APS: I can't keep up! (ASFS)

[Anonymous]

Just got an email from a neighborhood listserv regarding potential changes to ASFS, specifically a policy change that seems like it would make it a neighborhood school. I try to follow these issues closely, but I just can't keep up with all the nuances of neighborhood vs. choice. What is the issue here and what are the non-spin viewpoints of each side?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just got an email from a neighborhood listserv regarding potential changes to ASFS, specifically a policy change that seems like it would make it a neighborhood school. I try to follow these issues closely, but I just can't keep up with all the nuances of neighborhood vs. choice. What is the issue here and what are the non-spin viewpoints of each side?

Huh? You've been following closely? The neighborhood school thing has been proposed for a long time now. Go read the latest docs on the APS Engage website.

Looks like it will become a neighborhood school in fall 2018. Overcrowding & no walk zone will lead to boundary changes - TBD date.

FYI - it was never a "choice" school.

[Anonymous]

Perhaps this is why I'm confused. I didn't think this was one of the myriad issues but suddenly got an email about it like it was the next hot breaking thing.

[Anonymous]

It's always been a "neighborhood" school in that only kids in certain neighborhoods have the privilege of attending. Now, the county wants to make it a neighborhood school and actually allow people in the neighborhood where it resides to attend. Those who will be displaced (and have given the school a lot of money for their lab) are pissed.

[Anonymous]

This change has been in the transfer and options policy all along. My impression from watching the SB meeting is that many ASFS parents didn't think it would really happen until the final draft was released. Too many APS parents assume that somebody else is fighting their battle and they don't get involved. Then the few parents who do speak up get branded as fringe squeaky wheels and are dismissed by School Board members. This is happening right now in the high school debate as well.

I would love to see some of the ASFS parents who showed up last night get more involved in the high school debate, especially if they move forward with putting more seats at the Career Center for Arlington Tech. We need to advocate for that science high school program to be done well, otherwise it will not draw enough kids to relieve overcrowding at WF, WL and YT in the 5-10 year horizon when the numbers look really bad.

[Anonymous]

It should officially be a neighborhood school, since it's never really been a choice school anyway.
These parents look terrible.

[Anonymous]

ASFS as originally conceived was part of a Team- Jamestown, Taylor, Key- with a science focus and no boundary. Anyone in that Team could chose to go there.
As the system got more crowded, the ASFS seats all went to students in the Key boundary who didn't want immersion, and siblings of current students. (rumor has it immediate neighbors could get in as well by talking to the school secretary who put those students at the top of the list.)
Thus, ASFS became the de-facto neighborhood school for the Key district, but it is not actually in the Key zone, it's in the Taylor zone.
APS redid its option school policy, and got rid of neighborhood preference so that you couldn't buy your way into an option school. This was really oriented at Claremont b/c no one has been able to get into Claremont in the last couple of years who didn't live 'in-zone' (Key has not been as full.)
APS is also moving to make all schools STEAM schools. This means that ASFS did not look special enough to be option, and they needed a neighborhood school for the Key zone- so they dubbed ASFS the Key neighbhorhood school.

Fairly late to the Party- ASFS parents are freaking out. It's not entirely clear why- and some of their arguments are non-nonsensical.
Here is what I have heard;;

1. Fear that they will be more overcrowded. They are worried that this policy change will allow Key to cap its enrollment, and all the enrollment pressure will be on ASFS.
2. Fear that the 'science' will be taken away. This appears totally unfounded- all neighborhood schools have some special focus areas.
3. Fear that the close-by neighbors will not be able to get the secretary to get them into the school. This is a legitimate fear, and APS could (and should still) do a better job of assuring that there will be a corresponding boundary change to include the neighbors in the ASFS zone.
4. Fear that more FARMS kids who live in the Key boundary and currently attend Key will now switch to ASFS. Both the Key and the ASFS community are concerned about this- Key wants them and ASFS doesn't. The concern is that they register in the days leading up to school so they may be boxed out of Key as an 'option school.' Or they will just go to ASFS thinking that is where they should go as their neighborhood school. People I respect are really worried about this- but I think there is a way around it b/c it is everyone's best interest to ensure that native spanish speakers are allowed into an immersion school.

