AACPS Redistricting

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The appeal has been filed!

They actually have a really good chance at shutting this down. If the person who was doing projections for AACPS itself until 2 years ago comes out and says the data is flawed, that’s strong grounds for the appeal being successful.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Severna park was in phase 1. There was not much pushback in that phase.

Crofton IS in phase 2 and the residents there are actually fighting the redistricting to try to KEEP the poorest/most diverse kids in the Crofton feeder (Nantucket elementary.) The redistricting as proposed has not at all been about diversifying school populations, which you seem to suggest. In the case of Crofton it would have effectively reduced the FARMS rate at CHS and made it whiter.

Yeah but majority white neighborhoods in Crofton Woods area stay in Crofton instead of moving to South River. The overarching theme in Crofton is “leave us alone.”

Um yeah, when you used our kids as numbers to prove your case that you needed to build Crofton High School, but are now discarding an oddly small cohort of them who will face the greatest change and burden of any other kids in the county? Yes, let us all go to the high school you USED US TO BUILD, and leave us alone.

The last time I checked, you all knew that Crofton High School would be over-capacity the day it serves all 4 grades. Then when redistricting started for Phase II, you all wanted to pretend your clearly overcrowded high school isn't overcrowded using ridiculous excuses.

1. "The lunches have plenty of empty tables": Yeah, no shit. The lunches take place during 3rd period, when seniors with partial schedules are already gone for the day. Also, you all conveniently leave out the fact that CrHS used to have an hour lunch system (which the students highly preferred) until it started serving all 4 grades. Beginning in the 2022-2023 school year, CrHS had to switch to 4 25-minute lunch blocks because it would be a fire hazard to have the amount of kids that would be in the cafeteria with the previous lunch block system and there aren't enough staff to cover that.


2. "The building feels spacious after seniors leave after 2nd period": That's probably true at every high school, doesn't change the fact that they're their for half of the school day. Also, not all seniors with a partial schedule take classes in the beginning of the day. Some take classes on A or B days only but are present for the full day, others come in later in the day.

3. "We can't build community with Arundel, we will be otherized as Crofton kids": Kids in Crofton attended Arundel High School up until 3 years ago and there were never issues with building community there at all. Nobody iced out Crofton kids for being from Crofton, nobody cares about what town anyone lives in. Most of the families moving to Arundel have Gambrills zip-codes--the same as Arundel High and many of the students already attending school there. Further, you're joining the Arundel cluster in middle school, when your kids are no more new than the kids from the other feeder elementary schools are. It's not like kids from Piney Orchard Elementary School magically know all the kids coming to Arundel Middle from Waugh Chapel Elementary School. EVERYONE is new to the Arundel cluster when they go to middle school because that's the first time the entire cluster is under one roof. In fact, numerous Arundel parents have been trying to set up events and do outreach with impacted Nantucket families to not only welcome the families with open arms, but also make the transition easier.

4. "We will be the only part of Crofton not attending Crofton schools": False. St. Stephens Church Road communities are within the Crofton CDP boundaries and are a stones throw from the Crofton cluster schools. They not only attend schools in a different cluster (Severn Run) but also take a bus up and down route 3, the same road you all claim is off limits for kids.


Instead of accepting the facts--which is that Crofton High and Middle are overcrowded, you all chose to deny those basic facts, come up with your own biased and skewed formulas for calculating SRC (like by using counseling suites as classrooms), and attacked/blocked/insulted anyone who accepted those basic facts. The school system did everything they could to keep Crofton together. They recalculated the SRC of CrHS where they were able to, they knocked down walls between offices to convert them into classrooms, and they expanded Crofton Middle School several times until the building was maxed out and could not be further expanded due to its layout. They can't do anymore without harming the quality of instruction at Crofton schools. Using counseling suites for SRC only hurts CrHS because now you're teaching kids out of a space that was not designed for teaching and learning, and the SRC of the school looks good on paper, which prevents the school from getting funds for an expansion. Redistricting Crofton was necessary at this point.

The nasty and immature behavior of many Crofton parents and their inability to accept basic facts and work with the Board is exactly what got them where they are today. They also taught children that kicking, screaming, treating adults with authority with disrespect, and acting like entitled brats is the way to get what you want. If you didn't want Nantucket to be split up, you should have accepted that Crofton schools are overcrowded and come up with an equitable redistricting plan instead--not moving a block of townhouses that have mostly Black residents out of Crofton schools while simultaneously screaming about protecting diversity in the Crofton cluster.

