SB Member Anderson on County-wide Boundary Study
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Anonymous
It certainly would have declining enrollment if there weren’t exception to residency for wanting to “learn” Russian. A bunch of Russian and Eastern European kids attend Langley who live nowhere close. And many kids who attend the Russian language classes (up to 1/3 of the class in some years) already speak fluent Russian. |
Anonymous
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The same Langley posters who complain that FCPS should never offer Russian to all students online as opposed to in-person at their school would also be the first to complain if FCPS ever proposed to move them to another school that didn’t offer Russian.
That’s why more standardized academic options across schools really are a pre-condition to discussing any county-wide changes. FCPS would need to be in a position to say in good faith that students generally will have access to the same courses at every school (the academies complicate matters, but not as much as currently having both AP and IB schools and different in-person foreign language options). If that’s not feasible, Anderson and her colleagues should stop talking about any type of county-wide boundary review, as it will be a total waste of time and effort. |
Anonymous
| Btw, what is the deal with Coates? Why is it overcrowded? |
Anonymous
Serious question: what are you talking about? And do your kids even attend Langley? |
Anonymous
I agree with much of what you wrote, but no one from Langley is "complaining" about anything. They are simply pointing out that Russian would never be moved online because it is a very popular (and valuable) language to study and has plenty of interest from students at that school. There would be no issues with moving it online *as well* as continuing to offer it in person. But really, this is a moot point and another one of those straw man / speculations that has no basis in reality. Not even sure why it was brought up in the first place as languages aren't even an issue the SB has expressed interest in. |
Anonymous
Please stop trying to dictate what FCPS-related topics people can discuss. The new SB has definitely expressed interest in a county-wide boundary review and some of us are previewing some of the specific issues that will make that challenging, including current disparities among schools when it comes to programs and course offerings. |
Anonymous
Just make all of FCPS online school and save the buildings for activities and sports. |
Anonymous
Let’s cancel English classes. No need for them, so many students are already fluent in English. |
Anonymous
I find that hard to believe. When it was posted last fall it was dismissed as pre-election “fear mongering” |
Anonymous
Go watch the January 25 SB meeting. Throughout that meeting, multiple SB members referenced the staff’s work on revised priorities to inform a county-wide redirecting. My recollection is that there was one comment about the disparity in course offerings at different schools, although most of the SB comments pertained to overcrowded schools, underutilized capacity, wasteful spending on inefficient busing, etc. |
Anonymous
DP. There are many Russian-speaking families in this area, and, without question, Langley is an extremely popular and highly desirable school for those families. I can’t speak to how many live outside the district, but bringing in and attracting Russian kids from across Northern Virginia has no doubt contributed to the success of the program. And no question, it is successful. However, with declining budgets, it is entirely fair to discuss whether Fairfax County should continue to spend money on these sorts of programs (not just Russian, but Japanese and Korean) that target a specific minority population. |
Anonymous
We need programs for minorities. It’s not okay to eliminate a program just because a minority uses it. |
Anonymous
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It's fine to have some specialized offerings like Russian made available online. However, offering in-person instruction in a foreign language at just a few schools, whether it's Russian, Vietnamese, or Korean, will prove a significant impediment to any effort to adjust boundaries. It's very obvious, as evidenced by the Langley parents posting on this thread, that some parents will latch onto such issues to argue that their boundaries and course offerings can't be altered. On the other hand, if the language offerings are more consistent across schools, and some languages are only offered online, that argument has less weight.
The same issue arises with respect to AP and IB. There are far more AP schools than IB schools, and it would be much easier to return 8 high schools to AP than convert 17 to IB. Absent uniformity in this area as well, people will not accept being moved from AP schools to IB schools (and, in some cases, vice versa). When students from AP schools were moved into IB South Lakes in 2008, FCPS promised families from Oakton, Westfield, and Madison that it would add plenty of AP courses to South Lakes. That did not happen, and people won't fall for that line again. If FCPS doesn't anticipate and address these issues, Board members like McDaniel, Frisch, and Anderson are wasting everyone's time and attention by asserting that a county-wide boundary review is needed and/or forthcoming. |
Anonymous
We are at Fox Mill with a child in the Japanese Immersion class, the class is mainly non-Japanese speakers and it is wonderful. It provides a different type of challenge for the kids who are in the program. It is popular at the school and outside of the school. The first grade class is always full. The retention in the program is strong, the current 6th grade class has 45 or so kids in int he JI program and started with 64 kids. Most of the kids who have left are kids who moved, a few left for LIV and a few dropped out. We know families with kids fluent in Japanese who cannot get into the lower grades because the classes are full. And yes, I think that the languages should continue on into MS and HS. the kids participating in these programs have a good start on learning a second language and many will continue on in MS and HS. The classes and cost of the Teachers are not a lost cost. Plenty of other kids take the language in MS and HS so it is not hard to fill those classes. I believe that any LI programs that are started would probably be full very, very fast. There are a good number of parents who are interested in their kids learning a language at a younger age and the challenge that comes from learning a second language. There are plenty of kids who are up for that challenge in ES and any program that improves a child's academic experience. The programs that engage kids are ones we should be keeping because it motivates them to do well in school. The other benefit is that kids in the regular classrooms have smaller classes and Teachers are more able to work with those kids at their levels. This should be beneficial for kids with learning issues or who need more attention to help them engage. The programs are win-win for folks. |
Anonymous
What percentage of seats in the Fox Mill JI program are reserved for students who live in boundary and what percentage are available for students who enter a lottery? I assume if they just start redrawing boundaries some people who theoretically get moved out of Fox Mill (say to Dogwood or Crossfield) and might have lesser access to JI would be unhappy. Do you think the SB members talking big about county-wide redistricting have thought much about these scenarios? I don't. |