South Lakes Pyramid - I respectfully disagree. McNair was built to accomodate population demand in that area of the county. And at the elementary school level, even with social engineers such as Gibson at the helm, it is completely unthinkable to abandon the concept of neighborhood schools - elementary schools in Fairfax, unless they can bribe GT white and asian students a la Hunters Woods, cannot resort to forced busing or "compelled choice" plans to reach a racial balance. So the Dogwoods and the McNairs exist - albeit in a way that only marginally drags down the entire county's profile. So Gibson and his ilk countenance these marginal schools because they have to.

As far as Rodriguez goes, I of course cannot speak to any particular details as to her hiring or transfer. But suffice to say it is virtually a universal view that she was at best ineffective and most likely grossly incompetent. But really, expect someone like Gibson - or even the school administration - to take prompt action against an under-represented minority principal - please? Only when the hue and cry got so loud was any action taken - and then, with a nice promotion to HR in the home office. In fact, your mention of Gibson's inaction only furthers my argument - people like Gibson - in the face of observing ever declining academic achievement at a place like South Lakes - and after engaging in the always furtive lets get an IB program to attract good white and asian students (it works in St. Petersburg, FLA - for about a 100 students - who, sadly, are in such a sea of racial disharmony, crime and academic mediocrity it is the only decent choice they have), and after engaging in the time honored lets get more minorities so the kids can "identify" with their leaders and teachers and do better (forgetting that what counts are truly talented teachers, irrespective of their race), deeply understand that changing the demographics of the students attending is the surest way to improve a school (as I state, Louisville and Seattle spent millions going to the Supreme Court over it). And why is this so difficult or offensive to accept? The data exists over and over to show so that at least in the public school system, race is as effective as any other marker to predict student performance. Or put another way, maybe it is difficult to accept - that I will concede - but really, it is the elephant in the room - so let's talk about it. The renovated building is a nice gussied up thing - but parents don't give a darn about buildings as long as they are passably safe (I have no worries about my daughter's daily attendance at run down TJ, for example). They want to send students to schools where standards for learning are universally high - amongst all students without outsize distractions.

If the school system is going to have to ask parents and students to make changes in their lives, is a little brutal honesty too much to expect? Why administrators fail to be blunt is an easy call - they don't want to "stigmatize" or offend certain populations. I, of course, am asserting the exact opposite - let's do be open about it because only if we are will real honest debate and change take place, as opposed to the phony and condescending discussions that so often occur now.

Thomas, can you post the Gibson email? Then we have something to go on.

Quantum, McNair gets back to my argument--why is the county creating Title 1 schools to begin with? Cluster affordable housing, and the result is predictable. It also reeks of intentional segregation.

And, you want honesty? OK, South Lakes isn't perfect. Do you want me to say that SL is a bad school? I can't say that, because I don't believe that it is.
It had a bad run because of a very bad principal. Neither is Oakton perfect, or any other mostly white and asian school. But there are upsides to diversity--I see it at the school all the time, with the accepting nature of the students. You may think this is a lie, but it is not.

More honesty, there ARE people in Fox Mill and Oak Hill area who want to go to SL because of proximity. They are afraid to speak up at meetings for fear of getting lynched. Maybe you folks can also acknowledge that there may in fact be some advantages to coming to South Lakes. Later sleep times?



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/19/2007 03:56PM by South Lakes Pyramid parent.

Yes,the Madison island should stay at Madison. They are technically in Reston, that's true but if anyone should change school it would be Westfield kids. They are way over populated. My friends there all complain about the trailers packed onto the school. As a student, I say we stop redistricting and let the chips fall where they may. Just so you know, the social networking site already had groups against it and posts. One's called: You can't spell Facist Oppression without FCPS. Which I thought was cute.

I can tell you that those of us who graduated from South Lakes in the 80's have done EXTREMELY well $$.

Many South Lakes graduates from those years attended Harvard, Yale, UVA, Georgetown, etc...

South Lakes graduates also run the majority of the highly productive businesses in the County. Many graduates still live in Fairfax County and have kids attending Fairfax County High Schools. The stories I have been hearing about other Fairfax High Schools from these parents certainly far out weigh the stories I have heard about South Lakes.
Attachments:

taxpayer -

>they are
> supposed to draw boundaries irregardless of
> Magisterial District/PO Box, etc. The fact is
> Aldrin/Armstrong are under capacity - concern is
> adding both to South Lakes is that if those
> schools approach capacity the Hughes/South Lakes
> combo would be overcrowded.

The School Board has never divided the Town of Hernodn into two seperate high schools. It never did it to Vienna or the City of Faifax. Reston, as small tax district #5, has equal dignity with those municipalities and should be afforded the same deference is attendance line drawing.

Greivously More later

South Lakes Pyramid parent Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thomas, can you post the Gibson email? Then we
> have something to go on.

I wish I knew how. I cut and pasted the relevant quote in an earlier post.

Oh, sorry. Missed it. Still doesn't make sense, when you look at the actual policy.

CT Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yes,the Madison island should stay at Madison.
> They are technically in Reston, that's true but if
> anyone should change school it would be Westfield
> kids.

Fox Mill seperates the SL attendance area from McNair and Floris. Weren't you the one who wanted to keep Glory Days for Oakton. Here I'm trying to help you out and I get no back up. :-)

but I'm foolish to expect gratitude from the young.

Thanks for the other info. I hope the participants understand that it is unlikely that current high school kids will be effected just their younger siblings.

I understand. :). Yes, I'm backing you up on the Glory Days issue. Reminder:Wing Night Wednesday. My sibling would miss that. That would be sad.

Glory Days said the have no interest in a 2-5 team... to few post game celebrations for their liking.

South Lakes Pyramid parent Wrote:

> For some reason, Gibson was going on about
> Westfield being overcrowded because they (the
> school board?) did a study and decided that 2000
> kids is the optimal size for a high school. So he
> wants to bring enrollments down in schools with
> many more than 2000. Even though Westfield and
> Chantilly has the capacity, he thinks it is not
> optimal.


Westfield is not even in ole Stu's district. He shouldn't even have an opinion about large capacity schools. Wasn't he around when the school board approved and built the humongo school for LARGE capacity? So SL will be filled to the brim and Westfield will be empty of some 1200 kids? That's good use of other people's money. Stu's a moron. He should mind his own buisness, fix his problem elementary schools that he ignores. Too bad the right to run again for office is not earned through past performance. Stu would be out of the running.

Also, I am not sure McNair is a good fit for Herndon, esp. if they loose Aldrin, Armstrong. And everybody is getting all giddy about rearranging Langley's and Madison's boundaries (and although I agree with some of these ideas). These schools (except for the island) are not in the study. Unless they are, this is a wasted discussion.

LEAVE OAKTON ALONE!!

Neen Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm sorry that you don't like to be called a
> democrat.

You didn't call me a democrat though every American is one. See when you don't capitalize the "d", you're referring to a person who perfers democracy to say, authoritaranisms, communism, facsim or McCarthyism. But I repeat myself.

If you're referring to members of the oldest continuous politcal party on Earth, proper grammar a capital "D" is used.

Tailgunner Joe's half-witted put down revealed that his education was lacking in either proper grammar or proper manners. More likely both.

Cricket Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Langley's and Madison's boundaries
> (and although I agree with some of these ideas).
> These schools (except for the island) are not in
> the study. Unless they are, this is a wasted
> discussion.

Look at the map on the FCPS Website. The entirety of the Madison attendance area is in the boundary study not just the Wolf Trap island.

Neen Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thomas More,
> Your comments are very interesting, but with a
> couple of caveats. What has happened in Reston,
> is not happening in other parts of the county,
> like McLean and Vienna. Their high schools are
> not losing students like South Lakes has. One
> problem is the Reston Homeowners who won't allow
> expansion of existing homes or new homes. Young
> families want homes that are more modern and
> larger. Single people with roommates don't care.
> Nor do they care about schools. Families do care.
> Asian families are moving into McLean and Vienna
> because the schools are good. Even though they
> could get a cheaper home in Reston, those families
> do not want to move to Reston because the schools
> are not as good. It's not just a natural
> evolution, if that was true, Madison, Langley,
> McLean and Oakton would have the same enrollment
> problems as South Lakes. It's the schools in
> Reston, and the restrictive home owners
> association. It's not a family friendly
> environment.

I won't defend the dilettante's on the DRB.

What I obviously didn't make clear is that the double income no kids couples (demographers call them DINKS) and the twenty something frat boys and sorority sisters used subprime loans to bid up the price of houses in Reston over the last ten years so as to be near their jobs in the Dulles Corridor. They bid the prices so high that Momma could get more space for her chicks at a lower price in Winchester, et al.

Until a few months ago, for sale signs would be up for days or only hours before the "Sold" sign went up.

Given that there haven't been any substantial number of single family homes built in Reston since 1985-90, families have been priced out of the few houses that ever came on the market here.

Hope that makes it clearer for you.

Thomas More Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> Thanks for the other info. I hope the
> participants understand that it is unlikely that
> current high school kids will be effected just
> their younger siblings.

This is not what current school board members are suggesting. What is being proposed also includes, at a minimum, current 9th and 10th graders. Folks need to speak up about grandfathering.

