Anonymous
04/13/2026 20:51
Subject: FCPS' plans to address concerns at under-enrolled and over-enrolled schools.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Parents view schools as monetary transactions. Parents are willing to spend more money for real estate to live in districts with higher GreatSchool ratings.
They also don't want to believe that a child will still be successful even if a parent doesn't dump tons of money into a mortgage, and if the kid goes to one of those "lower-ranked" schools.
FCPS shouldn't be in the process of using GreatSchools as a means of making decisions regarding boundaries, but parents will fight to the death to keep their kids in certain schools. Because parents believe they paid for those schools. They believe they are entitled to them.
And that's why FCPS boundary changes won't happen. Because GreatSchools rules them all.
I can only think of a few areas of the county where rich areas with 8-10 ratings directly border lower income areas with 1-4 school ratings. Like, very few. And if you then drill it down to “the 8-10 school is crowded and could stand to lose some students” and “the 1-4 school has low enrollment and could stand to pick up some students” it’s even fewer. And in a lot of these areas there is another move that could also make sense and wouldn’t result in as much of a drop in terms of SES of the schools.
The reality is that poverty is concentrated in a few areas. And if you start some kind of large scale bussing to more equally distribute the poverty, that has consequences too - longer bus rides, more busses on the roads, more absenteeism, kids/families not feeling connected to their school community because they’re being bussed to a school past 3 other closer schools because someone wanted to balance out the FARMS and ESOL rates.
West Springfield/Lewis
Langley/Herndon
McLean/Falls Church
Woodson/Annandale
It’s closer and a much easier commute for some of WSHS to attend South County or Lake Braddock if they need to.
McLean is over capacity but aren’t Marshall and Falls Church both basically at capacity? I’m looking at the current maps and they show McLean at 105% with their modular, Marshall at 98%, and FCHS at 102%. They can’t receive students at this point.
Langley doesn’t need to lose any students right now. But it will be interesting to see what happens in 5-10 years with their furthest west neighborhoods.
So you basically only have the Woodson/Annandale situation right now and that’s it. And as far as I can remember, capacity balancing between these two schools was never in any plans.
West Springfield is overcrowded and Lewis has more surplus capacity than LB or SC.
McLean was overcrowded and you’re ignoring the big Falls Church expansion. They got sent to Langley instead.
They overcrowded Langley by moving hundreds of McLean kids there and Herndon is far closer to many Langley neighborhoods than Langley.
Woodson is overcrowded and Annandale is adjacent.
I’m not advocating for further changes at this point, just pointing out your BS when you claim these changes from lower to higher FARMS schools couldn’t have been made.
Well again, the WS/Lewis thing goes to one of my original points. Is it better to prioritize a shorter or better commute when moving neighborhoods, or better to prioritize filling up existing schools? The SB seems to think the former is preferred. It’s not an easy ride to Lewis from anywhere in West Springfield compared to the distance to WSHS itself.
They seem to think space will be needed at Falls Church and it seems like they always give a school an expansion when they do a renovation.
And the numbers don’t support the fact that Langley is currently overcrowded. But again, it may be/will probably be in the near future if they keep moving parts of McLean there.
But that’s what … 2-3 areas where they could easily make an “equity move” but aren’t? Most of the county would be unaffected.
No, the SB seems to think placating wealthier, noisier parents is to the best way to go. They haven't done "equity moves" since the 2008 South Lakes redistricting, but there are at least four situations (not 2-3) where they could have had they been so inclined.
You can't really say that leaving WS alone shows that the SB prioritizes a shorter or better commute over capacity utilization, when they leave Langley families with much longer commutes than they'd have if some moved to Herndon. And they may be retreating now from moving Oakton families to Skyview even though the long commutes to Oakton were mentioned by several SB members (Frisch, McDaniel) as a reason to acquire KAA last year.
DP. Ezra Klein had Fareed Zarkaria on his show last week, and they had an interesting discourse for part of the podcast about how the left always goes too far. I immediately thought of how frequently a handful of lefties on this board push for equity redistricting any chance they get.
Sincerely, a Democrat who hates that the extreme left flank hinders and diminishes our party’s chances of winning elections
Anonymous
04/13/2026 20:40
Subject: FCPS' plans to address concerns at under-enrolled and over-enrolled schools.
