FCPS School Board candidates in Dranesville

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one at Langley is advocating against expansion at McLean, except Ardavan.

McLean wants a modest boundary change, and we agree.

McLean wants an expansion, and we agree.

Thats what you want, not what "McLean" wants. Stop talking on behalf of the entire community. Mobasheri is right. We need to stop kicking the can down the road and think long term and what the community will look like in 10 ot 15 years. VDOT is going to object to even more traffic on Westmoreland and Old Chain Bridge. The neighbors around McLean are going to object to more cars and traffic polution around their homes. Be reasonable please. We are a growing town and a very crowded town. We need to think bold and long term.

Sounds to me like Mobasheri again ^^^. You do not speak for either the Langley or the McLean communities. McLean definitely needs an expansion, but obviously that won’t happen overnight. In the meantime, Langley has space and the schools are 3 miles from one another. The most immediate and least disruptive solution is to send enough McLean kids to Langley to relieve their overcrowding and get rid of the trailers. An expansion of the school should follow ASAP. This “kick the can” nonsense needs to end right now in favor of an immediate solution.

[Anonymous]

And those of us with kids actually at HHS find these kind of statements to be racist, alarmist and insulting. For anyone who has actually bothered to step inside HHS or Herndon as a community will find a close community filled with excellent teachers, administrators and programs that seek to serve a wide variety of students and families. While we need to figure out how better to serve our most underserved and struggling students, stop trying to act like going to HHS is an academic death sentence for Langley kids.

Does it occur to you that just maybe they want their kids to stay where they are? That is not a rare thing for a parent to want. Remember the South Lakes redistricting? They ended up moving Chantilly kids to Oakton against their wishes. Oakton was a "higher rated" school. One parent was so upset she had a reportedly physical altercation with Kathy Smith (the SB member at the time) when she was running for BOS. The families were livid and actively worked to stay at Chantilly.

Do you have any idea how disruptive it is to change schools? Some families end up with kids in two different schools. There are several families in Floris school boundary that had kids end up going to three different high schools over a ten year period. It is disruptive. And, the proposed policy does not allow for grandfathering anyone other than rising Seniors.

And, Herndon parent, have you read the threads on here where one of your other parents was demanding that the poor immigrant kids from Hutchison be sent to Langley.

Why in the world would you want Langley kids? Your school is full. Where are you going to put them? I suspect you wish to kick others out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one at Langley is advocating against expansion at McLean, except Ardavan.

McLean wants a modest boundary change, and we agree.

McLean wants an expansion, and we agree.

Thats what you want, not what "McLean" wants. Stop talking on behalf of the entire community. Mobasheri is right. We need to stop kicking the can down the road and think long term and what the community will look like in 10 ot 15 years. VDOT is going to object to even more traffic on Westmoreland and Old Chain Bridge. The neighbors around McLean are going to object to more cars and traffic polution around their homes. Be reasonable please. We are a growing town and a very crowded town. We need to think bold and long term.

Sounds to me like Mobasheri again ^^^. You do not speak for either the Langley or the McLean communities. McLean definitely needs an expansion, but obviously that won’t happen overnight. In the meantime, Langley has space and the schools are 3 miles from one another. The most immediate and least disruptive solution is to send enough McLean kids to Langley to relieve their overcrowding and get rid of the trailers. An expansion of the school should follow ASAP. This “kick the can” nonsense needs to end right now in favor of an immediate solution.

Justice and Madison are both getting expansions and they sit on less acreage than McLean, not to mention there are fewer entrances and exits to Madison than McLean.

Agree this is more BS from Mobasheri, who has changed positions multiple times and now seems to have settled on a position that he thinks will maximize his support among some (not all) parts of Langley. He knows most of Herndon and McLean, to the extent they’ve ever heard of him, dislike him intensely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

And those of us with kids actually at HHS find these kind of statements to be racist, alarmist and insulting. For anyone who has actually bothered to step inside HHS or Herndon as a community will find a close community filled with excellent teachers, administrators and programs that seek to serve a wide variety of students and families. While we need to figure out how better to serve our most underserved and struggling students, stop trying to act like going to HHS is an academic death sentence for Langley kids.

Does it occur to you that just maybe they want their kids to stay where they are? That is not a rare thing for a parent to want. Remember the South Lakes redistricting? They ended up moving Chantilly kids to Oakton against their wishes. Oakton was a "higher rated" school. One parent was so upset she had a reportedly physical altercation with Kathy Smith (the SB member at the time) when she was running for BOS. The families were livid and actively worked to stay at Chantilly.

Do you have any idea how disruptive it is to change schools? Some families end up with kids in two different schools. There are several families in Floris school boundary that had kids end up going to three different high schools over a ten year period. It is disruptive. And, the proposed policy does not allow for grandfathering anyone other than rising Seniors.

And, Herndon parent, have you read the threads on here where one of your other parents was demanding that the poor immigrant kids from Hutchison be sent to Langley.

Why in the world would you want Langley kids? Your school is full. Where are you going to put them? I suspect you wish to kick others out.

