My Interview Question Regarding the School Boundary Changes

My interview question regarding the school boundary changes

I am a homeowner from the Hunter Mill District. I am currently serving as a board member at Oak Mill HOA.
Many residents in our community are very concerned with the upcoming school boundary changes proposed by the current Fairfax school board. As November election
is approaching fast, many campaign materials are circulated in our neighborhood. Some are confusing and contradicting. We’d like to hear your opinions regarding the school boundary changes directly, either in general terms or in specific details. It will assist us to better understand you as a school board candidate and your politic stands and views.

Your response will be greatly appreciated. I will forward your response to our community without any change.

Thanks for your help.

Wei Xiao

Answer from Paul A. Costantino (candidate for At-Large board member)

Dear Wei,

A broad-scoped boundary change will disrupt the lives of thousands of homeowners who incorporated school choice decisions into their home purchase decisions. In addition, potential boundary changes may include significant restrictions on pupil placement policies, possibly eliminating parents' choice to place students in schools with the AP, foreign language, and advanced science/mathematics courses. The existing pupil placement policy offers flexibilities that should be maintained.

I am against all redistricting in the county at this time until all community members and the new school board has a chance to thoroughly investigate the issue. I would propose a one year moratorium to study this matter, involving all of our community leaders and our public officials to determine what, if any changes, need to take place.

Thank you for taking the time to bring your concerns to my attention. Your support Nov. 6th would be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely yours,

Paul A. Costantino, M.Ed.

Answer from James L. "Jim" Raney (candidate for At-Large board member)

Dear Wei Xiao:

Thank you for your inquiry. I have been getting so many inquiries about this issue that I have added a new section to my campaign website dealing with my position on School Boundary Changes,

http://jimraney.com/redistricting.aspx.

Please let me know if this does not answer your question fully, or if you have other questions.

Sincerely,

James L. "Jim" Raney, Ph.D.

703-244-9445 (Cell)

www.JimRaney.com

Authorized by James L. "Jim" Raney, Candidate for Fairfax County School

Board At Large, and paid for by Friends of Jim Raney, 6062 Alexander Avenue,

Alexandria, VA 22310

Answer from Stephen M. "Steve" Hunt (candidate for At-Large board member)

Dear Wei

Here is my position on the upcoming boundary review. If you have more questions or would like to have members of your community meet with me, please let me know.

Steve Hunt

I recognize that this is a very sensitive issue for many parents, and that parents understandably have a great deal of angst and frustration when they think that I or any other school board member has already made up his or her mind on the matter before the process has even begun. Due to the many requests for my position, I am providing a single response to all. I hope that this covers your questions.

I have not made up my mind. I have made some observations that are factual and have explained those facts to people that have asked me about the review. I am driven by the facts and by the data. In past boundary reviews I have met with any community that requested a meeting. I have laid out the facts of the boundary. I have explained to them how to work within the system. I have offered guidance to groups whether I was going to support their proposal or not. I have brought forward ideas that were generated in the community. I have even offered up community ideas when I was not going to support them so that the community had a chance to be heard and have their idea put to a vote. If anything, I have been an annoyance to the staff for asking about further options and variations right up to the time the Board has to vote.

Many people have asked for my position today as though I were voting today. If I were voting today, I would have attended three community townhall meetings and listened to the community concerns. I would have listened to the community speak at the public hearing. I would read hundreds of emails from the community. I would have done my own data analysis on the student population trends. I would have met with community groups and groups of parents. Based on all of that input, I would make a decision and vote. I have not had the opportunity to gather and synthesize all of that input. It would be highly inappropriate for me to give specific answers regarding any area of the boundary review. If I were to give an answer now, there is a very good chance that the additional input would cause me to change my answer later.

I will continue to meet with groups that would like a face-to-face discussion on the boundary process. I have developed a reputation throughout the areas that have had boundary reviews in the last three years for being a school board member that listens to the community and will ensure that their ideas are included in the boundary discussions. If re-elected, I plan to closely monitor the process and to engage with my constituents whenever possible. I will listen to the community and the staff as they present their concerns and their ideas. I do intend to ensure that the School Board discussion includes taking advantage of the available space at South Lakes for the development of a magnet program.

Note:

I greatly encourage everyone concerned to participate in the townhall meetings. Even if it appears that they are a waste of time, continue to attend and especially participate in the breakout sessions. The breakout sessions are where the staff records the public comment. If someone else says what you were going to say, say it again. Be heard, be counted. Even if it appears that your area is not going to be affected, stay in the process until the very end. It could change at any time. The Board has the prerogative to make changes to the staff recommendation. Speak at the public hearing in January. Be aware of the discussions at the working sessions in January and possibly February. That is where the ideas of the Board members will be expressed. Let the School Board know what you think about the ideas being discussed by the Board. If the Board adds another hearing due to significant changes, speak again.

Why a boundary review?

