FCPS HS Boundary

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What about the parents that buy properties because of schools, Do they get screwed?

Also, any idea about Chantily and Westfield boundaries? These two schools are like Night and day.

Specific schools are never promised. Boundary changes will happen at some point. It is a risk everyone takes. Houses closer to boundaries have a higher risk. People have gotten complacent in the county because the school board has been extremely reluctant to make more than tweak in respect years. As a result, we are due for an overhaul.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about the parents that buy properties because of schools, Do they get screwed?

Also, any idea about Chantily and Westfield boundaries? These two schools are like Night and day.

Specific schools are never promised. Boundary changes will happen at some point. It is a risk everyone takes. Houses closer to boundaries have a higher risk. People have gotten complacent in the county because the school board has been extremely reluctant to make more than tweak in respect years. As a result, we are due for an overhaul.

recent not respect

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:DP - I get what the Lewis parent is saying (and no, my kids are not in the Lewis boundaries nor is it possible they’ll go there). I think what s/he is saying is all FCPS schools should be good by meeting a minimum threshold. And in the case of Lewis, what it needs is a larger number of students so that it can offer a range of APs like other schools. The SB seems to want all of the schools to be desirable and successful, which is admirable and what they should be doing. I would hope we can all agree on that. Likewise, if there are schools that are overcrowded, it makes sense to draw new boundaries to relieve that overcrowding. Thing is, I would guess most would agree with this - until they think it might affect their kid in what they perceive to be a negative way. We can’t just keep building additions when there is space. Any money available should be spent on renovations so that all schools are on similar footing. And re-drawing boundaries makes that possible.

This exactly, thank you PP!

Um... Lewis is an IB school.

They aren't going to have a full slate of AP classes no matter how many WSHS students you pull from their neighborhood school.

Well yes, that’s true as of right now. But more kids will translate to additional offerings. Plenty of runway between now and the 2026/2027 school year to make some positive changes at Lewis (don’t see how this could be accomplished any sooner, but I guess we will see)

So basically, you want to screw the WSHS 9th, 10th and 11th graders who lose the draw and have to move to IB Lewis, then in 5 years do it again.

WSHS has one of the most compact boundaries in all of FCPS. In 2 rezoning cycles, you could end up with only 3 feeders to WSHS if you get your way.

They are not changing boundaries every 5 years. They are reviewing them every 5 years. Big difference.

Hold the phone, Lady. I keep hearing how dumb people are because they bought their homes Assuming static pyramid despite the fact that the SB could technically move boundaries (even though they didn’t make any significant moves over the last few decades). People keep saying, “you should have planned better, dummy.”

Now they are requiring a review every five years, but you’re assuring us that they won’t move the boundaries as part of the process.

So can we rely on your statement or are we dumb because we assumed the status quo would be maintained?

You SJWs are super freaking inconsistent and just make stuff up to suit your agenda.

Anyone with half a brain can assume that some changes may come after every 5 year review. Highly unlikely that those changes would impact students more than once during their time in FCPS.

But again, if you are that worried about it, just move deep within the boundary of your assigned school. Problem-solved!

Got it, thanks for the amazing insight and assurances, anonymous internet poster.

So, if I understand correctly, anyone impacted can be guaranteed that their kids will highly likely not be moved again. But to be sure, you should buy right next to your desired school. Any other Fairfax citizen is in the school board’s equity crossfire.

Take your analysis one more step, what does that do to housing values anywhere in the county not next to the desired schools?

It’s unfortunate, because the school board is as ill-informed about the economic impact as you are. You all are going to run this county into the ground.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are missing the real problem here. There has been a HUGE drop in the quality of education in FCPS. The difference in the academics from when my oldest graduated Langley in 2019 and my now rising senior is night and day. We are not sending my rising freshman to Langley. We should have pulled him from Cooper. I couldn't care less about the quality of the facilities - I just want an educated child. So just know we can keep fighting about boundaries but the whole thing is crumbling underneath and we should hold the SB to account for that.

+1,000

Nero fiddles as Rome burns. If FCPS was offering quality education in its schools then issues like over and under enrollment at individual schools would be much easier to address.

Because the school board and superintendent focus on everything but actual eduction in core subjects education in FCPS continues to decline rapidly.

The only kids that get any education in FCPS are those that want to learn, are lucky enough to get the shrinking number of good teachers and have parental support for education at home.

If you think there isn’t enough focus on academics now, just wait until the school board directs Reid to “operationalize” Policy 8130 and the main focus of Gatehouse for the next year or two becomes the Great Reset.

