MCPS planning very limited regional program transportation (HS pickups only)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK. So for the two boundary studies, at least there are two sides with some valid concerns from each side to argue about the benefits/caveats. For the regional program, has anyone actually expressed positive support from the community? I've been following all BOE meeting testimony sessions, and I don't recall see a single testimony that embraces this idea. From the couple of in-person info sessions that I've attended, many were there to either learn for the first time, or express concerns, or ask questions. No one there to explicitly embrace the plan. The design team members had expressed numerous frustrating experience with the experience.

So what motivates BOE to approve a plan that no one except Taylor and his ass-kissers support?

Diego Uriburu and Byron Johns from the Black and Brown Coalition have expressed support for the regional program model.

So two people?

Yes, two people. I have not heard of anyone else tbh. I think the goal of what they are trying to achieve is something most people would support. But I think they didn’t give themselves enough runway to “iterate.” They also stupidly linked the timing to the boundary changes. Honestly, they could have saved themselves a lot of trouble if they didn’t overload the system with 12 layers of grandfathered transportation and transition in the same 2 years. But yeah, to the PP’s point, there is no support for this plan that I’ve heard of. I do think Rita and Brenda are supportive, but I truly think they are under informed about what is actually happening/being provided. They were sort of bamboozled by the superintendent with high level overviews that sounded good but are a bit of a house of cards underneath.

Rita and Brenda are not underinformed. They know it's a model that's being planned as it's being built, and they don't care that it's messy and think everything will be worked out in the end. They're choosing to trust Taylor's rose-colored glasses version of things versus the community's alarm-sounding over a plan that has good ideas and ideals, but lacks details and specificity that would build broad confidence and buy-in.

Board can vote to extend the study period for one-year, can they? This is what MCCPTA and MCEA essentially suggested: CO can then have enough time to develop rationale implementation plan (e.g., multi-year role-out, less programs or less regions, more equitable transportation, etc.) and most importantly, engaging and truly hearing from the community what they want, what the gaps are, and where to set what program. why rushing to doomed failure when you originally have a chance to make positive impact?

Yes, in theory this would have been the right move, but Taylor made very clear he was completely unwilling to wait (most obviously by getting the Black and Brown Coalition to make a statement in opposition to the delay, based in part on misinformation.) MCPS keeps pushing the "it has to be on the same schedule as the boundary study" line but it seems to me like that's mostly just a justification for them barreling ahead on the timeline they want.

Taylor is just really dug in on this plan on this timeline. There were enough requests for delay from enough stakeholders (MCEA, MCCPTA, County Council) that a less stubborn MCPS would probably have agreed to wait-- but when Board members have asked "can't we slow this down?" and MCPS has said "no we actually can't," they're in a tough spot. Really I think the way this could have actually been delayed would have been if County Council had brought them in for another hearing and been prepared with the right questions to fully debunk the "it has to happen in fall 2027" argument, and then the Board could have piggybacked off that.

How about we write to county council members to ask for a public hearing that they promised for last December? Is there enough time before the Mar. 26 decision date? I have zero hope and won't bother writing to BOE members anymore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK. So for the two boundary studies, at least there are two sides with some valid concerns from each side to argue about the benefits/caveats. For the regional program, has anyone actually expressed positive support from the community? I've been following all BOE meeting testimony sessions, and I don't recall see a single testimony that embraces this idea. From the couple of in-person info sessions that I've attended, many were there to either learn for the first time, or express concerns, or ask questions. No one there to explicitly embrace the plan. The design team members had expressed numerous frustrating experience with the experience.

So what motivates BOE to approve a plan that no one except Taylor and his ass-kissers support?

Diego Uriburu and Byron Johns from the Black and Brown Coalition have expressed support for the regional program model.

So two people?

