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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

You’re welcome.

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

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

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

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

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

Oh we're supposed to be concerned that they have to drive 6 miles to the school for extracurricular activities instead of 16 miles? oh boo hoo! I feel so bad for you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

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

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

again, you seem to have trouble with math. Are you ok pp? bussing in Forestville kids to a school that is 10 miles closer to their homes is somehow bad for the environment and makes no sense? explain that to me again?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This comes up periodically but realistically there is a difference between busing kids whose families suppprt their attending an AAP center or TJ and busing Hispanic kids further away from schools closer to their residences because whites in Herndon think there are too many poor Hispanics in their pyramid.

It's not ideal, sure. But there are not many other solutions. It is a solution and it will help alleviate the burden on Herndon middle and Herndon high.

Anecdotally -- my white neighbors have remained, but the South Americans (Argentinians, Peruvians, Uruguayans, Venezuelan) have moved ... to Reston and Oakton (Madison).

good riddance!! great news! made my day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

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

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

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

This x 1,000

best post of the thread

[Anonymous]

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


again, you seem to have trouble with math. Are you ok pp? bussing in Forestville kids to a school that is 10 miles closer to their homes is somehow bad for the environment and makes no sense? explain that to me again?

You think that is better for the environment to bus Herndon Middle walkers to Cooper? Okay. You explain that. And, remember, they will have the same issues that their siblings at Langley will have. Going to be awfully hard to participate in after school activities or to get parent involvement--which is already difficult. And, running late in the a.m.? Won't be able to get to school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

You’re welcome.

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

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

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

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

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

Just accept and be the racist asshole that you were born to be. Don't pretend that you actually care about their well-being.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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


again, you seem to have trouble with math. Are you ok pp? bussing in Forestville kids to a school that is 10 miles closer to their homes is somehow bad for the environment and makes no sense? explain that to me again?

You think that is better for the environment to bus Herndon Middle walkers to Cooper? Okay. You explain that. And, remember, they will have the same issues that their siblings at Langley will have. Going to be awfully hard to participate in after school activities or to get parent involvement--which is already difficult. And, running late in the a.m.? Won't be able to get to school.

Lol. So cute that you are trying to pretend like you care about these people. You were and are a racist dipsh*t. Look in the mirror and accept that fact. Then come back to me and try harder.

[Anonymous]

So earlier it was suggested that Forestville was a middle-class area, and now we’re to believe their kids are uniquely situated to travel over a dozen miles to Cooper and Langley because they have personal chauffeurs to come to their aid if they miss the bus. Whereas kids from Herndon would be out of their element and adrift if they couldn’t walk to school?

[Anonymous]

Lol. So cute that you are trying to pretend like you care about these people. You were and are a racist dipsh*t. Look in the mirror and accept that fact. Then come back to me and try harder.

LOL! You want to kick the kids out of your school and I am a racist?

I do not live in any of those neighborhoods. I do not live in Langley or Herndon school districts. But, I can use a little common sense. I've said on here many times that Forestville should go to Herndon when there is a new high school. Until then, it makes no sense. I don't live anywhere near Great Falls, but I can look at a map.

And, I do care about those kids. You are the one who wants to kick them out of their home school. I'm just looking at the map and numbers. I am also speaking from experience of teaching kids in deep poverty who were bused for what is now called "equity." It does not work and creates more problems. Those are the kids who especially need to be in their community schools. Getting family involvement is next to impossible when the kids are bused out of their community. And, truancy becomes a bigger problem than it already is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So earlier it was suggested that Forestville was a middle-class area, and now we’re to believe their kids are uniquely situated to travel over a dozen miles to Cooper and Langley because they have personal chauffeurs to come to their aid if they miss the bus. Whereas kids from Herndon would be out of their element and adrift if they couldn’t walk to school?

