Friday, April 17, 2009

Boundary Work Session Report

Author:
The board held a grueling 5-hour work session last night in advance of a April 28th boundary vote. My attempt at a quick summary:
  • South-western elementaries: Priscilla Godfrey wants to broaden the Middleburg ES attendance area in order to make the school more viable. Risk: Middleburg could actually become overpopulated and overflow children in a few years. My guess: Priscilla represents this area, the board will grant her request.
  • North-western elementaries: Godfrey and Jennifer Bergel came together on a plan to keep two north-of-Rt-9 zones in their current schools, anticipating that they will go to a new north-of-Rt-9 elementary school in about 4 years. Risk: Culbert Elementary school opens noticably under capacity. My guess: The Board will defer to Godfrey & Bergel.
  • Leesburg Elementaries: A Leesburg elementary school is overdue and six of the eight are already overcrowded. Of the remaining two, Balls Bluff is at 97% capacity, and it along with The two which are underenrolled Balls Bluff and Catoctin have the highest numbers of students from poor (qualifying for free & reduced lunch) and non-english-speaking (ESL) families. SOL achievement scores are nearly identical, even between the richest and poorest schools and staff recommends no changes. Involved parents at the schools with high numbers of F&RL and ESL kids want those kids spread around to other schools. Parents at the other schools are quite happy with their schools as they are, thank you very much. Players: Bergel & Marshall want to keep the status quo... don't shuffle kids unless there is a pressing need, and SOLs indicate that there is not a pressing need. Reed wants to do a bit of balancing, but proposed a plan that does so by moving FR&L and ESL kids out of Balls Bluff and Catoctin the underenrolled schools. The third option: move affluent kids into poorer schools to give them a boost of fundraising and parent volunteers. My guess: The Board will be reluctant to move kids before opening a new school unless there is solid data that educational outcomes are suffering.
  • Dulles South Elementaries: Robert DuPree and Tom Reed have a minor modification to the staff plan. Risks: There aren't any really good options available. The ES slated for Moorefield Station will be delayed and make the situation worse before it gets better. My guess: The Board will defer to the request of the area's representatives.
  • Ashburn Elementaries: With no new schools opening in the area, staff recommends no change. No Board members have alternative plans. Bob Ohneiser took the opportunity to lament the situation and open old wounds. My guess: It's a safe bet there will be no changes here.
  • Dulles South Middle Schools: The area desperately needs a new Middle School, which was delayed a year while the Board of Supervisors waited for a land bargain. That land is now under contract and the approval process has been fast-tracked. I can't remember whether DuPree had an alternative plan for this area while we wait for the new school, but if he does the Board will support it.
  • Leesburg/Ashburn High Schools: This is a major dispute about whether Lansdowne or Ashburn Farm gets to stay at Stone Bridge. There isn't room for both. So either Lansdowne has to go to Tuscarora in Leesburg or Ashburn Farm has to go to Briar Woods. Players: Reed proposed a plan sending Lansdowne to Tuscarora, DuPree and Geurin clearly showed a preference for it. Bergel & Marshall want to keep the Tuscarora space open for Leesburg and prevent a future space squeeze there. Ohneiser is backing his Lansdowne constituents who want to stay at Stone Bridge. Godfrey was quiet but can be relied on by her Reed & Co. allies. The Board of Supervisors are insistent on enrollment-balancing, which will mean backing the Reed plan. The exceptions among the Supervisors are Lori Waters, also siding with her Lansdowne neighbors, and possibly Leesburg's Kelly Burk. Risks: The risks revolve entirely around whether a new high school can be sited up near Route 7 and just west of Route 28 in the next couple of years. This idea emerged just in the last couple of weeks. If so, Lansdowne could go to Tuscarora for a while until the new school is available. If not, the Lansdowne kids will need to move out of Tuscarora when Tuscarora fills with Leesburg kids and drive past three High Schools to HS-6, due to open in 2014. The School Board risks the wrath of the Supervisors if we don't balance enrollment, but by sending Lansdowne kids to Leesburg the Supervisors are then on the hook to pull a new High School property out of the hat from some of the most expensive acreage in the county, and fast. My guess: is as good as yours.
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73 comments:

  1. "don't shuffle kids unless there is a pressing need, and SOLs indicate that there is not a pressing need."

    So does the board really believe that SOLs are the only measurable educational outcome?