Yes, two people. I have not heard of anyone else tbh. I think the goal of what they are trying to achieve is something most people would support. But I think they didn’t give themselves enough runway to “iterate.” They also stupidly linked the timing to the boundary changes. Honestly, they could have saved themselves a lot of trouble if they didn’t overload the system with 12 layers of grandfathered transportation and transition in the same 2 years. But yeah, to the PP’s point, there is no support for this plan that I’ve heard of. I do think Rita and Brenda are supportive, but I truly think they are under informed about what is actually happening/being provided. They were sort of bamboozled by the superintendent with high level overviews that sounded good but are a bit of a house of cards underneath.

Rita and Brenda are not underinformed. They know it's a model that's being planned as it's being built, and they don't care that it's messy and think everything will be worked out in the end. They're choosing to trust Taylor's rose-colored glasses version of things versus the community's alarm-sounding over a plan that has good ideas and ideals, but lacks details and specificity that would build broad confidence and buy-in.

Board can vote to extend the study period for one-year, can they? This is what MCCPTA and MCEA essentially suggested: CO can then have enough time to develop rationale implementation plan (e.g., multi-year role-out, less programs or less regions, more equitable transportation, etc.) and most importantly, engaging and truly hearing from the community what they want, what the gaps are, and where to set what program. why rushing to doomed failure when you originally have a chance to make positive impact?

Yes, in theory this would have been the right move, but Taylor made very clear he was completely unwilling to wait (most obviously by getting the Black and Brown Coalition to make a statement in opposition to the delay, based in part on misinformation.) MCPS keeps pushing the "it has to be on the same schedule as the boundary study" line but it seems to me like that's mostly just a justification for them barreling ahead on the timeline they want.

Taylor is just really dug in on this plan on this timeline. There were enough requests for delay from enough stakeholders (MCEA, MCCPTA, County Council) that a less stubborn MCPS would probably have agreed to wait-- but when Board members have asked "can't we slow this down?" and MCPS has said "no we actually can't," they're in a tough spot. Really I think the way this could have actually been delayed would have been if County Council had brought them in for another hearing and been prepared with the right questions to fully debunk the "it has to happen in fall 2027" argument, and then the Board could have piggybacked off that.

How about we write to county council members to ask for a public hearing that they promised for last December? Is there enough time before the Mar. 26 decision date? I have zero hope and won't bother writing to BOE members anymore.

There is almost zero chance it will actually be delayed. The main hope is trying to get adjustments made, like improvements to the transportation plan, and the best way to get those is to try to convince the Board members to ask about them before the vote.

I suppose you could ask Council to ask about this now too, but really a better time for that was a couple months ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK. So for the two boundary studies, at least there are two sides with some valid concerns from each side to argue about the benefits/caveats. For the regional program, has anyone actually expressed positive support from the community? I've been following all BOE meeting testimony sessions, and I don't recall see a single testimony that embraces this idea. From the couple of in-person info sessions that I've attended, many were there to either learn for the first time, or express concerns, or ask questions. No one there to explicitly embrace the plan. The design team members had expressed numerous frustrating experience with the experience.

So what motivates BOE to approve a plan that no one except Taylor and his ass-kissers support?

Diego Uriburu and Byron Johns from the Black and Brown Coalition have expressed support for the regional program model.

So two people?

Yes, two people. I have not heard of anyone else tbh. I think the goal of what they are trying to achieve is something most people would support. But I think they didn’t give themselves enough runway to “iterate.” They also stupidly linked the timing to the boundary changes. Honestly, they could have saved themselves a lot of trouble if they didn’t overload the system with 12 layers of grandfathered transportation and transition in the same 2 years. But yeah, to the PP’s point, there is no support for this plan that I’ve heard of. I do think Rita and Brenda are supportive, but I truly think they are under informed about what is actually happening/being provided. They were sort of bamboozled by the superintendent with high level overviews that sounded good but are a bit of a house of cards underneath.

Rita and Brenda are not underinformed. They know it's a model that's being planned as it's being built, and they don't care that it's messy and think everything will be worked out in the end. They're choosing to trust Taylor's rose-colored glasses version of things versus the community's alarm-sounding over a plan that has good ideas and ideals, but lacks details and specificity that would build broad confidence and buy-in.

