Reply to Initial boundary options for Crown/Damascus study

Forum Index » Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)

Reply to "Initial boundary options for Crown/Damascus study "

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][img][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Late to this thread and haven’t had a chance to read all 58 pages, but I wanted to add my thoughts. After all the budget cuts over the past two years, if walkers are not made a priority, it would be a major contradiction. Prioritizing walkers would help reduce transportation costs, ease traffic congestion—especially on narrow and back roads—and address the ongoing bus driver shortage. This should absolutely be the top priority.[/quote]

They need to make a better assessment on walker zone before they prioritize walkers. Right now the options include many unreasonable areas which are actually not walkable. All it does it to take away bus from these neighborhoods and parents have to drive individually which cause more traffic congestion. [/quote]

This is actually a real issue.  I'm currently in a 'walk zone' for our MS and HS.  For MS I, and most people in my neighborhood, were unwilling to let MS students walk because it meant walking along the shoulder of a busy road in which people regularly swerved over to the shoulder to avoid left-turning cars.  In HS, we mostly view our kids as able to walk along that route, but the HS is much further so few make their kids do it on cold/rainy days.  So in the end, we're all creating huge traffic congestion every morning.

I'd love my kids to walk, but at the very least they need to work with the county to prioritize installation of sidewalks on some reasonable path to the schools they deem to be in the 'walking zone.'  [/quote]

They also need to think about reasonable walk time. In my opinion, 20 min walk is fine but 45 min is too much. Nobody is gonna make kids walk 45 min each way to school. [/quote]

Yes especially in morning. But if bike friendly that’s an easy 10-15 min bike ride. Or a 3-5 min car ride. All those things are good for our communities and traffic.[/quote]

No way anyone would let their kids ride a bike on high 28 or great Seneca highway. [/quote]
Oh yeah for sure. That’s why there’s a big difference in areas. Poolesville and Damascus as well as most of Churchill and much of Whitman would like be fine to ensure walk zones are adjusted to reflect reality not just where kids actually walk. Could even keep providing buses, but the goal of keeping traffic low is essential.

This whole study process has made me realize how complicated county/state government is. All of these things involve so many moving parts.

Change schools but then whoa traffic planners/DOT have concerns, same with county council/exec with concerns about tax revenue and ensuring the area is still desirable, then you add affordable housing departments, parks and recreation, so many things are all connected.

I really hope the county can get things right in totality. Last thing we need is MD/MOCO to experience a rapid decline. [/quote]

MOCO has already been in a rapid decline.

I don't think Crown will be a bad school and it wouldn't be the end of the world if our family ends up going there.  I do have major issues of having my kids walk the route to the school, where I forbid them in walking outside our neighborhood on their own.  Our neighborhood is like an island surrounded by commuter routes and some of the drivers aren't that courteous.  And I'm unhappy with the idea of my kids being split from their elementary school classmates, where they would be only 5-10 students from their grade level that went to the same elementary school to be split off to another school.  I see the bonds that other kids that have been together since grade K have and it's not fair that my kids won't get the same opportunity.

If it really is that big of an issue for us, we'll just move.  I've already been eyeing the Potomac Glen area for a while.  And if Wayside parents move out of there to stay in the Churchill district, it will give us more opportunities to stay in the high school zone.  Our kids will be out of elementary school by the time any changes are made and we have the option of looking in a bigger area then before.

And like I said, MoCo and MCPS isn't all that it's cracked up to be.  Many of the reasons why we chose to live here aren't applicable anymore after the pandemic and just with things changing in general.  So one of the main reasons to stay is just to give our kids stability.  But the split articulation is basically like moving anyways.  So we might as well move out of Montgomery County either way and take our tax dollars with us.
[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics