Funding for Shepherd's Renovation

[Anonymous]

Here is Shepherd's current status. Looks pretty nice to me. http://dgs.dc.gov/node/559452

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here is Shepherd's current status. Looks pretty nice to me. http://dgs.dc.gov/node/559452

My empathy for Shepherd just went down a good bit. You folks should see the condition of some of the other schools that you think you should be prioritized over. Get a grip.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can't cry too hard for Shepherd. Here is Orr Elementary ...

https://www.teachingforchange.org/orr-modernization
http://www.youngedprofessionals.org/yep-dc-recess-blog/has-the-dc-council-forgotten-orr-elementary-school
http://doc.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/dgs/service_content/attachments/RFP-for-Design-Build-Services-FY13-Phase-1-Classroom-Modernizations-as-issued-(00124585).PDF

Orr, with an almost entirely low-income African American student population, is among the last open floor plan schools in the District. Built in 1974, it has never been modernized. But students have had enough of the rodents, leaky ceilings, poor ventilation and lighting, and the constant disruptions to learning caused by the noise of open space classrooms.

It is one of only two schools in the entire DCPS system that has not undergone any phase of modernization since its construction in 1974. As a result, a plethora of issues have plagued Orr for some time now, from building heating and cooling issues, to poor air quality, to pests such as cockroaches and mice. On April 27, a group of Orr students went to testify before the D.C. Council about the issues they face on a daily basis in their learning environment. Orr Elementary School is located in Ward 8 next to the Anacostia River. Its student population is 97% black, 2% Latino and 1% Asian. All students receive free breakfast and lunch.

Conditions at Orr are reprehensible. Parts of the ceiling are crumbling, the building receives poor natural light due to its triangular shape, the ventilation system is outdated, toilets don’t work, and cockroaches and mice roam the halls. This past winter, the heat in the building was so low that on several days, classes relocated because the temperature in their usual rooms was 50 degrees or lower.

HVAC system was generally observed to be in poor condition. Nearly all equipment is at or past
the end of its useful service life. Diffusers throughout the building are extremely dirty and
should be replaced. Toilet exhaust was rarely observed to be adequate, and in some cases,
was non-existent.

Plumbing system was generally observed to be in poor condition. The building is missing
sprinklers, with the exception of a single sprinkler head in the trash room.

It's an older building and has the original electrical system. In general the electrical
equipment, raceways, wiring, some fixtures, power outlets, fire protection, public address
system, security system, telephone wiring, technology devices and life safety
equipment/devices are in poor condition

There is a ground water entry problem at several locations in the boiler room which is located below
grade. The water appears to be entering through the joints between the floor slab and
foundation wall at the north, east and south walls. The water is entering at such quantities
and such a period of time that the concrete has eroded and washed away exposing the
coarse aggregate.

The roof is generally in good condition with the exception that there is a persistent active leak reported to occur in the Library (space no. 71)
during heavy rain periods.

No fire protection A/V Strobes. All systems were generally observed not to be in compliance
with ADA regulations, with the exception of some water coolers.

The money taken from Shepherd is not going to Orr, or to Raymond or Harris or any of the top schools on the list. It is being split up for seven other schools...figuratively throwing them a bone...not sure how far $700k goes these days.

I am happy to see other schools get renovated; I've been inside some buildings that are truly despicable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Committee on Education reduced $12.44M in Shepherd ES Modernization and $109,000 in ADA Compliance and reallocated to the following projects:

$4.25M for Oyster Adams
? $300,000 for Aiton ES Renovation/Modernization
? $3M for Francis Stevens ES Modernization
? $1.7M for Garfield ES Renovation/Modernization
? $1.6M for Malcolm X at Green
? $1M for Raymond ES Modernization/Renovation
? $700,000 for Smothers ES Modernization/Renovation

Can someone please provide a link to show where this reallocation was presented?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here is Shepherd's current status. Looks pretty nice to me. http://dgs.dc.gov/node/559452

Shepherd was an old, dark and disjointed building. DGS spent three years renovating it; of course the renovated parts look nice. The sections that remain range from "inconvenient" (gym) to "dangerous" (ADA compliance, basement level egress, etc).

