with them and discuss possiblities of keeping some of classes or programs or make it a magnet school so that some of these families might be able to find continuity in their children's education.

1. This is a private school.
2. Public school parents have begged FCPS to drop IB. I'm sure FCPS will be happy to help you place your IB students.
3. I suspect there is much of KAA that lives outside of Fairfax County--Loudoun? Arlington? Prince William? Alexandria? FCPS is not responsible for these kids.
4. Certainly, I am sure FCPS will be happy to help you find a place for your kids in the public school system.

[Anonymous]

I know through friends of friends that there have always been families who moved from other STATES to attend KAA.

Imagine what good that does for the county to bring in more business and growth and talent.

Also this friend of a friend said that with proof and certainty that alumni and parents actually put together funding and a plan to buy the building so they can keep the school running but FCPS had an inside approach and bought it before the parents could in their effort to sustain the school. So that's worth considering in this entire discussion. The parents did not want the school to shut down for a building custom-built for their community. I mean read the thread here, everyone here is saying fcps willl need to renvoate. That will take time and money. there wont be a school ready for years. Meanwhile, students who actually were attending very happily at this place and could have continued this fall (and still CAN continue this fall) with ZERO need to renovate. And they are now displaced and without a school. Some people said they felt it was an inside deal. I'm sorry to say, but this was not a fair or transparent deal. It is leaving many families broken and tons of kids crying. And the alumni were prepared to step in and buy the land to keep it in their community and that was known to all parties, buyers and sellers. FCPS doesnt need a property with the types of cultural designs in this school. And these parents were even considering with a purchase to help turn it into. a wider community center too with access to gyms, pools, etc. But now a beautiful and international community in the area can no longer benefit from it, and neither can the area benefit from the international ib program. The school is not just for Saudis or islmaic population by the way. many of the staff are neither and several students are of different backgrounds. some of the alumni and parents who were up to purchase the building have even suggested growing the school in to a general ib international school and making it more available for any student to apply to. that is all worth considering. your vision of an fcps ina. bulding that will need a TON of renovating wont come to frution for years. meanwhile a well meaning community is plug and play and ready to just continue using this as is for the fall while bringing cultural diversity to this area.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am not a kaa parent but i understand the point that they are making.

to be honest, i think you are missing the point. and i hope one day you experience your kids finding a community that they truly felt they belonged to, and then have it stripped away. because it must not be pleasant at all. i read all the comments and dont think anyone was asking for any red carpet. they were just trying to get people like you to not sound so entitled or over excited about this sale that is clearly breaking apart a community and leaving countless of children and families sad over this loss. you may only understand if your child ever goes through something like this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The majority of theKAA school population are Americans, many generations of Americans, Virginians, to be exact. You are very out of touch with your very own neighbors clearly.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're comparing apples to oranges regarding buying a new house and helping people find a new home. KAA familie are tax payers too with kids who went to this school because fcps was not serving all the needs that their community wanted. on top of that many of the kaa families are legacy families. so you are talking about many decades of alumni sending their children here. this is about community, and benefit to fc as well by encouraging this community to stay intact. the mission of both kaa and fcps are very well aligned, and if you think this is so black and white like buying and selling you are wrong. the mission is the same, to educate the children in the best possible way that matches their needs and their family needs. if this were your kid you would say the same. i find your messages cold, hard and oblivious to community.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wealthy Saudis used to special treatment and hand-holding, LOL. I am honestly shocked that you expect FCPS to reach out to EVERY private school in its boundary that closes to personally counsel students on their options. All the info is on their website.

FCPS isn’t paying $150M to acquire every such school, and then likely needing to engage in several months of due diligence thereafter before closing a deal. Perfect opportunity to be decent human beings, something that apparently doesn’t align with your value system.

Are you a parent with a child in that school? It should be KAA's responsibility to help place all of its students. The administration are the ones who decided to close the school in the middle of the school year, FCPS just bought something no one else wanted.

You're being a ridiculously argumentative tool about something minor that ought to be a simple courtesy given the ongoing discussions that FCPS will be having with KAA.

All it need entail is making sure KAA staff is aware of resources and contacts within FCPS for affected families to speak with if interested.

