Woodward HS boundary study - BCC, Blair, Einstein, WJ, Kennedy, Northwood, Wheaton, Whitman impacts

[Anonymous]

What is the concern re: busing? Is this all environmental? Where I grew up in upstate NY everyone had a bus option (and the whole town was probably within a 2.5 mile radius of the high school- I was on the "far" end at 2.1 miles). Buses all went door to door, no one thought they were an issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Looking at Policy FAA and Policy FAA-RA, I don't see any prohibition against reassigning students in the walk zone of one school to be bussed to another school. I often see posters saying as long as you are a walker you will not be reassigned. Is that really true? I can see how it's unlikely they'd reassign someone who lives very close to a school, but the walk zones for high schools are up to 2 miles away. I can't imagine all those neighborhoods will be excluded from consideration from reassignment.

That's not accurate. The maximum walking distance for high schools is 2.0 miles, but that doesn't mean everyone within 2.0 miles of their assigned high school is in the walk zone for that high school. For example, for B-CC, there are a lot of areas east of Connecticut Avenue that are within 2.0 miles walking distance of BCC, but they're in the bus zone, not the walk zone.

There is no prohibition against reassigning students from School #1, where they are in the walk zone, to School #2, where they will be bused. It's just that, in all of the recent boundary studies, MCPS/BOE have chosen not to do that.

Unnecessary busing shows contempt for taxpayers, especially with Elrich's tax hikes.

If you're interested in reducing unnecessary busing, you should work on getting the county to add sidewalks and safe crossings, so that students who live within 1/1.5/2 miles of their assigned school can safely walk, instead of getting bused. For example, why don't students in Somerset walk to their "neighborhood school", B-CC?

That does cost money, though.

The fact that there are multiple areas within 2 miles of BCC that are bused because of safety concerns while there are similarly situated students who attend Einstein and have to cross either Connecticut or University that don’t receive busing is ridiculous and really exemplifies how the students in the DCC have been treated by MCPS.

Which neighborhoods should or should not be bused?

It’s not a matter of should or shouldn’t, but it should be a uniform analysis across the board. If Connecticut is too unsafe for BCC kids to cross, it should also be too unsafe for Einstein kids to cross.

Different portions of the road can have different traffic volumes.

Yup and the volume of traffic where Connecticut splits into Connecticut and University is not that different from the area of Connecticut near BCC. But Bethesda parents wouldn’t know that because the horror of being familiar with an area near Wheaton

I live near Wheaton and would disagree with this. I drive through the Connecticut and East West Hwy intersection semiregularly, and it is one of the more congested intersections in the area. Connecticut and University is not as congested, and that intersection itself is not a place Einstein students would be crossing, since it's zoned to WJ. Einstein students crossing Connecticut would be further up, using one of the crosswalks at Lawrence, Denfeld, or Adams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looking at Policy FAA and Policy FAA-RA, I don't see any prohibition against reassigning students in the walk zone of one school to be bussed to another school. I often see posters saying as long as you are a walker you will not be reassigned. Is that really true? I can see how it's unlikely they'd reassign someone who lives very close to a school, but the walk zones for high schools are up to 2 miles away. I can't imagine all those neighborhoods will be excluded from consideration from reassignment.

That's not accurate. The maximum walking distance for high schools is 2.0 miles, but that doesn't mean everyone within 2.0 miles of their assigned high school is in the walk zone for that high school. For example, for B-CC, there are a lot of areas east of Connecticut Avenue that are within 2.0 miles walking distance of BCC, but they're in the bus zone, not the walk zone.

There is no prohibition against reassigning students from School #1, where they are in the walk zone, to School #2, where they will be bused. It's just that, in all of the recent boundary studies, MCPS/BOE have chosen not to do that.

Unnecessary busing shows contempt for taxpayers, especially with Elrich's tax hikes.

If you're interested in reducing unnecessary busing, you should work on getting the county to add sidewalks and safe crossings, so that students who live within 1/1.5/2 miles of their assigned school can safely walk, instead of getting bused. For example, why don't students in Somerset walk to their "neighborhood school", B-CC?

That does cost money, though.

The fact that there are multiple areas within 2 miles of BCC that are bused because of safety concerns while there are similarly situated students who attend Einstein and have to cross either Connecticut or University that don’t receive busing is ridiculous and really exemplifies how the students in the DCC have been treated by MCPS.

Which neighborhoods should or should not be bused?

It’s not a matter of should or shouldn’t, but it should be a uniform analysis across the board. If Connecticut is too unsafe for BCC kids to cross, it should also be too unsafe for Einstein kids to cross.

Different portions of the road can have different traffic volumes.

