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New Ashburn Elementary School Boundaries

Discussion in 'Broadlands Community Issues' started by vacliff, Aug 24, 2012.

  1. Villager

    Villager Ashburn Village Resident

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    I've been reviewing the maps and have an idea of how things could be divided based on geography. Some neighborhoods are pretty much in the middle of two schools and could go either way. But those neighborhoods seem like good candidates to be moved to relieve overcrowding at their current school assignment. For example, Carisbrooke and the Trask Pl. area homes are right between Mill Run (their current assignment) and Discovery (and Hillside, really). Those could go either way. Since Mill Run and Hillside are among the overcrowded schools, it seems a reasonable choice to send them to Discovery instead.

    However, I think it would be very important to the process for the people making the decisions to get out and drive around the area to see how things play out on the ground, rather than just on a map. I took Ashburn Road to Waxpool and took Waxpool over the Greenway into Broadlands and, while geographically the communities along there are close to a few schools, actually driving the roads around there was interesting to really see how the routes to the schools would be. I also noticed that between the apartments there (Camden Silo) and the Greenway there is a development of new townhomes being built. So more potential students there.

    I thought it was interesting that while some residents who spoke at the meeting last week commented about being happy with the schools they attend now, it seemed like they were just as much (if not more) concerned with what cluster of schools the new schools would feed into as far as middle and high school. If they were moved to a new school, they wanted to be sure that their neighborhood would stay together through middle and high school. So the meeting wasn't all "we want to stay where we are now" but included people considering the longer term situation.

    Anyway, my point is that even if boundaries look reasonable on a map, getting to see them in person could be quite valuable in the process.
     
  2. lilpea

    lilpea Member

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    Villager - I agree.

    Another concern I have is when I asked a current School Board member, which Middle & High School the two new ES (Discovery & Mooreview) will feed in to. The response was the School Admin has yet to make a determination. Logically, Broad Run would make sense..but ALL of the HS are at or over capacity (Broad Run, Stone Bridge, Briar Woods, etc).

    This is important, because our schools are bottom heavy (elementary level) and it's important to make the decision of feeder/school alignment - otherwise we will have to deal with "yet another" school boundary in a few years.

    And yes I am bringing Apple Fritters & apples (we picked yesterday) for today's meeting. It appears there will be more than a dozen people attending. I am looking forward to working and learning from other parents.
     
  3. lilpea

    lilpea Member

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    Tonight several residents attended the BHOA meeting to voice their concerns about the "proposed" 2013 school boundaries. The LCPS Admin has proposed several plans that would split the entire Broadlands Community into several Elementary Schools. Several plans would actually bus Broadlands kids out of the Community and bring in kids from Villages of Waxpool & Alexander Chase.

    The BHOA has agreed to support our group's effort, which would keep all our kids in either Mill Run or Hill Side Elementary. So a very big "THANK YOU" to the BHOA Board.
     
  4. vacliff

    vacliff "You shouldn't say that."

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    I saw a letter sent by Villages of Waxpool HOA to Kevin Kuesters, requesting that their community be split into a separate DN from Alexander's Chase, with the ultimate goal of going back to Mill Run. Kevin is supporting this. Not sure why you would add students to one of the schools that needs to be relieved the most.
     
  5. Liss

    Liss New Member

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    I could definitely see putting Villages of Waxpool back at Mill Run as long as other students are shifted out - as an example, the townhouses off of Waxpool east of where they're building Broadlands Station as well as Carisbrooke are currently at Mill Run, and may be better shifted to Discovery when it opens. (Not necessarily making a recommendation, just using it as an example.) Those 2-3 communities probably have 3-4x the number of elementary age students that would potentially come in from Villages of Waxpool. (I don't know, but am theorizing based on housing quantity and high-level demographics.)

    That said, I cannot see how keeping ANY non-Broadlands communities at Hillside or Mill Run while moving any Broadlands residents OUT of those schools could be supported in any way.
     
  6. nadir

    nadir New Member

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    Per the maps posted to the LCPS website, Villages of Waxpool (DN 32.2) and Alexander's Chase (DN 32.4) are already separate DN's, unless that is just a proposal.

    As another poster stated, geographically-speaking, Villages of Waxpool and Alexander's Chase are closer to Mill Run than communities on the other side of the Greenway. I am not familiar with the criteria that govern the redistricting process, but isn't geography a significant driver?
     
  7. Villager

    Villager Ashburn Village Resident

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    According to the maps and spreadsheet:

    Carisbrooke and Ashburn Knolls are in DN43, which currently has 112 students. That DN area is projected to go as high as 124 over the next 5 years.

    The Village of Waxpool is in DN32.2, which currently has 89 students. That DN area is projected to stay at or below that level over the next 5 years.

    Alexandra's Chase is in DN32.4, which currently has 44 students. That DN area is projected to stay at or below that level over the next 5 years.

     
  8. vacliff

    vacliff "You shouldn't say that."

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    Nadir-They are close, but except for a few houses, would require bussing, not walking.
    I don't have a problem with them wanting to move back, provided there is room, which I do not think there will be.