    Does exposing kids who may not be from diverse economic and language backgrounds to other students who are hold no merit for a learning experience because it cannot be measured by a subscore?
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  2. lJohn, why does your blog imply that you believe that Lansdwone is specifically targeted for HS6? Your comment was that Lansdowne would drive past 3 high schools to get to HS6.
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  3. Regarding kids & SOLs, "the Board" is made up of nine individual citizens, each with independent thoughts and not of one mind on this or any subject. I was indicating the views of individual members as I recalled them in a very brief summary. For a more complete understanding, watch the recorded video or speak to a school board member directly. No Board member believes that SOLs are the only measurable outcome or the only important factor.
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  4. If not, the Lansdowne kids will need to move out of Tuscarora when Tuscarora fills with Leesburg kids and drive past three High Schools to HS-6, due to open in 2014.
    If Lansdowne is moved to Tuscarora in the current boundary process, at some point Lansdowne will need to move out of Tuscarora to accommodate Leesburg-area students. We need to consider where Tuscarora would go if a new HS is not available in the Rt. 7 corridor by the time that happens. LCPS Planning staff developed four predictions of enrollment boundaries (Future Plans) upon the opening of HS-6. IMHO Future Plan #3 is the most like the plan that sends Lansdowne to Tuscarora and therefore most likely to be adopted in the event that the Rt. 7 HS is not procured after sending Lansdowne to Tuscarora. Future Plan #3 shows Lansdowne driving past three High Schools to HS-6.
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  5. I agree with Anonymous - SOL is not an indicator of education at all. In fact, my hunch is that Catoctin and Balls Bluff HAVE to expend much more energy to passing those tests...but that too has a cost to overall education. I understand that Catoctin has to cancel their Fair this spring due to lack of volunteers. That is the cost of unbalanced schools. But you seem aware, I am just voicing my opinion. Thanks,
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  6. John,
    Why did we go through this (phony) boundary process for months claiming to take community input and use objective metrics and data to derive an expert staff plan only to abandon it in the 11th hour? Couldn't we have done this on day one?

    "Tweaking" the staff plan we worked so hard to arrive at is one thing, throwing it out is another.
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  7. One person's "objective staff" is another person's "unelected bureaucrat." Ultimately the Board must take responsibility for any decision.

    The process allows School Board members to adjust or disregard staff recommendations, and historically they have almost without fail. Members generally wait until after the staff has generated its recommendations and public comment has been heard before proposing alternative plans. Proposing a plan in advance of these other steps would open the door to charges that the member is making a decision before receiving adequate input. Parents are providing considerable input on the member-proposed plans via emails, phone calls and meetings.
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  8. John,

    Here is an example of something that bothered me the other night.

    Rep Reed spoke about "recusing" himself because his child is impacted but not before submitting a plan to derail the staff plan (that would apparently benefit his child). Rep Reed also mentioned that other members (that support the staff plan) may want to recuse themselves too because they too have children affected. I find it interesting that Rep Reed did not mention that Rep Dupree should recuse himself as he too has a child affected. Rep Dupree obviously does not support the staff plan. Recusal is the act of disqualifying yourself...not others. And isn't a "recusal" the same as a "no" vote? Can we only count on integrity when it's easy and a school board member has no personal interest at all?...of course not.

    The at-large member requires the most integrity and most objective thought. This process has shown me the importance of getting to know the candidates come election time.

    I'm really really disappointed in the process after watching the meeting the other night.
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  9. Over and over the number one things stated by all, regardless of what level of school is that everyone wants to keep communities together. This is vitally important to the people of Loudoun County. I am proud to hear this said over and over, as communities are fundamental to our well being, and the well being of our great county, state, and country.

    I do believe the best solution for the HS situation in the Ashburn / Leesburg area is to find land close to Rte 7 for a new HS. This would allow communites to stay together. While this would mean a shift for those north of rte7, it is nothing that those south of rte 7 have been asked to do many, many, many times.

    There has been much talk about moving the fewest numbers, doesn't that actually mean doing the right thing and moving those north of Rte 7? If not, we will have the great southern shift which moves community after community. We are then talking thousands of students moving out of their community schools. Surely that is more than having to only move 400 - 500 students now.
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  10. I agree with the last post. We need to keep communities together.

