Superintendent to Make New Recommendation for Stone Bridge High School Attendance Zones

The Superintendent provided advance notice to the School Board late last week that the staff is preparing a new recommendation regarding attendance zones for Stone Bridge High School (SBHS). Last Spring the attendance zone process ended without the School Board resolving the overcrowding at SBHS.

 

Because it has become all to obvious that funding for future construction projects will be severely limited, the Staff's recommendation will propose to move the Lansdowne community's students to Tuscarora High School (THS) in a phasing that either starts in the past manner with all rising ninth and tenth grade students being assigned to THS or an a plan that would phase in one grade per year. In either case upper class-men will be given a choice of moving or staying.  However, its been over 40 years since LCPS opened a high school with a senior class and I don't expect to do it at THS.

 

The planning documents will be sent to the School Board in soft-copy later this week. The issue of determining SBHS's and THS's attendance zones will be presented as an Action Item to approve the attendance zone process calendar at our November 10th meeting. The process will include at least one public hearing and a School Board Attendance Boundary Work Session. The Superintendent expects adoption of a plan at our December 8th meeting.

 

I don't for see a need to consider attendance zone changes to Briar Woods, Broad Run, Heritage, or Loudoun County High Schools. Students that are currently in the approved Tuscarora High School attendance zone should not be involved in this rezoning process either.

Comments

[Jennifer Lee]

I live in River Creek, so the attendance boundaries don't really affect me. However, I wonder if it make sense to bus Lansdowne kids past/through Potomac Station, Spring Lakes, Red Rocks and River Creek on their way to Tuscarora. That's alot of driving for new teenage drivers to do just to hang with their friends. I forsee many more fender benders in Leesburg.

I also speak from experience in that parents in our neighborhood have to drive across town to have our kids visit with kids in their elementary class (passing 2 or 3 elementary schools along the way). Our elementary school boundary is also a "island" as Lansdowne will be.

Also, if the argument is to have kids go to their "local" school, why don't some kids in Ashburn Farm go to Broad Run, certainly it is closer for some.

Just some food for thought.

[Sonya Kalian]

Ms. Lee;
Good point...logical. But what I see that maybe you don't is that this decision to move Lansdowne into THS is another example of "politics as usual". There is no common sense in this particular boundary process. Blatant manipulation and abuse of office. Shame on those school board members who feel that a decision must be made so quickly. What is the big RUSH? Decide for the long term so the next group of school board members aren't stuck with yet another mess.

[Vicki Loucks]

The timing of this "recommendation" is quite suspect to me. Is this really from the Superintendent (who happens to be in China at the moment) or is it at the request of a member of the board? The staff is required to prepare information at the request of board members and the Chairman controls what is on the agenda. Is this instead a play by Chairman DuPree to ram this through to a vote before his term expires at the end of the year? Given that Dupree lives in Ashburn Farm and has be quite vocal in his opposition to Lansdowne (see his closing comments at April 28 Board meeting) I for one am very suspicous. Add to that the FACTS - the fact that Lansdowne overwhelms Tuscarora just a few years after arriving, - the fact that there are empty seats at Briar Woods that could accomodate the excess at Stone Bridge WHILE creating straight feeds between Middle and High Schools,- the fact that this would be a temporary move with NO PLAN for the future - it just doesn't add up. Give the students a long term solution, don't disrupt the feeder system that Loudoun County has worked so long to create, and don't make bad decision just to accomodate someone's political agenda!

[Margaret L.]

For once, this is a decision that actually MAKES SENSE. We have three Ashburn High Schools that are over capacity. Stone Bridge has just under 2000 students in a school built for 1600. Among other issues, kids have no room to walk in the hallways, can't go to the bathroom, have no lockers, and can't get into the classes of choice since they are all full. Broad Run can't give any aid as those kids are in trailers already. Briar Woods opened this year with almost 100 students more than expected. With no new HS in site for 4-6 years we MUST use seats in the other county high schools where they are available. Tuscarora has room and so this decision, while difficult, is a must.

[Margaret L.]

Ms. Lee,

I agree it is never a good idea to have students go further than needed. So, keeping in that same theme, why should students who can WALK to Stone Bridge have to get behind the wheel and drive to a school of much greater distance?? Lansdowne students currently need to either drive or be bused to HS. That will continue no matter where they go until a HS is built in their community. Why would we want to have two communities of young drivers on the road?

[Karen K.]

All of the Ashburn High School are at or above capacity. There really isn't any room for the Ashburn kids to move anywhere. Broad Run, Stone Bridge and Briar Woods are full. I think this is just a matter of poor school placement. There are just so many Landsdowne kids and no school in their neighborhood.

[John Ramsey]

Ashburn wants to continue to attend the Lansdowne middle school while simultaneously attempting to throw Lansdowne out of the Ashburn high school?

