FCPS HS Boundary

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The impression I got was they are going to focus first on the bussing islands and less on entire schools. They also didn’t emphasize that much the high school situation and act like they was an attempt to fill up Lewis high school. I don’t even think they will look at moving elementary to other regions/pyramids if they aren’t bussing them now (ie West Springfield schools).

Wishful thinking. Anderson must have mentioned at least three times that Glasgow MS has more kids than Lewis HS, and St. John-Cunning talked about how Lewis kids were just as proud as Langley kids. The low enrollment at Lewis is very much on their minds.

Yes but Reid emphasized keeping community together. And bussing HV or another school to Key and Lewis goes against that and can’t be the only solution to fix the Lewis under enrollment. I don’t think she’s interested in redoing pyramids and regions.

I don't know. They are very open to shifting elementary kids. I can see them redoing the HV boundary to put more kids into Saratoga.

Pohick Creek will continue to serve as the western barrier for Saratoga, but they may extend the Saratoga border north to take on some of the Rolling Valley split feeder population that can access Saratoga via Rolling Rd.

The Lewis/WSHS equity/capacity rebalance cannot be done without redrawing the existing HS boundaries. WSES, which is already adjacent to Crestwood and Garfield, is part of the Franconia magesterial district under St John-Cunning, is closest in terms of geography and travel time, and is closest in terms of community, will go to Lewis. Look at the Lewis boundary on a map and ask yourself "if this is a puzzle, what piece is missing to complete it?"

Hunt Valley.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If they allow phasing 10-12, no one will go to Lewis. And no one will move their families into new boundaries that go to Lewis and the problem will persist.

Are you a segregationist? If not, then maybe you shouldn't say such bigoted things about other people's high school. Lewis High School has an academy and committed families, students, and teachers. It is a jewel, except to those who don't know anything about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The best nugget of info out of this meeting (because boundary adjustments are a foregone conclusion) is from Dr. Reid's response to Mateo Dunne's question about boundary changes: she stated that HS boundaries will not change much at all, and most of the boundary changes will be at the ES level.

That’s interesting, I wonder why they decided to do that. Most kids attend the closest ES unless they’re at a split feeder or in an attendance island. The kids who have a long ES bus ride would have one regardless because they live in a far-flung area like Clifton or Great Falls. Or they’re getting bussed to the AAP center …

This is false. Anyone with eyes can look at a map of the school boundaries to see lots of elementary schools completely disconnected from their communities.

Such as??

Westbriar, Keene Mill, Flint Hill, Sangster, etc.

The one no-brainer move coming from a savant who spends too much time on Zillow and has no dog in the fight, the Groveland/Green Garland drive area zoned for Sangster will move to Newington Forest and will become part of the South County pyramid.

I can see that happening, although that’s a really small neighborhood that probably won’t make too much of a difference either way.

As a Lorton resident I wonder if the infamous Hagel Circle will continue to get bussed past 95 to Halley or if they will get sent to the much closer Gunston. That’s a hot potato.

I was shocked to learn that Hagel Ct students didn’t go to Lorton Station ES. It’s only a mile away!

That’s one of the equity bussing situations. Sending those kids to the comparatively rich Halley makes Halley and Gunston both around 40% FARMS, and Lorton Station around 55%. Otherwise Halley would have demographics similar to Silverbrook which has single digit FARMS, and Gunston or Lorton Station would be much higher needs.

I imagine if they changed it it would be to send those kids to Gunston so they can stay at South County, as opposed to Lorton Station/Hayfield. But also, without that big neighborhood Halley’s population would drop quite a bit and there’s really nowhere for them to pick up kids from since that is not a growth area of the county.

This may have been their intention when they assigned these attendance islands, but they’re seeing the negative impacts. If kids miss the bus, they’re likely missing school that day, when in some cases, there’s another elementary school within walking distance.

Very true and I’m sure there is a lot of absenteeism coming from that area. A lot of families don’t have cars. If the kid misses the school bus there’s no way to get them to school.

+ 1 never thought of this but I’m positive this is happening.

These are the types of nuances that people who support “keeping things the same” don’t think about. I’m glad that the school board is taking a look at this in a holistic way. Issues like chronic absenteeism only put kids in that community further and further behind, which leads to more stress on the educators and other school resources.

You don’t know what nuance I think about. You’re just throwing crap at the wall to see what sticks.

I don’t have to throw anything, the motion passed so it’s “up and it’s stuck” already! That reference will likely over your head, it just means your whining is pointless at this point. You should focus that energy on opening up your mind to the possibilities now, since this is no longer a question of IF but WHEN and HOW.

