DRAWING THE LINE
School board reaches final decision on boundary adjustments
sophomores, juniors and seniors in the area will be grandfathered in and remain fter nearly two years of deliberation, the at McLean High School. The high school Fairfax County School Board has finally boundary change will begin with rising determined how to proceed with boundary freshmen in the 2021-2022 school year.” adjustments and redistricting plans, hoping Following the board’s final vote on the to alleviate overcrowding at McLean. adjustment, Tholen urged the board to make With McLean currently at 118% an exception for eighth graders, who she capacity and Langley with room for nearly argued were hit especially hard this school 400 additional students, the conversation year. In addition to coronavirus restrictions, surrounding boundary adjustments has been boundaries and virtual learning, Langly Highchanging School a priority in recent years. At a meeting on Feb. eighth grade students may be affected by 4, the FCPS school board voted 11 to one to the recent changes to the Thomas Jefferson initiate the changes outlined in Option B. High School for Science and Technology “[Option B] would adjust the boundaries admissions process. of McLean High School, Langley High “[In] a nod to the hardships our School, Longfellow Middle School and Longfellow eighth graders are undergoing angly District Cooper Middle School,” Dranesville district this year, I would like to move that rising representative Elaine Tholen said. “The ninth graders residing in the area of change cLean District change would adjust the feeder pattern of will have the option to attend Langley High the District Colvin Run Elementary School split School or be grandfathered at McLean High eassigned feeder area, [and] portion[s] of the Spring School,” Tholen said. McLean d District was previously Hill Elementary School and West Briar Both motions amassed widespread e McLean District School Elementary School High split feeder area[s].” support, and the new adjustments are Tholen stressed that elementary school scheduled to take effect in the 2021-2022 boundaries would not change as a result of school year. Even so, the decision sparked the adjustment. She explained the plan for controversy. affected students, referring to grandfathering, According to the boundary study data a method that would spare current middle collected by the county, Option B will and high school students from reassignment. reassign about 190 students to Langley and “Rising seventh grade students will around 78 students to Cooper. The plan is attend Cooper Middle School, [with] rising only expected to reduce capacity at McLean eighth graders grandfathered to remain at to 95% by the following school year, which Longfellow Middle School in the 2021- prompted questions about its long-term 2022 school year,” Tholen said. “Rising effectiveness. HANNA BOUGHANEM REPORTER
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NOVA High School Boundary Map
Langley High School
Langley District McLean District Reassigned Area *Reassigned area was previously part of the McLean district
Infographic & page design by Ariana Elahi
McLean High School
“I can’t reconcile not finding ourselves here five years later in the same place because we didn‘t make the best adjustment we could have,” school board member-at-large Abrar Omeish said. “We know that Tysons is one of the fastest-growing development areas. If we look at the trends, I don’t feel that [Option B] is the most long-term solution.” Despite sharing similar concerns, many parents agreed that Option B was the best of the three proposed solutions. “Option B would address the board’s priorities and reflect the preferences of several families,” one parent said at a community meeting on Jan. 28. “It would [also] extend diversity, as about half of [the] homes in our neighborhood are of international origin and multilingual households.” Still, a group of students and parents disagree with the school board’s decision. They view redistricting as a temporary fix to a much larger problem and, instead, advocate for a complete renovation of McLean. “McLean High School is one of the smallest schools in the system, and we’re expected to support this development coming out of Tysons,” one parent argued. “[There is sufficient] data to support planning for [a] permanent addition to McLean High School.” Junior Atticus Gore agrees that a renovation is necessary. “The board has taken a step in the right direction,” Gore said. “[But] our hallways are still overcrowded, our building is not safe and the school board must continue working to resolve these issues [by] budgeting for an expansion at McLean.” Since the first boundary adjustments proposal in 2018, both the community and school board have been split on the matter. After two years of heated debate, school board members expressed their confidence in the decision. They also emphasized the need for the community to move on. “We listened very closely to what the community was saying along the way,” Tholen said. “No option is perfect, [but] we looked at a lot of things, we did a lot of analysis and we are moving forward.” FEBRUARY | NEWS | 9