The "plan" that is being railroaded now is a guarantee of future moves for Lansdowne to an unknown location. This alone should exclude it from consideration. There needs to be a plan where all communities are on the table and when the shuffling is done, everybody has a permanent home. Yes; even if that means that Ashburn must give some ground as well.

The fact is that any solution that doesn't involve Ashburn AND Lansdowne BOTH making some concessions at this point is going to leave long-lasting scars on both communities. And any plan that is rushed through the process will not feel right either. The process should look more like science than politics.

[Karen K.]

I think something will happen to the Ashburn kids at the middle school level. Belmont is too crowded and I think they'll have to leave. I dont' know where they would go, but I agree that that they shouldn't go to middle school in Lansdowne and then go to high school in their own neighborhood. It does mess up the feeder system.

[Margaret L.]

Lets face it. What is eventually needed is a MS for Ashburn Farm and a HS for Lansdowne. I think we should all realize that this is what is needed and work together for the common good of both communities.

[Jennifer Lee]

If Ashburn Farm is concerned with being able to walk to school, why not Broad Run, which most could walk to also. I know, BRHS is at capacity, but Briar Woods is not...at least not yet. (Don't flame me yet till you read on...).

Please understand, I'm not advocating for Lansdowne to go to SBHS. I also don't think that "feeder schools" is that important (our elementary splits and all are fine). I just think the whole High School boundary thing is really messed up. Heritage is next to Simpson Middle and Evergreen Mills Elem., but none of those kids attend Heritage, which some could WALK to, rather they are bussed to Loudoun County. So if you want to argue walking, make it County wide...

The boundaries in Leesburg and Ashburn need to be revisited as a whole. Having Lansdowne as an island going to a Leesburg high school bypassing other neighborhoods makes no sense. Having them go with some of the nearby neighborhoods (i.e. contiguous boundaries) makes sense. Young drivers would be closer to their friends than driving across Leesburg. Also, making Lansdowne an island like this will so segregate the Tuscarora population. It will be so much easier for the kids to just hang in their own neighborhood. Imagine living in Lansdowne and driving to Lucketts to see a friend? Not gonna happen. Yes, that is the territory covered by this school. Yet if that friend lived in a close by neighborhood...

Also, for those that say that there are open seats in Leesburg high schools, have you taken a look at the hallways at Heritage lately? The kids there have to share lockers, if they even have a chance to go to them at all between classes as the halls are so crowded. One of my neighbor's kid is routinely late for class just getting from one class to the other. I believe that Heritage is even MORE crowded than Stone Bridge, and Tuscarora was built to alleviate that crowding. And yes, what happens in 3 years (when my kids will be well into high school) and Tuscarora is over crowded. Will those kids come back and re-overcrowd Heritage?

If all of the boundaries are blown up and started over, we might have more sensible boundaries.

[John Ramsey]

So then, would moving Ashburn kids to a (north of) Leesburg middle school ever look like a good solution?
Anybody?

If not, why does moving Lansdowne to a north of Leesburg high school look so attractive?...and how is it different?

How exactly is one community fighting to boot another out of the planning district "working together"?

[Karen K.]

The reason that Simpson does not go to Heritage is that the schools are not sized to "feed" properly into each other. In order to get a match in size, Simpson has to go to County and Harper Park has to go to Heritage. Yes, it's messed up but it won't change. Also, Stone Bridge is at 121% of capacity this year and Heritage is at 118% of capacity this year. The only relief for these overcrowded schools is at Tuscarora and at Woodgrove.

[Margaret L.]

Hey, lets not forget. Ashburn Farm kids have been sent to schools throughout the county! AF kids have already been to Seneca Ridge in Sterling AND Harper Park. That is where the open seats were for them and that is where they were sent. Until we are able to open new schools we must make due with what we have. One of my children is sent to the 5th closest elementary school because that is who has a seat open.

[Margaret L.]

All,
Again as I said above. We all need to come together and address and solve the problem together! Nothing will get solved with all the back and forth. Why are we all not fighting for a new High School north of the Greenway!! Why is Ashburn Farm the ONLY community fighting for the WHOLE OF ASHBURN by asking for a new MS AND a new HS?? This will solve the current problem. In Ashburn Farm's request we keep all communities together.... including Lansdowne, Ashburn Village, Ashburn Farm, Broadlands, Brambeton....etc. etc. Please lets work together. We need to use what we can for now, but PUSH for the optimal long term solution.

[John Ramsey]

Jennifer, The whole "walking" argument doesn't fly and doesn't matter...agreed. And, as you point out other schools have kids next door that don't attend the school, like Heritage. Kids that live across the street from Broad Run HS attend Stone Bridge, even though they can see the lights, hear the music, yada yada.

