APS Families--Pls email county and school boards by Tues. 5/24!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a current APS family zoned for W-L, and I didn't get one of these surveys. Not sure why not. I hate the idea of a 9th grade academy. Part of the high school experience is meeting and spending time with older kids, seeing their achievements. My kid doesn't need an even bigger pool of kids in the same grade to get lost in.

But, as always, parents should consider this option -- a 9th grade academy -- within the actual decision set available now, instead of comparing it to some ideal situation that doesn't and can't exist. We all want a great experience for our kids. But some of the choices we are actually facing include the following:

--massively overcrowded schools where kids go in shifts (some going from 7-2, some from 8-3, some from 9-4) and spots in sports, band etc. become exceedingly hard to get
--redistricting
--requiring students to spend a semester or a year doing online or offcampus study
--year round school (kids go 3 out of 4 quarters a year, so 3/4 of kids are in school at any given time)
--private school or moving out of Arlington

If those are the choices, doesn't a 9th grade academy seem like one of the better options?

Seriously, these options are insane and unacceptable, which is why the county should find us the land for a new high school.

I don't disagree, but here's the other point of view --

There are hardly any large parcels of land left in the county, and lots of potential uses for them including open space, affordable housing, infrastructure support (fire stations, bus maintenance/storage), etc. And we can only borrow so much money a year. So, given that:

a) The vast majority of people in Arlington don't have kids, and since most new housing in Arlington is high density, the proportions are likely to stay that way
b) School enrollment trends, while definitely very high, are likely a bubble and will taper off again in 10 years
c) Building a high school will tie up a huge parcel of land for 50 years and take up $150 million of bond money over 20 years, both of which could be used for MANY other high value, high priority items
d) There are all these other options for dealing with capacity, even if parents don't like them

Why build another high school?

I don't believe these numbers are a bubble. They are reflective not only of a population increase due to the number of Millennials having kids now, but also of the trend for families to move into closer-in suburbs or the city itself, prioritizing proximity to jobs and better commutes to the lure of the suburban experience. Arlington is the place where people of child bearing ages who aren't comfortable living in a true city like DC but who don't like suburban sprawl either are going to chose. We're a quasi-urban community, with decent commutes to both Tysons and DC. There is no chance Arlington become less attractive to young families, unless you decide shift or year-round scheduling is the way to go. So maybe this is the real plan? Reduce demand with terrible schools?

We have to build another HS. Scrap HB if we can't make it bigger and use some of that money towards a new comprehensive HS. Want more open spaces, or land for bus maintenance/storage? And I'm sorry, but if the county uses ANY county-owned land to add housing, without building the schools and fields for the kids who will live in this housing or the kids who already reside here, they are going to have one heck of a pissed off electorate.

Sorry, that should read:

Want more open spaces, or land for bus maintenance/storage? Look to the areas around Four Mile Run that are about to be redeveloped, in the Flood Plain, that can't be used for housing or schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do we know if the only options are either a fourth high school or attending high school in shifts. I don't think so. On the W-L PTA survey I supported the 9th grade academy. Is that still in play?

I agree that the county and the school board need to work together on this issue.

9th grade academy sounds like the worst of all possible options to me.

Gosh, I totally disagree. I love the county-wide 9th grade academy idea and think it would be the most politically palatable.

But that's not what they're talking about. They're talking about a 9th grade academy for one HS, W-L.

But they SHOULD be talking about it. Build a brand new school, to high school specifications (so it could be used as a general high school in the future if need be), and then put all the 9th graders there. It would be a much easier pill to swallow than a new high school, which would involve a long, painful, and likely ugly process of redrawing high school boundaries across the entire county. Plus, it could be a balm to the community that older kids wouldn't be driving.

Do I think a new high school would be a better idea? Yes. But I think it's a much more painful process that I'm not sure we have the collective stomach for. It's easier to do piecemeal patches that don't fix the problem.

[Anonymous]

I just hope that if people are emailing the county and school boards they are being clear about what reasonable measures parents are willing to tolerate the help the capacity crunch (like a 9th grade academy and having bigger schools) and to make the other arguments that several posters have outlined above (like the need to mitigate the negative impacts on the thousands of kids who will go through the system over the next 20 years) -- to give the politicians the words they need to push back on the affordable housing and other lobbies and make schools a priority. Just telling the boards "make schools a priority" doesn't help them much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just hope that if people are emailing the county and school boards they are being clear about what reasonable measures parents are willing to tolerate the help the capacity crunch (like a 9th grade academy and having bigger schools) and to make the other arguments that several posters have outlined above (like the need to mitigate the negative impacts on the thousands of kids who will go through the system over the next 20 years) -- to give the politicians the words they need to push back on the affordable housing and other lobbies and make schools a priority. Just telling the boards "make schools a priority" doesn't help them much.