This boundary study most likely includes shifting kids from Chantilly to Oakton. It appears that no one cares too much about this. But Beware Oakton kiddies, you might be displaced out of Oakton, so a Chantilly person can fill your shoes.

Thomas More Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Cricket Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Langley's and Madison's boundaries
> > (and although I agree with some of these ideas).
>
> > These schools (except for the island) are not
> in
> > the study. Unless they are, this is a wasted
> > discussion.
>
> Look at the map on the FCPS Website. The entirety
> of the Madison attendance area is in the boundary
> study not just the Wolf Trap island.

See below...from the minutes of the SCHOOL BOARD WORK SESSION
REVISED 7-11-07
Date July 16,

"In addition staff recommends a limited study be conducted for Madison
High, Thoreau Middle, and Wolftrap Elementary focused on reassigning
the attendance area “island” north of the Dulles Access Road from
these schools to South Lakes High, Hughes Middle, and Sunrise Valley
Elementary." this accompanies the map.

Chantilly kids at Oakton? With our rivalry? That'll take a toll on school spirit.

South Lakes Pyramid parent Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thomas,
> You contradict yourself. First you say Gibson
> wants the redistricting to bring up SL stats, then
> you say Gibson will put McNair in SL, which would
> have the opposite effect. What are you trying to
> say?

He started this process with the intention of lifting the scores but when the full gale of opposition from Herndon, Fox Mill and Crossfields overwhelms the e-mails servers of his plutocrat collegues and the central staff (and we're noot therre yet, not even close), he'll stick us with McNair just to get it over with. Because of McNair's demographics its expected that they won't be nearly as active or vociferous as the other bunch.

Stu has never shown any political courage in standing up for Reston's kids. If he had any testicular ridigity, he wouldn't have allowed his fear of a suit for ethnic discrimination to inhibit him from getting rid of Railly. Instead he kept his protege in place until he could find her a phony promotion to a central office HR job recruiting other minorities.

Taking on Bryckner advanced his generally focused liberal/teachers union agenda and didn't specfically help Reston kids. Though it did make for some campy entertainment.

Getting Sl's renovation leap frogged over other high schools that were in much worse shape only required share elbows at the trough and he was only taking on his fellow cretins, but the parents of Crossfield, Fox Mill and Herndon in full howl.

Hope that answers the question.

More later
I'm sick enough to actually watch the school board meetings. He never bucks the rest of his cohorts or the central staff on anything of significance.

Cricket Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thomas More Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> This is not what current school board members are
> suggesting. What is being proposed also includes,
> at a minimum, current 9th and 10th graders. Folks
> need to speak up about grandfathering.
>
> This boundary study most likely includes shifting
> kids from Chantilly to Oakton. It appears that no
> one cares too much about this. But Beware Oakton
> kiddies, you might be displaced out of Oakton, so
> a Chantilly person can fill your shoes.

Thanks for the resolution cut and paste. Its not on the map that was handed out at the PTA meeting nor is it on the map on the Website.

Gibson said at the PTA meeting that while grandfathering wouldn't be decided until the end, it was likely to apply to rising 10, 11 & 12 graders but given his little stunt about a reg that supposedly precludes revisiting the boundaries of the study area, can you believe any thing he says.

More later

I got some news for Stu Gibson and Kathy Smith... in less than a month you will no longer be on the School Board.

VOTE THESE PUSHY THUGS OUT OF OFFICE!!!

A quote of Christine Arakelian's (Stu's opponent) blog on Langley at

http://blogs.arakelian.com/christine/?p=3

To answer your question: yes, I do support the Langley pyramid being included in the boundary studies and will vote for this. I see no reason for them not to be included, and it is simply the fairest thing to do at this point.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/19/2007 06:10PM by South Lakes Pyramid parent.

Looks like Arakelian will not be a plutocrat. Time for some new blood and fresh ideas and someone who might actually listen for a change. And obviously, she's not afraid of saying controversial things.

Cricket you are way off, hidden way down in the FCPS by laws a student currently enrolled at a school in the proper district CAN NOT be removed and be placed at another school to allow someone fron ANOTHER district to be placed in that school.

Oakton is safe/Westfield is safe/SLHS is safe. This whole thing is to stir up voters, if this redistricting thing ever gets off the ground the $$$$$ in NVA will keep it tied up in court until 2010 when ALL schools will be at or under capacity.

Thomas More Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Rodney Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > That Glory Days is in Fairfax HS territory.
>
> Perfect.
>
> FFX was the one team that South Lakes, though only
> half FFX's size, regularly beat when they were in
> the same district. FFX rarely beats any one else
> anyway. Thus, the Pam Am Glory Days should be
> empty most of the time. Go Cougars. :-)
>
> It's the perpetutal ineptness of FFX High coaches
> that has their DSA pushing this ridiculous
> proposal to realign the Districts of the Northern
> region. FFX is a D-6 school by population and
> it's DSA should stop trying to rig the system to
> cover up for the inability to hire coaches who can
> teach the game.


Not perpetual ineptness...just recent.

Have you forgotten the Rebel's perfect 10-0 seasons in '91, '98, and '99? Or the 1994 season (11-2) when the Rebs won the Northern Region Title?

Of course, it all ended when Head Coach Tom Verbanic went to Westfield when it opened. The man is one hell of a football coach!

truth seeker Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Cricket you are way off, hidden way down in the
> FCPS by laws a student currently enrolled at a
> school in the proper district CAN NOT be removed
> and be placed at another school to allow someone
> fron ANOTHER district to be placed in that
> school...

not true - check out the Kilmer boundary change process in 2006-07. They moved out kids from the town of Vienna [Louise Archer went ballistic] to Jackson to accomodate the kids from Great falls. another was Colvin Run - dominoed kids from Forestville into Great Falls and Great Falls into Colvin Run [near Mclean Bible Church]leaving kids from Reston and Herndon in Forestville. Look at Woodson and Frost. They have an island from Robinson. The list goes on. Whitman [Mount Vernon's middle school] is in Sandburg's attendance area.

taxpayer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> truth seeker Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Cricket you are way off, hidden way down in
> the
> > FCPS by laws a student currently enrolled at a
> > school in the proper district CAN NOT be
> removed
> > and be placed at another school to allow
> someone
> > fron ANOTHER district to be placed in that
> > school...
>
> not true - check out the Kilmer boundary change
> process in 2006-07. They moved out kids from the
> town of Vienna to Jackson to accomodate the kids
> from Great falls. another was Colvin Run -
> dominoed kids from Forestville into Great Falls
> and Great Falls into Colvin Run leaving kids from
> Reston and Herndon in Forestville. Look at
> Woodson and Frost. They have an island from
> Robinson. The list goes on. Whitman is in
> Sandburg's attendance area.

In addition, Colvin Run in Vienna was built to accommodate influx of students when the boundaries were switched McLean and Langley. The several elementary schools in that area, such as Westbriar, are under enrolled.

truth seeker Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Cricket you are way off, hidden way down in the
> FCPS by laws a student currently enrolled at a
> school in the proper district CAN NOT be removed
> and be placed at another school to allow someone
> fron ANOTHER district to be placed in that
> school.
>
> Oakton is safe/Westfield is safe/SLHS is safe.
> This whole thing is to stir up voters, if this
> redistricting thing ever gets off the ground the
> $$$$$ in NVA will keep it tied up in court until
> 2010 when ALL schools will be at or under
> capacity.

OK, truth seeker, whatever you want to believe. This past Monday, I sat and listened to Steve Hunt describe this little swirl about from Chantilly to Oakton as he squirmed to justify why these 2 schools are even included in this study.

Cricket,
What is Steve Hunt's position on Langley?

Cricket,

Would love to know more about what Steve Hunt had to say as he said something similar to me on the phone several weeks ago. If you live in the CHANTILLY HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT You are not immune to this process and Kathy Smith will not stand up for YOU - the people in the Sully District who voted for her MADE a BIG MISTAKE. I have listened to her skirt the issue for a long time now.

Can someone tell me why Chantilly is even included in this study? I realize they will be over capacity for several years as the "bubble" classes pass thru but should be fine by 2011. Is Chantilly just the only poor back flush acceptable enough to fill up Oakton and not cause their pretty test scores to drop.

Does anyone else smell a rat?

Terp

CT, how is the Madison island 'technically in Reston' when every address in the island is Vienna?

Quantum,
If we were to address the race issue, it would come down to addressing the problems in the Black culture. Since our democrat school board believes all cultures to be equal, that's a non starter.

Our school board uses the excuse that black kids need black role models to practice their affirmative action with principal promotions. There is ZERO evidence that black principals have EVER improved black performance of students in FCPS. No matter. Our school board hates to be confused with the facts. They want to promote blacks. Period. So they will.

That didn't quite work when Madison got stuck with an incompetent black principal a few years back. They said she was promoted to Madison because of her excellent track record with black student discipline. For a high school with less than 4% black students, and few discipline problems, parents and students were left scratching their heads. When she made her first address to the parents it was clear that she knew little about academics, AP courses, and getting students prepared for college, which 95% of Madison parents and students view as most important. When she could not use proper English grammar when addressing parents at back-to-school night it became even more clear that she was simply another example of an FCPS employee promoted beyond her level of competence through FCPS affirmative action. It took three LOOOOONG years to get rid of her. She was universally disliked at Madison. She was finally sent to an alternative high school where most of the students do not speak English, or do not speak it any better than she.

