Anonymous
Post 10/27/2016 15:15     Subject: APS Boundary tool--anyone get it to work yet?
(quote fixed)
Anonymous wrote:

Then shouldn't you take it up with the SB/APS who hired the consultants to create that tool? Obviously, demographics may have not been in the forefront of their minds when trying to deal with this immediate overcrowding issue facing HS students in the 2017-2021 classes? They need to balance the other factors as well, for example, not needing to pay for more bussing in an already strained system.

But some of the folks on this thread have been freely flinging insults at an entire zip code just b/c some of the threads may have argued for other considerations. They may not have even been from Yorktown parents. Maybe they were from WL parents? And then you'll just say, but wait until they do get impacted, then they'll care. Yeah, of course. That's generally how it is. When you are not directly impacted, you tend to tune out things more. At some point they will voice their opinions (i.e., county-wide rezoning for HS) and at that point you'll probably have alienated any of the more sympathetic parents. You can then brush that off with the refrain that we were all secretly racist anyway and so we would never have joined any movement to balance demographics more throughout all 3 schools. I know I am definitely feeling less sympathetic to your cause now.


I'm not the PP, but I'm a South Arlington mom. I hear what you're saying. But please hear where we are coming from. It's hard because really this whole process isn't just about educating our kids. Its about property values and change. And change is hard. But we come on here and have to hear time and time again about our crappy schools and our bad decisions and how we don't care about our kids enough, and that it's nobody's fault but our own. So we defend ourselves and we defend our schools and we defend our choices. We don't love our kids any less because some of us chose to live in South Arlington. Maybe it is all that we can afford. Or maybe we decided to make diversity a priority. Or maybe we just liked that we could walk to the park, the library, the grocery store, school.
My kids go to an excellent school now, and I would be fine sending them to Wakefield. I don't want things to change either. But unfortunately, W-L is overcrowded now, and that needs to be fixed. And here we are - bickering, name calling, hurling insults.
Change is hard, I understand. Maybe, like a PP said, W-L will just end up adding 1000 seats to their own campus.
Anonymous
Post 10/27/2016 15:06     Subject: APS Boundary tool--anyone get it to work yet?
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Then shouldn't you take it up with the SB/APS who hired the consultants to create that tool? Obviously, demographics may have not been in the forefront of their minds when trying to deal with this immediate overcrowding issue facing HS students in the 2017-2021 classes? They need to balance the other factors as well, for example, not needing to pay for more bussing in an already strained system.

But some of the folks on this thread have been freely flinging insults at an entire zip code just b/c some of the threads may have argued for other considerations. They may not have even been from Yorktown parents. Maybe they were from WL parents? And then you'll just say, but wait until they do get impacted, then they'll care. Yeah, of course. That's generally how it is. When you are not directly impacted, you tend to tune out things more. At some point they will voice their opinions (i.e., county-wide rezoning for HS) and at that point you'll probably have alienated any of the more sympathetic parents. You can then brush that off with the refrain that we were all secretly racist anyway and so we would never have joined any movement to balance demographics more throughout all 3 schools. I know I am definitely feeling less sympathetic to your cause now.


I'm not the PP, but I'm a South Arlington mom. I hear what you're saying. But please hear where we are coming from. It's hard because really this whole process isn't just about educating our kids. Its about property values and change. And change is hard. But we come on here and have to hear time and time again about our crappy schools and our bad decisions and how we don't care about our kids enough, and that it's nobody's fault but our own. So we defend ourselves and we defend our schools and we defend our choices. We don't love our kids any less because some of us chose to live in South Arlington. Maybe it is all that we can afford. Or maybe we decided to make diversity a priority. Or maybe we just liked that we could walk to the park, the library, the grocery store, school.
My kids go to an excellent school now, and I would be fine sending them to Wakefield. I don't want things to change either. But unfortunately, W-L is overcrowded now, and that needs to be fixed. And here we are - bickering, name calling, hurling insults.
Change is hard, I understand. Maybe, like a PP said, W-L will just end up adding 1000 seats to their own campus.
Anonymous
Post 10/27/2016 14:45     Subject: APS Boundary tool--anyone get it to work yet?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:the day WF is on par with WL/YT is the day this boundary tinkering can finally stop for good, not a second sooner.


Yes. But I despair of that happening when many people in certain odd zip codes talk about their property values rather than social justice (and let's be clear, this is not about property values plummeting, just about how fast they'll rise).


Maybe there are those people. But accusing everyone in that zip code, or the "north" in general, of racism and other sundry defects is a great way to force otherwise sympathetic people into an "us vs them" mindset.


