Upcoming in-person boundary study & regional model "engagement session": how to engage?

[Anonymous]

Anyone speak Spanish well enough to tell if there was anything noteworthy from the Spanish Facebook event on this? https://www.facebook.com/share/1BX59KD3Zv/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone speak Spanish well enough to tell if there was anything noteworthy from the Spanish Facebook event on this? https://www.facebook.com/share/1BX59KD3Zv/

Okay I skimmed it and you don't need to know Spanish because the key staff members apparently don't either and they give all their answers in English and they're then translated for the parents.

Most of it is just a rehash of stuff we all know, but there's an interesting moment around 34:00 where a parent from Kemp Mill asks whether there's any change they can be assigned to Northwood rather than Kennedy and the answer is along the lines of "no, because Northwood is in region 1 and Kennedy is in region 3, and Kemp Mill is in region 3 so it has to be assigned to Kennedy."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone speak Spanish well enough to tell if there was anything noteworthy from the Spanish Facebook event on this? https://www.facebook.com/share/1BX59KD3Zv/

Okay I skimmed it and you don't need to know Spanish because the key staff members apparently don't either and they give all their answers in English and they're then translated for the parents.

Most of it is just a rehash of stuff we all know, but there's an interesting moment around 34:00 where a parent from Kemp Mill asks whether there's any change they can be assigned to Northwood rather than Kennedy and the answer is along the lines of "no, because Northwood is in region 1 and Kennedy is in region 3, and Kemp Mill is in region 3 so it has to be assigned to Kennedy."

Is that really how they're doing things?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone speak Spanish well enough to tell if there was anything noteworthy from the Spanish Facebook event on this? https://www.facebook.com/share/1BX59KD3Zv/

Okay I skimmed it and you don't need to know Spanish because the key staff members apparently don't either and they give all their answers in English and they're then translated for the parents.

Most of it is just a rehash of stuff we all know, but there's an interesting moment around 34:00 where a parent from Kemp Mill asks whether there's any change they can be assigned to Northwood rather than Kennedy and the answer is along the lines of "no, because Northwood is in region 1 and Kennedy is in region 3, and Kemp Mill is in region 3 so it has to be assigned to Kennedy."

Is that really how they're doing things?

I don't think so. It's just that Kemp Mill is currently zoned to Northwood, which is region 1, but in the existing boundary options is rezoned to Kennedy, which is region 3.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone speak Spanish well enough to tell if there was anything noteworthy from the Spanish Facebook event on this? https://www.facebook.com/share/1BX59KD3Zv/

Okay I skimmed it and you don't need to know Spanish because the key staff members apparently don't either and they give all their answers in English and they're then translated for the parents.

Most of it is just a rehash of stuff we all know, but there's an interesting moment around 34:00 where a parent from Kemp Mill asks whether there's any change they can be assigned to Northwood rather than Kennedy and the answer is along the lines of "no, because Northwood is in region 1 and Kennedy is in region 3, and Kemp Mill is in region 3 so it has to be assigned to Kennedy."

Is that really how they're doing things?

I don't think so. It's just that Kemp Mill is currently zoned to Northwood, which is region 1, but in the existing boundary options is rezoned to Kennedy, which is region 3.

Northwood is within walking distance from Kemp Mill. Some families don't drive for religious reasons at certain times, so they choose that area for the walkability.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone speak Spanish well enough to tell if there was anything noteworthy from the Spanish Facebook event on this? https://www.facebook.com/share/1BX59KD3Zv/

Okay I skimmed it and you don't need to know Spanish because the key staff members apparently don't either and they give all their answers in English and they're then translated for the parents.

Most of it is just a rehash of stuff we all know, but there's an interesting moment around 34:00 where a parent from Kemp Mill asks whether there's any change they can be assigned to Northwood rather than Kennedy and the answer is along the lines of "no, because Northwood is in region 1 and Kennedy is in region 3, and Kemp Mill is in region 3 so it has to be assigned to Kennedy."

Is that really how they're doing things?

I don't think so. It's just that Kemp Mill is currently zoned to Northwood, which is region 1, but in the existing boundary options is rezoned to Kennedy, which is region 3.

But when the parent asks why they moved Kemp Mill to Kennedy and whether there is any chance to change the assignment back to Northwood, Cat Malchodi says "Kemp Mill is assigned to region 3, which is why they were assigned to Kennedy High School."

