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School board to vote on boundaries
Nearly eight months after the Fairfax County School Board commissioned the West County Boundary Study, it will finally vote on whether to institute a redistricting that could affect up to six high schools.
Parents of students at Oakton, Herndon, Madison, Chantilly and Westfield high schools have nearly unanimously opposed the redistricting, which the school board initiated to ease overcrowding at Chantilly and Westfield and address under-enrollment at South Lakes. Other goals included improving the socioeconomic disparities between schools, eliminating attendance islands and ensuring equitable access to programs and resources.
After five iterations of redistricting scenarios, Herndon was removed from the scenario, but the School Board has a final say on what it approves on Feb. 28.
The boundary process has been a long one that has stirred emotions in every district affected.
Thousands attended three “town meetings” held by the Facilities and Transportation Services staff on Nov. 12, Dec. 3 and Dec. 19. More than 500 people spoke at four public hearings the board held on Jan. 30 and 31 and Feb. 9 and 19.
Out of that participation the board added four new objectives to its initial ones: improving commuting distances, eliminating or reducing split feeder schools, providing an adequate enrollment buffer for South Lakes and keeping neighborhoods together.
School Board Chairman Dan Storck (Mount Vernon) said the largest obstacle in boundary processes has been successfully communicating to the public the need for redistricting and its process.
The west county study has been the largest he's seen during his four years on the board in terms of public involvement. And while he believes the board has had a “thorough vetting of all the different options,” he said he will propose some procedural changes to the process.
Storck said he would like to shorten the time it takes to complete the study, create a more interactive public input process and have a clearer goal at the outset.
“Number one is to define much more clearly from the specific board motion the purpose of the study and what the staff is directed to do,” he said.
Out of the outrage at the boundary process a “watchdog” group was formed called the Fairfax County Coalition of Advocates for Public Schools (Fairfax CAPS).
Founder Nick Pesce lives in the Floris Elementary School district, and said he found out through other boundary studies that parents have little say in the process.
“It was my first eye-opener, that even if they say they don't make the decision ahead of time, they do,” he said.
He said the addition of four goals to the initial four underscored the School Board's shaky logic for the study.
Fairfax CAPS will continue as a watchdog after the vote, Pesce said, but the organization also has plans to bring legal action should the School Board vote to approve the redistricting.
Storck said the School Board has not been sued in recent years, but it isn't concerned about potential lawsuits.
“The legal record is clear, we will be successful,” he said.
Many parents at the public hearings questioned the motives of school board members whose districts were affected and suggested the process was politically motivated by Stu Gibson, who the represents Hunter Mill District.
Tom France, a parent of three elementary-age children in the Madison district said the study's overt political motives has disenfranchised many of the parents.
“The fact that this is so politically driven, Stu Gibson is obviously the main driving force behind this. Janie and Kathy also have a dog in the fight, but the others seem to have the appearance that they just want this to go away,” he said.
Storck said that is an unfortunate inevitability of any boundary study, and he himself was the target of similar accusations during the South County study.
One school board member who appears to be more sympathetic to parents who oppose the study is newcomer Tina Hone (At-Large), who told The Times on Feb. 8 that she would like to re-examine the entire process and look at a countywide redistricting.
“If Jim Rainey doesn't offer an amendment, I will offer one that says stop, and it will fail. I think we really need to talk about this issue, otherwise next year it will be somebody else,” Hone said.
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