Murch moving to lafayette

[Anonymous]

Lafayette was filled with mold, rats and who knows what else. Many families believe that the school made their children sick-- some very seriously sick.

Isn't there asbestos and other hazardous materials in Murch that would immediately eliminate the option of trailers within proximity of the construction? Are the air/environmental issues be taken into account? Construction is loud and messy. I cannot imagine having the Murch trailers so close.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

... The Lafayette neighbors would survive.

Yes, but my kid or your kid may not survive if s/he gets hit by a car crossing the street through double-parked cars in traffic that's tripled the density of cars the surrounding streets can handle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lafayette was filled with mold, rats and who knows what else. Many families believe that the school made their children sick-- some very seriously sick.

Isn't there asbestos and other hazardous materials in Murch that would immediately eliminate the option of trailers within proximity of the construction? Are the air/environmental issues be taken into account? Construction is loud and messy. I cannot imagine having the Murch trailers so close.

Because of historic preservation rules, as I understand it, the amount of demo in the old building will be minimal. It's a modernization + a new building, not a rebuild of the old building.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What a terrible idea. That is why I have no doubt it is under consideration.

drops kids off at Hearst, sips tea...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What a terrible idea. That is why I have no doubt it is under consideration.

drops kids off at Hearst, sips tea...

Or it's DCPS at it's finest, acting without thinking and creating a disaster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many OOB students are at Murch currently? If the school is more than 200 over capacity, it would be surprising (and illogical) if there were any at this point.

This. There are OOB students at Murch, which admittedly makes no sense with the severe overcrowding.

Murch has city wide special ed classrooms. Housed in trailers of course but kids are bussed in from all over the city to attend these programs. And now I will get on my soapbox-- Murch does a fantastic job with these kids. They are integrated into the classes for specials and recess and other times during the day. There are kids who came in for the special ed program and are now in regular classrooms full time because their needs are being met in an inclusive classroom. We happily take our OOB families and they are an integral part of the Murch community.

[Anonymous]

OOB kids isn't the problem people. That's 70 kids at most, of the more than 300 that make up the over capacity.

Let's move on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OOB kids isn't the problem people. That's 70 kids at most, of the more than 300 that make up the over capacity.

Let's move on.

So why are 70 OOB students there? This is too important a point to just "move on." Murch didn't suddenly become overcrowded. It's been overcrowded for a long time and had trailers in the front yard for years. It's one thing to allow OOB kids already there to cycle through and move on. Of course, they should not have continued sibling preference once a school reaches overcrowded status, but even sibling preference doesn't explain 70 kids because they likely would have gone through by now also. 70 may not seem like a huge number, until one realizes that it's nearly three classrooms of kids, and 25% of the overcrowding problem. Why does Murch keep taking them??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many OOB students are at Murch currently? If the school is more than 200 over capacity, it would be surprising (and illogical) if there were any at this point.

This. There are OOB students at Murch, which admittedly makes no sense with the severe overcrowding.

Murch has city wide special ed classrooms. Housed in trailers of course but kids are bussed in from all over the city to attend these programs. And now I will get on my soapbox-- Murch does a fantastic job with these kids. They are integrated into the classes for specials and recess and other times during the day. There are kids who came in for the special ed program and are now in regular classrooms full time because their needs are being met in an inclusive classroom. We happily take our OOB families and they are an integral part of the Murch community.

This is nuts. Why would DCPS put and keep a city wide program in an already overcrowded school? There are a number more centrally-located schools that have a large amount of overcapacity and unused space and where the kids wouldn't have to be housed in a trailer city. It's incongruous to for people to whine about being 300 students over-enrolled yet claim they are "happy" to take all the OOB families.

[Anonymous]

PP: there are schools that are operating seriously under capacity and have much unused space.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OOB kids isn't the problem people. That's 70 kids at most, of the more than 300 that make up the over capacity.

Let's move on.

