Coraggio Consulting
Loudoun County Public Schools, School Board Elementary School Attendance Zone Public Hearing & Work Session, Wednesday, November 5, 2025

Date: Wednesday, November 5, 2025
Place: LCPS Administration Building / School Board Room, Ashburn, Virginia
Length: 1h 33m (video)
Official meeting video (Vimeo / LCPS-TV): https://player.vimeo.com/video/1133625495?rel=0

Machine transcript (speech-to-text) produced by Coraggio Consulting. Not an official county record. Names and numbers may be misspelled; check the video at the timestamp before quoting.
Speech-to-text: whisper.cpp, model large-v3-turbo. Produced 2026-10-13. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video.

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[00:00:31] Good evening. I call to order this November 5th, 2025 Loudoun County School Board Attendant Zone Public Hearing and Work Session, Ashburn and Dulles North Secondary School Attendant Zone Change Process. To begin, I want to inform everyone that Dr. Bergen is Dr. Spence's designee for this public hearing and work session. Welcome, Dr. Bergen, to the days. We'll start with item two, Staff briefing, Department of Support Services, attendance zone briefing presentation presented by Ms. Beverly Tate,

[00:01:09] Director of Planning and GIS Services. Oh, and Mr. Lewis, I think, is coming up, too. But I know it's Ms. Tate's show, so. That's a scary thought. If you would indulge me one more time, because I didn't promise I was getting rid of folders, but I made them lighter.

[00:01:33] If I could go through what is in your packet this evening. We have a copy of tonight's presentation, which is currently on BoardDocs. The link is live on our webpage, so those listening at home or watching here can access it.

[00:01:50] We also have a copy of both the R11, Staff Plan R11 and Staff Plan R17, the map, the forecasted K5 enrollment, as well as the rationale.

[00:02:07] And for a point of clarification, we have updated the Staff Plan R17 rationale after last Tuesday's meeting because we failed to mention a planning zone in that. Then also have a copy of the tracking chart, which allows you to look to see which planning zones are moved with each plan.

[00:02:29] They're highlighted in blue if we've moved to them. And at the very bottom of the last page of the tracking chart, you'll see a sum total of resident students. If there were attendance zones were in effect today, that would be how many resident students K-5 who would be impacted by the plan.

[00:02:47] Then, a very last minute add to the website this afternoon, as well as to your folder. We've had several requests for people asking what planning zones include what communities. So while we provided that graphically in these lovely notebooks and spiral bindings that you have, we've also provided this list.

[00:03:10] It includes completed, approved, but not completely built, as well as proposed development. and then we've got the speaker list for tonight and I would be remiss the crew in the back it's not just me I'm just like the person in the curtain but I would like to thank AJ Susan Josh and Jake in the back who have been part of

[00:03:36] this in our planning GIS team from the get-go now is it on so before the hearing tonight I would like to if you would indulge me give a little bit more detail than I did at last Tuesday's board meeting we recognize that your agenda was long and so we wanted just to give an update on a recap of last week's meeting talk about redistrict and then the public hearing and then if you

[00:04:13] have any questions for us at the work session we are here at the November 5 public hearing work session the next public hearing work session is November 24 December 2 is an information item at which point if there are other plans board members wish to have considered they would be reviewed at that point so that the focus can then be on those actively considered plans at the December 8th public hearing before board takes action on the 16th again we are

[00:04:46] here policy regulation 6530 guides this attendance zone process and in that it asks that all school attendance zones be comprehensively reviewed every five years this fall's process focuses on the Ashburn Dulles North attendance zones next fall we anticipate looking at Eastern Loudoun and then next spring we would be looking at all middle and high school attendance zones tied to the opening of HS 14 in Parkview High School there are number of factors the board considers when changing school attendance zones it may not be

[00:05:26] reasonably practicable to reconcile each and every one we know there are have conflicts with them, and we know that different factors have greater importance to different individuals.

[00:05:42] This is the area we're looking at, I believe it's 67 square miles, I'm trying to remember, it involves 18 elementary schools. All of the information that we provide to you, the board, we provide links to the board meeting agendas, but all the information that is part of this boundary process is or will be posted on the web page as we proceed through this process.

[00:06:10] We have Q&A. We have about 17 questions that we've answered. I thought we were up to date and then we got a couple more late this afternoon so we'll be providing those answers tomorrow. But we have maps. The map books that you all have, we've provided that link on the web page as well as individual components of that should people not wish to scroll through the full document.

[00:06:34] the right-hand side here you'll see this fall 2025 ES boundary process we have with the help of communications office have a direct link on all 18 elementary schools homepage that's the website they hit most to find out information about their children's school so instead of having to use the URL we have here they just locate that on the home page on the banner bar and they can then be directed directly to this page a lot of the information on the web page and you've got a graphic here of the map book cover we're providing student

[00:07:12] counts by planning zone so the DN stands for Dulles North or DS stands for Dulles South for whatever reason when we started this we did not create an Ashburn abbreviation so Ashburn and Dulles North actually share the DNs we provided the elementary middle high school attendance zones for this current year, as well as resident student counts and six-year enrollment projections for next fall through the 20, 31, 32 school year.

[00:07:41] The maps, we've provided walk zone detail. We've provided residential development information graphically as well as now in a chart form. And then again, I mentioned the map book. We also have the various policies as well. We've had some folks ask how they determine their planning zone as they start this process.

[00:08:03] So, on our website, the Boundary website, we have this information as well. But if one clicks on label, our Loudoun Attendance Boundary e-link, you will have to put in your house number and your zip code. And then you hit find address.

[00:08:20] And then it will take you to a list of addresses in Loudoun County that share that house number. You can then determine your planning zone as well as your election district. It will also give you your current school attendance zones. We have a disclaimer on the website, that yellow message on that first screen that talks about this current ongoing attendance zone process.

[00:08:40] So if one selects 26-27, it's going to reflect what attendance zones are in effect right now. But that will change and we will update it once the board takes action in December. We are again partnering with Virginia Tech to provide a platform for you board members to look at various plans for your constituents or others to prepare plans to offer up for consideration if a board member wishes to champion his or her plan or a plan from someone

[00:09:14] in the community we will map that and we will post that and provide that we will not be mapping every plan that's mapped with redistrict we realize it's a tool but as advocates for community members and you have received emails from those who have created I think right now we have seven plans that have been created on redistrict but this is an opportunity we provide Virginia Tech and partnership they have the exact same information that's on our planning zone counts and so folks can tweak plans they might say I really don't like either of these staff plans but what if we move to

[00:09:51] this planning zone instead and so it gives one the opportunity to do that Ms. Chernoff, you had asked about special permissions the other night, and so we're provided, thanks to the student services folks, we've provided the special permissions that were approved through the end of August, reflecting the differences between the schools.

[00:10:15] We also are providing regional assignments following policy 8155 as well. So as certain grade levels get full, so at Ashburn Elementary, Their first and third grades are full, and so regionally assigning students to either Belmont Station or Newton-Lee, and it often depends upon where they live in the school district.

[00:10:37] Some of these counts do reflect siblings because that's an option that's offered. If a first grader is being reassigned and maybe her fourth grade sibling, they want the students at the same school. Discovery Elementary, it's the kindergarten where we have no additional classes of kindergarten, So they are attending Cedar Lane.

[00:11:01] And then this is a special programs chart. So it's where the special programs are located. We're providing special education as well as the STEP, the Starting Towards Excellence in Preschool program, and then the Dual Language Immersion program that's offered at Sanders Corner.

[00:11:18] So we're just providing this, and this is the number of programs that are being offered at each of the schools. We've had some questions from parents and community members, So we just wanted to, again, restate the definition.

[00:11:36] Student enrollment is reported annually. It's based upon where the students are attending school, where they're enrolled. This would include students who are by special permission at a school or, as we just saw, with those who are regionally assigned. It is not necessarily the school that serves their residents.

