FCPS comprehensive boundary review

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So we’re supposed to believe there’s no money to expand schools that have been overcrowded for years, but we can launch new aviation Academy programs? FTS.

Qho is getting an aviation academy?

Lewis?

That might actually draw kids to Lewis, especially if they kill IB, switch to AP, and drop the dumb leadership acadrmy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Someone posted that there is a large group of Carson families zoned for Westfield who contracr for a private bus to take their kids from Carson to Langley "for Russian" ie to avoid sending them to Westfield with the poors.

The language transfers need to stop. Either every school needs to offer the same two basic languages or the other languages can be offered online only.

And what would those 2 languages be?

Whichever two have the highest enrollment and are easiest to staff with qualified teachers. I don't really care which two.

You sound like some octogenarian thinking it’s OK to just offer French and Spanish. Maybe we just eliminate foreign languages and make the girls take Home Economics and the boys take Industrial Arts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Someone posted that there is a large group of Carson families zoned for Westfield who contracr for a private bus to take their kids from Carson to Langley "for Russian" ie to avoid sending them to Westfield with the poors.

The language transfers need to stop. Either every school needs to offer the same two basic languages or the other languages can be offered online only.

And what would those 2 languages be?

Whichever two have the highest enrollment and are easiest to staff with qualified teachers. I don't really care which two.

You sound like some octogenarian thinking it’s OK to just offer French and Spanish. Maybe we just eliminate foreign languages and make the girls take Home Economics and the boys take Industrial Arts.

Equity mediocrity at its finest

[Anonymous]

They are offering Russian at Mount Vernon HS (along with TJ and Langley) next year. Will be interesting to see how that goes and if it attracts pupil placements or helps retain some students.

[Anonymous]

If every high school offers 2 or 3 languages in person, it shouldn’t matter what they are. Three gives kids choice. No more language transfers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Someone posted that there is a large group of Carson families zoned for Westfield who contracr for a private bus to take their kids from Carson to Langley "for Russian" ie to avoid sending them to Westfield with the poors.

The language transfers need to stop. Either every school needs to offer the same two basic languages or the other languages can be offered online only.

There are multiple carpool groups from outside the district that do the same thing to attend Langley.

I don’t know if it still goes on, but in the past (as of ~4 years ago), there were multiple instances of out-of-district kids who started in the Russian language program and later dropped out of that program, but were permitted to continue to attend the school.

Does FCPS have an OIG? Seems like so much of this fraud waste and abuse in the system. Maybe instead of hiring a law firm when the superintendent messes up, they could actually exercise an oversight function? Is that too much to ask in our county?

These aren’t examples of fraud. If a school is open to transfers, they allow students to attend for programming such as foreign language, IB, and AP. The transfers are accounted for on the dashboard (12 students transfer from Westview to Langley, for example.) If the student doesn’t meet the threshold for those programs (ie drops the language or doesn’t take enough APs) they can be sent back to their home school, but principals can make exceptions to allow them to continue.

Oversight is key. I didn’t say transfers were fraud, but they should be scrutinized in an environment where they are looking to move students from other pyramids to backfill those student spots who are transferring out.

Closed to transfers should mean CLOSED to transfers, especially if FCPS is using jacked up enrollment numbers to justify rezoning kids from their neighborhood high school.

Before rezoning any high school, FCPS needs to:

Send transfers back to their base schools.

Close the IB schools to eliminate the IB to AP transfer loophole.

Do a full residency check of all students at any high school under consideration for rezoning.

I agree they should be focusing on transfers before restricting.

But vehemently disagree that they should kick out kids mid-way through a HS language course or an AP progression. Those kids need grandfathered and no one new added.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Someone posted that there is a large group of Carson families zoned for Westfield who contracr for a private bus to take their kids from Carson to Langley "for Russian" ie to avoid sending them to Westfield with the poors.

There are 12 that go to Langley from Westfield according to the dashboard.
There are 30 that transfer to "overcrowded" Chantilly according to the dashboard.

Chantilly is more convenient for many families in Westfield district--closer in some cases, but 30 is a lot of transfer to a crowded school. And, Chantilly is not significantly "wealthier" than Westfield.

As for the "Russian" draw at Langley. There are a number of Russian born parents in the area. But, 12 is a lot.

How would I, as a Westfield parent, transfer my kid to Chantilly? Its closed to transfers so you can't use the language loophole.

Get a job at Chantilly and pupil place. Otherwise, you can't transfer your kid. I'm wondering if some of the transfers are to the CSS at Chantilly, though. Westfield doesn't have a HS CSS. As for the wealth disparity, Chantilly is a wealthier school with a lower % of FARMS students due to the last boundary adjustment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If every high school offers 2 or 3 languages in person, it shouldn’t matter what they are. Three gives kids choice. No more language transfers.

Agree. Limit immersion elementary to languages taught in high school.

