Reply to FCPS' plans to address concerns at under-enrolled and over-enrolled schools.

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Weren’t there supposed to be meetings between the Lewis community and high-level FCPS staff about what the Lewis community would like to see for their school?

Did those meetings happen? Did anything actionable come out of them?

I think Lewis is just digging itself into a deeper hole if people anchor on adding students as the only answer to whatever currently bothers them about Lewis.

If I were there, I’d be asking for the elimination of the IB program (too anemic), the elimination of the Leadership program (other schools have Leadership electives, so making a big deal out of a “Leadership program” comes across as patronizing, like highlighting after-school etiquette classes), a realistic and public timetable for renovating Lewis, and/or the relocation or addition of Academy classes with a mix of academic and vocational offerings.

Should FCPS then fail to respond to those requests, I’d then ask for a commitment to close the school and reassign students once enrollment dips below a certain level (but realistically that’s probably more like 1100 kids than 1500).

The IB program at Lewis is clearly underwhelming but by other measures Lewis is not the lowest-performing high school in the county, and it recently got recognized as doing well by the VDOE.  Most of the “pariah” talk is associated with this negative feedback loop where Lewis parents make it sound distressed and West Springfield parents say 
“if that’s the case why would we want to send our kids there” - it’s all taken on a “chicken vs. egg” tenor.  Remove that from the equation and focus on other potential changes that don’t depend on reassigning kids who might never show up at Lewis even if the boundaries changed. [/quote]

Are you having to fight this hard just to keep your assigned school from falling behind every other high school in the county? Didn’t think so.

Parents should not be the ones carrying the burden of fixing systemic issues. That is exactly what we fund the school system to do.

My frustration is not with families who understandably do not want to uproot their kids. It is with a school board that seems unwilling to take meaningful action, even when those decisions are difficult, to ensure balanced opportunities across all our public schools.
[/quote]

We have a School Board comprised mostly of third-rate intellects with the attention span of gnats, the moral compass of jackals, and the political aspirations of Kennedys. They work with FCPS employees who will always conduct business as usual, unless directed otherwise by the School Board, because they don’t want to be second-guessed.

The sooner you recognize this, and don’t look for them to prioritize your interests without your organizing, the better off and happier you’ll be.  [/quote]

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