I think it's unmasking the us vs them mindset, in which members of a certain zip code (and no one is saying all members, even if that's what people hear) operate from the assumption that they're entitled to everything they have, and more, and maybe they will do a little something for other members of their community who have fewer advantages. Not because studies show that it's better for kids with lots of advantages to be in close contact with kids with fewer (even though that's true), but because clinging to what you've got and demanding more makes you a terrible person.

And if you need strokes and congratulations to step up and share with your fellow Arlingtonians, if you're upset because someone said something that you think was a reference to you and it hurt your feelings, if you're going to act like a greedy douche unless people ask nicely, get over yourself.

Sorry. That came out wrong. I meant "Your hair looks pretty and you've worked for everything you have."
Anonymous
Post 10/27/2016 14:40     Subject: APS Boundary tool--anyone get it to work yet?
Anonymous wrote:

Somebody did it upthread without creating an island by connecting PUs on the west all the way down to Columbia Pike, if I'm ot mistaken.


It didn't quite work. I was one who tried. The Western Pike PUs with the high FARMs rates just weren't allowed to go to Yorktown. I got error messages about splitting attendance zones. Someone suggested it was probably because to build a continuous zone required picking up multiple PUs north of the Pike, and then adding the Western Pike units just became too many kids moving and I guess would then overcrowd YHS. But in any event, doesn't seem it can be done in the current exercise.


Then shouldn't you take it up with the SB/APS who hired the consultants to create that tool? Obviously, demographics may have not been in the forefront of their minds when trying to deal with this immediate overcrowding issue facing HS students in the 2017-2021 classes? They need to balance the other factors as well, for example, not needing to pay for more bussing in an already strained system.

But some of the folks on this thread have been freely flinging insults at an entire zip code just b/c some of the threads may have argued for other considerations. They may not have even been from Yorktown parents. Maybe they were from WL parents? And then you'll just say, but wait until they do get impacted, then they'll care. Yeah, of course. That's generally how it is. When you are not directly impacted, you tend to tune out things more. At some point they will voice their opinions (i.e., county-wide rezoning for HS) and at that point you'll probably have alienated any of the more sympathetic parents. You can then brush that off with the refrain that we were all secretly racist anyway and so we would never have joined any movement to balance demographics more throughout all 3 schools. I know I am definitely feeling less sympathetic to your cause now.


Excuse me. It's obviously impossible to tell on an anonymous board, but I have flung no insults. There are a lot of posters and at least one of us is trying to be civil and frank. Perhaps I should have clarified that I was a new poster to the immediately preceding exchange and was just weighing in to correct the idea that a West Pike island could be created. The tone of my post was perfectly civil and I was making no complaints, but rather was simply stating the way things are. I agree with you that if I would want to be able to create a West Pike island, then my complaint should be with the makers of the tool. I don't care about creating a West Pike island right now. I care about protecting Wakefield from absorbing those Western Pike PUs that are currently at W-L, and I am concerned that the emphasis on walkability will make that look like an attractive option for folks who, for whatever reason, are not as concerned by concentrated low-income at Wakefield.

I personally think busing is a straw man. Both the Eastern Pike and Western Pike PUs are over 2 miles from W-L right now, so I assume they are bused and therefore keeping those units where they are will not increase busing. There are plenty of neighborhoods in this county that can't walk to any of the high schools. Busing is a fact of life. I'm not necessarily pro additional busing, but I certainly would favor it over other outcomes that I view as detrimental to the whole student body.

I do agree with a recent PP though: if your sympathies are based on being treated nicely by anonymous strangers on the internet as opposed to values and convictions, I'm not sure how much they help anyway.



Thank you. Very well said.
Anonymous
Post 10/27/2016 14:32     Subject: APS Boundary tool--anyone get it to work yet?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:the day WF is on par with WL/YT is the day this boundary tinkering can finally stop for good, not a second sooner.


Yes. But I despair of that happening when many people in certain odd zip codes talk about their property values rather than social justice (and let's be clear, this is not about property values plummeting, just about how fast they'll rise).


Maybe there are those people. But accusing everyone in that zip code, or the "north" in general, of racism and other sundry defects is a great way to force otherwise sympathetic people into an "us vs them" mindset.


I agree. I think there are a handful of posters in here on both sides who really derailed this thing. And I don't believe they all live in the same zip codes. I also think the more out-there posts came from anti-diversity trolls who pop into numerous threads all over this board to chime in with their hate. I think they found us by accident, and keep coming back to poke us for shits and giggles. And the reaction to those jokers was misdirected at other Arlington residents.