[00:11:57] A resident student is based upon where the student lives. So our planning zone information is based upon where these students live, not necessarily they go to school. Now I'd like to kind of go in a little bit more detail about the staff plans from what we had last Tuesday night.

[00:12:15] To start, we have nine schools that are not being recommended for change with the staff plan R11. It's Ashburn, Belmont Station, Cedar Lane, Creighton's Corner, Elaine Thompson, Newton Lee, Rosalie Carter, Sanders Corner, and Waxpool.

[00:12:33] We are making recommended changes for the following. Area 1, which reassigns planning zones D&O1, 012, and 016, which are a portion of Landsdown, as well as D&O2, which is not Landsdown.

[00:12:53] I want to clarify that. We have lots of emails on that. That is the Potomac Farms community. It's also Janelia Farms. We're Howard Hughes Medical. We're recommending all four of those planning zones change from Stuart Weller to Selden's Landing. We're also recommending that two planning zones in the current Dominion Trail attendance zone portion of Ashburn Village transition from Dominion Trail to Stuart Weller.

[00:13:24] This would include houses in DN05 off of Glenburn, Silkworth, Potter, and Lavinia Terrace, just a point of reference. I know Ms. LaBelle had said she'd like to have a couple street references. Planning zone DN17.2, there's our residence off of Tillman Terrace and Lowry Park in general.

[00:13:46] We're also recommending two planning zones change from Hillside Elementary School to Mill Run Elementary School. They're both within the Broadlands community, DN 44.4 includes homes off of Crescent Park Square, Dry Ridge Terrace, Farmington Square, and then as well as Rickenbacker Square and Novi Terrace.

[00:14:11] Planning zones DN 48.1 and 49 are comprised of Loudon Parkway Center development. They're being recommended to change from Moorfield Station to Discovery, and they are generally off of West Wind Drive.

[00:14:27] And then the final area or planning zone that's being recommended with Staff Plan R11 is moving the DM 36.8 portion of Madison's Trust planning zone.

[00:14:42] So that is off of Brambleton. Generally, it's the northeast corner of North Star Boulevard and Creighton Road. So that would include houses off of Sullivan's Cove in Brookbank Square.

[00:15:00] So, with this recommended, again, these are projected K-5 only. We're not looking at preschool. We're not looking at the dual language students. We have intended to balance available capacity to better use our facilities, and staff was kind of looking at an 80 to 90 percent ratio.

[00:15:25] And then we were also trying to ensure equitable access to programs and facilities, both current and future. So we have discovery in this plan, we have discovery at about 84%, I can't even read my handwriting, 783 if you look at the far right columns here.

[00:15:45] We've got Mill Run is sitting at about 81% with 631 K-5 students. Madison's Trust is at 95%, and I should say that with both Madison's Trust and Creighton, And when we've provided the base capacity, we've provided it without the modular classrooms that are on the campus.

[00:16:07] So they are at, I'm losing my track here, they're at 95% with 890 students. Sanders Corner, without the dual language students, they're at 84% with 547 students.

[00:16:23] But when we add the 150 students, that would be there with full implementation of the program for K-5 students. Sanders Corner would be at 107% with 697 K-5 students. And then Stuart Weller with this plan is at 95% in the out year with 823. So looking at this plan, we felt the need to create another plan to address the Sanders Corner as well as some of the larger enrollments here.

[00:16:54] So we came up with an alternate plan, and that is Staff Plan R-17. Again, the R-17 represents the 17 planning districts that are being recommended to move. In this instance, we have five schools that are not recommended for any attendance zone change.

[00:17:11] Belmont Station, Creighton's Corner, Discovery, Rosalie Carter, and Waxville. So R17, again, reassigns the previously mentioned planning zones of DN01, 012, DN016, part of Lansdowne, as well as the DN02 Potomac Farms off of Smith Circle.

[00:17:34] And it also includes a portion of Ashburn, Ashbrook Village, DN071. This is Ashbrook Village on the north side of Russell Branch. It's recommending that those planning zones transition from Stuart Weller to Selden's Landing.

[00:17:50] This plan also reassigns DN 16 from Cedar Lane to Newton Lee. This includes the ridges of Ashburn community as well as Belmont's estates. And then it also recommends to provide some relief for Sanders Corner.

[00:18:07] It assigns DN 29, a portion of Ashburn Farm, generally off of Crossroads Drive and Timber Ridge Terrace. It recommends that area move from Sanders Corner to Cedar Lane Elementary. Area 3 includes the same two planning zones being recommended to move from Dominion Trail to Stuart Weller.

[00:18:31] It also now includes a portion of Ashburn Village that's attending Ashburn Elementary. Off of Apollo Terrace, Rainsboro Drive, Ladiesburg, those are being recommended to move from Dominion Trail and Ashburn respectively to Stuart Weller.

[00:18:50] This plan only moves one of the two Broadlands communities or areas, DN44.4, from Hillside to Mill Run again. This also, though, changes the planning zones recommended for Moorfield Station to include DN48 and 48.2, which are both a portion of Loudoun Valley Estates on the south side of Loudoun County Parkway, kind of near Gleadsville.

[00:19:17] And then the one planning zone of the Loudoun Parkway Center, 48.1, which is on the west side of West Mill Drive, to recommend those go from Moorfield Station to Legacy. And then the final portion of this plan involves planning zones DS-081, 082, and 083.

[00:19:41] They comprise the Grant of Willisford, moving them from Madison's Trust to Elaine Thompson. This is a different look. We recognized in our plan R11, I'm sorry, that moving DN 36.8 was moving walkers.

[00:19:58] And so these are the only planning zones within the Madison's Trust attendance area that do not have any walkers in any of the plans. All other planning zones serving Madison's Trust have some walkers. So this plan, again, we were trying to balance available capacity, ensure equitable access to programs.

[00:20:22] This plan has Elaine Thompson, which is receiving the grant at Willisford, going to about 81% in the out year. Madison's Trust is still at 100% with 938 students.

[00:20:38] Sanders Corner, while it shows here at 69% with the 448 students, when we add in the dual language program at full program, they will now be at 92% with 598 K-5 students.

[00:20:55] And then Stuart Weller with this plan would have 833 K-5 students projected for the out year at 96% of the capacity. So, I just wanted to kind of recap how we looked at this from a staff perspective.

[00:21:12] We were, again, trying to balance capacity. We were looking at that 80% factor, 80% to 90% for ideal use of facilities. We were trying to ensure equitable access to programs, but we were also trying to use available capacity so that we did not need to build any new schools over the coming years.

[00:21:33] We felt we had available capacity within the schools that we had, these 18, and so that was kind of one of our focus points. For those watching at home, we are not recommending any changes to your secondary attendance zone at this time.

[00:21:49] If you are served by Eagle Ridge and your children go to Eagle Ridge, you will continue to do that no matter whether your elementary boundary changes or not. Likewise for Farmall Station, Belmont Ridge, Stonehill. And then we also wanted to just reemphasize that policy 8160 does potentially provide the opportunity for rising fifth graders, so this year's current fourth graders, should they be rezoned to potentially remain at and finish elementary school at their current school rather than changing.

[00:22:20] And we would initiate that survey process following board action on boundaries. here is our contact information again if folks have questions if there's questions or comments at the bus stop and you want to find the true answers you can shoot us an email all emails we've been receiving we're forwarding to you as board members so you too can see them we've provided the link there and I'm going to close with the calendar your next meeting on boundaries is November 24. In an ideal world, we would like to know what plans should be moving forward at the

[00:23:00] close of that meeting so that we will have that prepared for the December 2 meeting. The Thanksgiving holiday throws a little curveball to us, and so we would like to have those before the Thanksgiving holiday so that folks will know. And with that, I will conclude my remarks and happy to answer questions after the public comment or before your call.

