What will Closing D.G. General Mean for DCPS Elementary Schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mary Cheh must not give a damn about Eaton, near where the ward 3 shelter will be located. First Eaton was ward 3's sacrificial lamb to be kicked out of Deal. Next their renovation slot has been kicked to something like 2025, leaving Eaton as the only upper NW school thst is neither renovated nor in the construction pipeline. Finally it will get an influx of at risk kids who will have the right to stay even if their parents leave the shelter, with zero thought so far on the effects on Eaton and what resources will be required to address the considerable needs of these kids. Just as the Council's mantra is to spread the homeless burden around the city, it woukd be appropriate to spread the ward 3 shelter students around several newrby scholls like Eaton, Heardt, Mann and Janney, so thst no one school has to deal with the challenges of educating a sizable block of atcrisk students.

You are aweful

Do you mean to say "awful" or "awesome"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The only extent to which homeless kids are going to get to stay at Eaton after they move out of the ward 3 shelter is

a) they can finish the school year there if they move somewhere else in DC

b) they get an OOB spot in the lottery for the following year (not likely; there aren't a lot of OOB spots and they get no special preference)

c) they move somewhere else in the Eaton boundary (again, not very likely)

They don't get anything special in terms of staying in-bounds. They're treated just like every other student in this regard.

Wrong. "At risk" students can stay. And many likely will, even as others take their place at the shelter and come to Eaton themselves. Eaton is a good school, probably way better that then other alternatives available to them, and promises a path to Wilson.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The only extent to which homeless kids are going to get to stay at Eaton after they move out of the ward 3 shelter is

a) they can finish the school year there if they move somewhere else in DC

b) they get an OOB spot in the lottery for the following year (not likely; there aren't a lot of OOB spots and they get no special preference)

c) they move somewhere else in the Eaton boundary (again, not very likely)

They don't get anything special in terms of staying in-bounds. They're treated just like every other student in this regard.

Wrong. The federal McKinney Act (dating back to the 1980s) trumps DC school boundary and lottery rules. If it is in 'the best interest of the child' they can stay.

Will anyone? Who knows. But the law recognizes that moving kids around over and over is not helpful. By the same token these kids could decide NOT to enroll in Eaton and stay in whatever school they were in before.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only extent to which homeless kids are going to get to stay at Eaton after they move out of the ward 3 shelter is

a) they can finish the school year there if they move somewhere else in DC

b) they get an OOB spot in the lottery for the following year (not likely; there aren't a lot of OOB spots and they get no special preference)

c) they move somewhere else in the Eaton boundary (again, not very likely)

They don't get anything special in terms of staying in-bounds. They're treated just like every other student in this regard.

Wrong. "At risk" students can stay. And many likely will, even as others take their place at the shelter and come to Eaton themselves. Eaton is a good school, probably way better that then other alternatives available to them, and promises a path to Wilson.

And even if the kids from the shelter can't or don't stay and there is turnover after 120-days, what will constant turnover of at-risk kids coming and going at Eaton mean for the classroom experience there?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only extent to which homeless kids are going to get to stay at Eaton after they move out of the ward 3 shelter is

a) they can finish the school year there if they move somewhere else in DC

b) they get an OOB spot in the lottery for the following year (not likely; there aren't a lot of OOB spots and they get no special preference)

c) they move somewhere else in the Eaton boundary (again, not very likely)

They don't get anything special in terms of staying in-bounds. They're treated just like every other student in this regard.

Wrong. "At risk" students can stay. And many likely will, even as others take their place at the shelter and come to Eaton themselves. Eaton is a good school, probably way better that then other alternatives available to them, and promises a path to Wilson.

