School Boundaries and "One Fairfax"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not PP, but FCPS could have slots for each middle school, which at a minimum would create greater geographic diversity. A very large percentage of TJ kids now come from four pyramids: McLean, Oakton, Langley, and Chantilly.

So, you are suggesting geography rather than academic merit? You might as well close TJ or make it gened.

I think the idea of allocating seats per middle school or region would maintain support for TJ, but if your idea of academic merit is narrow enough to suggest it's primarily limited to the AAP programs at Carson, Longfellow, Rocky Run and Cooper, it might just be better to close TJ instead, following the precepts of One Fairfax.

Good luck with that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why does every thread in this forum turn into a thread about TJ?

Because what else would people argue about. It take 2% of FCPS students. But 100% of DCUM has an opinion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is the type of issue where “progressive” young parents in their 30’s first encounter liberal polices first hand.

You may have voted Dem without thinking twice your entire life, but if you like me have worked hard and sacrificed to afford a house in a school district you chose, you have to realize that there is a good chance your kids may be re-zoned into a different school in the name of “social justice” in the next 5-10 years.

You bought in Oakton / Langley Pyramid? - Herndon
You wanted your kids to go to Woodson / Lake Braddock? - they are now heading to Annandale
You though they were going to McLean? - it’s now Stuart / Justice
West Springfield is now Lee

This isn’t hyperbole, at the last working meeting they specifically reviewed changes to policy documents that would allow for widespread boundary changes in the name of “racial composition of students”, changing it from "socioeconomic characteristics of schools."

If you are ok with your children being part of this experiment then I applaud you on standing by your morals, sacrificing your child’s education and home value to serve idea I guess is a laudable act.

Please keep all of this in mind when you vote for School Board and County positions this fall. This election is going to be the biggest change in power in FFX county since the 1970’s with so many incumbents not seeking re-election.

Let's look at these one by one.

FCPS has expanded or is expanding Oakton, Herndon and Langley, and Langley is under-enrolled, so it's unlikely Oakton or Langley kids will get moved to Herndon.

There are areas at Lake Braddock and Woodson that used to go to Annandale, so no one should be surprised if the decide at some point to send ome neighborhoods back to Annandale.

The only school to which kids at overcrowded McLean will be moving is Langley and they aren't going to leapfrog the Falls Church district to send kids to Justice.

They've moved kids from Lee to West Springfield in recent years, so they could move kids from West Springfield to Lee at some point, too. But West Springfield also was just expanded, so that's less likely than it would have been if they'd just renovated WSHS.

NP here. Your analysis is soley based on the capacity. What this school board is trying to do is to add a new criteria based on OneFairfax. That is to rebalance school demographics based on socioeconomic facotr. Herndon and Langley are close but their demogrpahics are compeletly different. So they may try to switch some of wealth great falls area with some of poor Herndon area. Same for West Springfield and Lee.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone have actual information

Actual downloadable and sortable via excel info is on VDOE not FCPS. That is also the source for IB utilization and can be analyzed in conjunction with program and detail budgets. Actual informaton combined shows an astronomical IB cost per senior in IB. http://www.doe.virginia.gov/statistics_reports/index.shtml

enrollment reported to state can vary from the dashboard:

http://schoolprofiles.fcps.edu/schlprfl/f?p=108:42:13789698018908::NO:42_SCHOOL_YEAR,P42_CLUSTER_ID,P42_DIVISION_ID,P42_SCHOOL_ID:201819,1,DIVISION,

TJ sept =1781 v program capacity 2164=383. Utilization 82%
TJ june =1766 v program capacity 2164=398. Utilzation


So why isn't that site used? Buses are running.

Where is the actual boundary adjustment information

[Anonymous]

NP here. Your analysis is soley based on the capacity. What this school board is trying to do is to add a new criteria based on OneFairfax. That is to rebalance school demographics based on socioeconomic facotr. Herndon and Langley are close but their demogrpahics are compeletly different. So they may try to switch some of wealth great falls area with some of poor Herndon area. Same for West Springfield and Lee.

The proposed policy--which will likely be passed--is to use socioeconomic factors as the first consideration in a reshuffling. That comes before proximity, geography, traffic patterns, neighborhood communities,avoiding split feeders,etc.

