Anonymous wrote: With the trifecta boundary study going on Upcounty now, the boundary study for DCC/Northwood that will happen soon, the one for Woodward within the next year or two or maybe three, who knows, and another one for Crown, are they going to redistrict all those people twice in a matter of a few years? Or will this boundary study only affect the people not going through a boundary study now?

Kind of seems like a waste of valuable resources to me, when we've already got half the county scheduled for boundary studies in the next few years. I also don't believe it's possible for a consultant to understand the complex system that MCPS is, between January 8th, and June. In five months, they're going to come in, evaluate, understand, and make recommendations that will actually make a difference? Sure...

Anonymous wrote:

RPES in RM cluster is overcrowded and right next to Wootton ES with empty seats.

Leaving empty seats in schools when nearby school is over crowded, what a waste!

Then MCPS complains about lack of funding. First start using the current resources optimally and then think of adding something.

Didn't Richie Park used to be part of Wootton 15 years ago? I thought it was moved into RM because RM was so under capacity it was about to close and MCPs wanted more UM white kids there so they pulled the neighborhood out of W and into RM.

Just create a dual enrollment zone for Richie Park with Coldspring and Lakewood. Enough parents will switch over to balance it out.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Although we cannot address housing patterns or solve socioeconomic inequity challenges within
our county, we can examine how such factors might impact, or be mitigated by, how school
boundaries are drawn and/or where academic programs are placed and provide the Board with an
opportunity to be intentional in creating equitable learning environments that leverage the assets
of Montgomery County. In particular, the current conditions create a unique opportunity to take
an in depth look at promoting diverse student bodies and maximizing facility utilization.
It may not be feasible to revise all boundaries, however, there are many schools in MCPS with
adjacent school boundaries that have both significant disparities in socioeconomic and racial
demographics and disparities in facility utilization. Examining the possibility of altering the
boundaries for these schools can present opportunities for progress toward ensuring that all
students are able to reap the significant benefits of attending school with a diverse student body,
and having class sizes that allow time and space for enhanced educational experiences."

If you read this, my interpretation is that this is the first step to try and redraw boundaries in a much broader way than has ever been seen with the main goal being reducing socioeconomic disparity.

And more and more people will go private or flee.

again, doubtful it will happen - The transportation issues are far too logistically complex to address. And kids aren't going to sit on a bus for hours for the purpose of addressing disparities.

You don't need to sit on a bus for hours to go to an adjacent school. If there are nearby schools, one overcrowded and one with space available, I'm in favor of them redrawing boundaries to take advantage of that. Whether they need to hire a consultant to figure that out is another question.

Well, perhaps your bus rides were a cake walk, but when we lived in Brookeville (the "outer part,"), my kids were on the bus for an hour, as the boundaries for the Sherwood cluster reach up to the intersection of New Hampshire and Georgia avenues.

You see. . . when you're used to more of a suburban setting, you don't get the full picture, as the homes in the outer burbs are much more spread out. In fact, in our former 'hood, we were a stone's throw away from Howard County.

Regarding redrawing boundaries, imagine sending Sherwood kids to Gaithersburg. b/c where else would they go? The ride would be just as brutal.

You could force Sherwood into the NEC, but I can guarantee many parents would head into private, as this was a proposal they balked out years ago when the NEC was forming. And you clearly wouldn't "swap" Sherwood kids with Damascus kids. What's the point of that?

So for densely packed areas, you worry about traffic. In more rural settings, you have traffic, winding roads, and distance. And if there's an accident on a two-lane road, kids aren't getting to school.

just sharing MY perspective

Sure. But I don't see how that's inconsistent with the above: "It may not be feasible to revise all boundaries, however, there are many schools in MCPS with
adjacent school boundaries that have both significant disparities in socioeconomic and racial demographics and disparities in facility utilization."

