New Ashburn Elementary School Boundaries

It was a good showing at the meeting tonight. (Sorry you couldnt be there - Feel better, Erika!) Lots of Broadlands speakers. (Lots of Villages of Waxpool too.) The Villages of Waxpool folks that I heard didn't ask to move any Broadlands DNs out of Mill Run. They just want in. I don't think it'd be the end of the world, but it struck me, too, that adding them to Mill Run keeps it around 15% over capacity while Legacy is 8% under. Leaving them at Legacy makes both schools right above 100%. Principal Vickers and his staff have done an excellent job with fitting in classrooms in faculty lounges, the library, and so on, but still, my daughter reports that during lunch and recess the overcrowding was most noticeable.

I spoke tonight and think its important we keep speaking at the public meetings. The next one is scheduled for Nov 1. Here were the notes for my piece:
Broadlands community wants to keep the 8 Broadlands DNs together
Hillside 30, 30.1, 31
Mill Run 32, 32.3, 44, 44.1, 44.3

Community, Proximity, Stability
Mill Run and Hillside entire PTO boards are in the Broadlands

Facilities
Hillside under capacity now and in base plan - keep it that way
Mill run over capacity - bring it down

How?
Limit Mill Run to Broadlands DNs
(Leaving 32.2 in Legacy makes Mill Run at 2% over instead of close to 15% over
Makes legacy 2% over instead of 8 % under
Accessibility - 32.2 NOT in walk zone according to oct 16, oct 19 docs
Cluster - doesn't go to Eagle Ridge
Stability - been at legacy 4 yrs, likely to move *when next Dulles north school built)
This is not the time - next time

Broadlands community wants to keep Broadlands together.*

 

Joy--That's very well written, concise, and cogent.

As such....very rare. Thank you.

 

I agree. Thank you Joy for putting together the most important pieces to highlight in a very concise way. It also shows exactly why DN32.2 should stay where they are and not overcrowd a school unnecessarily.

 

Hey all....Mr. Flip-flopper here.
I have once again changed my opinion. I think this will be the last time. If I change it again I won't admit it!

First, as I commented in an early post:

"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."

Second, when reviewing all of the schools student numbers with the staff proposed plan, there is one school that is distinctly way above capacity: Creighton's Corner.
Program capacity: 942.
2013: 923
2014: 1023
2015: 1159
2016: 1233
2017: 1275
Essentially all of the growth will come from within the Brambleton community.

Third, When I look at the 3 criteria the HOA Board had used in the past, all three are met. Numbers of students in the schools was not a factor in our decision.

Fourth, The excess capacity in Legacy can be used to handle the overflow from Creighton's Corner until a new school is built.

Fifth, If there is an outcry of Broadlands residents asking the Mill Run numbers to be reduced, DO NOT ASSUME that it will be Villages of Waxpool moved out. There is a real possibility that parts of Broadlands could be moved out to another school.

So, based on this, I urge all Broadlands residents to support the staff proposed plan.

 

There were 12 speakers for Village of Waxpool and their "reasons" varied:

1) Childhood obesity, "our community will be walkers", "kids can exercise, get fresh air by 85% of our homes within the walk zone"

2) "we don't have to cross a 4-lane highway",

3) "Mill Run is our Community School"

4) "we are part of the Broadlands Community"

Village of Waxpool sent a letter earlier this summer, where they requested that their Community be split from their current DN. This didn't happen 5 years ago, as GAJones (a VoW resident and former VOW HOA president) posted on this thread. See attachment and pages 1-3.

Again the reason the BHOA & it's resident should NOT support the staff plan is, VoW does not provided any additional demographics, per policy 2.32 (ELL and/or FRM).

By moving them in to Mill Run, numerous Broadlands students are on the chopping block of being moved out of Broadlands Elementary schools (DN32 - Basil, Glebe View, Burnt Hickory etc & DN44.3 - the other side of Claiborne in South Broadlands).

Ideally the School Board should leave VoW at Legacy. It is obvious VoW has lobbied and Dr. Adamo has all but promised VoW that they will be move them to Mill Run. (I'm betting my FOIA request will uncover some amazing email exchanges from VoW & Dr. Adamo's department).

The School Board, should "LOCK DOWN" all the Broadlands school zones. We have 2 elementary schools that serve the Broadlands HOA residents.

If Village of Waxpool wants entry to OUR community school, then the school board owes our community a commitment, that none of our children will be bussed out of our community. And that can only happen if the SB & LCPS Admin locks down the school zones for Mill Run & Hill Side.

