FCPS School Board candidates in Dranesville

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hate Trump and I almost always vote Democrat but I’m really thinking about going Republican. It’s not like they’re going to take over the board. But we need some counterweight to this one Fairfax stuff. And the independent candidate is not serious otherwise he would have backed off of his Great Falls first positions.

It’s funny to watch Karloutsos and her supporters trying so hard to make a vote for her sound palatable. But if you look at her platform and decide to vote for her, it’s safe to say you’lll be back in a year justifying your Trump vote, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What happened is parents paying attention close to an election.

We all remember Scott Brabrand coming to our emails unable to say "One Fairfax" when he had no problem talking about it at work sessions.

They planned to vote on boundary policy in September, with ZERO public input.

Sorry the 14:59 post is more informative.

But, no. It was inaccurate. It is what the School Board claims at the last minute--not what they were saying in the meetings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I believe the following is an honest assessment:

* In early 2019, the School Board was operating under the assumption that it would not add any more boundary studies to the CIP until it had, at a minimum, considered revisions to its policy governing boundary adjustments and, at most, had undertaken a county-wide redistricting to address capacity issues and adjust boundaries "through an equity based lens";

* At the same time, Janie Strauss offered a proposed amendment to the CIP to include a McLean/Langley boundary study that she had not taken the time to preview with most of her colleagues.

* As a result, Strauss's proposal did not get majority support and, therefore, was never put to a vote.

* The failure to amend the CIP led to the creation of McSpaces, which pressed the case for relief at McLean. The discussion of potential revisions to the boundary policies and individual school boundaries led to the creation of One Great Falls, which was primarily concerned with any potential adjustments that might send students from the Langley pyramid to the Herndon pyramid, but also attacked the idea that any adjustments to boundaries should take "equity" and/or the socio-economic composition of students or neighborhoods into account.

* While the School Board had additional conversations about potential revisions to its boundary policy, it was unable to agree upon those revisions and unwilling to wait until such revisions had been adopted before responding to the community pressure to address the McLean overcrowding. As a result, the School Board went ahead in September 2019 and approved a CIP amendment to authorize a McLean/Langley boundary study. This decision split entirely along political lines: all the Democrats supported the CIP amendment, and neither of the Republicans (Schultz and Wilson) supported it.

* The approval of the CIP amendment allows FCPS staff to move forward with the scoping of a boundary study that, if adopted next spring, could move some students from McLean to Langley as early as fall 2020.

* Those who believe it was appropriate for the School Board to go ahead and approve the CIP amendment and/or for the Board to continue its consideration of potential revisions to the boundary policy will tend to support Democratic candidates for the Dranesville and at-large seats (Tholen, Keys Gamarra, Omeish, Sizemore Heizer).

* Those who believe the CIP amendment was simply intended to mollify McLean parents before the election and/or are fearful about what could result from future revisions to the boundary policy will tend to support the other candidates for those positions (Karloutsos, Mobasheri, Buford, DeStefano, Palathingal).

This is very helpful thanks.

Is there any reliable polling data? I’m starting to pull my hair out on who to vote for lol, and maybe if I know some people are shoo-ins it’ll make things easier to figure out. Thanks

No reliable polling data for such local elections.

If you’re talking about SB choices for Dranesville voters the only shoo-in is Keys Gamarra, the only incumbent at-large candidate.

[Anonymous]

Ardavan just sent a long email titled “Our opponents are getting ugly!”
Now, it makes a lot of good points.

BUT.
It makes very clear:
No boundary changes period
No open enrollment
And no MHS expansion.
In other words don’t do ANYTHING to precious Langley/Great Falls; and fix McLean High by sending THEIR kids to Tysons, if that ever happens.
Just wow.

At least he is up front.

Here you go:

“
OUR CHILDREN & SCHOOLS BEFORE PARTY POLITICS

Hello Everyone:

I hope this email is finding you well and you that you are enjoying Halloween week. How wonderful it was to see McLean’s Max Scherzer and Great Falls’ Ryan Zimmerman play such prominent and classy roles in the Washington Nationals World Series Championship. They set such wonderful examples for our children! (We will return to the subject of setting the right examples.)

First, and most importantly, I want to thank all of you for your support and hard work. We are now only five days from Election Day. It’s no longer a marathon; it’s a sprint. I’d like to update you on the campaign and tell you how you can best help our campaign during this final sprint.

