School Boundaries

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi! (Waves)

Another Northwest parent concerned about redistricting used as a social experiment on our children in order for some MCPS BOE official to become a congress(wo)man based on marginal and meaningless improvement in achievement gap in Seneca Valley.

Yes, we will do our best to protest any gerrymandering ideas by the BOE. It may not help, but we will try. If it does not help, we'll move at a loss of property value. We did not raise our children to become stepping stones for someone's political agenda. We may not end up winning this fight, but neither will the BOE.

How is balancing numbers a social agenda? Both Clarksburg and Northwest are huge and overcapacity while Seneca Valley is smaller.

If the BOE chooses nearby neighborhoods, that is normal an expected. If they make islands and "fingers" to balance out diversity, community and commute times be damned, that is gerrymandering and social experimentation. The BOE just expanded the boundary study to include all middle schools, not just the adjacent ones as was originally proposed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi! (Waves)

Another Northwest parent concerned about redistricting used as a social experiment on our children in order for some MCPS BOE official to become a congress(wo)man based on marginal and meaningless improvement in achievement gap in Seneca Valley.

Yes, we will do our best to protest any gerrymandering ideas by the BOE. It may not help, but we will try. If it does not help, we'll move at a loss of property value. We did not raise our children to become stepping stones for someone's political agenda. We may not end up winning this fight, but neither will the BOE.

+1 except we're Clarksburg parents. We moved to Clarksburg for the community and the schools. Not going to be subjected to some social experiment but we'll see what happens.

If your child is at Clarksburg High School with my child, then your child is already being subjected to a social experiment. And that social experiment must be ok with you, since you moved to Clarksburg for the schools.

http://gis.mcpsmd.org/ServiceAreaMaps/ClarksburgHS.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi! (Waves)

Another Northwest parent concerned about redistricting used as a social experiment on our children in order for some MCPS BOE official to become a congress(wo)man based on marginal and meaningless improvement in achievement gap in Seneca Valley.

Yes, we will do our best to protest any gerrymandering ideas by the BOE. It may not help, but we will try. If it does not help, we'll move at a loss of property value. We did not raise our children to become stepping stones for someone's political agenda. We may not end up winning this fight, but neither will the BOE.

How is balancing numbers a social agenda? Both Clarksburg and Northwest are huge and overcapacity while Seneca Valley is smaller.

If the BOE chooses nearby neighborhoods, that is normal an expected. If they make islands and "fingers" to balance out diversity, community and commute times be damned, that is gerrymandering and social experimentation. The BOE just expanded the boundary study to include all middle schools, not just the adjacent ones as was originally proposed.

The BOE voted to prioritize diversity when remaking boundaries. If you want to call it gerrymandering by all means, but that's a matter of policy at this point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
If the BOE chooses nearby neighborhoods, that is normal an expected. If they make islands and "fingers" to balance out diversity, community and commute times be damned, that is gerrymandering and social experimentation. The BOE just expanded the boundary study to include all middle schools, not just the adjacent ones as was originally proposed.

Does it still count as "social experimentation" when the school district has been doing it for at least 30 years?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1987/06/05/busing-ruling-saddens-ritchie-park-parents/cc3b67e6-b596-4247-ba3d-b4c076d37de8/?utm_term=.1d7555af3d75

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The western part of the county really needs to jettison Rockville and the DCC. These are such a drag on our resources.

lol.. Rockville is part of the western part of the county. We are right next to Potomac. A section of Rockville goes to Wootton HS cluster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
If the BOE chooses nearby neighborhoods, that is normal an expected. If they make islands and "fingers" to balance out diversity, community and commute times be damned, that is gerrymandering and social experimentation. The BOE just expanded the boundary study to include all middle schools, not just the adjacent ones as was originally proposed.

Does it still count as "social experimentation" when the school district has been doing it for at least 30 years?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1987/06/05/busing-ruling-saddens-ritchie-park-parents/cc3b67e6-b596-4247-ba3d-b4c076d37de8/?utm_term=.1d7555af3d75

DP.. when they say that they are going to give diversity more weight over the other factors, then yes. And the RP rezoning was also part of the diversity balancing. I live in that area, and my old timer neighbors still talk about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi! (Waves)

Another Northwest parent concerned about redistricting used as a social experiment on our children in order for some MCPS BOE official to become a congress(wo)man based on marginal and meaningless improvement in achievement gap in Seneca Valley.

Yes, we will do our best to protest any gerrymandering ideas by the BOE. It may not help, but we will try. If it does not help, we'll move at a loss of property value. We did not raise our children to become stepping stones for someone's political agenda. We may not end up winning this fight, but neither will the BOE.

