FCPS HS Boundary

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can we back to the basics? What is the timeline for these boundary changes?

Fall 2025 is the school board's stated goal.

They have mentioned this timeline at multiple work sessions.

If you have a high school student in the class of 2027 or 2028 (current rising sophomores and freshmen) you need to be VERY concerned, especially if you are not within the walk zone to your high school.

The school board has mentioned this timeline, and minimal grandfathering of high school students many times.

When someone gives you insight to their plans, believe them.

When a politician lies by omission, hiding their true plans during their campaigns so they can get elected, expect nothing less from them than a complete disregard for constituents when they are in power.

If they prioritized student's well being, they would allow grandfathering for all enrolled high school students.

If they prioritized educational quality for the kids in failing schools like Lewis, they would have removed IB a long time ago and looked for real solutions, that do not require disrupting a bunch of kids to hopefully hide the failures without actually fixing the problems.

If they valued constituents, they would not have voted for a plan that concentrates power affecting student well being, communities, and housing values, with a single, unelected, overpaid bureaucrat, to try to remove the responsibility of elected officials to their voters in their district.

If the Springfield district representative was actually representing the will of her actual voters, she would have either come out strongly against the rezoning plan, OR very strongly in support of extensive grandfathering of high school students.

She did neither, so she is clearly not performing her duties to represent her constituents.

Please vote better in 2027. Ultimately, this is the outcome of voting choices made by the voters in our county, not just for school board but also for the board of supervisors that gerrymandered 22152 and the Springfield district to try to get rid of the last moderate politician in all of Northern Virginia. If you get rezoned, and voted blue no matter who, this is the policies you support being put into action.

Reid is the one will be driving this bus. She had said a company will study it and they will take 18 months. So that would be fall 2026.

Do we think that in 1 year they will have boundaries redrawn?

You think 🤔 that with computer modeling, other forms of A.I and the general ideas they clearly already have that they couldn’t get this done in a year? 🤣
Facilities could do it themselves and certainly a consultant can.
Expect your “listening sessions” early in the spring and your final boundaries around June.

The board members will look at them and then there will be time for tinkering around the edges to protect this community or that. This particular battle has only just begun.

Protect from what?

Come on, the board members don’t all believe in equity rezoning. Some are true believers and some are asleep at the wheel. But others will be able to be convinced to change a neighborhood here or there to give them a better deal. Or to nakedly protect their own neighborhoods, to keep them at the current schools or reassign them to the “better” ones. Some board members have higher political ambitions. There will 100% be back door wheelings and dealings.

You didn't answer the question. Is there danger? Why the need to protect?

DP. Ask Karen Corbett Sanders and Matt Dunne.

The correlation between the recent expansion of West Potomac HS to 3000 seats when there was space at Mount Vernon and the answer to your question should be roughly 100%.

[That having been accomplished, Dunne - Corbett-Sanders' hand-picked successor - is all about saving money and not investing in facilities anywhere else.]

Be honest. Why are you unwilling to say what the danger is?

THE DANGER IS BEING ASSIGNED TO A LESSER PERFORMING SCHOOL YOU DERP. The same thing people have been fighting about for the last 400 pages. Try to keep up!

Why is this a danger to high performing UMC kids?

I think you’re sealioning, first of all. But:

1) Moving schools in the middle of HS means that you lose out on the leadership opportunities you may have had at your former HS, had you been allowed to stay there. This is particularly bad for juniors and possibly sophomores. There has been at least one poster on here who said she would send a rising 9th grader to Lewis with other kids from the neighborhood if need be, but sending a junior to another school for 2 years is hugely disruptive. There needs to be grandfathering, even if WSHS kids need to find their own transportation. Fortunately their boundaries are compact to the point that a kid could likely bike from the southern end of the boundary to WSHS.

2) The SB has not guaranteed classes that would be available at Lewis vs. WSHS. A kid on the highest math track could end up simply not having classes to take as a senior, and would end up less prepared for college than if they had been at WSHS all 4 years. I also don’t know if Lewis is all AP at this point or if they’re still partially holding on to IB. Whereas WSHS is all AP.

3) they aren’t reporting any of this anymore, but the last school year that had safety and security data accurately reported for the full SY was 2018-2019. WSHS had 87 safety offenses and 0 weapons offenses. Lewis had 238 safety offenses, with a smaller student population, and 3 weapons offenses - and 7 in SY 2019-2020 which was cut short due to Covid!

4) You can’t say that every WSHS kid is from a nice graduate educated $300k+ income family and will immediately go to another school and be a shining star. There are lots of kids who are kept on the fairly straight and narrow just by having a largely good peer group.