Board can vote to extend the study period for one-year, can they? This is what MCCPTA and MCEA essentially suggested: CO can then have enough time to develop rationale implementation plan (e.g., multi-year role-out, less programs or less regions, more equitable transportation, etc.) and most importantly, engaging and truly hearing from the community what they want, what the gaps are, and where to set what program. why rushing to doomed failure when you originally have a chance to make positive impact?

Yes, in theory this would have been the right move, but Taylor made very clear he was completely unwilling to wait (most obviously by getting the Black and Brown Coalition to make a statement in opposition to the delay, based in part on misinformation.) MCPS keeps pushing the "it has to be on the same schedule as the boundary study" line but it seems to me like that's mostly just a justification for them barreling ahead on the timeline they want.

Taylor is just really dug in on this plan on this timeline. There were enough requests for delay from enough stakeholders (MCEA, MCCPTA, County Council) that a less stubborn MCPS would probably have agreed to wait-- but when Board members have asked "can't we slow this down?" and MCPS has said "no we actually can't," they're in a tough spot. Really I think the way this could have actually been delayed would have been if County Council had brought them in for another hearing and been prepared with the right questions to fully debunk the "it has to happen in fall 2027" argument, and then the Board could have piggybacked off that.

How about we write to county council members to ask for a public hearing that they promised for last December? Is there enough time before the Mar. 26 decision date? I have zero hope and won't bother writing to BOE members anymore.

There is almost zero chance it will actually be delayed. The main hope is trying to get adjustments made, like improvements to the transportation plan, and the best way to get those is to try to convince the Board members to ask about them before the vote.

I suppose you could ask Council to ask about this now too, but really a better time for that was a couple months ago.

Yeah, true. I was hoping the Mink and Jawando could slap Taylor and CO's face in December's hearing, and disappointed to learn that was not happening...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK. So for the two boundary studies, at least there are two sides with some valid concerns from each side to argue about the benefits/caveats. For the regional program, has anyone actually expressed positive support from the community? I've been following all BOE meeting testimony sessions, and I don't recall see a single testimony that embraces this idea. From the couple of in-person info sessions that I've attended, many were there to either learn for the first time, or express concerns, or ask questions. No one there to explicitly embrace the plan. The design team members had expressed numerous frustrating experience with the experience.

So what motivates BOE to approve a plan that no one except Taylor and his ass-kissers support?

Diego Uriburu and Byron Johns from the Black and Brown Coalition have expressed support for the regional program model.

So two people?

Yes, two people. I have not heard of anyone else tbh. I think the goal of what they are trying to achieve is something most people would support. But I think they didn’t give themselves enough runway to “iterate.” They also stupidly linked the timing to the boundary changes. Honestly, they could have saved themselves a lot of trouble if they didn’t overload the system with 12 layers of grandfathered transportation and transition in the same 2 years. But yeah, to the PP’s point, there is no support for this plan that I’ve heard of. I do think Rita and Brenda are supportive, but I truly think they are under informed about what is actually happening/being provided. They were sort of bamboozled by the superintendent with high level overviews that sounded good but are a bit of a house of cards underneath.

Rita and Brenda are not underinformed. They know it's a model that's being planned as it's being built, and they don't care that it's messy and think everything will be worked out in the end. They're choosing to trust Taylor's rose-colored glasses version of things versus the community's alarm-sounding over a plan that has good ideas and ideals, but lacks details and specificity that would build broad confidence and buy-in.

Board can vote to extend the study period for one-year, can they? This is what MCCPTA and MCEA essentially suggested: CO can then have enough time to develop rationale implementation plan (e.g., multi-year role-out, less programs or less regions, more equitable transportation, etc.) and most importantly, engaging and truly hearing from the community what they want, what the gaps are, and where to set what program. why rushing to doomed failure when you originally have a chance to make positive impact?