Anonymous wrote:I'm curious about underenrollment at the elementary level. We live halfway between Little Run and Olde Creek, two of the smallest schools in the county, and with the upcoming boundary change, Olde Creek's enrollment is going to drop down even lower. As much as I like the benefits of a small school, it feels a little foolish and fiscally irresponsible to have two schools this close together operating with such low numbers. It makes me wonder if some consolidation is on the horizon.
I guess it depends on whether or not they want to place your kids in an underperforming school. I'm not familiar with either of the schools you mentioned, but you might research what they did to Clifton Elementary.
Anonymous
04/13/2026 20:04
Subject: FCPS' plans to address concerns at under-enrolled and over-enrolled schools.
Anonymous wrote:I'm curious about underenrollment at the elementary level. We live halfway between Little Run and Olde Creek, two of the smallest schools in the county, and with the upcoming boundary change, Olde Creek's enrollment is going to drop down even lower. As much as I like the benefits of a small school, it feels a little foolish and fiscally irresponsible to have two schools this close together operating with such low numbers. It makes me wonder if some consolidation is on the horizon.
The teachers groups will fight any closures/consolidations tooth and nail, even if they are eventually obviously needed due to decreasing enrollment. It would only happen if a facility was in such poor shape that renovating it wouldn’t be cost effective at all.
Anonymous
04/13/2026 18:24
Subject: FCPS' plans to address concerns at under-enrolled and over-enrolled schools.
I'm curious about underenrollment at the elementary level. We live halfway between Little Run and Olde Creek, two of the smallest schools in the county, and with the upcoming boundary change, Olde Creek's enrollment is going to drop down even lower. As much as I like the benefits of a small school, it feels a little foolish and fiscally irresponsible to have two schools this close together operating with such low numbers. It makes me wonder if some consolidation is on the horizon.
Anonymous
04/13/2026 17:31
Subject: FCPS' plans to address concerns at under-enrolled and over-enrolled schools.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Parents view schools as monetary transactions. Parents are willing to spend more money for real estate to live in districts with higher GreatSchool ratings.
They also don't want to believe that a child will still be successful even if a parent doesn't dump tons of money into a mortgage, and if the kid goes to one of those "lower-ranked" schools.
FCPS shouldn't be in the process of using GreatSchools as a means of making decisions regarding boundaries, but parents will fight to the death to keep their kids in certain schools. Because parents believe they paid for those schools. They believe they are entitled to them.
And that's why FCPS boundary changes won't happen. Because GreatSchools rules them all.
I can only think of a few areas of the county where rich areas with 8-10 ratings directly border lower income areas with 1-4 school ratings. Like, very few. And if you then drill it down to “the 8-10 school is crowded and could stand to lose some students” and “the 1-4 school has low enrollment and could stand to pick up some students” it’s even fewer. And in a lot of these areas there is another move that could also make sense and wouldn’t result in as much of a drop in terms of SES of the schools.
The reality is that poverty is concentrated in a few areas. And if you start some kind of large scale bussing to more equally distribute the poverty, that has consequences too - longer bus rides, more busses on the roads, more absenteeism, kids/families not feeling connected to their school community because they’re being bussed to a school past 3 other closer schools because someone wanted to balance out the FARMS and ESOL rates.
West Springfield/Lewis
Langley/Herndon
McLean/Falls Church
Woodson/Annandale
It’s closer and a much easier commute for some of WSHS to attend South County or Lake Braddock if they need to.
McLean is over capacity but aren’t Marshall and Falls Church both basically at capacity? I’m looking at the current maps and they show McLean at 105% with their modular, Marshall at 98%, and FCHS at 102%. They can’t receive students at this point.
Langley doesn’t need to lose any students right now. But it will be interesting to see what happens in 5-10 years with their furthest west neighborhoods.
So you basically only have the Woodson/Annandale situation right now and that’s it. And as far as I can remember, capacity balancing between these two schools was never in any plans.
West Springfield is overcrowded and Lewis has more surplus capacity than LB or SC.
McLean was overcrowded and you’re ignoring the big Falls Church expansion. They got sent to Langley instead.
They overcrowded Langley by moving hundreds of McLean kids there and Herndon is far closer to many Langley neighborhoods than Langley.
Woodson is overcrowded and Annandale is adjacent.
I’m not advocating for further changes at this point, just pointing out your BS when you claim these changes from lower to higher FARMS schools couldn’t have been made.
Well again, the WS/Lewis thing goes to one of my original points. Is it better to prioritize a shorter or better commute when moving neighborhoods, or better to prioritize filling up existing schools? The SB seems to think the former is preferred. It’s not an easy ride to Lewis from anywhere in West Springfield compared to the distance to WSHS itself.
