Upcoming Meetings on FCPS SW Boundary Study

Public hearings on the Southwestern Boundary Study are here! Make plans to attend the following:

• Public Hearings: February 7 and 8, 2011 at Jackson Middle School, 3020 Gallows Road, Falls Church, VA 22042
• School Board’s work session: February 14, 2011 at Gatehouse Administration Center, 8115 Gatehouse Road, Suite 1600, Falls Church, VA 22042
• School Board action scheduled: February 24, 2011 at Jackson Middle School, 3020 Gallows Road, Falls Church, VA 22042. 

(from FCPS website)

FCPS Facilities Planning Recommendation to School Board for SW Boundary Changes

FCPS Facilities Planning has released their proposal for changes in the Southwest county region. Marion Woods and Hunters Run communities are recommended to remain with Poplar Tree ES. Specific communities impacted by the redistricting are documented in the Facilities Planning Appendix to their recommendation. However, nothing is final until the vote, so keep in contact with your school board representation and let them know your wishes. Contact information has been provided in prior posts and below.

For additional information contact
Office of Facilities Planning Services
8115 Gatehouse Road, Suite 3300
Falls Church, VA 22042
E-mail: Boundaries@fcps.edu

To provide comments to School Board contact
Fairfax County School Board
8115 Gatehouse Road, Suite 5400
Falls Church, VA 22042
http://www.fcps.edu/schlbd/members.htm

Deadline for Option D feedback

Today at 5pm is the deadline for Option D feedback. The survey provides links to information from options A, B, C and D. Please post your opinion now! The next milestones coming are:

January 20, 2011 – Boundary recommendations introduced as new business at the regular School Board meeting
February 7 and 8 – Public hearings (plus February 9, if needed)
February 14 – School Board work session
February 24 – School Board decision on Southwest county boundaries
February 14 – School Board work session
February 24 – School Board decision on Southwest county boundaries

FCPS accepting comments on Option D

From a "Keep In Touch" email received this evening from FCPS:

Citizens are invited to provide comments on the proposed Option D for the Southwestern Boundary Study, on a feedback form available at http://www.fcps.edu/fts/planning/southwesternstudy/index.htm. Option D evolved from the feedback gathered from six community dialogue meetings and more than 700 online comments on preliminary Options A, B, and C and reflects more program specifics, including provisions in school capacities for future full-day kindergarten, which were not addressed in the preliminary phase. Citizens who have not reviewed or commented on the preliminary options can also provide their feedback on the online form. The deadline for comments is Friday, December 10, at 5 p.m. Thank you for your participation.

We encourage you to pass this information to your neighbors, Parent-Teacher Organizations and local Homeowner Associations.  Please get the word out and get your comments in before the deadline!

New option posted to FCPS website

In response to the overwhelming expression of their dissatisfaction with the first three proposed options, FCPS has posted a revised Option D to the Southwest Boundary Study.

Notice that the aforementioned subdivisions in our original post would remain at Poplar Tree ES.

While this new option addresses these neighborhood's desire to remain at Poplar Tree ES, there are other options that may be formulated and presented to the School Board in the coming weeks. Remain vigilant! Contact your School Board representative Kathy Smith and let her know how she should represent Sully District for SWBS.

FCPS Sully District - Kathy Smith  kathy.l.smith@fcps.edu  571-423-1085

We appreciate that the Fairfax Patch is covering this issue. Other outlets have been a bit sparse in their coverage.

The Washington Post Metro article

Fairfax Station Patch Column

Fairfax Station Patch Interview with Elizabeth Bradsher

Fairfax Station Patch Article on Judge's View of Clifton Closing Lawsuit

Fairfax Times Article on Judge Ruling over Clifton Timing

Fairfax Times article on Clifton Elementary charter school alternative

FCPS Stifles Policy Opponents?

An interested party brought this to my attention today. This blog has been blocked by the FCPS web filter under Regulation 6410, their Internet use policy designed to protect children from inappropriate content.

FCPS Responds to Boundary Study Questions

FCPS has been posting responses to frequently asked questions.

http://www.fcps.edu/fts/planning/southwesternstudy/faq.pdf

FCPS recently posted and FAQ regarding SACC impacts due to the SW Boundary Study.

http://www.fcps.edu/fts/planning/southwesternstudy/SACC_questions_on_SW_boundary_options.pdf

Community Dialogue Responses Are Available

For those who do not receive the "Keep In Touch" emails from FCPS, please see the following:

More than 500 citizens attended the October 25 and 26, Southwestern Boundary community dialogues to discuss preliminary options. Their feedback forms are available for review at http://www.fcps.edu/fts/planning/southwesternstudy/index.htm .