How is balancing numbers a social agenda? Both Clarksburg and Northwest are huge and overcapacity while Seneca Valley is smaller.

If the BOE chooses nearby neighborhoods, that is normal an expected. If they make islands and "fingers" to balance out diversity, community and commute times be damned, that is gerrymandering and social experimentation. The BOE just expanded the boundary study to include all middle schools, not just the adjacent ones as was originally proposed.

The BOE voted to prioritize diversity when remaking boundaries. If you want to call it gerrymandering by all means, but that's a matter of policy at this point.

That is exactly why so many parents bitterly opposed it.

Look, if MCPS wants to change its mission from raising the professionals of tomorrow to raising future blue collar workers, with the top students in that cohort occasionally squeeking into good colleges playing the URM card and then failing out the first year, eventually educated parents will get the message and move. It happened in Boston and in San Francisco.

What does MoCo offer? Easy commute to jobs + good schools. The jobs are already in VA and DC. MoCo is already a bedroom community with education as its primary industry. Mess with that, and parents will move, gutting your tax base.

If MCPS chooses to turn the entire county into one big Wheaton, it can be done.

It can happen here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
If the BOE chooses nearby neighborhoods, that is normal an expected. If they make islands and "fingers" to balance out diversity, community and commute times be damned, that is gerrymandering and social experimentation. The BOE just expanded the boundary study to include all middle schools, not just the adjacent ones as was originally proposed.

Does it still count as "social experimentation" when the school district has been doing it for at least 30 years?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1987/06/05/busing-ruling-saddens-ritchie-park-parents/cc3b67e6-b596-4247-ba3d-b4c076d37de8/?utm_term=.1d7555af3d75

DP.. when they say that they are going to give diversity more weight over the other factors, then yes. And the RP rezoning was also part of the diversity balancing. I live in that area, and my old timer neighbors still talk about it.

You'd think they'd have had plenty of time to get over something that happened in 1987.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

That is exactly why so many parents bitterly opposed it.

Look, if MCPS wants to change its mission from raising the professionals of tomorrow to raising future blue collar workers, with the top students in that cohort occasionally squeeking into good colleges playing the URM card and then failing out the first year, eventually educated parents will get the message and move. It happened in Boston and in San Francisco.

What does MoCo offer? Easy commute to jobs + good schools. The jobs are already in VA and DC. MoCo is already a bedroom community with education as its primary industry. Mess with that, and parents will move, gutting your tax base.

If MCPS chooses to turn the entire county into one big Wheaton, it can be done.

It can happen here.

You don't say.

From reading DCUM, you'd think that there was a possibility that MCPS was going to force students from Hurley Ridge and Woodcliffe to Fort Apache the Bronx, at gunpoint.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi! (Waves)

Another Northwest parent concerned about redistricting used as a social experiment on our children in order for some MCPS BOE official to become a congress(wo)man based on marginal and meaningless improvement in achievement gap in Seneca Valley.

Yes, we will do our best to protest any gerrymandering ideas by the BOE. It may not help, but we will try. If it does not help, we'll move at a loss of property value. We did not raise our children to become stepping stones for someone's political agenda. We may not end up winning this fight, but neither will the BOE.

How is balancing numbers a social agenda? Both Clarksburg and Northwest are huge and overcapacity while Seneca Valley is smaller.

If the BOE chooses nearby neighborhoods, that is normal an expected. If they make islands and "fingers" to balance out diversity, community and commute times be damned, that is gerrymandering and social experimentation. The BOE just expanded the boundary study to include all middle schools, not just the adjacent ones as was originally proposed.

The BOE voted to prioritize diversity when remaking boundaries. If you want to call it gerrymandering by all means, but that's a matter of policy at this point.

That is exactly why so many parents bitterly opposed it.

Look, if MCPS wants to change its mission from raising the professionals of tomorrow to raising future blue collar workers, with the top students in that cohort occasionally squeeking into good colleges playing the URM card and then failing out the first year, eventually educated parents will get the message and move. It happened in Boston and in San Francisco.

What does MoCo offer? Easy commute to jobs + good schools. The jobs are already in VA and DC. MoCo is already a bedroom community with education as its primary industry. Mess with that, and parents will move, gutting your tax base.

If MCPS chooses to turn the entire county into one big Wheaton, it can be done.

It can happen here.

What in God’s name are you talking about? MCPS’s mission is to teach the children who live in this county, period, not to “raise the professionals of tomorrow.” Most people who work at MCPS are not rich white people from Bethesda, most kids in MCPS are not rich white kids from Bethesda, and most BOE members are not rich white people from Bethesda. This school system is not what you think it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi! (Waves)

Another Northwest parent concerned about redistricting used as a social experiment on our children in order for some MCPS BOE official to become a congress(wo)man based on marginal and meaningless improvement in achievement gap in Seneca Valley.