+100000

The Nantucket people absolutely bungled this from the beginning. The "Option Four" plan was outrageous and offended a lot of people who might have otherwise been on their side. Their behavior throughout has been disrespectful, mean, and rude. I know I'm not the only Crofton parent who was actively rooting for the split articulation. I'm looking forward to seeing the same group blow a bunch of money on their unsuccessful appeal.

It's ridiculous that they think they will be able to appeal this. What are they going to argue? All of the facts are on AACPS' side. Crofton High School and Crofton Middle School are overcrowded, the neighborhoods being moved to the Arundel cluster are some of the wealthiest and most expensive neighborhoods in the Crofton cluster, and AACPS already has split articulations at other schools.

The whole argument about diversity is a load of BS. This redistricting will actually make the demographics of the Arundel and Crofton clusters more balanced with each other. The 2019 redistricting for Crofton High School caused Black students to become more concentrated in the Arundel cluster after these same mostly white families pushed for route 3 to be the boundary between Crofton and Arundel and booted majority-Black Waugh Chapel Town Center communities out of the Crofton feeder system and placed them in the Arundel feeder system. People warned them of the diversity concerns and they didn't care. The effect was that Crofton Elementary and Middle got whiter while Arundel Middle and High got more Black. Moving the Nantucket neighborhoods to the Arundel cluster should actually make the racial and SES demographics of the Arundel and Crofton clusters closer to equal.

What other schools have split articulation in AACPS? My kids aren't in Crofton, and clearly I don't know the feeder pattern of every single school in the district, but split articulation in any situation seems like a terrible idea.

Other Schools in AACPS with Split Articulation:

MacArthur Middle School: Kids living in the attendance areas for Frank Hebron-Harman Elementary School and Van Bokkelen Elementary school feed to Severn Run High School, while the rest of the kids feed to Meade High School.
Corkran Middle School: Kids living in the attendance areas for Woodside Elementary and Oakwood Elementary School feed to Old Mill High School, while the rest of the kids feed to Glen Burnie High School.

That’s different. Those kids haven’t had their seats at their high school stolen by townhouse dwellers.

I hope this is sarcasm because that area of the county is the dumping ground for townhomes and apartments. The county and school system is committed to making it a super hyper electronic ghetto.

But for that strip of new build townhouses, there would be plenty of room for all of Nantucket to attend Croton High School. They’re not really a part of the Crofton community. Send them to Arundel. They’d probably be more comfortable there anyway.

Whoa, what does this even mean?

Signed,

Someone who grew up in Crofton, went to arundel, and now lives in odenton and has a kid who will go arundel

It means that Crofton High School was built to serve the Crofton community. Then a developer threw up 100 or so townhouses west of Route 3 a few years ago, and those kids were zoned for Crofton High, effectively displacing Nantucket Elementary kids. Nantucket kids are an indispensable part of the Crofton community and have been their entire lives. The Crofton community resents the River Walk kids for displacing Nantucket kids. It’s a bad situation for everyone that could be solved by simply sending everyone west of Route 3 to Arundel.

I grew up in Crofton and you sound positively awful.

You sound naive. If some students need to move, it shouldn’t be kids with deep, longstanding roots in the community whose families fought for the construction of this school. Nantucket kids deserve better.

Except kids on the west side of Route 3 have attended Crofton Middle School since Crofton Middle even existed, and Nantucket families were the ones historically always attending the Arundel cluster. A lot of the Nantucket homes moving to Arundel are just as new, and sometimes even newer, than the communities on the west side of Route 3 that got displaced.

There were no homes there before. River Walk is a new development. But for its construction, Nantucket kids would be able to stay in the schools they have attended and anticipated attending their entire lives. River Walk kids should be the ones moving, not Nantucket.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s so funny how people want to blame Riverwalk and not the massive development of almost 200 homes that is Wilson’s Grove.

Those homes have been there for 10+ years. Those families are fundamentally differently situated from River Walk. There is no reason to displace any Nantucket children and force them onto Route 3.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The appeal has been filed!

They actually have a really good chance at shutting this down. If the person who was doing projections for AACPS itself until 2 years ago comes out and says the data is flawed, that’s strong grounds for the appeal being successful.

It isn't a slam dunk, but it is as close to a slam dunk as these things get. I can't wait to see the look in Bedell and Heiser's faces.

[Anonymous]

The assumption that Nantucket parents wanted to kick other students out of the Crofton cluster is so off the mark. I’m not a Crofton parent, but I’m really close with one of the Nantucket parents who was heavily involved in the advocacy throughout the redistricting process. She said she believes Crofton Woods and Riverwalk parents should also get the chance to be heard and make their case, and that she wanted to work with them. That’s where “One Crofton” came from. It anything, Nantucket parents were the ones advocating for everyone in Crofton from the very start, then when the newer maps were released in the summer that only impacted Nantucket, suddenly all the Crofton Woods people who liked “One Crofton” were silent and disappeared.