Gloat as much as you want. They’re well on their way to destroying the county schools. Those of us with money will leave, those of us like you will just be stuck with lower SES schools and will never stop your pathetic whining.

That’s the nuance that YOU and your SJW friends don’t think about. Oops.

DP. No one actually thinks or writes like this unless you've been stuck in a bubble like Langley. Your sense of self-esteem is all wrapped up in living in an economically segregated area and sending your kids to schools that are highly ranked due to test scores that reflect their segregation. But if you get moved to Herndon you'd be zoned for a school with multiple high-SES feeders (Aldrin, Armstrong, and Forestville, and parts of other feeders), diversity, and plenty of opportunities. And your kid stands to grow up with more empathy and potentially to have college opportunities they might not have if competing with other Langley students.

Not saying you have to accept this. At the end of the day, no one really cares if you leave. But there is a silver lining, if only you'd unclench long enough to consider it.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The impression I got was they are going to focus first on the bussing islands and less on entire schools. They also didn’t emphasize that much the high school situation and act like they was an attempt to fill up Lewis high school. I don’t even think they will look at moving elementary to other regions/pyramids if they aren’t bussing them now (ie West Springfield schools).

Wishful thinking. Anderson must have mentioned at least three times that Glasgow MS has more kids than Lewis HS, and St. John-Cunning talked about how Lewis kids were just as proud as Langley kids. The low enrollment at Lewis is very much on their minds.

Yes but Reid emphasized keeping community together. And bussing HV or another school to Key and Lewis goes against that and can’t be the only solution to fix the Lewis under enrollment. I don’t think she’s interested in redoing pyramids and regions.

I don't know. They are very open to shifting elementary kids. I can see them redoing the HV boundary to put more kids into Saratoga.

Pohick Creek will continue to serve as the western barrier for Saratoga, but they may extend the Saratoga border north to take on some of the Rolling Valley split feeder population that can access Saratoga via Rolling Rd.

The Lewis/WSHS equity/capacity rebalance cannot be done without redrawing the existing HS boundaries. WSES, which is already adjacent to Crestwood and Garfield, is part of the Franconia magesterial district under St John-Cunning, is closest in terms of geography and travel time, and is closest in terms of community, will go to Lewis. Look at the Lewis boundary on a map and ask yourself "if this is a puzzle, what piece is missing to complete it?"

Hunt Valley.

As a Hunt Valley parent I would genuinely like to understand how Dr. Reid would use the new 8130 criteria in paragraph 6 and conclude that Hunt Valley should move to Lewis. I feel like Sandy Anderson would protect HV and Marcia St John Cunning would prefer to have WSES since it is closer and part of her constituency.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If they allow phasing 10-12, no one will go to Lewis. And no one will move their families into new boundaries that go to Lewis and the problem will persist.

Are you a segregationist? If not, then maybe you shouldn't say such bigoted things about other people's high school. Lewis High School has an academy and committed families, students, and teachers. It is a jewel, except to those who don't know anything about it.

Yup. We are an HV family and I have no issues getting moved there except commute for daily sports and events. South county is closer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The best nugget of info out of this meeting (because boundary adjustments are a foregone conclusion) is from Dr. Reid's response to Mateo Dunne's question about boundary changes: she stated that HS boundaries will not change much at all, and most of the boundary changes will be at the ES level.

That’s interesting, I wonder why they decided to do that. Most kids attend the closest ES unless they’re at a split feeder or in an attendance island. The kids who have a long ES bus ride would have one regardless because they live in a far-flung area like Clifton or Great Falls. Or they’re getting bussed to the AAP center …

This is false. Anyone with eyes can look at a map of the school boundaries to see lots of elementary schools completely disconnected from their communities.

Such as??

Westbriar, Keene Mill, Flint Hill, Sangster, etc.

The one no-brainer move coming from a savant who spends too much time on Zillow and has no dog in the fight, the Groveland/Green Garland drive area zoned for Sangster will move to Newington Forest and will become part of the South County pyramid.

I can see that happening, although that’s a really small neighborhood that probably won’t make too much of a difference either way.

As a Lorton resident I wonder if the infamous Hagel Circle will continue to get bussed past 95 to Halley or if they will get sent to the much closer Gunston. That’s a hot potato.

I was shocked to learn that Hagel Ct students didn’t go to Lorton Station ES. It’s only a mile away!

That’s one of the equity bussing situations. Sending those kids to the comparatively rich Halley makes Halley and Gunston both around 40% FARMS, and Lorton Station around 55%. Otherwise Halley would have demographics similar to Silverbrook which has single digit FARMS, and Gunston or Lorton Station would be much higher needs.