[00:23:23] I think I have since that's the work session after public comment that we could just do it then. So again, this is a tremendous amount of work. Thank you so much. And thank you so much back there as well. I don't know how you could have possibly made it more organized for us.

[00:23:44] And I know that's a challenge because it's a lot of paper, a lot of maps, a lot of numbers. So I do. It is pretty amazing what you guys have done. So thank you. Okay. we will move on from staff briefing to the public hearing and I'll go ahead and read my script for public comment thank you for engaging with the school board through the public comment process the school board welcomes comments from Loudoun County residents and believes that strong community engagement and

[00:24:20] outreach are important components of a successful school system as a reminder tonight's public comments should be limited to the subject of tonight's public hearing and work session, which is the proposed elementary school attendance zone changes for the Ashburn and Dulles North planning districts. Speakers must limit comments to the time allotted, and based on the number of speakers in the agenda this evening, all speakers have been allotted two minutes each for public comment. Please be advised that speakers who miss their time slot will not be called at a later time. Decorum and civility. All audience members shall maintain civility, decorum, and respect for the functioning and the dignity of the school board

[00:24:59] at all times please remain seated unless arriving departing speaking at the podium or during a break violations of civility decorum and respect include shouting heckling jeering applause or other noise which disrupts or delays the meeting obstructing speakers from being able to see the school board and vice versa interrupting speakers attempting to speak when not called to do so by the chair and approaching a speaker otherwise attempting to intimidate disparage or distract a speaker staff member or other meeting attendees speakers should refrain from vulgarity obscenities defamation profanity or other like breaches of respect nor may speakers target criticize or

[00:25:37] attack individual students and or individual division employees during public comment as a reminder school board policy 2520 states speakers may not target criticize or attack individual students during public comment speakers should communicate those concerns to their school principal or an appropriate school official. The school board requests that comments on an individual student or employee related matter not be shared at public meetings where this closure could violate applicable confidentiality requirements. Speakers should face the dais and direct their comments to the school board. Per LCPS policy 2520, members of the school board

[00:26:15] will not answer questions or respond directly to the public during the public comment period. Violations of decorum or civility by any meeting attendee may result in the chair directing staff to remove the attendee from the remainder of the meeting. Repeated or persistent violations of decorum or civility by the audience may result in on the decision of the chair, public comment being tabled until a later point in the meeting's agenda, limiting the number of attendees in the meeting room during public comment for safety reasons, or the public comment period ending for the evening.

[00:26:47] Copies of materials for board members should be given to the public information officer in the media box at the back of the boardroom before the start of the meeting. Please provide 12 copies of the materials. Under no circumstances may a speaker approach the dais. The public is reminded that access to school board member meetings is available through LCPS-TV on Comcast Channel 18 and 1070 HD and Verizon Fios Channel 43. The live stream of the meeting may be viewed on the website and we look forward to hearing your comments and we'll now start with our virtual public comments and it

[00:27:22] starts with Tracy Whiteman followed by Megan Perry. So my name is Tracy Whiteman. Good evening board members and I live in Ashburn Village with my son, a student at Dominion Trail Elementary.

[00:27:41] We moved here two years ago this month from out of state and when we came here stability and community were top priorities when I chose where to live. My son had already lived in a different state almost every year of his life because of my work, and I wanted to give him a home base, one community, one school, one set of friends. I researched schools and neighborhoods carefully, and everything pointed to Ashburn Village and Dominion Trail Elementary School.

[00:28:07] The realtors I spoke with described the neighborhood as one of the most established and stable with no additional building or developments like some of the other neighborhoods. It took months of searching to finally find a home here because I was determined to be in this specific community. In these two years, we have built a community, a sense of belonging, and I've been active in the DTS PTA. My son participates in the various school events and rides the bus with his friends, plays and runs between houses on the weekend. And us as parents, we've also built friendships in this community as well. And we talk about how we look forward to our kids walking

[00:28:45] to Farmwell Middle School together, which is only a few blocks away. The proposed move of DN 5.3 and DN 17.2 to Stuart Weller Elementary threatens to undo all of that. At best, it disrupts children's friendships. At worst, it fractures a longstanding community. And if parents at Ashburn Village had wanted their children to attend Stuart Weller, they would have already applied for the school choice transfers, but they haven't. This proposal would also create instability for years to come since there are new developments within the Stuart Weller zone under construction.

[00:29:19] And if this proposal already pushes the school to 92% capacity, what happens when those homes fill? And will they be shifting our students again and with Dominion Trail sitting?

[00:29:36] Thank you. Next is Megan Perry, and then we'll continue with in-person. We do not have a caller by that name.

[00:29:54] Okay, thank you. So we'll move on to in-person, starting with Brian Colloran and followed by Tara Greenwald. Good evening.

[00:30:10] My name is Brian Colloran. I am a parent of three students that attend Madison Trust, a third grader and two kindergartners that are twins. Before I get into it, I want to thank Beverly Tate and her team for all the hard work that's gotten into this so far. It's tough work and that should be commended.

[00:30:27] When comparing the two plans, the R-17 plan impacts more attendance zones, more schools, and more students. However, it fails to resolve the capacity issue at Madison Trust. Under the R-17 plan, Madison Trust remains over 100% capacity in five of the six projected years.

[00:30:48] In addition, the R-17 plan does not adequately redistribute the utilization rates across the two districts. R-17 leaves 11 out of 18 schools with utilization rates of less than 70% in 2032. Under the no change scenario, doing no rezoning, only 9 schools are less than 70% utilization in 2032.

[00:31:11] On the other hand, R-11 successfully gets masked in trust below 100% capacity for all 6 years and maintains a balanced utilization rate. I struggle to understand why we would proceed with R-17 if it does not resolve the capacity issues that started this discussion. I want to draw your attention to two plans that are receiving very favorable response on the redistrict tool, user plan 681 and user plan 213.

[00:31:35] Both plans get more schools into the targeted 80% to 90% utilization range, including Madison Trust, and both plans get more effective rebalancing of all schools across the districts. I strongly recommend the board consider these alternatives.

[00:31:52] My final point relates to Elaine Thompson. In the R-17 plan, Elaine Thompson plays a key role in relieving capacity issues at Madison Trust. In the baseline projections, Elaine Thompson is expected to have attendance decline year after year until 2032.

[00:32:09] Given all the growth in Arcola area, we should consider if those projections are accurate. Thank you. Thank you. Tara Greenwald, followed by Sarah Cabrissus. Good evening.

[00:32:24] I support Plan R11 because it best satisfies policy 65-30 factors: effective use of school facilities, keeping schools close to home, maintaining cluster alignment, and minimizing disruption to families, especially special education students.

[00:32:43] Plan R17 falls short. Yes, it keeps a walk zone, but at what cost? R17 moves roughly 300 more kids than R11, yet still leaves Madison's trust over 100% much of the next five years r11 keeps madison's trust in the mid-90s instead plan 681 a publicly submitted plan on the redistrict tool improves balance further and keeps more schools in the staff's target range of 80 to 90 utilization the policy says cluster alignment should keep students with their educational cohorts to the greatest extent possible r11 and 681 do that by keeping

[00:33:21] brambleton peer groups in the independence high cluster by contrast r17 reassigns the willowsford grant area to elaine thompson with a different secondary cluster so classmates split after grade five the policy prioritizes proximity contiguity and reasonable access r17 sends willowsford grant farther and creates a zone separated from the main elaine thompson zone producing longer earlier commutes. R11 and 681 keep Brambleton assignments adjacent to Legacy Elementary. As a mom of two

[00:33:57] kids on IEPs, I am acutely aware of the need that special education students have for consistency at school. I urge you to minimize change. R11 and 681 relieve crowding without overmoving students, and they preserve space for special education programs. Please adopt R11 or 681. These plans best meet policy 65-30 factors, relieve overcrowding without overmoving children, respect proximity and clusters, and preserve stability for the students.