This process is evidence to me that the "Arlington Way" is just not working. The level of vitriol this generated is a guarantee that there will never be a 4th Comprehensive HS built that would require all the boundaries to be redrawn. W-L is going to get another school built right on their campus, full of 1,300 students who will be sharing their communal spaces and facilities.
Anonymous
Post 10/27/2016 14:27     Subject: APS Boundary tool--anyone get it to work yet?


Somebody did it upthread without creating an island by connecting PUs on the west all the way down to Columbia Pike, if I'm ot mistaken.


It didn't quite work. I was one who tried. The Western Pike PUs with the high FARMs rates just weren't allowed to go to Yorktown. I got error messages about splitting attendance zones. Someone suggested it was probably because to build a continuous zone required picking up multiple PUs north of the Pike, and then adding the Western Pike units just became too many kids moving and I guess would then overcrowd YHS. But in any event, doesn't seem it can be done in the current exercise.


Then shouldn't you take it up with the SB/APS who hired the consultants to create that tool? Obviously, demographics may have not been in the forefront of their minds when trying to deal with this immediate overcrowding issue facing HS students in the 2017-2021 classes? They need to balance the other factors as well, for example, not needing to pay for more bussing in an already strained system.

But some of the folks on this thread have been freely flinging insults at an entire zip code just b/c some of the threads may have argued for other considerations. They may not have even been from Yorktown parents. Maybe they were from WL parents? And then you'll just say, but wait until they do get impacted, then they'll care. Yeah, of course. That's generally how it is. When you are not directly impacted, you tend to tune out things more. At some point they will voice their opinions (i.e., county-wide rezoning for HS) and at that point you'll probably have alienated any of the more sympathetic parents. You can then brush that off with the refrain that we were all secretly racist anyway and so we would never have joined any movement to balance demographics more throughout all 3 schools. I know I am definitely feeling less sympathetic to your cause now.


Excuse me. It's obviously impossible to tell on an anonymous board, but I have flung no insults. There are a lot of posters and at least one of us is trying to be civil and frank. Perhaps I should have clarified that I was a new poster to the immediately preceding exchange and was just weighing in to correct the idea that a West Pike island could be created. The tone of my post was perfectly civil and I was making no complaints, but rather was simply stating the way things are. I agree with you that if I would want to be able to create a West Pike island, then my complaint should be with the makers of the tool. I don't care about creating a West Pike island right now. I care about protecting Wakefield from absorbing those Western Pike PUs that are currently at W-L, and I am concerned that the emphasis on walkability will make that look like an attractive option for folks who, for whatever reason, are not as concerned by concentrated low-income at Wakefield.

I personally think busing is a straw man. Both the Eastern Pike and Western Pike PUs are over 2 miles from W-L right now, so I assume they are bused and therefore keeping those units where they are will not increase busing. There are plenty of neighborhoods in this county that can't walk to any of the high schools. Busing is a fact of life. I'm not necessarily pro additional busing, but I certainly would favor it over other outcomes that I view as detrimental to the whole student body.

I do agree with a recent PP though: if your sympathies are based on being treated nicely by anonymous strangers on the internet as opposed to values and convictions, I'm not sure how much they help anyway.
Anonymous
Post 10/27/2016 13:48     Subject: APS Boundary tool--anyone get it to work yet?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:the day WF is on par with WL/YT is the day this boundary tinkering can finally stop for good, not a second sooner.


Yes. But I despair of that happening when many people in certain odd zip codes talk about their property values rather than social justice (and let's be clear, this is not about property values plummeting, just about how fast they'll rise).


Maybe there are those people. But accusing everyone in that zip code, or the "north" in general, of racism and other sundry defects is a great way to force otherwise sympathetic people into an "us vs them" mindset.
Anonymous
Post 10/27/2016 13:42     Subject: Re:APS Boundary tool--anyone get it to work yet?
As the OP of this monster thread, all I can say is um, wow.

Still holding out hope we can all work together, but maybe that's my cold medicine talking.

I'll hopefully be going to the "what we heard" meeting tonight.
Anonymous
Post 10/27/2016 13:40     Subject: APS Boundary tool--anyone get it to work yet?
Anonymous wrote:the day WF is on par with WL/YT is the day this boundary tinkering can finally stop for good, not a second sooner.