Of course the community wants the job to be finished, who wouldn't?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Committee on Education reduced $12.44M in Shepherd ES Modernization and $109,000 in ADA Compliance and reallocated to the following projects:

$4.25M for Oyster Adams
? $300,000 for Aiton ES Renovation/Modernization
? $3M for Francis Stevens ES Modernization
? $1.7M for Garfield ES Renovation/Modernization
? $1.6M for Malcolm X at Green
? $1M for Raymond ES Modernization/Renovation
? $700,000 for Smothers ES Modernization/Renovation

Can someone please provide a link to show where this reallocation was presented?

http://dccouncil.us/files/user_uploads/event_testimony/FY2017_Council_Budget_Meeting_Presentation%2005102016%20FINAL.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is Shepherd's current status. Looks pretty nice to me. http://dgs.dc.gov/node/559452

My empathy for Shepherd just went down a good bit. You folks should see the condition of some of the other schools that you think you should be prioritized over. Get a grip.

Actually, none of what's shown in the slides has actually been done, except the library (in the basement). Everything else is in progress. Obviously you haven't seen the school in person, but if you drove past, you'd see a massive construction site. No glass-enclosed atrium--kids enter the building through the cafeteria. Much of the grounds are closed off with construction vehicles, and there's loose rubble everywhere. Nothing at all like the slide show.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is Shepherd's current status. Looks pretty nice to me. http://dgs.dc.gov/node/559452

My empathy for Shepherd just went down a good bit. You folks should see the condition of some of the other schools that you think you should be prioritized over. Get a grip.

Actually, none of what's shown in the slides has actually been done, except the library (in the basement). Everything else is in progress. Obviously you haven't seen the school in person, but if you drove past, you'd see a massive construction site. No glass-enclosed atrium--kids enter the building through the cafeteria. Much of the grounds are closed off with construction vehicles, and there's loose rubble everywhere. Nothing at all like the slide show.

Sorry, meant to say kids enter the school through the gym/auditorium. The PK students enter through a hallway.

[Anonymous]

There might be a bigger pull from the Shepherd Park community if the children who lived here attended the school. But with only 100 students out of many more kids attending privates or charters, parents and grandparents who have political clout do not get involved with the school. As a resident with a child attending, there seems to be very little understanding from the neighbors about how to help the school and very little outreach from the school to try and recruit more local families to enroll in the school (and once there to stay). And it isn't on the upswing from what I can see. Quite the opposite - many many leave after free pre-k.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is Shepherd's current status. Looks pretty nice to me. http://dgs.dc.gov/node/559452

My empathy for Shepherd just went down a good bit. You folks should see the condition of some of the other schools that you think you should be prioritized over. Get a grip.

Actually, none of what's shown in the slides has actually been done, except the library (in the basement). Everything else is in progress. Obviously you haven't seen the school in person, but if you drove past, you'd see a massive construction site. No glass-enclosed atrium--kids enter the building through the cafeteria. Much of the grounds are closed off with construction vehicles, and there's loose rubble everywhere. Nothing at all like the slide show.

So that's what it will be given the funding you already have. That's still a lot better than schools that haven't been modernized at all and need a full gut.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was just reading some of the news articles about this fight, and I saw several saying that before Grosso presented the Education Committee's spreadsheet for determining which schools were most in need of renovation dollars, Bowser and DME Jennifer Niles had their own model for determining fairly which schools should get first dibs. I could not find Bowser's tool anywhere online though, to see what criteria she used. Does anyone have a link? It would be interesting to compare the two tools.

The tool DCPS used is right on their website accessible here (on their modernization page, near the bottom under "Capital Improvement Plan Prioritization): https://sites.google.com/a/dc.gov/dcps-school-modernizations/home

The DCPS tool gives only 10% weight to the condition of the school building. Compare that to the Education Committee's evaluation tool, and it is hard to argue that Grosso is the one being political here, in my opinion.

The biggest problem with the Education Committee's rankings is that they had to rely on data from DCPS and DGS, much of which is flawed. It is my understanding that some of the committee's "adjustments" were in cases where the data was so flawed that it was ridiculous. For example, DCPS counts trailers as capacity so overcrowded schools often show a building utilization rate that can be as low as 80%. In other cases, DGS facilities assessments say the building is good, but there is an acknowledged, critical issue.

