Yup— major boundary changes incoming.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The whole county needs to be scrutinized and re-aligned thoughtfully.

And by “thoughtfully,” you mean in a way in which you approve.

Indeed. Likewise, I'm sure you thoughtfully approve of the current boundaries that isolate the colored and the poor away from your schools.

Funny. Our pyramid will have a large population of poor and POC population regardless of how the lines are drawn. So, that isn’t a factor for me. I grew up in a poorer, browner community and much violent community. Fairfax County is filled with a bunch of rich, multiracial snowplow parents raising snowflakes. It has been decades since a major re-alignment. Balance the school numbers and reduce the cost to taxpayers.

If anyone thinks being re-zoned will put their kids at a lesser school, then we have a major problem. All the schools should provide the same opportunities. Our HS gets put down a lot but plenty of kids who put in the time and effort go on to very good colleges.

Sure. Compare the after school offerings at Longfellow to Whitman and say that with a straight face.

I said should.

Also, who is responsible for afterschool offerings/ enrichment? PTA or FCPS? Our ES, MS and HS are regularly trashed on this board, so I am saying this with a straight-face. if you’re like 90% of DXUM, you’d prefer your current school over ours based on comments on this site.

It's a combination of the school and the PTA. My kids go to a middle school where there are no academic after school clubs other than tutoring. The school has other priorities and the PTA is broke. Meanwhile the better off schools have science olympiad, model un, coding, math counts, and even intramural sports. There is no equivalence between schools

So, the bone to pick re: afterschool activities is really with the PTA and maybe the county which could handle after school activities just like it does with SACC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The whole county needs to be scrutinized and re-aligned thoughtfully.

And by “thoughtfully,” you mean in a way in which you approve.

Indeed. Likewise, I'm sure you thoughtfully approve of the current boundaries that isolate the colored and the poor away from your schools.

Funny. Our pyramid will have a large population of poor and POC population regardless of how the lines are drawn. So, that isn’t a factor for me. I grew up in a poorer, browner community and much violent community. Fairfax County is filled with a bunch of rich, multiracial snowplow parents raising snowflakes. It has been decades since a major re-alignment. Balance the school numbers and reduce the cost to taxpayers.

If anyone thinks being re-zoned will put their kids at a lesser school, then we have a major problem. All the schools should provide the same opportunities. Our HS gets put down a lot but plenty of kids who put in the time and effort go on to very good colleges.

Sure. Compare the after school offerings at Longfellow to Whitman and say that with a straight face.

I said should.

Also, who is responsible for afterschool offerings/ enrichment? PTA or FCPS? Our ES, MS and HS are regularly trashed on this board, so I am saying this with a straight-face. if you’re like 90% of DXUM, you’d prefer your current school over ours based on comments on this site.

It's a combination of the school and the PTA. My kids go to a middle school where there are no academic after school clubs other than tutoring. The school has other priorities and the PTA is broke. Meanwhile the better off schools have science olympiad, model un, coding, math counts, and even intramural sports. There is no equivalence between schools

So, the bone to pick re: afterschool activities is really with the PTA and maybe the county which could handle after school activities just like it does with SACC.

I don't think some of you get how broken some of the FCPS schools are because of the overwhelming amount of poverty. The PTA has no resources to lean on. And for a number of reasons students don't participate (taking care of younger siblings, language and cultural barriers, for high school students - job to support family). So kids who want to participate are out of luck. Families figure this out, bail on that school, and the deterioration gets worse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nothing will happen on boundaries. It was all Dem the last four years and nothing happened. There is no incentive for them to do anything on boundaries. They will just spend more money expanding the preferred schools.

The board doesn't give a squat about citizen input.

Boundary changes will only come when the new western high school opens. Or if the school population declines so much that a high school would have to close. People in this day and age no longer have the stomach for the stress and upheaval, even if boundary changes aim to balance the demographics. It’s post pandemic malaise. I could be wrong but that’s my gut feeling. It’s just too much work, for FCPS and for the communities.

15 years ago there was more “stomach” for boundary changes. South Lakes HS was the beneficiary of that one, and that school is much stronger today.

The “new western high school” is a myth. The final nail of the coffin was the decision to move ahead with the expansion of Centreville High to 3000.

Given the number of high schools already expanded to 2500-3000 students, there’s no reason not to expand any remaining schools near or over capacity to at least 2500. Voters keep approving bonds that provide for school expansions, so that’s clearly what county residents prefer rather than halting construction and forcing a county-wide redistricting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The whole county needs to be scrutinized and re-aligned thoughtfully.

And by “thoughtfully,” you mean in a way in which you approve.