Remember, no one in FCPS is ever fired, much like no student is every expelled. Being incompetent in your job is not a reason to be dismissed, although it might land you a cushy job, for more pay, in the administration.

Much of what our school board does has nothing to do with students. It's about promoting their political agenda. Students are simply their pawns to implement that agenda, an agenda that has been proven wrong, every single time. No matter. They will persist until the bitter end! Politics, social experiments, educational fads, and affirmative action, are far more important to them than the mere education of children.

According to the Superintendent, it is likely to be a domino. Chantilly kids sent to Westfield, Westfield students to Oakton, and Oakton students sent to South Lakes along with students from the Madison Island and the North End of Reston. Obviously our school board, Smith, Gibson,and Straus, agreed to this or it wouldn't be the plan.

Neen Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> CT, how is the Madison island 'technically in
> Reston' when every address in the island is
> Vienna?

Only part of the Wolf trap (Madison) island in "technically in Reston" because it is with the boundary of Reston established in 1965 and re-enforced by the adoption of Small Tax District #5 to fund the Reston Community Center. Postal addresses are irrelevant. They are moved and changed by the USPS whenever the spirit moves it.

But if you'd actually read prior posts to this thread, you'd have pick that up already.

Steve Hunt thinks that Langley SHOULD be included. BUT he's also aware of the reality of the deals that have been cut. He won't lie and say that Langley is on the table when he knows that is not. Straus decides what happens to Langley and Herndon because those are her schools. She's agreed to give to Gibson what he wants from her district, Aldrin and Armstrong, with the trade off being he doesn't touch any Langley students. She and Gibson have made similar deals in the past. It was the same deal with Vienna GT kids got booted out of Longfellow. Straus agreed to throw Great Falls GT students under the bus, as long as Gibson agreed to no students from McLean being sent to Kilmer even though many McLean students were MUCH closer to Kilmer. Same sort of deal with South Lakes.

Steve Hunt knows what deals have been made. Unfortunately he has no say in those deals because we have no other conservatives on the school board.
Steve is the lone voice. All the democrats vote in lock step with each other and will continue to do so. And why not? It works for them, they always get what ever political agenda they want, boundaries redrawn to their liking, ever fuzzier math, more IB schools, larger classes, larger administration, more teacher training for more fad programs, more dumbing down, and more affirmative action across the board. Oh, and of course, tens of millions of dollars more per year to play with, without having more students to serve! It's a win-win-win for them!

Oh, I see, Reston can simply annex whatever parts of the county that they choose when they need more taxes to fund things in Reston? They can declare a neighborhood in Vienna to be a part of Reston? Cool. I guess.

Neen Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> our democrat school board believe

When you did this the first time I excused it as unintentional ignorance. Now, its clear you are intentionally discrespectful and rude. That conduct discredits anything else you might have to contribute to this thread. If your spawn are equally as rude and disrepectful, it is fervently to be hope that they are kept out of South Lakes because they don't deserve to be there. Or anywhere else, for that matter.

I will be asking the moderator to block any further postings you might attempt to make.

Good bye.

Stringfellow Rd to be widened! [Finally] but residents near it still bitch and moan
Posted by: KeepOnTruckin (IP Logged)
Date: October 19, 2007 09:33PM


So finally we're going to get Stringfellow widened (by 2011 or so) to 2 lanes each direction from Fairlakes/Wal-Mart to Rt 50. So much less congestion during rush hour.

And yet all the local residents complain about how it will encroach upon their yards. Do they not want this to get built? They need to pull their heads out of their asses.

The local bicyclists also want 10-ft wide sidewalks on each side and a bike lane in the street on each side. I don't feel they need that much, but a lot of them do.

But best of all we have our good friend Kathy Smith trying to get re-elected (dont vote for her) by saying the following: "In my opinion, the safety of our children is jeopardized by having to cross an extra four feet of road." Im not quite sure what to say about that.

Fulll story: [www.connectionnewspapers.com]

Neen Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Oh, I see, Reston can simply annex whatever parts
> of the county that they choose when they need more
> taxes to fund things in Reston? They can declare
> a neighborhood in Vienna to be a part of Reston?
> Cool. I guess.

Just so no one else reading this thread is misled by Neen's endless ignorance. Both acts which created Reston's boundaries were those of the governing body of the County decades ago.

Terp, no high school in this boundary study is projected to be over crowded in 4 years, except Madison, predicted to be over by 20 students. That's why they must redo their projections now, before the first community meeting. Watch and see how these schools, that have been predicted to have declining populations, for the last 7 years of demographic predictions, will suddenly be predicted to have increasing populations! They'd be funny, if they weren't so obvious.

Current population predictions:
http://www.fcps.edu/HerndonHS/ptsa/ptsa_act/0708BoundaryChanges/CapImpPlan2008-2012.pdf

According to these predictions, NO neighborhood should be forced to be moved to South Lakes. In fact, South Lakes could be closed, and the students absorbed by surrounding high schools over the next 4 years. Perhaps FCPS should have looked at their own enrollment predictions BEFORE they invested $50 million in renovating South Lakes and $40 million on the addition to Langley high school. But what the heck, it's only OUR money. And our neighborhoods that will be forced to change schools. Why would they care about such things when Stu Gibson wants more 'rich' kids at South Lakes?

Thomas, HUH? You're upset because I said that our school board is dominated by democrats? Is that a secret to anyone here? If so, why?

http://www.fairfaxdemocrats.org/election2007.htm

I don't believe that I have done anything against a rules when I say that the school board is controlled by democrats when there are 10 democrats on the board and 2 republicans.

Free speech can be such a drag when people state the truth that you disagree with. Good luck with getting it suppressed. Many forums do cave to such pressure from you folks on the left. So if you whine enough, it might work for you here too. Go for it.

So sorry Thomas More. I know the truth can be painful. :(

Neen Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thomas, HUH? You're upset because I said that our
> school board is dominated by democrats? Is that a
> secret to anyone here? If so, why?
>
> http://www.fairfaxdemocrats.org/election2007.htm
>
> I don't believe that I have done anything against
> a rules when I say that the school board is
> controlled by democrats when there are 10
> democrats on the board and 2 republicans.
>
> Free speech can be such a drag when people state
> the truth that you disagree with. Good luck with
> getting it suppressed. Many forums do cave to
> such pressure from you folks on the left. So if
> you whine enough, it might work for you here too.
> Go for it.
>
> So sorry Thomas More. I know the truth can be
> painful. :(

One last time. That's not what you previously posted. Had you expressed your previous thought in the fashion used above, no one could object. "The Democratically controlled board", "the Democrats on the Board" would all be acceptable. But "democrat board" is grammatically wrong and intended to offend by suggesting Democrats can't be democratic. This insult coarsens our dialogue and diverts from the important issue that is the heart of this thread.

Instead you used a grammatically incorrect form of the word, parroting the ridiculing jibe of a despicable drunk and demagogue, which I understand Mr. Gingirch to his shame, revived.

I happen to agree with most of the rest of your offending post. But stubborn insistence on using McCarthy's jibe is offensive to grammar and members of that party. No one on this thread has referred to the other major party as authoritarian or fascistic, though even many life long Republicans, including John Dean and Christy Todd Whitman, do so today.

Since this blog is not a government sponsored site, the First Amendment Right of Free Speech does not apply and common courtesy does.

Since I agree with you so often I would miss your posting but I can't abide pointless disrespect and rudeness.

The Democrats: Stu Gibson, Kathy Smith Must GO!!!

VOTE THESE PUSHY THUGS OUT OF OFFICE!!!

As a north Reston resident, Armstrong & HHS parent and first time blogger I would like to present a few facts that are SUPPOSED to be primary considerations in boundary change decisions:

SOCIO ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS- if Armstrong and Aldrin were to be redistricted to SL, you (or should I say STU) would be gutting an already diverse school at HHS. When I sked Stu how he planned on replacing those students, he replied possible Floris and McNair...now that seems like apples to apples doesn't it????

PROJECTED ENROLLMENTS- I believe that has been adequetely addressed and it will be interesting to see those "new" justified numbers

BUSING TIME AND COSTS- ever tried to drive from Rte 7 and Reston Pkwy to SL during rush hour? It's probably about the same amount of time it takes to get from FFX Cty Pkwy/Rte 7 to Langley....pretty sure that destination is not the same. For those with athletes,every game would be an away game

SCHOOL FEEDER ALLIGNMENTS- currently all Herndon Middle School students feed into HHS and every parent I know is against split feeders and breaking the community connections

CONTIGUOUS SCHOOL BOUNDARIES- HHS has no islands and virtually all residences are within 2.5 aerial miles..again, how can you justify?

DISTRIBUTION OF PROGRAMS & RESOURCES- Why should HHS, who has the most racially diverse population of any school in this study, have to lose a large white population which would potentially affect the current AP course offerings?