Would you rather cross Connecticut in Chevy Chase (speed limit 30) where it's considered too unsafe for BCC students, or in Wheaton (speed limit 40) where it's considered safe enough for Einstein students?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is the concern re: busing? Is this all environmental? Where I grew up in upstate NY everyone had a bus option (and the whole town was probably within a 2.5 mile radius of the high school- I was on the "far" end at 2.1 miles). Buses all went door to door, no one thought they were an issue.

Buses cost money (buses, drivers, fuel and maintenance), contribute to climate change (including electric buses), and are the main reason why it's so difficult for MCPS to have reasonable school start times for elementary, middle, and high schools. One school bus is better than many parents in cars, but it would be even better if students who live within walking distance of school (1.0, 1.5, 2.0 miles for elementary, middle, high school) had safe routes and walked or biked to/from school.

Or, at least, that's one concern re: busing.

Plus, then, some people have a different concern re: busing, namely that some school bus transportation is just transportation (totally fine and reasonable!), whereas other school bus transportation is "busing" (terrible! boo! social engineering!). You can guess which is which.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looking at Policy FAA and Policy FAA-RA, I don't see any prohibition against reassigning students in the walk zone of one school to be bussed to another school. I often see posters saying as long as you are a walker you will not be reassigned. Is that really true? I can see how it's unlikely they'd reassign someone who lives very close to a school, but the walk zones for high schools are up to 2 miles away. I can't imagine all those neighborhoods will be excluded from consideration from reassignment.

That's not accurate. The maximum walking distance for high schools is 2.0 miles, but that doesn't mean everyone within 2.0 miles of their assigned high school is in the walk zone for that high school. For example, for B-CC, there are a lot of areas east of Connecticut Avenue that are within 2.0 miles walking distance of BCC, but they're in the bus zone, not the walk zone.

There is no prohibition against reassigning students from School #1, where they are in the walk zone, to School #2, where they will be bused. It's just that, in all of the recent boundary studies, MCPS/BOE have chosen not to do that.

Unnecessary busing shows contempt for taxpayers, especially with Elrich's tax hikes.

If you're interested in reducing unnecessary busing, you should work on getting the county to add sidewalks and safe crossings, so that students who live within 1/1.5/2 miles of their assigned school can safely walk, instead of getting bused. For example, why don't students in Somerset walk to their "neighborhood school", B-CC?

That does cost money, though.

The fact that there are multiple areas within 2 miles of BCC that are bused because of safety concerns while there are similarly situated students who attend Einstein and have to cross either Connecticut or University that don’t receive busing is ridiculous and really exemplifies how the students in the DCC have been treated by MCPS.

Which neighborhoods should or should not be bused?

It’s not a matter of should or shouldn’t, but it should be a uniform analysis across the board. If Connecticut is too unsafe for BCC kids to cross, it should also be too unsafe for Einstein kids to cross.

Different portions of the road can have different traffic volumes.

Yup and the volume of traffic where Connecticut splits into Connecticut and University is not that different from the area of Connecticut near BCC. But Bethesda parents wouldn’t know that because the horror of being familiar with an area near Wheaton

I live near Wheaton and would disagree with this. I drive through the Connecticut and East West Hwy intersection semiregularly, and it is one of the more congested intersections in the area. Connecticut and University is not as congested, and that intersection itself is not a place Einstein students would be crossing, since it's zoned to WJ. Einstein students crossing Connecticut would be further up, using one of the crosswalks at Lawrence, Denfeld, or Adams.

Einstein students that don’t cross Connecticut cross University just past the split. In as much as Connecticut in Bethesda has been deemed unsafe for BCC students to cross, it’s ridiculous to try and say but the area on Connecticut or University where Einstein students cross is much safer and therefore they can cross it. It’s not like it’s a 2 lane country road by Einstein.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looking at Policy FAA and Policy FAA-RA, I don't see any prohibition against reassigning students in the walk zone of one school to be bussed to another school. I often see posters saying as long as you are a walker you will not be reassigned. Is that really true? I can see how it's unlikely they'd reassign someone who lives very close to a school, but the walk zones for high schools are up to 2 miles away. I can't imagine all those neighborhoods will be excluded from consideration from reassignment.

That's not accurate. The maximum walking distance for high schools is 2.0 miles, but that doesn't mean everyone within 2.0 miles of their assigned high school is in the walk zone for that high school. For example, for B-CC, there are a lot of areas east of Connecticut Avenue that are within 2.0 miles walking distance of BCC, but they're in the bus zone, not the walk zone.

There is no prohibition against reassigning students from School #1, where they are in the walk zone, to School #2, where they will be bused. It's just that, in all of the recent boundary studies, MCPS/BOE have chosen not to do that.

