|
English | Español | አማርኛ | 中文 | 한국어 | Tiếng Việt | العربية | فارسی | اردو
The Dunne Dispatch (School Boundaries Edition, Part 2) - 10/30/2024
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
First, I am writing to invite you to participate in my Virtual Town Hall on November 11 @ 7:30-9:00 PM. Click here to register. I will present on academic outcomes, cell phones, school boundaries, and other issues. There will be a Q&A, so you can ask any school-related concerns and questions.
Second, I am writing to share the new schedule for high school graduations, which has changed. For example, the graduation for Mount Vernon HS was scheduled to be held at D.A.R. Constitutional Hall in Washington, DC, but after consultation with Principal Cary Dimmick, I successfully advocated for the graduation to be moved to the Mount Vernon HS stadium. I am continuing to advocate for FCPS to accelerate the construction of stadium bathrooms for Mount Vernon HS, so they are available for use during the graduation celebration.
- Edison HS: Tuesday, June 3 @ 2 p.m., EagleBank Arena, George Mason University
- Lewis HS: Tuesday, June 3 @ 9:30 a.m., EagleBank Arena, George Mason University
- Hayfield SS: Thursday, June 5 @ 9:30 a.m., EagleBank Arena, George Mason University
- Mount Vernon HS: Tuesday, June 3 @ 7:00 p.m., Mount Vernon HS Stadium
- South County HS: Wednesday, June 4 @ 7:00 p.m., EagleBank Arena, George Mason University
- West Potomac HS: Monday, June 2 @ 9:30 p.m., EagleBank Arena, George Mason University
Third, I am writing to publish a series of newsletters on school boundaries. This is the second in the series. FCPS is conducting a comprehensive reassessment of school boundaries for the first time in 40 years. There are many opportunities for community engagement. Please see my October 16 newsletter, which describes how to ensure your voice is heard regarding potential changes to school boundaries.
Please do not hesitate to contact my office if I can be of assistance with any school-related issues. Please note that the School Board is a part-time position, so please excuse any delays in responding. Please include my staff aide Nelda Brown (nnbrown@fcps.edu) to ensure a faster response.
Very respectfully,
 Mateo Dunne, Mount Vernon District Representative
IN THE NEWS:
-
Northern Virginia Magazine recently published an article about the comprehensive reassessment of school boundaries, which explains the rationale for the boundary review and discusses the School Board’s focus on boundary stability and community engagement.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT:
You can submit questions regarding school boundaries or advocate for changes (or no changes) to particular boundaries here. Your messages will be delivered to the Office of Facilities Services and Capital Programs, which is managing the school boundary review.
FCPS has created a webpage to keep you informed about the boundary review process. This will be the central repository for information about the school boundary review. Once a meeting schedule is determined, it will be posted to this webpage. I recommend you bookmark this webpage and check it every couple weeks.
FCPS is planning the schedule of community meetings for Round 1 (November 2024-March 2025). I expect the schedule to be published by the first week of November.
WHO DECIDES (ADVOCACY GUIDE) - UPDATE:
The School Board has exclusive responsibility for determining school boundaries, so I recommend you focus your advocacy on your School Board representatives.
The Board of Supervisors, the General Assembly, and the State Senate do not have any role in the determination of school boundaries, so these elected officials will refer any communications regarding school boundaries to your School Board representatives.
If you live in the Mount Vernon District, your representatives on the School Board are:
SCHOOL BOUNDARY POLICY REVIEW (POLICY 8130):
The School Board studied potential changes to its school boundary policy (Policy 8130) for several years before adopting a new policy in July 2024.
2018:
- FCPS performed a national study of best practices for school boundary management, to include a comparison of FCPS practices with the top 50 school districts in the United States.
2019:
- FCPS identified multiple factors that affect student outcome, to include overcrowding, socioeconomic diversity, split feeders, and travel time.
- FCPS reviewed Policy 8130, which governs the establishment and revision of school boundaries.
- Staff recommended prioritizing capacity utilization (with an optimum capacity utilization of 85-94%), geographic proximity/travel time, and socioeconomic diversity.
- The School Board considered potential revisions to Policy 8130, to include:
- Prioritizing factors such as geographic proximity/travel times, non-establishment of attendance islands, operational efficiency, safety for biking and walking, and socioeconomic diversity;
- Limiting boundary changes to no more than once every three years;
- Limiting the Superintendent’s discretion to enact administrative boundary changes;
- Requiring the Superintendent to recommend boundary changes annually in response to new geographic features; and
- Requiring phasing wherein students in their final year of elementary, middle, or high school are allowed to remain at their current school.
- The School Board requested the Superintendent to hire an outside consultant to identify best practices in boundary management and engage with the community.
- FCPS hired MGT Consulting to perform the work.
2020:
- MGT Consulting surveyed best practices in boundary management.
2021:
- MGT Consulting engaged with the community about boundary management.
- MGT Consulting recommended that the School Board:
- Prioritize the efficient use of school buildings;
- Centralize or regionalize programs with great demand to ensure equitable access for all families;
- Limit travel times; and
- Formally evaluate school boundaries every 5 years.
- The community engagement found that respondents supported:
- Limiting travel times of 30 minutes or less;
- Constructing additions or adjusting school boundaries to remedy overcrowding;
- Adding new programming or adjusting school boundaries to remedy under-enrollment;
- Adjusting school boundaries every 2-4 years, every 5-10 years, or as necessary; and
- Adjusting school boundaries to keep student cohorts together, reduce travel times, and ensure equitable access to programming.
2024:
- The School Board considered potential revisions to Policy 8130.
- The School Board adopted a new Policy 8130, which requires a comprehensive reassessment of school boundaries at least every 5 years.
- The new Policy 8130 prioritizes the following factors for boundary changes:
- Equitable access to programming;
- Efficient and effective use of school facilities, to include the elimination of split feeders;
- Geographic proximity, to include the elimination of attendance islands; and
- Travel times, to include safety for biking and walking.
- The new Policy 8130 requires extensive community engagement, to include:
- Community meetings (in person and virtual) in all FCPS regions before any changes are proposed; and
- Community meetings (in person and virtual) for every high school pyramid after changes are proposed.
Through the following links, you can watch the School Board discuss potential changes to Policy 8130, and you can review the presentations and reports provided to the School Board.
- School Board Work Session (October 15, 2018) – Agenda and Video 1 2 3
- School Board Work Session (February 25, 2019) – Agenda and Video
- School Board Work Session (March 11, 2019) – Agenda and Video
- School Board Work Session (July 22, 2019) – Agenda and Video
- School Board Work Session (December 14, 2021) – Agenda and Video
- School Board Work Session (February 13, 2024) – Agenda and Video
- Governance Committee (February 22, 2024) – Agenda
- Governance Committee (March 12, 2024) – Agenda
- Governance Committee (April 15, 2024) – Agenda
- Governance Committee (April 16, 2024) - Agenda
- Governance Committee (May 20, 2024) - Agenda
- Governance Committee (June 18, 2024) - Agenda
- School Board Work Session (June 25, 2024) – Agenda and Video
- School Board Regular Meeting (July 18, 2024) – Agenda and Video
- School Board Regular Meeting (September 12, 2024) – Agenda and Video
- School Board Work Session (October 8, 2024) – Agenda and Video
For more information, you can review the following FCPS websites:
The views contained within this newsletter reflect the views of the individual school board member who is the publisher of this newsletter and may not reflect the views of the Fairfax County School Board.
© Fairfax County Public Schools, Fairfax County, Virginia
|