The Great Reset will be the comprehensive review and adjustment of boundaries county-wide at the ES, MS, and HS level, with minimal grandfathering and any eligible students expected to provide their own transportation.

Because FCPS is controlled entirely by one party, the group think is through the roof. Yes, they will tell you “change is hard, but necessary, but they’ve convinced themselves that the Great Reset is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity where everyone will jump on the bandwagon just like they have and kids and parents alike will all eagerly embrace their new school assignments and see them as opportunities to leave their old lives behind and start fresh. New schools, new teachers, new classmates - what could be better?

Of course, this could falter. They might have start to second-guess themselves, in which case they’ll nit-pick Reid’s proposals and make her the sacrificial lamb for their own failures. There will be litigation, and adjustments based on flawed assumptions of faulty data could put things on hold. There could be community-wide resistance, where entire communities refuse to abide by the new boundaries. But they will keep engaging in the same smug, self-serving group think for as long as possible, because that’s what they do best.

Remember, however, that there will be elections (not for SB, but for other offices) before the hard launch of the Great Reset, and that we can use them as an opportunity to send a message that we do not approve of these incompetent buffoons treating our kids as widgets in service of their socialist agenda.

[Anonymous]

We just had school board elections. When are the next ones?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We just had school board elections. When are the next ones?

Fall of 2027.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This forum feels like it has spiraled into a panic. You will feel better if you stop yelling into the void and do something.

They are passing the new policy next Thursday. Show up to the board meeting to protest.

Call your member.

Call the at large members.

Call your board of supervisors member and let them know that you are a life-long democrat that is going to turn on the party in local elections if this happens.

Call the Fairfax Dems and tell them and let them know it is because their SB endorse candidates are playing with dynamite.

They are reasonably easy to reach in my limited experience.

You won’t stop the policy change but the more vocal you are the more likely the members (and the superintendent) will receive the message that this is politically dangerous for them.

Insist that the communities have to have a say and can’t just be rolled over.

Then do it all again.

Thank you for coming to my Tedtalk.

Calling to tell them I actually support them on something for once.

Same- will encourage them to move forward.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This forum feels like it has spiraled into a panic. You will feel better if you stop yelling into the void and do something.

They are passing the new policy next Thursday. Show up to the board meeting to protest.

Call your member.

Call the at large members.

Call your board of supervisors member and let them know that you are a life-long democrat that is going to turn on the party in local elections if this happens.

Call the Fairfax Dems and tell them and let them know it is because their SB endorse candidates are playing with dynamite.

They are reasonably easy to reach in my limited experience.

You won’t stop the policy change but the more vocal you are the more likely the members (and the superintendent) will receive the message that this is politically dangerous for them.

Insist that the communities have to have a say and can’t just be rolled over.

Then do it all again.

Thank you for coming to my Tedtalk.

Calling to tell them I actually support them on something for once.

Same- will encourage them to move forward.

Same!

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lots of assumptions being made about who does and doesn't support adjustments. This is going to be akin to the common "boomer" vs. new generation conflict. As usual, older folks want to maintain what they feel they rightfully deserve, and younger families want a slice of the same pie.

There are a lot of young, very well-educated families who are completely priced out of top 10 schools. You bet they support boundary changes that make more schools acceptable and affordable. You'd be crazy not to in that position.

spot on! Especially in 22153 (Saratoga/Newington). I’ve talked to many families over the years who either moved or are planning to move/pupil place/private school before HS. Unfortunately our little community of students isn’t large enough to help Lewis get on equal footing with other FCPS schools. Geographically, im not even sure why we are in the Lewis pyramid given that South County is closer in distance and ease of transportation. I wholeheartedly support the SB’s efforts to reasses boundaries and bring more kids to Lewis.

Why would you want people to suffer with you? You gotta sell. Luckily Saratoga is fairly desirable - decent housing stock, community pools and amenities, and convenient. And there’s plenty of “dog mom/dad” DINK buyers who like having more space vs. a condo in Arlington, as well as empty nesters, families with babies who will move out when their kid hits 1st grade, and Catholic school families, not to mention FCPS teachers who pupil place where mom or dad works. Or you could list for rent and get a nice military family to rent for a few years. Just sell and move to the other side of Pohick and your kids could be in bounds for Newington Forest and South County. Or move up the parkway to West Springfield! There’s nothing much that can help Lewis at this point as almost every other school surrounding it is high poverty or also under enrolled.