Indeed. Likewise, I'm sure you thoughtfully approve of the current boundaries that isolate the colored and the poor away from your schools.

"Colored"?? Good grief.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nothing will happen on boundaries. It was all Dem the last four years and nothing happened. There is no incentive for them to do anything on boundaries. They will just spend more money expanding the preferred schools.

The board doesn't give a squat about citizen input.

That comment make no sense in this context. Fairfax County citizens hate redistricting.

This is true ^^. The only people who constantly obsess and gnash their teeth about redistricting are DCUM's finest - the ones who insist we must racially and economically balance the schools, regardless of geography. Or maybe, in spite of geography.
DP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The whole county needs to be scrutinized and re-aligned thoughtfully.

And by “thoughtfully,” you mean in a way in which you approve.

Indeed. Likewise, I'm sure you thoughtfully approve of the current boundaries that isolate the colored and the poor away from your schools.

Funny. Our pyramid will have a large population of poor and POC population regardless of how the lines are drawn. So, that isn’t a factor for me. I grew up in a poorer, browner community and much violent community. Fairfax County is filled with a bunch of rich, multiracial snowplow parents raising snowflakes. It has been decades since a major re-alignment. Balance the school numbers and reduce the cost to taxpayers.

If anyone thinks being re-zoned will put their kids at a lesser school, then we have a major problem. All the schools should provide the same opportunities. Our HS gets put down a lot but plenty of kids who put in the time and effort go on to very good colleges.

Sure. Compare the after school offerings at Longfellow to Whitman and say that with a straight face.

I said should.

Also, who is responsible for afterschool offerings/ enrichment? PTA or FCPS? Our ES, MS and HS are regularly trashed on this board, so I am saying this with a straight-face. if you’re like 90% of DXUM, you’d prefer your current school over ours based on comments on this site.

It's a combination of the school and the PTA. My kids go to a middle school where there are no academic after school clubs other than tutoring. The school has other priorities and the PTA is broke. Meanwhile the better off schools have science olympiad, model un, coding, math counts, and even intramural sports. There is no equivalence between schools

So, the bone to pick re: afterschool activities is really with the PTA and maybe the county which could handle after school activities just like it does with SACC.

I don't think some of you get how broken some of the FCPS schools are because of the overwhelming amount of poverty. The PTA has no resources to lean on. And for a number of reasons students don't participate (taking care of younger siblings, language and cultural barriers, for high school students - job to support family). So kids who want to participate are out of luck. Families figure this out, bail on that school, and the deterioration gets worse.

Oh they can't be that poor, we pay them well to clean our houses, do our laundry, and stock and clean our retail and grocery shelves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nothing will happen on boundaries. It was all Dem the last four years and nothing happened. There is no incentive for them to do anything on boundaries. They will just spend more money expanding the preferred schools.

The board doesn't give a squat about citizen input.

That comment make no sense in this context. Fairfax County citizens hate redistricting.

This is true ^^. The only people who constantly obsess and gnash their teeth about redistricting are DCUM's finest - the ones who insist we must racially and economically balance the schools, regardless of geography. Or maybe, in spite of geography.
DP

So the citizens of this county, overwhelmingly liberal, want nothing to do with their kids going to school with the "undesirables". Limousine Liberals is how that is defined.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nothing will happen on boundaries. It was all Dem the last four years and nothing happened. There is no incentive for them to do anything on boundaries. They will just spend more money expanding the preferred schools.

The board doesn't give a squat about citizen input.

That comment make no sense in this context. Fairfax County citizens hate redistricting.

This is true ^^. The only people who constantly obsess and gnash their teeth about redistricting are DCUM's finest - the ones who insist we must racially and economically balance the schools, regardless of geography. Or maybe, in spite of geography.
DP

So the citizens of this county, overwhelmingly liberal, want nothing to do with their kids going to school with the "undesirables". Limousine Liberals is how that is defined.

I’m a liberal, and there is zero cognitive dissonance for me. People on this board often seem to advocate for redistricting in order to soak the rich, not considering how disruptive redistricting would be to everyone involved. I get that people are committed to equity, but to be laser-focused on it at the expense of all else puts you in the extreme wing of the party, and creates many more problems than it solves.

And sometimes I wonder if the people advocating for it own real estate in an area of the country that they think would benefit from redistricting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nothing will happen on boundaries. It was all Dem the last four years and nothing happened. There is no incentive for them to do anything on boundaries. They will just spend more money expanding the preferred schools.

The board doesn't give a squat about citizen input.

That comment make no sense in this context. Fairfax County citizens hate redistricting.

