Anonymous
02/08/2021 10:22
Subject: Re:Mclean boundary changes - can someone please update?
I think Facilities had more to do than Karen Corbett Sanders with reneging on the plans to expand McLean and expand Langley more than originally planned. I sat in a room where Janie Strauss said McLean would get an addition before any students were moved to Langley and the principal said that Kevin Sneed (who used to report to Platenberg) had already gone over the building plans with her.
For three years the CIPs, which Facilities is primarily responsible for assembling, said Langley's expansion would increase the capacity to 2100. Only in 2018 as the renovation was wrapping up did they disclose that they had actually increased the capacity to 2350. As far as I can tell, it was Platenberg who decided it would just be easier and cheaper to do that.
Corbett Sanders was Chair in 2018 when Janie Strauss tried to get a boundary change approved that would have moved part of McLean to Langley, including some Tysons apartments. Corbett Sanders was among those on the Board who killed that because she said they needed to slow down, do a much bigger review, and make sure any boundary changes were consistent with their "One Fairfax" focus.
So things dragged out for 2-3 more years. At the end of the day, they made a change that could have been made three years ago and would have been the obvious change if all you wanted was a "cleaner" boundary map. Elaine Tholen and Rachna Sizemore-Heizer were among those who said at one point it was critical to add diversity to Langley by moving some multi-family housing there, only to flip in the face of pressure from the Colvin Run parents in single-family homes who wanted to move to a school that, in most cases, is further from their homes but wealthier. And now they are the ones spouting the position of the Colvin Run parents that the staff's recommendation wouldn't have moved the needle much in terms of diversity because some rentals in Tysons (i.e., the most expensive ones) cost as much as a mortgage on a single-family house in Vienna (that may be true, but it's also largely irrelevant, since the area that the staff proposed to move also would have included condos that cost less than 50% of the least expensive housing anywhere in the Langley district and absolutely would have contributed to greater diversity there).
I get that this is a done deal, and that we need to move on. But it's also a case study in how inept and two-faced FCPS and the School Board has been and how the decisions they routinely make are 180 degrees the opposite of the values they pretend to hold. We should get new School Board members, and they should just toss "One Fairfax" in the trash can, because all it really does is slow things down.
For three years the CIPs, which Facilities is primarily responsible for assembling, said Langley's expansion would increase the capacity to 2100. Only in 2018 as the renovation was wrapping up did they disclose that they had actually increased the capacity to 2350. As far as I can tell, it was Platenberg who decided it would just be easier and cheaper to do that.
Corbett Sanders was Chair in 2018 when Janie Strauss tried to get a boundary change approved that would have moved part of McLean to Langley, including some Tysons apartments. Corbett Sanders was among those on the Board who killed that because she said they needed to slow down, do a much bigger review, and make sure any boundary changes were consistent with their "One Fairfax" focus.
So things dragged out for 2-3 more years. At the end of the day, they made a change that could have been made three years ago and would have been the obvious change if all you wanted was a "cleaner" boundary map. Elaine Tholen and Rachna Sizemore-Heizer were among those who said at one point it was critical to add diversity to Langley by moving some multi-family housing there, only to flip in the face of pressure from the Colvin Run parents in single-family homes who wanted to move to a school that, in most cases, is further from their homes but wealthier. And now they are the ones spouting the position of the Colvin Run parents that the staff's recommendation wouldn't have moved the needle much in terms of diversity because some rentals in Tysons (i.e., the most expensive ones) cost as much as a mortgage on a single-family house in Vienna (that may be true, but it's also largely irrelevant, since the area that the staff proposed to move also would have included condos that cost less than 50% of the least expensive housing anywhere in the Langley district and absolutely would have contributed to greater diversity there).
I get that this is a done deal, and that we need to move on. But it's also a case study in how inept and two-faced FCPS and the School Board has been and how the decisions they routinely make are 180 degrees the opposite of the values they pretend to hold. We should get new School Board members, and they should just toss "One Fairfax" in the trash can, because all it really does is slow things down.
