Reply to APS/SA boundary redrawing

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]New to this discussion. So, part of what I see is this - the county sees that once Gillian Place comes on board, Barcroft will not only be insanely overcrowded, again, but it will jump well above 80%FRL. So, Barcroft needs to shed some poor folks, so hey send the kids south of the Pike away to Drew since there is no other place with seats.

Drew is already in a poor neighborhood, so who cares! Barcroft parents have become just a tad more vocal over the years, especially after Arlington Mill was assigned to Barcroft instead of Carlin Springs.

Remember, Barcroft used to be one of the most overcrowded schools in the county, second only to Oakridge. Relief at Barcroft was one of reasons Fleet was built in the first place.[/quote]

APS uses the term "shifting demographics" to describe the now annual opening of very large 100% CAF buildings with hundreds of units that swamp local schools.. To name a few: Arlington Mill, gilliam, the Berkeley and now also Columbia Hills, a 229 unit 100% CAF building opening next year in Columbia Forest (140 units are 2 and 3 bedroom) and will be zoned to abingdon. It's across the street from the Drew zoned portion of CF So that leads me to believe that APS is maybe trying to spread around these giant complexes to various elementary schools as best they can, even when the powers that be cram them into the same half mile stretch of Columbia pike. [/quote]

If APS would actually treat the entire district like one school system, they could "spread around these giant complexes" to more elementary schools and not concentrate poverty in a handful of schools.  But they refuse to do boundaries across Route 50 or in a north/south direction instead of east/west.

It is unfathomable that APS has decided to prioritize proximity above all else in this time of overcrowding and continued growth.  We don't have this luxury to continue catering to people's "preferences" and alleged "needs" and clear prejudices and sense of entitlements to go to the school closest to their home - poor or rich, I don't care.  This whole approach is a complete disservice to our kids, to our schools, to Arlington County.  APS doesn't give a sh** that has been identified as a highly segregated school system - one of the wealthiest and THE smallest county in the COUNTRY - but OMG did we jump and fight to make sure we weren't classified as hyper-segregated!  It's perfectly fine to miss that cut-off by a point or two; but god forbid we technically meet the definition.  Well how about changing your boundary policies to get off that list insteaof teetering on the category edge and justifying it?[/quote]

Get over yourself. Yes the county is small but traffic sucks. In our two working parent household, every minute counts. As it is now we are racing to pick up kids before extended day closes, get them home, fed and to bed at a decent time. So yes, proximity is my number one prioroity.  If diversity is so important, then the county board has to address it through housing policy. Not bussing my kids around. [/quote]

Get over your self. Everyone lives in a working parent household. You know whether the school is 1 mile or 2 miles away is immaterial. You just don't want to go to a school that has more poor kids. Don't hide behind traffic woes. [/quote]

To truly balance demographics, we aren't talking about busing kids to a school that is 2 miles away instead of 1. Instead you need to be moving kids between, say, Randolph and Discovery. That's a 15-20 minute trip right now, and it's not rush hour. It's not an insignificant additional trip for parents trying to make evening pickup/dinner/bedtime work. Seriously, this all goes back to housing policy. [/quote]

We don't have to have a perfect balance across all schools.  All that's needed is the elimination of schools over 50% FRL, preferably eliminating schools over 45% FRL.  But you can't do that by only including one part of the County at a time - and everyone knows it.  That's why everyone is proclaiming "proximity" is critical.  What if you didn'tHAVE a school less than a mile from your home?  or two miles?  You'd be sent to one farther and that's where your kid would go.  So everyone needs to get over themselves and stop being such entitled crybabies.[/quote]

What’s your point?  Reality is most people have a ES within 1.5 miles of their house.  And while not entitled as you put it to go to the closest school, [b]seems the preference is to prioritize proximity over deversity. Elections matter. The people we have elected to the SB have decided to prioritize proximity.[/b] Either find people who will do what you want  and get three on the SB who will do it or realize your view is the minority and move on.  [/quote]

No, prioritizing proximity over diversity is the SB's political cop-out.  People only cry proximity when they're facing potential changes.  If proximity were all that mattered, we wouldn't have six guiding principles in the boundary policy.  But you are right that the SB has decided to prioritize proximity - but not because proximity is the most important factor.  They've made that decision because they're weak, thin-skinned, and entirely unharmed or negatively impacted by the status quo.  Oh, and because they don't give a sh-- about the higher-performing kids in the high FRL/ELL schools not being equally served as their peers in the low FRL/ELL schools.  
[/quote]

Or perhaps they don’t share your views. You assume they want to do what you want. And place weakness and politics  as the reason. And we are back to the liberal left everyone thinks like me mentality.  Take a moment and try to imagine that maybe, just maybe, they think when all is said and done proximity should be placed ahead of demographics. Proximity helps drive efficiency (another consideration) and keep contiguity (another consideration). [/quote]

IIRC, the priority list originated when the SB asked the loudest, most active people in the community what they cared about most. They said, "proximity" (which mainly means property values) and so the SB said ok that's what we'll tell the staff to prioritize. They cater to the loudest voices in the room from square 1.[/quote]

None of that means that certain SB members don’t believe proximity should be considered above the other factors. Again, you just can’t believe they might actually agree with those being loudest. Or that to balance the “considerations” (because that’s just what they are — not priorities) it makes more sense to have kids going to school closer to home. [/quote]

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