The only way Saratoga is getting out of Lewis is if ALL the development zoned for Edison comes to pass, and they decide to revisit the Lewis/Edison borders and end up shunting off Saratoga to South County, or if Lewis is closed entirely. Either scenario is AT LEAST 10 years off, conservatively.

I don’t view this as us “suffering together” rather bringing in more students and families like us, to help bring more balance (and thus, opportunities) to Lewis.

Our kids aren’t close to HS age yet, but this boundary assessment will definitely influence whether we join our neighbors in moving/pupil place/go private or if stick around and see if anything can be done to improve Lewis.

This seems like a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” situation for the SB. If they move kids, people will leave. If they don’t move kids, people will move. They can’t win either way.

Aha.

Well, first, you need to disabuse yourself of the notion that those being redistricted to Lewis are "families like us." They aren't, because they prioritized finding a house zoned to West Springfield rather than settling for Lewis.

Second, you need to anticipate that there will be a lot of attrition, because just because someone gets redistricted to Lewis doesn't mean they will passively accept this and not explore other options.

Third, you need to acknowledge that there are possibilities other than the "damned if you do, damned if you don't" scenario you outlined. Schools can improve if the county encourages development in the surrounding area, or the school does a better job of meeting the needs of the kids who are already zoned for the school. Rezoning - just like adding IB - can be a very crude and not necessarily effective tool for trying to enhance a school's perceived quality.

Oh I see. So, because we were priced out of neighborhoods zoned for WS, our kids don’t deserve an equivalent education? Got it.

To your second point, I guess you missed the part where I suggested that families like mine also have options, and we will continue to exercise them if the SB continues to neglect the needs of the students at Lewis. Trying to stop pupil placements as a retention method ain’t gonna fly!

And as to your third point, there is quite literally no action that the SB can take that will appease everyone. So yes, damned if you do/don’t still applies.

You were never going to get an equivalent education at Lewis and WS, starting with the fact that Lewis has a leadership program that WS doesn't have and WS has an AP curriculum that Lewis hasn't had.

So tell us again, what is it that you really want? Do you think a few hundred WS kids will put Lewis on the same footing as WS, or will it just make you feel better about having bought in the Lewis district if a few hundred more kids are similarly stranded there?

Not sure what you are getting at. I don’t need to “feel better about buying in the Lewis pyramid. I love my home and we bought before we had children. And yes, we knew how the school was rated back then but like many in our community, we figured we’d evaluate when the time came for our kids to attend HS. So yes, I am enthusiastic about the boards interest in improving the conditions at Lewis. And if that means adding a few hundred students from other schools to make it happen, so be it.

Again, tell that to my child. Thank her for her service to your child. Her college applications will be less robust, the next few years will be one change after another. One high school freshman year, a different one the following. All to boost up your child’s chances of getting a better class schedule.

Don’t expect us to cheer this as you throw our kids under the bus.

I don’t expect you to do anything but cry and complain as you’ve been doing for the last 300 pages.

And quite frankly, I couldn’t care less about your kid. In the same way that you clearly don’t care about mine.

What a wonderful welcome to the Lewis community. I’m not throwing your kid under, you bought your house knowing you were going to revisit in the high school years. We didn’t. You ARE actively throwing our kids and community under to boost up your own. That is much more malicious than you dealing with consequences you already knew when you bought your house.

YOU knew that boundaries were not guaranteed, and yet you still purchased your home. And now that the SB is exercising their right (and duty!) to make adjustments, you are howling about being thrown under the bus. Spare me.

There are negative outcomes associated with moving kids in the middle of high school.

And no actually, boundaries apparently weren’t redrawn at the whim of the board (the community had to ask) until this board started.

An updated boundary policy prevents boundaries being "redrawn on a whim." Your fear-mongering about the boundary policy is tiresome.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are missing the real problem here. There has been a HUGE drop in the quality of education in FCPS. The difference in the academics from when my oldest graduated Langley in 2019 and my now rising senior is night and day. We are not sending my rising freshman to Langley. We should have pulled him from Cooper. I couldn't care less about the quality of the facilities - I just want an educated child. So just know we can keep fighting about boundaries but the whole thing is crumbling underneath and we should hold the SB to account for that.

+1,000

Nero fiddles as Rome burns. If FCPS was offering quality education in its schools then issues like over and under enrollment at individual schools would be much easier to address.

Because the school board and superintendent focus on everything but actual eduction in core subjects education in FCPS continues to decline rapidly.

The only kids that get any education in FCPS are those that want to learn, are lucky enough to get the shrinking number of good teachers and have parental support for education at home.