Anonymous
02/08/2021 09:50
Subject: Mclean boundary changes - can someone please update?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:
This all came up in the context of discussing the pros and cons of FCPS’s decision to build LHS out to 2350 seats. It’s something that reasonable people ought to be able to discuss without flying off the handle because analogous situations will come up again the future. The main pros are that Langley has a reasonably large campus and it was already due for a renovation. The cons are that it’s in a corner of the county, it sits off a two-lane road with limited entrances and exits, and it’s in a part of the county where a higher than average proportion of families with school-age kids send their privates. As a practice matter, that might have suggested FCPS should have capped the school’s size. Instead, it expanded it by 250 more seats than originally disclosed, and now its catchment area, which was already the largest in the county, will get even larger, with more students traveling longer-than-average distances to get there. Conversely, FCPS has done very little to expand the permanent capacity at two nearby schools - McLean and Marshall - that are more centrally located and have been experiencing more growth. From a planning perspective, that doesn’t seem ideal, and I’d hope that some day FCPS would actually have people in Facilities who thought more strategically. At the end of the day, families just end up pawns to justify decisions made years earlier that may have been l as than optimal.
But, again, none of that implies Langley isn’t a great school or that you aren’t nice people. It may suggest that, if discussions of FCPS-related planning issues bother you, you should probably ignore them or scroll down.
This was a thoughtful response but I take exception to one point:Facilities doesn’t make these decisions. The School Board does. It is all politics, and Karen Corbett Sanders has made it her life’s mission to screw McLean High School any chance she can get. Jeff Platenburg’s hands are tied because the school board signs his contract. This is the unfortunate reality of our school system. It is run by ambitious but amateur politicians.
Anonymous
02/08/2021 08:00
Subject: Re:Mclean boundary changes - can someone please update?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I hope we don’t lose too many teachers and electives with this boundary change. I know they are claiming that McLean will still have more kids than Langley after this is fully phased in, but I don’t have much confidence in their projections.
Don’t be silly. They’re not taking half the school!
No one said they were. But they have a long track record of making adjustments with unintended consequences.
Anonymous
02/08/2021 00:29
Subject: Re:Mclean boundary changes - can someone please update?
Anonymous wrote:I hope we don’t lose too many teachers and electives with this boundary change. I know they are claiming that McLean will still have more kids than Langley after this is fully phased in, but I don’t have much confidence in their projections.
Don’t be silly. They’re not taking half the school!
Anonymous
02/07/2021 23:57
Subject: Re:Mclean boundary changes - can someone please update?
I hope we don’t lose too many teachers and electives with this boundary change. I know they are claiming that McLean will still have more kids than Langley after this is fully phased in, but I don’t have much confidence in their projections.
Anonymous
02/07/2021 23:41
Subject: Mclean boundary changes - can someone please update?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:My sympathies were definitely with the McLean community as we all know the SB has screwed them over. They should have been given an addition years ago. However, reading these absurd, whiny comments from McLean parents makes me a lot less sympathetic.
The short term solution - until the SB gets busy and approves and addition - us to send neighborhoods that are just as close to Langley. Easy solution which, along with the new modular, will ease over crowding.
Maybe focus your energies on voting out this abysmal SB and their focus on “equity,” instead of disparaging the school that now (luckily) has room to take some of your students.
Who was disparaging Langley? Posters sharing experiences or anecdotes about how long it takes to get to the school or out of the parking lot hardly counts as disparagement. You'd have to have an awfully thin skin to come away thinking otherwise.
People in the Langley pyramid could have been far more vocal in objecting to moving kids from Longfellow to Cooper as Cooper's renovation is getting underway. The vast majority were very gracious about recognizing that, if the boundaries were going to change, people would want to change the middle school boundaries at the same time as the high school boundaries.
Complaining about something as ridiculous as a parking lot is pathetic. And I think you know that.
How about you stay stuck in a car waiting in a long line for a long time just trying to enter a parking lot. Every day. Ever tried to get out of a garage after an event with almost 2,000 people just ended? One entrance one exit causes real problems.
And how does that random anecdote relate at all to the discussion at hand? There is no problem entering the Langley parking lot. In the afternoon, there is sometimes a backup of about ten minutes exiting the parking lot. The end. This is not the major problem you seem to want it to be, and certainly has nothing to do with the topic of the thread.
My kids are only in elementary but I have heard that mclean high also is hard to exit. I bet most high schools in busy areas are a PITA to get out.
They definitely are. All the seniors are usually dismissed a few minutes early and there’s a mad rush to their cars. Then it’s a mess of students, parents, and faculty trying to exit before the buses get loaded up. Happens everywhere.
Anonymous
02/07/2021 22:09
Subject: Mclean boundary changes - can someone please update?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:My sympathies were definitely with the McLean community as we all know the SB has screwed them over. They should have been given an addition years ago. However, reading these absurd, whiny comments from McLean parents makes me a lot less sympathetic.
