Discussion Boundary Map out for APS- elementary schools
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Anonymous
of course they are not. Extended day primarily serves the upper middle class two parent working family in arlington where at least one parent works 9-5. It does not serve those who do shift type work. Here is the breakdown as of last year Number of Extended Day Families by Income Level as of Sept. 30, 2018 Income Level After School Before School Below $8,000 64 37 $8,001 - $12,000 202 120 $12,001 - $16,000 208 99 $16,001 - $20,000 127 58 $20,001 - $26,000 131 70 $26,001 - $32,000 81 34 $32,001 - $38,000 50 41 $38,001 - 46,000 68 43 $46,001 - $55,000 39 22 $55,001 - $65,000 53 29 $65,001 - $88,240 108 47 $88,241 & above 2054 904 https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/FY-2020-Budget-Questions-and-Responses-as-of-April-12-2019.pdf |
Anonymous
Not in the same way. The 61 stops half a block away from my house and right in front of Key. To get a bus to Long Branch I would have to walk or take the 61 to Rosslyn metro or Courthouse metro and transfer to a different bus. The drive to Long Branch would be more palatable than the drive to Taylor. My goal is to get in Key building. I don’t particularly care what program is there. |
Anonymous
Based on that breakdown, it appears that over a third of the students in extended day qualify as low-income. |
Anonymous
Yeah and didn’t someone upthread say that the county average for FRL was about 30%? Seems like extended day serves many across the board. DCUM posters who don’t use extended day are primarily wealthy stay at home moms. That they would have the gall to suggest it’s elimination is truly abhorrent. |
Anonymous
Last year’s system-wide FARMS rate was 29.25%. Depending on whether you look at morning or afternoon numbers, approximately 36-40% of students in extended day are low-income. If anything this suggests that low-income families are heavier users of extended day services than other income brackets. |
Anonymous
And who are we kidding? Two working parents making 89,000 are upper middle class in Arlington? Come on! Of course schools are not obligated to make life more or less convenient for parents. There's no legal requirement. But, let's face reality. That's what people want. And here in Arlington, about as liberal as you can get, that's what people have made clear that they want time and time again. |
Anonymous
That's one way to manipulate the statistics to fit your argument. The more precise use of statistics shows that 30% of total users are from households $46K and below (which does not necessarily mean every one of those households qualifies for FRL, though most likely do). The proportion in morning or evening is irrelevant. 70% are above $46K (90% of that group earns over $88K). 63% overall earn over $88K. But you're right: more low-income overall use it more than those between $46K and $88K. Yet more than double over $88K use it than those below $46K. |
Anonymous
I didn't review all the postings; but I don't recall it being recommended to eliminate it. It was pointed out that APS isn't required to offer it and then someone went on about how inconvenient that would be, making people hire nannies and whatnot. |
Anonymous
There is no indication how many of those households are two-income, two-working parents. I'm pretty certain there are a lot of single parents out there relying on extended day. |
Anonymous
You think a family living on $60k/year is going to hire a nanny? No, what’s going to happen is that when the parent’s shift gets changed so the parent won’t be able to pick up the kid from extended day, and grandma who currently walks to the school to pick the kid up when the parents are in a bind doesn’t feel comfortable taking two buses to the school, the kid will just miss school that day because the parents don’t have a way to get the kid home. |
Anonymous
This. Nobody is saying to eliminate it, but they aren’t required to provide it, nor are they required to make sure everyone has what they consider the most convenient situation, because in almost every situation, one person’s convenience will come at the cost of another’s. Some schools don’t have enough spots at extended day as it is and there are waitlists, so there aren’t guarantees even now. This can’t really be a factor in boundary decisions. They only have the schools where they have them, and that may not be in the place that is most convenient for transportation or the current population. And they can’t ever make everyone happy. They can’t promise that because you bought or rented a house in a specific school zone, that it will never change so as not to inconvenience you. That’s just not a realistic ask. They should take into account where people live (what areas are dense), and which schools are walkable and which are not when considering whether or not to move option programs. But, they also have to consider instruction. For instance, if they move an Immersion program, they also need to consider whether or not that location will help them with the 50/50 student balance. And, per their own criteria, they have to consider demographics. They don’t want to create new schools with attendance zones where the fr/l rate would be over 80%. They have to look at the locations of option programs through that lens, too. It’s a balancing act and not everyone is going to walk away with the outcome they want at the end. But they have to try to do right by the kids first, and that does include considering how families get their kids to and from school, but it can’t be the only thing they look at. |
Anonymous
I don’t understand this reasoning at all. The only reason to bus students is to make schools more diverse because it boosts achievement for disadvantaged students. But how can you advocate for that in one breath and then in the next say APS shouldn't care about the increased burden they put on those same families, even though that burden correlates with worse educational outcomes for disadvantaged students? |
Anonymous
Calm down. Nobody is going to “bus” students from one end of the county to the other. That is not what is happening. They don’t have schools in every neighborhood. Walk zones are small. Many kids will have to take buses to get to school, always, because we don’t have schools in all the places we’d need them for everyone to walk. And no, busing students does not correlate with worse outcomes, quite the opposite. But they’re not doing that anyway, so CALM DOWN. |
Anonymous
If they have Grandma around, then Grandma could meet the child at the bus stop instead of taking two buses to pick him/her up from extended day. This is about kids who are not in the (real) walk zone to schools and can be bused to a different neighborhood school if necessary |
Anonymous
citation? |