Reply to Discussion Boundary Map out for APS- elementary schools

Forum Index » Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS)

Reply to "Discussion Boundary Map out for APS- elementary schools "

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote]
There's a big difference between placing an option program like ATS at McKinley, for example, and placing it at Nottingham.  Part of the complaint from immersion middle school parents is how distant Gunston MS is at the southern border.  Those are the parents who would love to see MS immersion at Williamsburg.

McKinley and Nottingham are 2 miles apart and a 7 minute drive. McKinley and Tuckahoe are 1.8 miles apart and a 6 minute drive. Nottingham and Tuckahoe are 0.9 miles apart and a 4 minute drive.

ATS and McKinley are 1.9 miles apart and a 6 minute drive. ATS and Nottingham are 2.9 miles apart and a 9 minute drive. ATS and Tuckahoe are 2.9 miles apart and a 10 minute drive.

This is all from GoogleMaps. I am not making it up. I'm not sure what a "big difference" we're talking about here. At most, the location differences mean 1 mile and 4 minutes. If you are coming from say, the Buckingham neighborhood, it is a 14 min drive to Nottingham and an 11 minute drive to McKinley. Moving ATS to McKinley instead of Nottingham makes no difference from a convenience perspective.

If ATS (or another choice program) is relocated to the NW, there really isn't a significant difference from a driving perspective between the McKinley, Tuckahoe, and Nottingham sites. They need to look at building size. [b]If the NW is only going to be overcapacity by +133 seats, then that suggests that if they relocate an option school, then it should go to the smallest of the three buildings. Otherwise, the NW is back to a deficit of neighborhood seats immediately. [/b]

This is the problem.  People continue to look at capacity and enrollment and growth and deficits in sections.  the capacity isn't there no matter where you put the programs.  You can move kids - and yes kids can go to a neighborhood school that isn't the closest one to their house.  Capacity is an issue no matter where the programs are located.  But people only want to solve their own "quadrant" without considering what the impacts are elsewhere.

[/quote]

But there isn’t any growth predicted for the NW quadrant. That’s the issue. Other than SFH turnover, there will be no new developments in the next 10-20 years. Meanwhile, across S Arlington and in NE Arlington around the R-B corridor, they know there will be a lot of development, much of it multifamily and with 2 + bedrooms, and that generate kids, even more kids than SFHs if it’s CAF. All the AH in the county is going in these areas, the ones that NW zoning prevents and will continue to prevent. Accessible dwelling units aren’t going to produce any extra kids, and SFH turnover is a lot slower at generating kids. So, basically, whether by option or by boundary, they need to shift kids N and W. And it’s not a temporary problem that trailers can fix, because it’s a feature of the housing plan. Until they build more schools in the E and S, there isn’t another choice. [/quote]

Precisely why people need to stop looking at just their own school or their own quadrant.[/quote]

I didn't even read this entire post but: I live by ATS and my kids go to McK. It's a 20 min drive in the PM during after-care time. Feel free to use your google maps all that you want but I suggest you make the !@#$%^& drive. Also, McK after-care is an s-show.[/quote]

And that isn’t ideal, but it’s better than planning for some schools to sit under capacity for years while an adjacent school is crammed full. Surely, as a McK parent, you don’t think that should be their goal? I don’t think they want to bus kids three schools over, but they also don’t want to repeat the McK mistake. If they don’t move option schools, they don’t have the ability to draw these nice boundaries AND balance capacity. We have to pick our poison, I guess. I think even with option program moves there will always be some kids just on the edge of one boundary who are closer to another school. There’s no way they can avoid that in every situation. But they are definitely not adopting this map, and everyone should remain calm. Also, Reed is definitely a neighborhood school and will be unless the SB votes to change it, which is not likely at all. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics