Bowser cuts school renovation funds - Murch, others delayed or cancelled while Ellington tops $178 M

[Anonymous]

Wha??? It says nothing about this on the Murch renovation website.

[Anonymous]

It is a performing arts school so the renovations alone will trump a comprehensive school in so many ways. You do know that millions is not for the actual brick and motar but it is for items...e.g., instruments, costumes. Give'em a break, they are one of the last schools to be remodeled and the cost is purely inflation. Nothing more, nothing less. They are producing scholars from Ellington, so the facilities should reflect it too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is a performing arts school so the renovations alone will trump a comprehensive school in so many ways. You do know that millions is not for the actual brick and motar but it is for items...e.g., instruments, costumes. Give'em a break, they are one of the last schools to be remodeled and the cost is purely inflation. Nothing more, nothing less. They are producing scholars from Ellington, so the facilities should reflect it too.

There are plenty of other schools that haven't been modernized - where are you getting your facts from?

That honestly sounds like a fancy private school, and is taking money away from the basic public schools that we need.

[Anonymous]

They will end up spending nearly a quarter of a billion dollars on Ellington after its all done while more than a few schools in the district are literally falling apart. Goes to show DCPS priorities are freakishly skewed. (So, Wilson. Not even close to a priority for DCPS. In fact, they want to kick it down a bit).

The right move would have been to tell Ellington to take a few more years raising money from its donors if the Ellingtons really believe they need hundreds of millions of dollars spent on an over-the-top, state-of-the-art new school. The effect is to screw over a lot of folks who just need the basics out of their school and are not getting even that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wha??? It says nothing about this on the Murch renovation website.

Wow, untimely and misleading post and article. Page 94 of the Mayor's proposed budget funds the Murch renovation -- they've already started drilling pilot holes on school grounds.

http://cfo.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/ocfo/publication/attachments/2016_DCBudget_V6_Opt_2%20--%20Part%202r_0.pdf

There is no link in the article to anything newer than the actual proposed budget. The reference to Murch is embedded in an older article referencing the mid-year reprogramming of the 5 mil that was not spent due the last delay. Old news.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is a performing arts school so the renovations alone will trump a comprehensive school in so many ways. You do know that millions is not for the actual brick and motar but it is for items...e.g., instruments, costumes. Give'em a break, they are one of the last schools to be remodeled and the cost is purely inflation. Nothing more, nothing less. They are producing scholars from Ellington, so the facilities should reflect it too.

We shouldn't be purchasing instruments, costumes, etc. with capital investment funds. That's operating $$. Capital investment funds should be put toward brick and mortar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is a performing arts school so the renovations alone will trump a comprehensive school in so many ways. You do know that millions is not for the actual brick and motar but it is for items...e.g., instruments, costumes. Give'em a break, they are one of the last schools to be remodeled and the cost is purely inflation. Nothing more, nothing less. They are producing scholars from Ellington, so the facilities should reflect it too.

Ellington has an unaccountable board of directors, and not one of them is even appointed by the mayor or chancellor. Yet they spend the taxpayers money with drunken abandon. If they are not the most expensive school renovation in DC history, it is darn close. And it's a lot to try to shoehorn a performing arts school into a tight space that is neither central nor particularly transit accessible. It probably would have been more cost effective to build a brand new, purpose-designed facility near Metro and a major performing arts venue like Arena.

And what's with taking kids from Maryland (who in theory are supposed to pay DC subsidized tuition, which may not even be collected),, when DE turns DC kids away?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is a performing arts school so the renovations alone will trump a comprehensive school in so many ways. You do know that millions is not for the actual brick and motar but it is for items...e.g., instruments, costumes. Give'em a break, they are one of the last schools to be remodeled and the cost is purely inflation. Nothing more, nothing less. They are producing scholars from Ellington, so the facilities should reflect it too.

We shouldn't be purchasing instruments, costumes, etc. with capital investment funds. That's operating $$. Capital investment funds should be put toward brick and mortar.

Knowing Ellington's past record, the board is probably trying to put the capital spending towards above-market administrative compensation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is a performing arts school so the renovations alone will trump a comprehensive school in so many ways. You do know that millions is not for the actual brick and motar but it is for items...e.g., instruments, costumes. Give'em a break, they are one of the last schools to be remodeled and the cost is purely inflation. Nothing more, nothing less. They are producing scholars from Ellington, so the facilities should reflect it too.

There are plenty of other schools that haven't been modernized - where are you getting your facts from?

