Re: high school redistricting
Date: January 02, 2008 08:55PM
Floris Parent Wrote:
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> After reviewing this post for many hours, it seems
> apparent that there will never be a 100% concensus
> on this possible boundary change. All of the 1st 4
> alternate boundaries had flaws, and this 5th and
> latest proposal also has many flaws. I do not know
> what the best solution is, given the tight
> constraints that have been put in place by the SB.
>
>
> What is very apparent, is that the families that
> have ties to SL really seem to like their school,
> and with the $60,000,000 makeover, it should be an
> even better environment for the students to learn.
> I feel that it is very important for communities
> to take pride in their local high schools, and as
> you can see, almost all of us have become very
> involved in our students and our own High
> schools.
>
> I truly believe that most of the families in the
> Fox Mill, Floris, Madison and Navy communities do
> not harbor bad feelings towards SL or the students
> who attend the school. It is just that most take
> the same pride and enjoy the sense of being a part
> of the school that we already attend.
>
> I am sure that if the situation were different,
> and the SB decided to break up SL, and ship your
> children off to other schools, many in the SL
> community would feel the same pain and frustration
> that we are going through. None of the impacted
> communities created the situation that SL has now,
> and many of us feel that the SB has full
> responsibility for the state of SL as it relates
> to capacity issues.
>
> We all have done due diligence in determining
> where we want to live, and where we want our
> children to attend school, just as those of you
> who live in the SL area chose your community and
> where you wanted your children to attend school.
>
> I am still confused as to why this boundary study
> needs to be done NOW. SL has been under capacity
> for at least 5 or 6 years, and maybe with the
> brand new building, more families will "choose" to
> move to Reston and send their children to SL.
>
> If we can postpone this study for a year, the
> school board can prepare a much broader study, to
> include other the "other" schools that are also
> over capacity, as well as set boundary lines for
> the new Coppermine Elementary School that will
> open in 2009.
>
> I really hope that the SB is working in good faith
> to hear the concerns of all citizens before making
> this big decision. I will truly feel bad if the
> deck was stacked before this entire process began,
> and I hope that the SB will be forthcoming with
> truthful information as to why and how the
> criteria was set for the study.
I agree with everything you've said. One thing, I suspect that even if Langley and Madison had been considered in this study, ultimately they wouldn't have been
affected. Of course, it would be harder to justify an expansion at Langley at the same time that Westfield and Chantilly, while large, don't need expansions to handle their enrollment. I guess Chantilly has trailers, so I'm not sure how that is calculated, but it isn't getting an expansion, unlike Langley.
I guess I'm more cynical, because I think this deck was stacked, and the more I learn, the more convinced I am.