And she's the key person interfacing with Flo Analytics on how the boundary maps are drawn, right, so she should know all the details here? I mean, maybe she just misspoke, but that sounds to me like they are telling Flo Analytics that they can't assign kids to different schools across certain pre-set boundary lines. I am not expressing any opinion on Kemp Mill specifically, but I do think Flo should be allowed to draw the best maps they can, not be told that they have to stick within these new regional boundaries for a program proposal that hasn't even been approved yet...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone speak Spanish well enough to tell if there was anything noteworthy from the Spanish Facebook event on this? https://www.facebook.com/share/1BX59KD3Zv/

Okay I skimmed it and you don't need to know Spanish because the key staff members apparently don't either and they give all their answers in English and they're then translated for the parents.

Most of it is just a rehash of stuff we all know, but there's an interesting moment around 34:00 where a parent from Kemp Mill asks whether there's any change they can be assigned to Northwood rather than Kennedy and the answer is along the lines of "no, because Northwood is in region 1 and Kennedy is in region 3, and Kemp Mill is in region 3 so it has to be assigned to Kennedy."

Is that really how they're doing things?

I don't think so. It's just that Kemp Mill is currently zoned to Northwood, which is region 1, but in the existing boundary options is rezoned to Kennedy, which is region 3.

But when the parent asks why they moved Kemp Mill to Kennedy and whether there is any chance to change the assignment back to Northwood, Cat Malchodi says "Kemp Mill is assigned to region 3, which is why they were assigned to Kennedy High School."

And she's the key person interfacing with Flo Analytics on how the boundary maps are drawn, right, so she should know all the details here? I mean, maybe she just misspoke, but that sounds to me like they are telling Flo Analytics that they can't assign kids to different schools across certain pre-set boundary lines. I am not expressing any opinion on Kemp Mill specifically, but I do think Flo should be allowed to draw the best maps they can, not be told that they have to stick within these new regional boundaries for a program proposal that hasn't even been approved yet...

I do think there is truth to this. Interesting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone speak Spanish well enough to tell if there was anything noteworthy from the Spanish Facebook event on this? https://www.facebook.com/share/1BX59KD3Zv/

Okay I skimmed it and you don't need to know Spanish because the key staff members apparently don't either and they give all their answers in English and they're then translated for the parents.

Most of it is just a rehash of stuff we all know, but there's an interesting moment around 34:00 where a parent from Kemp Mill asks whether there's any change they can be assigned to Northwood rather than Kennedy and the answer is along the lines of "no, because Northwood is in region 1 and Kennedy is in region 3, and Kemp Mill is in region 3 so it has to be assigned to Kennedy."

Is that really how they're doing things?

I don't think so. It's just that Kemp Mill is currently zoned to Northwood, which is region 1, but in the existing boundary options is rezoned to Kennedy, which is region 3.

But when the parent asks why they moved Kemp Mill to Kennedy and whether there is any chance to change the assignment back to Northwood, Cat Malchodi says "Kemp Mill is assigned to region 3, which is why they were assigned to Kennedy High School."

And she's the key person interfacing with Flo Analytics on how the boundary maps are drawn, right, so she should know all the details here? I mean, maybe she just misspoke, but that sounds to me like they are telling Flo Analytics that they can't assign kids to different schools across certain pre-set boundary lines. I am not expressing any opinion on Kemp Mill specifically, but I do think Flo should be allowed to draw the best maps they can, not be told that they have to stick within these new regional boundaries for a program proposal that hasn't even been approved yet...

Hmm. But on the map they've been sharing in the program analysis slides, Kemp Mill is within region 1. So how did it get "assigned to region 3" before the new boundaries were even drawn?:

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone speak Spanish well enough to tell if there was anything noteworthy from the Spanish Facebook event on this? https://www.facebook.com/share/1BX59KD3Zv/

Okay I skimmed it and you don't need to know Spanish because the key staff members apparently don't either and they give all their answers in English and they're then translated for the parents.

Most of it is just a rehash of stuff we all know, but there's an interesting moment around 34:00 where a parent from Kemp Mill asks whether there's any change they can be assigned to Northwood rather than Kennedy and the answer is along the lines of "no, because Northwood is in region 1 and Kennedy is in region 3, and Kemp Mill is in region 3 so it has to be assigned to Kennedy."

Is that really how they're doing things?

I don't think so. It's just that Kemp Mill is currently zoned to Northwood, which is region 1, but in the existing boundary options is rezoned to Kennedy, which is region 3.

