School board to consider elementary school boundary changes
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| A boundary adjustment could relieve overcrowding at Glen Forest Elementary School in Bailey’s Crossroads. |
Families in the Justice High School pyramid are invited to a series of meetings March 9 and 10 to discuss a proposal for adjusting elementary school attendance areas.
Many of the elementary schools that feed into Justice have experienced an increase in student enrollment in the past several years. Fairfax County Public Schools is proposing a boundary adjustment to even out enrollment across schools.
Parents should attend one of the following virtual meetings.
Tuesday, March 9:
Glen Forest and Sleepy Hollow – 6-7 p.m. Register here.
Bailey’s Elementary and Bailey’s Upper – 7:30-8:30 p.m. Register here.
Wednesday, March 10:
Belvedere and Parklawn – 6-7 p.m. Register here.
Beech Tree and Mason Crest – 7:30-8:30 p.m. Register here.
Any approved boundary adjustment related to the elementary schools will not change middle or high school boundaries.
At the boundary scope meeting, FCPS staff will explain the process and provide background information. Community members will then work in small groups to provide feedback to staff about what schools might be considered in changing the elementary school boundaries.
The second step in the process is a boundary study meeting. During the study, options are presented for the community to consider. The options are based on input the community provided during the boundary scope meeting.
The community will provide feedback on the options. Based on the feedback, staff will make a recommendation to the school board. The school board will then schedule a public hearing before taking action on the recommendation to adjust the school boundaries.
2 responses to “School board to consider elementary school boundary changes”
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There has been a proposed solution for this area's overcrowding issues for about 10 years – allow the Willston site to serve school purposes again. That was codified in the 7 corners comprehensive plan. Instead of moving that process forward, this process is presented during a pandemic – when FCPS has seen an enrollment decline, area schools are in accreditation waivers, and many have had leadership transitions.
Before the pandemic, my local elementary school (Sleepy Hollow) saw consecutive years of dramatic test score declines in reading, science, and history – with only 62% of students passing their reading SOLs and 67% passing science. https://schoolquality.virginia.gov/schools/sleepy-hollow-elementary#fndtn-desktopTabs-assessments. I have serious concern that my school's accreditation was in jeopardy even before the pandemic. FCPS doesn't seem to have a plan to address that and yet wants to throw even more variables into the mix.
This is without us even tackling the the fact that Ricardy is "starting a dialogue" on returning 6th grade students back to elementary schools (middle schools would just be 7-8) to make us like the rest of the county (which would impact the elementary level even more).
The only school redistricting study I witnessed was finished before the study started. I don't know the current politics here, but somebody on the School Board has a pretty good idea how this one's going to work out. Facts be damned. If you care, figure out who's doing the study and how as soon as possible.