[00:34:27] Thank you. The next one is Sarah Cabrises, followed by Tracy Marabella-Evan. I'm speaking tonight because I have two children at Madison's Trust Elementary School and am in favor of Plan R11 over Plan R17.

[00:34:49] My first concern is that Plan R-17 fails to solve the critical problem of overcrowding at Madison's Trust. Plan R-17 results with Madison's Trust at over 100% capacity in five of the six projected years. My second concern is that Plan R-17 creates a non-contiguous school zone split for Elaine Thompson.

[00:35:07] Specifically, the Grant neighborhood will be the only community that is non-contiguous across both the Ashburn and Dulles North districts, leaving it isolated. R-17 also removes the grant from a cluster, which means they will lose the opportunity to attend middle and high school with peers because of the split at Lane Thompson.

[00:35:24] My third concern is that plan R-17 creates a situation where Madison's Trust becomes 100% walking school. Walkers often resort to driving. It is already an issue at Madison's Trust, causing many students to be tardy and traffic backups to North Star Boulevard and Brambleton Middle School. If all of Madison's Trust are walkers, then the lines will become even more overload in putting further strain on arrival and dismissal a mix of bus riders car riders and walkers facilitates a more streamlined process i also believe the cost of adding a few buses and plan r11 would offset the cost of overcrowding modular classrooms and potential future rezoning in r17

[00:36:00] my last concern is the current future projections for elaine thompson they show a steady decline in the attendance rates each year however prior year forecasts showed an almost full utilization at Thompson Elaine Thompson by 2031 the Arcola area is going to expand rapidly it has several approved residential developments to be built which are zoned for Elaine Thompson I am hoping for a reconciliation of the numbers to ensure the new developments are factored into the projections as a side note I love Loudoun County Public Schools I personally intended K through 12 here

[00:36:35] and graduated from Stonebridge High School go Bulldogs thank you for your time thank you Tracy Marabella-Evans followed by Melanie Ross. Hello, thank you all so much for all the work that you do.

[00:36:52] My name is Tracy Evans. I have a child who currently attends Madison's Trust Elementary. I am speaking in support of Staff Plan R11 or User Plan 681. I would like to point out to the board that the only difference between Staff Plan R11 and the User Proposed Plan of 681 that it rezones one additional community. That community would stay within its cluster and it would stay in a continuous zone. This plan further balances out the attendance across Creighton's Corner, Legacy and Madison's Trust, ensuring that all three schools are within the ideal attendance

[00:37:29] zone as defined by the school board. I acknowledge R11 or User Plan 681 does move a walking zone community. However, all rezoning is not created equal. These homes are being asked to commute one mile further than they already are.

[00:37:45] This will create a need for more buses, which we understand adds cost. But on the contrary, R17 removes our children from a cluster, which means they will not have the opportunity to attend middle and high school with their peers. With the overcrowding at Madison's Trust, modular classrooms may still be needed, which adds additional financial costs, along with an educational cost to our children.

[00:38:08] This plan asks that our children not only double their commute time to almost six miles, But with the start time going from 8 to 7:30 and the additional commute, it does add an additional stress to our children. So the difference between R11 and R17 is that one neighborhood adds one mile to their commute.

[00:38:26] This neighborhood will still have a continuous school zone and they still get to go to middle and high school with their peers while we're asking another community to be isolated from their peers, not be able to go to middle and high school with their peers and wake up in some cases 45 minutes earlier at a time that is already earlier for our young children. I thank you very much for your serious, thoughtful, and intentional consideration. Thank you. Thank you. Melanie Ross followed by Allison Brennan.

[00:38:55] Good evening board members. My name is Dr. Melanie Ross and I've lived in Ashburn Village for 33 years. I attended Ashburn Elementary when it opened in 1992 followed by Farmwell Station and Broad Run. Like Lansdowne, Ashburn Village is an established community. It was founded in 1987 and homes were built from the late 80s to 2008. I always knew I wanted my children to grow up in Ashburn Village and attend at schools. My spouse and I bought our home here in 2013 before having kids and 12 years later our daughter is in fifth grade and our son is in second grade at Dominion Trail. Both proposals aim to reunite

[00:39:34] Lansdowne community at one school but at the cost of further splitting Ashburn Village, raising our elementary school count from 3 to 4. Both DN 05.3 and 17.2 fall within walking distance of Farmwell Station, which should be a key consideration, especially since Stuart Weller does not feed into Farmwell.

[00:39:51] These proposals would shift children out of their current cluster for elementary school, only to return them to it for middle and high school. It's a disruptive shift with long-term implications to our children's continuity, and moving forward with either proposal will sever the sense of belonging the children have developed, thus negatively impacting their mental health and well-being.

[00:40:11] Since the proposals were announced, I've gone door-to-door in my zone DN 05.3 and gathered 119 signatures opposing the move to Stuart Weller. My neighbors and I share a common expectation that our children would attend one of two Ashburn Village elementary schools. DN 05.3 was already rezoned from Ashburn Elementary to Dominion Trail in 2014, but it remained in the village.

[00:40:33] Why are we looking at rezoning DN 05.3 again, and this time outside the village? I understand the need to balance enrollment, but I urge you to consider these proposals as they will drop Dominion Trails enrollment to 60% capacity and increase Stuart Weller's to 92%.

[00:40:49] Let's avoid fracturing one established community to consolidate another, and let's consider the still-growing One Loudoun and Concora areas that will feed into Stuart Weller. I beg you to keep Ashburn Village children in Ashburn Village schools within their designated... Thank you. Two minutes can go fast.

[00:41:11] let's see allison brennan followed by jamie woolert i think that's right am i right yeah good evening thank you very much for the opportunity to speak my name is allison brennan and i live in the belterra neighborhood i'm the mother of two sons who go to waxpool elementary school and one is in first grade and we are very much enjoying our time at waxpool both of the proposals leave our neighborhood belterra which is dn 34.1 and dn 34.2 at waxpool elementary

[00:41:45] I'm here speaking today to ask you to either move forward with those proposals or another proposal that would keep our neighborhood at Waxpool Elementary. Our family moved here right before my older son started elementary school, and we were then redistricted from Moorfield Station to Waxpool.

[00:42:07] Thankfully, we heard that we had a great incoming principal, and we've been really happy with the education and the school at Waxpool Elementary. our neighborhood has moved five times in about 20 years we aren't part of a huge HOA so I feel like sometimes we get shuffled a little bit more than maybe other bigger communities so we are asking to maintain the low utilization rate at wax pool at 64 percent and keep our students there we would like to also note that our neighborhood only has 51 students so moving us doesn't really

[00:42:43] move the needle in one way or another but we felt it was important as a neighborhood to speak up and just say that we appreciate the fact that in this redistricting our school wouldn't change for our children and i appreciate your time so with that i just want to close with the wax pool elementary school motto which is show respect work hard inspire others and make good choices so I urge you all to make good choice and let us stay at Waxpool, which is a wonderful school.

[00:43:13] Thank you. Thank you. Jamie Woolert, followed by Marika Rice. Hi, I'm a mother of three at Madison's Trust Elementary. I'm here to express my support of staff plan R11 and user plans 681 and 213. The R17 plan fails to solve the overcrowding problem at Madison's Trust, with forecasted to be over 100% in five out of the six next years.

