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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Tholen has been fundamentally dishonest about the whole situation.  No doubt there are capacity challenges at McLean and elsewhere but we deserve better,

It was amusing, though, that she let slip to the MCA last week that it was important that boundaries reflect "geographical boundaries, such as Route 7."  That had to have been a Freudian slip, since the area that she moved to Langley (overriding the FCPS staff recommendation) consisted entirely of single-family neighborhoods [i]on the other side of Route 7 from Langley.[/i]  Just like every other l[b]ittle pocket in Herndon and Reston[/b] that's been scoped into the Langley boundary over the years consists of expensive single-family homes and no apartments.

And, of course, she paid lip service to the idea of eliminating split feeders, while failing to acknowledge that she's left Spring Hill as a split feeder, but now created a situation where every kid who lives in an expensive house goes to Cooper/Langley and every kid who lives in a rental or condo zoned to Spring Hill goes to Longfellow/McLean.  She similarly failed to acknowledge that she did nothing about the incredibly lopsided split feeder at Franklin Sherman, where 90% of the kids go to Longfellow/McLean and only 10% to Cooper/Langley.  She could have cleaned that up, but didn't touch it.

She also claimed it would be untenable to have a situation where kids zoned to McLean might pass by Langley neighborhoods on their way to McLean, but neither she nor other School Board members have lifted a finger to address the fact that kids in the [b]Westbriar ES island[/b] have passed by Colvin Run ES neighborhoods every day for years on their way to Westbriar.

She couldn't be more of a liar and a hypocrite if she tried.

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When Colvin Run opened part of the Westbriar ES island located north of Route 7 was re assigned to Colvin Run.  Those students had no change in middle or high school assignments.  Nothing east of Towlston got moved and now Tholen isn't getting Scottie B to move the new Toll Bros at the intersection of Route 7 and Towlston. [b]I doubt Tholen is even aware of yield per developement and school assignments.  [/b]Obviously she doesn't look at capacity and projections.  Nor does she look at budgets and equitable allocations.

Herndon Pyramid has grossly overcrowded schools that share boundaries with some at less than 80%.  Overcrowded elementary schools could have relief by changing boundaries and/or moving programs.  There are lots of schools between 70 and 80% but no one on the board does anything.  Gibson used to do stuff.  Strauss was a blockade on movement into Reston schools but one reason was capacity.  Now Hunter Mill and Dranesville have under capacity that boundary changes could load from Tysons area schools.  They used to call it dominoe.

One thing about Fritsch on Blake Lane Park.  That specific school didn't need to be built if they used open cap at Hunter Mill Corridor schools etc.  [/quote]

She is aware of yield projections and school assignments.

The GFCA presented her with information in 2020 and 2021 to suggest that FCPS projections were underestimating the number of kids in the Langley pyramid.  It was integral to their argument that only already developed areas like Shouse Village should be moved to Langley, not areas slated for future growth like Tysons.  When she did what they wanted, the GFCA representative stated: "Of the three options considered * * * Ms. Tholen's and the Board's decision on option B is the better compromise for Great Falls. It satisfies the various goals well while not excessive on Cooper and Langley's capacities. [i]It is a significant number of students but comes from neighborhoods with little to no future development as compared to other options considered[/i]."

The MCA has also shared information with Tholen demonstrating that FCPS is not planning appropriately for growth in Tysons, which is going to send hundreds more students into McLean and Marshall.  In response, FCPS has admitted that its projections only take into account developments where the developer has broken ground, regardless of whether the development has been approved by the county or the developer has already paid proffer money to FCPS.  As a result, FCPS is always playing catch-up rather than planning pro-actively.

She knows all of this.  And she's made clear that (1) she's not willing to be a fierce advocate for Dranesville, whether it comes to adding enough seats at Cooper during its current renovation or securing funding for an addition to McLean; and (2) when it's crunch time, she sides with the GFCA, which only extended a welcome mat at Langley to McLean neighborhoods "with little to no future development" planned, even if that means McLean and Marshall will continue to have kids in trailers and modulars for years to come.  Why actually challenge Jeff Platenberg or fight for resources with other School Board members, when you know your own Great Falls neighbors are taken care of for now?

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