Reply to How is HB still allowed to exist given the overcrowding?!

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Reply to "How is HB still allowed to exist given the overcrowding?!"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The problem here is not HB. The problem is a failure of the school board and county board to adequately plan for growth among young families in Arlington between 2000 and the present. HB is a convenient target, but neither the cause nor the solution to the overcrowding problems.  [/quote]

HB is not the only problem, but the SB's willingness to let it stay small is symptomatic of the inability to adopt realistic solutions to current and future problems.

The SB isn't alone in that. The Taylor parents who whined their way into the HB/Stratford building made things worse. There's plenty of blame to go around, and the bad decisions' being set in stone with the claim that a decision has been made and will not be revisited, no matter how bad the decision and how much new information has come to light since it was made, are pretty much a guarantee that nothing is going to get fixed.

I'm just hoping my kids graduate before the roof caves in.[/quote]

If a decision were made to double the size of HB, WHERE WOULD THE SCHOOL GO?

Again, this is not about HB. It is about a lack of will to acquire and designate space for a 4th high school.

When you argue that HB needs to take more students, what you are saying is that we need a 4th comprehensive high school. Dramatically increasing the size of HB will effectively kill that program.

But now, instead of fighting one fight (4th high school!), you are fighting two (4th high school! and Save HB!). By doing this you needlessly burn political capital and you make enemies among people who could have been allies. School board members get lobbied hard from both sides. It looks like constituents disagree wildly, so the SB has trouble figuring out where consensus lies.

[b]Forget about HB. Focus on the end game. Getting rid of HB doesn't get you what we need. We could kill HB tomorrow, and we still don't have what we need.[/b][/quote]

Exactly!! Let's focus on the [u]solution[/u] (4th comprehensive HS) to the [u]problem[/u] (overcrowding).

If the only reason why you don't like H-B is because your kid isn't there then it is just sour grapes. Take a step back and look at the big picture for ALL of the kids in the county. We need another HS. We don't need to tear apart a successful program - it does NOT accomplish anything at all. Except make you feel better because your kid did not get in.

(No kids at HB)
[/quote]

I'm confused by the complaints about being shut-out of HB along with the demand that we need a 4th comprehensive school.  Are people wanting to be at HB only because the comprehensive schools are overcrowded or do they want to be at HB because it is smaller than a comprehensive school (even if that school wasn't overcrowded)?  I think that needs to be better understood.  If the long waitlist for HB is because people want that specific program and small school then it would suggest that having more smaller programs would be the better option -- replicate what HB offers so more can have it.  That sure seems to be the message the school board is taking from it by adding Arlington Tech (800 seats) and now a 1300-seat HS with some TBD focus.[/quote]

Agree that this is an interesting question.

OTOH, I don't believe the school board decided on a 1300 TBD high school because they see some great demand for a specialty school. I think they decided on a 1300 TBD high school because they have a building they think they can cram 1300 kids into. Unfortunately, the building happens to be on W-L's campus. Can you imagine what the response would be if they said, "We are solving our crowding problems by converting the admin building into classroom space for W-L. W-L will now have space for 4000 students." They know no one likes that idea, so they float the special program idea instead. But the upshot is the same--almost 4000 students using W-L's gym, auditorium, library, and athletic fields.[/quote]

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