When are Herndon Middle and Herndon High going to get a break?!??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What about the large chunk of us Herndon homeowners who bought our homes ten years ago with the intention of sending our kids to a strong pyramid (back when FARM Rates were 1/3 what it is now!) Life is a bitch - make the best of it.

EXACTLY! These Langley folks had no issue suggesting we move and now look who suddenly care?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can only speak for myself and the Great Falls neighbors that I have talked to but here are the concerns. One is that real estate agents will tell you that a house zoned to Langley carries a financial premium because of the reputation of the school (right or wrong). There are many families who saved and sacrificed to be able to purchase a home in that school district so their kids could attend Langley because education was a family priority. For most people, their home is their single greatest financial asset. Facing the possibility of losing 20-30% of your home's value due to a capricious boundary change AND having your child now zoned for a school that is demonstrably weaker (graduation rates, SAT scores, SOL pass//pass advanced rates, reported behavior incidents, college matriculation....) is upsetting. No one I have talked to cares about the skin color or socioeconomic status of their kid's classmates. Another is frustration at the hubris of our School Board to think that their social engineering will fix the problems that they have been unable to address to date. They won't. Moving kids around simply masks the problems with the law of averages. Instead of spending money importing higher SOL/SAT scores, we should be spending the money to actually help the kids who need more. This is about the School Board making themselves look good not about actually helping kids that need help. Lastly, Great Falls is a small, close knit community. We see the benefits of having a community feed into one high school - the pride of alums, involvement of parents and support of businesses and community organizations. There is a synergy that develops over time. The school is not the building but the families, teachers and staff that are in the building. Changing boundaries disrupts that synergy - it can be rebuilt but it does disrupt.

Langley is currently under-enrolled. I have not talked to one Langley parent who is against opening up the school to bring in more students from outside their current boundaries. The concern is only if it will disrupt the synergy of the kids/families already there. Please don't misinterpret our concern for anything more than that.

Kids in Herndon go to four high schools. Kids in McLean go to three high schools. Kids in Vienna go to seven high schools.

If Great Falls split between Langley and McLean, or Langley and Madison, no one in Great Falls would bat an eye. It’s only the prospect of some kids attending Herndon, with its substantially higher ESOL/FARMS rates, that has the Great Falls parents up in arms. It has nothing to do with synergies or being an especially close knit community, and everything to do with real estate values and a mistrust of poorer families.

Can you tell me why someone should accept having their kids move from a great high school to a high school with a reputation for significant gang activity and a poor reputation (and scores)? And also accept the drop in property values? Because ... Fairness? Equity?

Ummm... how about it’s 10+ miles closer? Does that work for you?

Considering the school board and the county said that demographics is not a reason for a boundary shift, no. That's no reason.

I'm going to ask you again - why should Great Falls parents (or any parent for that matter) accept the loss in property values and the hit on their childrens' education?

There is no law that says the county cannot change boundaries. I’m sorry if the realtor who sold you your house told you otherwise...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about the large chunk of us Herndon homeowners who bought our homes ten years ago with the intention of sending our kids to a strong pyramid (back when FARM Rates were 1/3 what it is now!) Life is a bitch - make the best of it.

EXACTLY! These Langley folks had no issue suggesting we move and now look who suddenly care?

+1,000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can only speak for myself and the Great Falls neighbors that I have talked to but here are the concerns. One is that real estate agents will tell you that a house zoned to Langley carries a financial premium because of the reputation of the school (right or wrong). There are many families who saved and sacrificed to be able to purchase a home in that school district so their kids could attend Langley because education was a family priority. For most people, their home is their single greatest financial asset. Facing the possibility of losing 20-30% of your home's value due to a capricious boundary change AND having your child now zoned for a school that is demonstrably weaker (graduation rates, SAT scores, SOL pass//pass advanced rates, reported behavior incidents, college matriculation....) is upsetting. No one I have talked to cares about the skin color or socioeconomic status of their kid's classmates. Another is frustration at the hubris of our School Board to think that their social engineering will fix the problems that they have been unable to address to date. They won't. Moving kids around simply masks the problems with the law of averages. Instead of spending money importing higher SOL/SAT scores, we should be spending the money to actually help the kids who need more. This is about the School Board making themselves look good not about actually helping kids that need help. Lastly, Great Falls is a small, close knit community. We see the benefits of having a community feed into one high school - the pride of alums, involvement of parents and support of businesses and community organizations. There is a synergy that develops over time. The school is not the building but the families, teachers and staff that are in the building. Changing boundaries disrupts that synergy - it can be rebuilt but it does disrupt.