[00:43:43] In contrast, R11 and User Plan 681 and 213 result in every school remaining below 100% capacity every year. I believe to alleviate Madison's Trust's overcrowding issue, the most durable long-term solution would be to rezone the higher-density Brambleton housing developments from Madison's Trust to nearby undercapacity Brambleton schools Legacy and Creighton's Corner. Legacy and Creighton's Corner have steady declines forecasted as the community matures. In contrast, rezoning students from Madison's Trust to Elaine Thompson presents more long-term risk since it's

[00:44:21] an area of active development with long-term residential developments already approved and potentially new ones coming in the future. With that said, I have three specific concerns about the negative impacts of rezoning the Willisford grant community out of Madison's Trust to Elaine Thompson as proposed in R17. First, I worry the grant of Willisford may be subject to multiple rezonings.

[00:44:43] The grant will likely get rezoned to ES36 when it opens in seven years. Prior to then, if Elaine Thompson reaches capacity with new residential developments, that could result in three rezonings in seven years. That would violate the stability consideration in policy 6530. Second, the grant of Willisford neighborhood will be isolated as the only community that is non-contiguous this violates the proximity consideration in policy 6530 third our 17 does not support the cluster alignment consideration for the grant at willisford after elementary

[00:45:20] school the students would branch into two or three different middle schools in two or three thank you um marika rice followed by sarita kerry i'm not good at public speaking so all right good Good evening. My name is Marika Rice, and I live in Rainsboro area, Zone DN05.1, for the past nine years.

[00:45:44] And I'm here tonight to respectfully ask you to reject redistricting Plan 17, which would move our neighborhood from Ashburn Elementary to Stewart-Weller next year. This change affects my whole family. Two of my children currently are students at Ashburn Elementary, and my youngest will be starting there soon.

[00:46:01] Moving schools would disrupt their learning, their friendships, and the community they have grown up in. I chose to live in Ashburn Village because of Ashburn Elementary, the strong community it offers. For five years, we've been active and involved. I've served on the PTO board for three years.

[00:46:17] We've spent countless hours volunteering, and we've contributed funds to support programs, staff, and students at Ashburn Elementary. It's not just a school for us. It's where we've built relationships and a true sense of belonging. There's also no capacity reason to move our neighborhood.

[00:46:33] ashburn elementary is projected to stay under 90 capacity for years to come plan 17 does not resolve any real overcrowding problems instead it creates disruption where none is needed another major issue is school progression stuart weller does not feed into farmwell station middle school the school we live next to and walk to under this plan our children would be separated from their peers in elementary school only to be placed back together in middle school This is confusing, unnecessary, and it breaks the continuity for students.

[00:47:07] Also, since the middle and high school boundaries may be reviewed next year, any further plans to move families who live within walking distance of any school would also be unreasonable and a waste of county transportation resources, resources that are funded by taxpayers.

[00:47:23] In short, there is no educational, community, or capacity-based benefit to moving our neighborhood, but the harm to students, families, and relationships is clear. I ask you to keep Rainsboro zoned in Ashburn Elementary. It is a decision that best supports our community. Thank you. Thank you. Sarita Carey, followed by I have Vicki Mahoney.

[00:47:49] Good evening. My name is Sarita Carey. I'm here tonight to speak against Plans R11 and R17, not merely as logistical proposals, but as a direct threat to the psychological and emotional stability of our youngest students in the dominion trail community you are proposing uprooting children from their established connections at dominion trail elementary and sending them to stewart weller elementary for many families planning to stay in ashburn village those new bonds forged at stewart weller will be broken when they are moved yet again to realign with

[00:48:25] their original farmwell station middle school feeder pattern this is a major destabilization during the most critical development period. Elementary school is where children build their foundational sense of security and belonging, forcing them to repeatedly rebuild their social networks creates compounded transition anxiety and detracts directly from academic focus.

[00:48:47] This action severely contradicts the core mission of LCPS to empower all students to make meaningful contributions to the world. How can we ask a child to feel empowered when their community structure is repeatedly shattered and replaced with uncertainty. We recognize the challenges of managing growth, but we must never solve a logistical problem by incurring a psychological cost for our children.

[00:49:10] Stability is the central bedrock of a resilient and focused student. I urge you to uphold the promise of your mission, reject plans 11 and R-17, prioritize the continuous, stable learning environment that every young student in DN 0.50.03 and DN 17.2 deserves.

[00:49:33] Preserve the well-being of the students you are charged to empower. Thank you. Again, my name is Sarita Carey. I'm a mom of a DTS student and an Ashburn Village homeowner and former vice president of fundraising at Dominion Trial Elementary School. Thank you. Thank you. Vicki Mahoney followed by Brian Carr.

[00:49:51] My name is Vicki Mahoney. I have a first grader at Stuart Weller Elementary School and I live in Potomac Farms. I am here tonight to respectfully request that DN02 or Potomac Farms be excluded from the proposed rezoning under staff plans R11 and R17, which move planning zone DN02 from Stewart-Weller to Seldon's Landing Elementary.

[00:50:16] While we're technically part of DN02, our community is very different from not only the rest of that planning zone, but from every other neighborhood in Ashburn. One portion of DN02 is an over-55 community, and another is a research facility. from what I understand has a few to a handful of school-aged children.

[00:50:36] Potomac Farms is a unique neighborhood. We have approximately 12 to 15 elementary-aged children. Most of us are in our forever homes, and we're spread across large one-acre lots. Potomac Farms does not have sidewalks or streetlights. It's fully built out with minimal to no potential for future growth.

[00:50:53] Potomac Farms also does not have an HOA, So our community identity is centered on our current elementary school of Stuart Weller rather than a managed association. The school is our core for our children's friendships and our activities. In contrast, nearby HOA communities, many of which remain in their current zone, already have their own built-in communities.

[00:51:14] The justification for including DN02 in this rezoning is to reunite the Lansdowne community. But Potomac Farms is not part of Lansdowne, not by geography, community, or identity. In fact, our backyard lines up with the Acadia Apartments, which is not even part of this rezone proposal.

[00:51:31] That shows just how far east and how disconnected we are from the Selden's Landing zone. Currently, our children have a two-mile route to Stuart Weller. Under the proposed rezone, they will have to travel more than double that to Selden's Landing along major congested roads such as Route 7 and Riverside Parkway. As mentioned, Potomac Farms is unique.

[00:51:48] our bus currently stops at each home moving farther means moving to a farther school means earlier pickups longer rides and more time on the road all that for a change that offers little to no capacity benefit thank you uh brian carr followed by helena welsh hello my name is brian carr and my family lives in a potentially affected area of ashburn village we've lived in the neighborhood since 2013 and have been active members at the ashburn elementary school community

[00:52:25] since our son started kindergarten in 2018. Our daughter is currently enrolled in Ashburn Elementary as a third grader, and my expectation is that she will end at Ashburn as a fifth grader. My wife and I both participate in the PTO and volunteer at numerous activities at AES throughout the school year. It's been a wonderful experience for both our children as well as my wife and me. I speak as a parent of a potentially affected Ashburn Elementary student. However, I feel confident in speaking more broadly that the families in Ashburn Village are just as deeply committed to

[00:53:01] their existing and long-standing elementary school. With this, and as already attested to several times tonight, and I'm sure you'll hear more about it, I assure you that there is absolutely zero support for either proposal in Ashburn Village. I respectfully request that you reject both proposal R11 and R17, consider alternatives, and leave these existing and deep relationships intact. Thank you. Thank you. Helena Welch followed by Caitlin Herman. Hello my name is Helena Welch

[00:53:40] and I live in Ashburn Village and my family moved to the village from Sterling specifically due to the fact that schools did not get rezoned because there was nowhere to build. I am here tonight to express my absolute disgust in the proposed rezoning plan. I ask you what is the rush? What's the rush for all of this? I'm here to express the complete and utter disrespect for the children and their families that this rezoning plan reflects. This plan wants to force kids from the Ashburn Village community to a different school, Stuart Weller, that is not a feeder school to the village.

