Initial boundary options for Woodward study area are up

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What will happen to property values of those in WJ rezoned to Woodward?

I think these are largely baked in at this point. Everyone who has bought in the last ten years has known that WJ was overcrowded, Woodward was opening to relieve that overcrowding, that the two schools are very close to each other, and anything in the general area would be fair game to go to the new school instead of the old overcrowded one. And if you bought more than ten years ago I’m not listening to your complaints about property values.
- agent

I wouldn’t want you to be my agent.
-also an agent

[Anonymous]

I really wish there was a way to make people read all the information. NONE of these options are actually going to be options. This is just a step in the process to show what would happen if they weighted only one of each of the 4 FAA factors.

The next step will show multiple options that hopefully balance out each of the 4, and be actual options.

In the meantime, instead of shouting on an anonymouswebsite, please make your feelings known to the Board amd to MCPS.

Don't want your kid to drive passed zz school on the way too yy school? Tell them

Don't want split articulation? Tell them

Whatever it is you want or don't want, tell them loud and proud, sign your name as a Montgomery County taxpayer

[Anonymous]

The Rosemary Hills/Chevy Chase Elementary schools already have a mix of students from affluent and less affluent homes and a mix of races from Chevy Chase and Silver Springs. Under option 3, instead of these kids attending the same middle school (Silver Creek) and high school (BCC) they will divide this
cohort of students, who have been together for 6 years, so that they can increase diversity rates at Whitman and Blair. The BCC cluster schools already has diversity. Option 3 has Silver Spring kids being bussed past BCC to get to Whitman and Chevy Chase kids who live within 1-2 miles from BCC bussed 6 miles to Blair.

Rosemary Hills students split into two elementary schools (North Bethesda and Chevy. Chase), and option 3 ends up splitting students again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really wish there was a way to make people read all the information. NONE of these options are actually going to be options. This is just a step in the process to show what would happen if they weighted only one of each of the 4 FAA factors.

The next step will show multiple options that hopefully balance out each of the 4, and be actual options.

In the meantime, instead of shouting on an anonymouswebsite, please make your feelings known to the Board amd to MCPS.

Don't want your kid to drive passed zz school on the way too yy school? Tell them

Don't want split articulation? Tell them

Whatever it is you want or don't want, tell them loud and proud, sign your name as a Montgomery County taxpayer

Listen to this advice but be prepared for them not to listen because they won’t.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Rosemary Hills/Chevy Chase Elementary schools already have a mix of students from affluent and less affluent homes and a mix of races from Chevy Chase and Silver Springs. Under option 3, instead of these kids attending the same middle school (Silver Creek) and high school (BCC) they will divide this
cohort of students, who have been together for 6 years, so that they can increase diversity rates at Whitman and Blair. The BCC cluster schools already has diversity. Option 3 has Silver Spring kids being bussed past BCC to get to Whitman and Chevy Chase kids who live within 1-2 miles from BCC bussed 6 miles to Blair.

Rosemary Hills students split into two elementary schools (North Bethesda and Chevy. Chase), and option 3 ends up splitting students again.

Agree for this particular group of Rosemary Hills kids, it is completely unfair and their cluster needs to be taken off the table. They were the first and only bussed students for years and deserve stability. The diversity by bussing is already there and has been for decades. Pick on someone else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Rosemary Hills/Chevy Chase Elementary schools already have a mix of students from affluent and less affluent homes and a mix of races from Chevy Chase and Silver Springs. Under option 3, instead of these kids attending the same middle school (Silver Creek) and high school (BCC) they will divide this
cohort of students, who have been together for 6 years, so that they can increase diversity rates at Whitman and Blair. The BCC cluster schools already has diversity. Option 3 has Silver Spring kids being bussed past BCC to get to Whitman and Chevy Chase kids who live within 1-2 miles from BCC bussed 6 miles to Blair.

Rosemary Hills students split into two elementary schools (North Bethesda and Chevy. Chase), and option 3 ends up splitting students again.

Agree for this particular group of Rosemary Hills kids, it is completely unfair and their cluster needs to be taken off the table. They were the first and only bussed students for years and deserve stability. The diversity by bussing is already there and has been for decades. Pick on someone else.

