Comments on Our Loudoun Schools: School Board to study boundary process?

I am so glad to see that there is effort toward th...

2009-06-11T09:11:08.385-04:00

I am so glad to see that there is effort toward this being a much better process with better outcomes. I never want to go through this again and feel that the outcomes would have been very different had the starting point been accurate and common sense been applied. Great news.

Your distain for any small schools (along with any...

2009-06-09T20:12:06.446-04:00

Your distain for any small schools (along with anything west of SR) is apparent. I'm sure you are aware that even a one track school (the smallest schools) has more than 125 student capacity.

You are indeed the QH. The reigning champion.

Eric, no hyperbole, because I purposely didn't...

2009-06-09T15:42:45.953-04:00

Eric, no hyperbole, because I purposely didn't use the smallest of the small schools.

I'll never forget when one CIP about 10 years back had Hillsboro listed at 110% of capacity!!!!

...because it had NINE extra kids.

Barbara Munsey

School boundary policies that already exist are ge...

2009-06-09T13:33:25.633-04:00

School boundary policies that already exist are generally fine, if they are followed. . . first and foremost by the LCPS planning staff and then by the School Board. It might help if the existing policies were prioritized or even simplified.

What is wrong with proximity and community being core values in boundary decisions? It clearly is the priority for parents from Lovettsville to

Evidence, Barb: look at the operating cos per stud...

2009-06-09T12:42:30.267-04:00

Evidence, Barb: look at the operating cos per student of the schools that are fully utilized. And we are not talking about going from 120 to 125 student (Queen of Hyperbole) we are talking about running a school at 50% utilization which magically (unless you happen to have a 3rd grade math education) doubles the cost per student.

"Again, sigh, again, when the schools were FU...

2009-06-09T12:05:32.593-04:00

"Again, sigh, again, when the schools were FULLY utilized (see my first post regarding the boundary process), the operating costs are the same for all schools regardless of size."

Uhh, no.

Never has been, never will be.

Dividing cost between 125 kids instead of 120 doesn't make it magically cost the same as a 4 or 5K seat.

Many people are

"$20K per child is about what it costs now in...

2009-06-09T11:44:58.992-04:00

"$20K per child is about what it costs now in the buildings where the grade is also the class."

The $20K per child is what it costs to build new seats for the kids you want to relocate out of their paid for existing schools. It is not an oeprating budget figure.

Again, sigh, again, when the schools were FULLY utilized (see my first post regarding the boundary

Eric, $20K per child is about what it costs now in...

2009-06-08T21:49:18.092-04:00

Eric, $20K per child is about what it costs now in the buildings where the grade is also the class.

You are pulling that figure out of the air as an operating cost for more efficient schools.

In addition, let's talk to Troll the 1/2 Environmentalist for a minute; is he in there?

Some of the older buildings would not meet current code on a variety of issues.<

"Yes, it is a HUGE parity issue, in both indi...

2009-06-08T20:27:26.849-04:00

"Yes, it is a HUGE parity issue, in both individual attention AND cost per pupil."

The grades are smaller in a smaller school, Barb - this is true. And it is a positive thing but IF the schools are kept full (which goes back to the boundary issues) they cost no more per student.

You are not suggesting that we close perfectly usable schools simply because the grade

Eric, I agree that full cap leaves marginally larg...

2009-06-08T16:37:41.548-04:00

Eric, I agree that full cap leaves marginally larger class sizes than SOME eastern school--by about 2 or 3 kids.

However, that class size is also the GRADE size in many cases.

Yes, it is a HUGE parity issue, in both individual attention AND cost per pupil.

Barbara Munsey

Barb, When the elementary schools in the west are...

2009-06-08T15:01:17.461-04:00

Barb,

When the elementary schools in the west are fully utilized, they have a higher class size than those in the east. Perhaps it is a parity issue but not the way you wish to paint. I think you will find most parents in these schools have no problem with larger class sizes than yours - the benefits outweigh the negatives.

Eric, that's a bandaid, and a tiny one at that...

