Reply to Can we spreadload FRL% across APS? Arlington / Education Newbie here

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Reply to "Can we spreadload FRL% across APS? Arlington / Education Newbie here"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote]There are alternatives to bussing. I've talked on this board multiple times the idea of moving to a more upper and lower school idea to stop the extreme levels of FRL rates. You can create larger zones really easily, and they would probably be much less controversial in some cases.
For example:
[b]Fleet and Randolph or Barcroft
Barrett and Long Branch
Abingdon and Drew
Carlin Springs and Ashlawn
Glebe and Barrett
ASFS and Innovation
Hoffman Boston and Oakridge[/b]
You can solve the extended day issue by having a single bus that takes kids from one extended day to the other (parents can sign up for the school closer to them). You solve the walkzone impact by having a single bus or a shuttle that picks up from one school and goes to the other (you have a single bus instead of having to create multiple bus stops). You solve the parent involvement issue by having a single pta across the upper/lower schools and having that pta do events at each school. Keep parent teacher conferences virtual. This seems more plausible than a pure lottery system.[/quote]

I think the problem with this is it still leaves all those schools in the high north with 2% frl totally unaffected and not doing their share.  I think you would be hard pressed to convince the parents at Oakridge and Fleet and Long Branch ect  who are already at the county average for FRL or higher, to have their schools suddenly increase 20-30% in FRL while other schools still sit with 2%.

This is the thing people don't get about the existing schools in South Arlington and how #s and math work.  There are too many frl students in the south to balance out numbers without involving the very low poverty schools in the far north of the county.   As things currently stand in South arlington you have about 5 schools over 60% FRL and about 6 schools that are in the 30-40% range.  You re-arrange in zones or upper/lower schools and suddenly every single school is over 50% frl. You've gone from more than half of the schools being in the sweet spot to all of them being majority frl and many studies have shown that over 50% frl is where performance drops off a cliff.  It is not equity to do that to every school south of the historic segregation red line while people in the North sit at 2% poverty schools.  There is no acceptable solution that doesn't include all schools in the county.

For comparison north Arlington has 2 schools at 60+ frl, and 11 schools under 40%, 6 of which are under 10%.  The further north and west, the lower the frl.  [/quote]

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