Luther Jackson MS Enrollment Plunges as Expected

[Anonymous]

The poster who keeps suggesting that the multiple posters who think this was a poor decision must only be worried about their own property values seem to be revealing their own bias (i.e., an expectation that their own property values will increase upon being moved to a school that's in the Madison rather than Falls Church pyramid). It would be great if reducing the enrollment at LJ means more attention devoted to future LJ students and higher achievement levels. There's scant evidence to suggest that will be the case, and considerable evidence (Poe MS, Lee HS, etc.) to suggest the contrary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The poster who keeps suggesting that the multiple posters who think this was a poor decision must only be worried about their own property values seem to be revealing their own bias (i.e., an expectation that their own property values will increase upon being moved to a school that's in the Madison rather than Falls Church pyramid). It would be great if reducing the enrollment at LJ means more attention devoted to future LJ students and higher achievement levels. There's scant evidence to suggest that will be the case, and considerable evidence (Poe MS, Lee HS, etc.) to suggest the contrary.

Wrong. We have always been and still are in the Madison pyramid. My “bias” was solely that school A was overcrowded.l and school B was undercrowded. Some of A’s student body went to B and both have plenty of room now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The poster who keeps suggesting that the multiple posters who think this was a poor decision must only be worried about their own property values seem to be revealing their own bias (i.e., an expectation that their own property values will increase upon being moved to a school that's in the Madison rather than Falls Church pyramid). It would be great if reducing the enrollment at LJ means more attention devoted to future LJ students and higher achievement levels. There's scant evidence to suggest that will be the case, and considerable evidence (Poe MS, Lee HS, etc.) to suggest the contrary.

Wrong. We have always been and still are in the Madison pyramid. My “bias” was solely that school A was overcrowded.l and school B was undercrowded. Some of A’s student body went to B and both have plenty of room now.

Thoreau will be at full capacity by 2019 and then overcrowded. Congratulations on demonstrating again that you're in a bubble.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Luther Jackson Enrollment PLUNGES As Expected"

I can't help think that you are trying to bait people into an argument with your dramatic word choice. It was expected -- and INTENDED -- that LJMS's enrollment would in fact drop when kids were required to move over to another MS. And kids were going to be required to move OUT of LJMS because it was overcrowded!

Your whole issue is that you wanted more of the poor kids moved out of LJMS. And the decision didn't go your way.
But, let's not forget that the whole point of rezoning is to effect a reduction in enrollment at the school that is overcrowded. Somebody had to be moved out. And on the corollary -- somebody had to be moved over to TMS.

There was a school that was far undercapacity next to a school that was far overcapacity. 300-ish kids from the over-capacity school had to move out. Which kids? You had two groups -- those who are part of Oakton HS and those who are part of Falls Church. It wouldn't make any sense to take 300 Falls Church kids out of LJMS and send them to TMS.

At the base of this rezoning decision was the need to remove 300 kids from LJMS.

The answer given was: the kids who are not in this pyramid long term.

There previously were no kids destined for Oakton High School at Thoreau. All they did was separate Oakton High School kids into four feeder middle schools. Franklin, Carson, Luther Jackson, and now Thoreau. While overcrowded was a concern, there was no real reason to switch Oakton High school bound kids to Thoreau because of some high school feeder issue.

It was never about consolidating the OHS pyramid kids. You seem to be missing the issue at the core of the rezoning question.

1. LJMS was severely over crowded.
2. 300 kids needed to be moved out of LJMS.
3. Which kids should be moved out of the Falls Church feeder MS?
(a) 1/4 of the kids who will attend FCHS after leaving Jackson or
(b) all of the kids who will attend OHS after leaving Jackson ?

Remember that the AAP part of LJMS is not all OHS kids. It is primarily FCHS kids. Those AAP/OHS pyramid kids are making the CHOICE to attend LJMS for the program that is also offered at their "base middle school" (i.e. Thoreau). So, you can't really complain that those kids are now coming from two different MS (TMS and LJMS) before going to OHS. They have the option to stay with their neighborhood peers by doing AAP at TMS. But that is all beside the point and I am getting drawn into your straw-person argument (re: feeders to OHS).