I imagine if they changed it it would be to send those kids to Gunston so they can stay at South County, as opposed to Lorton Station/Hayfield. But also, without that big neighborhood Halley’s population would drop quite a bit and there’s really nowhere for them to pick up kids from since that is not a growth area of the county.

This may have been their intention when they assigned these attendance islands, but they’re seeing the negative impacts. If kids miss the bus, they’re likely missing school that day, when in some cases, there’s another elementary school within walking distance.

Very true and I’m sure there is a lot of absenteeism coming from that area. A lot of families don’t have cars. If the kid misses the school bus there’s no way to get them to school.

+ 1 never thought of this but I’m positive this is happening.

These are the types of nuances that people who support “keeping things the same” don’t think about. I’m glad that the school board is taking a look at this in a holistic way. Issues like chronic absenteeism only put kids in that community further and further behind, which leads to more stress on the educators and other school resources.

You don’t know what nuance I think about. You’re just throwing crap at the wall to see what sticks.

I don’t have to throw anything, the motion passed so it’s “up and it’s stuck” already! That reference will likely over your head, it just means your whining is pointless at this point. You should focus that energy on opening up your mind to the possibilities now, since this is no longer a question of IF but WHEN and HOW.

Gloat as much as you want. They’re well on their way to destroying the county schools. Those of us with money will leave, those of us like you will just be stuck with lower SES schools and will never stop your pathetic whining.

That’s the nuance that YOU and your SJW friends don’t think about. Oops.

DP. No one actually thinks or writes like this unless you've been stuck in a bubble like Langley. Your sense of self-esteem is all wrapped up in living in an economically segregated area and sending your kids to schools that are highly ranked due to test scores that reflect their segregation. But if you get moved to Herndon you'd be zoned for a school with multiple high-SES feeders (Aldrin, Armstrong, and Forestville, and parts of other feeders), diversity, and plenty of opportunities. And your kid stands to grow up with more empathy and potentially to have college opportunities they might not have if competing with other Langley students.

Not saying you have to accept this. At the end of the day, no one really cares if you leave. But there is a silver lining, if only you'd unclench long enough to consider it.

Ha, thanks for your permission about whether to accept it. We already have moved on. Sorry, your world view is junk to me. I’m not looking for a kumbaya moment with you.

You really sound like you've "moved on."

I mean that in the sense that you’ve lost our tax dollars and opportunity to paper over your FARMs problem.

Am I mad that they will destroy my community? Yes. But you’ll have to deal with those consequences.

Be well.

I'm well, thanks. But you seem rather unstable, insofar as you suggest property is worthless unless you own it, or a community is destroyed unless you live in it. The whole "you're nothing without me" shtick is about what you'd expect from Langley families, but it's neither healthy nor convincing.

I’m good too! But thanks for your concern. There is no schtick - it’s clear from your numerous posts that you want our resources. I’m just making it clear to you that you won’t have them.

As I said, be well. And best of luck getting the SB to take as much from your neighbors as they possibly can. What a noble crusade you think you are on !

DP, but I'm very confused by your "want our resources" comment. Are you under the impression that the county doesn't continue to receive the exact same amount of tax from your property with or without you?

The county may get the tax dollars but the schools only get funding if kids enroll. If parents go private that’s a loss to the public school funding

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The best nugget of info out of this meeting (because boundary adjustments are a foregone conclusion) is from Dr. Reid's response to Mateo Dunne's question about boundary changes: she stated that HS boundaries will not change much at all, and most of the boundary changes will be at the ES level.

That’s interesting, I wonder why they decided to do that. Most kids attend the closest ES unless they’re at a split feeder or in an attendance island. The kids who have a long ES bus ride would have one regardless because they live in a far-flung area like Clifton or Great Falls. Or they’re getting bussed to the AAP center …

This is false. Anyone with eyes can look at a map of the school boundaries to see lots of elementary schools completely disconnected from their communities.

Such as??

Westbriar, Keene Mill, Flint Hill, Sangster, etc.

The one no-brainer move coming from a savant who spends too much time on Zillow and has no dog in the fight, the Groveland/Green Garland drive area zoned for Sangster will move to Newington Forest and will become part of the South County pyramid.

I can see that happening, although that’s a really small neighborhood that probably won’t make too much of a difference either way.

As a Lorton resident I wonder if the infamous Hagel Circle will continue to get bussed past 95 to Halley or if they will get sent to the much closer Gunston. That’s a hot potato.

I was shocked to learn that Hagel Ct students didn’t go to Lorton Station ES. It’s only a mile away!

