And then the petition goes through--and they make all of LV Taylor boundary and these idiots end up getting bused elsewhere. Now that would be HILARIOUS!

However, the petition will not be heard since it is too late in the game.

One of the petitioners is arguing for not busing kids, but then wants to her kids to bused to a county-wide school all the way across town...hmmmm.

This thing is the craziest thing I have ever read. None of the petitoners even seem to be on the same page.

A petition is usally for the same cause. This one is truly schizophrenic.

I am finding the comments hilarious and I have learned a lot about some of my neighbors. Who knew?

Bunch of lemmings signing because so and so told them to do it. Here's a tip: read before you sign.

Anonymous wrote:That must be the most poorly worded petition I've ever seen. Arlington County doesn't "must" have to do anything. A petition ASKS. It doesn't TELL.

Typical of certain Arlingtonians. Wow.

I do not even get why they are trying to throw this is so late in the game. I agree wholeheartedly with the posts that came before me--these people have no idea what they are asking for. They also appear to have hate/animosity towards one neighborhood. The few clueless ones that signed it because that thought they were protecting their spots at Taylor have no idea that what they were signing was asking for those in Key boundary to essentially have no school. Try telling that to people that paid a lot of frickin' money for a particular school.

The people I have met that are the most steamed up about this issue are the people that purchased a home outside of boundary for a specific school assuming they could just lottery into the one they wanted later. That assumption was a giant mistake. You always keep abreast of school zoning issues when purchasing and you should only buy into a school district you are satisfied with. I have seen the same mistake with DC residents that figure they will just go to X Charter school and then are astounded when their kid becomes school age and realize it is not an option.

I get the people living next door to one school and being zoned to one farther away. I also would not like that, but again you knew that when you bought your house.

That must be the most poorly worded petition I've ever seen. Arlington County doesn't "must" have to do anything. A petition ASKS. It doesn't TELL.

Typical of certain Arlingtonians. Wow.

Anonymous wrote:According to one speaker at the More Seats meeting, Madison can't be used for an elementary now, but may be an option when they finally start addressing that the fact that all the elementary kids will be entering middle school and more space is needed there, too.

They'll never convert Madison back to an ES. Too many people would be displaced and it would be very costly to retrofit.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's clear that APS doesn't feel the need to treat the tax payers of Lyon VIllage the same as it does the rest of N. Arl.

How about you go pick on Country Club Hills for a change?

I don't understand this. Country Club Hills is a whole other demographic than Lyon Village, yes, but why the inferiority complex?

If you live in Key you get no traditional school choice. So blow me with your stupid petition .

It's science or Spanish. No you want to take those away so our kids have no school.

Half the idiots (based on their comments) didn't even know what they were signing.

According to one speaker at the More Seats meeting, Madison can't be used for an elementary now, but may be an option when they finally start addressing that the fact that all the elementary kids will be entering middle school and more space is needed there, too.

Maybe Key should move (further north/west) and that space can be used as a neighborhood school.

Aren't they closing Madison Center - can that become a school again?

Cool down. I never said Key residents should force their kids into immersion at Key.
My opinion is that both schools should be choice schools, ideally, not that that is practical presently.
I don't know which other school is closest to the Key boundary, and I am not saying the kids should go to anywhere else, it just seems it was poor planning a long time ago. Maybe Key should have been a true neighborhood school, and the Spanish immersion for East Arlington should have been located somewhere else.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This petition is really really late.
I think ASFS should be a true choice school, countywide (North Arlington does not equal countywide, petition writers!) with a real lottery, like ATS, none of that team nonsense, that is not working currently anyhow, and not as a neighborhood school for Key.
I agree that Key and ASFS should be choice schools, not neighborhood schools.

So those of us that have Key as a neighborhood school -- where are we supposed to go? ?

We aren't allowed a neighborhood school like every other single neighborhood in Arlington. Ok.

Oh we could force our kids into an Immersion school- also fair. Hmmmm.

Space? In Rosslyn/Clarendon for this mythic new school? No.

APS gave us ASFS because there was no other option at the time. So--we should've shipped all the way to S Arl so these yenta moms at Taylor are angry they are subject to re-zoning and we are not.

ATS is a true county-wide school while ASFS never was.

I actually agree with most points in the petition, but it's simply too late in the process. These schools should always have been added into the boundary change discussions. Science Focus is too crowded and can't take any "choice" kids this year, and you can live right near it and not be eligible to go. In my previous condo, we were zoned for Ashlawn even though there were three elementary schools closer to me. The only one that was walkable was Science Focus, but I couldn't even apply to go there. Key should never have been a neighborhood school, either.

This is the most first-world-problem petition I have ever seen. Complaining that their kids can't get into one good school and (gasp!) have to go to another good school with less cache.

I did always think that whole team idea was stupid. The only part that made sense was the ASFS instead of Key if you didn't want to do immersion. Never made sense to have the other schools involved at all IMO.

The thing about APS is they have made decisions in the past that made sense at the time and then later on had to reverse course when they no longer made sense.

Key has existed a lot longer than Claremont so it doesn't shock me that the distracting is set up differently. Actually kids from a good number of schools have access to Key from outside the "team" including Barrett, Glebe, Henry, and Long Branch.

People have to remember a lot of this stuff is historical. A lot of the students who used to live in the Key district, before that area boomed, were Hispanic. Bilingual education was almost a necessity to keep them on track as second language learners. The other schools (not from the team) with access to Key also have large Hispanic populations. They also desired this kind of education. It wasn't until more recently that non-Hispanic families really got on the bandwagon of bilingual or immersion programs. By the time Claremont was open it was known to be as appealing to non-Hispanic families as to Hispanic families.

I do believe, however, that it is not fair for some members of a county to have access or to not have access to certain facilities based on where you live. Neighborhood schools are one thing but special programs like ATS, immersion, Montessori, etc. should be countywide and have lotteries so that everyone has an equal chance. I am surprised more people are not creating petitions over FLES and early release. If I were in one of the schools that still did not have FLES I wild be steamed.

Anonymous wrote:The fact some of the petitioners attack individual neighborhoods in their comments- diminishes their point and cause.

It comes off as whiny.

I agree. I was disgusted by the comments on the petition. Especially since the "woes me" parents on this petition are living in very expensive homes yet they are decrying a neighborhood which is really in the same tax bracket as they are.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the issue about favoritism towards Lyon Village?

1/2 the neighborhood is Key/ASFS boundary. It is not subject to boundary changes now.

This is not favoritism. It is not an issue at hhis time or bursting at the sea like other N ARl schools.

I know several people that bought more square footage for less in different zones hoping to lottery into ASFS and then didn't get in due to space,

Should have taken the smaller house in-boundary for the school they wanted. Now they want to bitch about it.

+1

Don't go bitching now when you were well aware of your home school when you bought your house.

Anonymous wrote:What is the issue about favoritism towards Lyon Village?

1/2 the neighborhood is Key/ASFS boundary. It is not subject to boundary changes now.

This is not favoritism. It is not an issue at hhis time or bursting at the sea like other N ARl schools.

I know several people that bought more square footage for less in different zones hoping to lottery into ASFS and then didn't get in due to space,

Should have taken the smaller house in-boundary for the school they wanted. Now they want to bitch about it.