The real issue is WHICH group of kids were the "right" group of kids to take out of Jackson and put into TMS. The LJMS people on this thread who are unhappy seem to ignore the elephant in the room... that is, if it wasn't the OHS-pyramid kids (who conveniently numbered about 300 kids), it would have to be the FCHS-pyramid kids being re-zoned out of their own pyramid! How is that ok?

The fact is, there wasn't any logical grouping of 300 kids that was a proportionate representation of the whole population. The Falls Church pyramid IS more ESOL/FARMS than this part of the Oakton pyramid. The school board made a decision that was based on reasonable considerations (i.e. keeping all the Falls Church pyramid kids together with their peers, keeping all the Oakton pyramid kids together with their elementary school peers, reducing overcrowding, using newly available space). Yes, there are downsides to that decision re: demographics at LJ. But some of you seem to be forgetting that there would have been downsides to other options as well. Did you really want the school board to factor in the race of the remaining students and say "we can't have THAT many Hispanic students in one school, let's make sure we keep more white kids there." ???

In any case, the decision was made. And the people on the ground have been dealing with it just fine. As the PP who does have a child at LJ mentioned, they are thrilled to not be so crowded and to still have good academics. TMS parents aren't belly-aching about having 275 kids "dumped" on them. Seems like OP doesn't have a child at LJ, but wants to stir the pot and pretend to be sooo concerned about the needier kids (who OP apparently thinks should have been moved out of LJMS)?

I’m nearly certain the complainer (op) is the same one with no lj kid from last spring who essentially admitted the problem was her property value tanking.

The property value isn't going to tank given the development in Mosaic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Luther Jackson Enrollment PLUNGES As Expected"

I can't help think that you are trying to bait people into an argument with your dramatic word choice. It was expected -- and INTENDED -- that LJMS's enrollment would in fact drop when kids were required to move over to another MS. And kids were going to be required to move OUT of LJMS because it was overcrowded!

Your whole issue is that you wanted more of the poor kids moved out of LJMS. And the decision didn't go your way.
But, let's not forget that the whole point of rezoning is to effect a reduction in enrollment at the school that is overcrowded. Somebody had to be moved out. And on the corollary -- somebody had to be moved over to TMS.

There was a school that was far undercapacity next to a school that was far overcapacity. 300-ish kids from the over-capacity school had to move out. Which kids? You had two groups -- those who are part of Oakton HS and those who are part of Falls Church. It wouldn't make any sense to take 300 Falls Church kids out of LJMS and send them to TMS.

At the base of this rezoning decision was the need to remove 300 kids from LJMS.

The answer given was: the kids who are not in this pyramid long term.

There previously were no kids destined for Oakton High School at Thoreau. All they did was separate Oakton High School kids into four feeder middle schools. Franklin, Carson, Luther Jackson, and now Thoreau. While overcrowded was a concern, there was no real reason to switch Oakton High school bound kids to Thoreau because of some high school feeder issue.

It was never about consolidating the OHS pyramid kids. You seem to be missing the issue at the core of the rezoning question.

1. LJMS was severely over crowded.
2. 300 kids needed to be moved out of LJMS.
3. Which kids should be moved out of the Falls Church feeder MS?
(a) 1/4 of the kids who will attend FCHS after leaving Jackson or
(b) all of the kids who will attend OHS after leaving Jackson ?

Remember that the AAP part of LJMS is not all OHS kids. It is primarily FCHS kids. Those AAP/OHS pyramid kids are making the CHOICE to attend LJMS for the program that is also offered at their "base middle school" (i.e. Thoreau). So, you can't really complain that those kids are now coming from two different MS (TMS and LJMS) before going to OHS. They have the option to stay with their neighborhood peers by doing AAP at TMS. But that is all beside the point and I am getting drawn into your straw-person argument (re: feeders to OHS).