The whole planning district needs to be shifted so that everybody in the planning district attends a school close to their neighborhood and within the district. This doesn't mean everybody should walk or that students close enough to a particular school to walk will attend that school though. The schools don't belong to the neighborhoods. It should mean that all students would attend some school that is "close by" and they shouldn't be driving past other communities to attend a distant school.

[Gail Forney]

Last year all of the communities involved in this boundary issue went through this big process where community input was taken (as though it mattered), where expert staff recommended a solution (as though it mattered), members of the community spoke at several long public meetings (as though it mattered) and then, no decision. Tom Reed stepped in in the 11th hour and redirected everything with a different plan and almost succeeded in sending Lansdowne to Tuscorora but couldn't get the votes. Now, after all of the fake process we went through, we're back to the same bad solution. It smells.

Tom, you should be ashamed and so should all of the supporters of this plan you propose.

[Margaret L.]

Dear Mr. Ramsey-

If you believe that all schools are community schools and that walkability isn't valuable, then will you be OK if the School Board decides to move some of Lansdowne students to Harper Park since it has open seats? It is next door to the community and is easy access? 200+ students need to be moved out of BRMS, so is it OK if it is Lansdowne?

I hope your answer is a resounding NO! It should be. BRMS is in the Lansdowne community, but some students will need to be moved out at the next boundary change which is coming sooner rather than later. If that logic is used for one community, then it should be used by all and has been used by all in the past.

Common Sense -- let's join together and get this fixed. A joint sub-committee recognized this need and we all need to come together to get this fixed once and for all. A new HS, a new MS, and a new MS north of the Greenway. Can we at least agree on that?

[Lorena S.]

Margaret
The only reason AF is "working" for a new HS and MS is because they are supporting it as a smoke screen. There is no way we can get either of those approved in the CIP in time to make a difference to the problem we are facing now. Even if the BOS miraclulously approved the funding, finding suitable land at a suitable price is highly unlikely. In the infamous words of on SB member "that phantom school" will never be built.

[Margaret L.]

Lorena, it is an attitude like that which will never make what is needed a reality. For our children, we must work together and make this happen. We need more schools to support our children. Eventually Lansdowne will fill an entire HS almost exclusively by themselves. Do you really think it is a reality that they would bus not only Ashburn Farm out of Stone Bridge but also Belmont Country Club and all of the surrounding smaller subdivisions and let Lansdowne remain? It is a fact that there needs to be another high school!

[Karen K.]

Lorena,
Which School Board member called it a "phantom school?" I'm curious!

[Jill T]

Okay, so we've kicked the school problem down the road to 2014. Then what? 2014 is only a few years away. At that point, ALL of the high schools in Leesburg and Ashburn are full. Who gets moved then? And to where? Do Leesburg kids get moved west to Woodgrove? Who gets moved to Loudoun Valley Estates? That's a hike for both Lansdowne and Ashburn Farm. Does Potomac Falls have any capacity?

There aren't that many options here so the county owes it to residents to tell us what they plan to do. We're not going to magically get another high school in the next 4 years. (Long-time residents know it takes forever and a day to get high schools approved and built in Loudoun.) And the county is just about out of Band-Aids.

[Jennifer Lee]

I do realize that Simpson "fits" LCHS nicely. However, if you are going to argue split feeding and ability to walk, apply it across all schools and make all boundaries make sense!

That or hey, lets seriously look at trailers. In this economy, a new HS in northern Ashburn is a pipe dream. I don't think the voters will go for it, especially when they are crying for lower taxes. I would vote for it, but most won't.

When we lived in Ashburn Village in mid 90s, if I remember correctly, Broad Run had trailers. Also, Loudoun Valley has been dealing with trailers for at least a decade. What about using some of their now no longer needed trailers?

And yes, Leesburg parents will definitely be fighting to keep their kids in Leesburg schools in 3 years when Tuscarora is overcrowded. Where will Lansdowne go then?

Something has got to give here on all sides for the long term that makes economic sense.

[Margaret L.]

Trailers help with classroom space, but does not alleviate the problem of impassible hallways, no lockers, not enough room for more tables at cafeteria, students can't getting into bathrooms, students unable to partake in activities due to they are filled. They also don't alleviate gym and library capacity issues.

[Margaret L.]

Based on what you are saying, Ms. Lee, we should we fix Seldens Landing and Belmont Ridge MS with trailers too, correct?

[Jill T]

Actually, I think there probably are quite a few parents in Lansdowne who would rather have trailers at Seldens Landing than bus kindergartners down Belmont Ridge Road to Belmont Station Elementary.

Anyone who doesn't believe we need a new high school in Dulles North should visit Seldens and take a look at how many kids are in the younger grades there. Seldens has 8 second grade classrooms.