Langley is currently under-enrolled. I have not talked to one Langley parent who is against opening up the school to bring in more students from outside their current boundaries. The concern is only if it will disrupt the synergy of the kids/families already there. Please don't misinterpret our concern for anything more than that.

Kids in Herndon go to four high schools. Kids in McLean go to three high schools. Kids in Vienna go to seven high schools.

If Great Falls split between Langley and McLean, or Langley and Madison, no one in Great Falls would bat an eye. It’s only the prospect of some kids attending Herndon, with its substantially higher ESOL/FARMS rates, that has the Great Falls parents up in arms. It has nothing to do with synergies or being an especially close knit community, and everything to do with real estate values and a mistrust of poorer families.

Can you tell me why someone should accept having their kids move from a great high school to a high school with a reputation for significant gang activity and a poor reputation (and scores)? And also accept the drop in property values? Because ... Fairness? Equity?

Ummm... how about it’s 10+ miles closer? Does that work for you?

Considering the school board and the county said that demographics is not a reason for a boundary shift, no. That's no reason.

I'm going to ask you again - why should Great Falls parents (or any parent for that matter) accept the loss in property values and the hit on their childrens' education?

DP. The current policy already states that both “proximity” and the “socioeconomic characteristics of school populations” can be taken into account when redistribution school boundaries. If/when the School Board revises that policy, those factors likely will receive even greater prominence.

You should stop asking rhetorical questions when you apparently don’t know there are answers to those questions. If the School Board concludes changing the Langley/Herndon boundaries would improve “operating efficiency” (e.g., by reducing the amount of time kids spend on buses) or “instructional effectiveness” (e.g., by ensuring comparable advanced academic offerings remain available at both schools), it absolutely can look at demographics.

[Anonymous]

To the person obsessed with moving Forestville to Herndon:

Please lay out the plan of how you are going to achieve this. Herndon is already overcrowded. Please lay out your plan for redistricting. Some of the Herndon kids have to go elsewhere. Then, the next school will have to bump someone out, etc. etc.

And, you were mistaken. Kids in Herndon go to one school. Herndon. If you are talking about zip codes, then the number is six--not four. If you put all those "Herndon" kids in Herndon High School, it would triple in size. Current schools with kids from what you consider "Herndon" are: Westfield; South Lakes; Oakton, Chantilly; Langley, and, of course, Herndon. That does not include the large cohort that goes to TJ.

Please be specific and explain how you plan to accomplish this.

If you cannot do this, then I suggest you give it up until they build a new high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To the person obsessed with moving Forestville to Herndon:

Please lay out the plan of how you are going to achieve this. Herndon is already overcrowded. Please lay out your plan for redistricting. Some of the Herndon kids have to go elsewhere. Then, the next school will have to bump someone out, etc. etc.

And, you were mistaken. Kids in Herndon go to one school. Herndon. If you are talking about zip codes, then the number is six--not four. If you put all those "Herndon" kids in Herndon High School, it would triple in size. Current schools with kids from what you consider "Herndon" are: Westfield; South Lakes; Oakton, Chantilly; Langley, and, of course, Herndon. That does not include the large cohort that goes to TJ.

Please be specific and explain how you plan to accomplish this.

If you cannot do this, then I suggest you give it up until they build a new high school.

It’s cute that you think you are only responding to one poster. And if Herndon students attend six high schools, rather than four, it only makes the argument that Great Falls students should always be assigned to one high school even weaker.

[Anonymous]

It’s cute that you think you are only responding to one poster. And if Herndon students attend six high schools, rather than four, it only makes the argument that Great Falls students should always be assigned to one high school even weaker.

So, you cannot come up with a plan?

[Anonymous]

Great Falls residents: please aim your attorneys toward the realtors who sold you your houses on LIES.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

It’s cute that you think you are only responding to one poster. And if Herndon students attend six high schools, rather than four, it only makes the argument that Great Falls students should always be assigned to one high school even weaker.

So, you cannot come up with a plan?

Once again, the western GF residents should go to HHS. A subsection of FARM area students should go to Langley. That should not impact buses as they are currently bussing in kids from 16+ miles away from the school. In fact, this should ALLEVIATE current conditions.

You’re welcome.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the person obsessed with moving Forestville to Herndon:

Please lay out the plan of how you are going to achieve this. Herndon is already overcrowded. Please lay out your plan for redistricting. Some of the Herndon kids have to go elsewhere. Then, the next school will have to bump someone out, etc. etc.

And, you were mistaken. Kids in Herndon go to one school. Herndon. If you are talking about zip codes, then the number is six--not four. If you put all those "Herndon" kids in Herndon High School, it would triple in size. Current schools with kids from what you consider "Herndon" are: Westfield; South Lakes; Oakton, Chantilly; Langley, and, of course, Herndon. That does not include the large cohort that goes to TJ.