The real issue is WHICH group of kids were the "right" group of kids to take out of Jackson and put into TMS. The LJMS people on this thread who are unhappy seem to ignore the elephant in the room... that is, if it wasn't the OHS-pyramid kids (who conveniently numbered about 300 kids), it would have to be the FCHS-pyramid kids being re-zoned out of their own pyramid! How is that ok?

The fact is, there wasn't any logical grouping of 300 kids that was a proportionate representation of the whole population. The Falls Church pyramid IS more ESOL/FARMS than this part of the Oakton pyramid. The school board made a decision that was based on reasonable considerations (i.e. keeping all the Falls Church pyramid kids together with their peers, keeping all the Oakton pyramid kids together with their elementary school peers, reducing overcrowding, using newly available space). Yes, there are downsides to that decision re: demographics at LJ. But some of you seem to be forgetting that there would have been downsides to other options as well. Did you really want the school board to factor in the race of the remaining students and say "we can't have THAT many Hispanic students in one school, let's make sure we keep more white kids there." ???

In any case, the decision was made. And the people on the ground have been dealing with it just fine. As the PP who does have a child at LJ mentioned, they are thrilled to not be so crowded and to still have good academics. TMS parents aren't belly-aching about having 275 kids "dumped" on them. Seems like OP doesn't have a child at LJ, but wants to stir the pot and pretend to be sooo concerned about the needier kids (who OP apparently thinks should have been moved out of LJMS)?

I’m nearly certain the complainer (op) is the same one with no lj kid from last spring who essentially admitted the problem was her property value tanking.

The property value isn't going to tank given the development in Mosaic.

Of course not. Nor will the student population be forever horrifically alterened because some kids left an overcrowded school for an undercrowded one. Some are just a glass is half empty type.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Luther Jackson Enrollment PLUNGES As Expected"

I can't help think that you are trying to bait people into an argument with your dramatic word choice. It was expected -- and INTENDED -- that LJMS's enrollment would in fact drop when kids were required to move over to another MS. And kids were going to be required to move OUT of LJMS because it was overcrowded!

Your whole issue is that you wanted more of the poor kids moved out of LJMS. And the decision didn't go your way.
But, let's not forget that the whole point of rezoning is to effect a reduction in enrollment at the school that is overcrowded. Somebody had to be moved out. And on the corollary -- somebody had to be moved over to TMS.

There was a school that was far undercapacity next to a school that was far overcapacity. 300-ish kids from the over-capacity school had to move out. Which kids? You had two groups -- those who are part of Oakton HS and those who are part of Falls Church. It wouldn't make any sense to take 300 Falls Church kids out of LJMS and send them to TMS.

At the base of this rezoning decision was the need to remove 300 kids from LJMS.

The answer given was: the kids who are not in this pyramid long term.

There previously were no kids destined for Oakton High School at Thoreau. All they did was separate Oakton High School kids into four feeder middle schools. Franklin, Carson, Luther Jackson, and now Thoreau. While overcrowded was a concern, there was no real reason to switch Oakton High school bound kids to Thoreau because of some high school feeder issue.

It was never about consolidating the OHS pyramid kids. You seem to be missing the issue at the core of the rezoning question.

1. LJMS was severely over crowded.
2. 300 kids needed to be moved out of LJMS.
3. Which kids should be moved out of the Falls Church feeder MS?
(a) 1/4 of the kids who will attend FCHS after leaving Jackson or
(b) all of the kids who will attend OHS after leaving Jackson ?

Remember that the AAP part of LJMS is not all OHS kids. It is primarily FCHS kids. Those AAP/OHS pyramid kids are making the CHOICE to attend LJMS for the program that is also offered at their "base middle school" (i.e. Thoreau). So, you can't really complain that those kids are now coming from two different MS (TMS and LJMS) before going to OHS. They have the option to stay with their neighborhood peers by doing AAP at TMS. But that is all beside the point and I am getting drawn into your straw-person argument (re: feeders to OHS).

The real issue is WHICH group of kids were the "right" group of kids to take out of Jackson and put into TMS. The LJMS people on this thread who are unhappy seem to ignore the elephant in the room... that is, if it wasn't the OHS-pyramid kids (who conveniently numbered about 300 kids), it would have to be the FCHS-pyramid kids being re-zoned out of their own pyramid! How is that ok?