We had our final debate last night, sponsored by the McLean Citizens Association. Despite the fact that the debate conflicted with Game 7 of the World Series, attendance was impressive. We are all so fortunate to live in a community that genuinely cares about not just keeping our School Districts among the best in the country, but making them even better!

I appreciate the feedback many of you gave me about how starkly our campaign stood out last night, in comparison to the partisan “talking points” delivered by both the Democratic and Republican candidates in all three debates. Our children’s education should never be taken hostage by partisan politics. Never!

Political “tribalism” doesn’t stop at the campaign debates. Predictably, the opposing campaign staff's have begun to “play dirty”.

From the Republicans:

I am an extreme liberal, disguised as an Independent
I’m only running for the School Board, to be positioned for my advocacy for One Fairfax.
I’m just running to make sure the Democrat gets elected. They like to call me “Ross Perot”.

From the Democrats:

I’m an extreme Republican, disguised as an Independent
I am driven by my opposition to One Fairfax and am obsessed with dismantling it piece-by-piece.
I’m a Republican, only interested in taking votes from the Democrat.

Many of my supporters have received calls from the Republican camp stating, “I used to be an Ardavan supporter, but there are some awful things you need to know about him.” I have not yet been blamed for the kidnapping of the Lindberg baby or for the California wildfires, or every earthquake known to man, but I guess that’s coming in the next five days. To quote one of my supporters, “Good Lord, what has happened to the ‘No Longer Grand Old Party’?

When your message is weak and your candidate is even weaker, what other options do you have than to attack the strongest candidate in such a manner, right?

It’s ALMOST funny when you look at those two sets of inaccurate criticisms together. However, it’s not funny, because the education of our children is at stake!! I’m certain both camps are saying awful things about each other as well, but candidly, I’m not interested in getting caught up in that “politics as usual”.

If anyone wants me to jump into this ugliness, and play in the mud (and start slinging it), I have bad news: I am not going to play that game. I’ve dedicated my entire life to education (mostly as a college professor). I’m not about to get sucked into “politics as usual”.

And I ask -- in fact I demand -- the same of each and every one of you. Stay on the high road. Tell your friends and neighbors about our core principles listed below.

- We are against boundary changes for any and all reasons. We are the strongest candidate in this regard.

- We support any and all initiatives that want a level playing field for every single student in the county.

- We are against any initiatives that will attempt to create an "equality of outcome" environment in our schools such as the approach taken by the school board and their interpretation of One Fairfax. These ill-advised initiatives include socioeconomic and demographic boundary changes, and weakening our school curriculums. We must never compromise the ability of our magnet schools (e.g. Thomas Jefferson School for Science and Technology) to accept the very best students. We must oppose all attempts by “equality of outcome “ proponents to reduce or eliminate AAP programs.

- We want true and lasting long term solutions to school overcrowding. Central to this is building a brand new high school in the Tysons area.

-We never address an “achievement gap” by gaming the system with artificial boundary changes.


And what do the Republicans want?

- Stop “bussing”. But what do they mean by that? They mean kids in western Great Falls (from the Village to the Loudon border) should not be “bussed” 12-18 miles to Langley when they can go 2-8 miles to closer schools. My friends in Amberwood, Holly Knoll, and Herndon must be especially cautious on this front.

- Open enrollment proposals that will overcrowd Langley High School within a few years. The result will soon thereafter be “crowding” western Great Falls students out of Langley.

- Costly expansion of McLean High School. This would result in crippling transportation issues. Instead, the correct long-term solution is building the brand new school in Tysons.

And the Democrats?

- They want to implement a social policy that aims for equality of outcome and reduce competitiveness at our schools. Punish the highest achievers.

- They want to address the “achievement gap” by gaming the system and “bussing” with artificial boundary changes.

And at the County level, they see Dranesville as their cash machine to fund their favorite pork barrel projects.


We know what needs to be done. How can you best help OUR campaign in these final days?


Sign up to help work the precinct you vote in. Many of your neighbors will appreciate the research you’ve done on this campaign, and you can impact their vote! Send me an email and I will reach out to you with more information.
Donations to the campaign are still greatly appreciated. Please click on the donate button on top.
If you are interested in any last-minute meets and greets with neighbors and friends please reach out to me ASAP.
Keep bringing your friends, neighbors and work colleagues our message, and always frame it in a positive way. Feel free to forward this email to any and all of your friends. You can also share our messages from our facebook page. Just click on the link above.