Yes, in theory this would have been the right move, but Taylor made very clear he was completely unwilling to wait (most obviously by getting the Black and Brown Coalition to make a statement in opposition to the delay, based in part on misinformation.) MCPS keeps pushing the "it has to be on the same schedule as the boundary study" line but it seems to me like that's mostly just a justification for them barreling ahead on the timeline they want.

Taylor is just really dug in on this plan on this timeline. There were enough requests for delay from enough stakeholders (MCEA, MCCPTA, County Council) that a less stubborn MCPS would probably have agreed to wait-- but when Board members have asked "can't we slow this down?" and MCPS has said "no we actually can't," they're in a tough spot. Really I think the way this could have actually been delayed would have been if County Council had brought them in for another hearing and been prepared with the right questions to fully debunk the "it has to happen in fall 2027" argument, and then the Board could have piggybacked off that.

How about we write to county council members to ask for a public hearing that they promised for last December? Is there enough time before the Mar. 26 decision date? I have zero hope and won't bother writing to BOE members anymore.

There is almost zero chance it will actually be delayed. The main hope is trying to get adjustments made, like improvements to the transportation plan, and the best way to get those is to try to convince the Board members to ask about them before the vote.

I suppose you could ask Council to ask about this now too, but really a better time for that was a couple months ago.

Yeah, true. I was hoping the Mink and Jawando could slap Taylor and CO's face in December's hearing, and disappointed to learn that was not happening...

They never did have a second hearing on the regional programs, did they? (Or if they did, does anyone have a link?)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK. So for the two boundary studies, at least there are two sides with some valid concerns from each side to argue about the benefits/caveats. For the regional program, has anyone actually expressed positive support from the community? I've been following all BOE meeting testimony sessions, and I don't recall see a single testimony that embraces this idea. From the couple of in-person info sessions that I've attended, many were there to either learn for the first time, or express concerns, or ask questions. No one there to explicitly embrace the plan. The design team members had expressed numerous frustrating experience with the experience.

So what motivates BOE to approve a plan that no one except Taylor and his ass-kissers support?

Diego Uriburu and Byron Johns from the Black and Brown Coalition have expressed support for the regional program model.

So two people?

Yes, two people. I have not heard of anyone else tbh. I think the goal of what they are trying to achieve is something most people would support. But I think they didn’t give themselves enough runway to “iterate.” They also stupidly linked the timing to the boundary changes. Honestly, they could have saved themselves a lot of trouble if they didn’t overload the system with 12 layers of grandfathered transportation and transition in the same 2 years. But yeah, to the PP’s point, there is no support for this plan that I’ve heard of. I do think Rita and Brenda are supportive, but I truly think they are under informed about what is actually happening/being provided. They were sort of bamboozled by the superintendent with high level overviews that sounded good but are a bit of a house of cards underneath.

Rita and Brenda are not underinformed. They know it's a model that's being planned as it's being built, and they don't care that it's messy and think everything will be worked out in the end. They're choosing to trust Taylor's rose-colored glasses version of things versus the community's alarm-sounding over a plan that has good ideas and ideals, but lacks details and specificity that would build broad confidence and buy-in.

Board can vote to extend the study period for one-year, can they? This is what MCCPTA and MCEA essentially suggested: CO can then have enough time to develop rationale implementation plan (e.g., multi-year role-out, less programs or less regions, more equitable transportation, etc.) and most importantly, engaging and truly hearing from the community what they want, what the gaps are, and where to set what program. why rushing to doomed failure when you originally have a chance to make positive impact?

Yes, in theory this would have been the right move, but Taylor made very clear he was completely unwilling to wait (most obviously by getting the Black and Brown Coalition to make a statement in opposition to the delay, based in part on misinformation.) MCPS keeps pushing the "it has to be on the same schedule as the boundary study" line but it seems to me like that's mostly just a justification for them barreling ahead on the timeline they want.

