Initial boundary options for Woodward study area are up

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Farmland ES is proposed to go to Kennedy HS in option 3? It's SO far

And would remove Farmland from Tilden which is walking distance for most.

I thought they would keep students within walking zones. Makes no sense to move Farmland away from Tilden and Woodward for that matter. To Kennedy.

This is one reason Option 3 is not reasonable.

[Anonymous]

Option three is just crazy to me. Our kids would go to Blair. The kids literally across the street from us would go to BCC.

[Anonymous]

MCPS cant fix all the inequality in MOCO. More affordable housing in Whitman district would help alleviate that but nimby sentiment is strong there. Schools with higher FARMS rates even if they don't meet focus or title I levels need more teachers so there are fewer kids in class. But MCPS will never do that as west county will scream that their kids are bing denied something they paid for in their property taxes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Option three is just crazy to me. Our kids would go to Blair. The kids literally across the street from us would go to BCC.

Yup. And the house across the street would sell for $100k more than yours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Option three is just crazy to me. Our kids would go to Blair. The kids literally across the street from us would go to BCC.

The boundary has to be somewhere. Folks across the street from each other are in different states in some areas.

[Anonymous]

I gotta say that, so far, I like how MCPS is sharing info up front, so people can mull it over and consider what it means for them and their community.

Pre-pandemic, the idea of redrawing boundaries generated a lot of anxiety and controversy.

Based on this thread, today, I'd say there is interest and maybe some concern, but not a lot of anxiety or a sense of deep unfairness among most commenters. Maybe that's coming, as one or more options seem like the favored ones, but so far people seem to be taking the prospective changes pretty well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I gotta say that, so far, I like how MCPS is sharing info up front, so people can mull it over and consider what it means for them and their community.

Pre-pandemic, the idea of redrawing boundaries generated a lot of anxiety and controversy.

Based on this thread, today, I'd say there is interest and maybe some concern, but not a lot of anxiety or a sense of deep unfairness among most commenters. Maybe that's coming, as one or more options seem like the favored ones, but so far people seem to be taking the prospective changes pretty well.

I think as parents we are aware that our kids will do similarly regardless of what school they go to, while we may have preferences for less commute or other factors. But I expect that non-parents -- homeowners whose property values may be affected -- will be less forgiving once they catch wind of these changes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I gotta say that, so far, I like how MCPS is sharing info up front, so people can mull it over and consider what it means for them and their community.

Pre-pandemic, the idea of redrawing boundaries generated a lot of anxiety and controversy.

Based on this thread, today, I'd say there is interest and maybe some concern, but not a lot of anxiety or a sense of deep unfairness among most commenters. Maybe that's coming, as one or more options seem like the favored ones, but so far people seem to be taking the prospective changes pretty well.

I think as parents we are aware that our kids will do similarly regardless of what school they go to, while we may have preferences for less commute or other factors. But I expect that non-parents -- homeowners whose property values may be affected -- will be less forgiving once they catch wind of these changes.

Not all parents agree with that.

[Anonymous]

The thing is, once they alter this, everyone will just move to where it benefits them most and then calcifies again over the next 15-20 years. It solves nothing other than a temporary blip while wealthy families move to where the "best schools are". The only way to truly "engineer" this is to move to a countywide lottery like what San Francisco has (which just acknowledged it failed in its diversity goals and is revisiting its system). So in the end, I'm all for whatever results in the lowest cost to MCPS with the least amount of disruption, particularly with respect to split articulations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Option 3 is the only one which tries to balance FARMS rate but it seems it's bussing all over.

Just looks at the maps for 3. It's crazy. Several discontiguous boundaries. Lots of bussing. People will go crazy if they choose that one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Option 3 is the only one which tries to balance FARMS rate but it seems it's bussing all over.

Just looks at the maps for 3. It's crazy. Several discontiguous boundaries. Lots of bussing. People will go crazy if they choose that one.

Which is why it was probably thrown out there -- as a strawman so that they can reject it for more reasonable options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It looks like every single option except for #3 actually makes demographic disparities worse and benefits richer schools over poorer schools. And since the rich parents always seem to win in this county, I can't imagine we're actually going to get #3. This sucks.

Option 3 takes kids who currently live NEXT to Whitman and busses them to bcc. So no, you’re not going to get option 3. (And my kids don’t go there but it’s never going to happen).

Also current students who live NEXT to B-CC would get bussed to Blair. -DP

[Anonymous]

I hate the split articulation across the board. I know it already happens at some school, but this is just bad for kids’ social development. They’ll make news friends in middle school only to be separated from them in high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone have any smart ideas for tweaks that could make some of these options better? In particular I feel like option #3 could get a lot better with just a couple changes and would love to weigh in on the survey accordingly, but not sure of the details. (Maybe Farmland ES to Wheaton instead of Kennedy? But then not sure what the rest of the musical chairs would be.)

Option 3 will get killed for the bussing it requires alone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The thing is, once they alter this, everyone will just move to where it benefits them most and then calcifies again over the next 15-20 years. It solves nothing other than a temporary blip while wealthy families move to where the "best schools are". The only way to truly "engineer" this is to move to a countywide lottery like what San Francisco has (which just acknowledged it failed in its diversity goals and is revisiting its system). So in the end, I'm all for whatever results in the lowest cost to MCPS with the least amount of disruption, particularly with respect to split articulations.

Not true. People can move but the housing won't move. Maybe the rents in the multifamily buildings will go up a bit but there is a limit to how many families are willing to do that to get into a different school in the same district.