This is what disturbs people.

And, yes, with this policy, they could ship very poor immigrant kids from Herndon to Langley. ( I don't think they will do this.) If they did do this, it will increase truancy, decrease participation in school activities, and almost eliminate almost any family involvement for the kids being transported there.

And, this is the problem with our School Board--they never consider unintended consequences when they make decisions. They only consider their social activism. They almost never think about how it will affect the kids in reality. Their minds are on utopia--not real life.

To me, there is no greater example of their disconnect than when several members were determined to change the name of Stuart to Thurgood Marshall--totally ignoring the fact that there was already a Marshall High School in FCPS. Tunnel vision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why does every thread in this forum turn into a thread about TJ?

Because the lack of underrepresented minorities is unconscionable, correct?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does every thread in this forum turn into a thread about TJ?

Because the lack of underrepresented minorities is unconscionable, correct?

...and what about students with disabilities who have the academic chops to get into TJ, but need the support an IEP or 504 provides? Does anyone have numbers on those students?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

NP here. Your analysis is soley based on the capacity. What this school board is trying to do is to add a new criteria based on OneFairfax. That is to rebalance school demographics based on socioeconomic facotr. Herndon and Langley are close but their demogrpahics are compeletly different. So they may try to switch some of wealth great falls area with some of poor Herndon area. Same for West Springfield and Lee.

The proposed policy--which will likely be passed--is to use socioeconomic factors as the first consideration in a reshuffling. That comes before proximity, geography, traffic patterns, neighborhood communities,avoiding split feeders,etc.

This is what disturbs people.

And, yes, with this policy, they could ship very poor immigrant kids from Herndon to Langley. ( I don't think they will do this.) If they did do this, it will increase truancy, decrease participation in school activities, and almost eliminate almost any family involvement for the kids being transported there.

And, this is the problem with our School Board--they never consider unintended consequences when they make decisions. They only consider their social activism. They almost never think about how it will affect the kids in reality. Their minds are on utopia--not real life.

To me, there is no greater example of their disconnect than when several members were determined to change the name of Stuart to Thurgood Marshall--totally ignoring the fact that there was already a Marshall High School in FCPS. Tunnel vision.

Anything that increases the numbers of buses on the roads is a no go. They can't find enough bus drivers for the buses they have and the fleet is almost on life support because of its average age. So, unless the SB is wiling to increase the transportation budget massively (both for drivers and for more buses), it will be bound by the current number of buses. Haven't seen a board willing to do that. I think they will be able to change boundaries where bussing is not increased- but that will be where the HS are clustered together.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

NP here. Your analysis is soley based on the capacity. What this school board is trying to do is to add a new criteria based on OneFairfax. That is to rebalance school demographics based on socioeconomic facotr. Herndon and Langley are close but their demogrpahics are compeletly different. So they may try to switch some of wealth great falls area with some of poor Herndon area. Same for West Springfield and Lee.

The proposed policy--which will likely be passed--is to use socioeconomic factors as the first consideration in a reshuffling. That comes before proximity, geography, traffic patterns, neighborhood communities,avoiding split feeders,etc.

This is what disturbs people.

And, yes, with this policy, they could ship very poor immigrant kids from Herndon to Langley. ( I don't think they will do this.) If they did do this, it will increase truancy, decrease participation in school activities, and almost eliminate almost any family involvement for the kids being transported there.

And, this is the problem with our School Board--they never consider unintended consequences when they make decisions. They only consider their social activism. They almost never think about how it will affect the kids in reality. Their minds are on utopia--not real life.

To me, there is no greater example of their disconnect than when several members were determined to change the name of Stuart to Thurgood Marshall--totally ignoring the fact that there was already a Marshall High School in FCPS. Tunnel vision.

Before any of the factors you mention would be considered, under the revised policy there would need to be a finding that, for example, a school is overcrowded or under-enrolled. Only then would factors such as SES and racial demographics come into play as relevant considerations.

Now, granted, virtually every school is either above or below capacity, so in theory the School Board could undertake a massive redistricting to try and adjust demographics under the new policy. But there is nothing that is stopping them from doing that today, and it has not happened. Moreover, the revised policy specifically states that adjustments should avoid the creation of attendance islands, which also speaks to the lack of intent to create a patchwork quilt of attendance areas.