NO SCHOOL SHOULD BE IMPROVED TO THE DETRIMENT OF ANOTHER!! Plain and simple....except that Stu always adheres to his own agenda and it is time for a change. We want South Lakes to be a better school with new principal, facilities etc. Clearly it's taking from over crowded and giving to under enrolled ...maybe that's too simple. TIME FOR A CHANGE.......STU NEEDS TO GO...he hasn't done a thing for North Reston and we've all seen where his efforts have gone with South Reston and SL

Thomas,
I forgot to add, my 'spawn' (as you call them in your oh-so-polite manner) will never go to South Lakes. They go to TJ. My base school is not involved in any boundary issue. I just happen to care about other children and their education. What a concept.

Again, sorry that your feelings have been hurt by my mention of democrats. I won't mention them again. I realize that they are offensive to many people.

GO CAPY!!!!!

Re,
What has Stu ever done to help South Lakes? If he had helped South Lakes over the last 12 years, we wouldn't be having this discussion. There would be no need to force others to go to South Lakes if he had done his job and made South Lakes a school that drew students to it.

I agree that sending Aldrin and Armstrong to South Lakes is devastating to Herndon. Herndon will have the same problems that South Lakes now has. But Stu is determined to make it happen and it would appear that Janie Straus has agreed to let them go to South Lakes. North End people don't vote for her anyway, but one would think that she would care enough about her school, Herndon, to not let this happen. Obviously not. :(

It appears that Stu will achieve his goal of making ALL of Reston go to South Lakes, along with a few other neighborhoods thrown in.

In whose district are Floris and McNair? Kathy Smith? If she gets McNair out of one of her high schools, and sent to Herndon or South Lakes, that's a win for her as it would help the scores at Westfield. McNair will be sent to one of those schools, South Lakes or Herndon. Herndon is most likely since it's obvious that Janie is willing to throw Herndon under the bus as long as she can protect Langley.

Thomas More,
Are you kidding? You're going to report me for saying democrat party? Please, be my guest. You've made it very clear how little respect for free speech the democrat party has. OOOPS-----pardon me, I wouldn't want to offend you again, democratic party.

Yes, I am aware that I am not covered by the Bill of Rights on any forum. I never said I was. But I really do not think I will be banned for saying democrat party. You'll have to do better than that if you want my opinions banned, which is obviously your goal.

GET OVER YOURSELF. No one gives a rat's behind if democrats belong to the democrat party or the democratic party. Only whiny democrats would notice, or care. This is a thread about boundaries, not what YOU want your little party called. Whine about it elsewhere. Please. (I wouldn't want to be rude.)

Now.........back to your regularly scheduled program..........

The Democrats: Stu Gibson, Kathy Smith Must GO!!!



VOTE THESE PUSHY THUGS OUT OF OFFICE!!!

kathy Smith is now getting nervous this will push her out of office. Keep up the good fight get the democrats out

Re Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> SOCIO ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS- if Armstrong and
> Aldrin were to be redistricted to SL, you (or
> should I say STU) would be gutting an already
> diverse school at HHS. When I sked Stu how he
> planned on replacing those students, he replied
> possible Floris and McNair...now that seems like
> apples to apples doesn't it????

So is your family in Armstrong or Aldrin? If you're in Armstrong, are you in RA?

This issue is one of the reasons many of us want Forestville returned to Herndon which is where those kids went not that long ago. Would that effect your view?

> PROJECTED ENROLLMENTS- I believe that has been
> adequetely addressed and it will be interesting to
> see those "new" justified numbers
>
> BUSING TIME AND COSTS- ever tried to drive from
> Rte 7 and Reston Pkwy to SL during rush hour? It's
> probably about the same amount of time it takes to
> get from FFX Cty Pkwy/Rte 7 to Langley....pretty
> sure that destination is not the same. For those
> with athletes,every game would be an away game

I've made the Armstong to SL trip a hundred times or more during rush hour and while it takes longer than Armstrong to HHS, it's less than one-third as long as Forestville to Langley at the same hour.

Armstrong to SL is still alot shorter than McNair to Westfield; McNair to SL; or Fox Mill to Oakton.

> SCHOOL FEEDER ALLIGNMENTS- currently all Herndon
> Middle School students feed into HHS and every
> parent I know is against split feeders and
> breaking the community connections
>
This issue hasn't been addressed.

However, moving Aldrin and Armstrong to SL does unify a currently divided community, Reston, which has its energy unnecessarily diffused between two high schools to the detriment of all Reston's kids. What I hear from many parents of North Point/Herndon kids is that they feel treated as aliens at Herndon because they didn't participate in Herndon Optimist Youth activities like the other kids at HHS but played for Reston Little League or Reston Youth Basketball or took swimming lessons at RCC instead of the Herndon community center or went to RCC or RA camps. They are frequently the first cut when they try out at Herndon (unless they are an undeniable blue chipper). Most parents of kids I've coached in RLL or RYB from North Point are disappointed and sad when I tell them their kids won't be coming to South Lakes with their other teammates.

> CONTIGUOUS SCHOOL BOUNDARIES- HHS has no islands
> and virtually all residences are within 2.5 aerial
> miles..again, how can you justify?

Forestville and McNair are both contigous to HHS now.

Neither Floris nor McNair are contiguous to SL.

> DISTRIBUTION OF PROGRAMS & RESOURCES- Why should
> HHS, who has the most racially diverse population
> of any school in this study, have to lose a large
> white population which would potentially affect
> the current AP course offerings?

SL suffers from exactly this problem now. Courses can't be offered because
there aren't enough students to met the required budget ratios to hire the necessary teachers.

> NO SCHOOL SHOULD BE IMPROVED TO THE DETRIMENT OF
> ANOTHER!! Plain and simple....except that Stu
> always adheres to his own agenda and it is time
> for a change. We want South Lakes to be a better
> school with new principal, facilities etc. Clearly
> it's taking from over crowded and giving to under
> enrolled ...maybe that's too simple. TIME FOR A
> CHANGE.......STU NEEDS TO GO...he hasn't done a
> thing for North Reston and we've all seen where
> his efforts have gone with South Reston and SL

I have no use for Stu. He let SL suffer under Railly's Reign of Terror long after is was clear she was a disaster.

Stu claims that School Board regs preclude adding Forestville to the study.

Arakelian has committed to adding Langley to the study.

Neen Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thomas,
> I forgot to add, my 'spawn' (as you call them in
> your oh-so-polite manner) will never go to South
> Lakes. They go to TJ. My base school is not
> involved in any boundary issue.

So you're using the limited amount of time left in your life to participate in a blog that has nothing to do with your family or neighborhood by insulting and denigrating people who frequently agree with you.

truth seeker Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The Democrats: Stu Gibson, Kathy Smith Must GO!!!...


I'm an older Democrat and extremely disgusted - odd boundaries dev under Lou Zone and Dranesville's Stu Mendelsohn. Scary thought that Stu M is on the Tysons Task Force. Maybe his school board tenure was influenced by his place of residence - along Route 7 near Tysons [an area that could go to Marshall but is at Langley]. StuM/LZone built the Route 7 Corridor to Langley. StuG/Strauss expanded and perpetuated it.

The point is when politics get down to a very local level I don't see Dems or Repubs but rather core integrity issues...some Repubs we've had are more likely to not vote as sheep and are willing to engage in debate on instruction, etc. Personally, I think Tisdadt is doing a good job - successfully routed out why so few schools get work done under boards renovation plans. Transporation is hamstrung by political boundaries and programs ...

Many on the board last boundary cycle should be canned after they CANCELLED THE TO LAKE BRADDOCK FROM SOUTH COUNTY BOUNDARY PROCESS.

Unfortunately, that portion never even made it to the hearings...the public gets so focussed issues [ie where their house goes to school] that we often lose sight of the bigger picture in a COUNTY WIDE SCHOOL DIVISION.

Based on Tisdadt's memo, the unneeded langley addition, the overbuilding on Glasgow, the cancellation of the South County boundary process, politicians committing to building an unneeded school [Va law separates board of supervisors from schools on facilities yet Gerry Connelly is lobbying for South County MS] etc ...add up all the modulars, additions, etc and we had an amount approaching a school. Check enrollments and get really creative like FCPS was in the eighties - flip buildings grade levels etc.

SECONDARY SCHOOL AT BARON CAMERON?

VOTE NO ON THE BOND REFERENDUM?

I agree with taxpayer--democrat vs republican has very little to do with local politics. I see no relationship of political party to who I would vote for.

And Neen, Thomas is right about your rudeness. It undermines your credibility. If you really want to have a voice here, clean up your act. If you respond to this with more rudeness hurled at me, as I predict, you will just prove my point.

My difficulty with the political parties are the positions they hold and the subsequent adherence to these positions by local politicians. That is to say, if I favor the current laws on handguns and a woman's right to fetus termination, I really have no choice with the Commonwealth senate candidates. Yes, where are my priorities? Very difficult with competing priorities. I'm still waiting for the League of Women Voters or the local Connections to provide the candidates and the issues they support.

Msg to Bob James....
a real man would not be waiting on the League of Women Voters to tell him what to do

Neen Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> According to the Superintendent, it is likely to
> be a domino. Chantilly kids sent to Westfield,
> Westfield students to Oakton, and Oakton students
> sent to South Lakes along with students from the
> Madison Island and the North End of Reston.
> Obviously our school board, Smith, Gibson,and
> Straus, agreed to this or it wouldn't be the plan.



