Anonymous
03/02/2016 12:36
Subject: Re:Alexandria Redistricting Process Starting
Looking at the docs from the recent Steering Committee meeting, the draft policy they're working on for grandfathering/phase in is pretty stingy- just for kids going into 5th (& sibs, but only for that year)
http://www.acps.k12.va.us/redistricting/meetings.php
Very frustrating for families who have been part of a school community for years, and have relationships with staff, other students, etc.
http://www.acps.k12.va.us/redistricting/meetings.php
Very frustrating for families who have been part of a school community for years, and have relationships with staff, other students, etc.
Anonymous
12/09/2015 11:02
Subject: Re:Alexandria Redistricting Process Starting
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:New poster here. This thread certainly has taken some interesting twists and turns. To the point above about the mayor, the mayor has merely one vote out of 7 and no veto power, so advocating to all of Council will be key to fully funding ACPS (or any other budget priority). Agree with the prior poster that the other key thing to advocate for is commercial development -- we don't need more residential, which is a drain (residential tends to use more in city services than it produces in taxes, commercial is the opposite). Also agree that no one I know is worried about housing prices around here being too low.
The one thing that worries me about her is she has no kids so she really has no vested interest in the schools. Couple that with School Board and Council members who also have no kids and I feel that it's just a bad situation overall for the schools.
The vice mayor (Justin Wilson) has two kids in ACPS and his family is a huge supporter of, and actively involved in, his local elementary and ACPS as a whole.
Anonymous
12/04/2015 09:04
Subject: Re:Alexandria Redistricting Process Starting
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Well, at least some of the redistricting supporters were not re-elected, so maybe the whole thing will just fade away? Most of the committee are big school board supporters anyway, so maybe these folks just felt out of the whole thing?
Are you kidding? Redistricting absolutely needs to happen.
The City just needs to be honest and tell parents J-H is bad because of the FARMS rate, once it's reduced greatly, the school will be fine.
One wonders if our ACPS School Board recognizes ongoing insecurity in redistricting will impact the real estate market. People who wish to move to/near Old Town for some urban life (some of our highest priced real estate there) won't, and West End homes' real estate sales will linger or decline due to continued poor overall school system which needs redistricting to address a key purpose of redistricting, the FARMS rate. ACPS needs to move up from the bottom of the VDOE heap, and faster than this delayed step allows.
Like a boil, redistricting needs to be lanced and done. It is a mandatory ACPS Board function and decision: step up and do your jobs ACPS School Board! You've been talking about it for years.
While the Board defers, Alexandria languishes in even more immeasurable ways. I suspect City Council and City Staff (at least the smart ones) are not pleased. If they did not see the negative effects in deference to now Fall, 2017-2018, they need to study up on "uncertainty effect" on the City economy.
Oh please. Sure, the city needs to re calculate the boundaries, etc. But the handwringing in this post is a bit over the top. I would rather have the committee and the board take several months to carefully review things, and make principled decisions, than try to ram this through in a couple of months....And apparently this is what many cooler heads thought, too. It's been 1999 since redistricting happened last, I hardly think the the old town re market will implode if the school district proceeds conscientiously and in doing so that means implementation is rolled out until 2017.
I urge you to attend and listen to every single recent past and current Alexandria City FY 2017 Budget meeting on our General Fund and Capital Improvement Plan, as well as read the many recent and past finance documents available. Cogitative hand-winging is definitely going on by Council and Staff as well as myself, over the state of Alexandria's real estate, from which our City budget derives the bulk of its revenue.
Clear minds recognize Alexandria must not inject further unknowns into real estate buys and sales. I don't agree with your "cool head Luke is missing" assessment. Delaying redistricting decisions, kicking them further down the road, not filling our brand new Jefferson Houston school at a time we lack student seats, brings into question ACPS not fulfilling it's fiduciary duty to City residents. Council is aware of this. Real estate and broader economic uncertainty, especially given same in our local, state and federal economy, is the opposite of what wise heads want.
Don't underestimate the impact this protracted redistricting process will have on our local housing real estate market. Look at recent sales, ma'am or sir, for example this week sales and you will take a deep breath if you see what I see.
Alternatively, you could consider urging the. Council to do something to reverse the situation and encourage them to grow a bigger commercial tax base.
I wish. We all wish. The accidental mayor-elect opposes all development and all taxation, and has convened a secret ethics court to put anyone who disagrees on trial. The days when the Alexandria Schools could have at least hoped to keep pace and engage in some limited growth (even if delayed and insufficient) are all over. The "Mayor" has spoken.