I think you're the one being unreasonable. All of this information is available to the families very easily.

If you're familiar with FCPS, which is why some basic courtesies shown to others who may be less familiar with FCPS might go a long way.

You're the sort of person who makes waiters want to spit in your food in the kitchen before it's served.

Only the trashiest of people ever even consider spitting in someone's food, no matter how rude they are. I've worked in restaurants. That just isn't a thing a normal person even thinks about.

Only a trashy person would fight so hard against the idea that one party to a significant RE transaction would extend some basic, and very low-cost, courtesies to a counter-party. That's not how normal people behave, but perhaps you have some weird bias against Muslims and want to lay claim to their former school and pretend they were never there.

You are seriously arguing that FCPS is responsible for doing something extra for the KAA families because FCPS bought the building? The KAA administration had a responsibility to help the families find a new school before the end of the year. That could have been helping them find a good fit with another private school or helping them understand their public school options. But that was the KAA administration's responsibility, not the organization that buys the building.

I am not responsible for helping the family whose house I buy find a new home. That is their individual responsibility. Same in this case. KAA families need to have worked with the adminstration to find a new school or the Saudi government who stopped sponsoring the school.

Do diplomats pay taxes? Just curious.

Why should neighbors care about a group of people who very clearly wanted to self segregate in their own school? The local public school wasn’t good enough for your kids, but now that your school is closing you want neighbors and FCPS employees to roll out the red carpet for you? Where does this mentality come from?

It’s called Google. Look at what school your home is zoned to attend. Then look up the school website.
There you will find links to contact personnel at that school with any questions you may have. That is all any resident of this county is entitled to. Nothing more. The rest of us pay taxes too and that’s all we get. Seriously no one else cares that your school closed.

Um, one of my kids is facing exactly that if the county moves forward with their proposed boundary changes. So I think I understand it pretty damn well. But nice attempt at lecturing. This happens to kids all over the world all the time for various reasons. And it sucks. But I am not so entitled as to expect others to dedicate time or resources beyond what everyone else in the county gets when transitioning to a new school.

My kids would not attend this new high school and I am not someone who expressed excitement over it being sold. But maybe you need to understand the history of this land to see why others might be excited. It sounds like the land was supposed to be used for a public high school in the first place. So in some people’s eyes this is righting a perceived wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

It would have been a great location for a high school 15 years ago before they so much time and money expanding other schools serving western Fairfax.

Obviously if they’d really had a clear plan to build there the land would never have been transferred to the Saudis.

FCPS ought to present a compelling business case for opening a new school there now given the fact that on average it’s going to leave schools serving western Fairfax almost 20% under capacity.

I don't think Centreville, Chantilly, or Westfield or the new school will be 20% under capacity. I doubt Oakton or South Lakes will be either.

There are kids who should currently attend Chantilly are going to a far away Oakton.
There are kids who should currently attend Centreville going to far away Fairfax.
There are kids who being proposed to be split from their neighborhood and Chantilly and sent to far away Oakton.

It was 18% under-enrollment on average for a group of schools serving western Fairfax based on the five-year projections and an assumption a new school would have 2200 kids.

Both Oakton and Herndon were expanded within the past five years. Are we just supposed to forget that happened or ignore all the money poured into those schools because some people don’t want to go to Oakton?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know through friends of friends that there have always been families who moved from other STATES to attend KAA.

Imagine what good that does for the county to bring in more business and growth and talent.