I want to leave you with a quote from former U.S. Senator Alan Simpson:

“Those who travel the high road of humility in Washington, DC are not bothered by heavy traffic.”


I again thank all of you for your support and dedication to OUR campaign and to OUR core issues. Let’s all keep it on the high road, as one of the most important things we can do for our children’s education comes after school hours. It’s setting the right example!

Thank you again for your proactivity and dedication to our schools and our children's education.

"By all means, let's be for the right and the left in our beliefs. Let's be democrats and republicans. Let's be conservatives and liberals. This is America after all. But for this election, I ask of you to believe that the solutions to our challenges as it relates to our schools deserve "our solutions" and do not have "Democrat" or "Republican" solutions. Challenge me on this and permit me to challenge you.

After all If not now then when? If not us then who?"

Ardavan Mobasheri
“

[Anonymous]

You can’t mount a credible campaign to represent all of Dranesville when all you really care about is keeping your small pocket of western Great Falls zoned for Cooper/Langley. Everyone who has come into contact with this guy knows that’s his only concern.

[Anonymous]

If you think an addition at McLean will be costly, how much do you a new HS in Tysons will cost?

I think you just eliminated an ychance of McLean HS district to vote for you since you have damned their children to the over-crowded school for 10-15 years-(how long do you think it would take to find and build a new HS in Tysons?)

And you will lose more Langley aren’t who do not want the diversity of classes decreased at Langley.

[Anonymous]

So Marshall is 1 mile from Tyson’s. Langley and McLean are both less than 3 miles from Tysons. McLean is in desperate need of renovation which would undoubtedly address overcrowding there and Langley has the lowest current capacity in the county and a sizable section of their students are traveling upwards of 13/14 miles to get there when there is another HS (Herndon) which is currently undergoing renovation and will likely have additional capacity when it is completed. But we need ANOTHER high school in TYSONS?????

I just can’t.

[Anonymous]

Ardavan is gonna Ardavan.

[Anonymous]

A modest boundary change

Maybe pupil placement for kids wanting to opt out of a school over a certain percentage of capacity

Certainly an expansion for McLean

But he's against all that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ardavan is gonna Ardavan.

One Great Falls (aka "Voices of Fairfax") - trying its hardest to make sure FCPS looks at issues through an "inequity-based lens" for another decade.

No to Mobasheri. No to Karloutsos.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ardavan is gonna Ardavan.

One Great Falls (aka "Voices of Fairfax") - trying its hardest to make sure FCPS looks at issues through an "inequity-based lens" for another decade.

No to Mobasheri. No to Karloutsos.

So, in the name of "equity" you pull communities out of an underenrolled school that they like and send communities that likely don't want to go there.

Sure, that makes sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A modest boundary change

Maybe pupil placement for kids wanting to opt out of a school over a certain percentage of capacity

Certainly an expansion for McLean

But he's against all that?

McLean students already have the option to pupil place at Langley.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A modest boundary change

Maybe pupil placement for kids wanting to opt out of a school over a certain percentage of capacity

Certainly an expansion for McLean

But he's against all that?

He hasn't been a model of consistency, except when it comes to building a new HS in Tysons. He wants a school there to soak up areas that are closer to Langley than his neighborhood in western Great Falls, so Forestville can stay there. And, of course, he sticks his head in the sand about the greater need for a new HS in western Fairfax.

[Anonymous]

I really liked the way Mobasheri answered the question about seclusion and restraint at the LWV candidate night a few weeks ago. It was much more compassionate than Tholen’s or ’Karloutsos’s nearly identical answers. It made me take a second look. This letter, however, seals it for me- I will not vote for him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A modest boundary change

Maybe pupil placement for kids wanting to opt out of a school over a certain percentage of capacity

Certainly an expansion for McLean

But he's against all that?

McLean students already have the option to pupil place at Langley.

Yes if they want to take Russian.

I think there's an option to pupil place out if your current school is threatening your mental health (maybe if you had severe bullying and need a fresh start away from the situation, I am sure there are other applications)

I'm saying being able to pupil place not only for AP or IB or a language not being offered, but because your school is over-crowded.