Unnecessary busing shows contempt for taxpayers, especially with Elrich's tax hikes.

If you're interested in reducing unnecessary busing, you should work on getting the county to add sidewalks and safe crossings, so that students who live within 1/1.5/2 miles of their assigned school can safely walk, instead of getting bused. For example, why don't students in Somerset walk to their "neighborhood school", B-CC?

That does cost money, though.

The fact that there are multiple areas within 2 miles of BCC that are bused because of safety concerns while there are similarly situated students who attend Einstein and have to cross either Connecticut or University that don’t receive busing is ridiculous and really exemplifies how the students in the DCC have been treated by MCPS.

Which neighborhoods should or should not be bused?

It’s not a matter of should or shouldn’t, but it should be a uniform analysis across the board. If Connecticut is too unsafe for BCC kids to cross, it should also be too unsafe for Einstein kids to cross.

Different portions of the road can have different traffic volumes.

Yup and the volume of traffic where Connecticut splits into Connecticut and University is not that different from the area of Connecticut near BCC. But Bethesda parents wouldn’t know that because the horror of being familiar with an area near Wheaton

I know! I drive by there all the time. It's terrible and just another example of how the DCC gets the short-end of the stick while wealthy areas continue to get preferential treatment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the concern re: busing? Is this all environmental? Where I grew up in upstate NY everyone had a bus option (and the whole town was probably within a 2.5 mile radius of the high school- I was on the "far" end at 2.1 miles). Buses all went door to door, no one thought they were an issue.

Buses cost money (buses, drivers, fuel and maintenance), contribute to climate change (including electric buses), and are the main reason why it's so difficult for MCPS to have reasonable school start times for elementary, middle, and high schools. One school bus is better than many parents in cars, but it would be even better if students who live within walking distance of school (1.0, 1.5, 2.0 miles for elementary, middle, high school) had safe routes and walked or biked to/from school.

Or, at least, that's one concern re: busing.

Plus, then, some people have a different concern re: busing, namely that some school bus transportation is just transportation (totally fine and reasonable!), whereas other school bus transportation is "busing" (terrible! boo! social engineering!). You can guess which is which.

I agree, and I'd also prefer money to make classrooms better, not unnecessary transportation costs. Having smaller classes and adequate support will benefit low-income schools a lot more than busing kids all over the place to test unproven social engineering theories.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looking at Policy FAA and Policy FAA-RA, I don't see any prohibition against reassigning students in the walk zone of one school to be bussed to another school. I often see posters saying as long as you are a walker you will not be reassigned. Is that really true? I can see how it's unlikely they'd reassign someone who lives very close to a school, but the walk zones for high schools are up to 2 miles away. I can't imagine all those neighborhoods will be excluded from consideration from reassignment.

That's not accurate. The maximum walking distance for high schools is 2.0 miles, but that doesn't mean everyone within 2.0 miles of their assigned high school is in the walk zone for that high school. For example, for B-CC, there are a lot of areas east of Connecticut Avenue that are within 2.0 miles walking distance of BCC, but they're in the bus zone, not the walk zone.

There is no prohibition against reassigning students from School #1, where they are in the walk zone, to School #2, where they will be bused. It's just that, in all of the recent boundary studies, MCPS/BOE have chosen not to do that.

Unnecessary busing shows contempt for taxpayers, especially with Elrich's tax hikes.

If you're interested in reducing unnecessary busing, you should work on getting the county to add sidewalks and safe crossings, so that students who live within 1/1.5/2 miles of their assigned school can safely walk, instead of getting bused. For example, why don't students in Somerset walk to their "neighborhood school", B-CC?

That does cost money, though.

The fact that there are multiple areas within 2 miles of BCC that are bused because of safety concerns while there are similarly situated students who attend Einstein and have to cross either Connecticut or University that don’t receive busing is ridiculous and really exemplifies how the students in the DCC have been treated by MCPS.

Which neighborhoods should or should not be bused?

It’s not a matter of should or shouldn’t, but it should be a uniform analysis across the board. If Connecticut is too unsafe for BCC kids to cross, it should also be too unsafe for Einstein kids to cross.

Different portions of the road can have different traffic volumes.

Yup and the volume of traffic where Connecticut splits into Connecticut and University is not that different from the area of Connecticut near BCC. But Bethesda parents wouldn’t know that because the horror of being familiar with an area near Wheaton

I live near Wheaton and would disagree with this. I drive through the Connecticut and East West Hwy intersection semiregularly, and it is one of the more congested intersections in the area. Connecticut and University is not as congested, and that intersection itself is not a place Einstein students would be crossing, since it's zoned to WJ. Einstein students crossing Connecticut would be further up, using one of the crosswalks at Lawrence, Denfeld, or Adams.