The short term solution - until the SB gets busy and approves and addition - us to send neighborhoods that are just as close to Langley. Easy solution which, along with the new modular, will ease over crowding.
Maybe focus your energies on voting out this abysmal SB and their focus on “equity,” instead of disparaging the school that now (luckily) has room to take some of your students.
Who was disparaging Langley? Posters sharing experiences or anecdotes about how long it takes to get to the school or out of the parking lot hardly counts as disparagement. You'd have to have an awfully thin skin to come away thinking otherwise.
People in the Langley pyramid could have been far more vocal in objecting to moving kids from Longfellow to Cooper as Cooper's renovation is getting underway. The vast majority were very gracious about recognizing that, if the boundaries were going to change, people would want to change the middle school boundaries at the same time as the high school boundaries.
Complaining about something as ridiculous as a parking lot is pathetic. And I think you know that.
How about you stay stuck in a car waiting in a long line for a long time just trying to enter a parking lot. Every day. Ever tried to get out of a garage after an event with almost 2,000 people just ended? One entrance one exit causes real problems.
And how does that random anecdote relate at all to the discussion at hand? There is no problem entering the Langley parking lot. In the afternoon, there is sometimes a backup of about ten minutes exiting the parking lot. The end. This is not the major problem you seem to want it to be, and certainly has nothing to do with the topic of the thread.
My kids are only in elementary but I have heard that mclean high also is hard to exit. I bet most high schools in busy areas are a PITA to get out.
Anonymous
02/07/2021 20:50
Subject: Re:Mclean boundary changes - can someone please update?
Anonymous wrote:Do the buses get out faster?
I have a future Langley student and we live off Georgetown Pike. The 495 traffic can be brutal. Wondering if the buses have priority and get out first.
Yes. The buses take a separate exit out of the parking lot and always take priority (get out first). That said, there is often a backup on Gtown Pike due to the beltway, but it is what it is.
Anonymous
02/07/2021 20:47
Subject: Mclean boundary changes - can someone please update?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:My sympathies were definitely with the McLean community as we all know the SB has screwed them over. They should have been given an addition years ago. However, reading these absurd, whiny comments from McLean parents makes me a lot less sympathetic.
The short term solution - until the SB gets busy and approves and addition - us to send neighborhoods that are just as close to Langley. Easy solution which, along with the new modular, will ease over crowding.
Maybe focus your energies on voting out this abysmal SB and their focus on “equity,” instead of disparaging the school that now (luckily) has room to take some of your students.
Who was disparaging Langley? Posters sharing experiences or anecdotes about how long it takes to get to the school or out of the parking lot hardly counts as disparagement. You'd have to have an awfully thin skin to come away thinking otherwise.
People in the Langley pyramid could have been far more vocal in objecting to moving kids from Longfellow to Cooper as Cooper's renovation is getting underway. The vast majority were very gracious about recognizing that, if the boundaries were going to change, people would want to change the middle school boundaries at the same time as the high school boundaries.
Complaining about something as ridiculous as a parking lot is pathetic. And I think you know that.
How about you stay stuck in a car waiting in a long line for a long time just trying to enter a parking lot. Every day. Ever tried to get out of a garage after an event with almost 2,000 people just ended? One entrance one exit causes real problems.
And how does that random anecdote relate at all to the discussion at hand? There is no problem entering the Langley parking lot. In the afternoon, there is sometimes a backup of about ten minutes exiting the parking lot. The end. This is not the major problem you seem to want it to be, and certainly has nothing to do with the topic of the thread.
Anonymous
02/07/2021 08:30
Subject: Re:Mclean boundary changes - can someone please update?
Do the buses get out faster?
I have a future Langley student and we live off Georgetown Pike. The 495 traffic can be brutal. Wondering if the buses have priority and get out first.
I have a future Langley student and we live off Georgetown Pike. The 495 traffic can be brutal. Wondering if the buses have priority and get out first.
Anonymous
02/07/2021 08:27
Subject: Mclean boundary changes - can someone please update?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:My sympathies were definitely with the McLean community as we all know the SB has screwed them over. They should have been given an addition years ago. However, reading these absurd, whiny comments from McLean parents makes me a lot less sympathetic.
The short term solution - until the SB gets busy and approves and addition - us to send neighborhoods that are just as close to Langley. Easy solution which, along with the new modular, will ease over crowding.
Maybe focus your energies on voting out this abysmal SB and their focus on “equity,” instead of disparaging the school that now (luckily) has room to take some of your students.
