Mayor Bowser's Budget Delays Nearly 20 School Projects

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look every parent wants their child in a good school that's not physically crumbling and that cuts across all wards. The issue with modernizations and renovations is they seem to be done in a vacuum with zero coordination with any demographics. It's not rocket science. Just look at deal and Wilson. Deal was renovated for 300 a class and Wilson for 400 a class. Deal is not the only feeder and yet it would be sending almost enough students ( I do realize they don't all go) to almost fill Wilson. And then surprise! They are both way overcrowded. Where's the accountability? It just seems to continue where the left hand doesn't know what the right is doing.

In fact, it is Rocket Science. There is a lot more to balance than enrollment numbers. That includes finances, the physical status of 150+ buildings with decades of deferred maintenance, changing boundaries, politics, hazmats, etc.

+1. I would bet the DC modernization budget that this poster also subscribes to the theory that balancing a governmental budget is "no different than balancing a budget at home".

[Anonymous]

I would argue that the problem with prior expenditures was focussing on HS instead of MS or ES. Wilson and Deal probably made sense since JKLM are already IB schools with community support. But from there they need to turn to ES and MS tat feed them. Kids who enter PK3 today are 11 years away from HS. Think about DC 11 years ago. and consider the DCPS system 11 years ago. You can't focus that far out. In order to get the PK3, PK4 and K kids to stay you need the parents to have faith in the MS. Once you've got MS situated then you concentrate on HS.

I'm no Bowser supporter or apologist and I think she just screwed Ward 6 and the delays are unacceptable, but I give her credit for focusing on MS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look every parent wants their child in a good school that's not physically crumbling and that cuts across all wards. The issue with modernizations and renovations is they seem to be done in a vacuum with zero coordination with any demographics. It's not rocket science. Just look at deal and Wilson. Deal was renovated for 300 a class and Wilson for 400 a class. Deal is not the only feeder and yet it would be sending almost enough students ( I do realize they don't all go) to almost fill Wilson. And then surprise! They are both way overcrowded. Where's the accountability? It just seems to continue where the left hand doesn't know what the right is doing.

In fact, it is Rocket Science. There is a lot more to balance than enrollment numbers. That includes finances, the physical status of 150+ buildings with decades of deferred maintenance, changing boundaries, politics, hazmats, etc.

It also needs to take into account a 20+ year view forward trying to prognosticate what is happening in terms of urban development, population, demographics and other trends. Yet DC too often tends to be focused on the here and now and only gazes backward in time for perspective rather than trying to anticipate the future. They pump money into schools that are bound for closure, pump money into low-income infrastructure in neighborhoods that are at the epicenter of gentrification, et cetera.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look every parent wants their child in a good school that's not physically crumbling and that cuts across all wards. The issue with modernizations and renovations is they seem to be done in a vacuum with zero coordination with any demographics. It's not rocket science. Just look at deal and Wilson. Deal was renovated for 300 a class and Wilson for 400 a class. Deal is not the only feeder and yet it would be sending almost enough students ( I do realize they don't all go) to almost fill Wilson. And then surprise! They are both way overcrowded. Where's the accountability? It just seems to continue where the left hand doesn't know what the right is doing.

In fact, it is Rocket Science. There is a lot more to balance than enrollment numbers. That includes finances, the physical status of 150+ buildings with decades of deferred maintenance, changing boundaries, politics, hazmats, etc.

+1. I would bet the DC modernization budget that this poster also subscribes to the theory that balancing a governmental budget is "no different than balancing a budget at home".

Bad bet, you lose. We've all observed that DCPS/DGS place CURRENT enrollment a lot lower on the list of priorities than most here would like. When some schools haven't been renovated since they were built in the 1920s and 1930s, citizens in those neighborhoods don't want to hear it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

My point wax that the capital spent should have some rationship with the number of kids attending. I bet that the Ellington kids are winning by a ton by that metric - assuming that the funds allocated to Ellington rebuild aren't lining DCPS central office, Bowser administration and contractor pockets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Didn't Cardozo & Dunbar cost like $190 million a piece?

Dunbar was 129 million and it's still utilized at less than 1/2 capacity. DCPS is mainly a boon/work program for people employed in construction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Didn't Cardozo & Dunbar cost like $190 million a piece?

Dunbar was 129 million and it's still utilized at less than 1/2 capacity. DCPS is mainly a boon/work program for people employed in construction.

Exactly! And I'd like to see any projection that shows when the school will be filled to capacity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Didn't Cardozo & Dunbar cost like $190 million a piece?

Dunbar was 129 million and it's still utilized at less than 1/2 capacity. DCPS is mainly a boon/work program for people employed in construction.

I'd be curious to see how the companies that got the renovation contracts relate to political campaigns...

[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.

Oh, I didn't mean to pit it against another school, but I did mean to pit it against other priorities in the mayor's budget.