Hopefully reassigned families can encourage their kids to become leaders in the new school, push for more AP and demand safe schools.

Dr Reid said they wouldn’t be able to offer the same at all schools. So even if the kids push for things they won’t happen right away. These kids that are moved are the ones going to be punished. FCPS needs to fix the schools. They need to offer support to the students. It is not the responsibility of the kids moved or their families to make these schools better

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When a school’s focus is on supporting all the kids on the borderline of maybe graduating/not graduating/dropping out, the smaller number of the regular ol’ college prep kids are the ones who suffer due to comparative lack of attention. Most people don’t want their kids, who are just teens(!) to be the equity guinea pigs.

The kids in AP aren’t getting attention?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When a school’s focus is on supporting all the kids on the borderline of maybe graduating/not graduating/dropping out, the smaller number of the regular ol’ college prep kids are the ones who suffer due to comparative lack of attention. Most people don’t want their kids, who are just teens(!) to be the equity guinea pigs.

The kids in AP aren’t getting attention?

You literally just had a poster explain what happens at poorly performing schools. The prevailing attitude is “those kids will be fine” about the kids who are achieving.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When a school’s focus is on supporting all the kids on the borderline of maybe graduating/not graduating/dropping out, the smaller number of the regular ol’ college prep kids are the ones who suffer due to comparative lack of attention. Most people don’t want their kids, who are just teens(!) to be the equity guinea pigs.

The kids in AP aren’t getting attention?

You literally just had a poster explain what happens at poorly performing schools. The prevailing attitude is “those kids will be fine” about the kids who are achieving.

The idea that high-performing kids won’t get attention is ridiculous. It’s unlikely that there will be behavior issues, violence, drug dealers, crime, etc. in AP courses. Also unlikely parents of high-performing kids will allow counselors to get away with not helping their kids or tolerate any of the above things happening in the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can we back to the basics? What is the timeline for these boundary changes?

Fall 2025 is the school board's stated goal.

They have mentioned this timeline at multiple work sessions.

If you have a high school student in the class of 2027 or 2028 (current rising sophomores and freshmen) you need to be VERY concerned, especially if you are not within the walk zone to your high school.

The school board has mentioned this timeline, and minimal grandfathering of high school students many times.

When someone gives you insight to their plans, believe them.

When a politician lies by omission, hiding their true plans during their campaigns so they can get elected, expect nothing less from them than a complete disregard for constituents when they are in power.

If they prioritized student's well being, they would allow grandfathering for all enrolled high school students.

If they prioritized educational quality for the kids in failing schools like Lewis, they would have removed IB a long time ago and looked for real solutions, that do not require disrupting a bunch of kids to hopefully hide the failures without actually fixing the problems.

If they valued constituents, they would not have voted for a plan that concentrates power affecting student well being, communities, and housing values, with a single, unelected, overpaid bureaucrat, to try to remove the responsibility of elected officials to their voters in their district.

If the Springfield district representative was actually representing the will of her actual voters, she would have either come out strongly against the rezoning plan, OR very strongly in support of extensive grandfathering of high school students.

She did neither, so she is clearly not performing her duties to represent her constituents.

Please vote better in 2027. Ultimately, this is the outcome of voting choices made by the voters in our county, not just for school board but also for the board of supervisors that gerrymandered 22152 and the Springfield district to try to get rid of the last moderate politician in all of Northern Virginia. If you get rezoned, and voted blue no matter who, this is the policies you support being put into action.

Reid is the one will be driving this bus. She had said a company will study it and they will take 18 months. So that would be fall 2026.

Do we think that in 1 year they will have boundaries redrawn?

You think 🤔 that with computer modeling, other forms of A.I and the general ideas they clearly already have that they couldn’t get this done in a year? 🤣
Facilities could do it themselves and certainly a consultant can.
Expect your “listening sessions” early in the spring and your final boundaries around June.

The board members will look at them and then there will be time for tinkering around the edges to protect this community or that. This particular battle has only just begun.

Protect from what?

Come on, the board members don’t all believe in equity rezoning. Some are true believers and some are asleep at the wheel. But others will be able to be convinced to change a neighborhood here or there to give them a better deal. Or to nakedly protect their own neighborhoods, to keep them at the current schools or reassign them to the “better” ones. Some board members have higher political ambitions. There will 100% be back door wheelings and dealings.

You didn't answer the question. Is there danger? Why the need to protect?

DP. Ask Karen Corbett Sanders and Matt Dunne.

The correlation between the recent expansion of West Potomac HS to 3000 seats when there was space at Mount Vernon and the answer to your question should be roughly 100%.