DP here. PP just sounds like a Herndon parent sick of Langley parents putting down Herndon. Doesn’t mean she wants the boundaries changed, only for Langley parents to show a modicum of respect.

I was at the meeting of mostly Langley parents at Forestville ES in June and the amount of blatant racism and classism on display there was revolting. I know not everyone from Langley acts like that, but it was an ugly scene.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

And those of us with kids actually at HHS find these kind of statements to be racist, alarmist and insulting. For anyone who has actually bothered to step inside HHS or Herndon as a community will find a close community filled with excellent teachers, administrators and programs that seek to serve a wide variety of students and families. While we need to figure out how better to serve our most underserved and struggling students, stop trying to act like going to HHS is an academic death sentence for Langley kids.

Does it occur to you that just maybe they want their kids to stay where they are? That is not a rare thing for a parent to want. Remember the South Lakes redistricting? They ended up moving Chantilly kids to Oakton against their wishes. Oakton was a "higher rated" school. One parent was so upset she had a reportedly physical altercation with Kathy Smith (the SB member at the time) when she was running for BOS. The families were livid and actively worked to stay at Chantilly.

Do you have any idea how disruptive it is to change schools? Some families end up with kids in two different schools. There are several families in Floris school boundary that had kids end up going to three different high schools over a ten year period. It is disruptive. And, the proposed policy does not allow for grandfathering anyone other than rising Seniors.

And, Herndon parent, have you read the threads on here where one of your other parents was demanding that the poor immigrant kids from Hutchison be sent to Langley.

Why in the world would you want Langley kids? Your school is full. Where are you going to put them? I suspect you wish to kick others out.

The South Lakes redistricting was 12 years ago. Try to move on like others have. Not every decision will make everyone happy.

[Anonymous]

It’s heartening to see how many people from all over Dranesville see through Ardavan’s arguments. I do give him credit for jumping into the public fray and hope that win or lose, he finds a different platform that is more equitable for all of Dranesville. We certainly need independent voices, he is right about that.

The thing I hate seeing on here more than anything is misinformation. Call it fake news or whatever you want but it does no one any service. There have been several posts just today for example that used non facts designed to scare — anonymous random message board or not that is really disheartening.

[Anonymous]

The South Lakes redistricting was 12 years ago. Try to move on like others have. Not every decision will make everyone happy.

You didn't get the point. The point was that families don't want boundary changes even when it is to a "better" school like Oakton. And, there are good reasons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

The South Lakes redistricting was 12 years ago. Try to move on like others have. Not every decision will make everyone happy.

You didn't get the point. The point was that families don't want boundary changes even when it is to a "better" school like Oakton. And, there are good reasons.

I understood your point. It doesn’t have the same impact when it was 12 years ago and most of the affected neighborhoods are now happily at South Lakes. Nor does it have much relevance to the Dranesville race, when only two of the current SB members were on the Board and neither is seeking re-election.

But, please, keep nursing your ancient wounds and ignoring the real lesson from the South Lakes situation, which is that change is hard but sometimes necessary. If you can’t come to terms with that, maybe you can move to Falls Church City. Arlington and Montgomery change boundaries as often as Fairfax, and Loudoun and Prince William change them more frequently.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With or without Mobasheri on the School Board (hopefully without) the School Board is not going to reverse its plans, which prioritize a new high school in western Fairfax, to build a secondary school in Tysons just because some Great Falls parents want to look for even more ways to keep Langley under-enrolled so students from western Great Falls can continue to travel 12 or more miles to Langley.

His arguments in support of this are flimsy on so many levels that it's not worth rebutting them yet again. Rest assured that parents outside his community know his agenda and find it laughable.

What Great Falls parents want is not to be moved to a school with serious gang and FARMS issues, due to the County’s idiot policies. Our kids are not social experiments ripe for exploitation. Life isn’t a Barney episode.

My kids weren't into the purple dinosaur but I doubt there was an episode about gangs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With or without Mobasheri on the School Board (hopefully without) the School Board is not going to reverse its plans, which prioritize a new high school in western Fairfax, to build a secondary school in Tysons just because some Great Falls parents want to look for even more ways to keep Langley under-enrolled so students from western Great Falls can continue to travel 12 or more miles to Langley.

His arguments in support of this are flimsy on so many levels that it's not worth rebutting them yet again. Rest assured that parents outside his community know his agenda and find it laughable.

What Great Falls parents want is not to be moved to a school with serious gang and FARMS issues, due to the County’s idiot policies. Our kids are not social experiments ripe for exploitation. Life isn’t a Barney episode.

My kids weren't into the purple dinosaur but I doubt there was an episode about gangs.

But there may have been an episode where the white and Asian kids on the show got along with Hispanic kids, and some Langley parents, apparently never having come across such a situation, find it preposterous. And then they wonder why people steer clear and Langley’s enrollment keeps declining.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The South Lakes redistricting was 12 years ago. Try to move on like others have. Not every decision will make everyone happy.