Getting good language teachers is part of the problem. Some schools have trouble staffing more than two languages. It's not just a matter of enrollment interest, it is also a matter of qualified teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:


How would I, as a Westfield parent, transfer my kid to Chantilly? Its closed to transfers so you can't use the language loophole.


Get a job at Chantilly and pupil place. Otherwise, you can't transfer your kid. I'm wondering if some of the transfers are to the CSS at Chantilly, though. Westfield doesn't have a HS CSS. As for the wealth disparity, Chantilly is a wealthier school with a lower % of FARMS students due to the last boundary adjustment.

Chantilly is a well run school. I think the fact that the boundary is compact helps. That's one reason no one wants to be reassigned. There is a sense of community.
Westfield is far more spread out. And, Coates should really go to Herndon if proximity is considered.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If every high school offers 2 or 3 languages in person, it shouldn’t matter what they are. Three gives kids choice. No more language transfers.

Language offerings and language transfers are two different things.

In theory, they could offer some different languages at different schools but just not allow pupil placements to take a language course. You can’t pupil place now just because one school offers a social studies or general elective not available at your base school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:


How would I, as a Westfield parent, transfer my kid to Chantilly? Its closed to transfers so you can't use the language loophole.


Get a job at Chantilly and pupil place. Otherwise, you can't transfer your kid. I'm wondering if some of the transfers are to the CSS at Chantilly, though. Westfield doesn't have a HS CSS. As for the wealth disparity, Chantilly is a wealthier school with a lower % of FARMS students due to the last boundary adjustment.

Chantilly is a well run school. I think the fact that the boundary is compact helps. That's one reason no one wants to be reassigned. There is a sense of community.
Westfield is far more spread out. And, Coates should really go to Herndon if proximity is considered.

The flip side of considering proximity is considering distance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:


How would I, as a Westfield parent, transfer my kid to Chantilly? Its closed to transfers so you can't use the language loophole.


Get a job at Chantilly and pupil place. Otherwise, you can't transfer your kid. I'm wondering if some of the transfers are to the CSS at Chantilly, though. Westfield doesn't have a HS CSS. As for the wealth disparity, Chantilly is a wealthier school with a lower % of FARMS students due to the last boundary adjustment.

Chantilly is a well run school. I think the fact that the boundary is compact helps. That's one reason no one wants to be reassigned. There is a sense of community.
Westfield is far more spread out. And, Coates should really go to Herndon if proximity is considered.

If Coates doesn’t go to Herndon then it will just emphasize how big of a scam all their reasonings for boundary changes are and that they will do what they want. Herndon is just as close if not closer than Westfield for Coates students. And there is more than enough space to shift. But it would increase farms not decrease so who knows what they do with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Someone posted that there is a large group of Carson families zoned for Westfield who contracr for a private bus to take their kids from Carson to Langley "for Russian" ie to avoid sending them to Westfield with the poors.

The language transfers need to stop. Either every school needs to offer the same two basic languages or the other languages can be offered online only.

There are multiple carpool groups from outside the district that do the same thing to attend Langley.

I don’t know if it still goes on, but in the past (as of ~4 years ago), there were multiple instances of out-of-district kids who started in the Russian language program and later dropped out of that program, but were permitted to continue to attend the school.

Does FCPS have an OIG? Seems like so much of this fraud waste and abuse in the system. Maybe instead of hiring a law firm when the superintendent messes up, they could actually exercise an oversight function? Is that too much to ask in our county?

These aren’t examples of fraud. If a school is open to transfers, they allow students to attend for programming such as foreign language, IB, and AP. The transfers are accounted for on the dashboard (12 students transfer from Westview to Langley, for example.) If the student doesn’t meet the threshold for those programs (ie drops the language or doesn’t take enough APs) they can be sent back to their home school, but principals can make exceptions to allow them to continue.

Oversight is key. I didn’t say transfers were fraud, but they should be scrutinized in an environment where they are looking to move students from other pyramids to backfill those student spots who are transferring out.

Closed to transfers should mean CLOSED to transfers, especially if FCPS is using jacked up enrollment numbers to justify rezoning kids from their neighborhood high school.

Before rezoning any high school, FCPS needs to:

Send transfers back to their base schools.

Close the IB schools to eliminate the IB to AP transfer loophole.

Do a full residency check of all students at any high school under consideration for rezoning.

I agree they should be focusing on transfers before restricting.

But vehemently disagree that they should kick out kids mid-way through a HS language course or an AP progression. Those kids need grandfathered and no one new added.

I agree they should be able to finish their foreign language progression.

But if they are transferring in for AP, they can move to an AP school that is open, such as LB.

AP transfers are supposed to be approved on a yearly basis, space available. They wre not a 4 year transfer.

You also need to look at the AP classes offered at Lewis.

If the kid transferred to WSHS using the IB loophole, but is taking the same AP classes offered at Lewis, they need to be sent back to Lewis.

For example, there are only 2-3 AP classes that sophomores and freshmen can take at WSHS, unless the student is very advanced in math. AP World and AP comp sci are the 2 main ones that 9th/10th graders take at WSHS.

