Mayor Bowser's Budget Delays Nearly 20 School Projects

[Anonymous]

Browne is in desperate need of renovation. It's a crime to put it off any longer.

[Anonymous]

Instead of the dubious and flawed strategy building cathedrals for massively under-enrolled schools to attract students who otherwise wouldn't attend, perhaps DCPS should focus on bringing all schools with healthy enrollment up to a basic standard. Working HVAC, windows, , adequately sized classrooms, fully functional and useable restrooms. DCPS is like the foolish homeowner who wants to build additions to a still dilapidated house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Browne is in desperate need of renovation. It's a crime to put it off any longer.

So are a number of other schools. It's really cruel to pit us against each other, which is exactly what their opaque process does.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Meanwhile, our local middle school Eliot Hine has had its renovation budget zeroed out until the 2019/2020 school year.



Thanks Muriel, at least now we're starting to get a sense of what "Alice Deal for all" means.

Roosevelt HS looked like this from the outside for twenty+ years. You cannot shame these politicians, or the citizens who elect them, in action.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Browne is in desperate need of renovation. It's a crime to put it off any longer.

So are a number of other schools. It's really cruel to pit us against each other, which is exactly what their opaque process does.

Exactly! Henderson stated it in her appearance before the Council, and it needed to be in place 10 years ago: a clear and consistent set of guidelines that dictate priorities for school modernizations. Battle over the priorities for a year, come out with a coherent vision, and then apply it across the system. Then there won't be as much battling and pitting of schools against each other. They did a pretty good job of doing surveys of the buildings and assessing needed changes. Now they need to prioritize in a clear and consistent manner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Stuart Hobson, a Ward 6 middle school, got a modernization that cost upwards of $34 million - and they are advocating for even more to "finish" the project. Why should Ward 6 get even more money?

Hobson is hardly a Ward 6 school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Instead of the dubious and flawed strategy building cathedrals for massively under-enrolled schools to attract students who otherwise wouldn't attend, perhaps DCPS should focus on bringing all schools with healthy enrollment up to a basic standard. Working HVAC, windows, , adequately sized classrooms, fully functional and useable restrooms. DCPS is like the foolish homeowner who wants to build additions to a still dilapidated house.

+1 Well said

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stuart Hobson, a Ward 6 middle school, got a modernization that cost upwards of $34 million - and they are advocating for even more to "finish" the project. Why should Ward 6 get even more money?

Hobson is hardly a Ward 6 school.

I don't know why wards matter anyway. I'm in Ward 6 but have no preference to attend Hobson. It's great they have a new art wing with a kiln, but my kid's by-right school is still in a crumbling facility.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stuart Hobson, a Ward 6 middle school, got a modernization that cost upwards of $34 million - and they are advocating for even more to "finish" the project. Why should Ward 6 get even more money?

Hobson is hardly a Ward 6 school.

I don't know why wards matter anyway. I'm in Ward 6 but have no preference to attend Hobson. It's great they have a new art wing with a kiln, but my kid's by-right school is still in a crumbling facility.

Jefferson? Eliot Hine is already in the 'under-enrolled cathedral' category. Wards matter in so much as each one has political patronage and clout. But that really speaks to a lack of vision for the system that each school is left each spring like a pack of dogs scrapping over a single bone.

[Anonymous]

I just burst out laughing at the post....that Wilson is the best high-school in the city. They are only the largest and bigger is not always better. Yet, does anyone realize that Banneker has not or is not on the radar for any type of renovations or new building. *Cough* and let me clear my throat Duke Ellington needs every bit and probably more considering they are a performing arts school and the inventory and storage capacity alone will rival any comprehensive school. The largest expense at all of our comprehensive schools were the athletic facilities so don't get it twisted about what is needed at Duke. Bet your bottom dollar what is spent on Duke is relatively comparable on what they spent on Woodson, Wilson, Ballou and Dunbar. Three out of the four mentioned were completely rebuilt. What idiot thinks we have 9 wards....or is that sarcasm?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just burst out laughing at the post....that Wilson is the best high-school in the city. They are only the largest and bigger is not always better. Yet, does anyone realize that Banneker has not or is not on the radar for any type of renovations or new building. *Cough* and let me clear my throat Duke Ellington needs every bit and probably more considering they are a performing arts school and the inventory and storage capacity alone will rival any comprehensive school. The largest expense at all of our comprehensive schools were the athletic facilities so don't get it twisted about what is needed at Duke. Bet your bottom dollar what is spent on Duke is relatively comparable on what they spent on Woodson, Wilson, Ballou and Dunbar. Three out of the four mentioned were completely rebuilt. What idiot thinks we have 9 wards....or is that sarcasm?

Anyone who stands outside Hobson at pickup and drop off and sees the ridiculous numbers of MD plates.

[Anonymous]

PP must be new to DC. Ward 9 = PG County residence cheaters. You know, a big chunk of the offspring of old Barry constituency.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just burst out laughing at the post....that Wilson is the best high-school in the city. They are only the largest and bigger is not always better. Yet, does anyone realize that Banneker has not or is not on the radar for any type of renovations or new building. *Cough* and let me clear my throat Duke Ellington needs every bit and probably more considering they are a performing arts school and the inventory and storage capacity alone will rival any comprehensive school. The largest expense at all of our comprehensive schools were the athletic facilities so don't get it twisted about what is needed at Duke. Bet your bottom dollar what is spent on Duke is relatively comparable on what they spent on Woodson, Wilson, Ballou and Dunbar. Three out of the four mentioned were completely rebuilt. What idiot thinks we have 9 wards....or is that sarcasm?

How many kids go to Ellington vs Wilson? Were the expenditures per student about the same?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just burst out laughing at the post....that Wilson is the best high-school in the city. They are only the largest and bigger is not always better. Yet, does anyone realize that Banneker has not or is not on the radar for any type of renovations or new building. *Cough* and let me clear my throat Duke Ellington needs every bit and probably more considering they are a performing arts school and the inventory and storage capacity alone will rival any comprehensive school. The largest expense at all of our comprehensive schools were the athletic facilities so don't get it twisted about what is needed at Duke. Bet your bottom dollar what is spent on Duke is relatively comparable on what they spent on Woodson, Wilson, Ballou and Dunbar. Three out of the four mentioned were completely rebuilt. What idiot thinks we have 9 wards....or is that sarcasm?

How many kids go to Ellington vs Wilson? Were the expenditures per student about the same?

the funds for buildings are capital, whereas the student allotment is administrative. Different pools of funds and not fungible. The renovation planning process lacks transparency in a more dramatic way than the per pupil allotment which is based on a standard formulation and provides more funds to schools with higher at-risk kids. Wilson is a victim of its own success in attracting more middle class families. PP is correct that the per pupil allotments are intended to comparable -- curious how the impact of smaller class impacts Ellington's budget as class sizes are on average 1/2 the size of Wilson.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ellington is getting $178 MILLION!! That is crazy.

boon. doggle. Post needs to do an investigation of where all that money is going. Total tag will probably be a quarter of a billion dollars once it's all done.