BOE Spring Facilities and Boundaries Work Session #3

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So at HS, MCPS was saying which programs will be at which school under new Regional Model for 2027. Did they ever say which programs are going where at MS level for 2027? Thought those were staying the same? This matters at MS level to have some accurate view of utilization. Or did they use some random assumption on transfers at MS in and out like they are for high school?

They postponed the decision on middle school programs because the state mandate for 60 minutes of math daily in middle school might drop kids down to only 1 elective, which would potentially destroy the middle school magnets and immersion programs altogether. So they might just eliminate them all unless that mandate gets repealed or adjusted.

There was a mention of them today at the work session, though-- they said that the current boundaries work with the current programs as is.

[Anonymous]

Could someone summarize if there were any changes since the Taylor made his recommendation?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Could someone summarize if there were any changes since the Taylor made his recommendation?

Nope.

[Anonymous]

No changes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here are the slides, by the way: https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/DS4PEU644E2C/$file/Supt%20Rec%20Secondary%20Prog%20Analysis%20Boundary%20Studies%20260312%20PPT%20REV.pdf

page 49 shows RMHS current utilization rate at 94.8%. If that's true, why are there so man portables there? Still don't understand how MCPS is getting enrollment figures.

You have to watch last Thursday's joint meeting with the Planning Board to understand (if you can follow) the differences among:

Student generation rates -- Planning's bailiwick, mostly modeled from MCPS data of existing enrolled student populations correlated with neighborhood/domicile characteristics

Past/present enrollment -- MCPS's bailiwick; the students actually attending a school, including consortia/magnet/COSA/other special transfers from outside of a school's home attendance area (but not those from that home area attending elsewhere via such transfers)

Projections -- MCPS's bailiwick, again, though using Planning's generation rates combined with existing housing/final-approved developments (not zoning potential), and slightly different for different purposes; in the case of the boundary studies, they wanted to project local/in-catchment-only student populations, and initially assumed relatively little net difference among the outbound/inbound magnet populations -- something they clearly are starting to walk back a bit

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain to me how Edison and Wheaton High School work?

I thought they were distinct and separate high schools, but in this work session, MCPS confirmed that Edison's 500-seat capacity is factored into Wheaton's boundary and utilization rate.

They also talked about building out the unused shell space in the future as a way of alleviating overutilization at Wheaton.

So it seems that Wheaton and Edison are not in fact separate schools, but that Edison is an extension of Wheaton High School that is available to students across MCPS as a half-day program. Is that right?

Unbelievable. This is MCPS fiscal irresponsibility at its finest. There is enough space in the buildings that exist. There is no need to build more space. But MCPS doesn't want to draw appropriate boundaries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain to me how Edison and Wheaton High School work?

I thought they were distinct and separate high schools, but in this work session, MCPS confirmed that Edison's 500-seat capacity is factored into Wheaton's boundary and utilization rate.

They also talked about building out the unused shell space in the future as a way of alleviating overutilization at Wheaton.

So it seems that Wheaton and Edison are not in fact separate schools, but that Edison is an extension of Wheaton High School that is available to students across MCPS as a half-day program. Is that right?

Yeah, that confused me too. First it sounded like they were saying that it was based on assuming that 500 Wheaton students would be enrolled at Edison half-day, and that that's in line with current enrollment (although even that seems sketchy enough on its own since some non-Wheaton kids may choose Wheaton in the DCC because of Edison.) But then they said something about kids from the rest of the county going to Edison half-day and then walking over to Wheaton for the rest of the day, which is not how I thought it worked?

It's kind of the other way around. Students come to Edison's programs from over half the county. Those programs are half-day, with classes specific to the program delivered in the Edison building. The other half of the day is spent doing non-program classes (Math, ELA, etc.) at Wheaton. The two buildings are next to each other, basically sharing a campus.

MCPS estimates that there are/will be 500 (~125/year) non-Wheaton-catchment students attending Edison programs this way. It's different from the Regions/Programs effort, where RM's IB magnet, say, will be smaller than it is now and only from within its new region -- Edison's most-of-county catchment is not expected to change.

[Anonymous]

Odds we see orange shirts from Farmland at the next meeting? The Van Grack mob? 100%

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain to me how Edison and Wheaton High School work?

I thought they were distinct and separate high schools, but in this work session, MCPS confirmed that Edison's 500-seat capacity is factored into Wheaton's boundary and utilization rate.

They also talked about building out the unused shell space in the future as a way of alleviating overutilization at Wheaton.

So it seems that Wheaton and Edison are not in fact separate schools, but that Edison is an extension of Wheaton High School that is available to students across MCPS as a half-day program. Is that right?

You thought that because people have been arguing here that Wheaton students could never walk over to Edison (even though it happens all the time).

the mentioned shell space for the Woodward building too, i think? if needed down the road. (not anticipated needed with projections)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Odds we see orange shirts from Farmland at the next meeting? The Van Grack mob? 100%

Yea, they'll huff and puff and try to blow your house down......boo hoo

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So at HS, MCPS was saying which programs will be at which school under new Regional Model for 2027. Did they ever say which programs are going where at MS level for 2027? Thought those were staying the same? This matters at MS level to have some accurate view of utilization. Or did they use some random assumption on transfers at MS in and out like they are for high school?

