Reply to APS: I can't keep up! (ASFS)

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I wish I could get a clearer picture of ASFS.  On one hand, you have people saying it's just a neighborhood school (not for it's own neighborhood - ha!) that has one extra hour of science.  It's really no different that any other school.

On the other hand, you have people who talk about how it's special & award winning and[b] that the science lab makes it "better" than other schools.  [/b]

Aren't a lot of Arl. elementary schools award winning?  Mine is.  I don't have kids going there, but I wish I could understand this situation a little better.  [/quote]

I don't get the history on the science lab there.  I hear it was something that parents did extensive fundraising to put in.  However, parent fundraising is not supposed to be for things that are integral to instruction or will create an ongoing obligation for the district.  Which it sounds like this lab is both.  The reason for those rules is to limit inequity due to wealth across the district.  Is that a new rule?  Or just completely ignored in this case?[/quote]

ASFS has benefitted tremendously from private donations given to the school by well heeled individuals.  If you doubt this, take a look at the EdBacker site where $177K was raised, just for the ASFS Science Lab.

[url]https://edbacker.com/c/asfs-science-lab[/url]

[b]Want to take a guess how many APS elementary schools have a science lab this well funded?       Including ASFS, the answer is one.[/b]

People who believe ASFS is special are correct from one perspective:  it has only been available to a select few neighborhoods and it has a tremendous wealth of privately-funded science resources, unlike any other APS elementary school.

For anyone that thinks we should "share this great model" that is ASFS, I agree.  Going forward, let's pool all of the private science donations and spread them across all of the elementary schools.  We could call it the "ASFS Endowment" and benefactors could get plaques over at the Ed Center.

Oh and one last thing, there was no interest in sharing this great resource with all of APS, until the recent proposal to dissolve the Team, which would mean no more Jamestown and Taylor benefactors would get to attend the school.[/quote]

And we can't forget that there is a petition to sign, if you'd like to help save the Team ([b]and ignore the other 19 APS elementary schools[/b]):

[url]https://www.change.org/p/arlington-county-school-board-create-smart-school-solutions-for-arlington-public-schools-enrollment-transfer-policies[/url][/quote]

What does the team have to do with the other 19 ESs? How does its existence affect them? I'm not pushing to keep the team, but I don't understand your point. 
[/quote]

Having a "choice" school that's only allowed to be a choice for a couple other (incidentally, quite wealthy) ES's affects the other 19 schools because it creates a situation that is inherently inequitable. Especially when the parents at that school are allowed to privately fundraiser to upgrade the facilities at that that private choice school.[/quote]

Fundraising at ASFS has nothing to do with this.  Yes, the fundraising for investigation station at ASFS was over the top but every other Arlington ES has the possibility of doing the same, especially considering many of the ASFS donations came from outside the school, even if in reality this would be much more difficult for some of the schools.

The team concept no longer functions as planned and with each passing year it functions less and less as more families live in the Key zone and opt for ASFS instead, leaving very few seats available for Jamestown and Taylor students. So if boundaries for ES need to redrawn for overcrowding or other reasons, such as access to immersion, and the team no longer functions, getting rid of the team should be part of the solution.[/quote]

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