Taylor is just really dug in on this plan on this timeline. There were enough requests for delay from enough stakeholders (MCEA, MCCPTA, County Council) that a less stubborn MCPS would probably have agreed to wait-- but when Board members have asked "can't we slow this down?" and MCPS has said "no we actually can't," they're in a tough spot. Really I think the way this could have actually been delayed would have been if County Council had brought them in for another hearing and been prepared with the right questions to fully debunk the "it has to happen in fall 2027" argument, and then the Board could have piggybacked off that.

How about we write to county council members to ask for a public hearing that they promised for last December? Is there enough time before the Mar. 26 decision date? I have zero hope and won't bother writing to BOE members anymore.

There is almost zero chance it will actually be delayed. The main hope is trying to get adjustments made, like improvements to the transportation plan, and the best way to get those is to try to convince the Board members to ask about them before the vote.

I suppose you could ask Council to ask about this now too, but really a better time for that was a couple months ago.

Yeah, true. I was hoping the Mink and Jawando could slap Taylor and CO's face in December's hearing, and disappointed to learn that was not happening...

Mink and Jawando rarely slap Taylor's face....even when he deserves it. The only time Mink dared to bare her teeth is when she felt like he was targeting her personally.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Help me understand the issue. If you live far enough away from your home high school (the one you’re zoned for) to get bus service from your neighborhood to your home school, will that bus get you to your home school in time for you to catch a bus from your home school to your regional special program? Or is the issue that the buses to regional special programs leave home schools early enough that your neighborhood bus won’t get you to your home school in time?

If you live too close to your home school to qualify for busing from your neighborhood to your home school, then the burden was already on you to come up with your own transportation to your home school, so there’s no difference between getting yourself there to attend that home school versus getting yourself there to catch a bus to your regional special program.

Currently, how many locations do high school magnet buses depart from besides home high schools?

Lets say I live in Mt.Prospect, Travilah:

Mt.Prospect neighborhood to Wootton (wherever it may be) - 6 miles

Prior situation:
Mt.Prospect to Travilah ES - 0.5 to 1 mile (group stop for magnets) - my kid walks or I drop kid at the ES which is close by and kid goes to the magnet program
Travilah ES to RM - 7 miles
Travilah to Churchill - 7.5 miles


Now if it was buses only from the high schools to the regional magnets, kid first catches a neighborhood bus to Wootton/Wootton@Crown - 6 miles
Then from Wootton, kid catches another bus to go the next 2.5 to 3.5 miles.

If there is traffic on Wootton Pkwy/Great Seneca/Sam Eig/Muddy Branch, kid misses the bus that goes from Wootton/Wootton@Crown to RM or Churchill or Rockville HS.

You also have the dozens of buses in the high schools.

How is this feasible?

It was a nightmare when we had a half day last week and all the magnet buses and elementary school buses were at the ES.

Can you imagine how it would be in a high school? All these high school buses coming in and the regional magnet will leave on time regardless of whether all the kids got in or not. And then what happens? Are the parents supposed to come and pick up the kids to drive them to their chosen magnet school?









If my kid got into RM before these regional magnets, there would have been a group bus stop at Travilah ES.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Yep - how much is this regional disaster going to cost us?

Well, according to their draft budget from November, the programs themselves will cost about $10 million annually once they're rolled out to all four grades.

https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/DNLJXC4F4A19/$file/Regional%20Program%20Model%20FY2027-2031%20Budget%20251120.pdf

The draft budget says transportation will only cost about $1.3 million per year but I think that's crazy talk. The latest presentation to the BoE gave estimated number of students per region going to regional programs at about 2000 per region. About 90% of them will ride buses, according to calculations MCPS used in November. A bus holds about 50 students. So, if these numbers are accurate, they will need about 35-40 additional bus routes per region. The claim a single bus route costs $50,000. So we can conservatively estimate that transportation for the regional model will cost $10.5 million per year.

So the answer is $20.5 million per year, and fully half of that money is to schlep kids from place to place.

https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/DRTS9E719460/$file/Supt%20Rec%20Secondary%20Prog%20Analysis%20Boundary%20Studies%20260303%20PPT%20REV.pdf

[Anonymous]

There is no way that transportation will be $1.3M per year. Maybe per region, but not for all of the HS programs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is no way that transportation will be $1.3M per year. Maybe per region, but not for all of the HS programs.