This has been happening for many years to other families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://moderatelymoco.com/mcps-50-school-redistricting-how-boundary-changes-could-impact-families-opinion/

Great article here about the history of the four factors as well as some information on how lengthy bus rides to school contribute to absenteeism.

Thank you for this very helpful link! I was unaware of the 2019 MCPS Countywide Boundary Analysis and that’s very helpful background for those of us who haven’t been following this for years and years.

I find this fascinating: “More than 70% of respondents stated that minimizing boundary changes, ensuring students attend the school closest to home, cohort stability and maximizing walkers were extremely important. Only 10% responded that school diversity was extremely important.”

So there was clearly a large, broad consensus on what variables matter to the community when doing this boundary study, yet some of these variables, such as cohort stability, aren’t even a priority. How is that? How did MCPS arrive at these final 4 priorities, which do not fully reflect the priorities of our community?

Demographic characteristics of student population
Geography
Stability of school assignments over time
Facility utilization

This whole process seems rather ridiculous. They ask for feedback from
the community and then ignore what people say they want as their priorities. They then establish their own priorities (still not clear on how this happened) that do not reflect the values of the community. And now we’re expected to weigh in (and probably get ignored) on some really poor options, most of which are in direct contradiction to the previously stated community priorities? How many millions of taxpayer dollars are funding this insanity?

Have the survey statistics from this round been released? I didn't see them anywhere. I believe these numbers are from the 2019 study.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Rosemary Hills/Chevy Chase Elementary schools already have a mix of students from affluent and less affluent homes and a mix of races from Chevy Chase and Silver Springs. Under option 3, instead of these kids attending the same middle school (Silver Creek) and high school (BCC) they will divide this
cohort of students, who have been together for 6 years, so that they can increase diversity rates at Whitman and Blair. The BCC cluster schools already has diversity. Option 3 has Silver Spring kids being bussed past BCC to get to Whitman and Chevy Chase kids who live within 1-2 miles from BCC bussed 6 miles to Blair.

Rosemary Hills students split into two elementary schools (North Bethesda and Chevy. Chase), and option 3 ends up splitting students again.

Agree for this particular group of Rosemary Hills kids, it is completely unfair and their cluster needs to be taken off the table. They were the first and only bussed students for years and deserve stability. The diversity by bussing is already there and has been for decades. Pick on someone else.

This has been happening for many years to other families.

Option 3 has the Rosemary Hills students (k-2) split into two elementary schools (Chevy Chase and North Chevy Chase) and then into three middle schools and high schools.

Currently the Rosemary Hills students (k-2) split into two elementary schools (Chevy Chase and North Chevy Chase) and then are re-united into the same middle school and high school.

Option 3 is not better for these students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Rosemary Hills/Chevy Chase Elementary schools already have a mix of students from affluent and less affluent homes and a mix of races from Chevy Chase and Silver Springs. Under option 3, instead of these kids attending the same middle school (Silver Creek) and high school (BCC) they will divide this
cohort of students, who have been together for 6 years, so that they can increase diversity rates at Whitman and Blair. The BCC cluster schools already has diversity. Option 3 has Silver Spring kids being bussed past BCC to get to Whitman and Chevy Chase kids who live within 1-2 miles from BCC bussed 6 miles to Blair.

Rosemary Hills students split into two elementary schools (North Bethesda and Chevy. Chase), and option 3 ends up splitting students again.



Yes, they are doing that to a lot of schools and it’s normal.

Agree for this particular group of Rosemary Hills kids, it is completely unfair and their cluster needs to be taken off the table. They were the first and only bussed students for years and deserve stability. The diversity by bussing is already there and has been for decades. Pick on someone else.

This has been happening for many years to other families.

Option 3 has the Rosemary Hills students (k-2) split into two elementary schools (Chevy Chase and North Chevy Chase) and then into three middle schools and high schools.

Currently the Rosemary Hills students (k-2) split into two elementary schools (Chevy Chase and North Chevy Chase) and then are re-united into the same middle school and high school.

Option 3 is not better for these students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It looks like every single option except for #3 actually makes demographic disparities worse and benefits richer schools over poorer schools. And since the rich parents always seem to win in this county, I can't imagine we're actually going to get #3. This sucks.