If you think there isn’t enough focus on academics now, just wait until the school board directs Reid to “operationalize” Policy 8130 and the main focus of Gatehouse for the next year or two becomes the Great Reset.

The Great Reset will be the comprehensive review and adjustment of boundaries county-wide at the ES, MS, and HS level, with minimal grandfathering and any eligible students expected to provide their own transportation.

Because FCPS is controlled entirely by one party, the group think is through the roof. Yes, they will tell you “change is hard, but necessary, but they’ve convinced themselves that the Great Reset is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity where everyone will jump on the bandwagon just like they have and kids and parents alike will all eagerly embrace their new school assignments and see them as opportunities to leave their old lives behind and start fresh. New schools, new teachers, new classmates - what could be better?

Of course, this could falter. They might have start to second-guess themselves, in which case they’ll nit-pick Reid’s proposals and make her the sacrificial lamb for their own failures. There will be litigation, and adjustments based on flawed assumptions of faulty data could put things on hold. There could be community-wide resistance, where entire communities refuse to abide by the new boundaries. But they will keep engaging in the same smug, self-serving group think for as long as possible, because that’s what they do best.

Remember, however, that there will be elections (not for SB, but for other offices) before the hard launch of the Great Reset, and that we can use them as an opportunity to send a message that we do not approve of these incompetent buffoons treating our kids as widgets in service of their socialist agenda.

These are nonpartisan seats and if you watched a school board meeting, you would know that they do not move in lockstep even thought they are from the same party. There are disagreements and difficult conversations among the school board.
Rather than complain about the school board's party membership, maybe you should work to make sure that all of the Republican candidates are actually competent, know school board policy, don't hate queer kids, and haven't attended the Jan 6th insurrection.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are missing the real problem here. There has been a HUGE drop in the quality of education in FCPS. The difference in the academics from when my oldest graduated Langley in 2019 and my now rising senior is night and day. We are not sending my rising freshman to Langley. We should have pulled him from Cooper. I couldn't care less about the quality of the facilities - I just want an educated child. So just know we can keep fighting about boundaries but the whole thing is crumbling underneath and we should hold the SB to account for that.

+1,000

Nero fiddles as Rome burns. If FCPS was offering quality education in its schools then issues like over and under enrollment at individual schools would be much easier to address.

Because the school board and superintendent focus on everything but actual eduction in core subjects education in FCPS continues to decline rapidly.

The only kids that get any education in FCPS are those that want to learn, are lucky enough to get the shrinking number of good teachers and have parental support for education at home.

If you think there isn’t enough focus on academics now, just wait until the school board directs Reid to “operationalize” Policy 8130 and the main focus of Gatehouse for the next year or two becomes the Great Reset.

The Great Reset will be the comprehensive review and adjustment of boundaries county-wide at the ES, MS, and HS level, with minimal grandfathering and any eligible students expected to provide their own transportation.

Because FCPS is controlled entirely by one party, the group think is through the roof. Yes, they will tell you “change is hard, but necessary, but they’ve convinced themselves that the Great Reset is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity where everyone will jump on the bandwagon just like they have and kids and parents alike will all eagerly embrace their new school assignments and see them as opportunities to leave their old lives behind and start fresh. New schools, new teachers, new classmates - what could be better?

Of course, this could falter. They might have start to second-guess themselves, in which case they’ll nit-pick Reid’s proposals and make her the sacrificial lamb for their own failures. There will be litigation, and adjustments based on flawed assumptions of faulty data could put things on hold. There could be community-wide resistance, where entire communities refuse to abide by the new boundaries. But they will keep engaging in the same smug, self-serving group think for as long as possible, because that’s what they do best.

Remember, however, that there will be elections (not for SB, but for other offices) before the hard launch of the Great Reset, and that we can use them as an opportunity to send a message that we do not approve of these incompetent buffoons treating our kids as widgets in service of their socialist agenda.

These are nonpartisan seats and if you watched a school board meeting, you would know that they do not move in lockstep even thought they are from the same party. There are disagreements and difficult conversations among the school board.
Rather than complain about the school board's party membership, maybe you should work to make sure that all of the Republican candidates are actually competent, know school board policy, don't hate queer kids, and haven't attended the Jan 6th insurrection.

Oh, lord, here we are.

The proxies have shown up to pretend this isn’t a school board that’s endorsed entirely by the same party.

The “disagreements” among this crowd generally don’t rise above McElveen grimacing and abstaining from an occasional vote. No vigorous discussion or debate takes place, however.