[That having been accomplished, Dunne - Corbett-Sanders' hand-picked successor - is all about saving money and not investing in facilities anywhere else.]

Be honest. Why are you unwilling to say what the danger is?

THE DANGER IS BEING ASSIGNED TO A LESSER PERFORMING SCHOOL YOU DERP. The same thing people have been fighting about for the last 400 pages. Try to keep up!

Why is this a danger to high performing UMC kids?

I think you’re sealioning, first of all. But:

1) Moving schools in the middle of HS means that you lose out on the leadership opportunities you may have had at your former HS, had you been allowed to stay there. This is particularly bad for juniors and possibly sophomores. There has been at least one poster on here who said she would send a rising 9th grader to Lewis with other kids from the neighborhood if need be, but sending a junior to another school for 2 years is hugely disruptive. There needs to be grandfathering, even if WSHS kids need to find their own transportation. Fortunately their boundaries are compact to the point that a kid could likely bike from the southern end of the boundary to WSHS.

2) The SB has not guaranteed classes that would be available at Lewis vs. WSHS. A kid on the highest math track could end up simply not having classes to take as a senior, and would end up less prepared for college than if they had been at WSHS all 4 years. I also don’t know if Lewis is all AP at this point or if they’re still partially holding on to IB. Whereas WSHS is all AP.

3) they aren’t reporting any of this anymore, but the last school year that had safety and security data accurately reported for the full SY was 2018-2019. WSHS had 87 safety offenses and 0 weapons offenses. Lewis had 238 safety offenses, with a smaller student population, and 3 weapons offenses - and 7 in SY 2019-2020 which was cut short due to Covid!

4) You can’t say that every WSHS kid is from a nice graduate educated $300k+ income family and will immediately go to another school and be a shining star. There are lots of kids who are kept on the fairly straight and narrow just by having a largely good peer group.

Hopefully reassigned families can encourage their kids to become leaders in the new school, push for more AP and demand safe schools.

So why should a couple dozen teenagers from another school be bussed in and tasked to fix the problems that you and the other parents whose kids are zoned for that school were unable to fix?

If you, an adult parent at that school, and the other parents at that school, can't fix the problems, why should it be the responsibility of a group of teenagers who belong at their original school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When a school’s focus is on supporting all the kids on the borderline of maybe graduating/not graduating/dropping out, the smaller number of the regular ol’ college prep kids are the ones who suffer due to comparative lack of attention. Most people don’t want their kids, who are just teens(!) to be the equity guinea pigs.

The kids in AP aren’t getting attention?

You literally just had a poster explain what happens at poorly performing schools. The prevailing attitude is “those kids will be fine” about the kids who are achieving.

The idea that high-performing kids won’t get attention is ridiculous. It’s unlikely that there will be behavior issues, violence, drug dealers, crime, etc. in AP courses. Also unlikely parents of high-performing kids will allow counselors to get away with not helping their kids or tolerate any of the above things happening in the school.

PP here and it sounds like you are coming from a place of privilege and used to getting your own way/listened to because you “demand” it. Hence, you find it “unlikely” that the things that happened to me and people I knew would ever happen to you or your child.

It doesn’t have to happen in AP courses, there are hallways and electives.

You have had your life experience and I have had mine. I know what I prefer for my kids. If you choose not to believe me or my experiences that is up to you. I only ask that you don’t judge me or others for choosing or wanting higher SES schools after having negative experiences in low SES schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When a school’s focus is on supporting all the kids on the borderline of maybe graduating/not graduating/dropping out, the smaller number of the regular ol’ college prep kids are the ones who suffer due to comparative lack of attention. Most people don’t want their kids, who are just teens(!) to be the equity guinea pigs.

The kids in AP aren’t getting attention?

You literally just had a poster explain what happens at poorly performing schools. The prevailing attitude is “those kids will be fine” about the kids who are achieving.

The idea that high-performing kids won’t get attention is ridiculous. It’s unlikely that there will be behavior issues, violence, drug dealers, crime, etc. in AP courses. Also unlikely parents of high-performing kids will allow counselors to get away with not helping their kids or tolerate any of the above things happening in the school.

You think high performing kids get attention? You know we are talking FCPS here, equity capital of the world. Your kids only get attention if they are in the lower half of the class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When a school’s focus is on supporting all the kids on the borderline of maybe graduating/not graduating/dropping out, the smaller number of the regular ol’ college prep kids are the ones who suffer due to comparative lack of attention. Most people don’t want their kids, who are just teens(!) to be the equity guinea pigs.

The kids in AP aren’t getting attention?

You literally just had a poster explain what happens at poorly performing schools. The prevailing attitude is “those kids will be fine” about the kids who are achieving.