Option 3 takes kids who currently live NEXT to Whitman and busses them to bcc. So no, you’re not going to get option 3. (And my kids don’t go there but it’s never going to happen).

Option 3 takes us from BCC (where kids can walk) to Blair. Not to mention puts kids into the middle school at Takoma Park.

The walking zones around BCC on the maps seem wrong. I live less than one mile away from BCC, on the east side of Connecticut Ave., but the maps indicate that the walking zone ends on the west side of Connecticut Ave. The walk zone for high school is supposed to be two miles. I see kids from my neighborhood walking to BCC, so I don’t understand why the map places my neighborhood outside of the walk zone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It looks like every single option except for #3 actually makes demographic disparities worse and benefits richer schools over poorer schools. And since the rich parents always seem to win in this county, I can't imagine we're actually going to get #3. This sucks.

Option 3 takes kids who currently live NEXT to Whitman and busses them to bcc. So no, you’re not going to get option 3. (And my kids don’t go there but it’s never going to happen).

Option 3 takes us from BCC (where kids can walk) to Blair. Not to mention puts kids into the middle school at Takoma Park.

The walking zones around BCC on the maps seem wrong. I live less than one mile away from BCC, on the east side of Connecticut Ave., but the maps indicate that the walking zone ends on the west side of Connecticut Ave. The walk zone for high school is supposed to be two miles. I see kids from my neighborhood walking to BCC, so I don’t understand why the map places my neighborhood outside of the walk zone.

I sent a question via the FAQ page asking if there is an error on the map. I encourage others who think the maps are wrong to do the same, since whether students live within a walking zone is supposed to be a factor considered.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I gotta say that, so far, I like how MCPS is sharing info up front, so people can mull it over and consider what it means for them and their community.

Pre-pandemic, the idea of redrawing boundaries generated a lot of anxiety and controversy.

Based on this thread, today, I'd say there is interest and maybe some concern, but not a lot of anxiety or a sense of deep unfairness among most commenters. Maybe that's coming, as one or more options seem like the favored ones, but so far people seem to be taking the prospective changes pretty well.

To be honest, I am anxious. My house is currently zoned WJ. A rezone to Kennedy would have a negative effect on my house value. That makes me very nervous.

Respectfully property values cannot and should not be a consideration for MCPS, however.

But they can be a consideration for anyone who wants to get elected/reelected.

Exactly. Not clear that even left wing voters want their kids to be the subject of ill-thought out utopian social engineering experiments.

It'll expose the hypocrisy of the DEI crowd. All for it until "their" house gets rezoned so their kids have to go to school with the poors.

If you look at the numbers for BCC, you will see that there are already rich kids going to school with then”poors”, or as we call them, students. So diversity is not really the issue for parents in the BCC cluster. And I doubt that the parents in the Whitman cluster will object to a small amount of students from Silver Spring being bussed in to slightly increase their diversity level, because the change is slight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Then what are we paying these consultants for?

Honestly should have skipped paying thousands to "consultants" and used AI to generate options. In fact I'm sure someone will do just that and come up with more viable options.

+1 this is a clear job for AI

How do you know the consultants don't use it?

[Anonymous]

If they go with option 3 and move the Chevy Chase students from, Bethesda Chevy Chase to Blair, with they rename Bethesda Chevy Chase to Bethesda?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They should just have the Tilden MS kids matriculate to Woodward and add some kids from Einstein and Wheaton to fill the seats. Leave everything else alone.

Agree! That’s what I thought they were going to do all along. I mean, what demographics were these maps based off of to begin with? MoCo is still suffering the consequences of the second Trump administration. Uprooting everyone would be a moot point if half the county moves out of state to find new jobs.

Agree with all of this. They should open this new school with the least amount of disruptions possible, especially considering how so many kids were impacted by COVID. Let’s give the majority of kids stability in their lives.

But if the status quo is suboptimal, we shouldn’t stick with it just because change will cause disruption for a couple of years. Leaders should look beyond only the short term.

Suboptimal for whom? One of the difficulties I had when reviewing the options is that I truly am only truly familiar with the schools in my cluster. The current situation is actually optimal for the schools in my cluster. Every option is less favorable than what we currently have.