That’s one of the equity bussing situations. Sending those kids to the comparatively rich Halley makes Halley and Gunston both around 40% FARMS, and Lorton Station around 55%. Otherwise Halley would have demographics similar to Silverbrook which has single digit FARMS, and Gunston or Lorton Station would be much higher needs.

I imagine if they changed it it would be to send those kids to Gunston so they can stay at South County, as opposed to Lorton Station/Hayfield. But also, without that big neighborhood Halley’s population would drop quite a bit and there’s really nowhere for them to pick up kids from since that is not a growth area of the county.

This may have been their intention when they assigned these attendance islands, but they’re seeing the negative impacts. If kids miss the bus, they’re likely missing school that day, when in some cases, there’s another elementary school within walking distance.

Very true and I’m sure there is a lot of absenteeism coming from that area. A lot of families don’t have cars. If the kid misses the school bus there’s no way to get them to school.

+ 1 never thought of this but I’m positive this is happening.

These are the types of nuances that people who support “keeping things the same” don’t think about. I’m glad that the school board is taking a look at this in a holistic way. Issues like chronic absenteeism only put kids in that community further and further behind, which leads to more stress on the educators and other school resources.

You don’t know what nuance I think about. You’re just throwing crap at the wall to see what sticks.

I don’t have to throw anything, the motion passed so it’s “up and it’s stuck” already! That reference will likely over your head, it just means your whining is pointless at this point. You should focus that energy on opening up your mind to the possibilities now, since this is no longer a question of IF but WHEN and HOW.

Gloat as much as you want. They’re well on their way to destroying the county schools. Those of us with money will leave, those of us like you will just be stuck with lower SES schools and will never stop your pathetic whining.

That’s the nuance that YOU and your SJW friends don’t think about. Oops.

DP. No one actually thinks or writes like this unless you've been stuck in a bubble like Langley. Your sense of self-esteem is all wrapped up in living in an economically segregated area and sending your kids to schools that are highly ranked due to test scores that reflect their segregation. But if you get moved to Herndon you'd be zoned for a school with multiple high-SES feeders (Aldrin, Armstrong, and Forestville, and parts of other feeders), diversity, and plenty of opportunities. And your kid stands to grow up with more empathy and potentially to have college opportunities they might not have if competing with other Langley students.

Not saying you have to accept this. At the end of the day, no one really cares if you leave. But there is a silver lining, if only you'd unclench long enough to consider it.

Wow, what a misguided take. Any objective 3rd party can see there is no silver lining. Herndon high school scores not only well below FCPS averages, but also state averages. An over 50% hispanic population contributing to an 83% graduation rate. This is why UMC families will be fleeing Fairfax over the coming years. What's fairfax county's greatest draw? Schools and jobs. What are the downsides to living in Fairfax? Almost everything else. But truly, the schools are Fairfax's unique value proposition, and this is going out the window with comprehensive boundary changes. You can see changes with Fairfax's declining growth and the increased growth along the I-95 corridor, Richmond, and Hampton Roads (https://news.virginia.edu/content/where-virginias-growth-occurring-you-might-be-surprised). It will be interesting to see the impacts of a combination of 1) Trump elected and gutting federal government combined with 2) potential home buyers choosing to live other than Fairfax county as the boundary discussion negatively impacts the housing market

The county's latest demographic report indicates the county population increased by about 14,000 from 2022 to 2023.

FCPS's enrollment statistics indicate that the FCPS enrollment increased by 850 students in the 2023-24 SY compared to the 2022-23 SY.

To be sure, there are some uncertainties, but you can take your dystopian Trumpy fantasies with you on the way out.

Are these enrollment numbers at or higher than pre Covid numbers when a lot of families left the public schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The impression I got was they are going to focus first on the bussing islands and less on entire schools. They also didn’t emphasize that much the high school situation and act like they was an attempt to fill up Lewis high school. I don’t even think they will look at moving elementary to other regions/pyramids if they aren’t bussing them now (ie West Springfield schools).

Wishful thinking. Anderson must have mentioned at least three times that Glasgow MS has more kids than Lewis HS, and St. John-Cunning talked about how Lewis kids were just as proud as Langley kids. The low enrollment at Lewis is very much on their minds.

Yes but Reid emphasized keeping community together. And bussing HV or another school to Key and Lewis goes against that and can’t be the only solution to fix the Lewis under enrollment. I don’t think she’s interested in redoing pyramids and regions.

I don't know. They are very open to shifting elementary kids. I can see them redoing the HV boundary to put more kids into Saratoga.

