Loudoun Co school board votes to eliminate busing to TJ

[Anonymous]

So you are all OK with limiting access to all choice in schools to kids with parents who can afford the time and expense needed to drive their child to school? This is so inequitable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a better idea - eliminate TJ for Loudoun co altogether. It's ridiculous that kids from the outer reaches of the county get bussed so dang far. I can't imagine the expense.

Your kid going there is YOUR choice. YOU pay and figure out the transportation. I don't want my tax dollars supporting this.

This.

[Anonymous]

I wish there was a way to address the FARMS kids here - everyone responding assumes that parents can make a choice to drive their child or buy a car for older children. Eliminating bus service just widens the gap for these kids. Opening up TJ to kids who have earned a place should not be determined by your ability to provide your own transportation. I don't have a problem having my tax $ support that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wish there was a way to address the FARMS kids here - everyone responding assumes that parents can make a choice to drive their child or buy a car for older children. Eliminating bus service just widens the gap for these kids. Opening up TJ to kids who have earned a place should not be determined by your ability to provide your own transportation. I don't have a problem having my tax $ support that.

There are so few FARMS kids at TJ that the number from Loudoun is probably very small. I suspect that most tax payers would be okay with paying for the kids who qualify for FARMS. The paperwork is already done, so it is just a matter of notifying those few kids and making the transportation arrangements for them.

The majority of TJ students from Loudoun have parents who can afford to pay for their transportation to TJ.

[Anonymous]

I’m fine with this. When we had to move to Loudoun from Fairfax with one month left in the school year, we received special permission to leave the kids enrolled in FCPS but they could not ride the bus from their sitters house in fairfax to school as they had all year. I believe they were even banned from any field trips as well but that didn’t factor in as it was the end of the year.

[Anonymous]

I wish the board chose to honor the transportation for currently enrolled students and phase it out for the kids starting in 2020. This way they would have given enough notice for everyone and don’t seem to be pulling the rug from under the carpet.

Rich or not, it is going to be a ROYAL pain for the parents to manage private transportation every day.

May be one after effect of this would be the TJ crazy parents stop buying houses in Loudoun and move to FCPS.

[Anonymous]

It is so tough that they changed this midstream for families dependent on busing. I am so sad for these families. You would think Loudon would be proud their education system produced so many TJ-ready kids and they would support them. TJ is a governors school and NOVA is lucky we have it here. TJ kids have special needs that TJ meets. I know the academies are a big deal, but every kid who goes to TJ instead of the academies opens a slot in the academy for another worthy kid who really wanted it. Don’t we want to enlarge the pie, and have more opportunities accessible to more kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:$7k raised apparently in two days to start legal proceedings against the lcps school board:

https://www.gofundme.com/loudoun-tjhsst-families-defense-fund

Well, that will cover 4 billable hours.

[Anonymous]

I’m sure plenty of corporations and universities would gladly sponsor busses to TJ. Time to snip the purse strings for these elite few. Loudoun’s tax dollars better spent on Academies of Loudoun and other local magnet initiatives. Those who pooh-pooh ACL are just looking for the rest of us to foot their kid’s bill. What about JR ROTC? LCPS doesn’t pay for their daily transport to a high school in Loudoun!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m sure plenty of corporations and universities would gladly sponsor busses to TJ. Time to snip the purse strings for these elite few. Loudoun’s tax dollars better spent on Academies of Loudoun and other local magnet initiatives. Those who pooh-pooh ACL are just looking for the rest of us to foot their kid’s bill. What about JR ROTC? LCPS doesn’t pay for their daily transport to a high school in Loudoun!

So will Loudoun school board offer places in AOS to these students? If not then the school board should have the integrity to respect due process and keep the bus service for these Loudoun students who followed the rules and chose TJ based on the school board's information at the time they decided to attend TJ.

[Anonymous]

Keep in mind LCPS pays less for a seat at TJ than they do for a seat at the academies. TJ is a governors school.

[Anonymous]

Bussing schedules only apply for one year at a time. Families should not have assumed that transportation would be provided for all four years.

Kids who qualify for FARMS should be provided with transportation. Other families should make their own arrangements. (I say this as a parent who, along with my spouse, drove our child back and forth to TJ nearly every day for four years. So I do understand what a big commitment it is to transport a child to TJ.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You guys are crazy. They are doing this to existing kids going to TJ. Pulling the rug out from under them. Not just cutting off busing for future applicants. That's not right and if any of your kids were affected, you wouldn't be so snide.

NP here. It's humorous that you think you have a legal right to a bus ride when your kid is "special permissioned" to a school other than their homeschool. When parents use special permission the parent is responsible for the transportation. I am one of those parents. I've had to drive my kids for years.

Get a lawyer and get in line to sue. Go ahead and waste your money. You won't win. You know who has a better chance at a lawsuit? Me. Since the school system paid for your kids transportation for many many years, they need to pay my costs.

I'll support the contract with TJ but I don't support paying for your kid's transportation. I won't even get in to the issues regarding the shortage of bus drivers.

In FCPS kids that apply to attend a magnet school or language immersion program that is not at their base school are required to transport their child. This is a known expectation. It is mentioned in the program over view meetings, on the web site, and in the invitation you receive if you get one of the spots. Kids who choose to attend an AP or IB high school that is not their base school are required to provide their own transportation but, again, that is made clear from day one.

Kids in AAP and attending TJ are bussed to their schools, this is also something that is common knowledge.

I understand Loundoun County choosing to not fund the transport to TJ. That is a perfectly fair decision. But if the kids who applied for the program did so with an understanding that transportation was going to be provided, like the kids currently attending TJ, I can see where they would be upset. So if you are a rising Senior and your parents cannot get you to TJ and the bus option has been removed, then you have to change schools your Senior year?

I think a fair decision would be to provide the bus for the rising Freshmen, who have already made a decision to attend TJ based on the knowledge that there was a bus available, and then no more. The kids choosing to apply for the class enter in 2020 would know that they have to provide their own transportation and could make an informed decision.

+1

[Anonymous]

Has Virginia considered building a second governor's school e.g. in Loudon?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Has Virginia considered building a second governor's school e.g. in Loudon?

There are 19 Governor's Schools in Virginia.

http://www.doe.virginia.gov/instruction/governors_school_programs/academic_year/index.shtml

I would suggest that if another specialized school is being built in the area it should be in a area more populous then Loudoun County where it can benefit more kids.