Let's just put a public "get the hook" on your nonsense post.
Firstly, Allison Silberberg isn't even Mayor yet and ran and won on "thoughtful development" for historic Alexandria not unbridled, secondly she publicly spoke of ethics reform after Mayor Euille publicly said he had no trouble taking large amounts of cash from developers. Lastly ACPS School Board is by state law, a separate elected entity from the Council with it's own duties, mandatory education and providing of buildings for education of the City students.
Look back to the eight year Volkert school board for people to hold accountable for limited Capital Improvement budgeting and carry through of building of needed new schools, if you're looking for accountability. Jefferson Houston, at $45 Million, sitting half empty even today because of no redistricting is one of her board's legacies. Nice job.
Wrong. The City has both the first and also the backstop obligation to fund ACPS -- capital and operating. The new "mayor" has made clear that ACPS won't be funded. Your reference to ACPS's obligation to provide buildings is 100% subject to external funding. ACPS does not set its own allocation. ACPS merely recommends and asks. The new "mayor" will be deciding, God help us all.
Where and when has she done this? Citation please.
Anonymous
12/03/2015 22:32
Subject: Re:Alexandria Redistricting Process Starting
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:For those interested in finding out what is "actually" going on with redistricting, here is a list of upcoming meetings to get more information:
Review Committee Meeting: December 8 at 7 p.m., George Mason Elementary School cafeteria, 2601 Cameron Mills Road. Visit the Review Committee web page
Twitter Town Hall: December 11 at 8 a.m. Tweet questions to @ACPSk12 using the hashtag #BetterBoundaries before or during the chat and the Redistricting Steering Committee will respond during the Town Hall.
Budget Community Meeting: December 15 at 7 p.m., George Washington Middle School media center/library. This is primarily for discussion about the budget, but there will be a brief update of the redistricting process at the start of the meeting.
Steering Committee Meeting: December 16 at 7 p.m., ACPS Central Office, 1340 Braddock Place. Visit the Steering Committee web page.
Here is what "actually" came through my email. Thank you for your concern for we "actual" DCUM Alexandria users. Yes, we are real residents of Alexandria City and care about this important matter and process.
"Thank you for your continued involvement in the redistricting process. Below is a list of upcoming redistricting meetings. All meetings are public and we hope to see you there.
Review Committee Meeting: December 8 at 7 p.m., George Mason Elementary School cafeteria, 2601 Cameron Mills Road. Visit the Review Committee web page
Twitter Town Hall: December 11 at 8 a.m. Tweet questions to @ACPSk12 using the hashtag #BetterBoundaries before or during the chat and the Redistricting Steering Committee will respond during the Town Hall.
Budget Community Meeting: December 15 at 7 p.m., George Washington Middle School media center/library. This is primarily for discussion about the budget, but there will be a brief update of the redistricting process at the start of the meeting.
Steering Committee Meeting: December 16 at 7 p.m., ACPS Central Office, 1340 Braddock Place. Visit the Steering Committee web page."
? How is this different than the original post? Same info.
Anonymous
12/03/2015 18:13
Subject: Re:Alexandria Redistricting Process Starting
Anonymous wrote:For those interested in finding out what is "actually" going on with redistricting, here is a list of upcoming meetings to get more information:
Review Committee Meeting: December 8 at 7 p.m., George Mason Elementary School cafeteria, 2601 Cameron Mills Road. Visit the Review Committee web page
Twitter Town Hall: December 11 at 8 a.m. Tweet questions to @ACPSk12 using the hashtag #BetterBoundaries before or during the chat and the Redistricting Steering Committee will respond during the Town Hall.
Budget Community Meeting: December 15 at 7 p.m., George Washington Middle School media center/library. This is primarily for discussion about the budget, but there will be a brief update of the redistricting process at the start of the meeting.
Steering Committee Meeting: December 16 at 7 p.m., ACPS Central Office, 1340 Braddock Place. Visit the Steering Committee web page.
Here is what "actually" came through my email. Thank you for your concern for we "actual" DCUM Alexandria users. Yes, we are real residents of Alexandria City and care about this important matter and process.
"Thank you for your continued involvement in the redistricting process. Below is a list of upcoming redistricting meetings. All meetings are public and we hope to see you there.