This is technically true, but how could it work in practice? If you have a 5 year old child of a single mom living in the Ward 3 shelter for 6 months, then the mom moves out, most likely to somewhere with affordable housing, say east of the river, where she can find a job. The 5 year old certainly can't get herself to Eaton alone, and the mom isn't going to spend an hour taking the kid to Eaton, an hour commuting back home, then an hour going to pick kid up and an hour taking the kid home. Possibly the mom could find a job near Eaton, but then the mom is spending an hour getting to work on days when there is no school and during the summer and on weekends. I just don't think there will be a high return rate on kids in this shelter staying at Eaton for life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only extent to which homeless kids are going to get to stay at Eaton after they move out of the ward 3 shelter is

a) they can finish the school year there if they move somewhere else in DC

b) they get an OOB spot in the lottery for the following year (not likely; there aren't a lot of OOB spots and they get no special preference)

c) they move somewhere else in the Eaton boundary (again, not very likely)

They don't get anything special in terms of staying in-bounds. They're treated just like every other student in this regard.

Wrong. "At risk" students can stay. And many likely will, even as others take their place at the shelter and come to Eaton themselves. Eaton is a good school, probably way better that then other alternatives available to them, and promises a path to Wilson.

This is technically true, but how could it work in practice? If you have a 5 year old child of a single mom living in the Ward 3 shelter for 6 months, then the mom moves out, most likely to somewhere with affordable housing, say east of the river, where she can find a job. The 5 year old certainly can't get herself to Eaton alone, and the mom isn't going to spend an hour taking the kid to Eaton, an hour commuting back home, then an hour going to pick kid up and an hour taking the kid home. Possibly the mom could find a job near Eaton, but then the mom is spending an hour getting to work on days when there is no school and during the summer and on weekends. I just don't think there will be a high return rate on kids in this shelter staying at Eaton for life.

I agree, it will be very difficult for students to stay. Maybe there should be more public housing in Ward 3.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only extent to which homeless kids are going to get to stay at Eaton after they move out of the ward 3 shelter is

a) they can finish the school year there if they move somewhere else in DC

b) they get an OOB spot in the lottery for the following year (not likely; there aren't a lot of OOB spots and they get no special preference)

c) they move somewhere else in the Eaton boundary (again, not very likely)

They don't get anything special in terms of staying in-bounds. They're treated just like every other student in this regard.

Wrong. "At risk" students can stay. And many likely will, even as others take their place at the shelter and come to Eaton themselves. Eaton is a good school, probably way better that then other alternatives available to them, and promises a path to Wilson.

This is technically true, but how could it work in practice? If you have a 5 year old child of a single mom living in the Ward 3 shelter for 6 months, then the mom moves out, most likely to somewhere with affordable housing, say east of the river, where she can find a job. The 5 year old certainly can't get herself to Eaton alone, and the mom isn't going to spend an hour taking the kid to Eaton, an hour commuting back home, then an hour going to pick kid up and an hour taking the kid home. Possibly the mom could find a job near Eaton, but then the mom is spending an hour getting to work on days when there is no school and during the summer and on weekends. I just don't think there will be a high return rate on kids in this shelter staying at Eaton for life.

I agree, it will be very difficult for students to stay. Maybe there should be more public housing in Ward 3.

I live in Ward 4. Every day I see children aged 5-6 making their way to school by themselves on public transit -- mostly buses but also Metro.

When you don't have an other options, that's what you do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn't know that. Thanks for the info.

Signed
disgusting vulture who wants to see the D.G. General kids served well by DCPS, along with other in-boundary kids

Well, Ms. D. Vulture, that sure is not the way your first post sounded!

+1, especially the bit about Payne turning. OP you really sound like a bleeding heart looking out for the homeless kids.

Stop knocking the OP. Absolutely NO ONE n this board wants a high percentage of homeless or FARMS kids at their school, of any race. Everyone wants their school to improve.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only extent to which homeless kids are going to get to stay at Eaton after they move out of the ward 3 shelter is

a) they can finish the school year there if they move somewhere else in DC

b) they get an OOB spot in the lottery for the following year (not likely; there aren't a lot of OOB spots and they get no special preference)

c) they move somewhere else in the Eaton boundary (again, not very likely)

They don't get anything special in terms of staying in-bounds. They're treated just like every other student in this regard.