    With regards to high schools,the staff plan cannot be passed as it was based on the assumption that HS-6 would be built in Loudoun Valley Estates. Now there is debate as to where the next HS will be built - and it is becoming clear that the CURRENT need is along the route 7 corridor. Sending Lansdowne as a whole to Tuscarora (and then possibly to the new school in 4-6 years) actually creates less upheavel throughout the county in the long run. If the staff plan were passed, it would affect THOUSANDS of students in the long run - and drive them out of their communites.

    A HS along the route 7 corridor would stop the Southern Shift and keep communities together.
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  11. The staff plan moves the fewest numbers of kids and keeps them "together" with their Eagle Ridge classmates. So the movement we're talking about is not moving kids out...it's moving them in.

    A new DN high school north of Rt 7 would be a good solution but it's not one we have available or can plan for. In the absense of a DN HS north of Rt 7, a southward shift is inevitable.

    Why mess up CL with a temporary move for 4-500 DN kids when we can solve the capacity problem within DN with a few common-sense actions?

    Rep Dupree made a touching appeal the other night to keep only 5 students in a DN together with their "student community" rather than being split off with kids they didn't know.

    Let's fight just as hard to keep the Eagle Ridge kids together with their classmates. That would save 4-500 more (Lansdowne) kids from the same fate as those 5 kids Dupree saved. What would Oskar Schindler do?
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  12. The staff plan does NOT move the fewest students. It may for this move, but NOT for the future. By keeping Ashburn Farm at Stone Bridge, Ashburn Farm stays together and doesn't move. Thus, Broadlands doesn't move. Thus Brambleton doesn't move. These three communities equal MANY more students than the 4-500 you are speaking about.
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  13. Simple fact. There are 13 Middle Schools and only 10 High Schools. There is NO way to keep all Middle Schools together. There is a way to keep communities together!
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  14. Moving 4-500 kids, a community in its entirety, is much different than plucking 5 kids out of a school and putting them somewhere that they will know no one! Those 5 kids, likely different grades, may then only know 1 kid in their grade at an entire school. How can that be compared to moving an entire community. 4-500 kids from one community will make up a considerable amount of a school. They will see faces they know everywhere. They will also be going to a school where everyone is in the same position. Moving 5 kids is not needed, 5 kids don't cause overcrowding.
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  15. Sounds like nobody wants to address the key point of keeping "student communities" together, not HOAs. Student communities often span many HOAs. So if given the choice between keeping students together or keeping HOAs together, I say we keep the students together. I understand that Ashburn Farm would have Lansdowne go to Leesburg (or Akron for that matter) but what if you asked your kids that attend Belmont Ridge MS...Would they too ask that their friends in Lansdowne be sent to Leesburg instead of continuing with them to HS? My guess is no, they would want to stay with their friends.
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  16. Ashburn Farm is treating Lansdowne with respect (the Akron comment was out of line). They do not want to see their neighbors to the north suffer the same fate as them (18 moves in 20 years). They are also advocating for Lansdowne to stay together.

    No one in Ashburn Farm ever suggested that Lansdowne be moved out of Belmont Middle School. Why is it wrong for Ashburn Farm to want to stay at a school (Stone Bridge) that they can walk to?
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  17. The staff plan would TEMPORARILY move the fewest amount of students. But it would set up a domino effect of THOUSANDS of kids being pushed out their communites and into schools further to the south.