They seem to think space will be needed at Falls Church and it seems like they always give a school an expansion when they do a renovation.
And the numbers don’t support the fact that Langley is currently overcrowded. But again, it may be/will probably be in the near future if they keep moving parts of McLean there.
But that’s what … 2-3 areas where they could easily make an “equity move” but aren’t? Most of the county would be unaffected.
No, the SB seems to think placating wealthier, noisier parents is to the best way to go. They haven't done "equity moves" since the 2008 South Lakes redistricting, but there are at least four situations (not 2-3) where they could have had they been so inclined.
You can't really say that leaving WS alone shows that the SB prioritizes a shorter or better commute over capacity utilization, when they leave Langley families with much longer commutes than they'd have if some moved to Herndon. And they may be retreating now from moving Oakton families to Skyview even though the long commutes to Oakton were mentioned by several SB members (Frisch, McDaniel) as a reason to acquire KAA last year.
Anonymous
04/13/2026 17:03
Subject: FCPS' plans to address concerns at under-enrolled and over-enrolled schools.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Parents view schools as monetary transactions. Parents are willing to spend more money for real estate to live in districts with higher GreatSchool ratings.
They also don't want to believe that a child will still be successful even if a parent doesn't dump tons of money into a mortgage, and if the kid goes to one of those "lower-ranked" schools.
FCPS shouldn't be in the process of using GreatSchools as a means of making decisions regarding boundaries, but parents will fight to the death to keep their kids in certain schools. Because parents believe they paid for those schools. They believe they are entitled to them.
And that's why FCPS boundary changes won't happen. Because GreatSchools rules them all.
I can only think of a few areas of the county where rich areas with 8-10 ratings directly border lower income areas with 1-4 school ratings. Like, very few. And if you then drill it down to “the 8-10 school is crowded and could stand to lose some students” and “the 1-4 school has low enrollment and could stand to pick up some students” it’s even fewer. And in a lot of these areas there is another move that could also make sense and wouldn’t result in as much of a drop in terms of SES of the schools.
The reality is that poverty is concentrated in a few areas. And if you start some kind of large scale bussing to more equally distribute the poverty, that has consequences too - longer bus rides, more busses on the roads, more absenteeism, kids/families not feeling connected to their school community because they’re being bussed to a school past 3 other closer schools because someone wanted to balance out the FARMS and ESOL rates.
West Springfield/Lewis
Langley/Herndon
McLean/Falls Church
Woodson/Annandale
It’s closer and a much easier commute for some of WSHS to attend South County or Lake Braddock if they need to.
McLean is over capacity but aren’t Marshall and Falls Church both basically at capacity? I’m looking at the current maps and they show McLean at 105% with their modular, Marshall at 98%, and FCHS at 102%. They can’t receive students at this point.
Langley doesn’t need to lose any students right now. But it will be interesting to see what happens in 5-10 years with their furthest west neighborhoods.
So you basically only have the Woodson/Annandale situation right now and that’s it. And as far as I can remember, capacity balancing between these two schools was never in any plans.
West Springfield is overcrowded and Lewis has more surplus capacity than LB or SC.
McLean was overcrowded and you’re ignoring the big Falls Church expansion. They got sent to Langley instead.
They overcrowded Langley by moving hundreds of McLean kids there and Herndon is far closer to many Langley neighborhoods than Langley.
Woodson is overcrowded and Annandale is adjacent.
I’m not advocating for further changes at this point, just pointing out your BS when you claim these changes from lower to higher FARMS schools couldn’t have been made.
Well again, the WS/Lewis thing goes to one of my original points. Is it better to prioritize a shorter or better commute when moving neighborhoods, or better to prioritize filling up existing schools? The SB seems to think the former is preferred. It’s not an easy ride to Lewis from anywhere in West Springfield compared to the distance to WSHS itself.
They seem to think space will be needed at Falls Church and it seems like they always give a school an expansion when they do a renovation.
And the numbers don’t support the fact that Langley is currently overcrowded. But again, it may be/will probably be in the near future if they keep moving parts of McLean there.
But that’s what … 2-3 areas where they could easily make an “equity move” but aren’t? Most of the county would be unaffected.
The growth in the Springfield area is all in the Edison/Lewis area. WSHS is a no growth zone. It is compact and filled with families. If they do adjust the WSHS/Lewis boundary, they will have to touch other areas when the Edison/Lewis growth fills in.