All the policy really signals is that, when a boundary adjustment is otherwise necessary, the School Board is going to try and avoid increasing the SES and demographic imbalances that already exist throughout FCPS due to housing patterns, zoning, and existing boundaries.

For the life of me, I can’t understand why this bothers people - especially the privileged out in Great Falls - so much. I understand they have a long-term concern that, if a new high school is built in western Fairfax, they will move over to Herndon. Tough - that high school may or may get built and it is at least a decade away. Do you plan to mislead everyone as to the School Board’s intentions for a solid decade to try and avoid that result?

And why continue to harp on the Stuart renaming? Didn’t Thurgood Marshall live in that community? The “Justice” name honors him without creating confusion with the other Marshall HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Why does every thread in this forum turn into a thread about TJ?


Because the lack of underrepresented minorities is unconscionable, correct?


...and what about students with disabilities who have the academic chops to get into TJ, but need the support an IEP or 504 provides? Does anyone have numbers on those students?

Legally, TJ would not be able to turn away the type of student you are describing above.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

NP here. Your analysis is soley based on the capacity. What this school board is trying to do is to add a new criteria based on OneFairfax. That is to rebalance school demographics based on socioeconomic facotr. Herndon and Langley are close but their demogrpahics are compeletly different. So they may try to switch some of wealth great falls area with some of poor Herndon area. Same for West Springfield and Lee.

The proposed policy--which will likely be passed--is to use socioeconomic factors as the first consideration in a reshuffling. That comes before proximity, geography, traffic patterns, neighborhood communities,avoiding split feeders,etc.

This is what disturbs people.

And, yes, with this policy, they could ship very poor immigrant kids from Herndon to Langley. ( I don't think they will do this.) If they did do this, it will increase truancy, decrease participation in school activities, and almost eliminate almost any family involvement for the kids being transported there.

And, this is the problem with our School Board--they never consider unintended consequences when they make decisions. They only consider their social activism. They almost never think about how it will affect the kids in reality. Their minds are on utopia--not real life.

To me, there is no greater example of their disconnect than when several members were determined to change the name of Stuart to Thurgood Marshall--totally ignoring the fact that there was already a Marshall High School in FCPS. Tunnel vision.

Before any of the factors you mention would be considered, under the revised policy there would need to be a finding that, for example, a school is overcrowded or under-enrolled. Only then would factors such as SES and racial demographics come into play as relevant considerations.

Now, granted, virtually every school is either above or below capacity, so in theory the School Board could undertake a massive redistricting to try and adjust demographics under the new policy. But there is nothing that is stopping them from doing that today, and it has not happened. Moreover, the revised policy specifically states that adjustments should avoid the creation of attendance islands, which also speaks to the lack of intent to create a patchwork quilt of attendance areas.

All the policy really signals is that, when a boundary adjustment is otherwise necessary, the School Board is going to try and avoid increasing the SES and demographic imbalances that already exist throughout FCPS due to housing patterns, zoning, and existing boundaries.

For the life of me, I can’t understand why this bothers people - especially the privileged out in Great Falls - so much. I understand they have a long-term concern that, if a new high school is built in western Fairfax, they will move over to Herndon. Tough - that high school may or may get built and it is at least a decade away. Do you plan to mislead everyone as to the School Board’s intentions for a solid decade to try and avoid that result?

And why continue to harp on the Stuart renaming? Didn’t Thurgood Marshall live in that community? The “Justice” name honors him without creating confusion with the other Marshall HS.

Even the night they changed the name, one of the Board members was trying to finesse a way to honor only Marshall. But, in the early process, the designers of the process did intend to name it Thurgood Marshall. The example was given as a flaming lack of common sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

NP here. Your analysis is soley based on the capacity. What this school board is trying to do is to add a new criteria based on OneFairfax. That is to rebalance school demographics based on socioeconomic facotr. Herndon and Langley are close but their demogrpahics are compeletly different. So they may try to switch some of wealth great falls area with some of poor Herndon area. Same for West Springfield and Lee.