The idea that high-performing kids won’t get attention is ridiculous. It’s unlikely that there will be behavior issues, violence, drug dealers, crime, etc. in AP courses. Also unlikely parents of high-performing kids will allow counselors to get away with not helping their kids or tolerate any of the above things happening in the school.

You think high performing kids get attention? You know we are talking FCPS here, equity capital of the world. Your kids only get attention if they are in the lower half of the class.

Yep. Honors classes typically have higher capacities since the higher performing kids are "okay".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When a school’s focus is on supporting all the kids on the borderline of maybe graduating/not graduating/dropping out, the smaller number of the regular ol’ college prep kids are the ones who suffer due to comparative lack of attention. Most people don’t want their kids, who are just teens(!) to be the equity guinea pigs.

The kids in AP aren’t getting attention?

These are mostly IB schools, not AP schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When a school’s focus is on supporting all the kids on the borderline of maybe graduating/not graduating/dropping out, the smaller number of the regular ol’ college prep kids are the ones who suffer due to comparative lack of attention. Most people don’t want their kids, who are just teens(!) to be the equity guinea pigs.

The kids in AP aren’t getting attention?

You literally just had a poster explain what happens at poorly performing schools. The prevailing attitude is “those kids will be fine” about the kids who are achieving.

The idea that high-performing kids won’t get attention is ridiculous. It’s unlikely that there will be behavior issues, violence, drug dealers, crime, etc. in AP courses. Also unlikely parents of high-performing kids will allow counselors to get away with not helping their kids or tolerate any of the above things happening in the school.

You think high performing kids get attention? You know we are talking FCPS here, equity capital of the world. Your kids only get attention if they are in the lower half of the class.

Why are you in FCPS if it’s so bad?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When a school’s focus is on supporting all the kids on the borderline of maybe graduating/not graduating/dropping out, the smaller number of the regular ol’ college prep kids are the ones who suffer due to comparative lack of attention. Most people don’t want their kids, who are just teens(!) to be the equity guinea pigs.

The kids in AP aren’t getting attention?

You literally just had a poster explain what happens at poorly performing schools. The prevailing attitude is “those kids will be fine” about the kids who are achieving.

The idea that high-performing kids won’t get attention is ridiculous. It’s unlikely that there will be behavior issues, violence, drug dealers, crime, etc. in AP courses. Also unlikely parents of high-performing kids will allow counselors to get away with not helping their kids or tolerate any of the above things happening in the school.

You think high performing kids get attention? You know we are talking FCPS here, equity capital of the world. Your kids only get attention if they are in the lower half of the class.

Why are you in FCPS if it’s so bad?

For the pyramid that I’m zoned for, which isn’t bad at all.

[Anonymous]

Demand safe schools. Bahahha. What are you thinking. That the adults can't get ahold of it but a 14 year old kid is going to be able to go in and get a student council position and demand safe schools? As someone who grew up poor and went to a very unsafe school and has clawed my way up you can clearly tell you have no idea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can we back to the basics? What is the timeline for these boundary changes?

Fall 2025 is the school board's stated goal.

They have mentioned this timeline at multiple work sessions.

If you have a high school student in the class of 2027 or 2028 (current rising sophomores and freshmen) you need to be VERY concerned, especially if you are not within the walk zone to your high school.

The school board has mentioned this timeline, and minimal grandfathering of high school students many times.

When someone gives you insight to their plans, believe them.

When a politician lies by omission, hiding their true plans during their campaigns so they can get elected, expect nothing less from them than a complete disregard for constituents when they are in power.

If they prioritized student's well being, they would allow grandfathering for all enrolled high school students.

If they prioritized educational quality for the kids in failing schools like Lewis, they would have removed IB a long time ago and looked for real solutions, that do not require disrupting a bunch of kids to hopefully hide the failures without actually fixing the problems.

If they valued constituents, they would not have voted for a plan that concentrates power affecting student well being, communities, and housing values, with a single, unelected, overpaid bureaucrat, to try to remove the responsibility of elected officials to their voters in their district.

If the Springfield district representative was actually representing the will of her actual voters, she would have either come out strongly against the rezoning plan, OR very strongly in support of extensive grandfathering of high school students.

She did neither, so she is clearly not performing her duties to represent her constituents.

Please vote better in 2027. Ultimately, this is the outcome of voting choices made by the voters in our county, not just for school board but also for the board of supervisors that gerrymandered 22152 and the Springfield district to try to get rid of the last moderate politician in all of Northern Virginia. If you get rezoned, and voted blue no matter who, this is the policies you support being put into action.