They postponed the decision on middle school programs because the state mandate for 60 minutes of math daily in middle school might drop kids down to only 1 elective, which would potentially destroy the middle school magnets and immersion programs altogether. So they might just eliminate them all unless that mandate gets repealed or adjusted.

There was a mention of them today at the work session, though-- they said that the current boundaries work with the current programs as is.

I'm sure they will find a way to keep Hoover's Chinese Immersion as a continuation for Potomac Immersion students, if only by teaching cohorted Math and Science in Mandarin for them. If is isn't too much of a bother, they might let Bayard Rustin Chinese Immersion students attend/participate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain to me how Edison and Wheaton High School work?

I thought they were distinct and separate high schools, but in this work session, MCPS confirmed that Edison's 500-seat capacity is factored into Wheaton's boundary and utilization rate.

They also talked about building out the unused shell space in the future as a way of alleviating overutilization at Wheaton.

So it seems that Wheaton and Edison are not in fact separate schools, but that Edison is an extension of Wheaton High School that is available to students across MCPS as a half-day program. Is that right?

Yeah, that confused me too. First it sounded like they were saying that it was based on assuming that 500 Wheaton students would be enrolled at Edison half-day, and that that's in line with current enrollment (although even that seems sketchy enough on its own since some non-Wheaton kids may choose Wheaton in the DCC because of Edison.) But then they said something about kids from the rest of the county going to Edison half-day and then walking over to Wheaton for the rest of the day, which is not how I thought it worked?

It's kind of the other way around. Students come to Edison's programs from over half the county. Those programs are half-day, with classes specific to the program delivered in the Edison building. The other half of the day is spent doing non-program classes (Math, ELA, etc.) at Wheaton. The two buildings are next to each other, basically sharing a campus.

MCPS estimates that there are/will be 500 (~125/year) non-Wheaton-catchment students attending Edison programs this way. It's different from the Regions/Programs effort, where RM's IB magnet, say, will be smaller than it is now and only from within its new region -- Edison's most-of-county catchment is not expected to change.

I'm confused. The tables show Wheaton currently has 2687 students attending and is at 98.8% capacity. But the CIP says Wheaton is overcrowded. Which is it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain to me how Edison and Wheaton High School work?

I thought they were distinct and separate high schools, but in this work session, MCPS confirmed that Edison's 500-seat capacity is factored into Wheaton's boundary and utilization rate.

They also talked about building out the unused shell space in the future as a way of alleviating overutilization at Wheaton.

So it seems that Wheaton and Edison are not in fact separate schools, but that Edison is an extension of Wheaton High School that is available to students across MCPS as a half-day program. Is that right?

You thought that because people have been arguing here that Wheaton students could never walk over to Edison (even though it happens all the time).

the mentioned shell space for the Woodward building too, i think? if needed down the road. (not anticipated needed with projections)

Woodward has unused shell space?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain to me how Edison and Wheaton High School work?

I thought they were distinct and separate high schools, but in this work session, MCPS confirmed that Edison's 500-seat capacity is factored into Wheaton's boundary and utilization rate.

They also talked about building out the unused shell space in the future as a way of alleviating overutilization at Wheaton.

So it seems that Wheaton and Edison are not in fact separate schools, but that Edison is an extension of Wheaton High School that is available to students across MCPS as a half-day program. Is that right?

Yeah, that confused me too. First it sounded like they were saying that it was based on assuming that 500 Wheaton students would be enrolled at Edison half-day, and that that's in line with current enrollment (although even that seems sketchy enough on its own since some non-Wheaton kids may choose Wheaton in the DCC because of Edison.) But then they said something about kids from the rest of the county going to Edison half-day and then walking over to Wheaton for the rest of the day, which is not how I thought it worked?

It's kind of the other way around. Students come to Edison's programs from over half the county. Those programs are half-day, with classes specific to the program delivered in the Edison building. The other half of the day is spent doing non-program classes (Math, ELA, etc.) at Wheaton. The two buildings are next to each other, basically sharing a campus.

MCPS estimates that there are/will be 500 (~125/year) non-Wheaton-catchment students attending Edison programs this way. It's different from the Regions/Programs effort, where RM's IB magnet, say, will be smaller than it is now and only from within its new region -- Edison's most-of-county catchment is not expected to change.

I'm confused. The tables show Wheaton currently has 2687 students attending and is at 98.8% capacity. But the CIP says Wheaton is overcrowded. Which is it?

How can non-Wheaton students attend Edison every day for half day? Logistically it sounds like a nightmare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain to me how Edison and Wheaton High School work?

I thought they were distinct and separate high schools, but in this work session, MCPS confirmed that Edison's 500-seat capacity is factored into Wheaton's boundary and utilization rate.

They also talked about building out the unused shell space in the future as a way of alleviating overutilization at Wheaton.

So it seems that Wheaton and Edison are not in fact separate schools, but that Edison is an extension of Wheaton High School that is available to students across MCPS as a half-day program. Is that right?

You thought that because people have been arguing here that Wheaton students could never walk over to Edison (even though it happens all the time).

the mentioned shell space for the Woodward building too, i think? if needed down the road. (not anticipated needed with projections)

Woodward has unused shell space?

Most schools are built with shell space now.