BOE Spring Facilities and Boundaries Work Session #3

[Anonymous]

correct me if i'm wrong but the boundary decision was essentially made yesterday right? since they didn't approve any alternative options to be considered, the board can only vote for the superintendent's recommendation on the 26th.

is the superintendant's original non-recommended option of opening crown while keeping wootton open still allowed to be voted for?

its very strange that Taylor is meeting with wootton only after the decision was already made.

[Anonymous]

Is this post related to 6 regions HS boundary zone? Any changes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is this post related to 6 regions HS boundary zone? Any changes?

Yes, it's related because the Boundary and Program changes are "inextricably linked" per MCPS. But no, no changes made it out of the Work Session.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:correct me if i'm wrong but the boundary decision was essentially made yesterday right? since they didn't approve any alternative options to be considered, the board can only vote for the superintendent's recommendation on the 26th.

is the superintendant's original non-recommended option of opening crown while keeping wootton open still allowed to be voted for?

its very strange that Taylor is meeting with wootton only after the decision was already made.

I think they could technically still vote for any of the options that were known to the community before the hearings, including the non-recommended one. But I doubt it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:correct me if i'm wrong but the boundary decision was essentially made yesterday right? since they didn't approve any alternative options to be considered, the board can only vote for the superintendent's recommendation on the 26th.

is the superintendant's original non-recommended option of opening crown while keeping wootton open still allowed to be voted for?

its very strange that Taylor is meeting with wootton only after the decision was already made.

Perhaps Taylor is seeing the error of his practice of ignoring the community when making his quickie decisions.

[Anonymous]

Unlikely. Iit's just to tick the box that he had community engagement with the Wootton community. Never mind that it is after his official recommendation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Unlikely. Iit's just to tick the box that he had community engagement with the Wootton community. Never mind that it is after his official recommendation.

I agree. Just like their after-the-fact “community engagement.”

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Is the option b alternative to the superintendents recommendation still on the table for the vote? Or no, because that would need a public hearing? Or maybe that was offered up before the public hearings?

No, because the board didn't approve it moving forward.

Not option b, which I realize didn’t advance. But what about the alternative?

I think a board member would have had to move the alternative and get a second, which didn't happen.

I’m pretty shocked that no one did so. Really weak and disappointing representation.

I was pretty offended that a contributing factor seemed to be: “you mean another meeting? That we have to show up for?” I’m really not paraphrasing that.

This is important and if they need more hearings, so be it. Also disappointed with abstaining.

These Board members are so lazy.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain to me how Edison and Wheaton High School work?

I thought they were distinct and separate high schools, but in this work session, MCPS confirmed that Edison's 500-seat capacity is factored into Wheaton's boundary and utilization rate.

They also talked about building out the unused shell space in the future as a way of alleviating overutilization at Wheaton.

So it seems that Wheaton and Edison are not in fact separate schools, but that Edison is an extension of Wheaton High School that is available to students across MCPS as a half-day program. Is that right?

Yeah, that confused me too. First it sounded like they were saying that it was based on assuming that 500 Wheaton students would be enrolled at Edison half-day, and that that's in line with current enrollment (although even that seems sketchy enough on its own since some non-Wheaton kids may choose Wheaton in the DCC because of Edison.) But then they said something about kids from the rest of the county going to Edison half-day and then walking over to Wheaton for the rest of the day, which is not how I thought it worked?

It's kind of the other way around. Students come to Edison's programs from over half the county. Those programs are half-day, with classes specific to the program delivered in the Edison building. The other half of the day is spent doing non-program classes (Math, ELA, etc.) at Wheaton. The two buildings are next to each other, basically sharing a campus.

MCPS estimates that there are/will be 500 (~125/year) non-Wheaton-catchment students attending Edison programs this way. It's different from the Regions/Programs effort, where RM's IB magnet, say, will be smaller than it is now and only from within its new region -- Edison's most-of-county catchment is not expected to change.

I'm confused. The tables show Wheaton currently has 2687 students attending and is at 98.8% capacity. But the CIP says Wheaton is overcrowded. Which is it?

How can non-Wheaton students attend Edison every day for half day? Logistically it sounds like a nightmare.

They have been doing so for years.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Is the option b alternative to the superintendents recommendation still on the table for the vote? Or no, because that would need a public hearing? Or maybe that was offered up before the public hearings?

No, because the board didn't approve it moving forward.

Not option b, which I realize didn’t advance. But what about the alternative?

I think a board member would have had to move the alternative and get a second, which didn't happen.

I’m pretty shocked that no one did so. Really weak and disappointing representation.

I was pretty offended that a contributing factor seemed to be: “you mean another meeting? That we have to show up for?” I’m really not paraphrasing that.

This is important and if they need more hearings, so be it. Also disappointed with abstaining.

These Board members are so lazy.

To be fair, it is supposed to be a part-time job. And it only pays $25,000 a year.

[Anonymous]

They should be able to show up at meetings for that. They represent us and are paid with taxpayer money. They were weak, allowing mcps to pull switcheroos and now we’re going to have a lawsuit. Do your oversight duties BOE!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh, more context on Julie's motives. She just admitted that her resolution is also to preserve the Chinese immersion program, which she obviously owes to her Chinese-American community as a Chinese-American herself.

Dunno how accurate this is. There was a lot of mobilizing by the two named elementary schools the resolution was primarily for. Potomac ES and their Chinese immersion is a minor bit. PES isn’t even actively advocating and the Chinese Immersion families are actually peeved about this.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Is the option b alternative to the superintendents recommendation still on the table for the vote? Or no, because that would need a public hearing? Or maybe that was offered up before the public hearings?

No, because the board didn't approve it moving forward.

Not option b, which I realize didn’t advance. But what about the alternative?

I think a board member would have had to move the alternative and get a second, which didn't happen.

I’m pretty shocked that no one did so. Really weak and disappointing representation.

I was pretty offended that a contributing factor seemed to be: “you mean another meeting? That we have to show up for?” I’m really not paraphrasing that.

This is important and if they need more hearings, so be it. Also disappointed with abstaining.

These Board members are so lazy.

To be fair, it is supposed to be a part-time job. And it only pays $25,000 a year.

They shouldn't run for the board if they can't make the necessary commitment. They knew what they were getting into.

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know: What happens if H does not pass on the 26th? Does the alternate option pass automatically? Does the alternate need to be voted on? Back to the drawing board?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know: What happens if H does not pass on the 26th? Does the alternate option pass automatically? Does the alternate need to be voted on? Back to the drawing board?

Everything would stay as it is currently. Back to the drawing board.