Pohick Creek will continue to serve as the western barrier for Saratoga, but they may extend the Saratoga border north to take on some of the Rolling Valley split feeder population that can access Saratoga via Rolling Rd.

The Lewis/WSHS equity/capacity rebalance cannot be done without redrawing the existing HS boundaries. WSES, which is already adjacent to Crestwood and Garfield, is part of the Franconia magesterial district under St John-Cunning, is closest in terms of geography and travel time, and is closest in terms of community, will go to Lewis. Look at the Lewis boundary on a map and ask yourself "if this is a puzzle, what piece is missing to complete it?"

Hunt Valley.

As a Hunt Valley parent I would genuinely like to understand how Dr. Reid would use the new 8130 criteria in paragraph 6 and conclude that Hunt Valley should move to Lewis. I feel like Sandy Anderson would protect HV and Marcia St John Cunning would prefer to have WSES since it is closer and part of her constituency.

NP here. I watched a decent part of the school board meeting and was very disappointed with Sandy Anderson's responses. The only thing she's going to do to HV is kick it in the seat of its pants down the parkway and up Frontier Dr to Lewis.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If they allow phasing 10-12, no one will go to Lewis. And no one will move their families into new boundaries that go to Lewis and the problem will persist.

Are you a segregationist? If not, then maybe you shouldn't say such bigoted things about other people's high school. Lewis High School has an academy and committed families, students, and teachers. It is a jewel, except to those who don't know anything about it.

Yup. We are an HV family and I have no issues getting moved there except commute for daily sports and events. South county is closer.

Perhaps some of the teams practice at other facilities, not the school. Maybe Hooes Rd Park? That would be even closer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The best nugget of info out of this meeting (because boundary adjustments are a foregone conclusion) is from Dr. Reid's response to Mateo Dunne's question about boundary changes: she stated that HS boundaries will not change much at all, and most of the boundary changes will be at the ES level.

That’s interesting, I wonder why they decided to do that. Most kids attend the closest ES unless they’re at a split feeder or in an attendance island. The kids who have a long ES bus ride would have one regardless because they live in a far-flung area like Clifton or Great Falls. Or they’re getting bussed to the AAP center …

This is false. Anyone with eyes can look at a map of the school boundaries to see lots of elementary schools completely disconnected from their communities.

Such as??

Westbriar, Keene Mill, Flint Hill, Sangster, etc.

The one no-brainer move coming from a savant who spends too much time on Zillow and has no dog in the fight, the Groveland/Green Garland drive area zoned for Sangster will move to Newington Forest and will become part of the South County pyramid.

I can see that happening, although that’s a really small neighborhood that probably won’t make too much of a difference either way.

As a Lorton resident I wonder if the infamous Hagel Circle will continue to get bussed past 95 to Halley or if they will get sent to the much closer Gunston. That’s a hot potato.

I was shocked to learn that Hagel Ct students didn’t go to Lorton Station ES. It’s only a mile away!

That’s one of the equity bussing situations. Sending those kids to the comparatively rich Halley makes Halley and Gunston both around 40% FARMS, and Lorton Station around 55%. Otherwise Halley would have demographics similar to Silverbrook which has single digit FARMS, and Gunston or Lorton Station would be much higher needs.

I imagine if they changed it it would be to send those kids to Gunston so they can stay at South County, as opposed to Lorton Station/Hayfield. But also, without that big neighborhood Halley’s population would drop quite a bit and there’s really nowhere for them to pick up kids from since that is not a growth area of the county.

This may have been their intention when they assigned these attendance islands, but they’re seeing the negative impacts. If kids miss the bus, they’re likely missing school that day, when in some cases, there’s another elementary school within walking distance.

Very true and I’m sure there is a lot of absenteeism coming from that area. A lot of families don’t have cars. If the kid misses the school bus there’s no way to get them to school.

+ 1 never thought of this but I’m positive this is happening.

These are the types of nuances that people who support “keeping things the same” don’t think about. I’m glad that the school board is taking a look at this in a holistic way. Issues like chronic absenteeism only put kids in that community further and further behind, which leads to more stress on the educators and other school resources.

You don’t know what nuance I think about. You’re just throwing crap at the wall to see what sticks.

I don’t have to throw anything, the motion passed so it’s “up and it’s stuck” already! That reference will likely over your head, it just means your whining is pointless at this point. You should focus that energy on opening up your mind to the possibilities now, since this is no longer a question of IF but WHEN and HOW.

Gloat as much as you want. They’re well on their way to destroying the county schools. Those of us with money will leave, those of us like you will just be stuck with lower SES schools and will never stop your pathetic whining.

That’s the nuance that YOU and your SJW friends don’t think about. Oops.

