October 9 FairfaxCAPS Meeting…

Coppermine Boundary Study

On October 9, FairfaxCAPS held a community forum to present information about the Fairfax County School Board’s Coppermine Boundary Study.  The meeting was attended by parents of children who attend or will attend schools within the study area.  These schools are Floris, Herndon, Hutchison, McNair and Oak Hill.

The Coppermine Boundary Study is to establish attendance areas for the new Coppermine Elementary School and to address capacity enrollments at Floris and McNair Elementary Schools.  Coppermine will be located at 2480 River Birch Road, Herndon.  The capacity, although subject to change due to program offerings, is to be 823 students with 32 classrooms.  The land for Coppermine was obtained from a proffer and the construction of the school was part of a 2005 bond referendum.

Mary Mireles, a parent of a child at Floris, provided a power point presentation that included the introduction of criteria selected by staff to use when establishing attendance areas for new elementary schools.  The criteria include:

• help balance enrollment
• accommodate projected enrollment
• have geographic proximity
• provide socio-economic and ESOL balance
• adhere to core capacity
• respect man-made and natural barriers
• accommodate current enrollment
• reduce boundary lines
• minimize split neighborhoods
• minimize split feeder assignments
• maximize program stability
• minimize additional capital/operating costs
• any other factors that will contribute to the improved operational efficiency and instructional effectiveness of the school system

During the presentation, parents raised questions and concerns about the redistricting of their neighborhood into Coppermine and surrounding schools.  Comments ranged from children walking to their neighborhood schools to the impacts on neighborhoods and children from the school board decisions to redistrict or reprogram the same neighborhoods.  The group identified criteria they believed to be of great importance in redistricting attendance areas.  The rating of these criteria follows:

• Provide equity in redistricting -- meaning don’t redistrict the same neighborhoods regardless of school (elementary, middle, or high school).  Don’t redistrict neighborhoods for elementary school who were just redistricted for high school.  Total 30 votes
• Have a Cluster 8 GT center that would feed Rachel Carson.  Total 22 votes
• With the budget crisis, keep walkers as walkers.  Total 15 votes
• No split feeders.  Total 11 votes
• In all analysis, include all eligible students in the community regardless of where they go to school today.  Total 10 votes
• Provide balance among schools for ESOL and FRL.  Total 7 votes
• Project beyond 5 years.  Total 5 votes
• Verify capacity projections and accommodate current enrollment.  Total 5 votes
• No gap in continuity in FLES program.  Total 2 votes

FairfaxCAPS encouraged the group to attend all information meetings that may be held by the schools, parent teacher groups, or neighborhood meetings.  Many parents stressed the importance of being informed and in attending the November 13 and December 10 public meetings about Coppermine.

View the Fairfax County announcement regarding the opening of Coppermine Elementary School, the scheduling of town hall meetings, and map of existing boundaries for the affected schools.