The fact is, there wasn't any logical grouping of 300 kids that was a proportionate representation of the whole population. The Falls Church pyramid IS more ESOL/FARMS than this part of the Oakton pyramid. The school board made a decision that was based on reasonable considerations (i.e. keeping all the Falls Church pyramid kids together with their peers, keeping all the Oakton pyramid kids together with their elementary school peers, reducing overcrowding, using newly available space). Yes, there are downsides to that decision re: demographics at LJ. But some of you seem to be forgetting that there would have been downsides to other options as well. Did you really want the school board to factor in the race of the remaining students and say "we can't have THAT many Hispanic students in one school, let's make sure we keep more white kids there." ???

In any case, the decision was made. And the people on the ground have been dealing with it just fine. As the PP who does have a child at LJ mentioned, they are thrilled to not be so crowded and to still have good academics. TMS parents aren't belly-aching about having 275 kids "dumped" on them. Seems like OP doesn't have a child at LJ, but wants to stir the pot and pretend to be sooo concerned about the needier kids (who OP apparently thinks should have been moved out of LJMS)?

I’m nearly certain the complainer (op) is the same one with no lj kid from last spring who essentially admitted the problem was her property value tanking.

The property value isn't going to tank given the development in Mosaic.

NP here- I don't think that house will be attractive for families. The mosaic apartments are all fine and good for non-families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Luther Jackson Enrollment PLUNGES As Expected"

I can't help think that you are trying to bait people into an argument with your dramatic word choice. It was expected -- and INTENDED -- that LJMS's enrollment would in fact drop when kids were required to move over to another MS. And kids were going to be required to move OUT of LJMS because it was overcrowded!

Your whole issue is that you wanted more of the poor kids moved out of LJMS. And the decision didn't go your way.
But, let's not forget that the whole point of rezoning is to effect a reduction in enrollment at the school that is overcrowded. Somebody had to be moved out. And on the corollary -- somebody had to be moved over to TMS.

There was a school that was far undercapacity next to a school that was far overcapacity. 300-ish kids from the over-capacity school had to move out. Which kids? You had two groups -- those who are part of Oakton HS and those who are part of Falls Church. It wouldn't make any sense to take 300 Falls Church kids out of LJMS and send them to TMS.

At the base of this rezoning decision was the need to remove 300 kids from LJMS.

The answer given was: the kids who are not in this pyramid long term.

There previously were no kids destined for Oakton High School at Thoreau. All they did was separate Oakton High School kids into four feeder middle schools. Franklin, Carson, Luther Jackson, and now Thoreau. While overcrowded was a concern, there was no real reason to switch Oakton High school bound kids to Thoreau because of some high school feeder issue.

It was never about consolidating the OHS pyramid kids. You seem to be missing the issue at the core of the rezoning question.

1. LJMS was severely over crowded.
2. 300 kids needed to be moved out of LJMS.
3. Which kids should be moved out of the Falls Church feeder MS?
(a) 1/4 of the kids who will attend FCHS after leaving Jackson or
(b) all of the kids who will attend OHS after leaving Jackson ?

Remember that the AAP part of LJMS is not all OHS kids. It is primarily FCHS kids. Those AAP/OHS pyramid kids are making the CHOICE to attend LJMS for the program that is also offered at their "base middle school" (i.e. Thoreau). So, you can't really complain that those kids are now coming from two different MS (TMS and LJMS) before going to OHS. They have the option to stay with their neighborhood peers by doing AAP at TMS. But that is all beside the point and I am getting drawn into your straw-person argument (re: feeders to OHS).

The real issue is WHICH group of kids were the "right" group of kids to take out of Jackson and put into TMS. The LJMS people on this thread who are unhappy seem to ignore the elephant in the room... that is, if it wasn't the OHS-pyramid kids (who conveniently numbered about 300 kids), it would have to be the FCHS-pyramid kids being re-zoned out of their own pyramid! How is that ok?

