Hearing to Focus on School Needs in Ashburn, Leesburg and Dulles

It's funny how the feeder system is thought of as the best thing since sliced bread. To hear some people talk about it, the feeder system will solve all of the overcrowding problems in Ashburn for years to come. That simply won't happen. Let’s look at the recent history of middle school boundaries in Ashburn. The same kids that are being proposed to move high schools now are the same kids that moved middle schools 2 years ago. And these are the same families that had older kids move middle schools 2-3 years before that. So, yes the Arcola ES move is in the distant past, but it still happened. And what happened in the last 5 years is that the same DNs were moved from Eagle Ridge to Belmont Ridge and back to Eagle Ridge. Now they are being asked/told to move high schools. So to recap, if this proposal goes through, those of us living in DN35 will have been moved 3 times in 6 years! Seems like a great system!
I just don’t understand how anyone can support a feeder system when the area is still growing and the boundaries are changing every 2-3 years. The proposed move this year only sets up the next move in 2 years. Those in Ashburn Farm living between Hay Rd and Ashburn Farm Pkwy are going to Belmont Ridge now. They are the next ones to be moved to Eagle Ridge. Because of this move, there will be kids in Broadlands that will have to move from Eagle Ridge to Stone Hill. This is the domino effect of the “Southern Shift” caused by trying to implement the feeder system.
Yes, I think a feeder system will work. Eventually. Look at Leesburg and Sterling. They both have direct feeds setup and have the same number of middle/high schools. Leesburg just got it this year with the building of Tuscarora. Funny thing is, the school board didn't finalize the feeder system in Leesburg until Tuscarora was a reality. How can we setup a feeder system in Ashburn when growth is still happening? We don't have the correct number of schools to do this (1 more MS than HS). What happens when One Loudoun and Loudoun Valley Estates starts building? There are other communities that are planned in the near future in the Ashburn area that have to be taken into account. If we don’t plan for them now, then boundary changes will continue to happen every 2-3 years. Don’t believe those that tell you setting up the feeder system now will be the final move in Ashburn.
One other thing people don’t like to hear is that if we setup the feeder system in Ashburn now, as some would like, we would have kids living in the same court going to different high schools. This would happen because of the grandfathering of younger siblings who have a senior at that high school. That would require two separate busses to stop in the same area, going to two different high schools. That ought to be fun.
The other thing I don’t understand about the feeder system is why the elementary schools are not included. Look at Sanders Corner. Once kids graduate 5th grade, some go to Belmont Ridge and some go to Eagle Ridge. There is no continuity there. I thought continuity was the whole purpose of the feeder system. We’ve already seen the lack of continuity for many kids in Ashburn having to change schools because of overcrowding.
Let’s stop talking band-aid fixes (feeder system) and start talking long term fixes. Let’s get the schools built where the students are and stop bussing them all over the county for the sake of keeping the feeder system intact (which, by the way, has not been intact because of the constant boundary changes in the last 5-6 years).

Unfortunately, that is a very short sighted approach. That is what has gotten us into this mess in the first place.

These 2 new schools are already in the CIP. It's not "if" they will be built, but when and where. I think if we can figure the when and where, that is a better all around solution to the problem. There is no doubt that HS6 is needed in LVE, but just not until 2015 or 2016. Belmont Ridge is already overcrowded and Eagle Ridge is near it. Look at the numbers. Those schools are needed in the northern Ashburn area now and will certainly be needed as further growth happens from the new developments planned.