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Although we cannot address housing patterns or solve socioeconomic inequity challenges within
our county, we can examine how such factors might impact, or be mitigated by, how school
boundaries are drawn and/or where academic programs are placed and provide the Board with an
opportunity to be intentional in creating equitable learning environments that leverage the assets
of Montgomery County. In particular, the current conditions create a unique opportunity to take
an in depth look at promoting diverse student bodies and maximizing facility utilization.
It may not be feasible to revise all boundaries, however, there are many schools in MCPS with
adjacent school boundaries that have both significant disparities in socioeconomic and racial
demographics and disparities in facility utilization. Examining the possibility of altering the
boundaries for these schools can present opportunities for progress toward ensuring that all
students are able to reap the significant benefits of attending school with a diverse student body,
and having class sizes that allow time and space for enhanced educational experiences."

If you read this, my interpretation is that this is the first step to try and redraw boundaries in a much broader way than has ever been seen with the main goal being reducing socioeconomic disparity.

And more and more people will go private or flee.

again, doubtful it will happen - The transportation issues are far too logistically complex to address. And kids aren't going to sit on a bus for hours for the purpose of addressing disparities.

You don't need to sit on a bus for hours to go to an adjacent school. If there are nearby schools, one overcrowded and one with space available, I'm in favor of them redrawing boundaries to take advantage of that. Whether they need to hire a consultant to figure that out is another question.

Well, perhaps your bus rides were a cake walk, but when we lived in Brookeville (the "outer part,"), my kids were on the bus for an hour, as the boundaries for the Sherwood cluster reach up to the intersection of New Hampshire and Georgia avenues.

You see. . . when you're used to more of a suburban setting, you don't get the full picture, as the homes in the outer burbs are much more spread out. In fact, in our former 'hood, we were a stone's throw away from Howard County.

Regarding redrawing boundaries, imagine sending Sherwood kids to Gaithersburg. b/c where else would they go? The ride would be just as brutal.

You could force Sherwood into the NEC, but I can guarantee many parents would head into private, as this was a proposal they balked out years ago when the NEC was forming. And you clearly wouldn't "swap" Sherwood kids with Damascus kids. What's the point of that?

So for densely packed areas, you worry about traffic. In more rural settings, you have traffic, winding roads, and distance. And if there's an accident on a two-lane road, kids aren't getting to school.

just sharing MY perspective

Anonymous wrote:People are thinking too narrowly. The purpose for hiring a consultant is to look not only at MCPS's specific issues, but to look at creative solutions beyond fixed boundaries that are used elsewhere? What if every neighborhood had two or three schools at each level that it was "zoned" to, and there was a choice lottery process to place students when they entered K, 6, or 9 based on both interest and space available? MSMC and DCC already do this. You would just localize it more. That has the long term advantage of being able to shift students gradually as the demographics of different areas change.

Short term, I'd bet that a fair amount of underutilization could be solved if they allowed COSAs to move from a school over 110% to one under 90%, parents arrange transportation.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Although we cannot address housing patterns or solve socioeconomic inequity challenges within
our county, we can examine how such factors might impact, or be mitigated by, how school
boundaries are drawn and/or where academic programs are placed and provide the Board with an
opportunity to be intentional in creating equitable learning environments that leverage the assets
of Montgomery County. In particular, the current conditions create a unique opportunity to take
an in depth look at promoting diverse student bodies and maximizing facility utilization.
It may not be feasible to revise all boundaries, however, there are many schools in MCPS with
adjacent school boundaries that have both significant disparities in socioeconomic and racial
demographics and disparities in facility utilization. Examining the possibility of altering the
boundaries for these schools can present opportunities for progress toward ensuring that all
students are able to reap the significant benefits of attending school with a diverse student body,
and having class sizes that allow time and space for enhanced educational experiences."

If you read this, my interpretation is that this is the first step to try and redraw boundaries in a much broader way than has ever been seen with the main goal being reducing socioeconomic disparity.

And more and more people will go private or flee.

again, doubtful it will happen - The transportation issues are far too logistically complex to address. And kids aren't going to sit on a bus for hours for the purpose of addressing disparities.