The fact is, there wasn't any logical grouping of 300 kids that was a proportionate representation of the whole population. The Falls Church pyramid IS more ESOL/FARMS than this part of the Oakton pyramid. The school board made a decision that was based on reasonable considerations (i.e. keeping all the Falls Church pyramid kids together with their peers, keeping all the Oakton pyramid kids together with their elementary school peers, reducing overcrowding, using newly available space). Yes, there are downsides to that decision re: demographics at LJ. But some of you seem to be forgetting that there would have been downsides to other options as well. Did you really want the school board to factor in the race of the remaining students and say "we can't have THAT many Hispanic students in one school, let's make sure we keep more white kids there." ???

In any case, the decision was made. And the people on the ground have been dealing with it just fine. As the PP who does have a child at LJ mentioned, they are thrilled to not be so crowded and to still have good academics. TMS parents aren't belly-aching about having 275 kids "dumped" on them. Seems like OP doesn't have a child at LJ, but wants to stir the pot and pretend to be sooo concerned about the needier kids (who OP apparently thinks should have been moved out of LJMS)?

I’m nearly certain the complainer (op) is the same one with no lj kid from last spring who essentially admitted the problem was her property value tanking.

The property value isn't going to tank given the development in Mosaic.

Isn’t this about a school tanking, not property values tanking? Try to stay on topic.

[Anonymous]

Falls Church High School is not overcrowded. There is no reason to think that the middle school would always be overcrowded. If Oakton can have four feeder schools, then I think they should have given more thought to demographics at Jackson.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The poster who keeps suggesting that the multiple posters who think this was a poor decision must only be worried about their own property values seem to be revealing their own bias (i.e., an expectation that their own property values will increase upon being moved to a school that's in the Madison rather than Falls Church pyramid). It would be great if reducing the enrollment at LJ means more attention devoted to future LJ students and higher achievement levels. There's scant evidence to suggest that will be the case, and considerable evidence (Poe MS, Lee HS, etc.) to suggest the contrary.

Wrong. We have always been and still are in the Madison pyramid. My “bias” was solely that school A was overcrowded.l and school B was undercrowded. Some of A’s student body went to B and both have plenty of room now.

Madison pyramid didn't change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Luther Jackson Enrollment PLUNGES As Expected"

I can't help think that you are trying to bait people into an argument with your dramatic word choice. It was expected -- and INTENDED -- that LJMS's enrollment would in fact drop when kids were required to move over to another MS. And kids were going to be required to move OUT of LJMS because it was overcrowded!

Your whole issue is that you wanted more of the poor kids moved out of LJMS. And the decision didn't go your way.
But, let's not forget that the whole point of rezoning is to effect a reduction in enrollment at the school that is overcrowded. Somebody had to be moved out. And on the corollary -- somebody had to be moved over to TMS.

There was a school that was far undercapacity next to a school that was far overcapacity. 300-ish kids from the over-capacity school had to move out. Which kids? You had two groups -- those who are part of Oakton HS and those who are part of Falls Church. It wouldn't make any sense to take 300 Falls Church kids out of LJMS and send them to TMS.

At the base of this rezoning decision was the need to remove 300 kids from LJMS.

The answer given was: the kids who are not in this pyramid long term.

There previously were no kids destined for Oakton High School at Thoreau. All they did was separate Oakton High School kids into four feeder middle schools. Franklin, Carson, Luther Jackson, and now Thoreau. While overcrowded was a concern, there was no real reason to switch Oakton High school bound kids to Thoreau because of some high school feeder issue.

It was never about consolidating the OHS pyramid kids. You seem to be missing the issue at the core of the rezoning question.

1. LJMS was severely over crowded.
2. 300 kids needed to be moved out of LJMS.
3. Which kids should be moved out of the Falls Church feeder MS?
(a) 1/4 of the kids who will attend FCHS after leaving Jackson or
(b) all of the kids who will attend OHS after leaving Jackson ?