Also this friend of a friend said that with proof and certainty that alumni and parents actually put together funding and a plan to buy the building so they can keep the school running but FCPS had an inside approach and bought it before the parents could in their effort to sustain the school. So that's worth considering in this entire discussion. The parents did not want the school to shut down for a building custom-built for their community. I mean read the thread here, everyone here is saying fcps willl need to renvoate. That will take time and money. there wont be a school ready for years. Meanwhile, students who actually were attending very happily at this place and could have continued this fall (and still CAN continue this fall) with ZERO need to renovate. And they are now displaced and without a school. Some people said they felt it was an inside deal. I'm sorry to say, but this was not a fair or transparent deal. It is leaving many families broken and tons of kids crying. And the alumni were prepared to step in and buy the land to keep it in their community and that was known to all parties, buyers and sellers. FCPS doesnt need a property with the types of cultural designs in this school. And these parents were even considering with a purchase to help turn it into. a wider community center too with access to gyms, pools, etc. But now a beautiful and international community in the area can no longer benefit from it, and neither can the area benefit from the international ib program. The school is not just for Saudis or islmaic population by the way. many of the staff are neither and several students are of different backgrounds. some of the alumni and parents who were up to purchase the building have even suggested growing the school in to a general ib international school and making it more available for any student to apply to. that is all worth considering. your vision of an fcps ina. bulding that will need a TON of renovating wont come to frution for years. meanwhile a well meaning community is plug and play and ready to just continue using this as is for the fall while bringing cultural diversity to this area.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am not a kaa parent but i understand the point that they are making.

to be honest, i think you are missing the point. and i hope one day you experience your kids finding a community that they truly felt they belonged to, and then have it stripped away. because it must not be pleasant at all. i read all the comments and dont think anyone was asking for any red carpet. they were just trying to get people like you to not sound so entitled or over excited about this sale that is clearly breaking apart a community and leaving countless of children and families sad over this loss. you may only understand if your child ever goes through something like this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The majority of theKAA school population are Americans, many generations of Americans, Virginians, to be exact. You are very out of touch with your very own neighbors clearly.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're comparing apples to oranges regarding buying a new house and helping people find a new home. KAA familie are tax payers too with kids who went to this school because fcps was not serving all the needs that their community wanted. on top of that many of the kaa families are legacy families. so you are talking about many decades of alumni sending their children here. this is about community, and benefit to fc as well by encouraging this community to stay intact. the mission of both kaa and fcps are very well aligned, and if you think this is so black and white like buying and selling you are wrong. the mission is the same, to educate the children in the best possible way that matches their needs and their family needs. if this were your kid you would say the same. i find your messages cold, hard and oblivious to community.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wealthy Saudis used to special treatment and hand-holding, LOL. I am honestly shocked that you expect FCPS to reach out to EVERY private school in its boundary that closes to personally counsel students on their options. All the info is on their website.

FCPS isn’t paying $150M to acquire every such school, and then likely needing to engage in several months of due diligence thereafter before closing a deal. Perfect opportunity to be decent human beings, something that apparently doesn’t align with your value system.

Are you a parent with a child in that school? It should be KAA's responsibility to help place all of its students. The administration are the ones who decided to close the school in the middle of the school year, FCPS just bought something no one else wanted.

You're being a ridiculously argumentative tool about something minor that ought to be a simple courtesy given the ongoing discussions that FCPS will be having with KAA.

All it need entail is making sure KAA staff is aware of resources and contacts within FCPS for affected families to speak with if interested.

I think you're the one being unreasonable. All of this information is available to the families very easily.

If you're familiar with FCPS, which is why some basic courtesies shown to others who may be less familiar with FCPS might go a long way.

You're the sort of person who makes waiters want to spit in your food in the kitchen before it's served.

Only the trashiest of people ever even consider spitting in someone's food, no matter how rude they are. I've worked in restaurants. That just isn't a thing a normal person even thinks about.

Only a trashy person would fight so hard against the idea that one party to a significant RE transaction would extend some basic, and very low-cost, courtesies to a counter-party. That's not how normal people behave, but perhaps you have some weird bias against Muslims and want to lay claim to their former school and pretend they were never there.

You are seriously arguing that FCPS is responsible for doing something extra for the KAA families because FCPS bought the building? The KAA administration had a responsibility to help the families find a new school before the end of the year. That could have been helping them find a good fit with another private school or helping them understand their public school options. But that was the KAA administration's responsibility, not the organization that buys the building.

I am not responsible for helping the family whose house I buy find a new home. That is their individual responsibility. Same in this case. KAA families need to have worked with the adminstration to find a new school or the Saudi government who stopped sponsoring the school.

Do diplomats pay taxes? Just curious.