 

E-Can you explain the "on the chopping block" part? Where is that sentiment coming from?

 

Based on several one on one meetings/calls with current School Board members. The "chopping block" means in 2013, 2014 & 2015:

1) If you live on the other side of Claiborne Pkwy (down to Corson) you are now on the short list of being moved out of Mill Run (especially if VoW is added to MRES) and will likely go to Moorefield or Discovery. Dr. Adamo and VoW have said Claiborne Pkwy is a "natural boarder", regardless of the fact all those homes belong to the BHOA & SW HOA.

2) If you live off Touro Parrish - where it intersects with Belmont Ridge (DN32, Glebeview, Basil, Wild Timber, Stillbrook Farm etc) your area would likely go to Hill Side or Discovery.

The SB has stated multiple times, their intent is to bring all the Ashburn ES to capacity or slightly over. Bringing VoW to Mill Run means it will be 13-16% over capacity, depending on the year.

 

Isn't 32.4 Alexander's Chase? Was that split in the last month?

As much as it would seem great to keep all of Broadlands at "Broadlands schools," the schools do not belong to Broadlands but instead to Loudoun county. The county is under no obligation to distribute students based on communities. So while the idea of keeping Broadlands together at schools within the community is a nice idea, the school district has no legal obligation to do so. If someone looks at the maps and DNs and not at community names, it would appear that the Village of Waxpool would be a good candidate for inclusion at Mill Run.

Now that is not to say that you can't lobby for it and you certainly should ask for what you want, but there does not appear to be a legal basis for "locking down" the community in Mill Run and Hillside.

It's a tough choice for the board to make, and as it stands with the base plan presented by the school admin staff, Broadlands stays together AND Village of Waxpool is included, with no Broadlands residents being relocated to another school. The idea of some Broadlands residents being relocated to another school is conjecture at this point, although that could change depending on what other plans are created and presented.

What Dr. Adamo may or may not have discussed with the Village of Waxpool community is unknown so comments hinting at willful misdoing are unfair at this point. Keep your arguments reasonable and fair and really sell the board on your plan - accusations and a negative attitude will not help your case. Sell the board on the idea that a new school will be built in an area MORE accessible and better for VoW in the future and maybe they'll leave them where they are until that time. Try to think of WHY the board should like your ideas and remove any obstacles they might have in getting there.

Just my two cents as a non-Broadlands and non-VoW resident.

opcorn2:

 

Cliff,
Isn't it true that an additional elementary school is intended to be built in the 2014-2015 timeframe, with the intention of relieving Creighton's Corner and Mooreview? I don't believe that burden will fall on Legacy.

Which brings us to the two tenants:
1) When possible, do not split a community.
2) Keep children at the schools within their community, provided there is room.

Three cheers to that! And therefore, Village of Waxpool should
1)not split our community and
2)stay at the school which has been their community school for the past 5 years.

It is the only thing that makes sense, especially if squeezing them into Mill Run is going to have the domino effect of sqeezing out a DN that has been at Mill Run for years. There is no justification for moving 200+ students, to satisfy the wants/convenience of 80, when the board can move 0 students and meet the optimum capacity of each school.

 

If Broadlands "demands" that Mill Run student load be reduced, it puts the possibility of parts of Broadlands being moved out NOW, rather than the possibility of it happening in the future. A bird in hand folks.....

The School Board has never "locked down" school zones. I don't expect them to start know.
As I've said before, the School Administration does not see Hillside and Mill Run as "Broadlands schools". They are just two more "county schools".
As more evidence, look at the recent rezoning for Frederick Douglas where a community was split between schools (Potomac Station).

As far as Mill Run, it has been running way above capacity for years. For those of you that have (or had) students there, was that a problem for you?
Speaking from experience, having had 3 kids go to Mill Run (one year where the population was so large 4th and 5th grade were moved to Eagle Ridge) I would rather have had my kids at Mill Run with 1000 kids than any other school with 500.

Pick your battles, folks. All of Broadlands is proposed to be at Hillside and Mill Run. That is a victory worth supporting, not fighting. I speak as a veteran of many years of fighting the boundary battles many times with LCPS.

 

mminderl:
I believe another school is planned for 2015 or so. I don't think before then.
The staff plan DOES NOT split our community.
VoW has been at Legacy, I think for 3 or 4 years. They were at Mill Run before that. Neither school is in their community. As another example, Briar Woods is "our" school but it isn't in our community.