But when the parent asks why they moved Kemp Mill to Kennedy and whether there is any chance to change the assignment back to Northwood, Cat Malchodi says "Kemp Mill is assigned to region 3, which is why they were assigned to Kennedy High School."

And she's the key person interfacing with Flo Analytics on how the boundary maps are drawn, right, so she should know all the details here? I mean, maybe she just misspoke, but that sounds to me like they are telling Flo Analytics that they can't assign kids to different schools across certain pre-set boundary lines. I am not expressing any opinion on Kemp Mill specifically, but I do think Flo should be allowed to draw the best maps they can, not be told that they have to stick within these new regional boundaries for a program proposal that hasn't even been approved yet...

Hmm. But on the map they've been sharing in the program analysis slides, Kemp Mill is within region 1. So how did it get "assigned to region 3" before the new boundaries were even drawn?:

Who knows what MCPS is doing and why they're doing it....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone speak Spanish well enough to tell if there was anything noteworthy from the Spanish Facebook event on this? https://www.facebook.com/share/1BX59KD3Zv/

Okay I skimmed it and you don't need to know Spanish because the key staff members apparently don't either and they give all their answers in English and they're then translated for the parents.

Most of it is just a rehash of stuff we all know, but there's an interesting moment around 34:00 where a parent from Kemp Mill asks whether there's any change they can be assigned to Northwood rather than Kennedy and the answer is along the lines of "no, because Northwood is in region 1 and Kennedy is in region 3, and Kemp Mill is in region 3 so it has to be assigned to Kennedy."

Is that really how they're doing things?

I don't think so. It's just that Kemp Mill is currently zoned to Northwood, which is region 1, but in the existing boundary options is rezoned to Kennedy, which is region 3.

But when the parent asks why they moved Kemp Mill to Kennedy and whether there is any chance to change the assignment back to Northwood, Cat Malchodi says "Kemp Mill is assigned to region 3, which is why they were assigned to Kennedy High School."

And she's the key person interfacing with Flo Analytics on how the boundary maps are drawn, right, so she should know all the details here? I mean, maybe she just misspoke, but that sounds to me like they are telling Flo Analytics that they can't assign kids to different schools across certain pre-set boundary lines. I am not expressing any opinion on Kemp Mill specifically, but I do think Flo should be allowed to draw the best maps they can, not be told that they have to stick within these new regional boundaries for a program proposal that hasn't even been approved yet...

Hmm. But on the map they've been sharing in the program analysis slides, Kemp Mill is within region 1. So how did it get "assigned to region 3" before the new boundaries were even drawn?:

Those are all just following existing school boundary lines, though, right? Which makes sense for a public presentation because you don't know which of the new options to use. Doesn't mean they don't have their own set of boundary lines behind the scenes...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone speak Spanish well enough to tell if there was anything noteworthy from the Spanish Facebook event on this? https://www.facebook.com/share/1BX59KD3Zv/

Okay I skimmed it and you don't need to know Spanish because the key staff members apparently don't either and they give all their answers in English and they're then translated for the parents.

Most of it is just a rehash of stuff we all know, but there's an interesting moment around 34:00 where a parent from Kemp Mill asks whether there's any change they can be assigned to Northwood rather than Kennedy and the answer is along the lines of "no, because Northwood is in region 1 and Kennedy is in region 3, and Kemp Mill is in region 3 so it has to be assigned to Kennedy."

Is that really how they're doing things?

I don't think so. It's just that Kemp Mill is currently zoned to Northwood, which is region 1, but in the existing boundary options is rezoned to Kennedy, which is region 3.

But when the parent asks why they moved Kemp Mill to Kennedy and whether there is any chance to change the assignment back to Northwood, Cat Malchodi says "Kemp Mill is assigned to region 3, which is why they were assigned to Kennedy High School."

And she's the key person interfacing with Flo Analytics on how the boundary maps are drawn, right, so she should know all the details here? I mean, maybe she just misspoke, but that sounds to me like they are telling Flo Analytics that they can't assign kids to different schools across certain pre-set boundary lines. I am not expressing any opinion on Kemp Mill specifically, but I do think Flo should be allowed to draw the best maps they can, not be told that they have to stick within these new regional boundaries for a program proposal that hasn't even been approved yet...

Hmm. But on the map they've been sharing in the program analysis slides, Kemp Mill is within region 1. So how did it get "assigned to region 3" before the new boundaries were even drawn?:

Those are all just following existing school boundary lines, though, right? Which makes sense for a public presentation because you don't know which of the new options to use. Doesn't mean they don't have their own set of boundary lines behind the scenes...