It isn’t an issue that won’t affect anywhere (Edison, Hayfield, etc) else because of the planned growth.
Anonymous
04/13/2026 16:56
Subject: FCPS' plans to address concerns at under-enrolled and over-enrolled schools.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Parents view schools as monetary transactions. Parents are willing to spend more money for real estate to live in districts with higher GreatSchool ratings.
They also don't want to believe that a child will still be successful even if a parent doesn't dump tons of money into a mortgage, and if the kid goes to one of those "lower-ranked" schools.
FCPS shouldn't be in the process of using GreatSchools as a means of making decisions regarding boundaries, but parents will fight to the death to keep their kids in certain schools. Because parents believe they paid for those schools. They believe they are entitled to them.
And that's why FCPS boundary changes won't happen. Because GreatSchools rules them all.
I can only think of a few areas of the county where rich areas with 8-10 ratings directly border lower income areas with 1-4 school ratings. Like, very few. And if you then drill it down to “the 8-10 school is crowded and could stand to lose some students” and “the 1-4 school has low enrollment and could stand to pick up some students” it’s even fewer. And in a lot of these areas there is another move that could also make sense and wouldn’t result in as much of a drop in terms of SES of the schools.
The reality is that poverty is concentrated in a few areas. And if you start some kind of large scale bussing to more equally distribute the poverty, that has consequences too - longer bus rides, more busses on the roads, more absenteeism, kids/families not feeling connected to their school community because they’re being bussed to a school past 3 other closer schools because someone wanted to balance out the FARMS and ESOL rates.
West Springfield/Lewis
Langley/Herndon
McLean/Falls Church
Woodson/Annandale
It’s closer and a much easier commute for some of WSHS to attend South County or Lake Braddock if they need to.
McLean is over capacity but aren’t Marshall and Falls Church both basically at capacity? I’m looking at the current maps and they show McLean at 105% with their modular, Marshall at 98%, and FCHS at 102%. They can’t receive students at this point.
Langley doesn’t need to lose any students right now. But it will be interesting to see what happens in 5-10 years with their furthest west neighborhoods.
So you basically only have the Woodson/Annandale situation right now and that’s it. And as far as I can remember, capacity balancing between these two schools was never in any plans.
West Springfield is overcrowded and Lewis has more surplus capacity than LB or SC.
McLean was overcrowded and you’re ignoring the big Falls Church expansion. They got sent to Langley instead.
They overcrowded Langley by moving hundreds of McLean kids there and Herndon is far closer to many Langley neighborhoods than Langley.
Woodson is overcrowded and Annandale is adjacent.
I’m not advocating for further changes at this point, just pointing out your BS when you claim these changes from lower to higher FARMS schools couldn’t have been made.
Well again, the WS/Lewis thing goes to one of my original points. Is it better to prioritize a shorter or better commute when moving neighborhoods, or better to prioritize filling up existing schools? The SB seems to think the former is preferred. It’s not an easy ride to Lewis from anywhere in West Springfield compared to the distance to WSHS itself.
They seem to think space will be needed at Falls Church and it seems like they always give a school an expansion when they do a renovation.
And the numbers don’t support the fact that Langley is currently overcrowded. But again, it may be/will probably be in the near future if they keep moving parts of McLean there.
But that’s what … 2-3 areas where they could easily make an “equity move” but aren’t? Most of the county would be unaffected.
Anonymous
04/13/2026 16:17
Subject: FCPS' plans to address concerns at under-enrolled and over-enrolled schools.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Great Falls Elementary School enrollment is down as well patents are opting for private schools
Is it that or is it that millennial parents with elementary age kids don’t want to live in Great Falls? It’s a little more isolated than many areas of the county and that doesn’t appeal to everyone.
Agree, most people with young children don't find aging mcmansions out in the middle of nowhere appealing.
I'm a millennial who just moved in the GFE boundary into a McMansion because I love the peace, quiet, tranquility, and wealth around me.
Ditto. Wanted more outdoor space and peace than I could get in McLean, Vienna, or Arlington, and didn't want to be further out. Looking forward to enrolling my kids at GFE in a couple of years.
I guess you mean further out than Great Falls? It’s a lot further out from DC and local amenities than Arlington, McLean, and Vienna.
I mean Loudoun County. But it's all relative. And it has amenities that those areas may not have.
Anonymous
04/13/2026 15:58
Subject: FCPS' plans to address concerns at under-enrolled and over-enrolled schools.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Parents view schools as monetary transactions. Parents are willing to spend more money for real estate to live in districts with higher GreatSchool ratings.