Remember that the AAP part of LJMS is not all OHS kids. It is primarily FCHS kids. Those AAP/OHS pyramid kids are making the CHOICE to attend LJMS for the program that is also offered at their "base middle school" (i.e. Thoreau). So, you can't really complain that those kids are now coming from two different MS (TMS and LJMS) before going to OHS. They have the option to stay with their neighborhood peers by doing AAP at TMS. But that is all beside the point and I am getting drawn into your straw-person argument (re: feeders to OHS).

The real issue is WHICH group of kids were the "right" group of kids to take out of Jackson and put into TMS. The LJMS people on this thread who are unhappy seem to ignore the elephant in the room... that is, if it wasn't the OHS-pyramid kids (who conveniently numbered about 300 kids), it would have to be the FCHS-pyramid kids being re-zoned out of their own pyramid! How is that ok?

The fact is, there wasn't any logical grouping of 300 kids that was a proportionate representation of the whole population. The Falls Church pyramid IS more ESOL/FARMS than this part of the Oakton pyramid. The school board made a decision that was based on reasonable considerations (i.e. keeping all the Falls Church pyramid kids together with their peers, keeping all the Oakton pyramid kids together with their elementary school peers, reducing overcrowding, using newly available space). Yes, there are downsides to that decision re: demographics at LJ. But some of you seem to be forgetting that there would have been downsides to other options as well. Did you really want the school board to factor in the race of the remaining students and say "we can't have THAT many Hispanic students in one school, let's make sure we keep more white kids there." ???

In any case, the decision was made. And the people on the ground have been dealing with it just fine. As the PP who does have a child at LJ mentioned, they are thrilled to not be so crowded and to still have good academics. TMS parents aren't belly-aching about having 275 kids "dumped" on them. Seems like OP doesn't have a child at LJ, but wants to stir the pot and pretend to be sooo concerned about the needier kids (who OP apparently thinks should have been moved out of LJMS)?

I’m nearly certain the complainer (op) is the same one with no lj kid from last spring who essentially admitted the problem was her property value tanking.

The property value isn't going to tank given the development in Mosaic.

NP here- I don't think that house will be attractive for families. The mosaic apartments are all fine and good for non-families.

Should the school board make decisions based on the best interests of students or possibly affected homeowners?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yay - so glad with FCPS' decision. It eliminated a lot of LJ's overcrowding and Thoreau is STILL under capacity. Thanks for the info!

LOL, just wait until next year. Hope the NAACP reams the School Board out about its phony commitment to "equity."

Ha ha ha! I'm sure the school board is quivering in their boots! Do you actually think anyone gives a rat's a** about the NAACP? There are enough "colored" people that were positively impacted (shorter bus time, going to school with kids in the neighborhood, etc) by this move and I'm sure they won't stand behind the NAACP on this one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yay - so glad with FCPS' decision. It eliminated a lot of LJ's overcrowding and Thoreau is STILL under capacity. Thanks for the info!

LOL, just wait until next year. [u]Hope the NAACP reams the School Board out about its phony commitment to "equity."

What's coming next year? Do tell!?!?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Luther Jackson Enrollment PLUNGES As Expected"

I can't help think that you are trying to bait people into an argument with your dramatic word choice. It was expected -- and INTENDED -- that LJMS's enrollment would in fact drop when kids were required to move over to another MS. And kids were going to be required to move OUT of LJMS because it was overcrowded!

Your whole issue is that you wanted more of the poor kids moved out of LJMS. And the decision didn't go your way.
But, let's not forget that the whole point of rezoning is to effect a reduction in enrollment at the school that is overcrowded. Somebody had to be moved out. And on the corollary -- somebody had to be moved over to TMS.

There was a school that was far undercapacity next to a school that was far overcapacity. 300-ish kids from the over-capacity school had to move out. Which kids? You had two groups -- those who are part of Oakton HS and those who are part of Falls Church. It wouldn't make any sense to take 300 Falls Church kids out of LJMS and send them to TMS.

At the base of this rezoning decision was the need to remove 300 kids from LJMS.

The answer given was: the kids who are not in this pyramid long term.