You didn't get the point. The point was that families don't want boundary changes even when it is to a "better" school like Oakton. And, there are good reasons.

I understood your point. It doesn’t have the same impact when it was 12 years ago and most of the affected neighborhoods are now happily at South Lakes. Nor does it have much relevance to the Dranesville race, when only two of the current SB members were on the Board and neither is seeking re-election.

But, please, keep nursing your ancient wounds and ignoring the real lesson from the South Lakes situation, which is that change is hard but sometimes necessary. If you can’t come to terms with that, maybe you can move to Falls Church City. Arlington and Montgomery change boundaries as often as Fairfax, and Loudoun and Prince William change them more frequently.

Nope. You don't get it. I have no "wounds"--in fact, my neighborhood stayed put. My point was about Chantilly kids moving to Oakton. You know--from a lower SES school to a "better" one. My kids had friends that were moved. PP had claims that Langley parents are upset about moving to Herndon. My point is that it likely has nothing to do with Herndon and everything to do with wanting to stay put. But, you keep blaming everything on racism. I get it. And, FWIW, my neighborhood was successful in staying put. We weren't moved, so I have no "wounds" as you claim.

No one has yet explained what Herndon is going to do with extra kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The South Lakes redistricting was 12 years ago. Try to move on like others have. Not every decision will make everyone happy.

You didn't get the point. The point was that families don't want boundary changes even when it is to a "better" school like Oakton. And, there are good reasons.

I understood your point. It doesn’t have the same impact when it was 12 years ago and most of the affected neighborhoods are now happily at South Lakes. Nor does it have much relevance to the Dranesville race, when only two of the current SB members were on the Board and neither is seeking re-election.

But, please, keep nursing your ancient wounds and ignoring the real lesson from the South Lakes situation, which is that change is hard but sometimes necessary. If you can’t come to terms with that, maybe you can move to Falls Church City. Arlington and Montgomery change boundaries as often as Fairfax, and Loudoun and Prince William change them more frequently.

Nope. You don't get it. I have no "wounds"--in fact, my neighborhood stayed put. My point was about Chantilly kids moving to Oakton. You know--from a lower SES school to a "better" one. My kids had friends that were moved. PP had claims that Langley parents are upset about moving to Herndon. My point is that it likely has nothing to do with Herndon and everything to do with wanting to stay put. But, you keep blaming everything on racism. I get it. And, FWIW, my neighborhood was successful in staying put. We weren't moved, so I have no "wounds" as you claim.

No one has yet explained what Herndon is going to do with extra kids.

Perhaps that’s because no one expects Herndon’s boundaries to change before a new school is built, at which time Herndon might lose some areas and pick up others. People aren’t avoiding the issue because there is no issue to address - at least for another decade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With or without Mobasheri on the School Board (hopefully without) the School Board is not going to reverse its plans, which prioritize a new high school in western Fairfax, to build a secondary school in Tysons just because some Great Falls parents want to look for even more ways to keep Langley under-enrolled so students from western Great Falls can continue to travel 12 or more miles to Langley.

His arguments in support of this are flimsy on so many levels that it's not worth rebutting them yet again. Rest assured that parents outside his community know his agenda and find it laughable.

What Great Falls parents want is not to be moved to a school with serious gang and FARMS issues, due to the County’s idiot policies. Our kids are not social experiments ripe for exploitation. Life isn’t a Barney episode.

And yet PP claims Langley/Great Falls parents wouldn’t have any particular issues with Herndon. Yeah, right.

[Anonymous]

Perhaps that’s because no one expects Herndon’s boundaries to change before a new school is built, at which time Herndon might lose some areas and pick up others. People aren’t avoiding the issue because there is no issue to address - at least for another decade.

Once more, Herndon is not overcrowded. The schools that are in the worst shape are Oakton, Chantilly, and Centreville. Building a high school in Herndon would serve no purpose except to move Great Falls kids to Langley which would leave Langley way underenrolled.

So, the School Board will probably build the high school in Herndon. And, Chantilly and Centreville will continue to burst at the seams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Perhaps that’s because no one expects Herndon’s boundaries to change before a new school is built, at which time Herndon might lose some areas and pick up others. People aren’t avoiding the issue because there is no issue to address - at least for another decade.

Once more, Herndon is not overcrowded. The schools that are in the worst shape are Oakton, Chantilly, and Centreville. Building a high school in Herndon would serve no purpose except to move Great Falls kids to Langley which would leave Langley way underenrolled.

So, the School Board will probably build the high school in Herndon. And, Chantilly and Centreville will continue to burst at the seams.

Schools aren’t always built in the optimum sites. Take Langley, for example: the eastern end of Georgetown Pike is a really bad location for a FCPS high school.

But sometimes you work with the sites that are available, even if that requires more changes. If you add capacity in western Fairfax, it can ultimately provide relief to Centreville and Chantilly. Not sure the hand-wringing about Oakton warrants the same level of attention, since both Oakton and Madison are getting expansions.