And then the coup de grace is to suggest we all have to jump on board with massive boundary changes because anyone who might have opposed them probably wasn’t as supportive of trans rights.

A perfect exercise in gaslighting from the “4PublicEducation” crowd that showed up this morning.

[Anonymous]

It’s amazing that after McAuliffe went down in flames after denigrating the importance of listening to parents we have a local school board not just embracing that view, but doing so on steroids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This forum feels like it has spiraled into a panic. You will feel better if you stop yelling into the void and do something.

They are passing the new policy next Thursday. Show up to the board meeting to protest.

Call your member.

Call the at large members.

Call your board of supervisors member and let them know that you are a life-long democrat that is going to turn on the party in local elections if this happens.

Call the Fairfax Dems and tell them and let them know it is because their SB endorse candidates are playing with dynamite.

They are reasonably easy to reach in my limited experience.

You won’t stop the policy change but the more vocal you are the more likely the members (and the superintendent) will receive the message that this is politically dangerous for them.

Insist that the communities have to have a say and can’t just be rolled over.

Then do it all again.

Thank you for coming to my Tedtalk.

Calling to tell them I actually support them on something for once.

Same- will encourage them to move forward.

Same!

Ha, the three SJW amigos who always respond in rapid succession and are definitely not the same person out family.

I really wish you had to post as a registered user (or that you had something else to do with your life). Your frequent posts calling people SJWs and asserting that there is only one person who disagrees with you or that they are school board members or staff are so very tiresome. If I were you, I would go through and count your posts on this stupid thread and engage in some reflection.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This forum feels like it has spiraled into a panic. You will feel better if you stop yelling into the void and do something.

They are passing the new policy next Thursday. Show up to the board meeting to protest.

Call your member.

Call the at large members.

Call your board of supervisors member and let them know that you are a life-long democrat that is going to turn on the party in local elections if this happens.

Call the Fairfax Dems and tell them and let them know it is because their SB endorse candidates are playing with dynamite.

They are reasonably easy to reach in my limited experience.

You won’t stop the policy change but the more vocal you are the more likely the members (and the superintendent) will receive the message that this is politically dangerous for them.

Insist that the communities have to have a say and can’t just be rolled over.

Then do it all again.

Thank you for coming to my Tedtalk.

Calling to tell them I actually support them on something for once.

Same- will encourage them to move forward.

Same!

Ha, the three SJW amigos who always respond in rapid succession and are definitely not the same person out family.

I really wish you had to post as a registered user (or that you had something else to do with your life). Your frequent posts calling people SJWs and asserting that there is only one person who disagrees with you or that they are school board members or staff are so very tiresome. If I were you, I would go through and count your posts on this stupid thread and engage in some reflection.

DP. You sound like the one who needs to take a long walk.

Some of the proxies for the SB members are very obvious and not subtle at all.

[Anonymous]

We are missing the real problem here. There has been a HUGE drop in the quality of education in FCPS. The difference in the academics from when my oldest graduated Langley in 2019 and my now rising senior is night and day. We are not sending my rising freshman to Langley. We should have pulled him from Cooper. I couldn't care less about the quality of the facilities - I just want an educated child. So just know we can keep fighting about boundaries but the whole thing is crumbling underneath and we should hold the SB to account for that.

This. And it goes beyond the SB to the state and federal levels. Ever since the NCLB Act (George W. Bush), education has gone downhill everywhere in this country. The focus on testing and more testing (and test companies making more money) has been a disaster. Education is about preparing for canned tests (practicing tests, figuring out how to pass them by hook or by crook). The emphasis is not on true learning and deeper thinking. Even schools with high scores on Great Schools don't give you a clue. They could be teaching to the lowest common denominator which is the SOL test. No real writing (which involves a lot of thought and organizational learning) is going on.

This in conjunction with low salaries for teachers is creating a "punch the clock job" environment (teaching used to be a profession). Everyone who was in teaching back when NCLB started knew this would happen and saw the train wreck coming. Unless this madness is stopped and teaching is again a noble profession, there is nothing the SB can really do about it. They are confined by federal and state mandates. Just look at how many "provisionally certified" teachers are in the classrooms. There was no such thing as "provisional certification" when I started teaching (30 years ago) and we had teachers who were much better prepared.

It's a vicious cycle. The parents complain and don't trust teachers and the teachers quit or become disillusioned because of the stress of all of it. Nobody in their right mind is going into teaching as a career. It's a job for maybe a few years. The pension system sucks now as well. Who is going to pay to fix this?