Arlington County, Boundaries, and Public Schools

Tonight was a School Board hearing. They are trying to decide how to relieve some over crowding in one of our schools, and one proposal on the table is to shift almost every elementary school's boundaries, moving 650 school children to a new school in the fall. Many at my school would not only change schools, but were walkers (within three blocks) and would now be bussed.

I gave a two minutes speech tonight. Here it is:

Overcrowding. Problem. Portables, noise, crowded hallways and classrooms. Not a pretty picture. Worse than moving 650 Arlington school children?

Well, let’s look at that. Researchers at Purdue University in a 2007 study found the average moved child loses 4 months to a year, both academically and socially. He or she loses time, loses ground. Schools with high rates of transition start over creating a nurturing place for children to learn. The surrounding community loses some of its communal identity, losing time and ground.


I was a military brat. For 12 grades I went to 8 schools. My children are military brats—my son is on his 3rd school already. I know what I am talking about—I speak from the soles of my shoes—when I say that moving schools is so hard. Hard on the child, the school, and the community. We all lose time and ground.

But kids are resilient, right? They’ll be fine. Yes, shift the ground from under a child and he’ll survive. But here in Arlington we’re used to seeing our children thrive. Our schools have a culture of community that other schools I’ve seen first hand can only dream of.

Yes, overcrowding is an ugly problem. Moving massive numbers of school children in order to shave a few percentage points off the crowding? Much uglier.

The solution is total grandfathering. Make change that will truly relieve overcrowding. Apply those changes to the families about to enter public school. Let this current group of school children play out their fleeting childhoods where they began. Members of the board, we still have time to keep our collective feet on the ground.