Yes, we will do our best to protest any gerrymandering ideas by the BOE. It may not help, but we will try. If it does not help, we'll move at a loss of property value. We did not raise our children to become stepping stones for someone's political agenda. We may not end up winning this fight, but neither will the BOE.

How is balancing numbers a social agenda? Both Clarksburg and Northwest are huge and overcapacity while Seneca Valley is smaller.

If the BOE chooses nearby neighborhoods, that is normal an expected. If they make islands and "fingers" to balance out diversity, community and commute times be damned, that is gerrymandering and social experimentation. The BOE just expanded the boundary study to include all middle schools, not just the adjacent ones as was originally proposed.

The BOE voted to prioritize diversity when remaking boundaries. If you want to call it gerrymandering by all means, but that's a matter of policy at this point.

And really, they barely did that. They simply used the word 'especially': "Options should especially strive to create a diverse student body in each of the affected schools...."
The other three factors are still there, just as they were before. They will still be taking geographic proximity into account, while especially striving to create that diverse student body.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi! (Waves)

Another Northwest parent concerned about redistricting used as a social experiment on our children in order for some MCPS BOE official to become a congress(wo)man based on marginal and meaningless improvement in achievement gap in Seneca Valley.

Yes, we will do our best to protest any gerrymandering ideas by the BOE. It may not help, but we will try. If it does not help, we'll move at a loss of property value. We did not raise our children to become stepping stones for someone's political agenda. We may not end up winning this fight, but neither will the BOE.

How is balancing numbers a social agenda? Both Clarksburg and Northwest are huge and overcapacity while Seneca Valley is smaller.

If the BOE chooses nearby neighborhoods, that is normal an expected. If they make islands and "fingers" to balance out diversity, community and commute times be damned, that is gerrymandering and social experimentation. The BOE just expanded the boundary study to include all middle schools, not just the adjacent ones as was originally proposed.

The BOE voted to prioritize diversity when remaking boundaries. If you want to call it gerrymandering by all means, but that's a matter of policy at this point.

And really, they barely did that. They simply used the word 'especially': "Options should especially strive to create a diverse student body in each of the affected schools...."
The other three factors are still there, just as they were before. They will still be taking geographic proximity into account, while especially striving to create that diverse student body.

prioritize... especially... semantecs really.

Why not "strive to keep proximity" rather than "striving for diversity"... because they put more importance on diversity over proximity.

[Anonymous]

In Northern Montgomery County, there are a lot of affordable convenient options for K-8- Barnesville, Seneca Academy, Mary of Nazareth, Butler School. Unfortunately, there aren't any private HS'. My DC went to one of the schools listed above for K-8 but is now is a public school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi! (Waves)

Another Northwest parent concerned about redistricting used as a social experiment on our children in order for some MCPS BOE official to become a congress(wo)man based on marginal and meaningless improvement in achievement gap in Seneca Valley.

Yes, we will do our best to protest any gerrymandering ideas by the BOE. It may not help, but we will try. If it does not help, we'll move at a loss of property value. We did not raise our children to become stepping stones for someone's political agenda. We may not end up winning this fight, but neither will the BOE.

Have you looked at the existing Northwest HS boundaries?

http://gis.mcpsmd.org/ServiceAreaMaps/NorthwestHS.pdf

They are ALREADY "gerrymandered". People complained about it bitterly in before Northwest HS opened: https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1996/09/15/montgomery-struggles-with-school-borders/93e60665-4a07-4a6e-aff7-e0282a064d8c/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.f40b70f00011

The "social experiment", in this case, is rearranging students in Clarksburg and Germantown among 3 high schools so that the high schools aren't over capacity. That doesn't sound very radical to me.

But if you can't stand it and want to move, that's your choice. MCPS and the Board of Education do not, and should not, consider the effect of their boundary recommendations on your property values.

+1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi! (Waves)

Another Northwest parent concerned about redistricting used as a social experiment on our children in order for some MCPS BOE official to become a congress(wo)man based on marginal and meaningless improvement in achievement gap in Seneca Valley.

Yes, we will do our best to protest any gerrymandering ideas by the BOE. It may not help, but we will try. If it does not help, we'll move at a loss of property value. We did not raise our children to become stepping stones for someone's political agenda. We may not end up winning this fight, but neither will the BOE.

+1 except we're Clarksburg parents. We moved to Clarksburg for the community and the schools. Not going to be subjected to some social experiment but we'll see what happens.

So you're okay with expanding Clarksburg HS and eventually having something like 3000 kids attend? That seems reasonable to you?