Mayor Bowser Asks for School Funds Reprogramming

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Poor Garrison.

I really feel bad for them. Where are Garrison boosters? They seemed very hopeful on the renovations and the success of the school.

Truth be told, Garrison's boosters meant well but played a lot of politics and got themselves pushed ahead of other schools with greater needs. So even if they get pushed back, I can't feel that bad for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems as though if you can your project started, then you are ok because they gladly taketh from others (Elligton and Janney for example). Murch and Lafayette should be fine because they are slated to begin this year.

How do they even arrive at these decisions? Murch and Lafayette serve more children in DCPS than if you combine many of those schools together.

Murch has no start date. I bet it will get pushed back a couple years at this rate.

Murch has a start date of June 2016. And the city has to be held to that, because the need is so severe and it is has already been pushed back for years.

[Anonymous]

Good luck Murch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Poor Garrison.

I really feel bad for them. Where are Garrison boosters? They seemed very hopeful on the renovations and the success of the school.

Truth be told, Garrison's boosters meant well but played a lot of politics and got themselves pushed ahead of other schools with greater needs. So even if they get pushed back, I can't feel that bad for them.

Greater need? They were going to be shut down.

[Anonymous]

Maybe it would have made more sense in terms of money to close it though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Poor Garrison.

I really feel bad for them. Where are Garrison boosters? They seemed very hopeful on the renovations and the success of the school.

Truth be told, Garrison's boosters meant well but played a lot of politics and got themselves pushed ahead of other schools with greater needs. So even if they get pushed back, I can't feel that bad for them.

Greater need? They were going to be shut down.

The point was that other schools had more significant physical needs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Poor Garrison.

I really feel bad for them. Where are Garrison boosters? They seemed very hopeful on the renovations and the success of the school.

Truth be told, Garrison's boosters meant well but played a lot of politics and got themselves pushed ahead of other schools with greater needs. So even if they get pushed back, I can't feel that bad for them.

Greater need? They were going to be shut down.

The point was that other schools had more significant physical needs.

There are lots of needs. DCPS seems to pick randomly among them and then once they have invested enough, they drop them for the next. But there is never any planning that leads to completed goals. People are often saying that the problems are the fault of the parents who choose other schools, and that if the neighborhoods banded together, DCPS would serve them wonderfully. This just isn't true, and Garrison proves that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This kind of crap is why I only put in for charters even under the old system where there were six dedicated DCPS spots. DCPS just can't be trusted.

This is a bad reason to opt for charters.

I didn't opt for just any charter, and location was not my highest priority. I had seen several DCPS flip flops in our inbound school in the years I paid attention prior to entering and they just continue. Someone should chart out how many broken promises have emerged out of just the past ten years. There is no plan. None. So nothing ever actually happens that leads to actualized improvement. I voted for Catania because I thought he had a plan. I was scared about Bowser, but still hopeful. The announcements of the last couple days have just proven that we have at least four more years without a DCPS system of planning followed by actualization of those plans. I had hoped otherwise. But right now it is looking like there will be no decent plans in place before my child is in middle school. I hope I a Am wrong and my pessimism is misplaced, but either way, I am very happy I put my eggs in a charter basket.

I think your pessimism is misplaced. This reprogramming request started under Gray, was retracted, and is now being put forward again. It seems to me that DCPS is driving it, not necessarily the mayor.

I say that as a (former?) Catania supporter and someone on the losing end of this funding shift.

[Anonymous]

I hope you are right. It's not looking good to me right now though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This kind of crap is why I only put in for charters even under the old system where there were six dedicated DCPS spots. DCPS just can't be trusted.

This is a bad reason to opt for charters.

I didn't opt for just any charter, and location was not my highest priority. I had seen several DCPS flip flops in our inbound school in the years I paid attention prior to entering and they just continue. Someone should chart out how many broken promises have emerged out of just the past ten years. There is no plan. None. So nothing ever actually happens that leads to actualized improvement. I voted for Catania because I thought he had a plan. I was scared about Bowser, but still hopeful. The announcements of the last couple days have just proven that we have at least four more years without a DCPS system of planning followed by actualization of those plans. I had hoped otherwise. But right now it is looking like there will be no decent plans in place before my child is in middle school. I hope I a Am wrong and my pessimism is misplaced, but either way, I am very happy I put my eggs in a charter basket.

I think your pessimism is misplaced. This reprogramming request started under Gray, was retracted, and is now being put forward again. It seems to me that DCPS is driving it, not necessarily the mayor.

I say that as a (former?) Catania supporter and someone on the losing end of this funding shift.

Agree with this sentiment. While I am not defending Bowser, this is clearly an early, if not pre-administration conversation that probably began "we have an issue that we need to speak with you about that we feel requires immediately attention.... She clearly inherited this mess and was likely left with no choice regarding how to act.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Poor Garrison.

I really feel bad for them. Where are Garrison boosters? They seemed very hopeful on the renovations and the success of the school.

Truth be told, Garrison's boosters meant well but played a lot of politics and got themselves pushed ahead of other schools with greater needs. So even if they get pushed back, I can't feel that bad for them.

It may appear this way if you only entered the game last year, but Garrison was slated for an initial (Phase I) modernization all the way back in 2008 that never happenned...and the can has been kicked down the road ever since. Finally the activists got Kaya to agree to a full modernization in 2015 (way more efficient) after getting pushed again in 2014.

It's the worst extant facility in the city, with the possible exception of Payne, so this is a potential disaster for the community.

[Anonymous]

I am not sure I fully understand what this mean for Garrison. Is the plan for renovation over and done with? It sounds like it? The facility so badly in need of an overhaul.

[Anonymous]

Garrison is in way better shape than Marie Reed. Reed is the one I feel really bad for. It has the worst facilities of the 20 schools I toured last year, by far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am not sure I fully understand what this mean for Garrison. Is the plan for renovation over and done with? It sounds like it? The facility so badly in need of an overhaul.

There is still $2.5 million in the budget for Garrison, so it looks like that is for planning/design and the work has just been kicked down the road.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Poor Garrison.

I really feel bad for them. Where are Garrison boosters? They seemed very hopeful on the renovations and the success of the school.

I never understood the Garrison folks. I went to one of the meetings as I live in the neighborhood and none of the vocal folks even had kids at Garrison. Made no sense.