Concerns about redistricting not being addressed
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Over the last six months, I have been witness to one of the most disturbing examples of what happens when the local government operates without adequate checks and balances.
In July, the Fairfax County Public Schools staff provided the FCPS School Board with a request to study the western county school boundaries to address overcrowding at Westfield High School and Chantilly High School and use spare capacity at South Lakes High School. They expanded this to include nearby communities, including those served by Herndon HS, Oakton HS and part of Madison HS. The FCPS staff justified the need based on projected overcrowding at Westfield HS and Chantilly HS.
By the time the process had started and FCPS staff had updated their enrollment projections, they were now showing that the five-year projections at Westfield and Chantilly did not overcrowd the schools. Instead of stopping the process, the FCPS staff simply changed the justification to that of improving the curriculum at South Lakes while re-balancing the capacity between these schools. They presented a disorganized list of classes that are offered at various high schools that are not offered at South Lakes.
Of course, they didn't fool anyone; no school offers all of these classes. Instead of comparing South Lakes offerings to other IB-focused high schools and offering specific academic issues that they wanted to address, they tried to make it sound like SLHS is being seriously under-served. I honestly don't know the real situation at SLHS; the staff missed an opportunity to accurately educate the public about any issues they have at South Lakes.
By the time the third public meeting was held, my experiences with the first two meetings had jaded me. It was clear to me that the questions that needed to be answered would not be provided. The meeting sadly met my expectations. The staff did not provide specific justification for each area considered. Since the considered areas were mostly aligned with elementary school boundaries, I expected to be able to get answers to the following questions, on a per-elementary school (ES) basis:
What is the specific transportation savings gained by moving the ES students? By year for the next five years?
What was the cost, by ES considered, for each option considered? By year for the next five years?
What specific additional curriculum changes are enabled by these changes? What new classes will be offered at SLHS? What classes will have to be dropped at the other schools?
What specific curriculum differences exist between SLHS and other IB schools (e.g., Marshall High School) and what minimum move of children will correct any imbalance?
What specific cost savings for teachers are created by moving these students? We have been told that larger schools are more efficient in educating our students. Will the changes between these schools result in measurable changes in efficiency of this education?
What justification does the staff have for proposing changes that move capacity issues into Sunrise Valley ES? Redistricting proposals are supposed to alleviate capacity issues, not move them.
What options were studied to address the island status of areas under study? Why was the "island" status of Navy ES not addressed? Why was the option to redistrict the commercial region between the toll road, W&OD, Hunter Mill and Sunrise Valley not considered?
The primary reason to address islands, according to staff, is to reduce transportation costs. What study was done to understand if this change would actually save money?
If the staff feels that they need to address islands, they should prioritize them based on transportation savings and act on them accordingly. What does this look like?
How do these scenarios play out if the planned development in Reston, including those planned developments at Wiehle Avenue, Lake Anne and at Reston Parkway become reality?
How are these plans affected by the development of the Dulles Rail?
In a recent meeting with a local School Board member, the School Board member told her constituents that FCPS is planning to request a tax hike to meet the FCPS's planned operating budget. When asked about the cost-effectiveness of redistricting, she said that “any acceptable redistricting plan will require double busing, create substantial additional transportation costs for years to come." When asked what specific improvements these additional costs would generate, she acknowledged that the FCPS staff are not expected to provide any specific information in this area.
It is now time for the elected officials of the School Board to step up and demand accountability. They represent the taxpayers and need to act accordingly. They need to tell the FCPS staff to review their study and develop rational, measurable justifications for their recommendations.
Based on their latest projections, there are no space crises that justify rushing forward. Instead, given the budget shortfall, the School Board needs to slow the process down, demand accountability from the FCPS staff and avoid disrupting students' education when there is no sufficient justification.
I want to ask the members of the School Board to bring accountability back into the process or they will lose credibility with the public.
Stop the redistricting process. Demand that the FCPS staff re-examine their study and assess if any action is justifiable during this budget shortfall. Ask the FCPS staff to review their operating costs and look for those changes that they can pursue that have the largest impact on the education while minimizing the need for additional taxes. The current redistricting proposals from FCPS staff simply does not provide sufficient justification for any action from the school board other than a flat-out rejection of any redistricting.
Joe Pascale
Vienna
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