[00:54:18] Again, what's the rush? Why are you so willing to reunite the Lansdowne community at the cost of ripping apart the Ashburn Village community? What is the rush? What is the urgency? Are the voices in Lansdowne louder than the voices in the village? Are the children's in Lansdowne better than the children in the village? What is the reasoning to focus on one small area of Loudoun County instead of the county as a whole? What is the rush? What is the urgency to finalize this rezoning plan by

[00:54:52] December? Why are we rushing through this when so many children are affected? Why not postpone the rezoning to review all of Loudoun County? Take into account the decreasing school enrollments.

[00:55:07] There's so many, and a lot of people have already said that tonight, that they're decreasing. What is the logic to rezone a child's school outside of the zoned area? We've already heard that these children that are going to go to a farm well for middle school are getting put to Stuart Weller.

[00:55:25] Why take them out of their school zone? Ask yourself, are you truly able to be okay with these rezoning plans and the malice that you're causing the children and their families due to this quick rezoning? Thank you. Caitlin Herman. Good evening members of the board. My name is Caitlin Herman and I'm a proud parent from zone DN 05.1 speaking tonight about the proposed boundary changes in staff plan 17. Specifically the reassignment of a small part of our neighborhood

[00:56:05] away from Ashford Elementary School beginning in 2026. After reviewing plan 17 in detail I can find no logical data supported justification for this change. Ashburn Elementary is not projected to exceed capacity. There are no other boundary shifts affecting the school and most importantly moving that zone out of Ashburn Elementary does not meaningfully impact enrollment balance compared to keeping our children where they currently are today. Per slide 11 and this was last meeting's slides the presentation provided on October 28th plan 17 would relieve enrollment

[00:56:41] at a school operating below capacity 88 but would move students to a school facing a higher capacity constraint at 92 thereby defeating the purpose of rezoning which is to achieve optimal capacity across schools per the slides both plan 11 and plan 17 emphasize the importance of unifying the land down neighborhood and that's something i completely support but it's troubling that in achieving that unity these plans simultaneously tear apart ashburn village a community that has been stable cohesive and deeply connected to ashburn elementary and dominion trail for decades there has been no explanation for the inconsistency and the lack of transparency undermines the trust

[00:57:18] in this entire process so tonight i'm respectfully asking the committee to re-examine the proposed boundary changes in both r11 and r17 thank you thank you and with that we will end the public comment part of tonight um and we'll continue with the work session uh so miss tate and mr lewis would you come back for the i'm sure some board members have some questions i know i have i do

[00:57:51] and i'll just go ahead and start with one and then we'll just continue on y'all raise your hand when um so it looks to me one of the biggest issues with uh staff plan r11 and r17 is we're looking at Sanders Corner, and for R11, it looks like Sanders Corner, I think this is what you said, and correct me if I'm wrong, that with the dual language, it goes up to 107% capacity.

[00:58:27] And then R17, it looks like Sanders Corner would be at 92% with the dual language immersion. Is that correct? Did I hear that correctly? I believe you did. I'm going to double-check Minutes. And when we started having these conversations, Ms. Tate, I remember it's like if you move this one, you've got to move this one, you've got to move this one, and it's really hard.

[00:58:59] I guess the other thing was I think it's important for people to understand why we can't move everything at once and why we're doing it piecemeal. Could you explain that a little bit, why we can't do all the schools at once?

[00:59:16] Because I know now we have a policy that we are relooking at everything for every five years so that we can maneuver around so we can use things more efficiently. Why couldn't we do that all at once? First, I want to confirm you were correct.

[00:59:34] With the dual language at Sanders Corner, Plan R11 would have the school at 107% based on our K-5 projections in that final 31-32 school year.

[00:59:51] With Plan R17, Sandra's Corner would be at 92%. So you had the correct number. While I believe the board is embracing, it's probably not the correct word to use, is considering a countywide at the secondary school level.

[01:00:12] That involves less than 20 clusters. To do a countywide attendance zone for all elementaries would be a daunting an almost untenable task, but will of the board, if that was something you wish to do, we would, we recognize that we're putting a lot of information out there, even with this boundary process that involves 18 schools, and it's a lot to comprehend.

[01:00:45] I will admit that there are flaws in both plans. I mean, we really were trying to endeavor to come up with some options. If there are suggestions that board members have based on your constituents, you want us to look at we're happy to do that but to do a countywide elementary i mean i remember this conversation when we discussed this policy it would just be too much and so we deliberately tried to move things around so it wasn't so hard and all-encompassing and overwhelming which it

[01:01:24] already is even in pieces now we've heard today that there's new developments that are going to feeding into Elaine Thompson did you contemplate those new developments in these projections we did a lot of them are multifamily which generate less students our Cola Center has been mentioned by some that's about 80% built right now but we do we look at what's approved and we utilize student generation factors to forecast forward and part of that as they start to build

[01:02:00] they will be incorporated into projections yes and then to address that we get every year the lack of transparency um could we go through the process of of when we started this process and talked about it at the board level and everything else and started sending out emails that kind of thing so we began the conversation in june on the boundary and capital budget calendar

[01:02:34] with the board taking action in August we allowed for the start of school so that that but we didn't notice from a transparency standpoint and we we endeavor to post everything we share with you as board members we put on our website we have tried to make it even easier to access the website by providing links directly from the school pages so that it's not as hard to search for we are completely transparent with questions and we actually encourage folks to submit questions in writing so that we can provide the answers and we

[01:03:13] post all the Q&A as we get them that we have found has been extremely helpful over the years so that as conversations at the bus stop or in the pickup line or at school events folks might be misunderstanding or misstating information but as long as we've got the Q&A out there everyone can go and see the response to the question because certainly if one person has that question someone else does as well so we've endeavored to do that we have we have noticed we noticed all school communities including staff in early

[01:03:52] october of this boundary process with the help of the communications office we've asked schools to put this in their newsletters as the meetings proceed we've run public notice in print media and we're open to other means to notice and then this decision doesn't happen for december 16th so that's like over a month or so right i think from october 28th yes okay uh okay board members

[01:04:31] Any other questions? Yes, Vice Chair Donohue. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Ms. Tate and Mr. Lewis for all the work that you've done to put these proposals and information together for us. It's very helpful. Obviously, we're relying a lot on the projections here, and I was wondering if you had any information about prior projections in previous attendance zone discussions when you've made projections about future enrollment, if you have any information about the accuracy of some of those prior projections.

[01:05:03] I'm trying to think how to answer that question. So projections are reviewed and revised annually based upon trends and as we shared at last week's board meeting, we are forecasting a slowing and decline of our enrollment.

[01:05:27] Projection accuracy is always going to be best the closest you are to that point in time and less accurate the further out you go. we have a fairly good track record with our projection process and while I would love to say that we have had a number of our staff plans adopted by the board that's not been the case and so we've had to adapt and our projections change

[01:06:04] based upon recommendations in action by the board where a planning zone or a community comes and lobbies the board at the last minute so we we provide for the public and the board we project by planning zone for each process the k5 at the elementary level six eight I'm sorry I'm not really sure how I'm answering your question if you wanted us to go back and look at accuracy of a given attendance zone we've opened several new schools in this area so we

[01:06:38] have had changes over the years I'll leave it that if you have an area you want us to look at I'll happily do that and give you an accuracy comparison thank you and I I understand it it's an imperfect science science anyway I guess it would be helpful to know potentially and I understand we've discussed previously in multiple meetings that when the print when various projections or estimates have been off. It's generally been off. Enrollment is even under what we might have

[01:07:17] expected or, you know, slowing more than we anticipated. Over the last few years, have there been any instances that you're aware of where our projections were lower than what the actual, you know, if we projected capacity of 69% at a given school, that it turned out to be more than that in actuality overall is a division and that's kind of part of the

[01:07:46] explanation that we had last week staff anticipated a return to normal from pre-COVID to pre-COVID numbers and we did not hit that and we took a really long hard look this year as we looked at that and thus our forecasts were less from a school-to-school standpoint there are times where we have come in And over our projections where we've had more students, sometimes that's because a program has been added or a school has been accepting regionally assigned students.