    The "Southern Shift" is not inevitable. A high school along route 7 would solve the problem.
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  18. My son, and Ashburn Farm resident, attends Eagle Ridge. His best friend since age 3 is actually a Broadlands resident at Eagle Ridge too. My SON declared, it is more important to him to stay in his community with his neighbors than remain with this best friend. He wants to got to the school that he can walk to within his community instead of being sent elsewhere so someone else could be bused into his community. School communities are not as strong as location communities. He in fact was the only section of Ashburn Farm that used to be sent to Hillside. The kids he went to school with were NOT the ones he swam with or played at the parks with. It was very hard on him and the rest of our DN section. Communities and schools should be based on location of ones home.
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  19. Ashburn is too big for one school, the school plans long term are for a southward shift (which is inevitable according to the staff and school board members), student communities at Belmont Ridge include Lansdowne, Belmont CC and Ashburn which should be kept together to the extent possible. Also, many Loudoun schools maintain contiguous attendance zones which end at their property. For example, the kids across the street from Broad Run HS go to Stone Bridge and the kids beside Heritage don't attend Heritage either. It's about a long term plan that makes sense for the entire DN corridor. This will make present and future moves more likely to be permanent. It will also serve to keep the most student communities and HOAs together.
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  20. I am an Eagle Ridge middle schooler parent too. My son will go to SBHS if things stay as they are. My son's friends however will go to Briar Woods. He is very upset about this. I am now trying to get a special exception for him to attend Briar Woods and hoping that the staff plan is adopted. I know several others in the same position as well. So not all of Ashburn Farm feels as you do.
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  21. There are two important parcels of land that are needed. One along Route 7 for a HS for Lansdowne and other communities that neighbor it. The second is a Middle School for Ashburn Farm kids and their neighbors. There is no home for both these group of kids. One community has no HS, One community has no MS. This will solve this mess. I do believe a special commitee has been formed to look into this, and I am very grateful for this.
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  22. Ashburn Farm does not have a middle school (the kids go to Broadlands at Eagle Ridge or they go to Lansdowne to Belmont Ridge). Lansdowne does not have a high school. School placement is indeed critical.
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  23. Someone posted that Ashburn Farm is too big to fit into one high school -- not so!! Ashburn Farm as a whole would make up about half of Stone Bridge.
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  24. This is a difficult situation. However, the staff plan puts two schools at over capacity from day one. How can we justify that while three others go under utilized and have space? 2,170 students will not fit at a school with a capacity on only 1600.
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  25. The growth estimates for school populations are probably overstated in this bad economy and the capacities are based on 90%, not 100%. Because of this we probably don't have quite the capacity emergency that some suggest.

    Somebody on the school board the other night suggested the use of trailers,additions to existing schools and
    consolidation of low enrollment classes/programs to increase capacity. This seems on the surface
    like a good common-sense measure that could be used to increase capacity until more schools come on line. This would be a good compromise that would bring communities together.

    This also seems like a good idea because the schools we currently have are in the right locations.
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  26. It's interesting that there are people on both sides of the Eagle Ridge equation which only makes sense; kids don't ask where other kids live before befriending them.

    I also like the other poster's comments about the compromise position of school additions etc to accommodate more students. And they are correct, it would give everybody a stake in this issue and bring communities back together.
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  27. Trailers only will go so far. With rates of 30% over capacity, you are talking a whole grade in trailers. Additionally, where will those students eat lunch, have lockers, go to PE? Why should two schools be pushed to that capacity when other schools can relieve this issue? Unfortunately, someone has to be moved.
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  28. Please help me understand why we should overcrowd two school instead of just moving these 450 students north of route 7 to a school with capacity? Wouldn't that be a better experience for all3200 students?
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  29. I like the addition idea too.
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  30. Kids can be resilient when they are asked to do something that makes sense. When they can understand why something is occurring and it makes sense to them. However, asking a child to move to a new school over 5 miles away when they can currently walk to a school doesn't allow for such resiliency - especially when another community is being bused from over 5 miles into their community.
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  31. Trailers could help too for short-term situations but permanent additions to existing schools with lockers etc would be better. This would increase the number of seats so there wouldn't be any over crowding, we would just support more students at a given school.

    This would give everybody a stake in shared schools. I like this.
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  32. I live in Lansdowne and would rather go to Tuscarora than stay at an overcrowded Stone Bridge. The quality of education would be better for everyone involved. Also, my kids aren't "travel team" athletes, so they could actually make it onto a team at Tuscarora.
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  33. The solution to the overcrowded and under-enrolled Leesburg elementary schools lies in these words: “A Leesburg elementary school is overdue and six of the eight are already overcrowded. The two which are under-enrolled…” Moving kids from the “affluent” overcrowded schools into the “poorer” under-enrolled schools is a sensible solution that benefits all students.

    The first post by Anonymous is spot on in terms of benefits derived from economic and socially diverse classes. Student learning happens inside and outside of the content/classroom and is often immeasurable. Arguments referencing the potential effects to SOL scores by SES and LEP students, and both higher and lower class sizes could fill your blog pages. However, those factors are unlikely to produce vastly different SOL outcomes when both groups are currently performing well and receiving quality instruction.
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  34. John,

    I'm so tired of the resentment this process has created for the neighborhoods involved. It's time to find some common ground and compromise to get things back to normal.