I believe Lewis offers both AP world and AP comp sci.

Therefore, zero Lewis students should be given AP transfers to WSHS for 9th or 10th grade. There is simply no need to approve the transfers for those 2 grades since Lewis offers the same AP classes for those grades as everyone else.

Also, if they are transferring for AP classes in the upper grades (11th/12th) the students should be taking multiple APs, not just one to abuse the loophole, or one AP and the rest dual enrollment or honors (all offered at Lewis). The APs taken should be AP classes unavailable at Lewis, even for 11th and 12th graders.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Someone posted that there is a large group of Carson families zoned for Westfield who contracr for a private bus to take their kids from Carson to Langley "for Russian" ie to avoid sending them to Westfield with the poors.

The language transfers need to stop. Either every school needs to offer the same two basic languages or the other languages can be offered online only.

There are multiple carpool groups from outside the district that do the same thing to attend Langley.

I don’t know if it still goes on, but in the past (as of ~4 years ago), there were multiple instances of out-of-district kids who started in the Russian language program and later dropped out of that program, but were permitted to continue to attend the school.

Does FCPS have an OIG? Seems like so much of this fraud waste and abuse in the system. Maybe instead of hiring a law firm when the superintendent messes up, they could actually exercise an oversight function? Is that too much to ask in our county?

These aren’t examples of fraud. If a school is open to transfers, they allow students to attend for programming such as foreign language, IB, and AP. The transfers are accounted for on the dashboard (12 students transfer from Westview to Langley, for example.) If the student doesn’t meet the threshold for those programs (ie drops the language or doesn’t take enough APs) they can be sent back to their home school, but principals can make exceptions to allow them to continue.

Oversight is key. I didn’t say transfers were fraud, but they should be scrutinized in an environment where they are looking to move students from other pyramids to backfill those student spots who are transferring out.

Closed to transfers should mean CLOSED to transfers, especially if FCPS is using jacked up enrollment numbers to justify rezoning kids from their neighborhood high school.

Before rezoning any high school, FCPS needs to:

Send transfers back to their base schools.

Close the IB schools to eliminate the IB to AP transfer loophole.

Do a full residency check of all students at any high school under consideration for rezoning.

I agree they should be focusing on transfers before restricting.

But vehemently disagree that they should kick out kids mid-way through a HS language course or an AP progression. Those kids need grandfathered and no one new added.

I agree they should be able to finish their foreign language progression.

But if they are transferring in for AP, they can move to an AP school that is open, such as LB.

AP transfers are supposed to be approved on a yearly basis, space available. They wre not a 4 year transfer.

You also need to look at the AP classes offered at Lewis.

If the kid transferred to WSHS using the IB loophole, but is taking the same AP classes offered at Lewis, they need to be sent back to Lewis.

For example, there are only 2-3 AP classes that sophomores and freshmen can take at WSHS, unless the student is very advanced in math. AP World and AP comp sci are the 2 main ones that 9th/10th graders take at WSHS.

I believe Lewis offers both AP world and AP comp sci.

Therefore, zero Lewis students should be given AP transfers to WSHS for 9th or 10th grade. There is simply no need to approve the transfers for those 2 grades since Lewis offers the same AP classes for those grades as everyone else.

Also, if they are transferring for AP classes in the upper grades (11th/12th) the students should be taking multiple APs, not just one to abuse the loophole, or one AP and the rest dual enrollment or honors (all offered at Lewis). The APs taken should be AP classes unavailable at Lewis, even for 11th and 12th graders.

Agree. Lewis is offering a lot more AP classes than other IB schools. Definitely no need for underclassmen to transfer, anywhere. Maybe FCPS changes the transfer rules to 11/12 only.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:


How would I, as a Westfield parent, transfer my kid to Chantilly? Its closed to transfers so you can't use the language loophole.


Get a job at Chantilly and pupil place. Otherwise, you can't transfer your kid. I'm wondering if some of the transfers are to the CSS at Chantilly, though. Westfield doesn't have a HS CSS. As for the wealth disparity, Chantilly is a wealthier school with a lower % of FARMS students due to the last boundary adjustment.

Chantilly is a well run school. I think the fact that the boundary is compact helps. That's one reason no one wants to be reassigned. There is a sense of community.
Westfield is far more spread out. And, Coates should really go to Herndon if proximity is considered.

If Coates doesn’t go to Herndon then it will just emphasize how big of a scam all their reasonings for boundary changes are and that they will do what they want. Herndon is just as close if not closer than Westfield for Coates students. And there is more than enough space to shift. But it would increase farms not decrease so who knows what they do with it.

They could decide that reducing the commuting distance of at least some Forestville students to Langley by moving them to Herndon makes more sense than loading up Herndon with more FARMS kids from Coates.

Some posters are quick to point to the capacity constraints at Herndon MS, but HMS doesn’t get any bigger depending on whether kids from Cooper or Carson are reassigned there.