I have heard that the domino is going the other way--Chantilly to Oakton, Oakton to SL. Westfield to who knows, SL or Herndon.

South Lakes Pyramid parent Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Cricket,
> What is Steve Hunt's position on Langley?


I didn't ask about Langley. My question had to deal with why wasn't Centreville included in the study since Westfield is supposedly soooooo over crowded. Nobody has a good answer for that except that Centreville is too crowded. Ok, well Chantilly is overcrowded too, but they are included in the study..So I asked about that, and that is when I got the domino explanation. Chantilly kids get sent to Oakton, since some of Oakton is going to SL. If we are dominoing---why can't we domino some kids from Westfield back into Centreville and send some Centreville to Fairfax?

Also, McNair and Floris are in Hunter Mill District...So with Stu were screwed as McNair has been from the get go.

"I'm an older Democrat and extremely disgusted - odd boundaries dev under Lou Zone and Dranesville's Stu Mendelsohn. Scary thought that Stu M is on the Tysons Task Force. Maybe his school board tenure was influenced by his place of residence - along Route 7 near Tysons [an area that could go to Marshall but is at Langley]. StuM/LZone built the Route 7 Corridor to Langley. StuG/Strauss expanded and perpetuated it."

In fact, that corridor was under the Marshall pyramid. Let's see if politics had anything to do with changing to Langley/McLean. Marshall is within 4 mile from there. Langley is a good 10 miles down treacherous and congested Georgetown Pike. I'm interest to see where the attendance area for Maymont, the multi million $ home development off Beulah Rd that is being built.

word, very weak and disingenuous repartee:

Msg to Bob James....
a real man would not be waiting on the League of Women Voters to tell him what to do

My sincere rejoiner:

lol...attacking ones manhood, discrediting the League of Women Voters, and demonstrating one of Fairfax County's critical thinking failures doesn't reflect too well on you, word

Sound decision making is based upon obtaining and understanding facts (issues). The League of Women Voters, in some jurisdictions, provides that information.

Bob James Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
League of Women Voters

this is off topic slightly but I'm interested in your perspective

My Mom, God rest her, was a charter member of the League in my home town up north and when they
opened up to men I join because when my Mom had hosted unit coffees at our home I had always found the discussion equal to or better than my college semianrs in poli sci.

I joined the League when I first moved here and to my shock found the local practice of development closed minded dictatorial authoritarian and overly cnetralize. On hearing my impressions, my Mom said the experience was definitely not the League but probably a local practice that reflected the local political culture.

What's been your experience, have you experienced League practices elsewhere. If this gets to elaborate we can take this to a new forum.

Okay, I'm going to give you lady's and gentlemen some background information about myself before writing this post. I am currently a 10th grade student at south lakes high school. And personally i LOVE the school. Of course south lakes gets a terrible completely stereotypically bad rep. You know why? because of the minority's. Now im not saying that these are acceptable or true because there not, in fact there are extremely incorrect. But of you are sooooo worried about them...let me let you in on a little secret. If your worried about your child being around "gangs" or any other bad things in south lakes then take the ib program... Its challenging, looks good, and separates you from all that don't have some form of intelligence. Also get involved in sports the teams starting to get better even though we have such a small amount of people (great coaches). In fact the football teams strive to keep you from bad things and influence you to do good!

Andrew,

You sound like a real good kid who's got his act together. And I'm sure there are plenty more like you at South Lakes.

I think the real problem is that everyone at the neighboring schools like where they are going to school too. Imagine if you were selected to go to another school where you didn't know anyone. You probably wouldn't like that given that most of your friends got to stay at South Lakes, but not you. Gone would be all of the friends, teachers, coaches, etc.

The kids at Oakton, Chantilly and Westfield are all very close because they play in the same sports leagues. No one really knows the kids from Reston because they have their own leagues. It's maybe the fear of the unknown.

I hope you continue to do well in school.

Andrew Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Okay, I'm going to give you lady's and gentlemen
> some background information about myself before
> writing this post. I am currently a 10th grade
> student at south lakes high school. And
> personally i LOVE the school. Of course south
> lakes gets a terrible completely stereotypically
> bad rep. You know why? because of the minority's.
> Now im not saying that these are acceptable
> or true because there not, in fact there are
> extremely incorrect. But of you are sooooo worried
> about them...let me let you in on a little secret.
> If your worried about your child being around
> "gangs" or any other bad things in south lakes
> then take the ib program... Its challenging, looks
> good, and separates you from all that don't have
> some form of intelligence. Also get involved in
> sports the teams starting to get better even
> though we have such a small amount of people
> (great coaches). In fact the football teams strive
> to keep you from bad things and influence you to
> do good!

Your right. The greatest strength of South Lakes is its diverse and mutually supportive student body. Clicks are few and not demeaning to others. The student body is comfortable in each others company and truly happy for each other's success on the field (which happens too rarely), in the classroom and in the college acceptance paper chase.

I'm very glad your happy at SL and with the football team.

The swim team coach is outstanding. The band was nationally rank last year.
The new women's basketball coach is impressive. The new vollleyball coach is personable. The new basketball coach is also a good man and appears ready to compete relying on boys who went to Reston elementary schools and less on transfers from outside the attendance area.

The former cheering coach was great. Her successors are very young. One of them has college experience in gymnastics. Hopefully they will mature as they gain experience.

I cannot speak to the soccer, field hockey, lacrosse, track or other coaches. Perhaps others can speak to those sports.

But please get real about the football coach. Five straight losing season. The teams have not gotten any better over those five years. We have former pro and college players watching in the stands every week and they cannot believe how poorly the team has been coached. The players don't know how to do the basics: blocking and tackling. Ellenbarfer never played above the D-II level. I could go on at length as some of the non-sense he's pulled and he needs to go now.

The baseball coach never graduated college, never played minor league ball and refused an offer from former DSA Bob Grauman to have FCPS pay for him to finish his Bachelors degree. Despite repeated complaints from parents, he and his players continued to use snuff on school property for many years. Not only is snuff a proven cancer causing substance, using it on school property is a misdemeanor. He only stopped after he was called on the carpet by the principal.

He makes no attempt to help his players move on to play in college. Despite his neglect, three of his players are playing college ball, exclusively based on their own efforts and those of their parents.

The jv baseball coach was so abusive that the fastest player in the class of '06 quit the team after sophomore year. The smartest player on that team also quit after sophmore year. This student received multiple academic honors at graduation and is at William & Mary now. His family was so disgusted with the non-responsive reaction of the DSA and the principal to their complaints about this punk coach that they moved out of Reston taking one of the best baseball players in the class of 2010 with them. Multiple baseball players have since used the AP excuse to get pupil place out of South Lakes. This behavior came as no surprise to many in the Reston baseball community. This person is a 2000 SL grad. but missed most of his senior season because early in the scheduke he broke his hand punching the masonry dugout wall. Like the varsity coach, he also has yet to complete college and never played minor league ball. The jv coach was still in place in spring 2007.

The SRO at Hughes had been the assitant jv coach but when he tried to get changes made he was blown off. He didn't come back.

The baseball announcer, father of the jv coach, shouted out criticism of a pitcher being brought in to relieve the starter at a play-off game at Langley. The player's mother, sister, girlfriend and the girlfriend's sister were sitting directly in front of this man. Even after this was pointed out to him, he continued and offered not apology. He was so loud that SL parents sitting on the other side of the Langley press box heard him and apolgized to the parents of the player the next day. Repeated attempts to talk to the DSA about this incident were dismissed.

And if you really want to curl your hair ask about the goings on when the current DSA she was coaching the girls basketball team.

Mr. Butler, the principal, has promised to improve the coaching staff at South Lakes but this is his third year and the changes have been too few and have taken too long.

More later.

capys Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Andrew,
>
> You sound like a real good kid who's got his act
> together. And I'm sure there are plenty more like
> you at South Lakes.
>
> I think the real problem is that everyone at the
> neighboring schools like where they are going to
> school too. Imagine if you were selected to go to
> another school where you didn't know anyone. You
> probably wouldn't like that given that most of
> your friends got to stay at South Lakes, but not
> you. Gone would be all of the friends, teachers,
> coaches, etc.
>
> The kids at Oakton, Chantilly and Westfield are
> all very close because they play in the same
> sports leagues. No one really knows the kids from
> Reston because they have their own leagues. It's
> maybe the fear of the unknown.
>
> I hope you continue to do well in school.

Thank you for your gracious words to an SL student.

two hopefully mildly stated points of disagreement.

First, Gibson has given every indication that the reassignments will be implemented with rising freshman in the fall of '08. I intend to hold him to that if he gets re-elected.

Second, as I described in an earlier post, kids from Armstong, Aldrin, Fox Mill and Crossfield have all interacted with kids going to SL throughout their grammar school years in Reston Little League, Reston Youth Basketball, swimming lessons and other youth activites at RCC and the camps and other youth activities offered by Reston Association. One of the misfortunes of the current alignment is that friendships made during these youth activities cannot be continued during the high school day.

I understand this experience may not exist between other schools in the study area but I would think some kids from Navy who wind up at Oakton participate in CYA activities during their grammar school days. Others can speak to these parts of the study area better than me.