They also don't want to believe that a child will still be successful even if a parent doesn't dump tons of money into a mortgage, and if the kid goes to one of those "lower-ranked" schools.
FCPS shouldn't be in the process of using GreatSchools as a means of making decisions regarding boundaries, but parents will fight to the death to keep their kids in certain schools. Because parents believe they paid for those schools. They believe they are entitled to them.
And that's why FCPS boundary changes won't happen. Because GreatSchools rules them all.
I can only think of a few areas of the county where rich areas with 8-10 ratings directly border lower income areas with 1-4 school ratings. Like, very few. And if you then drill it down to “the 8-10 school is crowded and could stand to lose some students” and “the 1-4 school has low enrollment and could stand to pick up some students” it’s even fewer. And in a lot of these areas there is another move that could also make sense and wouldn’t result in as much of a drop in terms of SES of the schools.
The reality is that poverty is concentrated in a few areas. And if you start some kind of large scale bussing to more equally distribute the poverty, that has consequences too - longer bus rides, more busses on the roads, more absenteeism, kids/families not feeling connected to their school community because they’re being bussed to a school past 3 other closer schools because someone wanted to balance out the FARMS and ESOL rates.
West Springfield/Lewis
Langley/Herndon
McLean/Falls Church
Woodson/Annandale
It’s closer and a much easier commute for some of WSHS to attend South County or Lake Braddock if they need to.
McLean is over capacity but aren’t Marshall and Falls Church both basically at capacity? I’m looking at the current maps and they show McLean at 105% with their modular, Marshall at 98%, and FCHS at 102%. They can’t receive students at this point.
Langley doesn’t need to lose any students right now. But it will be interesting to see what happens in 5-10 years with their furthest west neighborhoods.
So you basically only have the Woodson/Annandale situation right now and that’s it. And as far as I can remember, capacity balancing between these two schools was never in any plans.
falls church got a big expansion. they tried to move some of mclean there but the parents fought against it. so they moved a large number to langley to lower enrollment.
Anonymous
04/13/2026 15:47
Subject: FCPS' plans to address concerns at under-enrolled and over-enrolled schools.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Great Falls Elementary School enrollment is down as well patents are opting for private schools
Is it that or is it that millennial parents with elementary age kids don’t want to live in Great Falls? It’s a little more isolated than many areas of the county and that doesn’t appeal to everyone.
Agree, most people with young children don't find aging mcmansions out in the middle of nowhere appealing.
I'm a millennial who just moved in the GFE boundary into a McMansion because I love the peace, quiet, tranquility, and wealth around me.
Ditto. Wanted more outdoor space and peace than I could get in McLean, Vienna, or Arlington, and didn't want to be further out. Looking forward to enrolling my kids at GFE in a couple of years.
I guess you mean further out than Great Falls? It’s a lot further out from DC and local amenities than Arlington, McLean, and Vienna.
Anonymous
04/13/2026 15:35
Subject: FCPS' plans to address concerns at under-enrolled and over-enrolled schools.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Great Falls Elementary School enrollment is down as well patents are opting for private schools
Is it that or is it that millennial parents with elementary age kids don’t want to live in Great Falls? It’s a little more isolated than many areas of the county and that doesn’t appeal to everyone.
Agree, most people with young children don't find aging mcmansions out in the middle of nowhere appealing.
I'm a millennial who just moved in the GFE boundary into a McMansion because I love the peace, quiet, tranquility, and wealth around me.
Ditto. Wanted more outdoor space and peace than I could get in McLean, Vienna, or Arlington, and didn't want to be further out. Looking forward to enrolling my kids at GFE in a couple of years.
Anonymous
04/13/2026 14:56
Subject: FCPS' plans to address concerns at under-enrolled and over-enrolled schools.
The idea that smart people have smart kids and also make decent money while not so smart people will make less money and may have not so smart kids is controversial is hilarious. These aren’t hard and fast rules but this is hardly a nazi take. 
Anonymous
04/13/2026 09:19
Subject: FCPS' plans to address concerns at under-enrolled and over-enrolled schools.
that's some seriously gross nazi crap.
Anonymous
04/12/2026 12:10
Subject: FCPS' plans to address concerns at under-enrolled and over-enrolled schools.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Parents view schools as monetary transactions. Parents are willing to spend more money for real estate to live in districts with higher GreatSchool ratings.
