Explain the Murch renovation saga to me please.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:if i were them i would renovate in phases, get your foot in the door before promised funds are lost.

but, ugh to be at a school under construction for all of elementary...

Exactly, I think everyone would rather have it done all at once. I just don't understand why the NPS and the Historic Society are being so difficult. I probably don't understand the issue well though.

That's a canard. Wilson proceeded with historic preservation input and so do many private schools. DCPS may be trying to do something on the quick and cheap and stumbled, but it is easily fixed with proper focus. Meanwhile Janney is proceeding with renovation no 2? no. 3?

Doesn't seem fair. Half of the kids at Murch are now in portable buildings. Everyone involved in this project just needs to step it up and get the reno done already.

This really highlights the fact that Janney gets a disproportionate share of resources even compared to other Ward 3 schools.

Janney has certain advantages. It's students come almost exclusively from its neighborhood and its parents tend to be active in their kids education and demand quality. Together, they get the attention of the council-member and others downtown and in DCPS. Diverse schools with a mixture of IB and OOB students may offer more diversity and achieve other social goods, but political cohesiveness and vocal lobbying. Janney parents speak with a louder voice because they are concentrated in one ward, one area really, and there are a lot of them.

You write this as though it is neutral or a benefit to the Janney community so who cares about the effects. ONLY in the district would this type of pattern occur, where one school and one vocal community dominate. Really odd, actually. Does Whitman high school manage to get multiple renovations over other local schools?

Ask yourself how helpful Mary Cheh has been on Murch renovations? She's been all over Janney's. What about Bowser, despite the fact that there are a number of Ward 4 students at Murch? How helpful has she been? What about other council members? So much for One City. This is a good illustration of why neighborhood schools are important, so that elected officials can be responsive, feel responsible and be held accountable. Look at other schools -- Eaton has something like only 38% Ward 3 kids which made it very easy for them to be the one school in the ward to be sent down from Deal to Hardy and they keep slipping and sliding further back in the DCPS renovation queue. Hearst, which also has kids from all over, is an exception. They finally got their renovation but only because their facilities situation had become dire, with no lunch oom or indoor play space.

There probably is some truth in your thinking, but other than creating an enemy out of Jenney which won't help anyone, how does one go about renovating Much. Murch also does not have a cafeteria or an indoor play area. Half of the students are in portable classrooms. I am saying, it's time to set the politics aside and get out kids what they need.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Perhaps this is why so many people this that parents at Jenney don't think their poop stinks.

It doesn't, but in any event they compost it along with the free-range chicken manure and use it for Janney's organic garden.

I want to be your friend.

[Anonymous]

I am all for anonymous Janney-hating as much as the next person, but how does this help the original posters question, let alone help Murch, which is in desperate need of renovation?

[Anonymous]

Because resources are limited.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:if i were them i would renovate in phases, get your foot in the door before promised funds are lost.

but, ugh to be at a school under construction for all of elementary...

Exactly, I think everyone would rather have it done all at once. I just don't understand why the NPS and the Historic Society are being so difficult. I probably don't understand the issue well though.

That's a canard. Wilson proceeded with historic preservation input and so do many private schools. DCPS may be trying to do something on the quick and cheap and stumbled, but it is easily fixed with proper focus. Meanwhile Janney is proceeding with renovation no 2? no. 3?

Doesn't seem fair. Half of the kids at Murch are now in portable buildings. Everyone involved in this project just needs to step it up and get the reno done already.

This really highlights the fact that Janney gets a disproportionate share of resources even compared to other Ward 3 schools.

Janney has certain advantages. It's students come almost exclusively from its neighborhood and its parents tend to be active in their kids education and demand quality. Together, they get the attention of the council-member and others downtown and in DCPS. Diverse schools with a mixture of IB and OOB students may offer more diversity and achieve other social goods, but political cohesiveness and vocal lobbying. Janney parents speak with a louder voice because they are concentrated in one ward, one area really, and there are a lot of them.

You write this as though it is neutral or a benefit to the Janney community so who cares about the effects. ONLY in the district would this type of pattern occur, where one school and one vocal community dominate. Really odd, actually. Does Whitman high school manage to get multiple renovations over other local schools?

Ask yourself how helpful Mary Cheh has been on Murch renovations? She's been all over Janney's. What about Bowser, despite the fact that there are a number of Ward 4 students at Murch? How helpful has she been? What about other council members? So much for One City. This is a good illustration of why neighborhood schools are important, so that elected officials can be responsive, feel responsible and be held accountable. Look at other schools -- Eaton has something like only 38% Ward 3 kids which made it very easy for them to be the one school in the ward to be sent down from Deal to Hardy and they keep slipping and sliding further back in the DCPS renovation queue. Hearst, which also has kids from all over, is an exception. They finally got their renovation but only because their facilities situation had become dire, with no lunch oom or indoor play space.

