Hmmm, it seems Fairfax County Public School (FCPS) officials are a tad defensive these days. How else to explain their decision to have the cops remove county resident Bruce Bennett out of the “town hall meeting” he was videotaping, a clearly legal activity under Virginia law? Bennett was among the estimated 2,000 mad-as-hornets Fairfax County parents who swarmed a Dec. 3 meeting demanding a moratorium on a controversial school redistricting plan. That plan is designed to fill 700 empty desks at Reston’s South Lakes High School by changing its geographic boundaries. We understand why these parents are upset, but instead of demanding a moratorium that won’t fix a seriously flawed process, it makes more sense to junk it and start over.
Fairfax education officials were already practicing Russian-style democracy before Bennett got the heave-ho. Stung by criticism at a meeting right after the November election, FCPS required Dec. 3 attendees to submit questions in advance — before they saw the official presentation on the redistricting plan. And attending parents had to meet in small groups chaired by FCPS “facilitators.” Such clumsy attempts to suppress public opinion fuel suspicions that the major decisions were made before the Dec. 3 meeting.
School redistricting is traumatic under the best of circumstances and must be done with the highest degree of transparency. FCPS officials failed on both counts. Dean Tistadt, FCPS’s facilities and planning head, reportedly admitted that “strictly from a capacity and facility standpoint,” there was “no compelling reason for the boundary study” in the first place. Six high schools were covered by the Western Boundary study used to justify the redistricting plan. Those six schools have irregular boundaries that look like artificial, politically gerrymandered constructs, which is exactly what they are. Most striking is the so-called “Madison Island” enclave, directly north of the Dulles Access Road. Students there attend Madison High School in Vienna, despite its being almost completely engulfed by the South Lakes district. They are also much closer geographically to the Reston school. Also, why does the boundary study exclude Madison and Langley High School in McLean, both of which are overcrowded and directly adjacent to the underenrolled South Lakes?
School officials are trying to force boundary changes on communities that have already been redistricted five times in nine years. One mother told The Examiner that her three daughters will have diplomas from three different high schools, even though the family hasn’t moved since 1991. It’s time for a new approach. As for Bennett, school board Chairman Daniel Storck owes him an official apology. The Examiner has asked Storck when that apology will be made.