Why should neighbors care about a group of people who very clearly wanted to self segregate in their own school? The local public school wasn’t good enough for your kids, but now that your school is closing you want neighbors and FCPS employees to roll out the red carpet for you? Where does this mentality come from?

It’s called Google. Look at what school your home is zoned to attend. Then look up the school website.
There you will find links to contact personnel at that school with any questions you may have. That is all any resident of this county is entitled to. Nothing more. The rest of us pay taxes too and that’s all we get. Seriously no one else cares that your school closed.

Um, one of my kids is facing exactly that if the county moves forward with their proposed boundary changes. So I think I understand it pretty damn well. But nice attempt at lecturing. This happens to kids all over the world all the time for various reasons. And it sucks. But I am not so entitled as to expect others to dedicate time or resources beyond what everyone else in the county gets when transitioning to a new school.

My kids would not attend this new high school and I am not someone who expressed excitement over it being sold. But maybe you need to understand the history of this land to see why others might be excited. It sounds like the land was supposed to be used for a public high school in the first place. So in some people’s eyes this is righting a perceived wrong.

If the seller was aware of another bid coming their way from alumni, and that alumni bid was competitive, why would they agree to an "inside deal" with FCPS that leaves money on the table?

Isn't it more likely that the seller had doubts about the ability of alumni to fund an offer?

[Anonymous]

deals like this dont just happen like that. my relative is in this type of real estate. it's clearly been under the table for at least a year or more. and you fc residents should be concerned at the lack of transparency over this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know through friends of friends that there have always been families who moved from other STATES to attend KAA.

Imagine what good that does for the county to bring in more business and growth and talent.

Also this friend of a friend said that with proof and certainty that alumni and parents actually put together funding and a plan to buy the building so they can keep the school running but FCPS had an inside approach and bought it before the parents could in their effort to sustain the school. So that's worth considering in this entire discussion. The parents did not want the school to shut down for a building custom-built for their community. I mean read the thread here, everyone here is saying fcps willl need to renvoate. That will take time and money. there wont be a school ready for years. Meanwhile, students who actually were attending very happily at this place and could have continued this fall (and still CAN continue this fall) with ZERO need to renovate. And they are now displaced and without a school. Some people said they felt it was an inside deal. I'm sorry to say, but this was not a fair or transparent deal. It is leaving many families broken and tons of kids crying. And the alumni were prepared to step in and buy the land to keep it in their community and that was known to all parties, buyers and sellers. FCPS doesnt need a property with the types of cultural designs in this school. And these parents were even considering with a purchase to help turn it into. a wider community center too with access to gyms, pools, etc. But now a beautiful and international community in the area can no longer benefit from it, and neither can the area benefit from the international ib program. The school is not just for Saudis or islmaic population by the way. many of the staff are neither and several students are of different backgrounds. some of the alumni and parents who were up to purchase the building have even suggested growing the school in to a general ib international school and making it more available for any student to apply to. that is all worth considering. your vision of an fcps ina. bulding that will need a TON of renovating wont come to frution for years. meanwhile a well meaning community is plug and play and ready to just continue using this as is for the fall while bringing cultural diversity to this area.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am not a kaa parent but i understand the point that they are making.

to be honest, i think you are missing the point. and i hope one day you experience your kids finding a community that they truly felt they belonged to, and then have it stripped away. because it must not be pleasant at all. i read all the comments and dont think anyone was asking for any red carpet. they were just trying to get people like you to not sound so entitled or over excited about this sale that is clearly breaking apart a community and leaving countless of children and families sad over this loss. you may only understand if your child ever goes through something like this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The majority of theKAA school population are Americans, many generations of Americans, Virginians, to be exact. You are very out of touch with your very own neighbors clearly.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're comparing apples to oranges regarding buying a new house and helping people find a new home. KAA familie are tax payers too with kids who went to this school because fcps was not serving all the needs that their community wanted. on top of that many of the kaa families are legacy families. so you are talking about many decades of alumni sending their children here. this is about community, and benefit to fc as well by encouraging this community to stay intact. the mission of both kaa and fcps are very well aligned, and if you think this is so black and white like buying and selling you are wrong. the mission is the same, to educate the children in the best possible way that matches their needs and their family needs. if this were your kid you would say the same. i find your messages cold, hard and oblivious to community.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wealthy Saudis used to special treatment and hand-holding, LOL. I am honestly shocked that you expect FCPS to reach out to EVERY private school in its boundary that closes to personally counsel students on their options. All the info is on their website.

