Reply to Cliff Notes summary of MCPS boundary study fight?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]

It's not astonishing, given the recent changes the BOE made to policy FAA, which made diversity the most important factor in determining school assignment.

It just happened in Clarksburg and Germantown.  New boundaries have resulted in change of school assignment and longer bus rides for some students in order to better balance diversity.

On Sept. 24, 2018, Montgomery County Board of Education (BOE) changed its Policy FAA, Educational Facilities
Planning to put student demographics (including racial/ethnic composition and FARMS rate) above all other factors
(including geographic proximity and facility utilization/overcrowding) in redistricting. Before, they were ranked
equally to balance the needs of families as well as the school system. (FARMS rate refers to the rate of students
receiving Free And Reduced-price Meals.)

On Nov. 26, 2019, BOE put this policy into practice and redrew school boundaries in Clarksburg and Germantown.
The option that 81.9% of the survey respondents in Clarksburg wanted sent Clarksburg students to
Clarksburg schools and Germantown students to Germantown schools. However, the Superintendent rejected this
and a similarly related option: “I am not able to support these options because they do not advance the
demographic characteristics of schools factor when evaluated from the FARMS population perspective.”
The option the Superintendent recommended and BOE adopted buses Clarksburg students to Germantown
and Germantown students to Clarksburg to balance out FARMS rates. Students will spend much longer time on the
bus than in the rejected plan above. Clearly, when redrawing school boundaries, FARMS rate trumps geography.[/quote]

No matter how much some people in Cabin Branch may yell about it, the facts are:

1. The upcounty boundary changes were based on ALL FOUR FACTORS, not just demographics.
2. Southern Clarksburg to northern Germantown just simply is not "busing across the county."
3. Zero walkers from the Clarksburg cluster got reassigned to be Seneca Valley cluster bus-riders.
4. Policy FAA does NOT say that demographics is the most important factor.[/quote]

When the BOE added the word "especially" to policy FAA, it put the heaviest weight on demographics.

From policy FAA:
Demographic characteristics of student population
Analyses of options take into account the impact of various options on the
overall populations of affected schools. [b]Options should especially strive to
create a diverse student body in each of the affected schools in alignment
with Board Policy ACD, Quality Integrated Education.[/b] Demographic data
showing the impact of various options include the following: racial/ethnic
composition of the student population, the socioeconomic composition of
the student population, the level of English language learners, and other
reliable demographic indicators and participation in specific educational
programs

An interesting discussion by the BOE on the implications of adding the word "especially" can be seen at the April 12, 2018 BOE meeting, around 45 minutes in:

https://mcpsmd.new.swagit.com/videos/20635?fbclid=IwAR3sFNjrzCOXlaiWKlKqMxuuCbLWC4lh_EimLEHL0Zxf-dZL8rMMH-NdDhc#60
[/quote]
DP.. I do think BOE puts some emphasis on diversity, but not as much as some people think.  Points 1 to 3 above support that.  It was not "cross county busing".  Again, BOE won't do that. They will do busing to neighboring clusters (as they should if the current cluster is overcrowded), but not cross county.  Let's put that one to bed, shall we?[/quote]

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