FCPS's "Obvious Elephant in the Room" - Does the West Potomac Expansion Foster Intolerance?

[Anonymous]

DP, but I thought point B was also about the Whitman kids who are bused to Sandburg for AAP and, once in the West Potomac pyramid, fight mightily to find ways to go to WestPo rather than MVHS.

The deck is stacked very heavily against MVHS and this ridiculous boondoggle of an WestPo expansion ought to be the final straw. But let’s pretend renaming Lee is dealing some powerful blow to white supremacy when the obvious racism gets ignored.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Amen! These people have been wasting our money for years and it is racism that doesn’t even bother to disguise itself.

+1 Nicely put!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Amen! These people have been wasting our money for years and it is racism that doesn’t even bother to disguise itself.

+1 Nicely put!

But, wasn't Corbett-Sanders one who pushed for name changes?

I've said this before, our School Board is full of people who "virtue signal." Well, having taught really, really poor kids of all colors, I can tell you that name changes will not change anything. (I am not saying it is not the right thing to do. But, advocating name changes while pushing to expand WPotomac is an example of "do as I say, not as I do."

I am NOT for busing. I taught in a bused school and it DOES NOT WORK. I am all for neighborhood schools because you get better support for kids and their families when the school is part of the community. That is why I am against AAP centers. It does not foster good communities. It is segregation that is not based on color (although the results are similar.)

[Anonymous]

The funding for the WestPo expansion when MV can house those students is outrageous! I have not been happy with Corbett-Sanders on the back to school issue--she is basically offline and non-responsive--and I didn't even know about this until this pot, so thank you.

I'm not sure what to do though--email Brabrand and McKay?

[Anonymous]

Yes WestPo, 3 rating on great schools, majority black and hispanic is clearly the problem, lets just ignore 9 and 10 rated high schools comprised almost entirely of affluent students. MVHS is bordered by three districts, one has a great school rating of 5, one 6 and one 3. Obviously the equitable solution is to take the three, combine it with the one and make a bad and terrible school into two very bad schools and ignore the schools to the west of both

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The funding for the WestPo expansion when MV can house those students is outrageous! I have not been happy with Corbett-Sanders on the back to school issue--she is basically offline and non-responsive--and I didn't even know about this until this pot, so thank you.

I'm not sure what to do though--email Brabrand and McKay?

Yes - maybe also email Dan Storck, the Mount Vernon rep to the Board of Supervisors. He is adamantly against a 3,000 student school.

This would be a good topic to discuss on tonight’s town hall with FCPS’s Superintendent Dr. Brabrand and the NAACP Fairfax. The topic is systemic racism in FCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Amen! These people have been wasting our money for years and it is racism that doesn’t even bother to disguise itself.

+1 Nicely put!

But, wasn't Corbett-Sanders one who pushed for name changes?

I've said this before, our School Board is full of people who "virtue signal." Well, having taught really, really poor kids of all colors, I can tell you that name changes will not change anything. (I am not saying it is not the right thing to do. But, advocating name changes while pushing to expand WPotomac is an example of "do as I say, not as I do."

I am NOT for busing. I taught in a bused school and it DOES NOT WORK. I am all for neighborhood schools because you get better support for kids and their families when the school is part of the community. That is why I am against AAP centers. It does not foster good communities. It is segregation that is not based on color (although the results are similar.)

Corbett-Sanders runs for the hills every time this is brought up because it is indefensible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes WestPo, 3 rating on great schools, majority black and hispanic is clearly the problem, lets just ignore 9 and 10 rated high schools comprised almost entirely of affluent students. MVHS is bordered by three districts, one has a great school rating of 5, one 6 and one 3. Obviously the equitable solution is to take the three, combine it with the one and make a bad and terrible school into two very bad schools and ignore the schools to the west of both

Excuses, excuses. Whatever the "equitable solution" may be, wasting money on a bloated West Potomac expansion so kids don't have to attend Mount Vernon is not it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes WestPo, 3 rating on great schools, majority black and hispanic is clearly the problem, lets just ignore 9 and 10 rated high schools comprised almost entirely of affluent students. MVHS is bordered by three districts, one has a great school rating of 5, one 6 and one 3. Obviously the equitable solution is to take the three, combine it with the one and make a bad and terrible school into two very bad schools and ignore the schools to the west of both

But to parents, the 3 on Great Schools for West Potomac is much better than the current Great Schools ranking of 1 for MVHS. Parents would rather send kids to WestPo than MVHS, and don’t want the boundaries to change. That is the problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes WestPo, 3 rating on great schools, majority black and hispanic is clearly the problem, lets just ignore 9 and 10 rated high schools comprised almost entirely of affluent students. MVHS is bordered by three districts, one has a great school rating of 5, one 6 and one 3. Obviously the equitable solution is to take the three, combine it with the one and make a bad and terrible school into two very bad schools and ignore the schools to the west of both

But to parents, the 3 on Great Schools for West Potomac is much better than the current Great Schools ranking of 1 for MVHS. Parents would rather send kids to WestPo than MVHS, and don’t want the boundaries to change. That is the problem.