FCPS isn’t paying $150M to acquire every such school, and then likely needing to engage in several months of due diligence thereafter before closing a deal. Perfect opportunity to be decent human beings, something that apparently doesn’t align with your value system.

Are you a parent with a child in that school? It should be KAA's responsibility to help place all of its students. The administration are the ones who decided to close the school in the middle of the school year, FCPS just bought something no one else wanted.

You're being a ridiculously argumentative tool about something minor that ought to be a simple courtesy given the ongoing discussions that FCPS will be having with KAA.

All it need entail is making sure KAA staff is aware of resources and contacts within FCPS for affected families to speak with if interested.

I think you're the one being unreasonable. All of this information is available to the families very easily.

If you're familiar with FCPS, which is why some basic courtesies shown to others who may be less familiar with FCPS might go a long way.

You're the sort of person who makes waiters want to spit in your food in the kitchen before it's served.

Only the trashiest of people ever even consider spitting in someone's food, no matter how rude they are. I've worked in restaurants. That just isn't a thing a normal person even thinks about.

Only a trashy person would fight so hard against the idea that one party to a significant RE transaction would extend some basic, and very low-cost, courtesies to a counter-party. That's not how normal people behave, but perhaps you have some weird bias against Muslims and want to lay claim to their former school and pretend they were never there.

You are seriously arguing that FCPS is responsible for doing something extra for the KAA families because FCPS bought the building? The KAA administration had a responsibility to help the families find a new school before the end of the year. That could have been helping them find a good fit with another private school or helping them understand their public school options. But that was the KAA administration's responsibility, not the organization that buys the building.

I am not responsible for helping the family whose house I buy find a new home. That is their individual responsibility. Same in this case. KAA families need to have worked with the adminstration to find a new school or the Saudi government who stopped sponsoring the school.

Do diplomats pay taxes? Just curious.

Why should neighbors care about a group of people who very clearly wanted to self segregate in their own school? The local public school wasn’t good enough for your kids, but now that your school is closing you want neighbors and FCPS employees to roll out the red carpet for you? Where does this mentality come from?

It’s called Google. Look at what school your home is zoned to attend. Then look up the school website.
There you will find links to contact personnel at that school with any questions you may have. That is all any resident of this county is entitled to. Nothing more. The rest of us pay taxes too and that’s all we get. Seriously no one else cares that your school closed.

Um, one of my kids is facing exactly that if the county moves forward with their proposed boundary changes. So I think I understand it pretty damn well. But nice attempt at lecturing. This happens to kids all over the world all the time for various reasons. And it sucks. But I am not so entitled as to expect others to dedicate time or resources beyond what everyone else in the county gets when transitioning to a new school.

My kids would not attend this new high school and I am not someone who expressed excitement over it being sold. But maybe you need to understand the history of this land to see why others might be excited. It sounds like the land was supposed to be used for a public high school in the first place. So in some people’s eyes this is righting a perceived wrong.

If the seller was aware of another bid coming their way from alumni, and that alumni bid was competitive, why would they agree to an "inside deal" with FCPS that leaves money on the table?

Isn't it more likely that the seller had doubts about the ability of alumni to fund an offer?

[Anonymous]

That school has not been there for 35 years.

[Anonymous]

If fcps has the money, why not just custom build a school that actually serves what they know fcps needs, instead of renovating a school that will take another few years. let the kaa school stay open. no need to renovate, keeps a neat community in the area. maybe listen to the deal the alumni tried so that there is no renovation needed and as the previous poster said maybe then even expand the school to open up to the wider community. your fc kid can be swimming in this pool this august if kaa was allowed to stay open

[Anonymous]

the school has been open for 40 years. but yes in this location only for 10.

Anonymous wrote:That school has not been there for 35 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know through friends of friends that there have always been families who moved from other STATES to attend KAA.