They also don't want to believe that a child will still be successful even if a parent doesn't dump tons of money into a mortgage, and if the kid goes to one of those "lower-ranked" schools.
FCPS shouldn't be in the process of using GreatSchools as a means of making decisions regarding boundaries, but parents will fight to the death to keep their kids in certain schools. Because parents believe they paid for those schools. They believe they are entitled to them.
And that's why FCPS boundary changes won't happen. Because GreatSchools rules them all.
I can only think of a few areas of the county where rich areas with 8-10 ratings directly border lower income areas with 1-4 school ratings. Like, very few. And if you then drill it down to “the 8-10 school is crowded and could stand to lose some students” and “the 1-4 school has low enrollment and could stand to pick up some students” it’s even fewer. And in a lot of these areas there is another move that could also make sense and wouldn’t result in as much of a drop in terms of SES of the schools.
The reality is that poverty is concentrated in a few areas. And if you start some kind of large scale bussing to more equally distribute the poverty, that has consequences too - longer bus rides, more busses on the roads, more absenteeism, kids/families not feeling connected to their school community because they’re being bussed to a school past 3 other closer schools because someone wanted to balance out the FARMS and ESOL rates.
West Springfield/Lewis
Langley/Herndon
McLean/Falls Church
Woodson/Annandale
It’s closer and a much easier commute for some of WSHS to attend South County or Lake Braddock if they need to.
McLean is over capacity but aren’t Marshall and Falls Church both basically at capacity? I’m looking at the current maps and they show McLean at 105% with their modular, Marshall at 98%, and FCHS at 102%. They can’t receive students at this point.
Langley doesn’t need to lose any students right now. But it will be interesting to see what happens in 5-10 years with their furthest west neighborhoods.
So you basically only have the Woodson/Annandale situation right now and that’s it. And as far as I can remember, capacity balancing between these two schools was never in any plans.
West Springfield is overcrowded and Lewis has more surplus capacity than LB or SC.
McLean was overcrowded and you’re ignoring the big Falls Church expansion. They got sent to Langley instead.
They overcrowded Langley by moving hundreds of McLean kids there and Herndon is far closer to many Langley neighborhoods than Langley.
Woodson is overcrowded and Annandale is adjacent.
I’m not advocating for further changes at this point, just pointing out your BS when you claim these changes from lower to higher FARMS schools couldn’t have been made.
Anonymous
04/12/2026 12:03
Subject: FCPS' plans to address concerns at under-enrolled and over-enrolled schools.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Parents view schools as monetary transactions. Parents are willing to spend more money for real estate to live in districts with higher GreatSchool ratings.
They also don't want to believe that a child will still be successful even if a parent doesn't dump tons of money into a mortgage, and if the kid goes to one of those "lower-ranked" schools.
FCPS shouldn't be in the process of using GreatSchools as a means of making decisions regarding boundaries, but parents will fight to the death to keep their kids in certain schools. Because parents believe they paid for those schools. They believe they are entitled to them.
And that's why FCPS boundary changes won't happen. Because GreatSchools rules them all.
I can only think of a few areas of the county where rich areas with 8-10 ratings directly border lower income areas with 1-4 school ratings. Like, very few. And if you then drill it down to “the 8-10 school is crowded and could stand to lose some students” and “the 1-4 school has low enrollment and could stand to pick up some students” it’s even fewer. And in a lot of these areas there is another move that could also make sense and wouldn’t result in as much of a drop in terms of SES of the schools.
The reality is that poverty is concentrated in a few areas. And if you start some kind of large scale bussing to more equally distribute the poverty, that has consequences too - longer bus rides, more busses on the roads, more absenteeism, kids/families not feeling connected to their school community because they’re being bussed to a school past 3 other closer schools because someone wanted to balance out the FARMS and ESOL rates.
West Springfield/Lewis
Langley/Herndon
McLean/Falls Church
Woodson/Annandale
It’s closer and a much easier commute for some of WSHS to attend South County or Lake Braddock if they need to.
McLean is over capacity but aren’t Marshall and Falls Church both basically at capacity? I’m looking at the current maps and they show McLean at 105% with their modular, Marshall at 98%, and FCHS at 102%. They can’t receive students at this point.
Langley doesn’t need to lose any students right now. But it will be interesting to see what happens in 5-10 years with their furthest west neighborhoods.
So you basically only have the Woodson/Annandale situation right now and that’s it. And as far as I can remember, capacity balancing between these two schools was never in any plans.