Thank you for your kindess

More later.

Well as a Player i think very highly of my coaches, We recently have had new additions too our coaching staff of great former players. Coach Edwards a D-I scholarship player, who is very knowledgeable of the game. Coach Wooten added this year, a D-I player at Howard University. Ellenberger in my opinion is a great coach that unfortunately is faced with small numbers of committed players. We have had players quit. and also we face injury's to crucial players and don't have great back ups because of our small numbers. This will change as soon as we get more players when the boundaries are extended. Also the William and Marry player for the baseball team.. i believe you are talking about Spencer very cool guy...very intelligent also.

capys Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Andrew,
>
> You sound like a real good kid who's got his act
> together. And I'm sure there are plenty more like
> you at South Lakes.
>
> I think the real problem is that everyone at the
> neighboring schools like where they are going to
> school too. Imagine if you were selected to go to
> another school where you didn't know anyone. You
> probably wouldn't like that given that most of
> your friends got to stay at South Lakes, but not
> you. Gone would be all of the friends, teachers,
> coaches, etc.
>
> The kids at Oakton, Chantilly and Westfield are
> all very close because they play in the same
> sports leagues. No one really knows the kids from
> Reston because they have their own leagues. It's
> maybe the fear of the unknown.
>
> I hope you continue to do well in school.

My understanding was we would take upcoming freshman from schools and then put them in our schools, so that they wouldn't have met people at the high school and come to the school with others that are in the same situation.

Andrew Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Well as a Player i think very highly of my
> coaches, We recently have had new additions too
> our coaching staff of great former players. Coach
> Edwards a D-I scholarship player, who is very
> knowledgeable of the game. Coach Wooten added this
> year, a D-I player at Howard University.
> Ellenberger in my opinion is a great coach that
> unfortunately is faced with small numbers of
> committed players. We have had players quit. and
> also we face injury's to crucial players and don't
> have great back ups because of our small numbers.
> This will change as soon as we get more players
> when the boundaries are extended. Also the William
> and Marry player for the baseball team.. i believe
> you are talking about Spencer very cool guy...very
> intelligent also.

If the plan is adopted to add students to South Lakes one class at a time over four years, you'll be in college before the school is at full enrollment. Hopefully, you're not suggesting that Reston's kids have to wait until 2013 or later to field a winning team, never mind participate in the recently expanded playoffs.

I hope you noticed I had nothing critical to say about Coach Edwards who I agree is a good man. I'd be happy if he succeeded Ellenberger. It may not be know by your teammates but both of Ellenberger's predessecor's took their teams to the playoffs within their first three years when enrollment was only slightly higher than it is now and only four teams from D-5 went to the playoffs.

Coach Randolph had the greater challenge because he did it while SL played in the Concorde District. I'll never understand why Railly fired him as head coach.
Maybe someone else could enlighten me on these circumstances.

Spence is a great kid who never was given a chance in either Little League or on the high school team. You're lucky to know him and his wonderful family.

Thomas More you present some fascinating insider information and I thank you for this candor and lucidity. Separating the "significant few from the confusing many" is indeed a critical skill in this thread.

I'm disheartened to learn that the local League of Women Voters has a hidden agenda and apparently is dominated by politicos. They must be colleagues of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's--infamous for his rush to judgment and the attack on Rush Limbaugh http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/today.guest.html. And now the majority leader is trying to put a positive spin on his faux pas.

Ooops, sorry folks...I moved off-topic. I shall repair.

I asked the "boundary study" email ID (boundaries@fcps.edu) a while ago about the "grandfathering" of existing students, and received a nice reply from Dee Sharrocks, Administrative Assistant, Facilities Planning Services, saying in part:

"we never pull children out of a school they are attending so your [child} will be fine if your address is even considered."

Now, I realize that's no guarantee, but it did make me feel somewhat more confident that my [child] will not be moved as a Junior or Senior.

Thomas More said "your right". Your right to do what? Or did you mean you're right, meaning YOU ARE right?

Just wondering. Did you graduate from South Lakes?

Stu Gibson told Crossfield PTA parents, and Herndon parents, that there no one would be grandfathered other than rising seniors. If your child is a freshman or sophomore at Herndon or Oakton, next year he goes to South Lakes.

Can someone explain this? Stu has said that he will not permit any kind of academy at South Lakes because they drain off the top kids from other schools. Yet, he has no problem draining off the top kids from Herndon, or Oakton, or Westfield,by forcing them to go to South Lakes. What's the difference between top kids choosing to go to South Lakes and Stu Gibson forcing them to go there? Isn't the result the same? And isn't that the result that school board wants, more top kids in South Lakes? Why is it better for Stu Gibson to decide which top kids go to South Lakes, rather than the top kids choosing to go there because of a good magnet program?

Bob James Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thomas More you present some fascinating insider
> information and I thank you for this candor and
> lucidity. Separating the "significant few from
> the confusing many" is indeed a critical skill in
> this thread.

You are too kind. Thank you.
>
> I'm disheartened to learn that the local League of
> Women Voters has a hidden agenda and apparently is
> dominated by politicos.

I wasn't suggesting that at all but rather that the Fairfax LWV deviated from my prior experience of League procedure. In my prior experience, League positions were only developed after unit meetings at the neighborhood level, consensus was developed at the precinct level and then at the municipal level, before anyone could address the governing body speaking on behalf of the League. In FFX it appeared that the League position was promulgated by the County-wide level board of directors first and position papers distributed to the local units with the instruction that members be informed of the League position with the expectation that individual members would lobby members of the governing body to adopt the League position,

This top down rather than bottom up development and dissemination of League issue positions struck me as contrary to very core principals of the League.

> They must be colleagues
> of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's--infamous
> for his rush to judgment and the attack on Rush
> Limbaugh . And now the majority leader is trying
> to put a positive spin on his faux pas.

Are you referring to the rebuke directed at that drug addicted lying demogogue for calling a Iraq war veteran, who had publicly criticized the President's conduct of that war, a "poor soldier". That pariah long ago earn permanent ostracism from the public square from every respectable citizen. To paraphrase my neighbor from long ago, "At long last sir, have you no shame? Have you no sense of decency?"

What is it about authoritarian wing nuts that they so frequently find it necessary to engage in substance abuse during their campaign's of hate. Is it self-loathing for the depths of depravity to which they have to descend to continue to feed raw meat to their idolatrous camp followers.

Oh my. Now we are really far afield.

> I shall repair.

I look forward to it.

S/N ratio improvement Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I asked the "boundary study" email ID
> (boundaries@fcps.edu) a while ago about the
> "grandfathering" of existing students, and
> received a nice reply from Dee Sharrocks,
> Administrative Assistant, Facilities Planning
> Services, saying in part:
>
> "we never pull children out of a school they are
> attending so your will not be moved as a Junior
> or Senior.

In 24 years I've never heard of the FFX School Board forcing upper class members to change schools in a boundary realignment. So I would not spend much time worrying about that.

Neen Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Stu Gibson told Crossfield PTA parents, and
> Herndon parents, that there no one would be
> grandfathered other than rising seniors. If your
> child is a freshman or sophomore at Herndon or
> Oakton, next year he goes to South Lakes.

For any one who might read this posting and become confused, please be advised that Gibson has said multiple times that while the grandfathering will not be adopted until after the attendance area boundaries are adjusted. He has followed that statement for his preference that rising sophomores, juniors and seniors be allowed to stay at their existing school

Correcting all of these immflamatory and inaccurate comments is going to be a full time job. But someone's just got to do it.

Neen Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Did you graduate from South Lakes?

In case this issue is a matter of curiosity for other readers of this blog, South Lakes did not exist when I graduated from high school.

Sorry Tom, but you need to ask the parents at Crossfield. Stu Gibson said that South Lakes would be different and most likely ALL kids would go next fall, except for SENIORS. He repeated the statement at a Herndon PTA meeting and repeated it to South Lakes PTA officers this past week. I know that is NOT how FCPS has done it in the past, but Stu wasn't in charge then, as he is now. South Lakes is STU's school, he gets to do what he wants. I've seen NO evidence that he cares what the students or their parents want. Have you?

Thus spake Thomas More

Are you referring to the rebuke directed at that drug addicted lying demogogue for calling a Iraq war veteran, who had publicly criticized the President's conduct of that war, a "poor soldier". That pariah long ago earn permanent ostracism from the public square from every respectable citizen. To paraphrase my neighbor from long ago, "At long last sir, have you no shame? Have you no sense of decency?"

What is it about authoritarian wing nuts that they so frequently find it necessary to engage in substance abuse during their campaign's of hate. Is it self-loathing for the depths of depravity to which they have to descend to continue to feed raw meat to their idolatrous camp followers.


...and a keen sense of humor, Thomas More




You didn't tell us that you were Honorable Harry's staffer (I kid you).

Now I repair.
Attachments:

Hi Kathy Smith...There is a grass roots campaign to distribute this flyer to over 10,000 families. You're not going to be voting on Redistricting.

Stu... We have one for you too. I'll post it later.
Attachments:

Neen and Word == two four letter words.

Word tries to attack Bob James' manhood and the League or Women Voters, which is a "Nonpartisan political membership organization [that] encourages informed, active participation of citizens in government [and] works to increase understanding of major issues".