The neighborhood cluster thing is a problem too because it does not align to school boundaries for most schools and does not account for OOB attendance and boundary utilization rates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was just reading some of the news articles about this fight, and I saw several saying that before Grosso presented the Education Committee's spreadsheet for determining which schools were most in need of renovation dollars, Bowser and DME Jennifer Niles had their own model for determining fairly which schools should get first dibs. I could not find Bowser's tool anywhere online though, to see what criteria she used. Does anyone have a link? It would be interesting to compare the two tools.

The tool DCPS used is right on their website accessible here (on their modernization page, near the bottom under "Capital Improvement Plan Prioritization): https://sites.google.com/a/dc.gov/dcps-school-modernizations/home

The DCPS tool gives only 10% weight to the condition of the school building. Compare that to the Education Committee's evaluation tool, and it is hard to argue that Grosso is the one being political here, in my opinion.

The biggest problem with the Education Committee's rankings is that they had to rely on data from DCPS and DGS, much of which is flawed. It is my understanding that some of the committee's "adjustments" were in cases where the data was so flawed that it was ridiculous. For example, DCPS counts trailers as capacity so overcrowded schools often show a building utilization rate that can be as low as 80%. In other cases, DGS facilities assessments say the building is good, but there is an acknowledged, critical issue.

The neighborhood cluster thing is a problem too because it does not align to school boundaries for most schools and does not account for OOB attendance and boundary utilization rates.

I live in Colonial Village. I've also spoken to Grosso. People, get over yourselves. There are neighborhoods with greater need!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There might be a bigger pull from the Shepherd Park community if the children who lived here attended the school. But with only 100 students out of many more kids attending privates or charters, parents and grandparents who have political clout do not get involved with the school. As a resident with a child attending, there seems to be very little understanding from the neighbors about how to help the school and very little outreach from the school to try and recruit more local families to enroll in the school (and once there to stay). And it isn't on the upswing from what I can see. Quite the opposite - many many leave after free pre-k.

The PTA has been very active in both of these areas. If you have ideas on how to help or improve things, please feel free to contribute.

Many community members without children attended the meeting with CM Todd last night.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was just reading some of the news articles about this fight, and I saw several saying that before Grosso presented the Education Committee's spreadsheet for determining which schools were most in need of renovation dollars, Bowser and DME Jennifer Niles had their own model for determining fairly which schools should get first dibs. I could not find Bowser's tool anywhere online though, to see what criteria she used. Does anyone have a link? It would be interesting to compare the two tools.

The tool DCPS used is right on their website accessible here (on their modernization page, near the bottom under "Capital Improvement Plan Prioritization): https://sites.google.com/a/dc.gov/dcps-school-modernizations/home

The DCPS tool gives only 10% weight to the condition of the school building. Compare that to the Education Committee's evaluation tool, and it is hard to argue that Grosso is the one being political here, in my opinion.

The biggest problem with the Education Committee's rankings is that they had to rely on data from DCPS and DGS, much of which is flawed. It is my understanding that some of the committee's "adjustments" were in cases where the data was so flawed that it was ridiculous. For example, DCPS counts trailers as capacity so overcrowded schools often show a building utilization rate that can be as low as 80%. In other cases, DGS facilities assessments say the building is good, but there is an acknowledged, critical issue.

The neighborhood cluster thing is a problem too because it does not align to school boundaries for most schools and does not account for OOB attendance and boundary utilization rates.

I live in Colonial Village. I've also spoken to Grosso. People, get over yourselves. There are neighborhoods with greater need!

The schools with the most need aren't getting the $12M. Like PP said, what is $700k going to do at Smothers? Why is Shepherd the only school that got striped the last of its budget? I don't see Lafayette or Murch getting the last of their budget stripped and spread out in pennies ($700k is pennies in construction terms). The fact that Shepherd is the only school that got stripped + Grosso's comments show this whole drama is political BS.

$4.25M for Oyster Adams
$300,000 for Aiton ES Renovation/Modernization
$3M for Francis Stevens ES Modernization
$1.7M for Garfield ES Renovation/Modernization
$1.6M for Malcolm X at Green
$1M for Raymond ES Modernization/Renovation
$700,000 for Smothers ES Modernization/Renovation

[Anonymous]

There is still plenty of time for Lafayette and Murch to get stripped of money (or more money in Murch's case).

But it really doesn't help the Shepherd cause to pit schools against each other.