[01:08:22] That was especially the case around the time Madison's Trust opened where we had a number of the neighboring schools actually serving more students than we had projected because they were being regionally assigned. There have also equally been times where we've been under-projected, again where we were either anticipating a program being at the school that was then relocated, or if a development did not generate the students we had.

[01:08:52] Someone mentioned Kinkora and One Loudon in their comments, actually I think a couple people did. We had, when One Loudon started, we anticipated a lot of students coming from that community as well as Kinkora.

[01:09:07] It seems to be, looking at the demographics of the area, that we have a lot of young individuals with few to no children moving in. I don't know if it's the type of housing that's there or just the demographic that the area is attracting.

[01:09:28] That is one where we had anticipated that Stuart Weller and even Stonehill at the time and that's—Kincora was actually at Sterling Elementary, Sterling Middle, and Parkview for a time because we knew that we couldn't handle Ashburn so there have been instances on either side again though I I stand by our projections there's a part that's part of the reason we look at them each year is because we look at what's happening in the area and individual communities

[01:10:05] oh dr. Deans go ahead I was just looking at your special permissions ins and outs And I know it's a different department that deals with special permissions But might it be that that policy could be changed to stabilize some of the numbers?

[01:10:35] Dr. Dean's that's clearly the decision of the school board. Yes. Thank you I think people have to understand why we're laughing is because we've been spending a year or more on special permission policy If I if I may add to that in response to your question dr. Dean's Policy 8155 school assignment, which includes the provisions for special permission, is scheduled as an action item in the Student Services Committee at tomorrow night's meeting.

[01:11:00] Maybe I should come to that meeting. We would love to have you, Dr. Daines. Do you have another question? I'm sorry, that was just my question because the numbers are so high for some of the schools for special permissions out, and if we are, as a school division, believe that all of our schools are good, then we should not have so many special permissions out of zone.

[01:11:34] So that was my concern, and it wasn't meant to be comical or overarching. But the numbers say a lot about the different schools. And I've only been here two years, but I know the personalities and the administrators of those schools.

[01:11:56] And so why are so many kids asking to go out of a particular school? That's just a question, and it's a rhetorical question, because you don't have the answer. A different department handles special permissions. But if that could be somehow leveled off, then that might solve some of the problem.

[01:12:17] I would offer that sometimes it is a daycare situation. You know, they were there, but I do have friends over here behind me. - Ms. Richardson is here and may be able to give you some more context.

[01:12:36] - Absolutely, I'm happy to do so. Dr. Dean, thank you for your question. As Chair Mansfield and Vice Chair Donahue have shared, we have been working on the revisions to policy 8155 school assignment with the provision of special permission for over a year.

[01:12:54] And so the changes that were put into effect for this current school year, We shortened the timeline that the special permission window was open. We made over-enrolled schools unavailable, so thus eliminating a higher volume of requests coming through that system.

[01:13:17] We do still see the top drivers for the request for special permission as childcare or social and emotional mental health concerns. It is coming back before the committee tomorrow afternoon at 4:30 and 102 A and B, so all are welcome to join us.

[01:13:38] We have proposed revisions before the committee that impact an expanded definition for instructional suitability, as well as the committee is contemplating shortening the timeline again from April 30th to March 31st.

[01:13:56] So we do anticipate robust and meaningful discussion tomorrow afternoon. And again, you all are welcome to join us. Any other questions? Yeah, Ms. Chernoff. Thank you, Madam Chair.

[01:14:11] And I think that that conversation that Dr. Deans is alluding to is coming soon. And I look forward to it as well, as I think that is a huge part of our issues here with our capacity. So I will look forward to the meeting tomorrow and that further conversation.

[01:14:28] I was wondering, just in revisiting these charts, and I'm looking at R11 staff plan, can you walk me through why the impact to Dominion Trail with their capacity numbers versus, I'm trying to figure out why we're targeting that area to Stuart Weller when Stuart Weller's numbers are higher.

[01:14:49] So I may have missed something in the process, but can you walk me through that rationale one more time? Yes, I can. going to pull out I too have way too many papers as I'm doing this the intent and I'll kind of just speak to it generally and then I'm happy to provide more information when we looked at Dominion Trail Elementary School we recognized that it was at when we look at the conditions without change that it

[01:15:21] was reaching that 90 to 95 percent utilization and so we wanted to provide some relief for the school in recommending both of the planning zones we've had parents mentioned tonight that Stuart Weller right now is a pure feed to Belmont Ridge Middle School and to Riverside High School so in looking at it in the plans we proposed we didn't want to move a small portion of the Dominion Trail and so the recommendation was to move to planning

[01:15:58] zone so that there would be more of their friends from the community that would then progress on and Stuart Weller would become a split feed middle and high school but we were endeavoring to provide relief for Dominion Trail elementary school so that it had capacity it's one of our older smaller schools it does not have all of the unique little resource rooms and spaces that are newer schools for collaborative learning and so again kind of going back to where we were trying to find schools around that 80 percent utilization that

[01:16:32] was why we were also recommending more students be reassigned than just a handful thank you I'm wondering is Dominion Trail similar to Hillside then I was at Hillside last week and they're using literally every nook and cranny to service the students there so is it similar in likeness to that situation Design, it's actually older than Hillside, but yes, it does not have all of those resource areas like across from the cafeteria that a lot of our newer prototypes do.

[01:17:09] Okay, so the capacity utilization doesn't fully reflect the space and what it's capable of doing. Correct, and we, as a Title I school, their capacity is calculated at a slightly reduced rate as well because we're trying to create those smaller class sizes.

[01:17:27] okay I appreciate that insight and then my other question is about also on plan our 11 is in the Madison's trust area D and 36.8 I know that they're in a walk zone now at Madison's trust so would they be bust to legacy yes ma'am okay thank you um I have one I have a question and then I think someone else did um the uh i think part of the issue too is like we're getting 27 new program classes that

[01:18:06] need spaces and i mean traditionally when we were building schools we didn't have special education classes per se like self-contained classes and um resource rooms and that kind of thing and i'm just trying to remind trying to remind the board that there's other needs just like Ms. Chernoff was alluding to that just because there's base capacity doesn't mean that just because it looks like it's lower in base capacity doesn't mean that we don't need to do

[01:18:42] something because there's more programs, more special education students coming in, those kinds of things. So any other? Yes, Mrs. Griffiths. Thank you, Madam Chair. I think the issue, somebody brought up Lansdowne today. I think the issue with Lansdowne and Seldon's is i have people that live across the street from the school that are being uh trans their children are being transported to stewart weller so when i look at the um enrollment um i feel like now that we're going to let them go to selden's or have them go to selden's without permissions we're

[01:19:21] taking them away from stewart weller so you're trying to fill that gap um with pulling from another school and I also have the issue of I have people from Lansdowne that want to stay at Stuart Weller but they don't want to do the permissions every time they feel like you know we were here originally we couldn't go to Seldon's now we want to stay and they don't want to do the permissions so they don't want to have to do the permissions every year if there's some way we can

[01:19:54] fix that but i'm feeling like we're trying to fill a gap um with enrollment for stuart weller that that's how i see this um and when i look at dominion um i understand we're trying to get new programs in some of the schools and and so on but dominion is not that much over capacity um plus i look at the fact that uh next school year you're going to lose a you're going to probably lose a lot of students that move you have you have demographic shifts all the time so I feel