Wrong. "At risk" students can stay. And many likely will, even as others take their place at the shelter and come to Eaton themselves. Eaton is a good school, probably way better that then other alternatives available to them, and promises a path to Wilson.

This is technically true, but how could it work in practice? If you have a 5 year old child of a single mom living in the Ward 3 shelter for 6 months, then the mom moves out, most likely to somewhere with affordable housing, say east of the river, where she can find a job. The 5 year old certainly can't get herself to Eaton alone, and the mom isn't going to spend an hour taking the kid to Eaton, an hour commuting back home, then an hour going to pick kid up and an hour taking the kid home. Possibly the mom could find a job near Eaton, but then the mom is spending an hour getting to work on days when there is no school and during the summer and on weekends. I just don't think there will be a high return rate on kids in this shelter staying at Eaton for life.

I agree, it will be very difficult for students to stay. Maybe there should be more public housing in Ward 3.

The point is not about how homeless shelters and transitional housing are distributed across the city. The point is that Eaton is physically very small, is already way over-crowded, and is overdue for renovation. A new chunk of additional students could have substantial impact on the school's ability to serve everyone well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn't know that. Thanks for the info.

Signed
disgusting vulture who wants to see the D.G. General kids served well by DCPS, along with other in-boundary kids

Well, Ms. D. Vulture, that sure is not the way your first post sounded!

+1, especially the bit about Payne turning. OP you really sound like a bleeding heart looking out for the homeless kids.

Stop knocking the OP. Absolutely NO ONE n this board wants a high percentage of homeless or FARMS kids at their school, of any race. Everyone wants their school to improve.

"improve" = richer. just say what you mean.

and nobody is proposing that you send your snowflake to a 99% farms school. this is about a handful of homeless kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mary Cheh must not give a damn about Eaton, near where the ward 3 shelter will be located. First Eaton was ward 3's sacrificial lamb to be kicked out of Deal. Next their renovation slot has been kicked to something like 2025, leaving Eaton as the only upper NW school thst is neither renovated nor in the construction pipeline. Finally it will get an influx of at risk kids who will have the right to stay even if their parents leave the shelter, with zero thought so far on the effects on Eaton and what resources will be required to address the considerable needs of these kids. Just as the Council's mantra is to spread the homeless burden around the city, it woukd be appropriate to spread the ward 3 shelter students around several newrby scholls like Eaton, Heardt, Mann and Janney, so thst no one school has to deal with the challenges of educating a sizable block of atcrisk students.

You are aweful

Doubtful kids will continue at Eaton if their families leave the shelter since it's so far from public/affordable housing complexes. But why is the poster's suggestion to open all ward 3 schools to homeless students awful?

I don't get why this is awful. I'm an eaton parent and Mary Cheh doesn't give a shit about Eaton. Too many oob families for her to give a damn. There is literally nothing she could at this point that would convince me she cares less than I already think she does. Her staff is awful and condescending to Eaton concerns. She can't be bothered to ever make any sort of appearance. Not only does she not give a shit, she doesn't give a shit that it's obvious she doesn't give a shit.

Over the past several years, our opinion of Mary Cheh has sunk lower and lower. She seems to care less and less about representing her ward and more and more about implementing her personal agenda. We find her arrogant, condescending "She Who Knows Best' attitude to be really grating. And what's also noteworthy about this law professor is that, not only does not seem incapable of listening, she's not as smart as she apparently thinks she is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only extent to which homeless kids are going to get to stay at Eaton after they move out of the ward 3 shelter is

a) they can finish the school year there if they move somewhere else in DC

b) they get an OOB spot in the lottery for the following year (not likely; there aren't a lot of OOB spots and they get no special preference)

c) they move somewhere else in the Eaton boundary (again, not very likely)

They don't get anything special in terms of staying in-bounds. They're treated just like every other student in this regard.

Wrong. "At risk" students can stay. And many likely will, even as others take their place at the shelter and come to Eaton themselves. Eaton is a good school, probably way better that then other alternatives available to them, and promises a path to Wilson.

