Reply to COSA required starting in fall 2027

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I have a DCC 8th grader and I have a couple different emails back from MCPS staff in response to earlier confusing notices stating that my child will remain at his chosen school which happens to be our current home school for 9th, but not for 10-12th. We received the jump start letter and weren’t interested, though even if we were getting to Northwood with no transportation options while Northwood is in a holding school nowhere near its home campus would be a nightmare. (The jump start program specified no transportation would be provided). It’s ridiculous that MCPS is jerking families around so much.[/quote]

The website linked above clearly states that this year's 8th graders should have transportation to their DCC or NEC school for all 4 years.  In the section for parents of current 8th graders it says that things should not change for those kids, including specifically that DCC and NEC bus transportation (i.e. neighborhood-based bus stops) will not change:

"Students in the Downcounty Consortium (DCC), Northeast Consortium (NEC), or other regional/countywide programs (like MC2 at Northwood, Regional IB at John F. Kennedy, Science, Math and Computer Science at Blair HS and etc.) can continue in their program until graduation. DCC and NEC bus transportation and central stop bus transportation continues to be available."

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/academic-programs-analysis/middle-school-students/[/quote]

This is where you are interpreting something they did not explicitly say. You read that as guaranteeing transportation all 4 years. I read that as transportation is “available” in some form for the time being (next year), until they decide otherwise. The truth is that they actually have not designed routes or planned transportation for 2027 when the system swells to accommodate grandfathered kids in sun setting programs/consortia as well as kids in new and old boundaries from different grade levels, as well as students opting into new regional programs. This is why people said slow down and think through specifics. This is the argument for why the regional programs should not be “inextricably linked” with the boundary study because the transportation is going to be a definite problem both from a cost standpoint and from a practical issue for families needing transportation MCPS suddenly thinks is optional. [/quote]

Exactly this.  The most recent board meeting mentioned 'consolidation of bus routes in the 2027/28 school year.'  There is absolutely no money in the budget for all the new buses they need with new boundaries, new programs, and grandfathered students.  We always have a bus driver shortage and it will get even worse.  So everyone should expect longer bus routes with stops further from their home in the 2027/2028 school year, even if your child attends their neighborhood school.  Just imagine all the jobs that will need to be cut to pay for this transportation.  The insistence by MCPS of implementing the regional model at the same time as the new boundaries is exacerbating the issue.  MCPS is saying it will be more expensive in the short term, but cheaper in the long term.  That may be true, but we don't have the money in the short term and we can't keep taking money from the CIP and moving it to the operating budget.[/quote]

+1 and this poster is correct that they will probably squeeze regular routes to neighborhood schools as well.

I actually have no issue if they were to use actual student address/attendance data to overhaul routes with a thoughtful algorithm. What they actually do is just use vibes and guesses and you get what you get and you don’t get upset. Why on earth they don’t use real student data or even (gasp) ask family to indicate most convenient bus stops is beyond me. [/quote]

They also don’t really tell you what your assigned bus stop is. I believe there is an “assigned stop” in ParentVue that I saw once but they never sent us anything in the back to school packets/info. For 12 years they’ve only ever sent a letter that explains where to find all the routes for the school. We had always assumed we could pick whichever we wanted that we thought was closest or most convenient. [/quote]

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