Show me the law that says school boards cannot change boundaries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you actually don't know the answer, I don't think you should be calling anyone stupid.

School assignments are closely connected to property values. If you paid a lot for a house in one zone, of course you would object to being rezoned in a way that devalues your house, which is likely your largest asset. It has nothing to do with what people would agree is best in the abstract, or with what is legally allowed. But you knew that.

Let’s say your house value declines because the housing market tanks. Are you entitled to sell your house at a greater price than you bought it for? Are you going to yell and stomp your foot at the unfortunate luck?

That’s what a boundary change is. The luck of the draw. You need to accept that.

First, I'm entitled to stomp my foot at anything. Doing so doesn't hurt anybody. Your main complaint in this thread is about "throwing a fit" or otherwise protesting boundary changes, which people have a right to do. It is okay to advocate for what you want. You may lose, and yes you have to accept that once it actually happens.

Second, it's not luck of the draw. It's policy choices made by elected officials. To the extent policy choices seem poised to cause the housing market to tank, I am absolutely entitled to be upset, and to fight for change before that happens.

Your property value should not be part of the school board decision making process.

Nor should their politics. But that's EXACTLY why they are making the decisions re: boundaries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any discussion between now and the November election will be minimal. Look for some heavier discussion after the election. I doubt seriously they will vote on anything controversial between now and the election.

+1. The July discussions will just be more chattering among the lame ducks who’ve done nothing useful for years.

We sure need a change on the Board. Don't think we'll get it--except Mr. Moon will be gone. It looks like the Board will be worse instead of better.

Unless you vote candidates endorsed by Rs who reject rezoning based on socioeconomic integration.

[Anonymous]

What happens with drops in property values? Drop in tax revenue. So let's say I get re-zoned. In order to keep their tax revenue up, do they then assess my house at more than I can sell it for in order to keep their revenue stream?

My guess is this is EXACTLY what they will do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which houses/neighborhoods in Vienna are being redistricted? I can’t find it online. I am the poster that said we bought for AP and now these posters have me wondering if we are in a neighborhood that needs to be concerned. My kids attend Wolftrap and I see that was mentioned in a previous post.

I mentioned it. I really don't know much about the future. I just know that during the South Lakes redistricting that there was a VERY small cohort of Wolf Trap kids that were redistricted from Madison to South Lakes. I remember reading and watching them speak at the meetings. It was a neighborhood that had always been at Madison and Stu insisted on sending them to South Lakes. I think it was a very small group and I could not understand why they had to move them away from the kids they had been with since K.

They were going to be moving away from the "kids they had been with since K" either way. It was the only part of Wolftrap ES that fed into Thoreau, rather than Kilmer, and FCPS rezoned them to Hughes.

^ And then the younger kids in that neighborhood all ended up at Sunrise Valley/Hughes/South Lakes - where they could stay with the same cohort of kids from K-12.

Thanks for replying. My kids know some friends will go to Madison and some will go to Marshall since the school is split. We are not concerned with them staying with the same group forever. We just want AP classes. Thanks for the clarification.

[Anonymous]

We just want AP classes

And, that is another factor with redistricting. If they are going to redistrict, they should also get all schools on AP. Have one or two IB schools--at most. It is more expensive and more families prefer AP. It makes no sense to set boundaries under these circumstances. It's an excuse for Pupil placement.

[Anonymous]

Do we actually need IB? Serious question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do we actually need IB? Serious question.

I think there is a place for it, but most people in this area do not want IB and getting redistricted to an IB school, especially if the nearby AP schools are closed to pupil placements, would seriously upset those who made a conscious choice to avoid IB. Loudoun does fine without IB.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Furthermore, I do think PROXIMITY should matter when doing school zoning. The schools we are zoned to are also the closest ones to our house, so I would also be annoyed for that reason if they changed.

+1

+2 that's why be bought between longfellow and McLean HS.

FCPS changes to 8130 could result in bussing so don't get comfy. For example Bailey's has a magnet program and via boundary changes could absorb overcrowding from a neighboring school. Or use bussing from a high socioeconomic school. At the 5-13-19 work session : 3 factors out of many which FCPS would consider for 8130 are facilities, socioeconomics, transportation. As of yet no order of priority or definitions on adding/deleting bus routes, geographic proximity, capacity [with or without modulars]. FCPS could decide to relocate a modular for socioeconomic balance.