    The school additions idea might be good for all communities. Is this option being looked at seriously by the school board?
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  35. The new joint subcommittee of the School Board and Board of Supervisors is looking at scenarios including expansion of existing schools in addition to construction of new schools.
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  36. For High Schools - The bottom line is that there are over a thousand empty schoool seats in Leesburg. Leaving them open would compromise the quality of education at Stone Bridge and Briar Woods.
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  37. The problem with the previous statement is simply that it always involves sending someone else’s kids to Central Loudoun not theirs. If someone is truly so concerned about the quality of their child’s education then volunteer to be the DN that moves.
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  38. The previous post is concerned with semantics -- what's the real difference between a CL and a DN? Nothing. It's just a label. There are schools right now that "mix" planning zones.
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  39. Mr. Reed brought up an issue last week that I haven't seen addressed here and it's a important one. The staff plan leaves Stone Bridge over capacity. The current freshman from Ashburn Farm, who would be juniors at the time all of this takes effect have attended both Belmont Ridge and Eagle Ridge. In leaving Stone Bridge over capacity it appears to take away their option of finishing their high school education at the school they started. So they would have to switch both middle schools AND high schools. This seems very unfair and cruel to them. No one would answer this question when raised by Mr. Reed which leads one to believe that this would happen.
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  40. The problem brought up in the 8:51 post is the fault of the previous school board for not utilizing the capacity at Briar Woods and thus having those kids attend Briar Woods as freshman.
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  41. It's important that we stick together as voters. We're in this mess because we've allowed the Board of Supervisors and the School Board too much latitude. Based on all of our involvement, the two boards are doing what they should have been doing all along....working together to meet OUR requirements for schools.

    In a few short weeks, a number of creative options have been discussed between the BOS and School Board. They're being discussed because our communities are out in force and looking to hold them accountable for a more effective plan. If we stick together and stop letting the boards off the hook, they will provide a more effective solution than; there's no such thing as a community school and everybody rides a bus.
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  42. I think trailers and permanent additions to existing schools should be done in addition to the staff plan to ensure the viability of the staff plan in the absence of an accelerated HS6, which it would. This solution would provide enough seats where they were needed to relieve any (projected) overcrowding.
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  43. The Staff plan does not work. It overcrowds two schools while under-utilizing three other schools. Why should we add trailers when there is room in three other schools?
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  44. A very big portion of Ashburn Farm DOES indeed walk to Stone Bridge. The buses are constantly empty. This MUST not be overlooked. Why send kids to another school when they can easily walk to one in their backyard. As Belmont Ridge becomes overcrowded, should Lansdowne be moved out as there while others are bused in?
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  45. It's common around the county that kids well within walking distance of a school don't go to that school so that the larger plan for the entire planning district works. This plan isn't just about one neighborhood. Kids across the street from Broad Run go to Stone Bridge, kids beside Heritage don't go to Heritage etc. But the zones for those schools are contiguous areas that encompass many neighborhoods. Nowhere in the county does the attendance zone look like a bulls-eye in the center of a dart board. This is because big picture plans need solutions that don't favor one community over another or kick-out any community either.
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  46. If walking to school is the first priority then half of Ashburn Farm would have to go to Broad Run not Stone Bridge.
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  47. As an Ashburn Farm resident, I think that even though local kids should receive consideration for attending their local school when possible, we should work with the school board and Lansdowne to solve this problem in a way that heals rather than harms and joins rather than divides.

    If that includes building additions onto our schools or trailers to accommodate more students, fine. This wouldn't crowd us if we added more room. We aren't inviting strangers into our schools, these are the kids that our kids call their friends.