This is true ^^. The only people who constantly obsess and gnash their teeth about redistricting are DCUM's finest - the ones who insist we must racially and economically balance the schools, regardless of geography. Or maybe, in spite of geography.
DP

So the citizens of this county, overwhelmingly liberal, want nothing to do with their kids going to school with the "undesirables". Limousine Liberals is how that is defined.

I’m a liberal, and there is zero cognitive dissonance for me. People on this board often seem to advocate for redistricting in order to soak the rich, not considering how disruptive redistricting would be to everyone involved. I get that people are committed to equity, but to be laser-focused on it at the expense of all else puts you in the extreme wing of the party, and creates many more problems than it solves.

And sometimes I wonder if the people advocating for it own real estate in an area of the country that they think would benefit from redistricting.

Local politics in Fairfax is all about doing favors for your friends in the same party.

If Elaine Tholen wanted to reject a FCPS staff recommendation in 2021 in order to keep any moderate-income housing out of Langley, she had 11 other Democrats happy to ignore their purported commitment to “equity” and increase segregation.

If Robyn Lady wants to move Forestville from Langley to Herndon to preserve Herndon’s ability to offer advanced classes, she’ll have 11 other Democrats happy to support it in the name of “equity.”

Not saying this will be a priority for Lady, but if it is she will get what she wants because with 12 Ds they will just trade favors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nothing will happen on boundaries. It was all Dem the last four years and nothing happened. There is no incentive for them to do anything on boundaries. They will just spend more money expanding the preferred schools.

The board doesn't give a squat about citizen input.

That comment make no sense in this context. Fairfax County citizens hate redistricting.

This is true ^^. The only people who constantly obsess and gnash their teeth about redistricting are DCUM's finest - the ones who insist we must racially and economically balance the schools, regardless of geography. Or maybe, in spite of geography.
DP

So the citizens of this county, overwhelmingly liberal, want nothing to do with their kids going to school with the "undesirables". Limousine Liberals is how that is defined.

I’m a liberal, and there is zero cognitive dissonance for me. People on this board often seem to advocate for redistricting in order to soak the rich, not considering how disruptive redistricting would be to everyone involved. I get that people are committed to equity, but to be laser-focused on it at the expense of all else puts you in the extreme wing of the party, and creates many more problems than it solves.

And sometimes I wonder if the people advocating for it own real estate in an area of the country that they think would benefit from redistricting.

The people advocating for it want every school to feel like what one would expect from a Fairfax County school. It's a little absurd that many schools are far closer to resembling a poverty-stricken rural Texas town than a real representation of Fairfax County.

The people against it are the ones who feel that way primarily for real estate reasons. Just read the public comments from the last consultant boundary survey. E.g., "please don't change boundaries because our property value will go down."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nothing will happen on boundaries. It was all Dem the last four years and nothing happened. There is no incentive for them to do anything on boundaries. They will just spend more money expanding the preferred schools.

The board doesn't give a squat about citizen input.

That comment make no sense in this context. Fairfax County citizens hate redistricting.

This is true ^^. The only people who constantly obsess and gnash their teeth about redistricting are DCUM's finest - the ones who insist we must racially and economically balance the schools, regardless of geography. Or maybe, in spite of geography.
DP

So the citizens of this county, overwhelmingly liberal, want nothing to do with their kids going to school with the "undesirables". Limousine Liberals is how that is defined.

I’m a liberal, and there is zero cognitive dissonance for me. People on this board often seem to advocate for redistricting in order to soak the rich, not considering how disruptive redistricting would be to everyone involved. I get that people are committed to equity, but to be laser-focused on it at the expense of all else puts you in the extreme wing of the party, and creates many more problems than it solves.

And sometimes I wonder if the people advocating for it own real estate in an area of the country that they think would benefit from redistricting.

The people advocating for it want every school to feel like what one would expect from a Fairfax County school. It's a little absurd that many schools are far closer to resembling a poverty-stricken rural Texas town than a real representation of Fairfax County.

The people against it are the ones who feel that way primarily for real estate reasons. Just read the public comments from the last consultant boundary survey. E.g., "please don't change boundaries because our property value will go down."

The people advocating for it want a subsidy, whereby home equity is redistributed to their own advantage. The comparison of schools in Fairfax to poverty-stricken schools in Texas also misses the mark. Even the highest/poverty schools in FCPS offer a wide array of AP or IB classes, which simply is not the case in many school districts in other parts of the country.

And why do some people claim to love diversity so much, yet then make it their main mission in life to redistribute it away from their own communities and schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nothing will happen on boundaries. It was all Dem the last four years and nothing happened. There is no incentive for them to do anything on boundaries. They will just spend more money expanding the preferred schools.