There previously were no kids destined for Oakton High School at Thoreau. All they did was separate Oakton High School kids into four feeder middle schools. Franklin, Carson, Luther Jackson, and now Thoreau. While overcrowded was a concern, there was no real reason to switch Oakton High school bound kids to Thoreau because of some high school feeder issue.

It was never about consolidating the OHS pyramid kids. You seem to be missing the issue at the core of the rezoning question.

1. LJMS was severely over crowded.
2. 300 kids needed to be moved out of LJMS.
3. Which kids should be moved out of the Falls Church feeder MS?
(a) 1/4 of the kids who will attend FCHS after leaving Jackson or
(b) all of the kids who will attend OHS after leaving Jackson ?

Remember that the AAP part of LJMS is not all OHS kids. It is primarily FCHS kids. Those AAP/OHS pyramid kids are making the CHOICE to attend LJMS for the program that is also offered at their "base middle school" (i.e. Thoreau). So, you can't really complain that those kids are now coming from two different MS (TMS and LJMS) before going to OHS. They have the option to stay with their neighborhood peers by doing AAP at TMS. But that is all beside the point and I am getting drawn into your straw-person argument (re: feeders to OHS).

The real issue is WHICH group of kids were the "right" group of kids to take out of Jackson and put into TMS. The LJMS people on this thread who are unhappy seem to ignore the elephant in the room... that is, if it wasn't the OHS-pyramid kids (who conveniently numbered about 300 kids), it would have to be the FCHS-pyramid kids being re-zoned out of their own pyramid! How is that ok?

The fact is, there wasn't any logical grouping of 300 kids that was a proportionate representation of the whole population. The Falls Church pyramid IS more ESOL/FARMS than this part of the Oakton pyramid. The school board made a decision that was based on reasonable considerations (i.e. keeping all the Falls Church pyramid kids together with their peers, keeping all the Oakton pyramid kids together with their elementary school peers, reducing overcrowding, using newly available space). Yes, there are downsides to that decision re: demographics at LJ. But some of you seem to be forgetting that there would have been downsides to other options as well. Did you really want the school board to factor in the race of the remaining students and say "we can't have THAT many Hispanic students in one school, let's make sure we keep more white kids there." ???

In any case, the decision was made. And the people on the ground have been dealing with it just fine. As the PP who does have a child at LJ mentioned, they are thrilled to not be so crowded and to still have good academics. TMS parents aren't belly-aching about having 275 kids "dumped" on them. Seems like OP doesn't have a child at LJ, but wants to stir the pot and pretend to be sooo concerned about the needier kids (who OP apparently thinks should have been moved out of LJMS)?

I’m nearly certain the complainer (op) is the same one with no lj kid from last spring who essentially admitted the problem was her property value tanking.

The property value isn't going to tank given the development in Mosaic.

NP here- I don't think that house will be attractive for families. The mosaic apartments are all fine and good for non-families.

Should the school board make decisions based on the best interests of students or possibly affected homeowners?

Students and the county as a whole for property values and school ratings. If there are areas of the county that aren't doing well, it's their responsibility to bring them up. It has already been proven that throwing money will not bring poor areas up. Only integration of economic levels has worked over the years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Luther Jackson Enrollment PLUNGES As Expected"

I can't help think that you are trying to bait people into an argument with your dramatic word choice. It was expected -- and INTENDED -- that LJMS's enrollment would in fact drop when kids were required to move over to another MS. And kids were going to be required to move OUT of LJMS because it was overcrowded!

Your whole issue is that you wanted more of the poor kids moved out of LJMS. And the decision didn't go your way.
But, let's not forget that the whole point of rezoning is to effect a reduction in enrollment at the school that is overcrowded. Somebody had to be moved out. And on the corollary -- somebody had to be moved over to TMS.

There was a school that was far undercapacity next to a school that was far overcapacity. 300-ish kids from the over-capacity school had to move out. Which kids? You had two groups -- those who are part of Oakton HS and those who are part of Falls Church. It wouldn't make any sense to take 300 Falls Church kids out of LJMS and send them to TMS.