There probably is some truth in your thinking, but other than creating an enemy out of Jenney which won't help anyone, how does one go about renovating Much. Murch also does not have a cafeteria or an indoor play area. Half of the students are in portable classrooms. I am saying, it's time to set the politics aside and get out kids what they need.

It's not time to set politics aside, it's time to play politics at the varsity level. The challenge is that Janney parents get to play with a full deck, while other schools with a more diffuse student body, have fewer cards. It just means that Murch parents have to organize and play even better.

[Anonymous]

To address the OP's question, the National Park Service and Historic Preservation are not what is holding up the Murch renovation. They do make the project more complicated and may make it more expensive. But what is holding up the project is DC. District leaders have not committed the money, effort, or political will necessary to renovate the school. The specific challenges of the project are just one of the many excuses DC has used to drag its feet in modernizing the school despite the major need.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To address the OP's question, the National Park Service and Historic Preservation are not what is holding up the Murch renovation. They do make the project more complicated and may make it more expensive. But what is holding up the project is DC. District leaders have not committed the money, effort, or political will necessary to renovate the school. The specific challenges of the project are just one of the many excuses DC has used to drag its feet in modernizing the school despite the major need.

Thank you for answering my question. I suspected as much. It doesn't look like my child will benefit from any renovation, but I hope that the city realizes how dire the need is.

[Anonymous]

If only the folks on the Chevy Chase list serv cared as much about Murch as they do about the name of a fountain and the ability to park in a bank parking lot after hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To address the OP's question, the National Park Service and Historic Preservation are not what is holding up the Murch renovation. They do make the project more complicated and may make it more expensive. But what is holding up the project is DC. District leaders have not committed the money, effort, or political will necessary to renovate the school. The specific challenges of the project are just one of the many excuses DC has used to drag its feet in modernizing the school despite the major need.

Thank you for answering my question. I suspected as much. It doesn't look like my child will benefit from any renovation, but I hope that the city realizes how dire the need is.

The parent association needs to get Cheh and Bowser over to the school, march them around and between the trailers and not let them be until they commit to specific funding and a timetable to complete the project.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To address the OP's question, the National Park Service and Historic Preservation are not what is holding up the Murch renovation. They do make the project more complicated and may make it more expensive. But what is holding up the project is DC. District leaders have not committed the money, effort, or political will necessary to renovate the school. The specific challenges of the project are just one of the many excuses DC has used to drag its feet in modernizing the school despite the major need.

Thank you for answering my question. I suspected as much. It doesn't look like my child will benefit from any renovation, but I hope that the city realizes how dire the need is.

The parent association needs to get Cheh and Bowser over to the school, march them around and between the trailers and not let them be until they commit to specific funding and a timetable to complete the project.

I completely agree, although I suspect they are already quite knowledgeable about the problems at Murch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To address the OP's question, the National Park Service and Historic Preservation are not what is holding up the Murch renovation. They do make the project more complicated and may make it more expensive. But what is holding up the project is DC. District leaders have not committed the money, effort, or political will necessary to renovate the school. The specific challenges of the project are just one of the many excuses DC has used to drag its feet in modernizing the school despite the major need.

Thank you for answering my question. I suspected as much. It doesn't look like my child will benefit from any renovation, but I hope that the city realizes how dire the need is.

The parent association needs to get Cheh and Bowser over to the school, march them around and between the trailers and not let them be until they commit to specific funding and a timetable to complete the project.

I completely agree, although I suspect they are already quite knowledgeable about the problems at Murch.

Well, their interest and mild involvement are clearly not enough. We need them to be focused and committed. It's like the old joke that the difference between involvement and commitment is like ham and eggs. The chicken is involved; the pig is committed. Murch needs elected leaders who would rather be pigs than just play chickens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To address the OP's question, the National Park Service and Historic Preservation are not what is holding up the Murch renovation. They do make the project more complicated and may make it more expensive. But what is holding up the project is DC. District leaders have not committed the money, effort, or political will necessary to renovate the school. The specific challenges of the project are just one of the many excuses DC has used to drag its feet in modernizing the school despite the major need.

Thank you for answering my question. I suspected as much. It doesn't look like my child will benefit from any renovation, but I hope that the city realizes how dire the need is.

The parent association needs to get Cheh and Bowser over to the school, march them around and between the trailers and not let them be until they commit to specific funding and a timetable to complete the project.

I completely agree, although I suspect they are already quite knowledgeable about the problems at Murch.

What's demoralizing is that the Murch HSA and renovation committee did EXACTLY this last spring. Brought pretty much every council member who would come--including Bowser, Catania, Cheh, Grosso--and every single one of them committed support for the project. And we got more budget and planning action because of it. Which got us...here.