I don't think writing in and asking the Boards to build a new high school while at the same time saying "I am also okay with a 9th grade academy and/or adding seats to the existing schools so that they are massive, massive schools." is a very helpful strategy. Why are people pushing this 9th grade academy so hard? I don't think it makes sense to mention it at all, since doing it just buys some time and puts a new high school further down on the timeline, since they'd have to allocate millions and millions of dollars to make the academy happen.

Just write in discussing the ideas suggested that you hate, such as the alternative scheduling and internet learning and making the existing schools very, very big. It's not necessary to discuss every single option. But the options that have been suggested are unacceptable and what is really needed is a new high school, and the Boards need to work towards that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just hope that if people are emailing the county and school boards they are being clear about what reasonable measures parents are willing to tolerate the help the capacity crunch (like a 9th grade academy and having bigger schools) and to make the other arguments that several posters have outlined above (like the need to mitigate the negative impacts on the thousands of kids who will go through the system over the next 20 years) -- to give the politicians the words they need to push back on the affordable housing and other lobbies and make schools a priority. Just telling the boards "make schools a priority" doesn't help them much.

I don't think writing in and asking the Boards to build a new high school while at the same time saying "I am also okay with a 9th grade academy and/or adding seats to the existing schools so that they are massive, massive schools." is a very helpful strategy. Why are people pushing this 9th grade academy so hard? I don't think it makes sense to mention it at all, since doing it just buys some time and puts a new high school further down on the timeline, since they'd have to allocate millions and millions of dollars to make the academy happen.

Just write in discussing the ideas suggested that you hate, such as the alternative scheduling and internet learning and making the existing schools very, very big. It's not necessary to discuss every single option. But the options that have been suggested are unacceptable and what is really needed is a new high school, and the Boards need to work towards that.

Because politics is give and take and parents don't hold a trump card here--they have to compromise. So show that they are ALREADY compromising -- W-L is already huge, and the other two high schools are going to be a lot bigger. Remind the county board about that. Then say, we STILL need a new school. You can't just send an email to the county board saying it's self-evident that we need a new high school. It's not, and you are just wasting your time if you don't provide some support for your position. The interests you are competing against are well organized and have lots of data supporting their positions.

[Anonymous]

I think the county needs to be building up and thinking long term. Take some of these older, small elems and turn them into multi story buildings, but keep the green space and free up land for another high school.

As much as I want to support affordable housing, I think the county needs to relook that too. I think most of us want to be fair and help those communities stay, but I don't think it's logical to build housing at the expense of being able to have schools for the same children. AHIP doesn't need to build a project on the Carlin Springs land. At the very least, anything they build should be mutli-income.

[Anonymous]

There was a comment floating out there in an earlier thread about a county board memeber or a school board member saying the traffic on Carlin Springs makes the hospital land a non-starter for a new high school. Can someone explain that argument or articulate the counter-argument? Is it that the current traffic patterns make it too dangerous for kids or is it that the area would be overwhelmed if the land is used in a way that attracts additional traffic?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just hope that if people are emailing the county and school boards they are being clear about what reasonable measures parents are willing to tolerate the help the capacity crunch (like a 9th grade academy and having bigger schools) and to make the other arguments that several posters have outlined above (like the need to mitigate the negative impacts on the thousands of kids who will go through the system over the next 20 years) -- to give the politicians the words they need to push back on the affordable housing and other lobbies and make schools a priority. Just telling the boards "make schools a priority" doesn't help them much.

I don't think writing in and asking the Boards to build a new high school while at the same time saying "I am also okay with a 9th grade academy and/or adding seats to the existing schools so that they are massive, massive schools." is a very helpful strategy. Why are people pushing this 9th grade academy so hard? I don't think it makes sense to mention it at all, since doing it just buys some time and puts a new high school further down on the timeline, since they'd have to allocate millions and millions of dollars to make the academy happen.