Review Committee Meeting: December 8 at 7 p.m., George Mason Elementary School cafeteria, 2601 Cameron Mills Road. Visit the Review Committee web page
Twitter Town Hall: December 11 at 8 a.m. Tweet questions to @ACPSk12 using the hashtag #BetterBoundaries before or during the chat and the Redistricting Steering Committee will respond during the Town Hall.
Budget Community Meeting: December 15 at 7 p.m., George Washington Middle School media center/library. This is primarily for discussion about the budget, but there will be a brief update of the redistricting process at the start of the meeting.
Steering Committee Meeting: December 16 at 7 p.m., ACPS Central Office, 1340 Braddock Place. Visit the Steering Committee web page."
Anonymous
12/03/2015 18:07
Subject: Re:Alexandria Redistricting Process Starting
For those interested in finding out what is "actually" going on with redistricting, here is a list of upcoming meetings to get more information:
Review Committee Meeting: December 8 at 7 p.m., George Mason Elementary School cafeteria, 2601 Cameron Mills Road. Visit the Review Committee web page
Twitter Town Hall: December 11 at 8 a.m. Tweet questions to @ACPSk12 using the hashtag #BetterBoundaries before or during the chat and the Redistricting Steering Committee will respond during the Town Hall.
Budget Community Meeting: December 15 at 7 p.m., George Washington Middle School media center/library. This is primarily for discussion about the budget, but there will be a brief update of the redistricting process at the start of the meeting.
Steering Committee Meeting: December 16 at 7 p.m., ACPS Central Office, 1340 Braddock Place. Visit the Steering Committee web page.
Anonymous
11/30/2015 22:45
Subject: Re:Alexandria Redistricting Process Starting
Anonymous wrote:New poster here. This thread certainly has taken some interesting twists and turns. To the point above about the mayor, the mayor has merely one vote out of 7 and no veto power, so advocating to all of Council will be key to fully funding ACPS (or any other budget priority). Agree with the prior poster that the other key thing to advocate for is commercial development -- we don't need more residential, which is a drain (residential tends to use more in city services than it produces in taxes, commercial is the opposite). Also agree that no one I know is worried about housing prices around here being too low.
The one thing that worries me about her is she has no kids so she really has no vested interest in the schools. Couple that with School Board and Council members who also have no kids and I feel that it's just a bad situation overall for the schools.
Anonymous
11/29/2015 17:42
Subject: Re:Alexandria Redistricting Process Starting
Anonymous wrote:I am assuming that some realtors may be worried that a three month delay will affect spring sales (since old timeline would have seen the new school zones before the spring.) I don't think that should factor into the School Board's decision to delay or not.
And I don't think much has changed with City Council. Mayor Silberberg is still only one vote on the council (same as before when she was vice-mayor).
The new "mayor" will be only one vote, but largely leads the Council's agenda. The toxins will run from the top down.
Anonymous
11/29/2015 16:18
Subject: Re:Alexandria Redistricting Process Starting
I am assuming that some realtors may be worried that a three month delay will affect spring sales (since old timeline would have seen the new school zones before the spring.) I don't think that should factor into the School Board's decision to delay or not.
And I don't think much has changed with City Council. Mayor Silberberg is still only one vote on the council (same as before when she was vice-mayor).
And I don't think much has changed with City Council. Mayor Silberberg is still only one vote on the council (same as before when she was vice-mayor).
Anonymous
11/28/2015 20:52
Subject: Re:Alexandria Redistricting Process Starting
New poster here. This thread certainly has taken some interesting twists and turns. To the point above about the mayor, the mayor has merely one vote out of 7 and no veto power, so advocating to all of Council will be key to fully funding ACPS (or any other budget priority). Agree with the prior poster that the other key thing to advocate for is commercial development -- we don't need more residential, which is a drain (residential tends to use more in city services than it produces in taxes, commercial is the opposite). Also agree that no one I know is worried about housing prices around here being too low.
Anonymous
11/28/2015 20:50
Subject: Re:Alexandria Redistricting Process Starting
I wish. We all wish. The accidental mayor-elect opposes all development and all taxation, and has convened a secret ethics court to put anyone who disagrees on trial. The days when the Alexandria Schools could have at least hoped to keep pace and engage in some limited growth (even if delayed and insufficient) are all over. The "Mayor" has spoken.
Let's just put a public "get the hook" on your nonsense post.
Firstly, Allison Silberberg isn't even Mayor yet and ran and won on "thoughtful development" for historic Alexandria not unbridled, secondly she publicly spoke of ethics reform after Mayor Euille publicly said he had no trouble taking large amounts of cash from developers. Lastly ACPS School Board is by state law, a separate elected entity from the Council with it's own duties, mandatory education and providing of buildings for education of the City students.