PP here. I think they're pretending that there will be significant offsets from ending county-wide magnet transportation and DCC/NEC transportation. I checked at one point and I think RMIB has about 24 buses and I think the Blair magnet has 18. Other magnets only have a couple of buses apiece. Not enough to offset the whole regional model. And the new model will probably have about equal to the transport needs for the DCC and NEC. Offsets might mitigate some of the costs, but not the whole number.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is no way that transportation will be $1.3M per year. Maybe per region, but not for all of the HS programs.

PP here. I think they're pretending that there will be significant offsets from ending county-wide magnet transportation and DCC/NEC transportation. I checked at one point and I think RMIB has about 24 buses and I think the Blair magnet has 18. Other magnets only have a couple of buses apiece. Not enough to offset the whole regional model. And the new model will probably have about equal to the transport needs for the DCC and NEC. Offsets might mitigate some of the costs, but not the whole number.

Oh, and don't forget we have to add buses for Woodward, probably have additional buses to get Woodward kids to Crown, plus whatever buses they'll use to get Damascus or Magruder kids to Wooton while their schools are renovated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Help me understand the issue. If you live far enough away from your home high school (the one you’re zoned for) to get bus service from your neighborhood to your home school, will that bus get you to your home school in time for you to catch a bus from your home school to your regional special program? Or is the issue that the buses to regional special programs leave home schools early enough that your neighborhood bus won’t get you to your home school in time?

If you live too close to your home school to qualify for busing from your neighborhood to your home school, then the burden was already on you to come up with your own transportation to your home school, so there’s no difference between getting yourself there to attend that home school versus getting yourself there to catch a bus to your regional special program.

Currently, how many locations do high school magnet buses depart from besides home high schools?

Lets say I live in Mt.Prospect, Travilah:

Mt.Prospect neighborhood to Wootton (wherever it may be) - 6 miles

Prior situation:
Mt.Prospect to Travilah ES - 0.5 to 1 mile (group stop for magnets) - my kid walks or I drop kid at the ES which is close by and kid goes to the magnet program
Travilah ES to RM - 7 miles
Travilah to Churchill - 7.5 miles


Now if it was buses only from the high schools to the regional magnets, kid first catches a neighborhood bus to Wootton/Wootton@Crown - 6 miles
Then from Wootton, kid catches another bus to go the next 2.5 to 3.5 miles.

If there is traffic on Wootton Pkwy/Great Seneca/Sam Eig/Muddy Branch, kid misses the bus that goes from Wootton/Wootton@Crown to RM or Churchill or Rockville HS.

You also have the dozens of buses in the high schools.

How is this feasible?

It was a nightmare when we had a half day last week and all the magnet buses and elementary school buses were at the ES.

Can you imagine how it would be in a high school? All these high school buses coming in and the regional magnet will leave on time regardless of whether all the kids got in or not. And then what happens? Are the parents supposed to come and pick up the kids to drive them to their chosen magnet school?

If my kid got into RM before these regional magnets, there would have been a group bus stop at Travilah ES.

Nope, it is even worse than this. The kid is almost certainly not going to be able to take a neighborhood bus to Wootton and then transfer there to the regional program bus (unless MCPS wants to piss off all HS families by shifting all neighborhood bus routes 20+ minutes earlier)-- by the time the neighborhood buses get there, the regional program bus will most likely be gone. So either you would need to drive your kid to Wootton (or all the way to the regional program), or if you can't/won't, then your kid can't attend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Help me understand the issue. If you live far enough away from your home high school (the one you’re zoned for) to get bus service from your neighborhood to your home school, will that bus get you to your home school in time for you to catch a bus from your home school to your regional special program? Or is the issue that the buses to regional special programs leave home schools early enough that your neighborhood bus won’t get you to your home school in time?

