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High School parents concerned about boundary changes
Members of Herndon High School's PTSA said that possible high school boundary changes in the western part of the county could have a negative effect on programs at the school.
More than 100 people concerned about the potential boundary changes attended a meeting Wednesday, Oct. 10, that addressed a July 16 Fairfax County School Board decision to include six high schools in a boundary study designed to balance enrollment numbers in the Chantilly, Herndon and Reston areas.
Westfield and Chantilly high schools are overcrowded while South Lakes and Herndon high schools are currently under their maximum capacities.
When its renovation is completed in 2008, South Lakes will have 700 to 800 new student spaces available, according to school officials.
Although no boundary-change plans have yet been developed and no decisions have yet been made about changes to current boundaries, Herndon High and its feeder schools comprise one of the pyramids that potentially could be affected.
The Chantilly, Herndon, Oakton, South Lakes and Westfield High School pyramids, as well as the Madison High School attendance area north of the Dulles Airport access road, are all being considered for redistricting.
The school board will decide which boundaries to change after public hearings this fall, the first of which is scheduled for Monday, Nov. 12, at Chantilly High School.
Last Wednesday's Herndon PTSA meeting was led by the association's Boundary Study Committee and focused on potential changes to the Herndon pyramid.
Elizabeth Gibson, chairman of the committee, addressed the audience, which in addition to parents, included some county and state officials.
According to Gibson, the primary considerations of the study are: projected school enrollment and capacity, the distribution of programs and resources, the socioeconomic characteristics of school populations, and contiguous school attendance areas.
“It is not just building capacity, it is also program capacity,” she said.
Two elementary schools in north Reston – Armstrong and Aldrin – feed into Herndon High, and those students comprise significant portions of various honors and advanced placement courses and extracurricular programs.
According to Gibson, if those students are moved to South Lakes, there could be a “major impact” on these programs.
“Seven hundred and fifty three students from Aldrin and Armstrong are enrolled in honors and/or AP classes. There could be a possible loss of 30 sections with an average of 25 students per class,” she said. “Seventy-five students from Aldrin/Armstrong are enrolled in chorus, orchestra and guitar classes, 16 students from Aldrin/Armstrong are enrolled in ROTC class and 35 percent of students from Aldrin/Armstrong are enrolled in the band program; with 60 percent of the band's tag day program funds coming from North Reston,” she told the crowd.
“Any loss of students will have a negative impact on [Herndon High],” added committee member Anne Marie Ruskin. “We are willing to take extra students but we are concerned about losing any students.”
According to Gibson, the official Herndon PTSA position is that the school board should place an advanced program, such as a “foreign language institute, a GT center, academy or a vocational program,” to voluntarily boost enrollment at South Lakes.
“In fact, we believe that the [school board] should have had a plan in place before $50 million was spent on the SLHS renovation,” she said.
For more information on the boundary study and upcoming public hearings, contact Denise James at 703-246-6920 or denise.james@fcps.edu.
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