Look back to the eight year Volkert school board for people to hold accountable for limited Capital Improvement budgeting and carry through of building of needed new schools, if you're looking for accountability. Jefferson Houston, at $45 Million, sitting half empty even today because of no redistricting is one of her board's legacies. Nice job.
Wrong. The City has both the first and also the backstop obligation to fund ACPS -- capital and operating. The new "mayor" has made clear that ACPS won't be funded. Your reference to ACPS's obligation to provide buildings is 100% subject to external funding. ACPS does not set its own allocation. ACPS merely recommends and asks. The new "mayor" will be deciding, God help us all.
City Council (all seven of them) does vote the funding for ACPS but its funding is based on a) ACPS recommendation for both yearly general funds needed (salaries, overhead etc) and b) facilities (i.e., schools), requested via the ten year ACPS CIP (capital improvement plan) and c) obligation under state law, which also provides some funding. The ability of Alexandria to fund it's public school system is rated rather high (see Composite Index of Local Ability to Pay under Budget on VDOE, http://www.doe.virginia.gov/school_finance/budget/index.shtml). For 2016-2017, Alexandria's CI was 0.8. This is based on a formula incorporating Alexandria True Value of Property, Adjusted Gross Income and Taxable Retail Sales. The City decides on the amount of money to the public schools annually, but ACPS decides where and when the money is spent if they do so in a fiduciary responsible manner.
Anonymous
11/28/2015 20:23
Subject: Re:Alexandria Redistricting Process Starting
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Well, at least some of the redistricting supporters were not re-elected, so maybe the whole thing will just fade away? Most of the committee are big school board supporters anyway, so maybe these folks just felt out of the whole thing?
.[/qu"ote]
Wrong. The City has both the first and also the backstop obligation to fund ACPS -- capital and operating. The new "mayor" has made clear that ACPS won't be funded. Your reference to ACPS's obligation to provide buildings is 100% subject to external funding. ACPS does not set its own allocation. ACPS merely recommends and asks. The new "mayor" will be deciding, God help us all.
[/
quote]
Doesn't the City Council decide? Or does the "mayor" have some veto power??AnonymousAnonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Well, at least some of the redistricting supporters were not re-elected, so maybe the whole thing will just fade away? Most of the committee are big school board supporters anyway, so maybe these folks just felt out of the whole thing?
Are you kidding? Redistricting absolutely needs to happen.
The City just needs to be honest and tell parents J-H is bad because of the FARMS rate, once it's reduced greatly, the school will be fine.
One wonders if our ACPS School Board recognizes ongoing insecurity in redistricting will impact the real estate market. People who wish to move to/near Old Town for some urban life (some of our highest priced real estate there) won't, and West End homes' real estate sales will linger or decline due to continued poor overall school system which needs redistricting to address a key purpose of redistricting, the FARMS rate. ACPS needs to move up from the bottom of the VDOE heap, and faster than this delayed step allows.
Like a boil, redistricting needs to be lanced and done. It is a mandatory ACPS Board function and decision: step up and do your jobs ACPS School Board! You've been talking about it for years.
While the Board defers, Alexandria languishes in even more immeasurable ways. I suspect City Council and City Staff (at least the smart ones) are not pleased. If they did not see the negative effects in deference to now Fall, 2017-2018, they need to study up on "uncertainty effect" on the City economy.
Oh please. Sure, the city needs to re calculate the boundaries, etc. But the handwringing in this post is a bit over the top. I would rather have the committee and the board take several months to carefully review things, and make principled decisions, than try to ram this through in a couple of months....And apparently this is what many cooler heads thought, too. It's been 1999 since redistricting happened last, I hardly think the the old town re market will implode if the school district proceeds conscientiously and in doing so that means implementation is rolled out until 2017.
I urge you to attend and listen to every single recent past and current Alexandria City FY 2017 Budget meeting on our General Fund and Capital Improvement Plan, as well as read the many recent and past finance documents available. Cogitative hand-winging is definitely going on by Council and Staff as well as myself, over the state of Alexandria's real estate, from which our City budget derives the bulk of its revenue.
Clear minds recognize Alexandria must not inject further unknowns into real estate buys and sales. I don't agree with your "cool head Luke is missing" assessment. Delaying redistricting decisions, kicking them further down the road, not filling our brand new Jefferson Houston school at a time we lack student seats, brings into question ACPS not fulfilling it's fiduciary duty to City residents. Council is aware of this. Real estate and broader economic uncertainty, especially given same in our local, state and federal economy, is the opposite of what wise heads want.