I notice Word frequently folds after one or two sentences, thus exhausting his thought for the moment. He apparently sees informed, active participation and increased understanding as the feared enemy.

Neen goes after Thomas More, a model man of letters, and loses woefully in the effort.

More from Thomas, please.

Thomas More said:

One of the greatest problems of our time is that many are schooled but few are educated.

Another great quote:

...Thomas More, a model man of letters,... --See Hawks

And Thank You! SullyDistrictVoter for your posting. My manhood is restored! I am repaired.


Thomas More
Attachments:

Neen Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Stu Gibson said that South Lakes
> would be different and most likely ALL kids would
> go next fall, except for SENIORS. He repeated the
> statement . . . .
> to South Lakes PTA officers this past week.

So that other readers of this blog can evaluate the credibility of this poster and as someone who was actually was present at the SL PTA mtg, his craveness did not say this. Several of my earlier posts reported Gobson's statements at the meeting.

> I've seen NO evidence that he cares what
> the students or their parents want. Have you?

Anyone who has followed this thread who know that I have a very low opinion of that person

See Hawks Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Neen and Word == two four letter words.
>
> Word tries to attack Bob James' manhood and the
> League or Women Voters, which is a "Nonpartisan
> political membership organization encourages
> informed, active participation of citizens in
> government works to increase understanding of
> major issues".
>
> I notice Word frequently folds after one or two
> sentences, thus exhausting his thought for the
> moment. He apparently sees informed, active
> participation and increased understanding as the
> feared enemy.
>
> Neen goes after Thomas More, a model man of
> letters, and loses woefully in the effort.
>
> More from Thomas, please.

Dear fellow Sea Hawk, your kid words are a salve to my scars, but I beg you, please try to keep our postings to facts and opinions relating to the redistricting. Ad hominem attacks are, at the end of the day, a diversion from the exploratioin of solutions to this problem.

Be assured More later.

Thomas More Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Neen Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Stu Gibson told Crossfield PTA parents, and
> > Herndon parents, that there no one would be
> > grandfathered other than rising seniors. If
> your
> > child is a freshman or sophomore at Herndon or
> > Oakton, next year he goes to South Lakes.
>
> For any one who might read this posting and become
> confused, please be advised that Gibson has said
> multiple times that while the grandfathering will
> not be adopted until after the attendance area
> boundaries are adjusted. He has followed that
> statement for his preference that rising
> sophomores, juniors and seniors be allowed to stay
> at their existing school
>
> Correcting all of these immflamatory and
> inaccurate comments is going to be a full time
> job. But someone's just got to do it.



Well Stu is not the only one on the school board and so there are others on the school board including Steve Hunt who say "yes, this will affect risign soph, jr and possilby sr. classes."

S/N ratio improvement Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I asked the "boundary study" email ID
> (boundaries@fcps.edu) a while ago about the
> "grandfathering" of existing students, and
> received a nice reply from Dee Sharrocks,
> Administrative Assistant, Facilities Planning
> Services, saying in part:
>
> "we never pull children out of a school they are
> attending so your will not be moved as a Junior
> or Senior.



Bring your email from Facilities (In multiple copies) to the town hall meetings

Cricket Wrote:

> Steve Hunt who say "yes, this will
> affect risign soph, jr and possilby sr. classes."

So do am I to understand that Steve Hunt wants to transfer the Class of '09, '10 and '11 to a different school in the fall of '08?

Incredulously More Later

Steve Hunt wants NO redistricting! He wants to improve South Lakes, not simply force students to go there.

I'll ask again, what's the difference between having a good magnet at South Lakes that draws top kids from other schools, and Stu Gibson simply forcing top kids from other schools to go to South Lakes? Does Stu's opposition to a magnet make sense when is argument is that it draws top kids from other schools and thus not fair to the other principals? How does the principal at Herndon feel about Stu taking his top students and making them go to South Lakes?

Neen,
Not sure what your question is--drawing students based on proximity is not the same as drawing the top 1-5% of the students from all surrounding communties, Magnets add more administrative costs and are not conducive to making a community. So, I'm not sure a magnet would be "improving" South Lakes.

Also, I got the impression at the SL PTA neeting that only ninth graders would go in the first year. According to Maria Allen, since SL is not a new school, it doesn't need to start with more than ninth graders, so there will be grandfathering. I thought Stu concurred with this.

Thomas, is my recollection correct?



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/21/2007 05:09PM by South Lakes Pyramid parent.

I think with the current level of angst in the affected areas a "conducive community environment" will be a long time coming, not just at South Lakes but at all of the schools involved.

Thomas More Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Cricket Wrote:
>
> > Steve Hunt who say "yes, this will
> > affect risign soph, jr and possilby sr.
> classes."
>
> So do am I to understand that Steve Hunt wants to
> transfer the Class of '09, '10 and '11 to a
> different school in the fall of '08?
>
> Incredulously More Later



I am not saying this is what he wants. I am saying that he has told people this could happen. But this has been said by a number of people, not just Steve. This should not be so hard to believe, given everything else that is being considered. The principal at Westfield is not making any guarantees that his freshman class of '11 will remain intact. (I guess its wise for a principal to make no guarantees at this point).

The principal at Herndon is leaving.

Neen Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Steve Hunt wants NO redistricting!

So he's intentionally spreading around misinformation which is contary to both School Board regulation and all precedent which conveniently induces panic in students for whom the redistrictng will have no impact. There's a responsible public official. But that's an oxymoron isn't it. We all know what an oxymoron is right: honest lawyer, jumbo shrimp, military intelligence, compassionate conservative.

> He wants to
> improve South Lakes

Could his spokesperson give us the details of how Mr. Hunt proposes to do that since I've never seen Mr. Hunt within two zip codes of South Lakes. Reminds us of Sen./Dr. Bill Fritz diagnosing Teri Schiavo by video tape. Then the autopsy proves the attending physician was right all along - Teri had been brain dead for a decade. Oops there goes the Fritz presidential and the beginning of the end for the Republican control of both houses. Long distance diagnosis is oh so dangerous.

> I'll ask again, what's the difference between
> having a good magnet at South Lakes that draws top
> kids from other schools,

Since Neen has two kids at TJ, it's no surprise she advocates that solution. Not everyone thinks magnet schools in geographically large, wealthy suburbs are a good idea. Many taxpayers resent TJ's existence as a subsidy of already very well off kids whose parent's ought to be paying for private school if they want that kind of specialized instruction.

TJ already suffers from reduced extra-curricular participation because of the distance kids have to travel after their games/activities end at 10:30 p.m., then, after away games, they have to bus back to TJ before being release to their parents for their ride home and then the kids have to get up at 5:30 to get from Great Falls or Clifton back to school the next morning. When do they get dinner, midnight? Result disproportionately lower participation, less school spirit, more kids feeling isolated at TJ. Freshman jv and varisty home game crowds consisting of only those moms and dads who work near by. Visiting crowds out-numbering the TJ crowd at most of home games. Fabulous for school and community spirit.

Furthermore, I know scores of kids who got accepted to TJ from Reston but chose to stay or return to their base school because they didn't like the long commute; placed a higher value of preserving the friendships they developed in grade and middle school; felt isolated and unsupported or found the ultra-competitve atmosphere depressing.

BTW what is the latest cumulative count on suicides, attempted suicides and psycotic breaks among TJ students since it opened?

SL already has an Army JROTC magnet program (in liberal Reston, who'da thunk that!) It also has a magnet MR program that draws almost 150 kids from other schools and results in reduced participation rates in extra-curicular activities participation and lower test scores.


Please describe with some specificity a magnet program that gets 500-700 kids to South Lakes?

> How does the principal at Herndon
> feel about Stu taking his top students and making
> them go to South Lakes?

These kids don't live in Herndon. They live in Reston. Why should Herndon be allowed to continue to strip Reston's "top kids" to prop up Herndon tests scores? Why shouldn't Reston's top kids go to Reston's high school?

Cricket Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> The principal at Herndon is leaving.

Again! Won't that make it three principals in four years! What's up with that?

South Lakes Pyramid parent Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thomas, is my recollection correct?

I concur and so did Gibson. If you can rely on anything he says.

Good points, Thomas,
I'm sure Neen, and many others who are so willing to leave SL high and dry, hate it when you turn their arguments around to the other side.

I hope this makes everyone see that all of our high schools deserve to be successful and one should not be sacrificed for another. That doesn;t mean that all of us get exactly what we want, because that is clearly impossible, but we should realize that we are all a part of a larger community and compromises have to be made.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/21/2007 06:11PM by South Lakes Pyramid parent.

Cricket Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> South Lakes Pyramid parent Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Cricket,
> > What is Steve Hunt's position on Langley?
>
>
> I didn't ask about Langley. My question had to
> deal with why wasn't Centreville included in the
> study since Westfield is supposedly soooooo over
> crowded. Nobody has a good answer for that except
> that Centreville is too crowded. Ok, well
> Chantilly is overcrowded too, but they are
> included in the study..So I asked about that, and
> that is when I got the domino explanation.
> Chantilly kids get sent to Oakton, since some of
> Oakton is going to SL. If we are dominoing---why
> can't we domino some kids from Westfield back into
> Centreville and send some Centreville to Fairfax?
>
>
> Also, McNair and Floris are in Hunter Mill
> District...So with Stu were screwed as McNair has
> been from the get go.