If you are equating middle class with the kids PP wants to bus to Langley, you are quite naive. Most middle class people have cars. Big difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So earlier it was suggested that Forestville was a middle-class area, and now we’re to believe their kids are uniquely situated to travel over a dozen miles to Cooper and Langley because they have personal chauffeurs to come to their aid if they miss the bus. Whereas kids from Herndon would be out of their element and adrift if they couldn’t walk to school?

If you are equating middle class with the kids PP wants to bus to Langley, you are quite naive. Most middle class people have cars. Big difference.

Yes, cars that sit in parking lots near their employers, not in garages with a SAHP ready and able to drop everything and schlep kids 15 miles to Langley because they wanted to sleep an extra 20 minutes. I suspect your classism is greater than my naïveté.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

You’re welcome.

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

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

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

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

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

Just accept and be the racist asshole that you were born to be. Don't pretend that you actually care about their well-being.

You respond to logic and common sense by jumping up and down and screaming, "raciss, raciss!"

Game over, you lost.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So earlier it was suggested that Forestville was a middle-class area, and now we’re to believe their kids are uniquely situated to travel over a dozen miles to Cooper and Langley because they have personal chauffeurs to come to their aid if they miss the bus. Whereas kids from Herndon would be out of their element and adrift if they couldn’t walk to school?

If you are equating middle class with the kids PP wants to bus to Langley, you are quite naive. Most middle class people have cars. Big difference.

Yes, cars that sit in parking lots near their employers, not in garages with a SAHP ready and able to drop everything and schlep kids 15 miles to Langley because they wanted to sleep an extra 20 minutes. I suspect your classism is greater than my naïveté.

Wow. You really don't get it. Do you understand real poverty? Does you ever have to worry about meals on weekends for your kids? Do you have to rely on baggies of food supplied by churches and other volunteer organizations for your kids to eat on weekends? You are comparing that kind of poverty to being able to drive to work?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This comes up periodically but realistically there is a difference between busing kids whose families suppprt their attending an AAP center or TJ and busing Hispanic kids further away from schools closer to their residences because whites in Herndon think there are too many poor Hispanics in their pyramid.

It's not ideal, sure. But there are not many other solutions. It is a solution and it will help alleviate the burden on Herndon middle and Herndon high.

Anecdotally -- my white neighbors have remained, but the South Americans (Argentinians, Peruvians, Uruguayans, Venezuelan) have moved ... to Reston and Oakton (Madison).

good riddance!! great news! made my day.

??? This is terrible news. The Latinos who have money and education, and could help the Latino community are leaving. It's a great loss.

[Anonymous]

The School Board believes Capacity and Proximity are the top two considerations for boundaries. It just makes sense. You don't want to overfill or underfill a school and you really don't want to send students too far from home.

Herndon is currently over capacity so no one will be moved there in the near term.

Langley is under capacity by quite a bit and shrinking.

McLean is over capacity by quite a bit and growing.

In the near term Langley will absorb some of the McLean students. I don't think the School Board has any other option as construction would take too long and would ignore the empty space at Langley. I could be wrong - see Mt. Vernon/West Potomac.

Langley is not likely to take on any of the Herndon over crowding, but you never know. If you can bus Great Falls students to Langley then you could bus some of the current Herndon students (the poorer ones) to Langley. I'm not saying they will, just that they could.

I think the School Board has pushed off and will continue to push off the western high school because of this extreme resistance to boundary changes. If they never build that school then they can just continue to say there is no room at Herndon for the Great Falls students. Capacity is the only thing currently keeping the Great Falls students at Langley - both the under utilization of Langley and the overcrowding at Herndon. Proximity would certainly send the Great Falls kids to Herndon.

After capacity and proximity, the School Board should at least figure out a way not to make the disparity between schools worse. If there is an opportunity to make the disparity less, then they should take it.

The closing of split feeders tends to make disparity worse - see what happened to Lee as the split feeders between it and West Springfield have been closed. This has sent wealthier students to West Springfield while leaving nothing but poor feeders at Lee. So the closing of split feeders could be considered in conflict with the idea of trying not to make disparity worse (not always, but not infrequently either).