Patch article summarizing AAP Expansion vote

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The article failed to mention how often Dr. Jack Dale really looked foolish. I look forward to his retirement.

I know this is very fashionable to say -- to blame Dr. Dale and ridicule him -- but as a parent new to FCPS I have to say I was really impressed with him. Sorry! SB members like Elizabeth Schultz & Patty Reed were shouting about how "the numbers" changed between different CIPs and while they stopped short of calling the staff a bunch of buffoons, that is clearly what they meant. Dr. Dale tried to explain: models change, we take into account the latest data and the projections change, etc. Anybody who's worked in the private or public sector -- by this I mean anybody who has worked -- knows that this is true. Models change; numbers change; projections change. As long as those changes can be explained, we shouldn't be surprised. Schultz & Reed didn't want to hear this, and wanted to paralyze the system in order to punish the staff. They wanted to NOT pass the CIP because the numbers were in flux. That's irresponsible. Dr. Dale called them out on it. He seemed to me like the grown-up in the room.

Reed was in a very tough position. She knew the overcrowding at Haycock was untenable, but she represents people who would not be forced to change schools so often had planning been better and projections more accurate. Of course she had to summon up some righteous indignation and make clear it's not a situation anyone should be happy or sanguine about, least of all Jack Dale.

Schultz is a total buffoon who sucks the oxygen out of the room any time she opens her mouth.

Reed was on the school board for the Freedom Hill to Lemon Road boundary vote. Now here's a place to move the day care center:
http://www.fcps.edu/fts/adminservices/communitybldg/index.shtml

The old Graham Rd building. Reed was also on the board when the daycare center lease was renewed. Breaking that lease has penalties but it is with the Board of Supervisors.

That recently retired school building is 4 miles from the program loaded and low class size building Bailey's. Seems bringing it back as a school and a large boundary change is in order.

[Anonymous]

A timely reminder that redistrictings happen in other parts of NoVa with growing populations:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/rapid-growth-drives-frequent-boundary-changes-in-northern-virginia-schools/2013/01/26/29383524-60d8-11e2-9940-6fc488f3fecd_story.html?hpid=z3

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A timely reminder that redistrictings happen in other parts of NoVa with growing populations:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/rapid-growth-drives-frequent-boundary-changes-in-northern-virginia-schools/2013/01/26/29383524-60d8-11e2-9940-6fc488f3fecd_story.html?hpid=z3

Thanks for posting this!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: It is a tribute to the strength of Haycock's programs, and a reflection of the unhappiness of some parents that their children might be required to attend a different school than their current classmates next year, that the idea interested some parents, but the majority-held view by all consulted was that it was a bad idea.

I want to clarify something here. Many of us fought the move NOT because we think Haycock is superior, but because it is a known quantity and because we felt our kids -- having just been moved there -- should not be precipitously moved out again. The Board brushed of the difficulty of moving by repeatedly mouthing "kids are resilient," and they are. But it is also hard on kids to leave friends behind, to lose familiar specials teachers and counselors that they have come to trust, and to be the ousider, new kids year after year. But yes, even to us, the annex was a dumb idea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I want to clarify something here. Many of us fought the move NOT because we think Haycock is superior, but because it is a known quantity and because we felt our kids -- having just been moved there -- should not be precipitously moved out again. The Board brushed of the difficulty of moving by repeatedly mouthing "kids are resilient," and they are. But it is also hard on kids to leave friends behind, to lose familiar specials teachers and counselors that they have come to trust, and to be the ousider, new kids year after year. But yes, even to us, the annex was a dumb idea.

Sounds a bit revisionist to me, since we heard an awful lot of kvetching to the effect that a new center might not be as good academically as Haycock. But I can see from the other threads that people are starting to move forward now with tons of enthusiasm, which is wonderful!

[Anonymous]

I think FCPS is to blame for not dealing with the overcrowding last year when they were already doing some redistricting in Cluster II.