If you live too close to your home school to qualify for busing from your neighborhood to your home school, then the burden was already on you to come up with your own transportation to your home school, so there’s no difference between getting yourself there to attend that home school versus getting yourself there to catch a bus to your regional special program.

Currently, how many locations do high school magnet buses depart from besides home high schools?

Lets say I live in Mt.Prospect, Travilah:

Mt.Prospect neighborhood to Wootton (wherever it may be) - 6 miles

Prior situation:
Mt.Prospect to Travilah ES - 0.5 to 1 mile (group stop for magnets) - my kid walks or I drop kid at the ES which is close by and kid goes to the magnet program
Travilah ES to RM - 7 miles
Travilah to Churchill - 7.5 miles


Now if it was buses only from the high schools to the regional magnets, kid first catches a neighborhood bus to Wootton/Wootton@Crown - 6 miles
Then from Wootton, kid catches another bus to go the next 2.5 to 3.5 miles.

If there is traffic on Wootton Pkwy/Great Seneca/Sam Eig/Muddy Branch, kid misses the bus that goes from Wootton/Wootton@Crown to RM or Churchill or Rockville HS.

You also have the dozens of buses in the high schools.

How is this feasible?

It was a nightmare when we had a half day last week and all the magnet buses and elementary school buses were at the ES.

Can you imagine how it would be in a high school? All these high school buses coming in and the regional magnet will leave on time regardless of whether all the kids got in or not. And then what happens? Are the parents supposed to come and pick up the kids to drive them to their chosen magnet school?

If my kid got into RM before these regional magnets, there would have been a group bus stop at Travilah ES.

Nope, it is even worse than this. The kid is almost certainly not going to be able to take a neighborhood bus to Wootton and then transfer there to the regional program bus (unless MCPS wants to piss off all HS families by shifting all neighborhood bus routes 20+ minutes earlier)-- by the time the neighborhood buses get there, the regional program bus will most likely be gone. So either you would need to drive your kid to Wootton (or all the way to the regional program), or if you can't/won't, then your kid can't attend.

And there won't be regional activity buses so kids can forget after school activities unless they have their own transportation home.

[Anonymous]

So what? If you're choosing to go to a program outside of your local school, find your own way there and back just like COSA students. Instead they're currently using special ed busses to pickup your students causing SN kids to be on busses for an hour+ ride. Absolutely ridiculous. I wish they would stop using special ed busses for convenience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is no way that transportation will be $1.3M per year. Maybe per region, but not for all of the HS programs.

PP here. I think they're pretending that there will be significant offsets from ending county-wide magnet transportation and DCC/NEC transportation. I checked at one point and I think RMIB has about 24 buses and I think the Blair magnet has 18. Other magnets only have a couple of buses apiece. Not enough to offset the whole regional model. And the new model will probably have about equal to the transport needs for the DCC and NEC. Offsets might mitigate some of the costs, but not the whole number.

Yup-- look at page 15 here: https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/DNLJXC4F4A19/$file/Regional%20Program%20Model%20FY2027-2031%20Budget%20251120.pdf

They calculate $3.5M in transportation costs in year 1 and $5.3M in year 2 (it's not double because it is "built on a factor of 1.5 for shared ridership," whatever that means.) Then the costs magically go down to $2.6M in year 3, $1.3M in year 4, and then in year 5 they just say "net reduction in transportation costs realized."

(Then again, in their calculations they repeatedly add five 1s and get 4, if that tells you how much to trust their numbers...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So what? If you're choosing to go to a program outside of your local school, find your own way there and back just like COSA students. Instead they're currently using special ed busses to pickup your students causing SN kids to be on busses for an hour+ ride. Absolutely ridiculous. I wish they would stop using special ed busses for convenience.

They claim the reason they're shaking everything up and spending millions of dollars on this new structure is to make it accessible to all students. If that's what you're going for, you can't just say "figure the transportation out yourself." (If you are going to say "figure it out yourself" and not care how many families that leaves behind, then you should just leave the current system the way it is. Turning everything upside-down just to create a different but even more inaccessible system is the worst of all worlds.)