FCPS comprehensive boundary review

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Could someone explain Reid's vision for UPK. Is it full day? Half day? Everyday?
Certified teachers?

Maybe Reid is talking about UPK because they can’t redistrict based upon DEI factors now. If she doesn’t have a ‘reason” DEI will become more obvious and leave FCPS more open for law suits.

UPK is not just a talking point. If Frisch gets UPK it becomes a political badge of honor. It is the SB equivalent of Obama getting universal health care. Reid is fully committed to and supported in this effort. That is why she got a big pay raise. She is doing the work that the SB wants her to do.

Maybe people won’t notice/care/make the connection between the shiny thing (UPK) and their spiraling real estate taxes. Maybe they won’t make the connection between these SB and Gatehouse actions and local politicians’ increasing vulnerability to casino lobbies as the “quick fix” to mend those ballooning budget gaps. Declining commercial real estate tax revenues are not as burdensome as these bloated FCPS projects.

Maybe all of this gets pushed through because facts don’t change people’s minds, emotions do. And people care about kids and schools. Taxes and budgets are more abstract. To many people, things like budgets are just facts. So FCPS presses on.

But I will notice if my kids get rezoned. So will everyone else who is affected. And the resulting emotions will change many minds. Those emotions will far exceed any “UPK is a good thing” or “let’s make sure everyone gets an equal slice of my pie” feelings. It is a game changer.

[Anonymous]

Increasing property taxes that have already increased significantly in the past two years due to having an open border will not play well. A lot of federal workers and contractors live in the county and are facing uncertainty. Raising taxes for pet projects will piss a lot of people off, not just parents of school aged kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Increasing property taxes that have already increased significantly in the past two years due to having an open border will not play well. A lot of federal workers and contractors live in the county and are facing uncertainty. Raising taxes for pet projects will piss a lot of people off, not just parents of school aged kids.

Add to that, uncertainty about their child's school.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't mind paying high taxes for commensurate services. We don't get that in Fairfax any longer. We get increasingly high taxes to subsidize a growing low-income population and the promise/threat of boundary changes to paper it all over.

It's not a good value proposition any longer, and they will pay the price eventually as the people they expect to foot the bill leave.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Could someone explain Reid's vision for UPK. Is it full day? Half day? Everyday?
Certified teachers?

Maybe Reid is talking about UPK because they can’t redistrict based upon DEI factors now. If she doesn’t have a ‘reason” DEI will become more obvious and leave FCPS more open for law suits.

UPK is not just a talking point. If Frisch gets UPK it becomes a political badge of honor. It is the SB equivalent of Obama getting universal health care. Reid is fully committed to and supported in this effort. That is why she got a big pay raise. She is doing the work that the SB wants her to do.

Maybe people won’t notice/care/make the connection between the shiny thing (UPK) and their spiraling real estate taxes. Maybe they won’t make the connection between these SB and Gatehouse actions and local politicians’ increasing vulnerability to casino lobbies as the “quick fix” to mend those ballooning budget gaps. Declining commercial real estate tax revenues are not as burdensome as these bloated FCPS projects.

Maybe all of this gets pushed through because facts don’t change people’s minds, emotions do. And people care about kids and schools. Taxes and budgets are more abstract. To many people, things like budgets are just facts. So FCPS presses on.

But I will notice if my kids get rezoned. So will everyone else who is affected. And the resulting emotions will change many minds. Those emotions will far exceed any “UPK is a good thing” or “let’s make sure everyone gets an equal slice of my pie” feelings. It is a game changer.

Intensity of feelings absolutely matters. People who support boundary changes will give a singular quiet golf clap at them equitizing the schools, but man those parents who get redistricted are going to be furious and will not ever let the school board members or the school board move beyond it. Political careers are about to get ruined on the BoS and SB level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't mind paying high taxes for commensurate services. We don't get that in Fairfax any longer. We get increasingly high taxes to subsidize a growing low-income population and the promise/threat of boundary changes to paper it all over.