Imagine what good that does for the county to bring in more business and growth and talent.

Also this friend of a friend said that with proof and certainty that alumni and parents actually put together funding and a plan to buy the building so they can keep the school running but FCPS had an inside approach and bought it before the parents could in their effort to sustain the school. So that's worth considering in this entire discussion. The parents did not want the school to shut down for a building custom-built for their community. I mean read the thread here, everyone here is saying fcps willl need to renvoate. That will take time and money. there wont be a school ready for years. Meanwhile, students who actually were attending very happily at this place and could have continued this fall (and still CAN continue this fall) with ZERO need to renovate. And they are now displaced and without a school. Some people said they felt it was an inside deal. I'm sorry to say, but this was not a fair or transparent deal. It is leaving many families broken and tons of kids crying. And the alumni were prepared to step in and buy the land to keep it in their community and that was known to all parties, buyers and sellers. FCPS doesnt need a property with the types of cultural designs in this school. And these parents were even considering with a purchase to help turn it into. a wider community center too with access to gyms, pools, etc. But now a beautiful and international community in the area can no longer benefit from it, and neither can the area benefit from the international ib program. The school is not just for Saudis or islmaic population by the way. many of the staff are neither and several students are of different backgrounds. some of the alumni and parents who were up to purchase the building have even suggested growing the school in to a general ib international school and making it more available for any student to apply to. that is all worth considering. your vision of an fcps ina. bulding that will need a TON of renovating wont come to frution for years. meanwhile a well meaning community is plug and play and ready to just continue using this as is for the fall while bringing cultural diversity to this area.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am not a kaa parent but i understand the point that they are making.

to be honest, i think you are missing the point. and i hope one day you experience your kids finding a community that they truly felt they belonged to, and then have it stripped away. because it must not be pleasant at all. i read all the comments and dont think anyone was asking for any red carpet. they were just trying to get people like you to not sound so entitled or over excited about this sale that is clearly breaking apart a community and leaving countless of children and families sad over this loss. you may only understand if your child ever goes through something like this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The majority of theKAA school population are Americans, many generations of Americans, Virginians, to be exact. You are very out of touch with your very own neighbors clearly.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're comparing apples to oranges regarding buying a new house and helping people find a new home. KAA familie are tax payers too with kids who went to this school because fcps was not serving all the needs that their community wanted. on top of that many of the kaa families are legacy families. so you are talking about many decades of alumni sending their children here. this is about community, and benefit to fc as well by encouraging this community to stay intact. the mission of both kaa and fcps are very well aligned, and if you think this is so black and white like buying and selling you are wrong. the mission is the same, to educate the children in the best possible way that matches their needs and their family needs. if this were your kid you would say the same. i find your messages cold, hard and oblivious to community.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wealthy Saudis used to special treatment and hand-holding, LOL. I am honestly shocked that you expect FCPS to reach out to EVERY private school in its boundary that closes to personally counsel students on their options. All the info is on their website.

FCPS isn’t paying $150M to acquire every such school, and then likely needing to engage in several months of due diligence thereafter before closing a deal. Perfect opportunity to be decent human beings, something that apparently doesn’t align with your value system.

Are you a parent with a child in that school? It should be KAA's responsibility to help place all of its students. The administration are the ones who decided to close the school in the middle of the school year, FCPS just bought something no one else wanted.

You're being a ridiculously argumentative tool about something minor that ought to be a simple courtesy given the ongoing discussions that FCPS will be having with KAA.

All it need entail is making sure KAA staff is aware of resources and contacts within FCPS for affected families to speak with if interested.

I think you're the one being unreasonable. All of this information is available to the families very easily.

If you're familiar with FCPS, which is why some basic courtesies shown to others who may be less familiar with FCPS might go a long way.

You're the sort of person who makes waiters want to spit in your food in the kitchen before it's served.

Only the trashiest of people ever even consider spitting in someone's food, no matter how rude they are. I've worked in restaurants. That just isn't a thing a normal person even thinks about.

Only a trashy person would fight so hard against the idea that one party to a significant RE transaction would extend some basic, and very low-cost, courtesies to a counter-party. That's not how normal people behave, but perhaps you have some weird bias against Muslims and want to lay claim to their former school and pretend they were never there.