It’s so awful that so many people are deciding to slander parents—about half of whom are Black and brown, accuse them of being racist, classist, or hating Arundel (even though many of these people have older kids they willingly sent to Arundel).

Most people in Crofton love Arundel and are immensely grateful for Arundel educating numerous generations of Crofton kids and leading them to success as adults. There is a lot of wildcat pride in Crofton and that will never go away. This has nothing to do with not liking Arundel.

This could have easily happened to your neighborhood and your kids, and it still can in the future. This fight will benefit all kids in the county and force AACPS to be transparent and use accurate data.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The assumption that Nantucket parents wanted to kick other students out of the Crofton cluster is so off the mark. I’m not a Crofton parent, but I’m really close with one of the Nantucket parents who was heavily involved in the advocacy throughout the redistricting process. She said she believes Crofton Woods and Riverwalk parents should also get the chance to be heard and make their case, and that she wanted to work with them. That’s where “One Crofton” came from. It anything, Nantucket parents were the ones advocating for everyone in Crofton from the very start, then when the newer maps were released in the summer that only impacted Nantucket, suddenly all the Crofton Woods people who liked “One Crofton” were silent and disappeared.

It’s so awful that so many people are deciding to slander parents—about half of whom are Black and brown, accuse them of being racist, classist, or hating Arundel (even though many of these people have older kids they willingly sent to Arundel).

Most people in Crofton love Arundel and are immensely grateful for Arundel educating numerous generations of Crofton kids and leading them to success as adults. There is a lot of wildcat pride in Crofton and that will never go away. This has nothing to do with not liking Arundel.

This could have easily happened to your neighborhood and your kids, and it still can in the future. This fight will benefit all kids in the county and force AACPS to be transparent and use accurate data.

“One Crofton” was willing to advocate for the removal of Crofton Woods and Riverwalk kids (and in fact DID advocate for the removal of Riverwalk from the cluster), but was unwilling to consider any solution that involved moving a single Nantucket kid. They barred Riverwalk parents from the Facebook group until there was a public backlash. Even now, many are still grumbling about Route 3 being a “natural barrier.” One Crofton is an advocacy group for Nantucket, not the entire Cluster. I have no idea why they feel so entitled to anyone else’s support.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The assumption that Nantucket parents wanted to kick other students out of the Crofton cluster is so off the mark. I’m not a Crofton parent, but I’m really close with one of the Nantucket parents who was heavily involved in the advocacy throughout the redistricting process. She said she believes Crofton Woods and Riverwalk parents should also get the chance to be heard and make their case, and that she wanted to work with them. That’s where “One Crofton” came from. It anything, Nantucket parents were the ones advocating for everyone in Crofton from the very start, then when the newer maps were released in the summer that only impacted Nantucket, suddenly all the Crofton Woods people who liked “One Crofton” were silent and disappeared.

It’s so awful that so many people are deciding to slander parents—about half of whom are Black and brown, accuse them of being racist, classist, or hating Arundel (even though many of these people have older kids they willingly sent to Arundel).

Most people in Crofton love Arundel and are immensely grateful for Arundel educating numerous generations of Crofton kids and leading them to success as adults. There is a lot of wildcat pride in Crofton and that will never go away. This has nothing to do with not liking Arundel.

This could have easily happened to your neighborhood and your kids, and it still can in the future. This fight will benefit all kids in the county and force AACPS to be transparent and use accurate data.

It sounds like your friend hasn’t been totally candid with you about the history. AACPS never considered moving Riverwalk. One Crofton asked the board (repeatedly) to remove Riverwalk from the cluster to “save” Nantucket. They abandoned that idea when it failed to gain traction for various reasons. Why should Riverwalk families want to do anything for Nantucket, let alone “make their case” to a group whose sole goal is to keep all of Nantucket at Crofton, regardless of the cost to anyone else?

[Anonymous]

Someone submitted a PIA request to get the emails the board received, and there was an email to the board members from a non-Nantucket Crofton parent who told the board not to cave into bullying and that most of Crofton quietly supported the Nantucket move out of Crofton. Seems to contradict the notion of a tight knit “one Crofton” existing. Everyone in Crofton has an f you I got mine mentality at the end of the day.

[Anonymous]

Saying that Route 3 should be the hard boundary between the Arundel and Crofton clusters is as ridiculous as saying that Route 2 should be the hard boundary between the Severna Park and Broadneck clusters. Could you imagine kids living as north as Berrywoood being bused to Broadneck? Or kids living near the Severn River bridge being bused to Broadneck?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Saying that Route 3 should be the hard boundary between the Arundel and Crofton clusters is as ridiculous as saying that Route 2 should be the hard boundary between the Severna Park and Broadneck clusters. Could you imagine kids living as north as Berrywoood being bused to Broadneck? Or kids living near the Severn River bridge being bused to Broadneck?