    Would we want to go to Leesburg temporarily? I don't think so.
    It's time to move on.
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  48. You're making my point about the boards working together. We've accepted the practice of busing kids away from schools in their area because we don't have an effective long term plan. This isn't rocket science. As the BOS approves development within the county, schools need to be planned in the appropriate geographic location. How is it acceptable to build a community, place a school in the middle of the community, and bus the kids to another community? No one would accept that as a "plan". Let's not accept it now. The county has backed itself into a corner. It needs to work itself out.
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  49. Again, why would we add trailers when there is space at another school that can accomodate another community? At what point do we finally say, a school is filled to capacity. Do we put trailers on the football fields? Yes, trailers add space for classes but what about things like the cafeteria, gyms, and other facillities that can't be expanded. Do we start serving lunch to kids at 10am? At some point, there is a breaking point. If there is room in other schools, and one community is already being bused, it is common sense that they should just be sent to a different school instead of making walkers be bused.
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  50. Three years ago there was no discussion of removing Lansdowne from Belmont Ridge Middle School when that school was over crowded. It was a given that it was in their community and making them leave was not right. Why is it now correct to ask Ashburn Farm to leave Stone Bridge high School?
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  51. I am an Ashburn Farm resident who children could walk to either Stone Bridge OR Broad Run. HOWEVER, it is being proposed that my child would need to be bused to a third school over 5 miles away on a extremely dangerous road. How is this acceptable?
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  52. The way I understand it, the Staff Plan is not asking the zones that are contiguous to Stone Bridge to leave. They are asking the AF zones whose students already attending Eagle Ridge to move to BWHS. They are not asking walkers to leave. They are asking zones whose students could cut through parks,back yards, etc. to walk, but are not considered walkers by the county since they would have to cross major cross roads.
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  53. Most of Ashburn Farm can walk to Stone Bridge. And, while the staff plan doesn't currently move the rest of Ashburn Farm, Stone Bridge will still be overcrowded and will need relief. Who will leave then? Then you will be asking all contiguous neighborhoods of Stone Bridge to leave while they bus in another community. Overcrowding a school does not work. If it did, why would we ever build another school?
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  54. There seems to be lots of support for utilizing empty seats in other planning districts at all costs. Yet there seems to be less support for creating more space in our own planning district (with additions and trailers) and then utilizing that "new" space without overcrowding anybody and without temporary moves for anybody. This makes no sense, are we "for" efficient utilization or "against" it?

    Ashburn just seems to want Lansdowne out of what they seem to view as "their" school no matter what. "Us" or "them" solutions don't work very well in the context of the entire district.
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  55. Ashburn Farm is pushing for Lansdowne and areas along the Rt. 7 corridor to have their own High School and stop the busing. Please don't demonize the people in AF that are making a very reasonable request of not being bused away from a school their children have access to. The county can provide schools in the appropriate locations. Let's stop trying to make cases for the current staff plan. Schools should be built in the communities they serve, just like churches, grocery stores, and restaurants. If we don't believe that.......let's put all the schools in one place and bus kids from around the county. No....that wouldn't be a good "plan" would it?
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  56. Ashburn Farm has made 18 changes in 20 years to accomodate the growing loudoun population. We have gone to schools in DNs and CLs. Our children have attended: Arcola ES, Ashburn ES, Sanders, Dominion Trail, Hillside, Belmont Station, Cedar Lane, Seneca Ridge, Farmwell Station, Harper Park, Harper Park Annex, Eagle Ridge (twice), Belmont Ridge, Broad Run, Broad Run Annex and Stone Bridge. We are hoping for a permanent solution. How many times has Lansdowne had a boundary change and how many different schools have they been sent to?
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  57. Eric the 1/2 trollApr 22, 2009 01:50 PM
    If Culbert is not filled and you are emptying Hamilton (permanently apparently) to get Culbert even to the level it is at, why not HOLD on opening Culbert so you can use the existing facilities more efficiently?
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  58. Ashburn has prospered and grown over the years causing the school boundaries to be redrawn. Every move made was to a school within their community and some were voluntary. There were always residents arguing both sides of a proposed boundary change. Several years ago some Eagle Ridge students were allowed to go to Stone Bridge HS rather than staying with their graduating class at Briar Woods. If this split-feed hadn't been done then, we wouldn't be addressing it now. The way this "18 in 20 years" comment is thrown around, you'd think the same kid was moved 18 times to distant schools rather than just a different local school that would not separate them from their friends.

    We can't abandon the big picture DN plan and make temporary and bad choices with "somebody else's kids" just because we don't want to go to a different "local" school (Briar Woods) with our friends than the other (apparently more desireable) "local" school (Stone Bridge) without our friends.
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  59. With more middle schools than high schools, there is no way that we can not have a split feed. It is physically impossible.
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  60. Some of these posts don't make sense. Lets put the shoe on the other foot. Kids are in Middle School for only 3 years, but in High School for 4 years. Should we remove Lansdowne from Belmont Ridge MS? With your thinking we should, just to keep a broken system. BRMS can then serve Ashburn Farm and BCC. Obviously that doesn't make sense, just like it doesn't make any sense to have Ashburn Farm go to a differnt school.
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  61. Based on the meeting last night, I heard they were looking for a a permanent home for Lansdowne closer to their own community. I would think this community would want this.
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  62. Please help me understand how is Arcola ES, Seneca Ridge, Harper Park etc, anywhere close to the Ashburn Farm community? Our DNs didn't want to leave a school we could walk to to be shipped to Hillside.
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  63. Many kids in Ashburn Farm have moved 4 to 5 times and have siblings move the same amount but to different schools. So, yes, many families have moved 10 - 18 times. As the other poster asked, how many times has the Lansdowne community moved schools, and to which schools. It appears Ashburn Farm kids have been everywhere.
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  64. Briar Woods is no more local for my Family than Tuscarora is for yours!!! It is 5.75 miles from my house. There is no difference. These kids don't need to be on a bus. Your point on as long as its "somone else's kids" makes no sense, as that is what you are asking. To move somone else's kids out of their school too.
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  65. This isn't about the distance to the school, it's about the student community and whether or not the kids would know other kids at the other school. The Eagle Ridge kids would know the kids at Briar Woods, Lansdowne wouldn't know anybody in Leesburg schools.