Don't underestimate the impact this protracted redistricting process will have on our local housing real estate market. Look at recent sales, ma'am or sir, for example this week sales and you will take a deep breath if you see what I see.
Alternatively, you could consider urging the. Council to do something to reverse the situation and encourage them to grow a bigger commercial tax base.
I wish. We all wish. The accidental mayor-elect opposes all development and all taxation, and has convened a secret ethics court to put anyone who disagrees on trial. The days when the Alexandria Schools could have at least hoped to keep pace and engage in some limited growth (even if delayed and insufficient) are all over. The "Mayor" has spoken.
Let's just put a public "get the hook" on your nonsense post.
Firstly, Allison Silberberg isn't even Mayor yet and ran and won on "thoughtful development" for historic Alexandria not unbridled, secondly she publicly spoke of ethics reform after Mayor Euille publicly said he had no trouble taking large amounts of cash from developers. Lastly ACPS School Board is by state law, a separate elected entity from the Council with it's own duties, mandatory education and providing of buildings for education of the City students.
Look back to the eight year Volkert school board for people to hold accountable for limited Capital Improvement budgeting and carry through of building of needed new schools, if you're looking for accountability. Jefferson Houston, at $45 Million, sitting half empty even today because of no redistricting is one of her board's legacies. Nice job.
Wrong. The City has both the first and also the backstop obligation to fund ACPS -- capital and operating. The new "mayor" has made clear that ACPS won't be funded. Your reference to ACPS's obligation to provide buildings is 100% subject to external funding. ACPS does not set its own allocation. ACPS merely recommends and asks. The new "mayor" will be deciding, God help us all.
AnonymousAnonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Well, at least some of the redistricting supporters were not re-elected, so maybe the whole thing will just fade away? Most of the committee are big school board supporters anyway, so maybe these folks just felt out of the whole thing?
Are you kidding? Redistricting absolutely needs to happen.
The City just needs to be honest and tell parents J-H is bad because of the FARMS rate, once it's reduced greatly, the school will be fine.
One wonders if our ACPS School Board recognizes ongoing insecurity in redistricting will impact the real estate market. People who wish to move to/near Old Town for some urban life (some of our highest priced real estate there) won't, and West End homes' real estate sales will linger or decline due to continued poor overall school system which needs redistricting to address a key purpose of redistricting, the FARMS rate. ACPS needs to move up from the bottom of the VDOE heap, and faster than this delayed step allows.
Like a boil, redistricting needs to be lanced and done. It is a mandatory ACPS Board function and decision: step up and do your jobs ACPS School Board! You've been talking about it for years.
While the Board defers, Alexandria languishes in even more immeasurable ways. I suspect City Council and City Staff (at least the smart ones) are not pleased. If they did not see the negative effects in deference to now Fall, 2017-2018, they need to study up on "uncertainty effect" on the City economy.
Oh please. Sure, the city needs to re calculate the boundaries, etc. But the handwringing in this post is a bit over the top. I would rather have the committee and the board take several months to carefully review things, and make principled decisions, than try to ram this through in a couple of months....And apparently this is what many cooler heads thought, too. It's been 1999 since redistricting happened last, I hardly think the the old town re market will implode if the school district proceeds conscientiously and in doing so that means implementation is rolled out until 2017.
I urge you to attend and listen to every single recent past and current Alexandria City FY 2017 Budget meeting on our General Fund and Capital Improvement Plan, as well as read the many recent and past finance documents available. Cogitative hand-winging is definitely going on by Council and Staff as well as myself, over the state of Alexandria's real estate, from which our City budget derives the bulk of its revenue.
Clear minds recognize Alexandria must not inject further unknowns into real estate buys and sales. I don't agree with your "cool head Luke is missing" assessment. Delaying redistricting decisions, kicking them further down the road, not filling our brand new Jefferson Houston school at a time we lack student seats, brings into question ACPS not fulfilling it's fiduciary duty to City residents. Council is aware of this. Real estate and broader economic uncertainty, especially given same in our local, state and federal economy, is the opposite of what wise heads want.
Don't underestimate the impact this protracted redistricting process will have on our local housing real estate market. Look at recent sales, ma'am or sir, for example this week sales and you will take a deep breath if you see what I see.