The proposed policy--which will likely be passed--is to use socioeconomic factors as the first consideration in a reshuffling. That comes before proximity, geography, traffic patterns, neighborhood communities,avoiding split feeders,etc.

This is what disturbs people.

And, yes, with this policy, they could ship very poor immigrant kids from Herndon to Langley. ( I don't think they will do this.) If they did do this, it will increase truancy, decrease participation in school activities, and almost eliminate almost any family involvement for the kids being transported there.

And, this is the problem with our School Board--they never consider unintended consequences when they make decisions. They only consider their social activism. They almost never think about how it will affect the kids in reality. Their minds are on utopia--not real life.

To me, there is no greater example of their disconnect than when several members were determined to change the name of Stuart to Thurgood Marshall--totally ignoring the fact that there was already a Marshall High School in FCPS. Tunnel vision.

Before any of the factors you mention would be considered, under the revised policy there would need to be a finding that, for example, a school is overcrowded or under-enrolled. Only then would factors such as SES and racial demographics come into play as relevant considerations.

Now, granted, virtually every school is either above or below capacity, so in theory the School Board could undertake a massive redistricting to try and adjust demographics under the new policy. But there is nothing that is stopping them from doing that today, and it has not happened. Moreover, the revised policy specifically states that adjustments should avoid the creation of attendance islands, which also speaks to the lack of intent to create a patchwork quilt of attendance areas.

All the policy really signals is that, when a boundary adjustment is otherwise necessary, the School Board is going to try and avoid increasing the SES and demographic imbalances that already exist throughout FCPS due to housing patterns, zoning, and existing boundaries.

For the life of me, I can’t understand why this bothers people - especially the privileged out in Great Falls - so much. I understand they have a long-term concern that, if a new high school is built in western Fairfax, they will move over to Herndon. Tough - that high school may or may get built and it is at least a decade away. Do you plan to mislead everyone as to the School Board’s intentions for a solid decade to try and avoid that result?

And why continue to harp on the Stuart renaming? Didn’t Thurgood Marshall live in that community? The “Justice” name honors him without creating confusion with the other Marshall HS.

Even the night they changed the name, one of the Board members was trying to finesse a way to honor only Marshall. But, in the early process, the designers of the process did intend to name it Thurgood Marshall. The example was given as a flaming lack of common sense.

Your argument is weak. If they’d gone ahead and only honored Marshall, they still probably would have come up “Justice Thurgood Marshall” and referred to the school as Justice or Thurgood to avoid confusion with GCM. According to the school’s web site, Justice is still intended to honor Marshall, along with two other individuals.

I think less common sense was displayed by the School Board when it chose to name schools after Confederate generals after the Supreme Court ordered school desegregation. How could they not have known those names would be considered unacceptable some day?

[Anonymous]

What they need to do is figure out all of their priorities and then measure where every school is relative to these priorities. And then redraw boundaries to fix deficiencies to a tolerable level. It shouldn't be one priority above all. Some schools have different and larger deficiencies than others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

And to top it of my political party is calling prior board members who actually did their task where not stymied by other politicians racists! Prior board filled Kilmer then South Lakes yet current board is ???

Read the comments too:

https://bluevirginia.us/2019/07/video-fairfax-county-school-board-discusses-boundaries-policy-republicans-ratchet-up-the-rhetoric-with-105-days-until-the-election

Sorry, who is criticizing anyone for prior decisions that affected Kilmer or South Lakes?

I don't take Blue Virginia seriously. Lowell Feld (lowkell) is a left-wing hack who is out of touch with most Democrats in the county. And John Ferrell, one of those commenting, is a bully from Reston who is now largely persona non grata within the FCDC and has a huge chip on his shoulder when it comes to any schools with more white kids than South Lakes.

He also lives in Arlington and doesn't have kids, so he's just stirring the pot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Why does every thread in this forum turn into a thread about TJ?


Because the lack of underrepresented minorities is unconscionable, correct?


...and what about students with disabilities who have the academic chops to get into TJ, but need the support an IEP or 504 provides? Does anyone have numbers on those students?

Legally, TJ would not be able to turn away the type of student you are describing above.

This is not my understanding. If a student needs more intensive special ed supports than what's available TJ, he can't attend regardless of intellectual ability.