Council delays Foxhall, MacArthur schools

[Anonymous]

I'm listening in on the community meeting, DCPS just said the opening date is not delayed because of the budget pushback, will still be August 2023. They plan to do a "phased opening" where one grade is added at a time. The building will be ready for the first year without the major capital improvements.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So Stoddert families have more say over Foxhall than....Foxhall families. Got it. What a clown.

How would you feel if you’re tight-knit neighborhood and school community was literally cleaved down the middle? That was the plan for Glover Park. A child that might have walked three blocks to Stoddert would have had to be driven at least 1.5 miles or walk 30 minutes. Would YOU want that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bus some of them into underenrolled schools in Wards 4 and 5. Problem solved.

Good lord can we please put this dead horse to rest. Newsflash- award 3 parents will NEVER bus their children to worse schools across town. They/we will leave DCPS before that happens.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Even with the money, I don't think there was ever a chance the MacArthur school would actually be ready by next year. Delaying the money might not delay actual opening much.

While these are tweets from Goulet, the decision was made by Mendelson. I don't know if Goulet had anything to do with it.

Goulet’s tweets say that the plan is not just delaying but shifting by putting Foxhall ES at the GDS site and looking for some new magical unicorn site for a HS.

Those tweets are confusing. There's clearly no actual "the plan" yet, so maybe that's what he thinks will result?

It's also confusing that Goulet is literally the only person reporting on these delays. Wasn't there a DCPS meeting about the new schools last night (or tonight)?

There is a meeting tonight. But Mendelson's legislative proposal does push the funds to FY24 and FY25 (on his website). It doesn't explicitly show up in the legislative text but perhaps that is an overview.

I'm going to guess most people who attend this meeting will not be aware of the delay, so that'll go over well.

Also, I'm curious as to where he thinks they're gonna find a spot for an entirely new high school in Ward 3.

I had heard friendship heights - like the old lord and Taylor building. Am I mistaken that is an option?

So would you blow up the J-R feeder system? Because the logical thing would be to split the feeders for J-R, and have Deal feed one high school and Hardy another. J-R is geographically within the boundaries of Deal, so what makes sense is have Deal feed J-R, and Hardy feed the new high school. That means the new school needs to be within the Hardy boundaries. So it's not really a search for a high school somewhere in Ward 2 or 3, it's a more focused search for a site somewhere within the existing Hardy boundaries.

Now the logical spot would be along the major transportation hub of the area, Wisconsin Ave. If rec centers can be considered, an obvious choice would be Jelleff. Oops, that's been leased to Maret for ten years. Or Guy Mason. Oops, that's leased to Georgetown.

Maybe there are other city-owned sites inside the Hardy boundaries that I'm missing. But the likelihood of the city assembling a large parcel via purchase or even eminent domain is remote.

How about Duke-Ellington, the former DCPS Western High School?

[Anonymous]

We’ll, there is Fort Reno park.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We’ll, there is Fort Reno park.

NPS land, bright eyes.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Even with the money, I don't think there was ever a chance the MacArthur school would actually be ready by next year. Delaying the money might not delay actual opening much.

While these are tweets from Goulet, the decision was made by Mendelson. I don't know if Goulet had anything to do with it.

Goulet’s tweets say that the plan is not just delaying but shifting by putting Foxhall ES at the GDS site and looking for some new magical unicorn site for a HS.

Those tweets are confusing. There's clearly no actual "the plan" yet, so maybe that's what he thinks will result?

It's also confusing that Goulet is literally the only person reporting on these delays. Wasn't there a DCPS meeting about the new schools last night (or tonight)?

There is a meeting tonight. But Mendelson's legislative proposal does push the funds to FY24 and FY25 (on his website). It doesn't explicitly show up in the legislative text but perhaps that is an overview.

I'm going to guess most people who attend this meeting will not be aware of the delay, so that'll go over well.

Also, I'm curious as to where he thinks they're gonna find a spot for an entirely new high school in Ward 3.

I had heard friendship heights - like the old lord and Taylor building. Am I mistaken that is an option?

So would you blow up the J-R feeder system? Because the logical thing would be to split the feeders for J-R, and have Deal feed one high school and Hardy another. J-R is geographically within the boundaries of Deal, so what makes sense is have Deal feed J-R, and Hardy feed the new high school. That means the new school needs to be within the Hardy boundaries. So it's not really a search for a high school somewhere in Ward 2 or 3, it's a more focused search for a site somewhere within the existing Hardy boundaries.

Now the logical spot would be along the major transportation hub of the area, Wisconsin Ave. If rec centers can be considered, an obvious choice would be Jelleff. Oops, that's been leased to Maret for ten years. Or Guy Mason. Oops, that's leased to Georgetown.

Maybe there are other city-owned sites inside the Hardy boundaries that I'm missing. But the likelihood of the city assembling a large parcel via purchase or even eminent domain is remote.

How about Duke-Ellington, the former DCPS Western High School?

Be my guest to propose that. Let me know how it goes.

[Anonymous]

Yes, listening to the DCPS info session. It seems that Goulet’s views are his own and not what seems well underway. MacArthur HS will open at the GDS site in 23. The budget delays that Goulet seems to be referring to are for additional improvements to the GDS site to bring it to full capacity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So Stoddert families have more say over Foxhall than....Foxhall families. Got it. What a clown.

How would you feel if you’re tight-knit neighborhood and school community was literally cleaved down the middle? That was the plan for Glover Park. A child that might have walked three blocks to Stoddert would have had to be driven at least 1.5 miles or walk 30 minutes. Would YOU want that?

I wouldn't nuke some other neighborhood's school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bus some of them into underenrolled schools in Wards 4 and 5. Problem solved.

Good lord can we please put this dead horse to rest. Newsflash- award 3 parents will NEVER bus their children to worse schools across town. They/we will leave DCPS before that happens.

Great! That will also cure overcrowding at Deal/Wilson. Problem solved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, listening to the DCPS info session. It seems that Goulet’s views are his own and not what seems well underway. MacArthur HS will open at the GDS site in 23. The budget delays that Goulet seems to be referring to are for additional improvements to the GDS site to bring it to full capacity.

Yeah, Goulet has egg on his face for over-reacting on this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bus some of them into underenrolled schools in Wards 4 and 5. Problem solved.

Good lord can we please put this dead horse to rest. Newsflash- award 3 parents will NEVER bus their children to worse schools across town. They/we will leave DCPS before that happens.

Great! That will also cure overcrowding at Deal/Wilson. Problem solved.

That so original. It's been the refrain of people who aren't thinking of real solutions for the past 20 odd years.

[Anonymous]

DCPS essentially has no real plans. They should have had a search underway for a principal in March. Looks like the current 7th grade cohort in Hardy (the Eaton kids especially) will be guinea pigs -- 2 years in trailers, a year of online schooling and now in an unformed school with no firm plans for programming/extracurriculars etc. I think we are done with DCPS.

[Anonymous]

Eliminate feeder rights for OOB students. Deal and Hardy will shrink immediately. Wilson will be three years behind

[Anonymous]

So... the school will open in 2023 with zero improvements? Because?