Mary Cheh, homeless shelters and Stoddert

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How will homeless kids overwhelm the school system. The proposed shelter has 38 units, and not all of the units are going to have kids in them.

No, we've been told that all of the rooms will have kids in them -- two bunkbeds each -- and they will predictably be of toddler and elementary school age. There's also uncertainty whether the shelter will house 38 or 50 units. Mostly single-mother families rotate in and out every 3-4 months, all of them with the right to attend the neighborhood school, and then they can stay at the school even though they might find permanent housing elsewhere in the city.

Couple that with the fact that Stoddert is already overcrowded, and you have to wonder whether DCPS has lost its "planning" chip.

They are family shelters so yes, lots of kids. If they opt to go to Stoddert, as will be their right, in principle at-risk funding should follow them. DCPS will have to think about how to budget for that even if these kids are not there at the beginning of the year. But they will not have the right to stay after the school year is over once they have permanent housing. That cuts both ways. During the school year families can move in and out of the shelter and accrue rights for that school year. So by the end of the year, more than the number of kids in the shelter at one time could be attending. That said, these kids would not be able to stick around. Lots of churning potentially. And, Stoddert is bursting, with no clear way to add space (same issue with trying to close Filmore and add back arts space -- no where to do it). DCPS sounds like it was completely in the dark like everyone else so I don't blame them on this one. May have to share rights with other local schools, such as Eaton?

I'm reasonably certain that getting your kids into Stoddart and keeping them there is not at the top of your list of priorities when your family is homeless and being move from shelter to shelter.

[Anonymous]

Peel all the layers of self-justification (cronies, alternative sites, and I love the one about unacceptably large irresponsible families) away, and....

"Make the poors go away" is not an acceptable way to live.

[Anonymous]

Oh please.

[Anonymous]

The kids who stay at DC General- did they attend their old school or the one zoned for DC General?

[Anonymous]

short answer is "either."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Relax everyone. The spot where the shelter may be is still a patch of grass.

Your true colors are showing.

The biggest threat to a shelter being built at that location would be the crony deal that underlies it.

Yeah, I heard that the developer would make some outrageous amount in rent. And I also heard that the Glover Park site was identified at the last minute because Bowser needed a site in Ward 3 and the other one they were looking at (I think maybe in the Murch district) couldn't be secured quickly enough to meet the Mayor's announcement. WOuld love someone in the know to post some details of the facts.

It seems that the Glover Park developer also gets to hitch a ride on the mayor's skirts, to get a coveted upzoning of this property. Reportedly the zoning commission will consider all variances and zoning changes needed for any of the shelters together as one package, which makes it very difficult to have individualized considerations of impacts and other factors -- as is normally the case in a zoning change or special exception. This is of enormous financial benefit to the developer who then will own a parcel zoned for much greater density than before, with the support of the Bowser administration and all without having to go through a closely contested zoning with neighbors as opposing parties. Once the shelter lease is over, he's free to redevelop the property densely as a matter of right.

[Anonymous]

I wonder what the developer did to merit such upzoning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The kids who stay at DC General- did they attend their old school or the one zoned for DC General?

Some of them attend Payne. Some go to other DCPS - either by right from previous attendance or via the OOB lottery. Some go to charters.

[Anonymous]

OK yes, you found dirt. Your goals are still transparent, NIMBY.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The kids who stay at DC General- did they attend their old school or the one zoned for DC General?

I believe they have a right to attend either. In practice, I read somewhere (not sure where) that the number of kids from DC General attending the zoned school for DC General is small - <15?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wonder what the developer did to merit such upzoning.

i assume it was well timed and well placed contributions to Bowser's campaign and former PAC and hiring crony friends. The usual story.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The kids who stay at DC General- did they attend their old school or the one zoned for DC General?

I believe they have a right to attend either. In practice, I read somewhere (not sure where) that the number of kids from DC General attending the zoned school for DC General is small - <15?

This was discussed in another thread. Of the 100s of kids at DC General less than 30 currently attend the IB school for the shelter. I'm assuming its mostly upper grades since they don't have to guarantee spots for preschool. Someone claimed something like 40% of the children in DC General are under 2. There is not going to be a huge influx of kids into the IB schools for the new shelters. People need to settle down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder what the developer did to merit such upzoning.

i assume it was well timed and well placed contributions to Bowser's campaign and former PAC and hiring crony friends. The usual story.

I am sure that such a deal would have occurred no matter who won the race. Closing DC General was something that a lot of people were begging to happen. Catania didn't think that it was a magical solution, but he was pretty clear that the conditions at DC General were not acceptable. Developers were always going to latch on to this as a way to get good deals - because that is what developers do. They're not going to volunteer to build shelters and public housing out of the goodness of their hearts. They're going to want zoning restrictions relaxed and incentives down the line.

I don't know why this is surprising to anyone. I don't know why anyone thinks it's a Bowser-specific or even DC-specific problem. Corporations want to make money - that is why they exist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Peel all the layers of self-justification (cronies, alternative sites, and I love the one about unacceptably large irresponsible families) away, and....

"Make the poors go away" is not an acceptable way to live.

You're the only one who is saying that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The kids who stay at DC General- did they attend their old school or the one zoned for DC General?

I believe they have a right to attend either. In practice, I read somewhere (not sure where) that the number of kids from DC General attending the zoned school for DC General is small - <15?

This was discussed in another thread. Of the 100s of kids at DC General less than 30 currently attend the IB school for the shelter. I'm assuming its mostly upper grades since they don't have to guarantee spots for preschool. Someone claimed something like 40% of the children in DC General are under 2. There is not going to be a huge influx of kids into the IB schools for the new shelters. People need to settle down.

Agreed. 40% of homeless kids in DC are age 0 or 1. There's another big chunk who are 2 or 3 (and Stoddert starts at PK 4). And some are middle and high school aged. The median number of kids a homeless family in DC has is slightly over 2. It's probably safe to say that if the shelter has 40 families in it, and 90 kids, that maybe 30 or so are elementary school aged. I would guess that not even half would enroll at Stoddert--so that's what, maybe two per grade? Not an overwhelming number. Eventually, if the DME recommendation is implemented, any family who got into Stoddert by residence in the shelter and then moved to a different neighborhood would have to lottery in to return the following year. Even now, it's at the principal's discretion whether a child could stay the year after moving.