2009-06-05T10:44:27.885-04:00

Eric, that's a bandaid, and a tiny one at that.

It still doesn't address the parity issue of class size, or grade size, given the minute capacity of some of the schools.

Maybe the future for those schools should be regional special needs, instead of serving most in Leesburg.

Barbara Munsey

I will also be voting 'no' to all new scho...

2009-06-04T22:54:26.625-04:00

I will also be voting 'no' to all new school bonds until our elected officials can get their heads out of random places and use the capacity they've already been given.

I think the "feeder system" is ridiculous, the DN vs. CL boundary process is arbitrary (why can't
"DN's" move into "CL" schools-makes no sense?).

And I

You want to improve the boundary process? Stop th...

2009-06-04T21:02:46.618-04:00

You want to improve the boundary process? Stop the process of emptying the existing schools in favor of filling new megaschools in order to justify the enormous expense of opening them before they are needed.

anon at 10:35, you aren't taking into account ...

2009-06-04T11:00:18.311-04:00

anon at 10:35, you aren't taking into account that this is a by right state with no APFOs or impact fees.

Development can occur at base density as an administrative, rather than legislative, process, simply based on the Comp Plan and existing ordinances.

That's what caused some of the school difficulties in Dulles South: over 2000 residential units were built here

You are right about the root problem. However, th...

2009-06-04T10:59:23.626-04:00

You are right about the root problem. However, the boundary process could be tweaked a little and at the very least, followed by the planning commission when coming up with boundaries.

You also can't claim ownwership of a school based on the feeder system. We've already proven that it's not going to work in DN for the forseeable future.

Yes, boundaries do

It's not the boundary process that is the root...

2009-06-04T10:35:11.176-04:00

It's not the boundary process that is the root problem, but rather the disconnect between approving residential development and building schools. How about identifying permanent school boundaries when new communities are approved and, if those schools don't exist, then building them immediately. What? We can't afford to build the schools? Then we can't afford the development. For

An overhaul really needs to be put in place. This...

2009-06-03T16:24:57.581-04:00

An overhaul really needs to be put in place. This process is exhausting to all families involved. They are pitting neighbor versus neighbor, it is awful. The Planning Staff asks for input, but then doesn't use it. There should be something that states, you can't put out a recommendation that is based on some far fetched logic. Another policy should be - A community with a school in

I think the whole system needs to be evaluated. T...

2009-06-03T16:17:33.841-04:00

I think the whole system needs to be evaluated. This includes looking at policy for how large a single zone can be. Once it gets to be approximately 200 kids at a certain school level it needs to be broken up. When there are zones with 400 kids, it makes it almost impossible to come up with proper boundaries. I also think they need to re-evaluate these districts. It seems to me, there should

Feeder system is a great concept, but it has chang...

2009-06-03T15:14:09.902-04:00

Feeder system is a great concept, but it has changed several times in the DN zone in the last 5 years. It's also a great concept when you have equal numbers of MS & HS. We don't have that now and won't for at least another 8 years according to the CIP. Sterling has a stable feeder system and Leesburg just got voted a stable feeder system. They also don't have the expected

Considerations for boundary changes should be alte...

2009-06-03T13:40:05.779-04:00

Considerations for boundary changes should be altered to include things exactly like favoring the feeder system to ensure shared-experiences, not moving any community temporarily or moving any community out of their planning district and rational distribution of students among schools at build-out etc. Having kids finish at the high school they start (if they provide their own transportation)

You should put in the policy that once kids start ...

2009-06-03T13:12:13.442-04:00

You should put in the policy that once kids start at a high school, they will finish at that high school.

Also include that any boundary zone cannot be moved more than 2 times in a 10 year period.

Honestly, I don't see what good that is going ...

2009-06-03T12:39:57.360-04:00

Honestly, I don't see what good that is going to do - nobody follows the policies in place now. So what makes you think they'll be followed in the future?

Unless of course, it becomes a one line policy for boundaries - feeder system. More politics coming.

Can't wait until the next school bond comes up to vote - I'm voting NO!!!! You all can't manage