Maybe they should wait for the BOE to approve boundaries before pushing this through but for reasons they are unwilling to explain they refuse to do that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone speak Spanish well enough to tell if there was anything noteworthy from the Spanish Facebook event on this? https://www.facebook.com/share/1BX59KD3Zv/

Okay I skimmed it and you don't need to know Spanish because the key staff members apparently don't either and they give all their answers in English and they're then translated for the parents.

Most of it is just a rehash of stuff we all know, but there's an interesting moment around 34:00 where a parent from Kemp Mill asks whether there's any change they can be assigned to Northwood rather than Kennedy and the answer is along the lines of "no, because Northwood is in region 1 and Kennedy is in region 3, and Kemp Mill is in region 3 so it has to be assigned to Kennedy."

Is that really how they're doing things?

I don't think so. It's just that Kemp Mill is currently zoned to Northwood, which is region 1, but in the existing boundary options is rezoned to Kennedy, which is region 3.

But when the parent asks why they moved Kemp Mill to Kennedy and whether there is any chance to change the assignment back to Northwood, Cat Malchodi says "Kemp Mill is assigned to region 3, which is why they were assigned to Kennedy High School."

And she's the key person interfacing with Flo Analytics on how the boundary maps are drawn, right, so she should know all the details here? I mean, maybe she just misspoke, but that sounds to me like they are telling Flo Analytics that they can't assign kids to different schools across certain pre-set boundary lines. I am not expressing any opinion on Kemp Mill specifically, but I do think Flo should be allowed to draw the best maps they can, not be told that they have to stick within these new regional boundaries for a program proposal that hasn't even been approved yet...

Hmm. But on the map they've been sharing in the program analysis slides, Kemp Mill is within region 1. So how did it get "assigned to region 3" before the new boundaries were even drawn?:

Those are all just following existing school boundary lines, though, right? Which makes sense for a public presentation because you don't know which of the new options to use. Doesn't mean they don't have their own set of boundary lines behind the scenes...

Maybe they should wait for the BOE to approve boundaries before pushing this through but for reasons they are unwilling to explain they refuse to do that.

+1. And if they have a countywide map with their new fixed regional lines already, share that! We can see only parts of it in the boundary options maps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone speak Spanish well enough to tell if there was anything noteworthy from the Spanish Facebook event on this? https://www.facebook.com/share/1BX59KD3Zv/

Okay I skimmed it and you don't need to know Spanish because the key staff members apparently don't either and they give all their answers in English and they're then translated for the parents.

Most of it is just a rehash of stuff we all know, but there's an interesting moment around 34:00 where a parent from Kemp Mill asks whether there's any change they can be assigned to Northwood rather than Kennedy and the answer is along the lines of "no, because Northwood is in region 1 and Kennedy is in region 3, and Kemp Mill is in region 3 so it has to be assigned to Kennedy."

Is that really how they're doing things?

Yes. They have made the proposed regional boundaries the primary criteria in drawing all other boundaries.

It's a blatant violation of BoE/MCPS policy on drawing boundary maps but they don't care and they hope parents won't notice.

https://ww2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/policy/pdf/faara.pdf

If there is a lawyer out there who wants to draft a nastygram to MCPS telling them to play by their own rules, I would buy that lawyer a drink.

[Anonymous]

If you look at the interactive map on the boundary study websites, you can see the regional boundaries. They're listed in the menu of "layers" for these maps.

They don't even make the effort to call them "proposed regional boundaries." They're treating them as if they're finalized.

https://maulfoster.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/basic/index.html?appid=abb4df2fd6e94d18839cd85f4eea1360

[Anonymous]

Message went out about the Blair meeting on Monday. Sounds like they are going to try hard to avoid what happened at Kennedy and keep people from asking questions and sharing concerns in a large group. Any thoughts on how to make sure we can still be heard?

"We’ve designed these meetings so every family can get clear, useful information—no matter
where you are in the process. MCPS staff will be stationed throughout the space to answer your
questions—whether you’re just learning the basics or have specific questions about boundaries,
secondary program pathways, middle school options, or how potential changes may affect your
school. You will also see a video message from Superintendent Taylor, and staff will help guide
conversations and connect you with the information you need. These sessions are structured for
purposeful engagement so every voice is heard and every participant receives support."