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Quotable Quotes…
The Redistricting issue
STUART GIBSON
"A lot of people choose where to live based on the high schools where they live. It has been suggested before that all of Reston should go to South Lakes. North Point Village doesn't want to go to South Lakes. I love South Lakes. I have a daughter who went there and another that is going to graduate from there, but North Point Village doesn't want to go there," said Stuart Gibson (Hunter Mill). "If someone wants to go out in the community and float the idea of a boundary change, go ahead, but I for one will not be supporting that measure."
http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/article.asp?archive=
true&article=14732&paper=65&cat=106
More from Mr. Gibson:
"The new boundaries will be drawn to relieve overcrowding at Westfield HS and Chantilly HS, and therefore new students will likely come (to South Lakes HS) from the west (in the possible direction of Fox Mill, Crossfield, Floris, or McNair elementary schools) rather than North Reston. The only middle and elementary school boundaries that could be affected are those around "Madison island," an area of Reston that is part of the Madison HS attendance area."
--- Oct 17 statement made to the South Lakes HS PTSA by school board member Stu Gibson -- as reported in the South Lakes HS PTSA Nov. 2007 newsletter.
Evidently Mr. Gibson, Hunter Mill School Board member, feels it is OK to redistrict kids that don’t live in Reston into South Lakes since he is advocating for redistricting to add students to South Lakes, just not North Reston kids.
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JAMES RANEY
Newly elected school board member (1/10/2008 School Board Session)
“Our customers are our students, parents and taxpayers.”
(regarding problems with the process of the recent boundary study)
”The status quo should always be an option...”
(regarding the lack of compelling evidence for the proposed redistricting.)
http://www.fcps.edu/schlbd/minutes/20080110R.pdf
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TINA HONE
Newly elected school board member (1/10/2008)
“Prudent judicial process..”
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DEAN TISTADT
FCPS Chief Operating Officer/Asst. Superintendent
"Strictly from a capacity and facility standpoint, I don't see a compelling reason for the boundary study," stated FCPS Chief Operating Office Dean Tistadt at a FCSB work session on Nov. 12, 2007. --- Connection Newspaper article, Nov.15, 2007.
"All of the high schools in the study can physically accommodate current and projected enrollments." --- Mr. Tistadt at the Nov. 12 town hall meeting“…the school system considers the optimal size of a high school for program purposes to be about 2,000 students”, according to Dean Tistadt. "Schools that are smaller – like South Lakes – have a hard time offering classes like Discrete Math, Pre calculus Honors, Finance, Economics, Piano and Animation.” --- Connection Newspapers Article, Nov. 15, 2007.
Yet other schools that are smaller than South Lakes such as Falls Church High School that manage to offer many of these optional classes.
Falls Church is an AP school not bound by the limitations of the IB program.
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NICK PESCE
FairfaxCAPS.org
WFHOACC
"Those against redistricting have been accused of being 'racist, bigoted and prejudiced' for not wanting to go to South Lakes High School. The issue has never been about race. Instead, this accusation is a distraction method used by FCPS staff and board members to divert community knowledge and understanding away from the real issues at South Lakes... programmatic issues. Simply moving students to manipulate test scores and free-and-reduced lunch percentages is not a responsible solution to the real issues that have created an exodus of students out of South Lakes High School. ”
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BERNIE NAKAMURA
South Lakes teacher for 14 years, on the introduction of International Baccalaureate at South Lakes
“When the principal told us during a faculty meeting that he would be talking with real estate agents that afternoon to explain IB to them, I realized that this was as much an effort to keep the wealthy, highly educated families in our community as it was an educational asset.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/30/AR2008043001361.html
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FCPS SCHOOL BOARD MANUAL
on redistricting and over crowding of schools
“when possible, adjustments under this policy shall be implemented by attrition..”
(over crowding)This is interesting since FCPS enrollment projections reflect a self correction of the temporary over crowding of the high schools in the boundary study. Yet the recommendation was still made to redistrict these schools into South Lakes.
“provide for the consolidation of schools or redistricting of school boundaries or adopt pupil assignment plans whenever such procedure will contribute to the efficiency of the school division..”
We don’t know if any “efficiencies” would be created by the current redistricting recommendation or any of the others since no cost benefit analysis was ever done by FCPS.