At the base of this rezoning decision was the need to remove 300 kids from LJMS.

The answer given was: the kids who are not in this pyramid long term.

There previously were no kids destined for Oakton High School at Thoreau. All they did was separate Oakton High School kids into four feeder middle schools. Franklin, Carson, Luther Jackson, and now Thoreau. While overcrowded was a concern, there was no real reason to switch Oakton High school bound kids to Thoreau because of some high school feeder issue.

It was never about consolidating the OHS pyramid kids. You seem to be missing the issue at the core of the rezoning question.

1. LJMS was severely over crowded.
2. 300 kids needed to be moved out of LJMS.
3. Which kids should be moved out of the Falls Church feeder MS?
(a) 1/4 of the kids who will attend FCHS after leaving Jackson or
(b) all of the kids who will attend OHS after leaving Jackson ?

Remember that the AAP part of LJMS is not all OHS kids. It is primarily FCHS kids. Those AAP/OHS pyramid kids are making the CHOICE to attend LJMS for the program that is also offered at their "base middle school" (i.e. Thoreau). So, you can't really complain that those kids are now coming from two different MS (TMS and LJMS) before going to OHS. They have the option to stay with their neighborhood peers by doing AAP at TMS. But that is all beside the point and I am getting drawn into your straw-person argument (re: feeders to OHS).

The real issue is WHICH group of kids were the "right" group of kids to take out of Jackson and put into TMS. The LJMS people on this thread who are unhappy seem to ignore the elephant in the room... that is, if it wasn't the OHS-pyramid kids (who conveniently numbered about 300 kids), it would have to be the FCHS-pyramid kids being re-zoned out of their own pyramid! How is that ok?

The fact is, there wasn't any logical grouping of 300 kids that was a proportionate representation of the whole population. The Falls Church pyramid IS more ESOL/FARMS than this part of the Oakton pyramid. The school board made a decision that was based on reasonable considerations (i.e. keeping all the Falls Church pyramid kids together with their peers, keeping all the Oakton pyramid kids together with their elementary school peers, reducing overcrowding, using newly available space). Yes, there are downsides to that decision re: demographics at LJ. But some of you seem to be forgetting that there would have been downsides to other options as well. Did you really want the school board to factor in the race of the remaining students and say "we can't have THAT many Hispanic students in one school, let's make sure we keep more white kids there." ???

In any case, the decision was made. And the people on the ground have been dealing with it just fine. As the PP who does have a child at LJ mentioned, they are thrilled to not be so crowded and to still have good academics. TMS parents aren't belly-aching about having 275 kids "dumped" on them. Seems like OP doesn't have a child at LJ, but wants to stir the pot and pretend to be sooo concerned about the needier kids (who OP apparently thinks should have been moved out of LJMS)?

I’m nearly certain the complainer (op) is the same one with no lj kid from last spring who essentially admitted the problem was her property value tanking.

The property value isn't going to tank given the development in Mosaic.

NP here- I don't think that house will be attractive for families. The mosaic apartments are all fine and good for non-families.

Should the school board make decisions based on the best interests of students or possibly affected homeowners?

Students and the county as a whole for property values and school ratings. If there are areas of the county that aren't doing well, it's their responsibility to bring them up. It has already been proven that throwing money will not bring poor areas up. Only integration of economic levels has worked over the years.

I'd be furious if the school board was basing decisions on property values rather than the education and education setting of the students. You really, really need to move,get a hobby, find a new focus, talk to a therapist, etc. The decision is done and we are SO glad we picked LJ and we are also SO glad others did not.

[Anonymous]

I'd be furious if the school board was basing decisions on property values rather than the education and education setting of the students. You really, really need to move,get a hobby, find a new focus, talk to a therapist, etc. The decision is done and we are SO glad we picked LJ and we are also SO glad others did not.

What's funny is that the people who are at LJ are happy. The people who are at TMS are happy. So, pretty much it's just the people who are looking to find some victims and to claim moral outrage who start threads like this and go on about lawsuits and injustice.