[01:20:34] like they may drop in enrollment and I saw that with Newton Lee Newton Lee was over capacity I think last year and I had parents that wanted to go there and couldn't that lived nearby and then all of a sudden it cleared up and they were they were given permission to go so I'm just trying to understand the demographic shifts is that taken into consideration because I again I think Seldon's was packed at one time it was packed at one time so that's why you decided to send them to five

[01:21:09] years ago I guess it was to Stuart Weller and now Seldon's emptied out a little bit so I think all these neighborhoods some of them are emptying out you're having shifts just tell me again are you accounting for the demographic shifts because I feel like why touch Dominion when we may lose students there but understanding that maybe it's a small school and you need programs in there can you get a little bit into that for me thank you Seldon's Landing was over first to kind of

[01:21:46] backfill to the Seldon's it was a very fast growing area and we actually put a four classroom addition on Seldon's Landing in 2007 that still did not provide enough capacity and when Stuart Weller opened in 2008 that is when these three planning zones as well as them Potomac Farms and University Center were assigned to Stuart Weller and Stuart Weller grew and Seldon's Landing continued to be over capacity for the immediate year you are correct

[01:22:25] Seldon's Landing is extremely underutilized at present, and so in moving communities out of Stewart-Weller into Seldon's, we now have available capacity at Stewart-Weller. In order to provide some relief to Dominion Trail, we have made a recommendation to move neighborhoods from there to Stewart-Weller as an adjacent school.

[01:22:49] Otherwise, we would have Stewart-Weller sitting in a similar situation at Seldon's Landing. So we're trying to best utilize capacity across this area, provide opportunities at all schools for all children, general education, special education, so that as new programs are needed or new classrooms are needed for programs, that we have the opportunity to potentially have those in schools that are either where the children live or adjacent to.

[01:23:19] And so that was kind of one of our focus from a staff perspective. but yes we also do account for growth we do track how neighborhoods ebb and flow as we have new communities often have lots of young children and then parents and families become established and the children matriculate through middle and high school and sometimes families stay even after their children graduate from high school because they like the neighborhood they like the community

[01:23:53] they've got roots there we do track that we're not necessarily anticipating dramatic shifts at any school but we have projected lower enrollments for most schools and LCPS for next year so I don't know if that answers your question or not it sort of does but it tells you know our constituents that you know because of the lower enrollment they may not we we shouldn't have to fill a gap maybe

[01:24:28] keep students that are comfortable where they are where they are and not you know try and fill gaps I think with Stuart Weller you know you have one loud in there I'm trying to I'm trying to think if I think they're building around there as well where you might get additional students for that school um but also as i mentioned i have people from lansdowne that they want to stay and they were sent there uh where when they had preferred selden's originally but now they're in the community of stewart weller so i know that gets out of uh that goes to permissions you know they

[01:25:07] that's that's not your purview but i just feel like um uh disrupting communities you know and especially dominion i see madison's trust is over um and we did have a lot of people here recently that did not want to leave madison's trust i i understand that but um with ashburn village i feel like um i sort of feel like we shouldn't we should just leave it alone is that even possible if you would like to create a plan either working with your constituents or we would happily map

[01:25:46] that for you so that you can see what those suggestions would do we're we're happy to do that i only say it because i see dominion is just a little bit over that's the only reason why i suggest that so we don't have to disrupt some communities thank you dr rasheed thank you chair thank you miss tate for putting this together it's a lot very comprehensive too and very organized um i just had a question and forgive me if you already mentioned it about playgrounds so have playgrounds been considered for especially for students that have

[01:26:23] multiple disabilities because I remember before when we were going from I'm not mistaken Henrietta Lacks and and there was a big change and the concern was going from Hover to another school and a lot of the parents were coming out saying stuff with the playgrounds and if it had capabilities for students with multiple disabilities I don't know if that was considered. Thank you Dr.

[01:26:52] Rasheed, I'll take a crack at that. So the Hovater playground was built right at the time when we, as a board and as a staff, moved from our just normal standard playground to the inclusive playgrounds, and it missed that. So we have gone back and upgraded that playground to have the inclusive features.

[01:27:11] So moving forward, as you know, we have a plan to have inclusive playgrounds at all of our elementary schools in the next three years, and so that's well underway. I know there's been a lot of conversation in the last couple weeks about accessibility for students with multiple disabilities. We were putting together some illustratives for the next capital budget thing on the 10th, and so hopefully we'll be able to answer more of those questions with what the specific equipment is, how those students with multiple disabilities are able to get on to those pieces of equipment, those types of things.

[01:27:45] So hopefully we'll have a better answer for that on the 10th with our CIP presentation. thank you any other questions yes mr thank you just this is a timeline question what is the date that you need us to narrow down the plans december 2nd to solidify the ones that will be considered or is it sooner than that it would be um with or at the conclusion of your november 24 meeting okay

[01:28:19] thank you and then they would be discussed at december 2nd and then the hearing on the 8th would be focused on those remaining plans okay and that would definitely automatically include r11 and r17 if you are asking us to map those for discussion on November 24 then they would be considered would be but we Virginia Tech the redistrict is a tool and so I know last time you you know people will create multiple plans moving a planning zone at a time and maybe

[01:28:57] they're not embracing a plan because it's kind of a what if so if you hear from constituents or you hear from community members that there is support for a plan and one of you wishes to sponsor that for us to move it forward to have a discussion at the work session we would do that and then if the direction was to then include that in the plans for active consideration going into December 2nd we would do that as well but we will not initiate that unless one to one or more if you ask for a plan okay and that sooner is always

[01:29:31] better correct so also add one thing to that and it speaks a little bit to the question mrs. Griffith asked if there were if you have a plan or 17 or 11 that you're not completely in support of but you could consider the one of those plans and make amendments to those plans so you could say what you know support of R11 with the exception of let's not move this or let's go ahead and move that that helps you not have to create a whole new plan you can just have a plan with amendments if that helps any um I have a we were when we were having our

[01:30:08] discussion um and you were helping me go through all of this I seem to remember that there was maybe one of these plans that would help a little bit more with secondary in the long run am I misremembering um we're not changing secondary but we are with the recommended changes for specifically

[01:30:39] morefield station with plan R 17 that actually has the Latin Valley estates instead of progressing to three different secondary school clusters it now will have them progressing to two they would be with the legacy so the students would go to Legacy Elementary or Rosalie Carter rather than being from Moorfield Station it doesn't change their secondary boundaries but it has more of them from Legacy progressing on together to Stonehill Middle or Rock

[01:31:16] Ridge it included the secondary feed percentage is included is increased improved oh my gosh I really can't even talk today it's improved so if that's helpful I know that there were folks from Madison's Trust who spoke and said that they would no longer be a in a cluster advancing to their middle and high schools there are students from Elaine Thompson that currently do progress on to Brambleton and Independence just as it's the actually

[01:31:53] the other Willisburg community just south of them but yes Moorefield station the Loudon Valley estates by moving those planning zones out of Moorfield Station they will matriculate with a greater number of their student cohorts to Stonehill and Rockridge right now Legacy has a split feed and the feed to Stonehill and Rockridge is smaller than what progresses to Watson and Brambleton independence and I can answer you I'll answer you better in writing like some kind of rambling at this point any other questions yes

[01:32:29] Ms. Chandler and this is just a point of clarification really but is the only school that is title one designated in this boundary change process is it dominion trail the only title one school yes ma'am thank you any other questions all right I guess we have some plans to look at including I guess 681 and 213 and others that will start popping up okay seeing no more questions I will

[01:33:07] move on to item 5 adjournment seeing there's no more business then November 5th 2025 Loudoun County School Board public hearing and work session for the Ashburn Dulles North Elementary School attendance zone process change process is now actually adjourned and I think I just want to remind everyone that there's another one coming up November 24th all right we are adjourned please drive safely home

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