This is technically true, but how could it work in practice? If you have a 5 year old child of a single mom living in the Ward 3 shelter for 6 months, then the mom moves out, most likely to somewhere with affordable housing, say east of the river, where she can find a job. The 5 year old certainly can't get herself to Eaton alone, and the mom isn't going to spend an hour taking the kid to Eaton, an hour commuting back home, then an hour going to pick kid up and an hour taking the kid home. Possibly the mom could find a job near Eaton, but then the mom is spending an hour getting to work on days when there is no school and during the summer and on weekends. I just don't think there will be a high return rate on kids in this shelter staying at Eaton for life.

I agree, it will be very difficult for students to stay. Maybe there should be more public housing in Ward 3.

The point is not about how homeless shelters and transitional housing are distributed across the city. The point is that Eaton is physically very small, is already way over-crowded, and is overdue for renovation. A new chunk of additional students could have substantial impact on the school's ability to serve everyone well.

That's putting it gently. Without a massive amount of planning and new resources, a continuously expanding group of 'at ris' kids puts at risk Eaton's trajectory as a good school.

[Anonymous]

Wrong. The federal McKinney Act (dating back to the 1980s) trumps DC school boundary and lottery rules. If it is in 'the best interest of the child' they can stay.

Will anyone? Who knows. But the law recognizes that moving kids around over and over is not helpful. By the same token these kids could decide NOT to enroll in Eaton and stay in whatever school they were in before.



Exactly, I read that on the DCPS website about the rights of homeless students. Specifically, school placement is made "in the best interest of the child". It can (rightfully) be argued that putting a big number of homeless children in one school at the same time, would not be in their best interest. But having a few children at each of the Ward 3 schools can really be in their best interest as each school (Hearst, Murch, Janney, Stoddert, etc) could easily embrace a few children each and surround them with the support they need. Wouldn't that be in everyone's best interest?
Isn't this exactly what the DME's "set-asides" are for?
Any logic used in these decision?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Wrong. The federal McKinney Act (dating back to the 1980s) trumps DC school boundary and lottery rules. If it is in 'the best interest of the child' they can stay.

Will anyone? Who knows. But the law recognizes that moving kids around over and over is not helpful. By the same token these kids could decide NOT to enroll in Eaton and stay in whatever school they were in before.

Exactly, I read that on the DCPS website about the rights of homeless students. Specifically, school placement is made "in the best interest of the child". It can (rightfully) be argued that putting a big number of homeless children in one school at the same time, would not be in their best interest. But having a few children at each of the Ward 3 schools can really be in their best interest as each school (Hearst, Murch, Janney, Stoddert, etc) could easily embrace a few children each and surround them with the support they need. Wouldn't that be in everyone's best interest?
Isn't this exactly what the DME's "set-asides" are for?
Any logic used in these decision?

No.

[Anonymous]

So, let's assume there are 50 families at the ward 3 shelter, that each family stays 120 days, that each family has 1.5 kids, and that half of the kids are elementary school aged. This seems consistent with what I've been hearing from Cheh, etc.

So, there will be approximately 75 kids at the shelter at a time, and about 37 of them will be elementary school aged. Let's assume that about half decide to go to Eaton (noting that it may be time consuming and difficult to get the kids to their former schools as well as the high quality of Eaton). So, approximately 18 kids would go to Eaton. Then let's assume a third (so, 6) of those kids stay at Eaton after their families leave the shelter and, as is their right, for the subsequent school years. Now let's multiply that number (6) by the number of 120-days periods in a year (approximately 3).

Based on the assumptions above, Eaton would have 18 short-term additional students at a time, and would be adding 18 long-terms students per year, based on their families' time at the shelter. So who knows how many students of current or former homeless shelter residents will be at Eaton after a few years? One thing for sure, Eaton, and all of the other schools in a similar situation, will need extensive support to assist these children, who will have a much higher than average likelihood of being at-risk, and to accommodate the revolving door of a changing student body through the year (in addition to the usual number of students moving to and from the area). The idea that there will only be a "few homeless kids" is ridiculous and wholly underestimates the undertaking.