Centreville's overcrowding problems were solved by building a modular building. The school also has several trailer classrooms, but nowhere near as many as Westfield. I cant recall if Westfield has a modular building, but if they did The only place for it would be around back by the soccer field. Westfield needs its boundarys adjsuted. Send some of its kids to herndon or chantilly. Kids from herndon or chantilly can go to South Lakes, Oakton, or Fairfax.

Basically all the HS boundarys need to shift east. A lot of the schools in the eastern part of the county are undercrowded. Give them all teh extra kids from the West.

Westfield just finished an edition to the school. The capacity is 3100 (without trailers). As of this Sept 07 they have 3171 students. (It's on the website.) Projections are for the Westfield population to decrease over the next 4 years. (It's on the boundary study doc.)

There seems to be some remorse from the Board on building the edition to Wesfield. Now they like having smaller schools. (The board says the optimum school size is 2000). The taxpayers are left holding the bag.

Honestly I think we were better off without having elected school board officals. The quality of these folks is lacking and it shows.

Thomas More - my daughter goes to TJ and benefits from the fact that she likely could not be as competitive as she is at the varsity level at another school due to TJ's lesser competitiveness in her sport. I think on balance she is very happy with the result. And I don't think the place lacks school spirit by any means - there is an intense TJ grapevine that it is difficult to intuit on the outside. So just as with SLHS - a place with both positive and negative elements - a balanced look is in order.

Then again, she is a student who truly belongs at TJ. We certainly never pushed to take the TJ test, study for it, or do anything of the sort - and she is doing exceedingly well. I have another daughter with SAT scores well over the TJ mean (yes, that high) who attends a nationally ranked university on an academic scholarship - she could have done well at TJ, but felt more comfortable at Oakton. She would freely admit Oakton was not that much work - but she is stepping up at university, so Oakton at least passably prepared her. So the in the end the problem is with parents who want to live vicariously through their kids and don't look in a focused way at where their child will be most happy.

I must say some of the negative statements you make about TJ have kernels of truth. This is of course why it was so wrongheaded to establish an affirmative action program at TJ - driven by white guilt, of course - but the place, as I say, is only for those that truly belong, both from an academic, intellectual and personality perspective - the kids that like it there really embrace competition - it is the way they are. Given the pressure of the place, it is hardly a environ for yet another social engineering experiment. But make no mistake about it - TJ is an asset to the county - and quite bluntly, given the economic and intellectual contributions that the truly gifted make in our society, the last thing we want to do is chase them to private schools - as Darwinian as it sounds, spending money on the truly gifted is truly a force multiplier in terms of human capital.

In any event, I do have some degree of apprehension about SLHS. Right now, they have 30 IB graduates - with presumably a bandwidth of teacher supply consistent with that number. Oakton had about 130 AP graduates in my daughter's final year. Query whether South Lakes will have the bandwidth to handle the influx of students in terms of a supply of qualified and experienced AP teachers. This is not an idle question - the redistricting will be a reality in my view - the gravitational pull of racial balancing is by and far and away the strongest force in American education right now - and having a supply of competent AP teachers, particularly given the rancor that will surround the redistricting, is absolutely essential.

quantum Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
This is the level of dialogue I have been yearning for on this blog. If only all of us could aspire to this level of exchange with every post.

> Thomas More - my daughter goes to TJ and benefits
> from the fact that she likely could not be as
> competitive as she is at the varsity level at
> another school due to TJ's lesser competitiveness
> in her sport. I think on balance she is very
> happy with the result.

I am very happy for her and for you. In a jurisdiction of 1 million people with a school district of 165,000 is there 1% of students who benefit for TJ's intensive instruction. Maybe. I didn't call for shutting TJ down.

> And I don't think the
> place lacks school spirit by any means - there is
> an intense TJ grapevine that it is difficult to
> intuit on the outside.

Humans are physical social beings. Physical presence is important. I can't tell you how often SL kids come back to support their schoolmates in their afterschool activities. It just doesn't happen at TJ. SL has played TJ for most of the last ten years. I actually felt bad for the TJ teams for their lack of support for their fellows. I understood how hard it was for the athletes' schoolmates to get back for the game. Too much travel - too much home work.

> So just as with SLHS - a
> place with both positive and negative elements - a
> balanced look is in order.

Agreed. My point is that a magnet program is not a panacia for the under-enrollment problem at SL.

> Then again, she is a student who truly belongs at
> TJ. We certainly never pushed to take the TJ
> test, study for it, or do anything of the sort -
> and she is doing exceedingly well. I have another
> daughter with SAT scores well over the TJ mean
> (yes, that high) who attends a nationally ranked
> university on an academic scholarship - she could
> have done well at TJ, but felt more comfortable at
> Oakton. She would freely admit Oakton was not
> that much work - but she is stepping up at
> university, so Oakton at least passably prepared
> her.

Your Oakton daughter made the right choice for her & still got into a challenging college that brought out the best in her.

So the in the end the problem is with
> parents who want to live vicariously through their
> kids and don't look in a focused way at where
> their child will be most happy.

Amen. Amen. Halleuja. And this is also part of the resistance to transferring some elementary school to SL. Just not enough oreceuved prestige to satisfy the parents.

> I must say some of the negative statements you
> make about TJ have kernels of truth.

Thank you.

> But make no mistake about it - TJ is
> an asset to the county - and quite bluntly, given
> the economic and intellectual contributions that
> the truly gifted make in our society, the last
> thing we want to do is chase them to private
> schools - as Darwinian as it sounds, spending
> money on the truly gifted is truly a force
> multiplier in terms of human capital.

Just like the service academies are not for everyone yet they are definitely are a necessary asset for the country. But this is only true so long as it is for the truly gifted and not another trophy chase for the overwhelming number of Type A parents in this County, which is what to many taxpayers TJ appears to have become.
>
> In any event, I do have some degree of
> apprehension about SLHS. Right now, they have 30
> IB graduates - with presumably a bandwidth of
> teacher supply consistent with that number.
> Oakton had about 130 AP graduates in my daughter's
> final year. Query whether South Lakes will have
> the bandwidth to handle the influx of students in
> terms of a supply of qualified and experienced AP
> teachers. This is not an idle question - the
> redistricting will be a reality in my view - the
> gravitational pull of racial balancing is by and
> far and away the strongest force in American
> education right now

Its more about socio-economic background than race.

>- and having a supply of
> competent AP teachers, particularly given the
> rancor that will surround the redistricting, is
> absolutely essential.

And Raiily chased so many good, veteran teachers away. This went on for more than 5 years. Gibson knew about it and did nothing for too many years which is unforgivable. This problem would exist regardless of boundaries or AP/IB.

As to the samll number of IB diplomas, in order to get the IB diploma a kid has to have at least 5 years of one foreign language, meaning a kid has to take it in 8th grade. (I can understand this for European kids for whom IB was created but English is the language of science and commerce, and not everyone's strengths is foriegn language.) Algebra 1 in the 8th grade is highly recommended. Somehow, parents of 7th graders at Hughes have not been apprised of this, so large numbers of potential IB diploma students get eliminated before they even start SL.

Then there is the limited number of teachering slots available to teach foreign languages and Alegbra I at Hughes. If the only 8th grade spanish teacher at Hughes is a lemon who can't speak English the year your child is at Hughes, your choices are no IB diploma, private tutoring or change to another language in the middle of the school year, if there's even room in that class.

Also because of the consistent euro-centrisim and socialist leaning of the materials, I prefer my kids avoid the IB program.

Then there is the problem of the scoring of the IB exams after senior year not coming back for Zurich or whereever in Switzerland until after your kid has registered for freshman college classes. Thus, making it impossible to avoiding the "intro to whatever" level class that is the very purpose of ADVANCED PLACEMENT class in the first place.

Finally teachers who have tought both AP and IB tell me that IB is less challenging than AP but requires more homework (makework).

Net, net, lots of work, lots of stress for limited pay-off at a limited number of colleges. Thus, 80-90% of SL students make the economically rational decision, it ain't worth it. Most of these 80-90%, just like your Oakton daughter, are still getting into the most selective colleges.

Sl should never have dropped AP and gone to IB. Another Railly gift.

More cordially later.

TM - very wordy

= by word

>>>Stu claims that School Board regs preclude adding Forestville to the study.<<<

How silly. How did Langley get the regulation to read that none of their schools can be part of the redistricting? I bet Oakton and Madison wish they had that deal too! haha

School board can change the regs since they made the regs. They can start the boundary process all over. They can do anything they want since they're in charge. Aren't they?

Neen Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> >>>Stu claims that School Board regs preclude
> adding Forestville to the study.<<<
>
> How silly. How did Langley get the regulation to
> read that none of their schools can be part of the
> redistricting? I bet Oakton and Madison wish they
> had that deal too! haha
>
> School board can change the regs since they made
> the regs. They can start the boundary process all
> over. They can do anything they want since
> they're in charge. Aren't they?

LET ALL OF THE CONGREGATION SAY AMEN!!