APS elementary planning initiative called off

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
The ASFS PTA meeting minutes from last year are an interesting read (just the External Affairs reports, you can skip the rest). I hadn't realized until I just read them how heavily the PTA advocated to prevent a Key/ASFS swap, reduce the size of the school and create as large a walk zone as possible, all of which would result in Rosslyn being zoned out of the school. I get where they're coming from, but I can also totally understand why the Rosslyn folks were up in arms and voted out the External Affairs person in favor of one of their own.


PP again. It reminds me a bit of what Tuckahoe did, when their board went to battle to get Tuckahoe off the list of potential option sites because all of their board members were in the walk zone and they weren't concerned with how that decision would affect their community members on the other side of Lee Highway who might not get to go to Reed like they'd prefer as a result.

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That's a weird statement. Do people south of Lee Highway need Tuckahoe to be turned into an option school in order be zoned to Reed? That's not my understanding. I'm a Tuckahoe parent and I never heard anyone at Tuckahoe object to Tuckahoe's position that they shouldn't turn it into an option school. There was no revolt in the PTA; not even a dissenting voice from what I heard. Just like no one at Nottingham wanted it turned option. Who would?

[Anonymous]

What's really interesting is that if you just read the comments in this thread without knowing what actually happened in the election, you get the impression the Cherrydale people flocked to the meeting to vote out Rosslyn people and get a Cherrydale-centered PTA board that would push for a walk zone. In reality, it appears that it was Rosslyn people who flocked to the meeting to vote out Cherrydale-area board members in favor of Rosslyn people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:
The ASFS PTA meeting minutes from last year are an interesting read (just the External Affairs reports, you can skip the rest). I hadn't realized until I just read them how heavily the PTA advocated to prevent a Key/ASFS swap, reduce the size of the school and create as large a walk zone as possible, all of which would result in Rosslyn being zoned out of the school. I get where they're coming from, but I can also totally understand why the Rosslyn folks were up in arms and voted out the External Affairs person in favor of one of their own.


PP again. It reminds me a bit of what Tuckahoe did, when their board went to battle to get Tuckahoe off the list of potential option sites because all of their board members were in the walk zone and they weren't concerned with how that decision would affect their community members on the other side of Lee Highway who might not get to go to Reed like they'd prefer as a result.

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That's a weird statement. Do people south of Lee Highway need Tuckahoe to be turned into an option school in order be zoned to Reed? That's not my understanding. I'm a Tuckahoe parent and I never heard anyone at Tuckahoe object to Tuckahoe's position that they shouldn't turn it into an option school. There was no revolt in the PTA; not even a dissenting voice from what I heard. Just like no one at Nottingham wanted it turned option. Who would?

They need someone north of Lee Highway to become an option site if they want to go to Reed, otherwise they'll be bused back north to fill those schools instead of going to Reed with the rest of Westover. When Tuckahoe fought not only to not be considered but to have the entire process called off, they increased the odds of that happening.

[Anonymous]

You mean Nottingham.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What's really interesting is that if you just read the comments in this thread without knowing what actually happened in the election, you get the impression the Cherrydale people flocked to the meeting to vote out Rosslyn people and get a Cherrydale-centered PTA board that would push for a walk zone. In reality, it appears that it was Rosslyn people who flocked to the meeting to vote out Cherrydale-area board members in favor of Rosslyn people.

I also didn't realize that the Buck property suggestion was a real thing they actually presented to the board. There are a number of scenarios that could realistically play out, but having a special temporary swing space especially for ASFS does not sound even remotely plausible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You mean Nottingham.

No, I'm talking about the Tuckahoe letter from the winter. Nottingham has very few families on the south side of Lee Highway whereas Tuckahoe has a lot. That doesn't mean either PTA should disregard a portion of their community, but it was more egregious coming from Tuckahoe. Plus, it was striking that for Tuckahoe, everyone who signed that letter (which wasn't the full board) was within the Tuckahoe walk zone but not the walk zone of any other school, so their personal interests clearly were aligned with the letter.

If you look at the people who did the majority of the work on behalf of Nottingham, interestingly, most of them either live south of Lee Highway or are in the area that's closer to Discovery and might get rezoned there either way. Early on there were a few people from the area walkable only to Nottiingham and not also to Tuckahoe or Discovery who expressed concern about whether those people (not all of whom were board members, and not all board members were heavily involved) might actually undermine the effort to keep Nottingham a neighborhood school to suit their own interests, because the ones from south of Lee would want to ensure they could go to Reed and the ones closer to Discovery would want more of Nottingham to move with them if they had to move.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What's really interesting is that if you just read the comments in this thread without knowing what actually happened in the election, you get the impression the Cherrydale people flocked to the meeting to vote out Rosslyn people and get a Cherrydale-centered PTA board that would push for a walk zone. In reality, it appears that it was Rosslyn people who flocked to the meeting to vote out Cherrydale-area board members in favor of Rosslyn people.

I also didn't realize that the Buck property suggestion was a real thing they actually presented to the board. There are a number of scenarios that could realistically play out, but having a special temporary swing space especially for ASFS does not sound even remotely plausible.