That honestly sounds like a fancy private school, and is taking money away from the basic public schools that we need.

Ellington is run like a private school with a privately appointed board of directors. Yet it receives over an 80% taxpayer funded operating subsidy and basically a 100% taxpayer funded capital budget.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mayor Bowser plans to cut funding for school renovations. The result is that some 20 school renovations in the pipeline may not happen or could be delayed significantly. Murch, where a bathroom doubles as a nurse's office, is likely to be delayed still further. Meanwhile, the cost of renovating Duke Ellington has hit $178 million, reflecting DCPS' decision to fork over another $30 million for the project, bringing the renovation cost to $300K for each of Ellington's 600 students. It seems unfair that DC taxpayers are paying so much for Ellington, which also has a source of private fundraising (not dedicated to the renovation) and educates a substantial number of students from outside DC. At the same time, DC schools that actually serve only District students are getting the shaft. Hey Murch community, looks like you got Bowsered!

http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/26689/many-schools-that-need-renovations-may-not-be-getting-them/#comments

Really, pick a school that is more in need to take your pitty party too. The funding allocations may be whack, but Murch is a rich school. with beautiful grounds, and high test scores. There are so many schools across the city that are in more need than murch.

I can't speak to the situation at Murch (and so won't) but I find it troubling that some DCUMers feel that Ellington should forego DCPS funding in the amount that it is able to raise private funds but I never hear any calls for other DCPS schools in wealthy neighborhoods to forego the amount of funding that parents are able to make up through benefits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it's sickening that we're spending so much on Ellington when so many other schools are in need.

We should do our bread and butter before creating this palace for the arts.

Also, Ellington should increase the tuition from out-of-state students to cover their portion of the renovation (and actually collect it!). Why should we pay for them?

I think a performing high school is important. But I agree, I don't see why DC shouod then be subsidizing PG kids to go there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mayor Bowser plans to cut funding for school renovations. The result is that some 20 school renovations in the pipeline may not happen or could be delayed significantly. Murch, where a bathroom doubles as a nurse's office, is likely to be delayed still further. Meanwhile, the cost of renovating Duke Ellington has hit $178 million, reflecting DCPS' decision to fork over another $30 million for the project, bringing the renovation cost to $300K for each of Ellington's 600 students. It seems unfair that DC taxpayers are paying so much for Ellington, which also has a source of private fundraising (not dedicated to the renovation) and educates a substantial number of students from outside DC. At the same time, DC schools that actually serve only District students are getting the shaft. Hey Murch community, looks like you got Bowsered!

http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/26689/many-schools-that-need-renovations-may-not-be-getting-them/#comments

Really, pick a school that is more in need to take your pitty party too. The funding allocations may be whack, but Murch is a rich school. with beautiful grounds, and high test scores. There are so many schools across the city that are in more need than murch.

I can't speak to the situation at Murch (and so won't) but I find it troubling that some DCUMers feel that Ellington should forego DCPS funding in the amount that it is able to raise private funds but I never hear any calls for other DCPS schools in wealthy neighborhoods to forego the amount of funding that parents are able to make up through benefits.

No one is saying they should lose public spending. But shouldn't there be at least some public control and accountability at the board level?. It's troubling when the board had carte blanch a few years ago to pay the principal double, not just twice the DC market but the national big city market as well, at the same time they were citing budget pressures to lay off full- time staff. That's just bad institutional governance.

[Anonymous]

With the Wilson operating budget cuts and now the renovation cuts, it should be pretty apparent my now that Mayor Muriel has a hard-on for Ward 3 schools. I assume thst she would happily quote her late supporter, Marion Barry, and tell parents to "just get over it."

[Anonymous]

All of you Ellington haters need to go back to whatever midwestern state you're from. since many of you claim that most of the students that attend Ellington are from MD and VA, perhaps you should do a FOIA request for documentation about tuition collection. However, it is not likely that you will do that because all of baseless assumptions would be proven wrong. I think Iowa is calling you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All of you Ellington haters need to go back to whatever midwestern state you're from. since many of you claim that most of the students that attend Ellington are from MD and VA, perhaps you should do a FOIA request for documentation about tuition collection. However, it is not likely that you will do that because all of baseless assumptions would be proven wrong. I think Iowa is calling you.

Who said "most"? I don't care if it's only some. I don't want to pay for non-DC residents. Do you really think people from Iowa care about funding DCPS?

Private school is calling you. Go do that on your own dime.