Boundary Adjustments – The first phase of adjustments will examine different options for moving students from Crozet Elementary to Brownsville Elementary for the fall of 2009. Staff is currently reviewing 5-year projections, numbers of students at each grade level, current location of students, and predicted growth to develop viable options to be presented to the community in May. After the community presentation. a web-site will be developed to receive input through the summer. Staff will then consider the input, look at September 30th enrollment numbers, and finalize options to be brought forward to the Superintendent and ultimately to the School Board.
Over the next year, staff will toke (sic) a comprehensive look at capacity, projected enrollment numbers, and anticipated growth to address capacity issues for the entire Division. Topics of discussion will include the current structure of K-5, 6-8, and 9-12, assumptions regarding feeder patterns, and routing of buses.
Henley Middle School is run by militants?
Greatschools.net has some recent reviews of Crozet’s schools, some positive, some negative. Is Henley really run by militants? This seems like something that school officials should respond to. They are marketing a product – education – and this type of review potentially damages their credibility and marketability.
Also the new administration this year runs the school in a military fashion. We had a bullying issue with my honor roll student and the pricipal’s solution was to suspend the students if they made eye contact. We suggested mediation and he would not even entertain the idea.
Parents (and non-parents) – this site is used by potential homebuyers and sellers. For many people, school district is the number one choice they make – everything else is almost irrelevant. If these opinions are not fact-based, school officials would do well to respond. If they are truthful, homeowners and tax-payers would do well to get involved and fix things.
Contrast the above with this review of Henley –
This school is an amazing school. The teachers are really interactive and get you ahead of the other schools. That way, there is not as much stress in the next couple of years.
Is there recent data available that could verify the alleged suspensions?
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No competition for school board in White Hall
Barbara Massie Mouly, the White Hall representative for the School Board, is running for re-election. Who knew?
Elections should always be contested.
One wonders whether she would consider blogging from the School Board seat.
What questions do you have for the Crozet candidates?
They wouldn’t actually represent only Crozet, believe it or not; they represent all of the White Hall district, but for those of us in Crozet, it may seem like it. (PDF is here)
Now that there are three candidates in the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors’ race, what questions would you want to ask them?
David Wyant, the incumbent, native of the area.
Ann Mallek, very involved native of the area.
Tom Loach, very involved transplant, not that it matters much.
(why bring up whether one is a native or not? It matters to some)
Top issues? –
– Growth
– Transportation
– Property Taxes
– Downtown Crozet
What does the population of Crozet look like now? How different is it than four years ago?
Some possible questions –
– Do you support ASAP’s desire to find an “optimal population” for Albemarle County?
– Do you support David Slutzky’s Transfer of Development Right plan?
– What are your thoughts on transit? How would you seek to implement transit locally and regionally, if you support it? If not, why not?
– Would you support a local or regional sales tax to help pay for transportation needs?
– What does your vision for Crozet look like?
– What are the intended consequences of slowing or stopping growth and what might be some of the unintended consequences?
– What do you think about Crozet incorporating as a town?
Technorati Tags: crozet, growth, growth area
On the Albemarle County School Budget
I whipped my last letter together in about 10 minutes before I went to my daughter’s soccer practice, and after reviewing it, I made some errors. Where ever I wrote BOS (Board of Supervisors), I meant the School Board. The BOS appears to be listening to the will of the people which is why there is discussion of a rate cut. I have no confidence in the school board, superintendent, or the downtown administration. By the way, I’m more than willing to pay more for school if there is accountability. There is no accountability here, just speculation and excuses with no data.
That being said, for the last few days we’ve been receiving these emails about supporting what I consider, ridiculous spending. I wasn’t trying to start some deep discussion or controversy over the subject, I was just curious if there were other recipients that disagreed as I did. Most times when there is discussion about school spending, it doesn’t get my attention. This one did. Doesn’t mean I’m wrong or right, just that I disagree. And if you’re going to send political email to my house, and you’re welcome to, if I disagree, I’m going to let you know.
So my message was quickly written and I need to clarify a few things. Recognizing that we have so many of our local teacher and administrators on this distribution list, I wanted to say that even though I think this spending is out of control and needs to be reigned in, I don’t think the problem is at the school level. Living with my wife, I don’t think too much of No Child Left Behind, but I don’t believe it’s the budget buster that is being portrayed here. I think the problem is all down town. I think we need more information on what goes on down town, who works down town, and what they do. It’s my opinion that this is where the waste is, but if anyone can get this information, please share it. How many failing teacher and administrators have they created new positions for down town? How much does the county spend on bringing in some specialist contractors to tell or teachers the new metho d they will be using to teach our kids?