So why are 70 OOB students there? This is too important a point to just "move on." Murch didn't suddenly become overcrowded. It's been overcrowded for a long time and had trailers in the front yard for years. It's one thing to allow OOB kids already there to cycle through and move on. Of course, they should not have continued sibling preference once a school reaches overcrowded status, but even sibling preference doesn't explain 70 kids because they likely would have gone through by now also. 70 may not seem like a huge number, until one realizes that it's nearly three classrooms of kids, and 25% of the overcrowding problem. Why does Murch keep taking them??

PP here. I don't know. But consider that much of the overcrowding came with the advent of PK4, not because kids were flooding into the school from OOB.

Whatever the reason the school hasn't been renovated in almost 100 years... the city needs to solve this problem even if it means throwing money at it. 700 kids (Even the 70 who you think shouldn't be there) deserve to be in an appropriate building.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP: there are schools that are operating seriously under capacity and have much unused space.

Yes, and they are no where near Murch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many OOB students are at Murch currently? If the school is more than 200 over capacity, it would be surprising (and illogical) if there were any at this point.

This. There are OOB students at Murch, which admittedly makes no sense with the severe overcrowding.

Murch has city wide special ed classrooms. Housed in trailers of course but kids are bussed in from all over the city to attend these programs. And now I will get on my soapbox-- Murch does a fantastic job with these kids. They are integrated into the classes for specials and recess and other times during the day. There are kids who came in for the special ed program and are now in regular classrooms full time because their needs are being met in an inclusive classroom. We happily take our OOB families and they are an integral part of the Murch community.

Housed in trailers "Of course"? Did you really just write that?

Why would they put the special ed kids in trailers, unless of course they're part of an entire grade level that's in trailers (e.g. a prek or K special ed class in the Kaufman "wing"). That's terrible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OOB kids isn't the problem people. That's 70 kids at most, of the more than 300 that make up the over capacity.

Let's move on.

So why are 70 OOB students there? This is too important a point to just "move on." Murch didn't suddenly become overcrowded. It's been overcrowded for a long time and had trailers in the front yard for years. It's one thing to allow OOB kids already there to cycle through and move on. Of course, they should not have continued sibling preference once a school reaches overcrowded status, but even sibling preference doesn't explain 70 kids because they likely would have gone through by now also. 70 may not seem like a huge number, until one realizes that it's nearly three classrooms of kids, and 25% of the overcrowding problem. Why does Murch keep taking them??

PP here. I don't know. But consider that much of the overcrowding came with the advent of PK4, not because kids were flooding into the school from OOB.

Whatever the reason the school hasn't been renovated in almost 100 years... the city needs to solve this problem even if it means throwing money at it. 700 kids (Even the 70 who you think shouldn't be there) deserve to be in an appropriate building.

Murch had PK4 when I was a student there in the mid 70's, and it certainly wasn't overcrowded then. So, I doubt that the overcrowding arrived with PK4.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OOB kids isn't the problem people. That's 70 kids at most, of the more than 300 that make up the over capacity.

Let's move on.

So why are 70 OOB students there? This is too important a point to just "move on." Murch didn't suddenly become overcrowded. It's been overcrowded for a long time and had trailers in the front yard for years. It's one thing to allow OOB kids already there to cycle through and move on. Of course, they should not have continued sibling preference once a school reaches overcrowded status, but even sibling preference doesn't explain 70 kids because they likely would have gone through by now also. 70 may not seem like a huge number, until one realizes that it's nearly three classrooms of kids, and 25% of the overcrowding problem. Why does Murch keep taking them??

PP here. I don't know. But consider that much of the overcrowding came with the advent of PK4, not because kids were flooding into the school from OOB.

Whatever the reason the school hasn't been renovated in almost 100 years... the city needs to solve this problem even if it means throwing money at it. 700 kids (Even the 70 who you think shouldn't be there) deserve to be in an appropriate building.

Murch had PK4 when I was a student there in the mid 70's, and it certainly wasn't overcrowded then. So, I doubt that the overcrowding arrived with PK4.

Ah, well I stand corrected.