Who was disparaging Langley? Posters sharing experiences or anecdotes about how long it takes to get to the school or out of the parking lot hardly counts as disparagement. You'd have to have an awfully thin skin to come away thinking otherwise.
People in the Langley pyramid could have been far more vocal in objecting to moving kids from Longfellow to Cooper as Cooper's renovation is getting underway. The vast majority were very gracious about recognizing that, if the boundaries were going to change, people would want to change the middle school boundaries at the same time as the high school boundaries.
Complaining about something as ridiculous as a parking lot is pathetic. And I think you know that.
How about you stay stuck in a car waiting in a long line for a long time just trying to enter a parking lot. Every day. Ever tried to get out of a garage after an event with almost 2,000 people just ended? One entrance one exit causes real problems.
Anonymous
02/07/2021 00:30
Subject: Mclean boundary changes - can someone please update?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:With all the grandfathering, McLean won’t be better for years.
So your Plan B is just to disparage the school? Define what you mean by "better."
The capacity with the modular is 2343 students. They are below that now and one suspects that many of those who've gotten a taste of privates aren't coming back when the buildings reopen.
I am a McLean parent and agree that with all the grandfathering associated with the approved boundary change we will not see much relief for a few years. Granted the new secondhand modular adds classrooms and increases capacity to 2343 but it does not make the cafeteria bigger, nor the gyms, auditorium, or parking lots any bigger. They will still remain overtaxed. As for the lengthy dramatic discussions about split feeders I am amazed my children survived their school years having spent many years in various overseas schools and then attending split feeders here in McLean.
Anonymous
02/06/2021 21:51
Subject: Re:Mclean boundary changes - can someone please update?
Anonymous wrote:I think we can all agree that FCPS needs to improve.
Absolutely. No question. And hopefully, people will remember all of this the next time the SB has an election.
Anonymous
02/06/2021 17:51
Subject: Re:Mclean boundary changes - can someone please update?
I think we can all agree that FCPS needs to improve.
Anonymous
02/06/2021 17:48
Subject: Mclean boundary changes - can someone please update?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:My sympathies were definitely with the McLean community as we all know the SB has screwed them over. They should have been given an addition years ago. However, reading these absurd, whiny comments from McLean parents makes me a lot less sympathetic.
The short term solution - until the SB gets busy and approves and addition - us to send neighborhoods that are just as close to Langley. Easy solution which, along with the new modular, will ease over crowding.
Maybe focus your energies on voting out this abysmal SB and their focus on “equity,” instead of disparaging the school that now (luckily) has room to take some of your students.
Who was disparaging Langley? Posters sharing experiences or anecdotes about how long it takes to get to the school or out of the parking lot hardly counts as disparagement. You'd have to have an awfully thin skin to come away thinking otherwise.
People in the Langley pyramid could have been far more vocal in objecting to moving kids from Longfellow to Cooper as Cooper's renovation is getting underway. The vast majority were very gracious about recognizing that, if the boundaries were going to change, people would want to change the middle school boundaries at the same time as the high school boundaries.
Complaining about something as ridiculous as a parking lot is pathetic. And I think you know that.
Honestly the only thing that is pathetic is for you to take observations about traffic congestion at and near the school as some deep personal insult that calls the utter fabulousness of Langley into question.
This all came up in the context of discussing the pros and cons of FCPS’s decision to build LHS out to 2350 seats. It’s something that reasonable people ought to be able to discuss without flying off the handle because analogous situations will come up again the future. The main pros are that Langley has a reasonably large campus and it was already due for a renovation. The cons are that it’s in a corner of the county, it sits off a two-lane road with limited entrances and exits, and it’s in a part of the county where a higher than average proportion of families with school-age kids send their privates. As a practice matter, that might have suggested FCPS should have capped the school’s size. Instead, it expanded it by 250 more seats than originally disclosed, and now its catchment area, which was already the largest in the county, will get even larger, with more students traveling longer-than-average distances to get there. Conversely, FCPS has done very little to expand the permanent capacity at two nearby schools - McLean and Marshall - that are more centrally located and have been experiencing more growth. From a planning perspective, that doesn’t seem ideal, and I’d hope that some day FCPS would actually have people in Facilities who thought more strategically. At the end of the day, families just end up pawns to justify decisions made years earlier that may have been l as than optimal.
But, again, none of that implies Langley isn’t a great school or that you aren’t nice people. It may suggest that, if discussions of FCPS-related planning issues bother you, you should probably ignore them or scroll down.