I expect property tax increases as the result of these changes plus universal pre-K. Plus some schools have high mobility rates and others might be impacted by migration https://www.fcps.edu/resources/family-engagement/family-engagement-resources Budget impacts in addition to transportation could include expansion of programs like IFRP, parent liasion etc to additional sites, additional small esl classes.

[Anonymous]

The disparity between poor and rich is ridiculous in fcps. It's time for the school board to stand up to the interests of the rich and draw boundaries in an equitable way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The disparity between poor and rich is ridiculous in fcps. It's time for the school board to stand up to the interests of the rich and draw boundaries in an equitable way.

I’m sure they can some up with something that would double the transportation costs, gut the idea of community-based schools, lead people to move to other counties or go private, and result in no significant improvement in the performance of the kids from lower SES families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The disparity between poor and rich is ridiculous in fcps. It's time for the school board to stand up to the interests of the rich and draw boundaries in an equitable way.

I'm the pp at 10:47. Does this mean you advocate busing? Remove geographic proximity and capacity? The fact is Fairfax County does have huge geographic swatches without high ESL, FRM. What do want? Busing of current in-boundary Mclean to fill Lee?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you actually don't know the answer, I don't think you should be calling anyone stupid.

School assignments are closely connected to property values. If you paid a lot for a house in one zone, of course you would object to being rezoned in a way that devalues your house, which is likely your largest asset. It has nothing to do with what people would agree is best in the abstract, or with what is legally allowed. But you knew that.

DP, I can understand why people have those preferences, but they are not entitled to maintain their zoning. Too many people don’t see it that way, though. I realize this is probably about FCPS and not APS, but I remember sitting in a meeting at Nottingham when APS was considering making that an option school and a dad whose block would have been rezoned to a slightly lower-performing school yelled about how he bought his house because it was zoned for Nottingham and the school board owed it to him to keep their “promise” that his family would stay there (there had been no such promise). It was so embarrassing.

OP here. This is exactly my point. There is no guarantee (nor should there be) that your boundary will stay the same indefinitely. Do these same people throw a fit if their stock investments go down?

Of course there are no guarantee. But there is the opportunity for public comment, to gather support, and to influence decision makers so your preferred outcome is what takes place.. "There's no guarantee" does not mean "sit back and let whatever someone else decides come to pass."

Conversely, you can't argue with the stock market when your portfolio takes a nosedive.

OK, now I have two questions for you, OP.

First, why do you hate democracy? Because that's what this is - private citizens getting involved with elected officials to influence policy.

And second, you always this much of a moron, or do you save it for the weekends? (Hmm, that actually looks like three questions. My apologies.)

[Anonymous]

Housing policy = de facto segregation = school demographics

witness Langley, Briar Woods, New Trier Twp HS (North Shore), Rochester-Adams (MI), Main Line PA, Sunnyvale Ca I could continue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Housing policy = de facto segregation = school demographics

witness Langley, Briar Woods, New Trier Twp HS (North Shore), Rochester-Adams (MI), Main Line PA, Sunnyvale Ca I could continue.

Part of the problem in FCPS is that the School Board has now become the farm team for aspiring Democratic politicians. It's a mix of wanna-be supervisors who, in their perfect world, would effect major changes in income distribution and housing policy, and more traditional types who are just looking to curry favor with their neighbors by protecting their schools at all cost.

But instead they are on the School Board, where they can't make zoning decisions, much less redistribute income. So they obsess over the tools they do possess, such as changing school boundaries (which, ironically, they have only changed in recent years to benefit the wealthy - one example being the recent decision to move upper-income areas zoned for Jackson MS to Thoreau MS).

So where do they go from here? No one really seems to have a clue. If they'd done their jobs right in the first place, with a basic sensitivity to fairness and balance, they wouldn't be so angst-ridden now. They wouldn't have made so many stupid decisions, such as planning additions at some schools without considering the space available at other schools, or sitting on their asses for years when it's obvious that they could relieve overcrowding at some schools by taking advantage of the available space nearby.

Perhaps it is time for voters to look for alternatives to the incumbents who've gotten us where we are today.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The disparity between poor and rich is ridiculous in fcps. It's time for the school board to stand up to the interests of the rich and draw boundaries in an equitable way.

I’m sure they can some up with something that would double the transportation costs, gut the idea of community-based schools, lead people to move to other counties or go private, and result in no significant improvement in the performance of the kids from lower SES families.

The disparity is a result of sanctuary policies