Maret parents shouldn't be mocking what DCPS administrators call themselves when they have someone who chooses to call himself "Shooter" Starr as an alum and on their Board of Trustees. |
Again, you try to focus the argument on Ellington which is irrelevant to the Jelleff issue and on Hardy which is only part of the larger picture. Why does Maret refuse to share? |
Seriously? The inadequacies of the Maret campus are not a problem the kids at the BGCGW need to worry about. Neither should the staff at Hardy need to prioritize the needs of Maret students. If Maret can’t share, they should build their own facilities. |
It is not Maret's decision on who uses and doesn't use Jelleff, with one exception. Even though Maret is entitled to use the field on Wednesday's during peak sports season, they have made the field available to Hardy on that day. DPR is responsible for scheduling of the field outside of Maret's limited hours. Thousands of public school students, Boys and Girls club participants, Stoddert soccer league participants and others have shared in and benefitted from the turf field and other capital improvements, including to the swimming pool, that Maret has funded. DCPS, DPR and several council members are working on an arrangement to give Hardy reserved priority at the Ellington field, which is playable now but is slated for improvement. |
It seems apparent that staff at Hardy won't prioritize the needs of Hardy students either, over their free staff parking. ![]() |
Groan. Same old BS talking points. To address just one... Maret gets out early on Wednesdays, so it uses the field for a couple of hours, and then deigns to allow Hardy to use it for the last hour. Note two things: — the time is still not immediately after school, but like an hour later, so Hardy still has to wait for Maret to have their time. — Maret started generously sometimes-granting Hardy this one hour A YEAR AGO. They did not do it for the first 8 years of the 10 year deal. They only found this charity once renewal negotiations were in view. |
You're being disingenuous. The teachers and other staff at Hardy have zero control over the configuration of the Hardy grounds. |
Your red herrings continue to stink up the place. Pls explain why Hardy staff should make up for Maret’s inadequate campus facilities and unwillingness to build their own fields or share the fields that exist with at-risk kids in aftercare. |
Don't most public schools have their own fields? If not, how many prioritize free staff parking perks over the athletic needs of their students? That says that Hardy is more about the staff than the students. Sad. |
Sure it is sad. But irrelevant to this discussion here. Maret wants to rent the field (which is what it is doing- blabbering about upgrades etc doesn't change the fact that it is renting the field, just paying in upgrades rather than all cash). Maret is not entitled to first dibs on the field because DPR is required to prioritize DCPS. DPR has not prioritized DCPS so the contract should be nullified. I am a DC voter and I live nowhere near Jelleff but you better believe that 1) I will never send my kids to Maret unless they back down here; and 2) I will remember which politicians were in favor of the Maret deal when it comes time to support new council members and mayorial candidates. Bottom line: Hardy having a parking lot is 100% irrelevant. It is not Hardy's duty to find a way to accommodate Maret. If Maret wants to buy the Hardy parking lot it can make an offer for it to DC |
+1 It is not the job of the DC taxpayer to make up for Maret's inadequacies in facilities. Public parks should be public, no matter whether if Maret wants to corrupt the contracting process by paying only $95k/year for the field and avoiding oversight. |
It should be Hardy's job to find a way to accommodate its own students, which means putting them first ahead of staff convenience. Hardy has the space to build a large-sized playing field on its own campus. This would involve moving the court to where the parking area is. Hardy could decide to dispense with parking altogether, which is the preferred DDOT alternative. For example, John Eaton has no staff parking. Hardy instead could decide to dispense with the court (there is one available at Jelleff.). Or Hardy could ask DCPS to put the court on top of the parking. I doubt, however, that many at Hardy would want to see Maret own a field on the Hardy campus instead of Hardy students having a field on their own campus. |
No, it is Maret's job to find a way to accommodate its own students on its own facilities-it's not the job of the DC taxpayer. That's why parents pay $40k/year. Maret has the space to build a large-sized playing field on its own campus. Maret should be so ashamed of the way it's unable to do so or to move its campus to find a larger space as Sidwell and GDS have done. |
Every parent at Maret is wishing their kid had gotten into a Cathedral School or Sidwell or GDS instead so they could have a proper field of their own and not have their reputation dragged through the mud. |
Show us. |