The board doesn't give a squat about citizen input.

That comment make no sense in this context. Fairfax County citizens hate redistricting.

This is true ^^. The only people who constantly obsess and gnash their teeth about redistricting are DCUM's finest - the ones who insist we must racially and economically balance the schools, regardless of geography. Or maybe, in spite of geography.
DP

So the citizens of this county, overwhelmingly liberal, want nothing to do with their kids going to school with the "undesirables". Limousine Liberals is how that is defined.

I’m a liberal, and there is zero cognitive dissonance for me. People on this board often seem to advocate for redistricting in order to soak the rich, not considering how disruptive redistricting would be to everyone involved. I get that people are committed to equity, but to be laser-focused on it at the expense of all else puts you in the extreme wing of the party, and creates many more problems than it solves.

And sometimes I wonder if the people advocating for it own real estate in an area of the country that they think would benefit from redistricting.

The people advocating for it want every school to feel like what one would expect from a Fairfax County school. It's a little absurd that many schools are far closer to resembling a poverty-stricken rural Texas town than a real representation of Fairfax County.

The people against it are the ones who feel that way primarily for real estate reasons. Just read the public comments from the last consultant boundary survey. E.g., "please don't change boundaries because our property value will go down."

I’m all for good public schools, I just don’t believe that an equity-based redistricting is going to be the panacea that you seem to think it will be.

I’m not sure if you own your house, but a home is often a large portion of people’s net worth, and I think it is valid to worry about the value of one’s home. And the two aren’t mutually exclusive - homeowners in good school districts can prefer to stay in those school districts, and homeowners in other districts can desire a redistricting that can result in a home value increase.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nothing will happen on boundaries. It was all Dem the last four years and nothing happened. There is no incentive for them to do anything on boundaries. They will just spend more money expanding the preferred schools.

The board doesn't give a squat about citizen input.

That comment make no sense in this context. Fairfax County citizens hate redistricting.

This is true ^^. The only people who constantly obsess and gnash their teeth about redistricting are DCUM's finest - the ones who insist we must racially and economically balance the schools, regardless of geography. Or maybe, in spite of geography.
DP

So the citizens of this county, overwhelmingly liberal, want nothing to do with their kids going to school with the "undesirables". Limousine Liberals is how that is defined.

I’m a liberal, and there is zero cognitive dissonance for me. People on this board often seem to advocate for redistricting in order to soak the rich, not considering how disruptive redistricting would be to everyone involved. I get that people are committed to equity, but to be laser-focused on it at the expense of all else puts you in the extreme wing of the party, and creates many more problems than it solves.

And sometimes I wonder if the people advocating for it own real estate in an area of the country that they think would benefit from redistricting.

The people advocating for it want every school to feel like what one would expect from a Fairfax County school. It's a little absurd that many schools are far closer to resembling a poverty-stricken rural Texas town than a real representation of Fairfax County.

The people against it are the ones who feel that way primarily for real estate reasons. Just read the public comments from the last consultant boundary survey. E.g., "please don't change boundaries because our property value will go down."

The people advocating for it want a subsidy, whereby home equity is redistributed to their own advantage. The comparison of schools in Fairfax to poverty-stricken schools in Texas also misses the mark. Even the highest/poverty schools in FCPS offer a wide array of AP or IB classes, which simply is not the case in many school districts in other parts of the country.

And why do some people claim to love diversity so much, yet then make it their main mission in life to redistribute it away from their own communities and schools?

But in the cases of West Potomac - Mt. Vernon and West Springfield - Lewis the argument to redo boundaries could be made on capacity alone. No need for any other arguments.

In the case of West Potomac and Mt. Vernon, there was (and still is) plenty of capacity at Mt. Vernon to take on the excess students at West Potomac. Of course, no school board members objected when Karen Corbett-Sanders pushed the expansion of West Potomac to 3000.

In the case of West Springfield - Lewis, West Springfield is 10% over capacity and Lewis is 15% under capacity. This could be fixed by moving students from West Springfield to Lewis. The low enrollment at Lewis prevents it from offering classes (both variety and instances) on par with West Springfield (ignoring the AP\IB difference, which really makes things worse). As we know, this will never happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nothing will happen on boundaries. It was all Dem the last four years and nothing happened. There is no incentive for them to do anything on boundaries. They will just spend more money expanding the preferred schools.

The board doesn't give a squat about citizen input.

That comment make no sense in this context. Fairfax County citizens hate redistricting.