I would do more than "take a deep breath" if I saw a board that tried to make critical decisions about redistricting in a ridiculously short time frame just so---so what? To calm down people like you and others you assert who are sitting around fretting about real estate values? (Something I can't say that is something that I or my friends and neighbors who live here are doing, for what its worth, so don't pretend like you're representing the good people of Alexandria.) As a PP said, the plans will come out a whopping three months later - that will inject the certainty that you are looking for. To say that ACPS should make rash decisions for the sake of speediness, as opposed to taking a couple more months to proceed thoughtfully and appropriately is completely ridiculous. I'll take a carefully thought-through decision in May over a sloppy rushed decision in February every single time.
Three months is no big deal, but the chronic insecurity over buying in Alexandria City due to its public school system is. Re-districting should be implemented as soon as possible to dilute the FARMS impact and raise our test scores; why even delay yet another year? ACPS is a joke, always at the bottom of the heap in Virginia in spite of vast sums of taxpayer money given to it. Definitely a turn off to new buyers and current homeowners a like, who get less for their money in sales on comparable homes in neighboring jurisdictions due to the low scoring of our public schools. And, it's real property taxes from which the bulk of our City revenue is derived. Don't you see one hand feeds another, in current state by lower home prices in Alexandria City?AnonymousAnonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Well, at least some of the redistricting supporters were not re-elected, so maybe the whole thing will just fade away? Most of the committee are big school board supporters anyway, so maybe these folks just felt out of the whole thing?
Are you kidding? Redistricting absolutely needs to happen.
The City just needs to be honest and tell parents J-H is bad because of the FARMS rate, once it's reduced greatly, the school will be fine.
One wonders if our ACPS School Board recognizes ongoing insecurity in redistricting will impact the real estate market. People who wish to move to/near Old Town for some urban life (some of our highest priced real estate there) won't, and West End homes' real estate sales will linger or decline due to continued poor overall school system which needs redistricting to address a key purpose of redistricting, the FARMS rate. ACPS needs to move up from the bottom of the VDOE heap, and faster than this delayed step allows.
Like a boil, redistricting needs to be lanced and done. It is a mandatory ACPS Board function and decision: step up and do your jobs ACPS School Board! You've been talking about it for years.
While the Board defers, Alexandria languishes in even more immeasurable ways. I suspect City Council and City Staff (at least the smart ones) are not pleased. If they did not see the negative effects in deference to now Fall, 2017-2018, they need to study up on "uncertainty effect" on the City economy.
Oh please. Sure, the city needs to re calculate the boundaries, etc. But the handwringing in this post is a bit over the top. I would rather have the committee and the board take several months to carefully review things, and make principled decisions, than try to ram this through in a couple of months....And apparently this is what many cooler heads thought, too. It's been 1999 since redistricting happened last, I hardly think the the old town re market will implode if the school district proceeds conscientiously and in doing so that means implementation is rolled out until 2017.
I urge you to attend and listen to every single recent past and current Alexandria City FY 2017 Budget meeting on our General Fund and Capital Improvement Plan, as well as read the many recent and past finance documents available. Cogitative hand-winging is definitely going on by Council and Staff as well as myself, over the state of Alexandria's real estate, from which our City budget derives the bulk of its revenue.
Clear minds recognize Alexandria must not inject further unknowns into real estate buys and sales. I don't agree with your "cool head Luke is missing" assessment. Delaying redistricting decisions, kicking them further down the road, not filling our brand new Jefferson Houston school at a time we lack student seats, brings into question ACPS not fulfilling it's fiduciary duty to City residents. Council is aware of this. Real estate and broader economic uncertainty, especially given same in our local, state and federal economy, is the opposite of what wise heads want.
Don't underestimate the impact this protracted redistricting process will have on our local housing real estate market. Look at recent sales, ma'am or sir, for example this week sales and you will take a deep breath if you see what I see.
I would do more than "take a deep breath" if I saw a board that tried to make critical decisions about redistricting in a ridiculously short time frame just so---so what? To calm down people like you and others you assert who are sitting around fretting about real estate values? (Something I can't say that is something that I or my friends and neighbors who live here are doing, for what its worth, so don't pretend like you're representing the good people of Alexandria.) As a PP said, the plans will come out a whopping three months later - that will inject the certainty that you are looking for. To say that ACPS should make rash decisions for the sake of speediness, as opposed to taking a couple more months to proceed thoughtfully and appropriately is completely ridiculous. I'll take a carefully thought-through decision in May over a sloppy rushed decision in February every single time.