    The entire 5.75 miles between you and Briar Woods is populated with kids that your kid knows and interacts with unlike the case for Lansdowne kids. They would be an island jammed into another community.

    By Loudoun standards, the distance of 4/5 miles is not too far for anybody but then, that's not the argument, is it?
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  66. Has Lansdowne EVER moved because of boundary changes? I can't think of any.
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  67. With the adoption of the staff pan in 2010:
    Sterling Middle 100% feed to Park View,
    Smarts Mill 100% feed to Tuscarora,
    Simpson 100% feed to Loudoun County,
    Seneca Ridge 100% feed to Dominion,
    Riverbend 100% feed to Potomac Falls,
    Mercer 100% feed to Freedom,
    Harper Park 100% feed to Heritage,
    Harmony 100% feed to Woodgrove,
    Farmwell 100% feed to Broad Run,
    Blue Ridge 100% feed to Loudoun Valley,
    Belmont Ridge 100% feed to Stone Bridge.

    The only split feeds will be Eagle Ridge and Stone Hill. With the building of HS-6 then we will have a county where every middle school will be a direct feed.
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  68. Lansdowne complains about being sent alone to another school where they wouldn't know anybody. What if Lansdowne and Belmont Country Club were both sent to a local (non-Leesburg) school together? I don't know if the numbers would work but this would address that concern.

    Lansdowne seems to think Briar Woods would be good for us. Perhaps the boudaries could be adjusted to put all of Lansdowne and Belmont Ridge CC into Briar Woods together?
    Would they like their own medicine?
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  69. Based on your feeder comment, 13 middle schools, 10 high schools. It doesn't work. So, since High school is 4 years and Middle School is only 3, lets remove Lansdowne from Belmont Ridge and have the Ashburn farm and BCC areas attend that school. That would make more sense based on years in each school.
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  70. If trailers are such a good idea, perhaps we can get a trailer for an extra cafeteria and a trailer full of lockers... of course that is ridiculous. Overcrowding a school (when there are empty seats available) doesn't make any sense.
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  71. There are plenty of trailer/addition/modular options available that would address all of these issues as they are built specifically for this purpose. Loudoun Co happens to own plenty of trailers already though so the cost would be, well, $0 to pursue that option. Trailers and the staff plan would solve our capacity problems at least until HS6 when lines will be redrawn anyway. Why move twice when we can move once permanently?
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  72. Regarding comment April 23 1:27pm
    In 2010 with the staff plan there will be 13 middle schools and 12 high schools. Eleven out of the thirteen middle schools are direct feeds to high schools. When HS-6 is built there will be an equal number of high schools and middle schools. If we keep looking at the wrong numbers then we come up with the wrong conclusions. There has been this disturbing theme of repeating false or misleading information over and over so that people may actually start to believe that it is true.
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  73. Mr. Stevens, Last night....or it may have been closer to early this morning, you stated you spoke with Dr. Hattrick about the staff plan and he said the quality of education would not suffer. If the staff plan over utilizes Stone Bridge and Briar Woods by 500 students a piece, does that mean we can over utilize high schools to that extent and continue to provide quality education? Wouldn't that mean we can take Broad Run, Tuscarora, Heritage, and Loudoun County to 30% over capacity with no impact to the quality of education? You made a clear point about not over crowding Leesburg high schools. Utilizing your point last night, why wouldn't we take Heritage and Tuscarora to 500 over capacity if there's not impact to the quality of education. I hope the Board of Supervisors didn't watch the broadcast.
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