Einstein students that don’t cross Connecticut cross University just past the split. In as much as Connecticut in Bethesda has been deemed unsafe for BCC students to cross, it’s ridiculous to try and say but the area on Connecticut or University where Einstein students cross is much safer and therefore they can cross it. It’s not like it’s a 2 lane country road by Einstein.

Have there been accidents at these intersections involving students? If so, contact BOE and county council members to press for improvements.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looking at Policy FAA and Policy FAA-RA, I don't see any prohibition against reassigning students in the walk zone of one school to be bussed to another school. I often see posters saying as long as you are a walker you will not be reassigned. Is that really true? I can see how it's unlikely they'd reassign someone who lives very close to a school, but the walk zones for high schools are up to 2 miles away. I can't imagine all those neighborhoods will be excluded from consideration from reassignment.

That's not accurate. The maximum walking distance for high schools is 2.0 miles, but that doesn't mean everyone within 2.0 miles of their assigned high school is in the walk zone for that high school. For example, for B-CC, there are a lot of areas east of Connecticut Avenue that are within 2.0 miles walking distance of BCC, but they're in the bus zone, not the walk zone.

There is no prohibition against reassigning students from School #1, where they are in the walk zone, to School #2, where they will be bused. It's just that, in all of the recent boundary studies, MCPS/BOE have chosen not to do that.

Unnecessary busing shows contempt for taxpayers, especially with Elrich's tax hikes.

If you're interested in reducing unnecessary busing, you should work on getting the county to add sidewalks and safe crossings, so that students who live within 1/1.5/2 miles of their assigned school can safely walk, instead of getting bused. For example, why don't students in Somerset walk to their "neighborhood school", B-CC?

That does cost money, though.

The fact that there are multiple areas within 2 miles of BCC that are bused because of safety concerns while there are similarly situated students who attend Einstein and have to cross either Connecticut or University that don’t receive busing is ridiculous and really exemplifies how the students in the DCC have been treated by MCPS.

Which neighborhoods should or should not be bused?

It’s not a matter of should or shouldn’t, but it should be a uniform analysis across the board. If Connecticut is too unsafe for BCC kids to cross, it should also be too unsafe for Einstein kids to cross.

Different portions of the road can have different traffic volumes.

Yup and the volume of traffic where Connecticut splits into Connecticut and University is not that different from the area of Connecticut near BCC. But Bethesda parents wouldn’t know that because the horror of being familiar with an area near Wheaton

I live near Wheaton and would disagree with this. I drive through the Connecticut and East West Hwy intersection semiregularly, and it is one of the more congested intersections in the area. Connecticut and University is not as congested, and that intersection itself is not a place Einstein students would be crossing, since it's zoned to WJ. Einstein students crossing Connecticut would be further up, using one of the crosswalks at Lawrence, Denfeld, or Adams.

Einstein students that don’t cross Connecticut cross University just past the split. In as much as Connecticut in Bethesda has been deemed unsafe for BCC students to cross, it’s ridiculous to try and say but the area on Connecticut or University where Einstein students cross is much safer and therefore they can cross it. It’s not like it’s a 2 lane country road by Einstein.

Veirs Mill Road, too. In fact, not just Einstein HS students, but Newport Mill MS students. Sixth-graders. Eleven-year-olds!

However, there's a win-win here for people in Chevy Chase east of Connecticut who want to stay assigned to BCC: ask MCPS to remove bus service. Then they'll be in the B-CC walk zone - and MCPS will have a few fewer high school bus routes they have to cover.

[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:Looking at Policy FAA and Policy FAA-RA, I don't see any prohibition against reassigning students in the walk zone of one school to be bussed to another school. I often see posters saying as long as you are a walker you will not be reassigned. Is that really true? I can see how it's unlikely they'd reassign someone who lives very close to a school, but the walk zones for high schools are up to 2 miles away. I can't imagine all those neighborhoods will be excluded from consideration from reassignment.

That's not accurate. The maximum walking distance for high schools is 2.0 miles, but that doesn't mean everyone within 2.0 miles of their assigned high school is in the walk zone for that high school. For example, for B-CC, there are a lot of areas east of Connecticut Avenue that are within 2.0 miles walking distance of BCC, but they're in the bus zone, not the walk zone.

There is no prohibition against reassigning students from School #1, where they are in the walk zone, to School #2, where they will be bused. It's just that, in all of the recent boundary studies, MCPS/BOE have chosen not to do that.