You are seriously arguing that FCPS is responsible for doing something extra for the KAA families because FCPS bought the building? The KAA administration had a responsibility to help the families find a new school before the end of the year. That could have been helping them find a good fit with another private school or helping them understand their public school options. But that was the KAA administration's responsibility, not the organization that buys the building.

I am not responsible for helping the family whose house I buy find a new home. That is their individual responsibility. Same in this case. KAA families need to have worked with the adminstration to find a new school or the Saudi government who stopped sponsoring the school.

Do diplomats pay taxes? Just curious.

Why should neighbors care about a group of people who very clearly wanted to self segregate in their own school? The local public school wasn’t good enough for your kids, but now that your school is closing you want neighbors and FCPS employees to roll out the red carpet for you? Where does this mentality come from?

It’s called Google. Look at what school your home is zoned to attend. Then look up the school website.
There you will find links to contact personnel at that school with any questions you may have. That is all any resident of this county is entitled to. Nothing more. The rest of us pay taxes too and that’s all we get. Seriously no one else cares that your school closed.

Um, one of my kids is facing exactly that if the county moves forward with their proposed boundary changes. So I think I understand it pretty damn well. But nice attempt at lecturing. This happens to kids all over the world all the time for various reasons. And it sucks. But I am not so entitled as to expect others to dedicate time or resources beyond what everyone else in the county gets when transitioning to a new school.

My kids would not attend this new high school and I am not someone who expressed excitement over it being sold. But maybe you need to understand the history of this land to see why others might be excited. It sounds like the land was supposed to be used for a public high school in the first place. So in some people’s eyes this is righting a perceived wrong.

I think you are way overstating the impact of KAA on people outside of that school community. And if the alumni are so rich why not find a site in Loudoun where they can build a school? Lots more land there. The way this school ended up where it is was shady in the first place. I don’t see too many people living nearby being all that sympathetic given the circumstances. Private schools open and close all the time. It’s not clear why KAA would be immune to the financial and other factors that all private schools have to deal with in order to stay afloat. Of the school was doing so well why would it have gone up for sale. Maybe the KAA community should be asking its administrators some tough questions instead of demanding that FCPS make a public school that meets their specific needs. That is frankly delusional.

[Anonymous]

You should be grateful your kids got a private school education in a lovely building for $11k a year for so many years. What a steal!

Everyone hates it when a gravy train ends.

[Anonymous]

The renovations will be pretty minimal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The renovations will be pretty minimal.

The price tag will only continue to go up.

Recall that with the Dunn Loring project it was originally pitched as a renovation of an existing, historic building. Some only supported it on that basis. Then, once FCPS did a real analysis, they concluded they should tear the building down and construct an entirely new school. The projected costs skyrocketed and continue to increase.

I'm not saying anyone will conclude KAA needs to be torn down, but the School Board has a habit of approving projects before it really understands the costs, and the costs are always higher than initially advertised. The KAA could be a turnkey building for another K-12 private school. It won't be a turnkey building for a public high school.

[Anonymous]

you keep saying "your kids" when the poster stated they have no affiliation with the school

Anonymous wrote:You should be grateful your kids got a private school education in a lovely building for $11k a year for so many years. What a steal!

Everyone hates it when a gravy train ends.

[Anonymous]

The KAA families have had since February to try and save the school. It is not FCPS fault the school closed. FCPS did not offer to buy the building leading the school to close. The Saudi Government announced it was pulling funding in February. All FCPS did was buy the building. The families have had since then to reach out to FCPS and ask questions about the public schools. It is absurd that you think that FCPS owes the KAA families, families who had already chosen to not attend public schools, some type of special consideration because FCPS bought the building.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You should be grateful your kids got a private school education in a lovely building for $11k a year for so many years. What a steal!

Everyone hates it when a gravy train ends.

I can't think of a bigger gravy train than being zoned to a school that just got a huge renovation and expansion (Oakton), and then being told FCPS is prepared to send your kids to an ever posher facility that's closer to your home (KAA/future McLearen HS).