[Anonymous]

5. Fear that they will be rezoned out of ASFS. If the boundaries are adjusted to actually include the closeby neighborhoods, someone will have to go.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the explanations. I should know not to take everything in my neighborhood listserv, which periodically includes concerns about fluoridated water and "for sale" items like used puzzles with missing pieces, at face value. It seems like there are so many important issues these days that I didn't want to miss having opinion on one! (Joking. Sort of.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:5. Fear that they will be rezoned out of ASFS. If the boundaries are adjusted to actually include the closeby neighborhoods, someone will have to go.

I'm sure they'll allow current students to finish.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:5. Fear that they will be rezoned out of ASFS. If the boundaries are adjusted to actually include the closeby neighborhoods, someone will have to go.

I'm sure they'll allow current students to finish.

For the Ruckahoe & Glebe move to McKinley, they only let 5th graders or younger siblings of 5th graders stay. Everybody else had to go!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:5. Fear that they will be rezoned out of ASFS. If the boundaries are adjusted to actually include the closeby neighborhoods, someone will have to go.

I'm sure they'll allow current students to finish.

For the Ruckahoe & Glebe move to McKinley, they only let 5th graders or younger siblings of 5th graders stay. Everybody else had to go!

Oh well. We have some real significant issues to solve. This doesn't really rank. Those kids might have to switch to another highly ranked school. It'll be ok.

[Anonymous]

At last night's SB meeting, they said they would grandfather all current students. (You can watch the meeting on-line.)

I'm not sure how the boundary redrawing will work though, since Taylor and Glebe are also overcapacity-- and you can't really shift the Glebe kids anywhere to create space for ASFS kids, because McKinley is also too crowded and that's where the Glebe kids would likely go. The only way this works is to put all boundaries on the table and push all the way across North Arlington into Discovery and Nottingham (which are the two schools with space). My kids aren't at ASFS or Key, but I've been watching this unfold because I don't know how they can pull it off without pretty substantial boundary changes across the entirety of North Arlington. APS is such a cluster right now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:5. Fear that they will be rezoned out of ASFS. If the boundaries are adjusted to actually include the closeby neighborhoods, someone will have to go.

We have to move away from strict zoning, and ASFS has been a gateway for that to happen. Losing Abby from the School Board has hurt us immensely.

It's time to adopt the "skin in the game" model people talk about the President and Secretary DeVos talk about, and link school choice to tax base. Each kid gets scored on what tax value they bring into the community. Homeowners in Lyon Village trump owners of Cape Cods in McKinley, who trump townhouse owners along Columbia Pike, who trump renters along Lee Highway, who trump FARMS and AH kids.

We set a normal day, at 95% capacity, for each school. Families rank their choices like the Medical Residency "match" process.

If you live in a $3 million-plus home by Jamestown, then you're set. Your older daughter attends HB, and your son attends ATS.

If you own a $1.5 million home, you have to think just a bit more. Maybe you go ahead and lock in a spot at Discovery, rather than hoping for ATS. Perhaps you go for ideal teachers at Yorktown, rather than taking a chance on being at the bottom of the barrel at HB or in W-L IB.

If you own a $900k house, maybe your best bet is to go for Wakefield if you can get that customized course load with the best teachers.

In any event, the traditional school day at all schools will be for the givers. They'll get a traditional day slot in SOME school, and enjoy 95% capacity and an absence of FARMS.

The takers will get shift scheduling, with evening classes. They'll have to give up the gym for travel and rec teams, but they'll get an equal education with no consideration of race.

There are still a few wrinkles to iron out. But this is happening. We can't let people who don't commit to Arlington mess up everyone's education. This plan will skyrocket property values, eliminate the need for construction, and enhance public safety.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At last night's SB meeting, they said they would grandfather all current students. (You can watch the meeting on-line.)

I'm not sure how the boundary redrawing will work though, since Taylor and Glebe are also overcapacity-- and you can't really shift the Glebe kids anywhere to create space for ASFS kids, because McKinley is also too crowded and that's where the Glebe kids would likely go. The only way this works is to put all boundaries on the table and push all the way across North Arlington into Discovery and Nottingham (which are the two schools with space). My kids aren't at ASFS or Key, but I've been watching this unfold because I don't know how they can pull it off without pretty substantial boundary changes across the entirety of North Arlington. APS is such a cluster right now.

NO!!! We certainly do not have space at Discovery. Anyone who tries to navigate past all the cars up there each morning can tell you that. A move like this will cause property values north of Yorktown Blvd to plummet, further devastating the tax base.