Please be specific and explain how you plan to accomplish this.

If you cannot do this, then I suggest you give it up until they build a new high school.

It’s cute that you think you are only responding to one poster. And if Herndon students attend six high schools, rather than four, it only makes the argument that Great Falls students should always be assigned to one high school even weaker.

This.

[Anonymous]

Once again, the western GF residents should go to HHS. A subsection of FARM area students should go to Langley. That should not impact buses as they are currently bussing in kids from 16+ miles away from the school. In fact, this should ALLEVIATE current conditions.

You’re welcome.

And, once again, you miss a couple of things:

You are taking a group of kids whose parents likely have little or no private transportation and sending them down the toll road during rush hour. (I am assuming you intend to send those along Elden St, near Kohl's. ) So, since they would be going to school during rush hour, the drive will be about an hour on the school bus. And, I am assuming close to that to come home. Their commute would be much tougher than what is claimed for the Great Falls kids.

After school activities? Who is going to pick them up? No football or soccer.
After school jobs? not possible

Sick at school? How will they get home?
Problems at school? Good luck on getting a parent there.

Thanks for your time. But, this is not a solution.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Once again, the western GF residents should go to HHS. A subsection of FARM area students should go to Langley. That should not impact buses as they are currently bussing in kids from 16+ miles away from the school. In fact, this should ALLEVIATE current conditions.

You’re welcome.

And, once again, you miss a couple of things:

You are taking a group of kids whose parents likely have little or no private transportation and sending them down the toll road during rush hour. (I am assuming you intend to send those along Elden St, near Kohl's. ) So, since they would be going to school during rush hour, the drive will be about an hour on the school bus. And, I am assuming close to that to come home. Their commute would be much tougher than what is claimed for the Great Falls kids.

After school activities? Who is going to pick them up? No football or soccer.
After school jobs? not possible

Sick at school? How will they get home?
Problems at school? Good luck on getting a parent there.

Thanks for your time. But, this is not a solution.

FCPS has a policy of trying to avoid split feeders. This proposal makes Cooper a split feeder and also creates one in Herndon Middle.

Another strike against this plan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Once again, the western GF residents should go to HHS. A subsection of FARM area students should go to Langley. That should not impact buses as they are currently bussing in kids from 16+ miles away from the school. In fact, this should ALLEVIATE current conditions.

You’re welcome.

And, once again, you miss a couple of things:

You are taking a group of kids whose parents likely have little or no private transportation and sending them down the toll road during rush hour. (I am assuming you intend to send those along Elden St, near Kohl's. ) So, since they would be going to school during rush hour, the drive will be about an hour on the school bus. And, I am assuming close to that to come home. Their commute would be much tougher than what is claimed for the Great Falls kids.

After school activities? Who is going to pick them up? No football or soccer.
After school jobs? not possible

Sick at school? How will they get home?
Problems at school? Good luck on getting a parent there.

Thanks for your time. But, this is not a solution.

FCPS has a policy of trying to avoid split feeders. This proposal makes Cooper a split feeder and also creates one in Herndon Middle.

Another strike against this plan.

I assume PP had a change in both the middle and high school assignments in mind, so no new split feeders.

Anyway, FCPS just turned Thoreau into a three-way split feeder to Madison, Marshall, and Oakton this past year, and you probably know Carson has long been a split feeder, so that’s the flimsiest of arguments.

[Anonymous]

I wasn't asking anyone to feel sorry for GF homeowners (and no one guaranteed anything - it's just a fact). I was trying to explain very practical reasons why they might be unhappy about a boundary change. Theirs is certainly not the only perspective. Personally, I am more frustrated that the School Board is choosing to spend their resources pushing this convoluted "solution" rather than directly addressing problems. I would like to see more resources at schools with high FARMs and ESOL. They have also done a lousy job planning (and getting developers to fund infrastructure demands) for growth within the county and instead of smart building (like a multi-level urban high school in the McLean/Tysons area) where the growth is, they are looking to shift students around and mask real problems. Our current school board has created a mess. I hope we get a lot of new blood and new ideas this November.

[Anonymous]

I assume PP had a change in both the middle and high school assignments in mind, so no new split feeders.

Anyway, FCPS just turned Thoreau into a three-way split feeder to Madison, Marshall, and Oakton this past year, and you probably know Carson has long been a split feeder, so that’s the flimsiest of arguments.

So, PP plans to send kids who are likely Herndon Middle School walkers to Cooper? That makes great sense. And, Forestville kids to Herndon Middle? Really? Lots more buses will be needed...........