Forum Index
»
Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS)
FCPS comprehensive boundary review
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
+1. She likes to pretend that families don’t choose houses based on schools and stability. |
Anonymous
FCPS is not great on information. The CIP lists design capacity and program capacity - also includes with and without modulars. Some sites have trailers and/or modulars. Some trailers could just be residue left on a site. CIP breaks out dedicated square footage for some sped centers but does not provide site square footage per academy course. That means HS's with modulars and academies like Chantilly and Marshall do not provide accurate information to the public. Any program that is an addition to core instruction needs to be analyzed. IB and AP costs per site and no comingling on the program budget. Transfer data needs to be on a spreadsheet. Then you have sites with programs like elementary magnets- Bailey's gets $ but how is it still a magnet with paltry transfers in? Hunters Woods has massive transfers in like Kent Gardens so base school capacity numbers are off. Dunne is setting up another magnet removing base school capacity at this of all times!. That plus lack of CIP building information and transfer data distort the process. MS grade 6? Quick review might indicate converting Poe or Holmes and all to a preK-6 model. Instead there's a concurrent Parklawn study. BRAC meeting every 2 weeks then once/month? Should be once/month then twice/month. |
Anonymous
Take that up with the seller you bought from and the real estate agents who negotiated the deal. Regardless of being for or against changes, absolutely nobody owes anyone a guaranteed return on real estate investments. Let the free market forces be what they will be. Sounds like you want FCPS to effectively bail you out so you don't go under on your mortgage as markets change, which is not their responsibility. |
Anonymous
DP. Two things: 1) real estate agents can’t discuss schools with their clients. And you and your comrades try to silence anyone who discusses boundaries and tries to warn potential buyers - it’s really pernicious. 2) you are just effectively looking to steal property value from your neighbors. That’s all. You can try to disguise it however you want, but we know you are just a selfish thief at your core - to the detriment of the county and your neighbors. |
Anonymous
DP. The flip side would be to say that FCPS wants families to bail them out for their bad decisions, such as ignoring the facilities needs of some schools while wasting taxpayer money on other school expansions that, according to FCPS's own enrollment projections, clearly weren't necessary. If they are going to balance their books on the backs of families who simply hoped for stability and continuity, then maybe they should also fall on their own swords and resign. That goes for the entire School Board and every Gatehouse employee with ANY responsibility for facilities or capital planning. |
Anonymous
Big difference between a necessary boundary shift and one that wants to "even" the scores. This study is based on the latter. So, you buy a house in a neighborhood you choose --based on the schools. Then, because another school has very low test scores, the School Board wants to move your kids. Whose education will be improved? This will not help students improve. It will just cover up some problems. Which is the only think FCPS seems to excel at: covering up problems. |
Anonymous
What's your support for this? It would appear some of the things they are purportedly focusing on like eliminating attendance islands could have the opposite impact. |
Anonymous
I am the first PP. I have no idea about the attendance islands. I don't know of any in my area and cannot address it. I would assume there were valid reasons when created, but cannot speak to it. It would appear there are not many of them and I don't think that is what this study is about. Were they created because of transportation issues? Sometimes, the roads do not coordinate with the boundaries desired. |
Anonymous
| Which schools have attendance islands? |
Anonymous
The reason for weird historical boundaries is to give developers a handout. Developers get more money when they build in high performing school districts. People who advocate for changing boundaries now are facilitating the developer/FCPS grift. |
Anonymous
A lot. Go on the maps page https://www.fcps.edu/facilities-planning-future/maps And you can see a bunch of non-contiguous boundaries at the elementary level in particular. If you go on the maps page and choose “elementary school boundaries with high school boundaries” or one of the other maps in that section, you can also see all the schools where some portion of the school goes on to HS A, and some other portion goes on to HS B. |
Anonymous
So your map shows that other than the tiny Keene Mill island down near White Oaks elementary, WSHS is one of the few high school boundaries in FCPS with zero gerrymandering and very compact boundaries that make geographic sense and give every household a 10 minute or less commute to their high school. If you are using the "gerrymandered" argument, it is clear that WSHS is one of the only high schools in FCPS with sensible boundaries, and one of the few high schools where the boundaries should be left untouched (except for the small Keene Mill island). |
Anonymous
If they are going to leave WSHS with 2800-3000 kids and nearby Lewis with 1400-1600 kids, they should not be touching any high school boundaries. Because if there's any situation involving a HS that calls for a boundary adjustment, that's the one. They've changed boundaries in the past when the disparities between nearby schools in terms of enrollment and academic and extra-curricular opportunities were far smaller. It has nothing to do with "gerrymandering." |
Anonymous
This is PP and I agree, maybe cut off the Keene Mill island and send it to White Oaks/Lake Braddock and otherwise leave WSHS alone. The boundaries make sense as they are and, to my knowledge, no one is complaining about over crowding. Who cares if Lewis is at 1600 students to WSHS’s much larger enrollment? What’s that got to do with WS? Some schools are larger and some are smaller on smaller sites. With the overall declining school age population and school enrollment in the county in general and, maybe, upcoming deportations, all the schools will end up losing enrollment to some degree. |
Anonymous
Most boundaries make sense when you don't take neighboring schools into account. Langley's absurd stretch down the county line with juts into Herndon is the only one that doesn't. The rest are generally compact or at least have a reason for their odd shapes |