Explain the Murch renovation saga to me please.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why doesn't ward 3 adjust their boundaries so other schools eotp can have the renovation funds? It will be a struggle for elementaries to get funding with the focus on MS/HS.

The school is not ADA compliant; there are holes in the walls, no outlets for computers, dangerous stairs, etc...... capacity is only a part of the serious problems.

My favorite part of Murch is the homemade wooden ramps outside the multipurpose room to make two sets of stairs into ramps.

The staff really makes it all work though. Ms. David, the art teacher, always decorated the walls with student work which I love. I love the bay window in the library which probably leaks. I just wish we could get this renovation going.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If only the folks on the Chevy Chase list serv cared as much about Murch as they do about the name of a fountain and the ability to park in a bank parking lot after hours.

Or about neighboors using other peoples' trash cans to dispose of dog waste... But I agree, the community as a whole should get vocal about this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why doesn't ward 3 adjust their boundaries so other schools eotp can have the renovation funds? It will be a struggle for elementaries to get funding with the focus on MS/HS.

The school is not ADA compliant; there are holes in the walls, no outlets for computers, dangerous stairs, etc...... capacity is only a part of the serious problems.

My favorite part of Murch is the homemade wooden ramps outside the multipurpose room to make two sets of stairs into ramps.

The staff really makes it all work though. Ms. David, the art teacher, always decorated the walls with student work which I love. I love the bay window in the library which probably leaks. I just wish we could get this renovation going.

Agree. The artwork is really great and the classwork posted in the halls too. And kudos to the teachers for creativity in room decor (i.e., covering up the holes in the walls with bright paper). Ever walk through the school after the last day when all that has come down? Pretty scary.

[Anonymous]

The following is from the Murch HSA Web site and may be helpful towards an understanding of the situation:

Several years ago, Murch was scheduled to begin renovation in the 2014-2015 school year, but that timeline was delayed in the DC budget process in the spring of 2013. In 2014, the Murch community mounted a campaign to educate city leaders about the overwhelming need for Murch to be renovated as quickly as possible. As a result, in April 2014, the DC Council approved increased funding for the project, from $32.4 million to $43.7 million. Of note, the Council increased funding for Fiscal Year 2015 (which began in October 2014), with the hope that work on the renovation could begin as early as the summer of 2015.

The Department of General Services (DGS), working in conjunction with DCPS, is the agency responsible for planning and managing school modernizations. In response to the Murch community’s outreach last spring, DGS Director Brian Hanlon appointed a project manager to begin working with the Murch School Improvement Team (SIT). The specific needs of the school were outlined in a document to be used in hiring a design architect. To meet the modern needs of a school and the projected population of the school, a renovated Murch will need approximately twice the building space that it currently has in the main building and the Kaufman Wing.

Over the past summer, DGS used their own funds to conduct a feasibility study of the Murch project. This step is used only in more complicated projects. For the feasibility study, an architecture firm was hired to survey the property, review the educational specifications, and determine if there were design concepts that would meet the needs of the school within the limitations of the space and the restrictions that may be imposed by the National Park Service (NPS) and the DC Historic Preservation Review Board. NPS owns one-third of the property on which Murch is situated, including the hill, the area with the playground equipment, and the space occupied by the Kaufman Wing. NPS has indicated that they will not allow any structures to be built on that land. Staff from the DC Historic Preservation Office has told DGS that they likely would object to any change to the original exterior structure of the building, because Murch is one of the only schools of that era that has not been altered over the years. The feasibility study was completed in September and resulted in several design concepts. The Murch SIT provided DGS with feedback on those concepts, and the school was told that a Request for Proposals (RFP) to design the renovation would be issued in October.

In mid-November, the SIT requested a meeting with DGS because the RFP had not been issued and the SIT had not received any updates. On December 2, the DGS project manager met with the SIT and informed the group that, based on the feasibility study, the project cost is now estimated to be $65-70 million. This is a significant enough difference that DGS saw two options for moving forward. The first option would be to request additional funding for the project in the upcoming budget process, which runs from January through late April. Once adequate funding is secured, an RFP would be issued, the project could move forward, and the entire renovation conducted at one time. The second option would be to issue an RFP in January for a phased renovation project, with the hope that over time the necessary funding for the complete project would be provided. Either way, planning would not be complete to allow any work to be done prior to the fall of 2015, at the earliest, and likely not until the summer of 2016.

It is not clear to the SIT members why planning for the project should be delayed or the scope of the project changed. In response to this news, the HSA, Councilmember Mary Cheh, and ANC 3F all have requested that DGS Director Hanlon and DCPS Chancellor Henderson meet with the school community to explain their expectation for the Murch modernization project. We have not heard a response from DCPS, however, DGS Director Hanlon now has agreed to meet with the SIT on Tuesday, December 16 at 5 pm.