This is true ^^. The only people who constantly obsess and gnash their teeth about redistricting are DCUM's finest - the ones who insist we must racially and economically balance the schools, regardless of geography. Or maybe, in spite of geography.
DP

So the citizens of this county, overwhelmingly liberal, want nothing to do with their kids going to school with the "undesirables". Limousine Liberals is how that is defined.

I’m a liberal, and there is zero cognitive dissonance for me. People on this board often seem to advocate for redistricting in order to soak the rich, not considering how disruptive redistricting would be to everyone involved. I get that people are committed to equity, but to be laser-focused on it at the expense of all else puts you in the extreme wing of the party, and creates many more problems than it solves.

And sometimes I wonder if the people advocating for it own real estate in an area of the country that they think would benefit from redistricting.

The people advocating for it want every school to feel like what one would expect from a Fairfax County school. It's a little absurd that many schools are far closer to resembling a poverty-stricken rural Texas town than a real representation of Fairfax County.

The people against it are the ones who feel that way primarily for real estate reasons. Just read the public comments from the last consultant boundary survey. E.g., "please don't change boundaries because our property value will go down."

The people advocating for it want a subsidy, whereby home equity is redistributed to their own advantage. The comparison of schools in Fairfax to poverty-stricken schools in Texas also misses the mark. Even the highest/poverty schools in FCPS offer a wide array of AP or IB classes, which simply is not the case in many school districts in other parts of the country.

And why do some people claim to love diversity so much, yet then make it their main mission in life to redistribute it away from their own communities and schools?

But in the cases of West Potomac - Mt. Vernon and West Springfield - Lewis the argument to redo boundaries could be made on capacity alone. No need for any other arguments.

In the case of West Potomac and Mt. Vernon, there was (and still is) plenty of capacity at Mt. Vernon to take on the excess students at West Potomac. Of course, no school board members objected when Karen Corbett-Sanders pushed the expansion of West Potomac to 3000.

In the case of West Springfield - Lewis, West Springfield is 10% over capacity and Lewis is 15% under capacity. This could be fixed by moving students from West Springfield to Lewis. The low enrollment at Lewis prevents it from offering classes (both variety and instances) on par with West Springfield (ignoring the AP\IB difference, which really makes things worse). As we know, this will never happen.

They won’t move anyone to Mount Vernon now that West Potomac has been expanded to a ridiculous 3000 seats.

And it’s unlikely that the new Springfield District member, who lives in the South County area would “pick sides” and antagonize her new West Springfield constituents.

The former head of the Lewis PTA ran for an-at large seat. The Democrats demonized her and she lost. So the School Board has no one who really cares about Lewis. Keys Gamarra took a special interest in Lewis because it was renamed after John Lewis but she will be gone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nothing will happen on boundaries. It was all Dem the last four years and nothing happened. There is no incentive for them to do anything on boundaries. They will just spend more money expanding the preferred schools.

The board doesn't give a squat about citizen input.

That comment make no sense in this context. Fairfax County citizens hate redistricting.

This is true ^^. The only people who constantly obsess and gnash their teeth about redistricting are DCUM's finest - the ones who insist we must racially and economically balance the schools, regardless of geography. Or maybe, in spite of geography.
DP

So the citizens of this county, overwhelmingly liberal, want nothing to do with their kids going to school with the "undesirables". Limousine Liberals is how that is defined.

I’m a liberal, and there is zero cognitive dissonance for me. People on this board often seem to advocate for redistricting in order to soak the rich, not considering how disruptive redistricting would be to everyone involved. I get that people are committed to equity, but to be laser-focused on it at the expense of all else puts you in the extreme wing of the party, and creates many more problems than it solves.

And sometimes I wonder if the people advocating for it own real estate in an area of the country that they think would benefit from redistricting.

The people advocating for it want every school to feel like what one would expect from a Fairfax County school. It's a little absurd that many schools are far closer to resembling a poverty-stricken rural Texas town than a real representation of Fairfax County.

The people against it are the ones who feel that way primarily for real estate reasons. Just read the public comments from the last consultant boundary survey. E.g., "please don't change boundaries because our property value will go down."

The people advocating for it want a subsidy, whereby home equity is redistributed to their own advantage. The comparison of schools in Fairfax to poverty-stricken schools in Texas also misses the mark. Even the highest/poverty schools in FCPS offer a wide array of AP or IB classes, which simply is not the case in many school districts in other parts of the country.

And why do some people claim to love diversity so much, yet then make it their main mission in life to redistribute it away from their own communities and schools?

One could argue that the five pyramids that have 55%+ Hispanic and a similar FARMs percentage are not diverse. They are overly concentrated with poverty to their own detriment.