Reply to Initial boundary options for Crown/Damascus study

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Moving Wayside out of Churchill helps with utilization. How else will they get Churchill below 100%?[/quote]

It’s a BS utilization at Churchill. They’ve reduced capacity by 100 seats from when it first opened. What happened did the school shrink? Churchill has just had a period of a few years with higher enrollment which was consistently in lower figures and never had a portable until a year or two I believe. Kids there have stated it’s not crowded aside from the portable there’s no evidence to that.[/quote]

Churchill parent here.  There's no problem with Churchill being overcapacity.  Yes, there are a couple of portables and I'm sure those teachers aren't excited about them.  But I've never felt Churchill had too many kids generally.  It's not hurting education or the social environment.  And there's not much new construction in this area, so I wouldn't expect the problem to become worse in the next decade.

I have always wondered, though, why there are kids sooo far west that come to Churchill.  Those are largely Wayside kids, and some Potomac kids.  So yes, to drive from Wayside ES to Wootton HS, it may be about the same distance as going to from Wayside ES to Churchill HS.  But a huge part of that geography is far closer to Wootton than to Churchill.  Same with the Northern part of the Potomac ES boundaries.  The culprit is that they're not looking at ES boundaries.   I'd be interested in knowing the *average* student's bus time to both high schools-- there is certainly some house that is closer to Churchill and some house that is closer to Wootton.  In sum, I think, capacity-wise, it would be fine for Wayside to continue to go to Churchill.  But I think the quality of life for the average Wayside kid might improve by going to the closer school.[/quote]

Wayside families definitely closer to Churchill for the most part. For us, it is 3 miles more to Wootton than to Churchill and an additional 10 minutes (give or take) round trip. Not horrible but doesn't make sense.

The Wayside families that should never been zoned to Wayside in the first place are in the Potomac Glen area. There are three other elementary schools closer to that neighborhood, namely Lakewood, Stone Mill, and Travilah. Why they were ever zoned for Wayside/Churchill is bizarre, but from what I understand the contractor that built that development had some connections with Montgomery County politicians who made it happen. That is the only area that should be rezoned to Wootton and to the appropriate elementary school. The rest of Wayside belongs at Churchill.[/quote]

But they're not changing ES boundaries.  And ES split articulation to different middle schools sounds terrible.  And you're citing a 5 minute increase (one way) for part of the school zone to go to Wootton where another part of the school zone would probably save 2 or 3 times that by going to Wootton.  And MCPS is trying to put together a big jigsaw puzzle in which not every household will benefit, but the overall system is better.  So all in all, adding 5 minuts to a commute for some people isn't going to be a deal-changer in the overall puzzle.

Based on what you said, if we could invent a time machine, people here might push for the school zone to have been created differently 20 years ago.  And it sounds like there are a lot of people here who would favor looking at ES boundaries but that doesn't seem like it's going to happen.  So this is where we are.

[/quote]

I agree ES should be changed. I’m one of the closest Wayside to Churchill and the difference is more like 10-15 mins in rush hour one way.

Additionally Wootton is in horrible shape being 55 years old. Renovations should have been approved as early as 2008 for 2018 completion but it’s been delayed since then at least until 2032-2033. That’s insane! Crown should be used by Wootton or Magruder for a full renovation. The crowding at all of these schools is nothing compared to that of WJ and I think Wheaton/blair[/quote]

I agree that Crown should be used as a holding school for Wootton. implode it and build it up 3 levels, less ground space and get more parking and athletic fields. THEN redistrict. [/quote]

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