Mclean boundary changes - can someone please update?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The draft CIP posted today offers nothing for McLean other than the modular and a boundary change with Langley that the CIP incorrectly suggests has already taken place.

Our School Board members have failed us again. It's time for the McLean HS community to join the ongoing recall effort against Elaine Tholen.

SERIOUSLY????

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The draft CIP posted today offers nothing for McLean other than the modular and a boundary change with Langley that the CIP incorrectly suggests has already taken place.

Our School Board members have failed us again. It's time for the McLean HS community to join the ongoing recall effort against Elaine Tholen.

SERIOUSLY????

They didn't bother to update a table from a prior CIP. They are sloppy and lazy, and wedded to whatever plans they came up with years ago even if they no longer are the right ones now.

[Anonymous]

Any updates to when this will be? Middle school course selection is coming up this month...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any updates to when this will be? Middle school course selection is coming up this month...

Likely decided within the next few weeks to align with MS/HS course selections for 2021-22. They'll schedule one more public hearing but it's pretty much a done deal they'll move some kids to Cooper/Langley starting in the fall of 2021 and kick the can down the road when it comes to a permanent addition at McLean. Meanwhile FCPS spends $40 million on a permanent addition to expand West Potomac to 3000 kids. #OneFairfax

[Anonymous]

Would love to see their enrollment forecasts for each option updated, with the expected reduction of TJ transfers taken into account.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Would love to see their enrollment forecasts for each option updated, with the expected reduction of TJ transfers taken into account.

The revised approach to TJ admissions that was adopted, along with the planned increase in the number of students to be admitted to TJ, makes it quite hard to model the expected impact on other high schools. While there will be minimal set-asides for applicants from every middle school, a large number of TJ students will be admitted from the remaining pool of applicants, and those admitted students might come primarily from the middle schools that had been sending the most kids to TJ (like Carson and Longfellow) or they might come from a wider range of schools. So don’t expect them necessarily to update their forecasts beyond what’s already been provided (which was based on the pre-Covid forecasts from 2019-20).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Would love to see their enrollment forecasts for each option updated, with the expected reduction of TJ transfers taken into account.

The revised approach to TJ admissions that was adopted, along with the planned increase in the number of students to be admitted to TJ, makes it quite hard to model the expected impact on other high schools. While there will be minimal set-asides for applicants from every middle school, a large number of TJ students will be admitted from the remaining pool of applicants, and those admitted students might come primarily from the middle schools that had been sending the most kids to TJ (like Carson and Longfellow) or they might come from a wider range of schools. So don’t expect them necessarily to update their forecasts beyond what’s already been provided (which was based on the pre-Covid forecasts from 2019-20).

FCPS staff confirmed in the work session they have no model to forecast the impact of the change in the TJ admissions policy.

They are flying blind in so many ways now. They also have no idea whether families who've pulled their kids out of FCPS will return.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When Janie Strauss proposed a boundary study in 2018, she proposed moving some of the multi family housing in Tysons to Langley. Her colleagues wouldn’t move forward because they said FCPS needed to make sure it was looking at boundary changes through an “equity-based lens.” Now it’s two years later and two of the options presented by FCPS would further concentrate single family neighborhoods that are maybe 1% FARMS at Langley. Gotta love this School Board for its ability to say one thing and do the exact opposite.

Which is ridiculous. Langley needs to have a slice into Tysons to absorb some of the expected increase in students come ing from there int he future. We need Marshall, McLean, Langley and Madison to all be able to absorb more students.

Not many are talking about the large population increase that these four schools will likely see simply with the implementation of the new proposed TJ admissions process. Arguably this new admissions policy will significantly decrease the % of admissions from the middle schools that feed into those four schools. So the number of students at those four high schools will be increasing by this measure as well.

[Anonymous]

^^Whoops Spoke out of turn. It's obviously been covered.

[Anonymous]

I heard at a high school meeting last night they are making a decision in February. Is that correct? Anyone know how they are leaning?

[Anonymous]

7 p.m. 1/21/21 (Thursday) … Regular School Board Meeting: FCPS Staff will present an option to the School Board during the presentation portion of the meeting.

6 p.m. 1/28/21 (Thursday) … Public Hearing: McLean/Langley & Longfellow/Cooper boundary adjustment option. Speakers list opens 1/14/21.

7 p.m. 2/4/21 (Thursday) … Regular School Board Meeting: School Board will vote on the boundary adjustment option.

One of the options is to do nothing for now, since the modular being installed at McLean expands the school's "official" capacity from under 2000 students to 2343 students and FCPS doesn't really know what McLean's post-Covid enrollment might be in the fall of 2021 (the school's fall 2020 enrollment was over 100 students lower than projected pre-Covid). But people are hearing it's highly unlikely they won't decide to move some kids, both so they can tell McLean parents they "did something" and because they are still worried Langley might end up seriously under-enrolled in a few years without a boundary change (there are only about 450 7th graders at Cooper this year, and some will end up at TJ, privates, etc.). Not yet entirely clear what option FCPS Staff will recommend, however.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:7 p.m. 1/21/21 (Thursday) … Regular School Board Meeting: FCPS Staff will present an option to the School Board during the presentation portion of the meeting.

6 p.m. 1/28/21 (Thursday) … Public Hearing: McLean/Langley & Longfellow/Cooper boundary adjustment option. Speakers list opens 1/14/21.

7 p.m. 2/4/21 (Thursday) … Regular School Board Meeting: School Board will vote on the boundary adjustment option.

One of the options is to do nothing for now, since the modular being installed at McLean expands the school's "official" capacity from under 2000 students to 2343 students and FCPS doesn't really know what McLean's post-Covid enrollment might be in the fall of 2021 (the school's fall 2020 enrollment was over 100 students lower than projected pre-Covid). But people are hearing it's highly unlikely they won't decide to move some kids, both so they can tell McLean parents they "did something" and because they are still worried Langley might end up seriously under-enrolled in a few years without a boundary change (there are only about 450 7th graders at Cooper this year, and some will end up at TJ, privates, etc.). Not yet entirely clear what option FCPS Staff will recommend, however.

Thanks. This is helpful. Sounds like maybe the won't do the biggest boundary change, but will chose one of the options and see how things work out.

[Anonymous]

Well one of my kids basically loses her closest
friends if scenario a or c are chosen and she does not make friends easily. Such is life, but still sad.

[Anonymous]

Well we know the SB recently voted to replace the turf field at McLean, so at least we know they’ve got their priorities straight. /s

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well one of my kids basically loses her closest
friends if scenario a or c are chosen and she does not make friends easily. Such is life, but still sad.

Kids change friends going into middle schools a lot. I would not worry about that.