Reid is the one will be driving this bus. She had said a company will study it and they will take 18 months. So that would be fall 2026.

Do we think that in 1 year they will have boundaries redrawn?

You think 🤔 that with computer modeling, other forms of A.I and the general ideas they clearly already have that they couldn’t get this done in a year? 🤣
Facilities could do it themselves and certainly a consultant can.
Expect your “listening sessions” early in the spring and your final boundaries around June.

Funny that you mention that. I attended a talk about school boundary modeling based on AI, and I found it extremely lacking. It did really poorly with boundaries such as major roads.

They can get anything they want out of a model... And... If they don't like the results, they can just do a Tisdadt "I don't believe they'll come..."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting civil war taking place now on the FairFACTS Matters page on FB between Langley parents who are trying to protect Langley's boundaries under the guise of doing what's best for everyone in the county and hard-core conservatives like Luke Rosiak who are vocally advocating for the group to adopt an anti-immigrant stance, vote for Republican candidates, pull their kids ASAP from FCPS, and advocate for vouchers and other private school subsidies.

Not surprisingly, the insurgents (Rosiak and his sympathizers) get the support of a lot of the local parents, who are already quite conservative and have been confused by statements from FairFACTS Matters leaders suggesting that FCPS should look at public-private partnerships in Detroit as a model. Great Falls residents aren't very used to seeing Detroit held out as a useful model for their community.

If he is just pointing out what we all know— that it’s democrats who oppose school choice, favor “surging” to the border and on the county level are the ones who began working on boundary policy with an “equal outcomes for all” aim, he’s not wrong.

That group is free to prioritize other school board values like standards-based grading (another policy designed to make outcomes equal), graphic books in school libraries and boys who feel like a girl today having access to spaces meant for females OVER and above keeping their community school.

What goes on in schools is way more important than which child/neighborhood goes to which building.

In the end, most of them are democrats and will come around to the school board’s way of thinking. You’ll see.

Here’s where we will see if the rich 🤑 liberals of Great Falls really have enough money to exit the school system.

They are reacting like the rich liberals of Martha’s Vineyard when the poor brown illegals whose arrival to America they supported actually showed up in their town.
They pouted and protested and paid good money to send them away (after they gave them some sandwiches and iced tea)

What about it, Great Falls? You have enough to buy your way out of the “problem” you helped create?

It doesn’t take Martha’s Vineyard money to rent an apartment in a different school district for a few years. In fact most of us paid more in daycare for our kids than that would cost.

It’ll crowd out other families who need that housing, but that’s the law of unintended consequences.

Where there is a will, there is a way.

Where are the apartments in Langley’s district?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting civil war taking place now on the FairFACTS Matters page on FB between Langley parents who are trying to protect Langley's boundaries under the guise of doing what's best for everyone in the county and hard-core conservatives like Luke Rosiak who are vocally advocating for the group to adopt an anti-immigrant stance, vote for Republican candidates, pull their kids ASAP from FCPS, and advocate for vouchers and other private school subsidies.

Not surprisingly, the insurgents (Rosiak and his sympathizers) get the support of a lot of the local parents, who are already quite conservative and have been confused by statements from FairFACTS Matters leaders suggesting that FCPS should look at public-private partnerships in Detroit as a model. Great Falls residents aren't very used to seeing Detroit held out as a useful model for their community.

If he is just pointing out what we all know— that it’s democrats who oppose school choice, favor “surging” to the border and on the county level are the ones who began working on boundary policy with an “equal outcomes for all” aim, he’s not wrong.

That group is free to prioritize other school board values like standards-based grading (another policy designed to make outcomes equal), graphic books in school libraries and boys who feel like a girl today having access to spaces meant for females OVER and above keeping their community school.

What goes on in schools is way more important than which child/neighborhood goes to which building.

In the end, most of them are democrats and will come around to the school board’s way of thinking. You’ll see.

Here’s where we will see if the rich 🤑 liberals of Great Falls really have enough money to exit the school system.

They are reacting like the rich liberals of Martha’s Vineyard when the poor brown illegals whose arrival to America they supported actually showed up in their town.
They pouted and protested and paid good money to send them away (after they gave them some sandwiches and iced tea)

What about it, Great Falls? You have enough to buy your way out of the “problem” you helped create?

It doesn’t take Martha’s Vineyard money to rent an apartment in a different school district for a few years. In fact most of us paid more in daycare for our kids than that would cost.

It’ll crowd out other families who need that housing, but that’s the law of unintended consequences.

Where there is a will, there is a way.

Where are the apartments in Langley’s district?

None yet, but that will change.

Pp swearing 100s of families are going to rent apartments to stay at Langley is pretty funny.