DP. No one actually thinks or writes like this unless you've been stuck in a bubble like Langley. Your sense of self-esteem is all wrapped up in living in an economically segregated area and sending your kids to schools that are highly ranked due to test scores that reflect their segregation. But if you get moved to Herndon you'd be zoned for a school with multiple high-SES feeders (Aldrin, Armstrong, and Forestville, and parts of other feeders), diversity, and plenty of opportunities. And your kid stands to grow up with more empathy and potentially to have college opportunities they might not have if competing with other Langley students.

Not saying you have to accept this. At the end of the day, no one really cares if you leave. But there is a silver lining, if only you'd unclench long enough to consider it.

Wow, what a misguided take. Any objective 3rd party can see there is no silver lining. Herndon high school scores not only well below FCPS averages, but also state averages. An over 50% hispanic population contributing to an 83% graduation rate. This is why UMC families will be fleeing Fairfax over the coming years. What's fairfax county's greatest draw? Schools and jobs. What are the downsides to living in Fairfax? Almost everything else. But truly, the schools are Fairfax's unique value proposition, and this is going out the window with comprehensive boundary changes. You can see changes with Fairfax's declining growth and the increased growth along the I-95 corridor, Richmond, and Hampton Roads (https://news.virginia.edu/content/where-virginias-growth-occurring-you-might-be-surprised). It will be interesting to see the impacts of a combination of 1) Trump elected and gutting federal government combined with 2) potential home buyers choosing to live other than Fairfax county as the boundary discussion negatively impacts the housing market

+1. At the end of the day, the county should really be worried about this. From the SB meeting yesterday, it is clear they are not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The impression I got was they are going to focus first on the bussing islands and less on entire schools. They also didn’t emphasize that much the high school situation and act like they was an attempt to fill up Lewis high school. I don’t even think they will look at moving elementary to other regions/pyramids if they aren’t bussing them now (ie West Springfield schools).

Wishful thinking. Anderson must have mentioned at least three times that Glasgow MS has more kids than Lewis HS, and St. John-Cunning talked about how Lewis kids were just as proud as Langley kids. The low enrollment at Lewis is very much on their minds.

Yes but Reid emphasized keeping community together. And bussing HV or another school to Key and Lewis goes against that and can’t be the only solution to fix the Lewis under enrollment. I don’t think she’s interested in redoing pyramids and regions.

I don't know. They are very open to shifting elementary kids. I can see them redoing the HV boundary to put more kids into Saratoga.

Pohick Creek will continue to serve as the western barrier for Saratoga, but they may extend the Saratoga border north to take on some of the Rolling Valley split feeder population that can access Saratoga via Rolling Rd.

The Lewis/WSHS equity/capacity rebalance cannot be done without redrawing the existing HS boundaries. WSES, which is already adjacent to Crestwood and Garfield, is part of the Franconia magesterial district under St John-Cunning, is closest in terms of geography and travel time, and is closest in terms of community, will go to Lewis. Look at the Lewis boundary on a map and ask yourself "if this is a puzzle, what piece is missing to complete it?"

Hunt Valley.

As a Hunt Valley parent I would genuinely like to understand how Dr. Reid would use the new 8130 criteria in paragraph 6 and conclude that Hunt Valley should move to Lewis. I feel like Sandy Anderson would protect HV and Marcia St John Cunning would prefer to have WSES since it is closer and part of her constituency.

NP here. I watched a decent part of the school board meeting and was very disappointed with Sandy Anderson's responses. The only thing she's going to do to HV is kick it in the seat of its pants down the parkway and up Frontier Dr to Lewis.

DP. We are also a Hunt Valley family and I haven't watched the meeting yet. Am now very curious to see what Sandy Anderson said. If she is actively working against her constituents that would be very disappointing.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:If they allow phasing 10-12, no one will go to Lewis. And no one will move their families into new boundaries that go to Lewis and the problem will persist.

Are you a segregationist? If not, then maybe you shouldn't say such bigoted things about other people's high school. Lewis High School has an academy and committed families, students, and teachers. It is a jewel, except to those who don't know anything about it.

Yup. We are an HV family and I have no issues getting moved there except commute for daily sports and events. South county is closer.

Perhaps some of the teams practice at other facilities, not the school. Maybe Hooes Rd Park? That would be even closer.

I don’t know. Likely not track. LOL or swim team.

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Anonymous wrote:The best nugget of info out of this meeting (because boundary adjustments are a foregone conclusion) is from Dr. Reid's response to Mateo Dunne's question about boundary changes: she stated that HS boundaries will not change much at all, and most of the boundary changes will be at the ES level.

