Reply to APS middle school boundary process

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I don't have a dog in the fight (my child is a transfer from North Arlington to Kenmore), but I would encourage everyone to listen to the school board remarks that are available on-line from the meeting.  https://www.apsva.us/post/school-board-meeting-december-14-2017/
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Which in particular? I agree that busing kids hither, tither, and yon is complicated, and may not be what EVERY family wants. But again, that is not a universal truth. I know many parents who send their children outside of our neighborhood school willingly to a further away school for immersion. These are lower-income families and they don't prioritize proximity above what THEY believe to be the best fit for their child academically. Many parents are willing to sacrifice convenience if they believe it is in their child's best interest. This is true for parents of all income levels. I suspect, but can't say for sure, they would not like to be "forced" to the school they currently choose, but nothing tells me they don't prefer to have options.

Further, when we're talking about PU's on the edges/borders that could go either way, I think it's fair to make the decisions based on multiple criteria and not just proximity. Our housing patterns are lopsided thanks to zoning, and I don't think we should have to accept lopsided school enrollment because of this. If we do, it will ALWAYS be the wealthiest neighborhoods with the most restrictive zoning that have schools that remain at or under capacity, and the poorest that are overcrowded. That's terrible policy. Frankly, I would've liked to see better balanced enrollment (capacity, not just demographics), so that transfers to ALL programs remain an option. And I'd like to see some policies put in place that make the option programs more accessible. Meaning, locate them centrally and/or in communities that have a more difficult time with transportation. Also, put the programs that appeal to higher income families in schools that could benefit from greater parental resources.

I hope they have a good plan for a program at Williamsburg that will pull students from all demographics and from all of the schools that will be left overcrowded after this boundary change. Ultimately, we need more inclusive communities. But if we're waiting for the County Board to fix the mess that racial segregation and restrictive zoning have left us, we're going to be waiting a long time. That leaves a lot of kids that are going to cycle through the school system during the interim, a system where low-income kids are tracked by school rather than by classroom. I hope the 1:1 initiative and "personalized learning" do all that the people in charge think it can (I don't think it's a magic bullet), because otherwise we've just set the clock back on closing the achievement gap. [/quote]

Listen to Talento and Lander's comments.  They both make the point, which frankly had been somewhat lost on this white umc woman before, that for many economically-disadvantaged families, it's extremely challenging to get around the county -- public transit options are weak - and moving PUs (like the Williamsburg island) end up isolating those families from the school.  Parents who can't get to evening activities because the other parent is still commuting with their only vehicle was one example.  Maybe these are not common situations, but maybe the are.  Point being, the planning units that would need to move to make schools like Willliamsburg more diverse don't want to move and it could impose additional hardships on them. They need to invest more resources in closing that achievement gap - no one is disputing that.
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