I believe (and I admittedly don’t have the information because it’s not available) if we eliminated 50-70% of the people downtown, and allowed our teachers to teach, we would have smarter kids, a better environmental, and fiscally responsible education. To have the increases that we are having, something is wrong, and it’s not happening at the school level.
The other thing that bothered me is the intentionally misleading data that we have seen in these emails Then there’s the, I’m not sure what you would call it…..shakedown? They always say if they don’t get the money they want, they will have to cut teachers. It’s always the teachers that must go first. In reality, they have plenty of fat to trim down town and other places, but instead they throw this emotional blackmail at the parents.
I looked at the data again. It was a 63% increase in school budget from 2000 to 2007 with a 2% growth. I’m not saying anyone is not informed on their decisions. I just think that kind of increase is absurd, and NCLB and 2% growth doesn’t explain it. All I’m saying is we need to stop giving this irresponsible school board and superintendent a rubber stamp to whatever they want. I want a better explanation. I think we should call them on it.
By the way, none of this gets me angry and as far as the growth goes, I have participated in that process too, speaking at the Old Trail Planning Commission meeting, working on the Crozet Park Board etc..
My apologies to the superb teachers, administrators (local) and employees if I offended you. It was not my intention. Nor was it my intention to enflame anyone. I just wanted to see if anyone else was thinking the way I was. And you’re right Patty, I don’t need to sign the petition. I’ll just write directly to my supervisor.
ed note: The above is courtesy of Brian Campbell. This type of discussion is part of the reason that this blog was started. Please feel free to contribute to the conversation or submit stories candidly, not everything will be published, but please do contribute. Accountability and transparency qualify as “good things.” The more discussion and oversight by the citizens, the better.
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Redistricting nears in Crozet
One of the most telling lines of this story, detailing the impending moves of 90+ kids was the last line of this quote depicting Crozet’s nearing self-sufficiency:
“Our biggest concern is that we’re being separated from the community that we live in and are a part of,†said Kathy Rainey, whose two children at Crozet would be moved to Meriwether. “Where we live, we are part of the Crozet community. To send us to Meriwether Lewis is taking us out of where our teams, churches and volunteer work are. We don’t normally go into Charlottesville to recreate.†(bolding mine)
We’re getting close. Once the Old Trail Town Center (please don’t call it the Shoppes of Old Trail, or something equally contrived!) comes online, the sidewalks are built to facilitate walking and Downtown’s resurgence continues, why would anyone go to Charlottesville?
More information at Albemarle County’s site and Brian Wheeler’s SchoolMatters site.
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Redistricting in Crozet
Crozet children and their families are facing another redistricting.
NBC 29 reports and the Daily Progress has more information.
From the DP:
The number of students who will be redistricted will be decided by Jan. 15, and school administrators will present parents with new boundary options the division is considering, said Diane Behrens, director of support and planning services for county schools.
The School Board will hold a public hearing in early March before it votes on the options.
Current elementary school districts are shown here on Albemarle’s website (PDF)
Crozet’s School Board representative can be reached here:
Barbara Massie Mouly
265 Newtown Road
Greenwood, VA 22943
540/456-6191
Update: I neglected to mention that Brian Wheeler is also our school board representative, by virtue of his being the At-Large member of the School Board. I have said many times before that Brian’s openness and level of communication (and methods) ought to be emulated by more politicians.
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Crozet School Feeder Patterns
Click through to read the entire release regarding possible upcoming changes in the Public School Feeder patterns and how you can get and stay informed.
Related reading: SchoolMatters blog
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Loss of a school site in Crozet
School Board member Brian Wheeler’s comments.
Mr. Franco just said the previous plan was up around 400 [units] for a neighborhood model development, keep in mind that the School Division’s long range plans that are in the Crozet Master Plan are based on a population of 12,000 people. That elementary school site was to serve that level of population. And my understanding is that the housing recently approved in Crozet would already exceed that [population] if it was all built and all the people moved in.
Read them all.
Crozet School growth
For those of you who don’t read Brian Wheeler’s School Matters blog, you should. He has done a tremendous service with his most recent post regarding the potential for school overcrowding in Crozet. Take the time to read it all as well as the attachments. You’ll be better informed citizens and parents for it.
Make no mistake, even if you do not have children in the County school system, what happens to our schools affects all facets of our lives, from our houses’ values to the basic quality of life in Crozet and beyond. If only more public servants were as capable and as open as Mr. Wheeler.
Our representative for the White Hall District is:
Barbara Massie Mouly
265 Newtown Road
Greenwood, VA 22943
540/456-6191
Update 11/29/2006: Brian Wheeler has a story about the now-upcoming addition to Brownsville Elementary, among other developments.