Kids living near the Severn River bridge being bused to Severna Park*

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Saying that Route 3 should be the hard boundary between the Arundel and Crofton clusters is as ridiculous as saying that Route 2 should be the hard boundary between the Severna Park and Broadneck clusters. Could you imagine kids living as north as Berrywoood being bused to Broadneck? Or kids living near the Severn River bridge being bused to Broadneck?

It IS the boundary except for River Walk. Why should that neighborhood be the exception?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Saying that Route 3 should be the hard boundary between the Arundel and Crofton clusters is as ridiculous as saying that Route 2 should be the hard boundary between the Severna Park and Broadneck clusters. Could you imagine kids living as north as Berrywoood being bused to Broadneck? Or kids living near the Severn River bridge being bused to Broadneck?

It IS the boundary except for River Walk. Why should that neighborhood be the exception?

Because kids in Riverwalk have to use Route 3 to get to any high school they attend regardless of whether it’s Arundel or Crofton. Why should they go to a school that’s 14 minutes away (Arundel) vs 8 minutes away (Crofton)? Riverwalk students would have to be on Route 3 for even longer if they go to Arundel vs Crofton. It almost seems pathetic and cruel.

Also, Route 3 wasn’t the boundary between Crofton and Arundel until Crofton High opened. Waugh Chapel communities, Two Rivers, and Forks of Patuxent all used to attend the Crofton feeder.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Saying that Route 3 should be the hard boundary between the Arundel and Crofton clusters is as ridiculous as saying that Route 2 should be the hard boundary between the Severna Park and Broadneck clusters. Could you imagine kids living as north as Berrywoood being bused to Broadneck? Or kids living near the Severn River bridge being bused to Broadneck?

It IS the boundary except for River Walk. Why should that neighborhood be the exception?

Because kids in Riverwalk have to use Route 3 to get to any high school they attend regardless of whether it’s Arundel or Crofton. Why should they go to a school that’s 14 minutes away (Arundel) vs 8 minutes away (Crofton)? Riverwalk students would have to be on Route 3 for even longer if they go to Arundel vs Crofton. It almost seems pathetic and cruel.

Also, Route 3 wasn’t the boundary between Crofton and Arundel until Crofton High opened. Waugh Chapel communities, Two Rivers, and Forks of Patuxent all used to attend the Crofton feeder.

You can’t get to anywhere from River Walk without getting on route 3. People who live there accept the risks of Route 3 as part of living there. They’re getting on route 3 no matter what, but that isn’t true of the rest of Crofton. It isn’t fair to put Nantucket kids onto Route 3 unnecessarily.

[Anonymous]

Looking down on "townhome kids" is so crofton. I live in aa co again now but I am soo glad I moved from crofton/aa county for my 20s and most of my 30s. So many people go to college and come right back to Crofton which is why these nasty attitudes persist. And honestly I agree there should not be split articulation from nantucket, it's bonkers! There is the argument, not trying to throw "townhome kids" under the bus and making it their fault somehow. The nantucket folks are right and yet soo unsympathetic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Saying that Route 3 should be the hard boundary between the Arundel and Crofton clusters is as ridiculous as saying that Route 2 should be the hard boundary between the Severna Park and Broadneck clusters. Could you imagine kids living as north as Berrywoood being bused to Broadneck? Or kids living near the Severn River bridge being bused to Broadneck?

It IS the boundary except for River Walk. Why should that neighborhood be the exception?

Because kids in Riverwalk have to use Route 3 to get to any high school they attend regardless of whether it’s Arundel or Crofton. Why should they go to a school that’s 14 minutes away (Arundel) vs 8 minutes away (Crofton)? Riverwalk students would have to be on Route 3 for even longer if they go to Arundel vs Crofton. It almost seems pathetic and cruel.

Also, Route 3 wasn’t the boundary between Crofton and Arundel until Crofton High opened. Waugh Chapel communities, Two Rivers, and Forks of Patuxent all used to attend the Crofton feeder.

You can’t get to anywhere from River Walk without getting on route 3. People who live there accept the risks of Route 3 as part of living there. They’re getting on route 3 no matter what, but that isn’t true of the rest of Crofton. It isn’t fair to put Nantucket kids onto Route 3 unnecessarily.

Do you think the Nantucket kids are going to have to hitch hike down Route 3 or something? What exactly isn't fair about having to drive on a bigger road than a smaller one?