Reply to Do the recommendations re: BCC boundary study come out today?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]It is a mark of how crazy this thread is that someone is seriously suggesting that kids in downtown Bethesda be sent to a different school if they live in one of the buildings being built.[/quote]
I am not sure what post you are referring to and I have not posted about this, but I would certainly think it should be an option to consider. If RH has spare capacity which is not available at Somerset or Bethesda ES, then why not carve out a section of new apartments in Bethesda and send those kids there. Forgotten in all of this is that Westbrook ES is significantly under capacity. I don't see why it should be a problem that if overcrowding at a school is being caused new residents in 2 or 3 apartment buildings and space is available that can accommodate those kids in a nearby school. Then this is the most logical and efficient outcome. It is precisely what is being done now to kids in apartments in Lyttonsville who get shipped off to CC and NCC. They have even separated the divide by buildings between the two schools and it was worst in the past when those buildings were actually separated into 3 different schools. There is no difference in my mind and this is not even controversial to me. It surprises me that you think it's "crazy" actually.[/quote]

Aren't those low income apartments being built?  If so, you're suggesting taking the poor kids out of BE and bussing to RH?  Its bad enough that we already have stuipdly-drawn boundaries bussing kids across the county in the name of social justice; its even worse to artificially keep BE richer and whiter than it is.

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I am not sure you understand much about the Bethesda area or BE. People are so predisposed to judge and cry fowl that it might be worthwhile to actually know what is happening.

The apartments in question are renting from $2500-4500 for a 2BD. Here is an example: http://www.flats8300.com/

There are about six other buildings just like this that have been built just in the last two years, with most of them being completed just in the last 6 months. And I am not even counting new condos, however those are unlikely to have kids because they cost the same price as a SFM just a couple blocks away. The people moving in are not poor, nor are they particularly minority or anything else. They are mostly professional families with great educations and good jobs.

I think you are also extremely mistaken about the SES status and diversity at BE. There are several complexes that offer affordable housing in boundary and those have been attending BE for a very long time and are not the issue. The issue is that there are about 500+ brand new and empty apartments units that are enticing young professional families just starting out without a lot of savings. If our situation was different, we would probably consider this option too.

Because the boundaries were drawn poorly, we now have an over crowding problem, but thankfully it is one that can be easily solved.

So first of all, we have established that there is precedent in the cluster in dividing up apartment buildings in certain areas and shipping those kids off to other areas. Next, we have established that the new arrivals are not poor nor minority, but that the issue is that the IB school just doesn't have the physical space to serve everyone. Lastly, we have established that there is a much more wealthy and much more white school nearby that is significantly under capacity that could serve these students and serve them well. No one is being harmed and everyone is getting a quality education. And if whole buildings will be zoned for it, that means all the kids in your "neighborhood" will be at the same school.

It is win-win-win and is also cost effective for taxpayers, because why keep adding classrooms to one school if you have another school with space? How is this controversial at all?[/quote]

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