You don't need to sit on a bus for hours to go to an adjacent school. If there are nearby schools, one overcrowded and one with space available, I'm in favor of them redrawing boundaries to take advantage of that. Whether they need to hire a consultant to figure that out is another question.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

RPES in RM cluster is overcrowded and right next to Wootton ES with empty seats.

Leaving empty seats in schools when nearby school is over crowded, what a waste!

Then MCPS complains about lack of funding. First start using the current resources optimally and then think of adding something.

Didn't Richie Park used to be part of Wootton 15 years ago? I thought it was moved into RM because RM was so under capacity it was about to close and MCPs wanted more UM white kids there so they pulled the neighborhood out of W and into RM.


Just create a dual enrollment zone for Richie Park with Coldspring and Lakewood. Enough parents will switch over to balance it out.

Sorry, that’s not the way it works. A redistricting means Ritchie Park can be assigned to any pyramid the board thinks is good. It’s not back to Wooton or stay st RM. you could be assigned to Gaithersburg to help with leveling the FARMS.

Leveling the FARMs can be done as much as possible, but there is no excuse for keeping one school at 80% and another at 120% when they are side by side. That's simply horrible way to run a school system.

Anonymous wrote:People are thinking too narrowly. The purpose for hiring a consultant is to look not only at MCPS's specific issues, but to look at creative solutions beyond fixed boundaries that are used elsewhere? What if every neighborhood had two or three schools at each level that it was "zoned" to, and there was a choice lottery process to place students when they entered K, 6, or 9 based on both interest and space available? MSMC and DCC already do this. You would just localize it more. That has the long term advantage of being able to shift students gradually as the demographics of different areas change.

Short term, I'd bet that a fair amount of underutilization could be solved if they allowed COSAs to move from a school over 110% to one under 90%, parents arrange transportation.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

RPES in RM cluster is overcrowded and right next to Wootton ES with empty seats.

Leaving empty seats in schools when nearby school is over crowded, what a waste!

Then MCPS complains about lack of funding. First start using the current resources optimally and then think of adding something.

Didn't Richie Park used to be part of Wootton 15 years ago? I thought it was moved into RM because RM was so under capacity it was about to close and MCPs wanted more UM white kids there so they pulled the neighborhood out of W and into RM.


Just create a dual enrollment zone for Richie Park with Coldspring and Lakewood. Enough parents will switch over to balance it out.

Sorry, that’s not the way it works. A redistricting means Ritchie Park can be assigned to any pyramid the board thinks is good. It’s not back to Wooton or stay st RM. you could be assigned to Gaithersburg to help with leveling the FARMS.

Anonymous wrote:

RPES in RM cluster is overcrowded and right next to Wootton ES with empty seats.

Leaving empty seats in schools when nearby school is over crowded, what a waste!

Then MCPS complains about lack of funding. First start using the current resources optimally and then think of adding something.

Didn't Richie Park used to be part of Wootton 15 years ago? I thought it was moved into RM because RM was so under capacity it was about to close and MCPs wanted more UM white kids there so they pulled the neighborhood out of W and into RM.

Just create a dual enrollment zone for Richie Park with Coldspring and Lakewood. Enough parents will switch over to balance it out.

Anonymous wrote:

RPES in RM cluster is overcrowded and right next to Wootton ES with empty seats.

Leaving empty seats in schools when nearby school is over crowded, what a waste!

Then MCPS complains about lack of funding. First start using the current resources optimally and then think of adding something.

Didn't Richie Park used to be part of Wootton 15 years ago? I thought it was moved into RM because RM was so under capacity it was about to close and MCPs wanted more UM white kids there so they pulled the neighborhood out of W and into RM.


Just create a dual enrollment zone for Richie Park with Coldspring and Lakewood. Enough parents will switch over to balance it out.

Anonymous wrote:RPES in RM cluster is overcrowded and right next to Wootton ES with empty seats.

Leaving empty seats in schools when nearby school is over crowded, what a waste!

Then MCPS complains about lack of funding. First start using the current resources optimally and then think of adding something.