Westfield High School needs relief. The core capacity of the school is 2500 even though there was a brick and mortar addition that brought the classroom capacity to 3100. There were no improvements to the cafeteria, library and other core facilities. Even though the projection has them below the 3100 capacity, there is need for further relief. While I have not heard from the community, the facilities staff believe that Chantilly is also in need of relief.

South Lakes High School needs more students. With the number of students being significantly below capacity, South Lakes HS cannot provide as many elective and upper level core subject opportunities.

Taking these into consideration, I see the need to review the boundaries in and around those schools.

I am very open to other creative ideas for the use of space at South Lakes HS. I am in favor of and believe that developing a magnet program should be one of the options discussed by the Board.

Answer from Ilryong Moon (candidate for At-Large board member)

Thanks for your email. First of all, please note that there is not any boundary change proposed by the school board. Anything to the contrary is not true. The school board directed the staff to do a study and come back to the school board with a recommendation or recommendations for the school board's decision.

I am open, and will remainso, to all different viewpoints and opinions. Please share with me any and all information you think is relevant. Please also participate in the upcoming town meetings and the public hearings later. I will not make up my mind until and unless we go through the entire process, including the school board work sessions and the deliberation at the school board meetings.

Answer from Stuart D. Gibson (candidate for Hunter Mill District)

Dear Wei Xiao,

Thank you for your questions. Unfortunately, I have been traveling a lot for work this week and have not had an opportunity to prepare a response. Would it be OK if I responded to you this weekend?

Thank you for understanding,

Stuart Gibson

Answer from Christine A. Arakelian (candidate for Hunter Mill District)

Thanks for reaching out to me.

In general, I support a magnet program at South Lakes that is an academically-competitive program and would draw top students from all over the county and the Western portion of the County. This will require consensus from the South Lakes community and surrounding communities, but I believe it can be done.

You can find a more detailed explanaton of my viewpoints at http://blogs.arakelian.com/christine

Please feel free to contact me if I can answer any further questions.

Kind regards,

Christine Arakelian

Answer from Christian N. Braunlich (candidate for At-Large board member)

Thank you for writing and asking my views regarding the West County Boundary study and possible changes that will be proposed by staff. I apologize for having taken so long to respond - we are at that stage in the campaign where there are too many things to do, and no staff or time to do them, so I have only now gotten the chance to get to some of my emails.

A boundary change cannot be entered into lightly. Parents move where they move precisely because they want their children to attend a particular school. I know when my family moved from a townhouse into a single family one of my goals was to make certain we stayed in our current elementary school boundary (and our move was taking place during a boundary change, so I understand deeply how and why parents are concerned about the uncertainty). That was my expectation, and I'll do my best to meet that expectation for all parents.

As you may know, I have not been on the School Board for four years, so I have not been a part of the discussions that have taken place on the Board since 2003.

I did previously represent the Lee District (1995-2003), and one thing I learned is that it would be wrong to make a decision before hearing out all of the issues. I understand the rationales for doing a West County Boundary study (and disagree with some of them), but I do think that staff should come back with its recommendations before candidates or elected officials take a pre-determined position.

At this point, there have been no boundary recommendations made by staff.

That said, if I am elected, there are a couple of principles I will employ in boundary changes. And I want to offer some thoughts specific to the West County boundary study and possible recommendations.

First, I plan to listen. School system staff recently admonished Board members not to meet with citizen groups during the boundary process -

and there were some current members of the Board who agreed. That is nonsense. School Board members are representatives of the people who elected them, and they not only have the right to meet with constituents at any time - they have a responsibility. And any member who refuses to do so is shirking that responsibility.

Some School Board members need to be reminded that they are not instruments of the school system; they are instrumentalities of the public. I would plan to be at each boundary community meeting and hearing and make a point of hearing community concerns directly.

Second, if a boundary is to be changed, there needs to be a solid reason for it. The primary reason must be because of long-term overcrowding or underpopulation in a school.

There are those who argue that changes sometimes need to be made to improve conditions at one school through the addition of students with higher socioeconomic characteristics. Besides being demeaning to all parties concerned, the fact is that I've seen this tried before and where it has been tried it doesn't work. The way to improve a school is to improve it.

Third, as an At-Large member, I place a great deal of stock in what district members say. No one knows an area like the person who represents it and his or her views should weigh heavily. That said, even as a District Board member in the past, I reserved the right to vote to amend a boundary plan if what was on the table seemed particularly damaging. And I will certainly reserve that right again should I be elected as an At-Large Board member.

As for the West County boundary change specifically, my observations at this point are these:

1.) I have heard from a number of parents about the need to relieve overcrowding at Westfield. Although the addition (which I voted for before leaving office in 2003) provides additional classroom space, the numbers continue to put some level of strain on certain core facilities: gymnasium, cafeteria, library, etc., as well as student participation in athletics and other extra and co-curriculars.

More importantly, some concern has been expressed about the validity of projections for Westfield as a result of development that may (or may not) take place. Having watched projections for the South County High School be off by a huge figure (sufficient to force a re-boundary by the current board, sending 500 students back to Hayfield Secondary), I think its important to make certain of what inputs go into such a projection.