Just write in discussing the ideas suggested that you hate, such as the alternative scheduling and internet learning and making the existing schools very, very big. It's not necessary to discuss every single option. But the options that have been suggested are unacceptable and what is really needed is a new high school, and the Boards need to work towards that.

Because politics is give and take and parents don't hold a trump card here--they have to compromise. So show that they are ALREADY compromising -- W-L is already huge, and the other two high schools are going to be a lot bigger. Remind the county board about that. Then say, we STILL need a new school. You can't just send an email to the county board saying it's self-evident that we need a new high school. It's not, and you are just wasting your time if you don't provide some support for your position. The interests you are competing against are well organized and have lots of data supporting their positions.

You can certainly write an effective letter by saying that you are a taxpaying resident of Arlington with kids who will be attending high school in 5-10 years and the proposed half-solutions to the capacity problems -- including schedule shifting and internet learning -- are untested and wholly inadequate. You don't need to write a letter with footnotes, and you certainly don't have to go in offering compromises that you don't believe in like the 9th grade academy (if you are against that as I am).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just hope that if people are emailing the county and school boards they are being clear about what reasonable measures parents are willing to tolerate the help the capacity crunch (like a 9th grade academy and having bigger schools) and to make the other arguments that several posters have outlined above (like the need to mitigate the negative impacts on the thousands of kids who will go through the system over the next 20 years) -- to give the politicians the words they need to push back on the affordable housing and other lobbies and make schools a priority. Just telling the boards "make schools a priority" doesn't help them much.

I don't think writing in and asking the Boards to build a new high school while at the same time saying "I am also okay with a 9th grade academy and/or adding seats to the existing schools so that they are massive, massive schools." is a very helpful strategy. Why are people pushing this 9th grade academy so hard? I don't think it makes sense to mention it at all, since doing it just buys some time and puts a new high school further down on the timeline, since they'd have to allocate millions and millions of dollars to make the academy happen.

Just write in discussing the ideas suggested that you hate, such as the alternative scheduling and internet learning and making the existing schools very, very big. It's not necessary to discuss every single option. But the options that have been suggested are unacceptable and what is really needed is a new high school, and the Boards need to work towards that.

Because politics is give and take and parents don't hold a trump card here--they have to compromise. So show that they are ALREADY compromising -- W-L is already huge, and the other two high schools are going to be a lot bigger. Remind the county board about that. Then say, we STILL need a new school. You can't just send an email to the county board saying it's self-evident that we need a new high school. It's not, and you are just wasting your time if you don't provide some support for your position. The interests you are competing against are well organized and have lots of data supporting their positions.

You can certainly write an effective letter by saying that you are a taxpaying resident of Arlington with kids who will be attending high school in 5-10 years and the proposed half-solutions to the capacity problems -- including schedule shifting and internet learning -- are untested and wholly inadequate. You don't need to write a letter with footnotes, and you certainly don't have to go in offering compromises that you don't believe in like the 9th grade academy (if you are against that as I am).

+1

Also, you never begin by asking for the compromise.

[Anonymous]

i'm for do-nothing. the rich and powerful should take their money and kids to private schools instead of holding APS hostage forever.

and that's what i'll write.

[Anonymous]

Well, at least when I get old I'll have a big park to sit in and think about what we could have possibly done to prevent APS from going down the toilet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, at least when I get old I'll have a big park to sit in and think about what we could have possibly done to prevent APS from going down the toilet.

Vote Republican?

[Anonymous]

I think it is ironic, if true, that they are thinking of using the Carlin Springs parcel for affordable housing. The whole point of affordable housing is to provide an opportunity for middle class families who otherwise couldn't afford to live here. So ostensibly it's to remedy socioeconomic stratification on some level. But if the public schools are no longer considered a viable option by most people, we'll have an urban style school system with the uber rich, who can afford private school, and people at the other end of the spectrum who may not have many options. Without viable, quality public schools, a whole lot of people in the middle will view Arlington as unaffordable anyway, regardless of how much affordable housing we have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:i'm for do-nothing. the rich and powerful should take their money and kids to private schools instead of holding APS hostage forever.

and that's what i'll write.

Yeah, please do, actually, because that kind of shows how crazy it sounds to support doing nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, at least when I get old I'll have a big park to sit in and think about what we could have possibly done to prevent APS from going down the toilet.

More likely you will have a huge affordable housing complex you can walk through. In Arlington, the affordable housing lobby is stronger than the park boosters.