I'm a parent in that pyramid. I'm fine with sending my kids to objectively bad middle and high schools (both great school 3 rated). The outcry to send us to an even worse high school while ignoring the better and more affluent schools in the area is infuriating. Hayfield and South County are both better schools than westpo by any metric you can come up with, but there is no talk of redistricting them to improve MVHS. If you want to redistrict for equity, great look at the boundary map and there are plenty of great schools bordering struggling schools, but somehow the issue is a mediocre school bordering a struggling school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes WestPo, 3 rating on great schools, majority black and hispanic is clearly the problem, lets just ignore 9 and 10 rated high schools comprised almost entirely of affluent students. MVHS is bordered by three districts, one has a great school rating of 5, one 6 and one 3. Obviously the equitable solution is to take the three, combine it with the one and make a bad and terrible school into two very bad schools and ignore the schools to the west of both

But to parents, the 3 on Great Schools for West Potomac is much better than the current Great Schools ranking of 1 for MVHS. Parents would rather send kids to WestPo than MVHS, and don’t want the boundaries to change. That is the problem.

I'm a parent in that pyramid. I'm fine with sending my kids to objectively bad middle and high schools (both great school 3 rated). The outcry to send us to an even worse high school while ignoring the better and more affluent schools in the area is infuriating. Hayfield and South County are both better schools than westpo by any metric you can come up with, but there is no talk of redistricting them to improve MVHS. If you want to redistrict for equity, great look at the boundary map and there are plenty of great schools bordering struggling schools, but somehow the issue is a mediocre school bordering a struggling school

Whatever works to not waste millions is fine by me.

[Anonymous]

Yep, all the resources the county lavishes on the East of rt 1- just compare are awesome rec centers and libraries to the rest of fairfax- clearly we’re a favored area. The county has taught local voters that the only way to get anything is to vote single issue otherwise we get nothing

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes WestPo, 3 rating on great schools, majority black and hispanic is clearly the problem, lets just ignore 9 and 10 rated high schools comprised almost entirely of affluent students. MVHS is bordered by three districts, one has a great school rating of 5, one 6 and one 3. Obviously the equitable solution is to take the three, combine it with the one and make a bad and terrible school into two very bad schools and ignore the schools to the west of both

But to parents, the 3 on Great Schools for West Potomac is much better than the current Great Schools ranking of 1 for MVHS. Parents would rather send kids to WestPo than MVHS, and don’t want the boundaries to change. That is the problem.

I'm a parent in that pyramid. I'm fine with sending my kids to objectively bad middle and high schools (both great school 3 rated). The outcry to send us to an even worse high school while ignoring the better and more affluent schools in the area is infuriating. Hayfield and South County are both better schools than westpo by any metric you can come up with, but there is no talk of redistricting them to improve MVHS. If you want to redistrict for equity, great look at the boundary map and there are plenty of great schools bordering struggling schools, but somehow the issue is a mediocre school bordering a struggling school

The issue is spending $36M to expand West Potomac to a ridiculous size when there are hundreds of seats available next door at Mt. Vernon. Full stop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes WestPo, 3 rating on great schools, majority black and hispanic is clearly the problem, lets just ignore 9 and 10 rated high schools comprised almost entirely of affluent students. MVHS is bordered by three districts, one has a great school rating of 5, one 6 and one 3. Obviously the equitable solution is to take the three, combine it with the one and make a bad and terrible school into two very bad schools and ignore the schools to the west of both

But to parents, the 3 on Great Schools for West Potomac is much better than the current Great Schools ranking of 1 for MVHS. Parents would rather send kids to WestPo than MVHS, and don’t want the boundaries to change. That is the problem.

I'm a parent in that pyramid. I'm fine with sending my kids to objectively bad middle and high schools (both great school 3 rated). The outcry to send us to an even worse high school while ignoring the better and more affluent schools in the area is infuriating. Hayfield and South County are both better schools than westpo by any metric you can come up with, but there is no talk of redistricting them to improve MVHS. If you want to redistrict for equity, great look at the boundary map and there are plenty of great schools bordering struggling schools, but somehow the issue is a mediocre school bordering a struggling school

The issue is spending $36M to expand West Potomac to a ridiculous size when there are hundreds of seats available next door at Mt. Vernon. Full stop.

You can always request to send your kid there is you’re worried about empty seats

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The issue is spending $36M to expand West Potomac to a ridiculous size when there are hundreds of seats available next door at Mt. Vernon. Full stop.

They should use that $36M to safely re-open FCPS schools.