    I have represented Broadlands Board of Directors at many, many previous school boundary meetings. We always held firm to three tenets:

    1) Don't build schools before they are needed.
    2) When possible, do not split a community.
    3) Keep children at the schools within their community, provided there is room.

    It is this third tenet that takes the most work. There should be enough room to keep Broadlands at Hillside and Mill Run.
    I haven't seen all the individual DN numbers, but I don't know if moving out Carisbrooke and the few other eastern Mill Run communities will make enough room to move Villages of Waxpool back in.
     
  9. MadCat07

    MadCat07 New Member

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    To build on this, hope that there would be consideration to keeping kids at the schools within their community to which they are currently aligned (i.e. Broadlands North predominantly, if not exclusively, Hillside and Southern Walk, or south of Waxpool, to Mill Run).
     
  10. lilpea

    lilpea Member

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    Here is the most updated Q & A Oct 17,2012.

    Based on the attachment, (which has email exchanges) that our current School Board member Kevin Kuesters is advocating for Villages of Waxpool to move to Mill Run (see the second page).

    If you live in the Southernwalk portion of Broadlands - depending on what side of Claiborne (Avonworth-Thorneblade etc) you are now targeted to move to Discovery ES. It's the new ES over in the data center farm.

    We are holding several work session this week and weekend. Please contact me if you want times etc.
    erika_cotti_sw@yahoo.com
     

    Attached Files:

  11. Mr. Linux

    Mr. Linux Senior Member & Moderator Forum Staff

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    Why not post the times and locations here? I assume we want as many people to participate as possible, so posting the information as widely as possible is probably the best thing to do in order to encourage participation...

    We can even put the info on the front page of the main website.
     
  12. joy

    joy New Member

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    Thanks for taking the lead on this Erika as the Southern Walk HOA president.

    Eric, is the Broadlands HOA also working on this contrary to the note Erika received?
     
  13. Mr. Linux

    Mr. Linux Senior Member & Moderator Forum Staff

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    Joy, a large group of concerned residents attended our last HOA Board meeting on October 9th and the Board gave the group our full support, as well as offered several avenues to assist the group with getting the word out to all Broadlands residents.

    I quote a previous post from Erika:

    I'm not sure what note you are referencing and/or who it is from.
     
  14. T8erman

    T8erman Well-Known Member

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    First - Let me say what a wonderful job Erika has done and continues to do to benefit the Broadlands community.

    However, as the Southern Walk HOA president, she represents the Southern Walk portion of Broadlands with regards to the telecommunications contract (Openband) only. She does not represent Southern Walk homeowners in any official capacity with regards to the school boundaries.
     
  15. MadCat07

    MadCat07 New Member

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    Question for anyone who might have additional details : is there an actual "proposed" map (or more than one) which would detail potential changes along the lines of Villages of Waxpool becoming part of the Mill Run District, etc, as was included in Erika's attachment ? If so, are any of the proposed changes directly impacting the Hillside portion of Broadlands ?
     
  16. bike4fun

    bike4fun New Member

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    I find it interesting that Ashburn Elementary school walk boundries spans Ashburn Village Blvd, but Mill Run does not span Claiborne. In both cases there is a tunnel that can be used to avoid crossing the main road. If that is considered, then most of the Souther Walk area would be in walking distance!
     
  17. lilpea

    lilpea Member

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    Bob - .This is NOT a North or South thing - this is making sure the ENTIRE Broadlands Community isn't broken up into other ES outside of Broadlands.

    That said I had a conversation with the BHOA president and I made it clear to him I am not "using my HOA title", the work I am spear heading is for the ENTIRE community. Previously the BHOA had board members that kept abreast of school boundary issues. So again, someone had to step up to advocate for our community.
     
  18. 1grtchr

    1grtchr Member

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    While that is true I don't see anyone on the Broadlands HOA board organizing meetings and actively working to have a unified voice for Broadlands. Without Erika taking the lead we'd be unorganized and disenchanted. While the board did support the concept of Broadlands staying together and helping with communicating the School Board's boundary meeting schedule, I have personally yet to see anyone on the board data scanning, outlining boundary proposals, and collecting the thoughts, ideas, and suggestions from the community as a whole. As long as the BHOA gets active in supporting a unified Broadlands boundary proposal and speaking during public input boundary sessions on behalf of the residents that will go a long way.
     
  19. mminderl

    mminderl New Member

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    Madcat- while it's obviously speculation at this point, I can easily see Hillside being affected. If Village of Waxpool gets their wish and is pulled into Mill Run, maybe a section could get bumped up to Hillside. And in that case, someone could get bumped out of Hillside and over to Discovery.
    I've also seen on the Brambleton boards that they're pushing to rezone all non-Brambleton residents out of their two schools. Some of them suggested that that new neighborhood West of Belmont Ridge (I think it's called Goose Creek) currently zoned for Creighton's should be rezoned for Hillside. If this happens, where do you think the kids on the West side of Hillside would shift to?

    We all need to start advocating to keep our neighborhood together, in our current respective schools, just as loudly as the other neighborhoods are doing. Just my 2 cents.
     
  20. mminderl

    mminderl New Member

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    In my previous post, I meant to write "where do you think the kids on the East side Hillside would shift to?" Sorry!
     

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