That’s interesting, I wonder why they decided to do that. Most kids attend the closest ES unless they’re at a split feeder or in an attendance island. The kids who have a long ES bus ride would have one regardless because they live in a far-flung area like Clifton or Great Falls. Or they’re getting bussed to the AAP center …

This is false. Anyone with eyes can look at a map of the school boundaries to see lots of elementary schools completely disconnected from their communities.

Such as??

Westbriar, Keene Mill, Flint Hill, Sangster, etc.

The one no-brainer move coming from a savant who spends too much time on Zillow and has no dog in the fight, the Groveland/Green Garland drive area zoned for Sangster will move to Newington Forest and will become part of the South County pyramid.

I can see that happening, although that’s a really small neighborhood that probably won’t make too much of a difference either way.

As a Lorton resident I wonder if the infamous Hagel Circle will continue to get bussed past 95 to Halley or if they will get sent to the much closer Gunston. That’s a hot potato.

I was shocked to learn that Hagel Ct students didn’t go to Lorton Station ES. It’s only a mile away!

That’s one of the equity bussing situations. Sending those kids to the comparatively rich Halley makes Halley and Gunston both around 40% FARMS, and Lorton Station around 55%. Otherwise Halley would have demographics similar to Silverbrook which has single digit FARMS, and Gunston or Lorton Station would be much higher needs.

I imagine if they changed it it would be to send those kids to Gunston so they can stay at South County, as opposed to Lorton Station/Hayfield. But also, without that big neighborhood Halley’s population would drop quite a bit and there’s really nowhere for them to pick up kids from since that is not a growth area of the county.

This may have been their intention when they assigned these attendance islands, but they’re seeing the negative impacts. If kids miss the bus, they’re likely missing school that day, when in some cases, there’s another elementary school within walking distance.

Very true and I’m sure there is a lot of absenteeism coming from that area. A lot of families don’t have cars. If the kid misses the school bus there’s no way to get them to school.

+ 1 never thought of this but I’m positive this is happening.

These are the types of nuances that people who support “keeping things the same” don’t think about. I’m glad that the school board is taking a look at this in a holistic way. Issues like chronic absenteeism only put kids in that community further and further behind, which leads to more stress on the educators and other school resources.

You don’t know what nuance I think about. You’re just throwing crap at the wall to see what sticks.

I don’t have to throw anything, the motion passed so it’s “up and it’s stuck” already! That reference will likely over your head, it just means your whining is pointless at this point. You should focus that energy on opening up your mind to the possibilities now, since this is no longer a question of IF but WHEN and HOW.

Gloat as much as you want. They’re well on their way to destroying the county schools. Those of us with money will leave, those of us like you will just be stuck with lower SES schools and will never stop your pathetic whining.

That’s the nuance that YOU and your SJW friends don’t think about. Oops.

DP. No one actually thinks or writes like this unless you've been stuck in a bubble like Langley. Your sense of self-esteem is all wrapped up in living in an economically segregated area and sending your kids to schools that are highly ranked due to test scores that reflect their segregation. But if you get moved to Herndon you'd be zoned for a school with multiple high-SES feeders (Aldrin, Armstrong, and Forestville, and parts of other feeders), diversity, and plenty of opportunities. And your kid stands to grow up with more empathy and potentially to have college opportunities they might not have if competing with other Langley students.

Not saying you have to accept this. At the end of the day, no one really cares if you leave. But there is a silver lining, if only you'd unclench long enough to consider it.

Wow, what a misguided take. Any objective 3rd party can see there is no silver lining. Herndon high school scores not only well below FCPS averages, but also state averages. An over 50% hispanic population contributing to an 83% graduation rate. This is why UMC families will be fleeing Fairfax over the coming years. What's fairfax county's greatest draw? Schools and jobs. What are the downsides to living in Fairfax? Almost everything else. But truly, the schools are Fairfax's unique value proposition, and this is going out the window with comprehensive boundary changes. You can see changes with Fairfax's declining growth and the increased growth along the I-95 corridor, Richmond, and Hampton Roads (https://news.virginia.edu/content/where-virginias-growth-occurring-you-might-be-surprised). It will be interesting to see the impacts of a combination of 1) Trump elected and gutting federal government combined with 2) potential home buyers choosing to live other than Fairfax county as the boundary discussion negatively impacts the housing market

The county's latest demographic report indicates the county population increased by about 14,000 from 2022 to 2023.

FCPS's enrollment statistics indicate that the FCPS enrollment increased by 850 students in the 2023-24 SY compared to the 2022-23 SY.

To be sure, there are some uncertainties, but you can take your dystopian Trumpy fantasies with you on the way out.