One of the other points I mentioned was the situation with Creighton's Corner being well above capacity. The underutilization of Legacy provides an immediate relief valve.
For those that want VoW back at Legacy, what is your solution for Creighton's Corner? It is far, far more above capacity than Mill Run. (35% in the out year. And that is assuming no other school is built by then.)

I wouldn't assume another school will be built in two years, because the Board of Supervisors has been very careful to keep our capital debt at a limit to maintain Loudoun's AAA credit rating. Many schools are being pushed back in the building schedule.

 

I guess that after reading all of this I'd have to say I support the current plan. Though I understand the capacity issue and the gut instinct to worry about what will happen next, I think you have to fight the battle that's in front of you. The war is for another day. Just my opinion.

I should also season this with a basic fact that I'm just not energized about this as much as other folks are. I think Mill Run is great, but its not a free Sidwell Friends, folks. All the schools around here are very good and I think my kids will be fine if they have to go to one of the new ones. And though I am proud of my friends who have fire and energy around this and I totally support them personally because they are fighting something that is important to them, I have to say we're lucky we can even afford to build new schools---the fact that when we do so a virtual army rises up to say "we don't want to go there" seems incongruous.

 

Please everyone remember that even if you're happy with the staff plan, you need to voice to the Board (email, speak) that you want all of Broadlands to stay at Mill Run or Hillside (if you do). Also that you want to keep the Broadlands DNs in the schools they are currently in (if you do). I can't remember a time the staff plan was the one accepted, so we should be stating what we desire out of any plan. That said, while I also think the staff plan is a good start, I don't see why we have to back off on arguing that Mill Run shouldn't be at 15% overcapacity after a rebalancing.
Cliff, do you think the staff plan is going to be accepted? Do you think that Erika was right that Villages coming into Mill Run is a done deal that will not be changed?

 

This is from Jill Turgeon's (school board member, Blue Ridge) facebook page..." As I stated in the first Attendance Zone Meeting, my priority is to ensure that capacity issues do not adversely affect the education of the students. When this priority is satisfied, my next priority is community. Schools are the basis of a community and should be considered when developing the attendance zones."

So I agree with Joy, rarely the base plan is the one accepted. Just look back to last year to see the Frederick Douglas base plan compared to the boundary map now. No matter where you stand on the VOW, the school board may not agree with Mill Run being over capacity and they could make their own changes and that could be removing or splitting DNs that are currently in the base plan to go to Mill Run.

 

I think you have to balance capacity with location... Does it make sense for example to bus kids x amount of distance if there is a closer school that would put that school over capacity? By how much? This is my child's last year at Mill Run so this decision does not impact me other than making the left turn on Ridgeway an impossibility if they add VoW. My concern will be the issue of Broadlands kids being turned away from Briar Woods and/or Stone Ridge and possibly bused 40 minutes away if there is any merit to the rumor going around. VoW at Mill Run or VoW at Legacy - there are ups and downs to both and arguments on whether or not VoW are walkers or riders. At the end of the day the bus ride to Legacy is not that far away and they get to stay at the school they have been at. Can someone tell me other than using the "walking" argument, what is the big plus of VoW being able to go to Mill Run over Legacy?

Is the real issue if VoW is allowed, parts of Broadlands won't be? Just trying to understand.

From VACliff and worth noting:
"Fifth, If there is an outcry of Broadlands residents asking the Mill Run numbers to be reduced, DO NOT ASSUME that it will be Villages of Waxpool moved out. There is a real possibility that parts of Broadlands could be moved out to another school.". What is the reality of this?

 

I agree that I am WAY more concerned about what's going to happen with High School!

 

Agree with this - I voiced my support to the county for the base plan as proposed.

 

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but this is an interesting point that I'd like to hear more about. I've heard a lot about the cons of possibly being redistricted to a newly constructed school (e.g., the break-up of a community), but what are the pros? Are there any?

 

While I agree that we should be happy that the current base plan keeps all of Broadlands at Broadlands schools, I don't don't understand the logic of moving Villages of Waxpool to Mill Run.

Cliff's post where he analyzed the attendance numbers with keeping VoW at Legacy vs moving them to Mill Run seems to speak for itself. Why start off a new zoning plan with attendance numbers at Mill Run that you know are going to get out of hand in just a few years? Heavy lobbing must be at hand in order to have a base plan published where you are moving DNs out of an overcrowded school while moving another DN in (after granting their wish to split from their current DN).

On a side note, Laurier should have never been opened up in the first place and needs to be closed. It only serves to increase traffic and congestion on Ridgeway. With Croson now open to Belmont Ridge, there is an easy way to get from Belmont Ridge to Claiborne.