The HSA will continue to push city leaders to ensure that Murch is renovated as soon as possible and in a way that best serves the Murch community. We will continue to update the community on both the latest developments.

[Anonymous]

OP here, I read that statement yesterday which left me confused and was the reason I posted the question. It doesn't really explain anything IMO. Only that they are at square 1 again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here, I read that statement yesterday which left me confused and was the reason I posted the question. It doesn't really explain anything IMO. Only that they are at square 1 again.

I think you are reading it correctly then.

[Anonymous]

If the Murch HSA were to pass a resolution asking the DC Council t rename the school for Marion Barry, Murch might get senior level commitment to start the renovation and full funding faster.

[Anonymous]

Did anyone go to the meeting mentioned above?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm sorry, there EOTP schools need much more in terms of equity than Murch does. They can squeal but Mary Cheh cannot in good conscience do very much until about 8 other schools (Payne, Orr, Garrison, etc.) are taken care of.

This, because of the tens of millions poured into other the other Ward 3 ES's.

While Ward 3 makes a fun political pinata, it's a myth that Ward 3 schools get more resources. There are two budgets -- the operating budget, which is how much schools get each year to run, and the capital budget, which is how much is spent building facilities. The operating budget is given to schools in a per-pupil allotment, and Ward 3 schools always get the lowest per-pupils in the city, year after year. Since the latest round of modernization began, per-pupil spending in the capital budget in Ward 3 has been below the city average, I think it was fifth of the eight wards.

Keep in mind that most of the kids who go to school in Ward 3 don't live in Ward 3. No other ward takes as many kids from other wards.

Every school in Ward 3 is over capacity and the most crowded schools in the city are all in Ward 3. Average utilization for DCPS schools is in the 60-something percent range. On a per-pupil basis it's a lot cheaper to operate an overcrowded school than an under-enrolled one. In terms of equity, it's the underenrolled schools that are diverting resources away from the children.

[Anonymous]

when I read the post on Murch's website I was really confused. if the NPS is going to veto any construction on the land it owns (hill, playground and area where the Kaufman building is), if the DC Historic Preservation Review Board is going to veto any change to the main building, then how the heck is the school going to be renovated in a way that can accommodate the children? the only way would be to go underground, building a nice one or two floors underground, no windows, artificial lights, really great. I am all for historic preservation but come on, this is just a red brick building built in the 20's of last century, not the coliseum. the rationale (we preserve because it is the only school of that era that has not been changed) is frankly insulting - because your school is the only one that has never been renovated, now we force you to keep it like this (while the ones that got renovations in the past can keep renovating). also, the NPS would veto any building on the site of the Kaufman wing? so we can have a decade old "temporary" building there but not a real, renovated building?

[Anonymous]

Sounds like an uphill battle, ugh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm sorry, there EOTP schools need much more in terms of equity than Murch does. They can squeal but Mary Cheh cannot in good conscience do very much until about 8 other schools (Payne, Orr, Garrison, etc.) are taken care of.

This, because of the tens of millions poured into other the other Ward 3 ES's.

While Ward 3 makes a fun political pinata, it's a myth that Ward 3 schools get more resources. There are two budgets -- the operating budget, which is how much schools get each year to run, and the capital budget, which is how much is spent building facilities. The operating budget is given to schools in a per-pupil allotment, and Ward 3 schools always get the lowest per-pupils in the city, year after year. Since the latest round of modernization began, per-pupil spending in the capital budget in Ward 3 has been below the city average, I think it was fifth of the eight wards.

Keep in mind that most of the kids who go to school in Ward 3 don't live in Ward 3. No other ward takes as many kids from other wards.

Every school in Ward 3 is over capacity and the most crowded schools in the city are all in Ward 3. Average utilization for DCPS schools is in the 60-something percent range. On a per-pupil basis it's a lot cheaper to operate an overcrowded school than an under-enrolled one. In terms of equity, it's the underenrolled schools that are diverting resources away from the children.

This is true. Hearst has something only 17% of its students from Ward 3 (so more than 4 in 5 kids are coming from other DC wards), yet it will be cited as a Ward 3 school renovation. DC can't led Ward 3 get all the $$, so Murch better be patient and wait its turn, yada, yada, yada.

[Anonymous]

Hearst lower grades are around 50% IB, FWIW.

It sounds like dcps is happy to give the funds, but the project planning is the problem. Why is this being framed as a dcps issue?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hearst lower grades are around 50% IB, FWIW.

It sounds like dcps is happy to give the funds, but the project planning is the problem. Why is this being framed as a dcps issue?

No--planning happened. The cost more than doubled because of the historic/preservation limitations/accommodations. DCPS stopped returning the planning team's calls.

[Anonymous]

23:43 here--correction. DCPS disappeared for a month, but it looks like the head of DGS met with the school improvement team tonight. Interested to hear what came out of that.