Unnecessary busing shows contempt for taxpayers, especially with Elrich's tax hikes.

If you're interested in reducing unnecessary busing, you should work on getting the county to add sidewalks and safe crossings, so that students who live within 1/1.5/2 miles of their assigned school can safely walk, instead of getting bused. For example, why don't students in Somerset walk to their "neighborhood school", B-CC?

That does cost money, though.

The fact that there are multiple areas within 2 miles of BCC that are bused because of safety concerns while there are similarly situated students who attend Einstein and have to cross either Connecticut or University that don’t receive busing is ridiculous and really exemplifies how the students in the DCC have been treated by MCPS.

Which neighborhoods should or should not be bused?

It’s not a matter of should or shouldn’t, but it should be a uniform analysis across the board. If Connecticut is too unsafe for BCC kids to cross, it should also be too unsafe for Einstein kids to cross.

Different portions of the road can have different traffic volumes.

Yup and the volume of traffic where Connecticut splits into Connecticut and University is not that different from the area of Connecticut near BCC. But Bethesda parents wouldn’t know that because the horror of being familiar with an area near Wheaton

I live near Wheaton and would disagree with this. I drive through the Connecticut and East West Hwy intersection semiregularly, and it is one of the more congested intersections in the area. Connecticut and University is not as congested, and that intersection itself is not a place Einstein students would be crossing, since it's zoned to WJ. Einstein students crossing Connecticut would be further up, using one of the crosswalks at Lawrence, Denfeld, or Adams.

Einstein students that don’t cross Connecticut cross University just past the split. In as much as Connecticut in Bethesda has been deemed unsafe for BCC students to cross, it’s ridiculous to try and say but the area on Connecticut or University where Einstein students cross is much safer and therefore they can cross it. It’s not like it’s a 2 lane country road by Einstein.

Have there been accidents at these intersections involving students? If so, contact BOE and county council members to press for improvements.

Yes, there have. And yes, people have been doing this.

[Anonymous]

DCUM, for years and years: "WJ students living near University and Newport Mill should be rezoned to Einstein, since they can easily walk there--it's practically next door!"

DCUM, now: "Einstein students living near University and Newport Mill should get bus service to Einstein--it's too dangerous to walk there!"

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DCUM, for years and years: "WJ students living near University and Newport Mill should be rezoned to Einstein, since they can easily walk there--it's practically next door!"

DCUM, now: "Einstein students living near University and Newport Mill should get bus service to Einstein--it's too dangerous to walk there!"

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Has it occurred to you that different individuals post on DCUM and have different perspectives on these issues? Many of us zoned to Einstein do not have and have never had any desire to have any more neighborhoods rezoned to Einstein as it is overcrowded.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DCUM, for years and years: "WJ students living near University and Newport Mill should be rezoned to Einstein, since they can easily walk there--it's practically next door!"

DCUM, now: "Einstein students living near University and Newport Mill should get bus service to Einstein--it's too dangerous to walk there!"

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Not everything is about the Town of Kensington being assigned to WJ instead of Einstein.

Facts:

1. Right now, Einstein students (not in the TOK) who live on the other side of University are in the Einstein walk zone.
2. Right now, BCC students who live on the other side of Connecticut are in the BCC bus zone.
3. Crossing University in Kensington/Wheaton is, at minimum, not less dangerous than crossing Connecticut in Chevy Chase.
4. MCPS spends a lot of money to bus students who live within walking distance, because there is no safe route to school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the concern re: busing? Is this all environmental? Where I grew up in upstate NY everyone had a bus option (and the whole town was probably within a 2.5 mile radius of the high school- I was on the "far" end at 2.1 miles). Buses all went door to door, no one thought they were an issue.

Buses cost money (buses, drivers, fuel and maintenance), contribute to climate change (including electric buses), and are the main reason why it's so difficult for MCPS to have reasonable school start times for elementary, middle, and high schools. One school bus is better than many parents in cars, but it would be even better if students who live within walking distance of school (1.0, 1.5, 2.0 miles for elementary, middle, high school) had safe routes and walked or biked to/from school.

Or, at least, that's one concern re: busing.

Plus, then, some people have a different concern re: busing, namely that some school bus transportation is just transportation (totally fine and reasonable!), whereas other school bus transportation is "busing" (terrible! boo! social engineering!). You can guess which is which.

Is it really 2 miles for HS? How many of those students are actually walking both ways every day, even if they do have a safe route? My guess is a lot are driven.

[Anonymous]

The solution is not to bus students from one side of University to the other; it's to make it safer to cross University, which is not something under MCPS's control. It's a state road anyway, so maybe contacting your state reps is the better plan.