Are these enrollment numbers at or higher than pre Covid numbers when a lot of families left the public schools?

The enrollment numbers are still below the pre-Covid peak, but are rebounding. The decline during Covid, of course, was unrelated to school boundaries.

Looking ahead, there are declining birth rates that may reduce the number of school-age kids, but then Fairfax is encouraging growth. So you have different factors at play there, too, which could impact boundaries in the future if they result in under-enrollment at some schools but over-enrollment in other pockets of the county.

[Anonymous]

They may not move all of Hunt Valley, but they will move a huge part of it to Saratoga. South of the parkway.

Same goes for anyone sent to Sangster who lives south of the parkway. They will send those kids to Newington Forest.

All of Rolling Valley will attend WSHS.

This provides relief to Orange Hunt and eliminates split feeders as much as possible (not considering AAP).

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Anonymous wrote:The best nugget of info out of this meeting (because boundary adjustments are a foregone conclusion) is from Dr. Reid's response to Mateo Dunne's question about boundary changes: she stated that HS boundaries will not change much at all, and most of the boundary changes will be at the ES level.

That’s interesting, I wonder why they decided to do that. Most kids attend the closest ES unless they’re at a split feeder or in an attendance island. The kids who have a long ES bus ride would have one regardless because they live in a far-flung area like Clifton or Great Falls. Or they’re getting bussed to the AAP center …

This is false. Anyone with eyes can look at a map of the school boundaries to see lots of elementary schools completely disconnected from their communities.

Such as??

Westbriar, Keene Mill, Flint Hill, Sangster, etc.

The one no-brainer move coming from a savant who spends too much time on Zillow and has no dog in the fight, the Groveland/Green Garland drive area zoned for Sangster will move to Newington Forest and will become part of the South County pyramid.

I can see that happening, although that’s a really small neighborhood that probably won’t make too much of a difference either way.

As a Lorton resident I wonder if the infamous Hagel Circle will continue to get bussed past 95 to Halley or if they will get sent to the much closer Gunston. That’s a hot potato.

I was shocked to learn that Hagel Ct students didn’t go to Lorton Station ES. It’s only a mile away!

That’s one of the equity bussing situations. Sending those kids to the comparatively rich Halley makes Halley and Gunston both around 40% FARMS, and Lorton Station around 55%. Otherwise Halley would have demographics similar to Silverbrook which has single digit FARMS, and Gunston or Lorton Station would be much higher needs.

I imagine if they changed it it would be to send those kids to Gunston so they can stay at South County, as opposed to Lorton Station/Hayfield. But also, without that big neighborhood Halley’s population would drop quite a bit and there’s really nowhere for them to pick up kids from since that is not a growth area of the county.

This may have been their intention when they assigned these attendance islands, but they’re seeing the negative impacts. If kids miss the bus, they’re likely missing school that day, when in some cases, there’s another elementary school within walking distance.

Very true and I’m sure there is a lot of absenteeism coming from that area. A lot of families don’t have cars. If the kid misses the school bus there’s no way to get them to school.

+ 1 never thought of this but I’m positive this is happening.

These are the types of nuances that people who support “keeping things the same” don’t think about. I’m glad that the school board is taking a look at this in a holistic way. Issues like chronic absenteeism only put kids in that community further and further behind, which leads to more stress on the educators and other school resources.

You don’t know what nuance I think about. You’re just throwing crap at the wall to see what sticks.

I don’t have to throw anything, the motion passed so it’s “up and it’s stuck” already! That reference will likely over your head, it just means your whining is pointless at this point. You should focus that energy on opening up your mind to the possibilities now, since this is no longer a question of IF but WHEN and HOW.

Gloat as much as you want. They’re well on their way to destroying the county schools. Those of us with money will leave, those of us like you will just be stuck with lower SES schools and will never stop your pathetic whining.

That’s the nuance that YOU and your SJW friends don’t think about. Oops.

DP. No one actually thinks or writes like this unless you've been stuck in a bubble like Langley. Your sense of self-esteem is all wrapped up in living in an economically segregated area and sending your kids to schools that are highly ranked due to test scores that reflect their segregation. But if you get moved to Herndon you'd be zoned for a school with multiple high-SES feeders (Aldrin, Armstrong, and Forestville, and parts of other feeders), diversity, and plenty of opportunities. And your kid stands to grow up with more empathy and potentially to have college opportunities they might not have if competing with other Langley students.

Not saying you have to accept this. At the end of the day, no one really cares if you leave. But there is a silver lining, if only you'd unclench long enough to consider it.

+1

Well said.