Yes. But I despair of that happening when many people in certain odd zip codes talk about their property values rather than social justice (and let's be clear, this is not about property values plummeting, just about how fast they'll rise).
Anonymous
Post 10/27/2016 13:21     Subject: APS Boundary tool--anyone get it to work yet?
the day WF is on par with WL/YT is the day this boundary tickering can finally stop for good, not a second sooner.
Anonymous
Post 10/27/2016 11:58     Subject: APS Boundary tool--anyone get it to work yet?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:^^ why would they? They have no affordable housing near them. They are used to the status quo - which is them being untouched. If rhetoric really heats up about the west end of Columbia Pike being shifted to Yorktown, I'm sure we'll hear from 22207.


So which is it? The accusations that Yorktown parents "are fighting against FARMS kids being moved to their school" or that they are complacent so unbothered by the whole thing?

There are so many blind prejudices on APS threads.



Reread and put your thinking cap on... I believe at this time, they aren't worried. We have heard on this thread and many others that they oppose hypothetical social engineering. Their children shouldn't bused, they paid a premium for their school, the county should keep neighborhoods together, its bad for the environment...
they don't have to worry this go around. The tool won't let you divert an island from the western Pike. They've plenty of terrible things to say, when they really weren't being threatened. What do you think is going to happen if the prospect of a western Pike island builds some steam?


Somebody did it upthread without creating an island by connecting PUs on the west all the way down to Columbia Pike, if I'm ot mistaken.


It didn't quite work. I was one who tried. The Western Pike PUs with the high FARMs rates just weren't allowed to go to Yorktown. I got error messages about splitting attendance zones. Someone suggested it was probably because to build a continuous zone required picking up multiple PUs north of the Pike, and then adding the Western Pike units just became too many kids moving and I guess would then overcrowd YHS. But in any event, doesn't seem it can be done in the current exercise.


Then shouldn't you take it up with the SB/APS who hired the consultants to create that tool? Obviously, demographics may have not been in the forefront of their minds when trying to deal with this immediate overcrowding issue facing HS students in the 2017-2021 classes? They need to balance the other factors as well, for example, not needing to pay for more bussing in an already strained system.

But some of the folks on this thread have been freely flinging insults at an entire zip code just b/c some of the threads may have argued for other considerations. They may not have even been from Yorktown parents. Maybe they were from WL parents? And then you'll just say, but wait until they do get impacted, then they'll care. Yeah, of course. That's generally how it is. When you are not directly impacted, you tend to tune out things more. At some point they will voice their opinions (i.e., county-wide rezoning for HS) and at that point you'll probably have alienated any of the more sympathetic parents. You can then brush that off with the refrain that we were all secretly racist anyway and so we would never have joined any movement to balance demographics more throughout all 3 schools. I know I am definitely feeling less sympathetic to your cause now.
Anonymous
Post 10/27/2016 09:32     Subject: Re:APS Boundary tool--anyone get it to work yet?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:

All right. Good luck with your cause. You've lost another sympathetic ear.


I doubt you were all that sympathetic if being reminded of your privilege made you drop out. Enjoy your All Lives Matter meeting.


Hey Moron,

You need our support more than we need yours. Obviously you care more about making huge generalizations about all the families whose kids are not at your crappy achool. Great strategy calling everyone who lives in 22207 a racist.



Np-
^^ yep, you're not an a$$#@£e at all...calling Wakefield crappy, but was sure as shootin' gonna fight the good fight. Sure...
Anonymous
Post 10/27/2016 09:17     Subject: Re:APS Boundary tool--anyone get it to work yet?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:

All right. Good luck with your cause. You've lost another sympathetic ear.


I doubt you were all that sympathetic if being reminded of your privilege made you drop out. Enjoy your All Lives Matter meeting.


"Drop out" of what? Being subjected to gross overgeneralizations and accusations of racism? You've got me.

And what privilege are you assuming I enjoy?
Anonymous
Post 10/27/2016 09:04     Subject: Re:APS Boundary tool--anyone get it to work yet?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:

All right. Good luck with your cause. You've lost another sympathetic ear.


I doubt you were all that sympathetic if being reminded of your privilege made you drop out. Enjoy your All Lives Matter meeting.


Hey Moron,

You need our support more than we need yours. Obviously you care more about making huge generalizations about all the families whose kids are not at your crappy achool. Great strategy calling everyone who lives in 22207 a racist.
Anonymous
Post 10/27/2016 07:57     Subject: Re:APS Boundary tool--anyone get it to work yet?
Anonymous wrote:

All right. Good luck with your cause. You've lost another sympathetic ear.


I doubt you were all that sympathetic if being reminded of your privilege made you drop out. Enjoy your All Lives Matter meeting.