You're right, it's not plausible if for no other reason because there's no way to fund it. A temporary space wouldn't have the life expectancy to be eligible for bond funding and APS doesn't have a spare $15-20 million sitting around and no clue what to spend it on.

[Anonymous]

I just think it's weird to start parsing what individuals worked on on what issues when it comes to closing a school. Nottingham doesn't want to be an option school. Either does Tuckahoe or Jamestown or Barcroft for that matter. Nobody wants their school eliminated. (Except, according to you, people who will go to Reed. I don't actually believe that they would advocate to take away a school they currently attend, but hey, maybe you know more than I do about it.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just think it's weird to start parsing what individuals worked on on what issues when it comes to closing a school. Nottingham doesn't want to be an option school. Either does Tuckahoe or Jamestown or Barcroft for that matter. Nobody wants their school eliminated. (Except, according to you, people who will go to Reed. I don't actually believe that they would advocate to take away a school they currently attend, but hey, maybe you know more than I do about it.)

Westover folks are very invested in Reed as a neighborhood school. They've fought for it for years and some are very concerned that after working so hard to make it happen, they won't get to attend with the rest of their community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What's really interesting is that if you just read the comments in this thread without knowing what actually happened in the election, you get the impression the Cherrydale people flocked to the meeting to vote out Rosslyn people and get a Cherrydale-centered PTA board that would push for a walk zone. In reality, it appears that it was Rosslyn people who flocked to the meeting to vote out Cherrydale-area board members in favor of Rosslyn people.

I also didn't realize that the Buck property suggestion was a real thing they actually presented to the board. There are a number of scenarios that could realistically play out, but having a special temporary swing space especially for ASFS does not sound even remotely plausible.

You're right, it's not plausible if for no other reason because there's no way to fund it. A temporary space wouldn't have the life expectancy to be eligible for bond funding and APS doesn't have a spare $15-20 million sitting around and no clue what to spend it on.

pretty much a pipe dream. Those buildings are in no way fit to house children in a school setting. As a jumping joey playhouse or a gymnastics building, yes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just think it's weird to start parsing what individuals worked on on what issues when it comes to closing a school. Nottingham doesn't want to be an option school. Either does Tuckahoe or Jamestown or Barcroft for that matter. Nobody wants their school eliminated. (Except, according to you, people who will go to Reed. I don't actually believe that they would advocate to take away a school they currently attend, but hey, maybe you know more than I do about it.)

I don't know why you think it's weird that people in Westover would prefer a decision that lets them go to Reed instead of Tuckahoe or Nottingham. It's no different from the Rosslyn folks who want the immersion program to move so they could go to Key as a walkable school or the Bluemont folks who want ATS to become a neighborhood school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What's really interesting is that if you just read the comments in this thread without knowing what actually happened in the election, you get the impression the Cherrydale people flocked to the meeting to vote out Rosslyn people and get a Cherrydale-centered PTA board that would push for a walk zone. In reality, it appears that it was Rosslyn people who flocked to the meeting to vote out Cherrydale-area board members in favor of Rosslyn people.

A Cherrydale centered PTA with participants who did not have students attending the school.

Further, that Cherrydale focused PTA were lottery parents; do think of the Rosslyn PTA members were advocating to the school board to remove lottery families, there would not have been a similar response?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just think it's weird to start parsing what individuals worked on on what issues when it comes to closing a school. Nottingham doesn't want to be an option school. Either does Tuckahoe or Jamestown or Barcroft for that matter. Nobody wants their school eliminated. (Except, according to you, people who will go to Reed. I don't actually believe that they would advocate to take away a school they currently attend, but hey, maybe you know more than I do about it.)

I don't know why you think it's weird that people in Westover would prefer a decision that lets them go to Reed instead of Tuckahoe or Nottingham. It's no different from the Rosslyn folks who want the immersion program to move so they could go to Key as a walkable school or the Bluemont folks who want ATS to become a neighborhood school.

It is a little different. The cases you cite are schools they currently don’t attend and want to take over. In the Tuckahoe case, you leave a school and blow it up for your classmates left behind

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What's really interesting is that if you just read the comments in this thread without knowing what actually happened in the election, you get the impression the Cherrydale people flocked to the meeting to vote out Rosslyn people and get a Cherrydale-centered PTA board that would push for a walk zone. In reality, it appears that it was Rosslyn people who flocked to the meeting to vote out Cherrydale-area board members in favor of Rosslyn people.

A Cherrydale centered PTA with participants who did not have students attending the school.

Further, that Cherrydale focused PTA were lottery parents; do think of the Rosslyn PTA members were advocating to the school board to remove lottery families, there would not have been a similar response?

Isn't that what Rosslyn PTA members want to do now? From what I've read on this thread, they seem to hate them all and want them removed from the school?

[Anonymous]

I guess I think it's weird because my kids go to Tuckahoe (not in any walk zone) and I didn't hear that scuttlebutt. Maybe the people who are invested in attending Reed and don't care if Tuckahoe is eliminated are zoned for Tuckahoe but don't currently attend (their kids are too young)?