So now I guess it has to happen all over again--and everyone should hold Mary Cheh's feet to the fire. She is completely feckless, in my opinion--it's time to make her really pay attention. I once listened to her whine to a friend about how much the Post hates her after she endorsed Gray over Fenty--it really got under her skin. Someone should contact the Post's education reporter and pitch a story to them about how the most diverse school in Ward 3 with the second most OOB students can't get a renovation.

Might also be worth getting Elissa Silverman involved, since she's at-large. She's big on accountablity.

[Anonymous]

17:25 - Thanks for the suggestion. If only it were as simple as people understanding the need. Parents toured Cheh, Bowser, and 4 other members of the Council through the school last year. Their advocacy is the only reason the Gray administration didn't let the project get pushed back further in last year's budget or that any planning has been done to date.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To address the OP's question, the National Park Service and Historic Preservation are not what is holding up the Murch renovation. They do make the project more complicated and may make it more expensive. But what is holding up the project is DC. District leaders have not committed the money, effort, or political will necessary to renovate the school. The specific challenges of the project are just one of the many excuses DC has used to drag its feet in modernizing the school despite the major need.

Thank you for answering my question. I suspected as much. It doesn't look like my child will benefit from any renovation, but I hope that the city realizes how dire the need is.

The parent association needs to get Cheh and Bowser over to the school, march them around and between the trailers and not let them be until they commit to specific funding and a timetable to complete the project.

I completely agree, although I suspect they are already quite knowledgeable about the problems at Murch.

What's demoralizing is that the Murch HSA and renovation committee did EXACTLY this last spring. Brought pretty much every council member who would come--including Bowser, Catania, Cheh, Grosso--and every single one of them committed support for the project. And we got more budget and planning action because of it. Which got us...here.

So now I guess it has to happen all over again--and everyone should hold Mary Cheh's feet to the fire. She is completely feckless, in my opinion--it's time to make her really pay attention. I once listened to her whine to a friend about how much the Post hates her after she endorsed Gray over Fenty--it really got under her skin. Someone should contact the Post's education reporter and pitch a story to them about how the most diverse school in Ward 3 with the second most OOB students can't get a renovation.

Might also be worth getting Elissa Silverman involved, since she's at-large. She's big on accountablity.

And Bowser, too. She pranced around with platitudes in the primary and the general elections. Now she's responsible (or soon will be) and needs to deliver.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:if i were them i would renovate in phases, get your foot in the door before promised funds are lost.

but, ugh to be at a school under construction for all of elementary...

Exactly, I think everyone would rather have it done all at once. I just don't understand why the NPS and the Historic Society are being so difficult. I probably don't understand the issue well though.

That's a canard. Wilson proceeded with historic preservation input and so do many private schools. DCPS may be trying to do something on the quick and cheap and stumbled, but it is easily fixed with proper focus. Meanwhile Janney is proceeding with renovation no 2? no. 3?

Doesn't seem fair. Half of the kids at Murch are now in portable buildings. Everyone involved in this project just needs to step it up and get the reno done already.

This really highlights the fact that Janney gets a disproportionate share of resources even compared to other Ward 3 schools.

Janney has certain advantages. It's students come almost exclusively from its neighborhood and its parents tend to be active in their kids education and demand quality. Together, they get the attention of the council-member and others downtown and in DCPS. Diverse schools with a mixture of IB and OOB students may offer more diversity and achieve other social goods, but political cohesiveness and vocal lobbying. Janney parents speak with a louder voice because they are concentrated in one ward, one area really, and there are a lot of them.

You write this as though it is neutral or a benefit to the Janney community so who cares about the effects. ONLY in the district would this type of pattern occur, where one school and one vocal community dominate. Really odd, actually. Does Whitman high school manage to get multiple renovations over other local schools?

Ask yourself how helpful Mary Cheh has been on Murch renovations? She's been all over Janney's. What about Bowser, despite the fact that there are a number of Ward 4 students at Murch? How helpful has she been? What about other council members? So much for One City. This is a good illustration of why neighborhood schools are important, so that elected officials can be responsive, feel responsible and be held accountable. Look at other schools -- Eaton has something like only 38% Ward 3 kids which made it very easy for them to be the one school in the ward to be sent down from Deal to Hardy and they keep slipping and sliding further back in the DCPS renovation queue. Hearst, which also has kids from all over, is an exception. They finally got their renovation but only because their facilities situation had become dire, with no lunch oom or indoor play space.

There probably is some truth in your thinking, but other than creating an enemy out of Jenney which won't help anyone, how does one go about renovating Much. Murch also does not have a cafeteria or an indoor play area. Half of the students are in portable classrooms. I am saying, it's time to set the politics aside and get out kids what they need.

Did Murch tear down its gym? We just took a tour and the kids were having indoor PE in there. That's an indoor play area.