It's not a good value proposition any longer, and they will pay the price eventually as the people they expect to foot the bill leave.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Could someone explain Reid's vision for UPK. Is it full day? Half day? Everyday?
Certified teachers?

Maybe Reid is talking about UPK because they can’t redistrict based upon DEI factors now. If she doesn’t have a ‘reason” DEI will become more obvious and leave FCPS more open for law suits.

UPK is not just a talking point. If Frisch gets UPK it becomes a political badge of honor. It is the SB equivalent of Obama getting universal health care. Reid is fully committed to and supported in this effort. That is why she got a big pay raise. She is doing the work that the SB wants her to do.

Maybe people won’t notice/care/make the connection between the shiny thing (UPK) and their spiraling real estate taxes. Maybe they won’t make the connection between these SB and Gatehouse actions and local politicians’ increasing vulnerability to casino lobbies as the “quick fix” to mend those ballooning budget gaps. Declining commercial real estate tax revenues are not as burdensome as these bloated FCPS projects.

Maybe all of this gets pushed through because facts don’t change people’s minds, emotions do. And people care about kids and schools. Taxes and budgets are more abstract. To many people, things like budgets are just facts. So FCPS presses on.

But I will notice if my kids get rezoned. So will everyone else who is affected. And the resulting emotions will change many minds. Those emotions will far exceed any “UPK is a good thing” or “let’s make sure everyone gets an equal slice of my pie” feelings. It is a game changer.

I’m saying this because I knew about the UPK push in the spring of last year. I work in ECE in another district and know the push in general and know FCPS is having a very hard time meeting the governor’s push to have all sped pre-k children in inclusion classroom. The ECE department was scrambling to meet this initiative.

At the last work session on the boundary policy, UPK was mentioned, but wasn’t the focus of the boundary push. The board members were like “ it is nice to have, but….” And it has been in the background the entire time, but wasn’t pushed into the fore front until recently. They were publicly playing up a more DEI/capacity angle until the last few weeks with Trump in office. I think they are pushing a different angle on purpose now and leaning back from capacity and DEI to avoid those topics.

I don’t really think people want UPK and even in the field, I am not sold on the idea that pre-k should be part of public schools as elementary schools are not built with 3 year olds in mind. I think this is an angle to get this passed without more fed scrutiny at this point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't mind paying high taxes for commensurate services. We don't get that in Fairfax any longer. We get increasingly high taxes to subsidize a growing low-income population and the promise/threat of boundary changes to paper it all over.

It's not a good value proposition any longer, and they will pay the price eventually as the people they expect to foot the bill leave.

+100

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't mind paying high taxes for commensurate services. We don't get that in Fairfax any longer. We get increasingly high taxes to subsidize a growing low-income population and the promise/threat of boundary changes to paper it all over.

It's not a good value proposition any longer, and they will pay the price eventually as the people they expect to foot the bill leave.

+100

If I thought it would solve the problem, I would gladly pay more. But, it won't. More funds do not equal better education. How do I know? I was a teacher. The $$ don't get to the classroom.
In this case, the boundary study is going to do the opposite of helping the problem. It is just bad cosmetic surgery. You've all seen that. Someone goes to a plastic surgeon thinking she is going to look years younger and, instead, comes out looking ridiculous. That's what this will do. Rearrange students and the results will be worse than before. I think someone described it as rearranging the chair on the Titanic.

[Anonymous]

Reid, SB and Board of Supervisors are all incredibly tone deaf. County gets half its budget from Federal funds. If those go away no way to make that up with tax increases on those tax payers that remain. But keep pushing ahead with an equity driven boundary changes. That is a winning plan

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Reid, SB and Board of Supervisors are all incredibly tone deaf. County gets half its budget from Federal funds. If those go away no way to make that up with tax increases on those tax payers that remain. But keep pushing ahead with an equity driven boundary changes. That is a winning plan

+1 - the school board and board of supervisors believe that they are not accountable to us. That’s why they daily ignore the outreach from the community and the deluge of evidence staring them in the face from the boundary meetings.