While this is an elementary school study, middle and high school changes to accommodate feeder realignment may be considered as part of the study provided that the receiving middle and high schools have existing and projected capacity.

Feedback forms submitted online over the last week by those who weren’t able to attend the community dialogues will be posted by the end of the week.

We highly recommend that everyone read the responses in the feedback forms, particularly those comments about lack of information made available to public.  Be warned, the pdf document is more than 27MB.  Regardless, the comments make for extremely interesting and enlightening reading.


Please leave a comment below and let us know how you feel about these updates!  Also, don't forget to submit your feedback/questions to FCPS - make your voice heard!

FCPS Outreach Response to the Community Meetings

The following is the FCPS response to concerns raised at the community feedback meetings. FCPS has not addressed questions concerning transportation or SACC impacts and costs.


-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Boundary Form Posted
Date: 28 Oct 2010 13:36:10 -0700
From: FCPS Outreach
To:

Parents and community members who were unable to attend the southwestern boundary meetings this week can provide their feedback to the preliminary boundary options by completing and submitting the Community Dialogue feedback form on the boundary website. Those interested can view a video presentation and review maps illustrating the preliminary changes to assist in their evaluation, which also are available on the boundary website at http://www.fcps.edu/fts/planning/southwesternstudy/index.htm . The form will be available until midnight Wednesday, November 3. Facilities staff will review respondents’ ratings and feedback and revise the preliminary options. These options will be presented in a survey for community feedback later in November.  

There are several updates to some of the data provided in the meeting handouts and feedback form; however, none of these updates substantively change the nature or characteristics of each of the three preliminary options.  In addition, the information below is in response to questions at the meetings that may be helpful in the evaluation of these preliminary options:

•  Each building addition will cost approximately $5-6 million.
•  Yearly operating costs for our elementary schools average $1.1 million.
•  Funding for building additions is available in construction reserve due to lower costs for construction and recent favorable bids for CIP projects.
•  Timing for implementation of boundary changes will vary with each option.  With the exception of boundary changes to Union Mill, Option A could be implemented as early as next year.  For Options B and C, implementation for boundary changes would be predicated on the completion of building additions that would not be ready until school year 2013-14.
•  Rising 6th graders are typically grandfathered per School Board policy. 
•  Changes to middle and high schools have not been proposed; feedback regarding the potential to send students that may be reassigned to Union Mill and Sangster elementary schools to feed to Centreville High and Liberty Middle and Lake Braddock Secondary, respectively, is specifically requested as part of the community dialogue process.
•  Other than the specific changes for Advanced Academic Center (AAP) students referenced in each of the preliminary options, no other changes to AAP student assignments has been proposed at this time.  Details about other potential AAP assignment changes may be forthcoming in the revised boundary options.       

 Elementary schools in the southwestern boundary study are: Bonnie Brae, Brookfield, Bull Run, Centre Ridge, Centreville, Clifton, Colin Powell, Cub Run, Deer Park, Eagle View, Fairfax Villa, Fairview, Greenbriar East, Greenbriar West, Laurel Ridge, London Towne, Oak View, Poplar Tree, Providence, Sangster, Union Mill, Virginia Run, and Willow Springs. Also, parents can provide their feedback on whether split feeders that may affect Robinson Secondary, Lake Braddock Secondary, Centreville High, and Liberty Middle should also be considered in this study. 

Submit your boundary study questions to FCPS!

FCPS has posted a link to a third-party website where they're collecting questions for the SW boundary study:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/southwestboundaryFAQ

Many possible questions are listed on this blog and in the forums we've linked to on the right.  Here are some questions that are still pending response from FCPS:

1. If the decision is to renovate Clifton ES, what would the impact be to Union Mill ES? Would Union Mill ES lose any students to Clifton ES and/or would Union Mill gain any additional students via trailers or additions?
 
2. What is the size of the new elementary school that is planned for the Liberty site? Has there been a traffic impact study performed on Union Mill Road? We are really concerned about added traffic to our quiet community.
 
3. Why does FCPS feel that the Liberty site is best suited for the construction of a new elementary school? The overcrowding is not in that location. We at Union Mill and other nearby schools do not want to be split up between multiple schools?
 
4. What capacity figures (student count) were used for the 2007 bond that included renovation for 6 elementary schools? Please list by school:
Beechtree ES
Stenwood ES
Westlawn ES
Franconia ES
Oakton ES
Lake Anne ES

Please take a few minutes today and submit your questions!