Shame on them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't mind paying high taxes for commensurate services. We don't get that in Fairfax any longer. We get increasingly high taxes to subsidize a growing low-income population and the promise/threat of boundary changes to paper it all over.

It's not a good value proposition any longer, and they will pay the price eventually as the people they expect to foot the bill leave.

Exactly this. I can swallow a tax hit, even if I know it is being used to subsidize sustaining a low income population within the county. When my family is materially affected by boundary changes and I have no control in the matter, that is when it becomes too much and we relocate. We are preparing for a Spring 2026 listing to move into a 'safe' area that is away from the beltway.

[Anonymous]

Our taxes went up again this year. It’s going to cost us another $1500 per year. We are not an endless source of income for the county while our own high school remains an overcrowded dump. As soon as my youngest graduates we are leaving.

[Anonymous]

Wow, lots to unpack in this article, but I didn’t think that a county-wide data breach would be added to the boundary review debacle mix:

https://www.fairfaxtimes.com/articles/fcps-boundary-review-faces-concerns-despite-claims-of-transparency/article_5163cb5c-efab-11ef-b945-5b3343dc4582.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Could someone explain Reid's vision for UPK. Is it full day? Half day? Everyday?
Certified teachers?

Maybe Reid is talking about UPK because they can’t redistrict based upon DEI factors now. If she doesn’t have a ‘reason” DEI will become more obvious and leave FCPS more open for law suits.

UPK is not just a talking point. If Frisch gets UPK it becomes a political badge of honor. It is the SB equivalent of Obama getting universal health care. Reid is fully committed to and supported in this effort. That is why she got a big pay raise. She is doing the work that the SB wants her to do.

Maybe people won’t notice/care/make the connection between the shiny thing (UPK) and their spiraling real estate taxes. Maybe they won’t make the connection between these SB and Gatehouse actions and local politicians’ increasing vulnerability to casino lobbies as the “quick fix” to mend those ballooning budget gaps. Declining commercial real estate tax revenues are not as burdensome as these bloated FCPS projects.

Maybe all of this gets pushed through because facts don’t change people’s minds, emotions do. And people care about kids and schools. Taxes and budgets are more abstract. To many people, things like budgets are just facts. So FCPS presses on.

But I will notice if my kids get rezoned. So will everyone else who is affected. And the resulting emotions will change many minds. Those emotions will far exceed any “UPK is a good thing” or “let’s make sure everyone gets an equal slice of my pie” feelings. It is a game changer.

I’m saying this because I knew about the UPK push in the spring of last year. I work in ECE in another district and know the push in general and know FCPS is having a very hard time meeting the governor’s push to have all sped pre-k children in inclusion classroom. The ECE department was scrambling to meet this initiative.

At the last work session on the boundary policy, UPK was mentioned, but wasn’t the focus of the boundary push. The board members were like “ it is nice to have, but….” And it has been in the background the entire time, but wasn’t pushed into the fore front until recently. They were publicly playing up a more DEI/capacity angle until the last few weeks with Trump in office. I think they are pushing a different angle on purpose now and leaning back from capacity and DEI to avoid those topics.

I don’t really think people want UPK and even in the field, I am not sold on the idea that pre-k should be part of public schools as elementary schools are not built with 3 year olds in mind. I think this is an angle to get this passed without more fed scrutiny at this point.

Reid stated openly at a community meeting Wednesday night 2/19 for Region 4 that FCPS is pushing forward on doubling down on Equity, CRT and DEI, even if FCPS loses federal funds.

She also alluded that moving 6th grade to middle school is a non negotiable, and will occur as part of the rezoning process.

Buckle your seat belts people.

Squeezing over 40,000 students into middle schools with capacity for roughly 30,000 students means that rezoning is going to be extensive. Lots of our kids are going to be switched from walkable neighborhood elementary schools with plenty of room to trailer parks on an overcrowded middle school campus, possibly far outside the neighborhood schools you selected when you purchased your house.

To accomplish 6th to middle school, as Reid stated on Wednesday will occur, the boundary changes are going to be far more extensive and disruptive than anyone realizes.