Restore Funding for Duke Ellington Modernization

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Has Grosso commented on this at all? I know it's capital but he's the chair of the education committee. Where does he stand and how does he respond to these sorts of demand for inquiry/accountability?

Good point. Anyone know of this needs to go through the council?

[Anonymous]

Why is this described as "restoring" funds if they are new funds?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why can't they spend $178 mil on a science and math school?

Because that would be elitist.

and potentially racist.

Very funny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a Duke Ellington supporter and think that our city needs/deserves a great arts high school. The old building was completely unsuitable for its mission. The dancers trained in the hallways, the auditorium was awful, there was inadequate studio space, etc. It was run down and decrepit. The students accomplished a lot despite that setting, but they and the city deserved much better.

That said, this project is crazy. At the start, it was an $82 million renovation. See http://www.ellingtonschool.org/news/agreement-clears-way-for-ellington-school-project/, where it was already referred to as a "massive project."

We are now at an incredible $178 million for this project (see http://www.currentnewspapers.com/admin/uploadfiles/GT%2010-14-15.pdf), more than the new cultural building at Yale (http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/12/arts/design/stephen-a-schwarzmangives-150-million-for-yale-cultural-hub.html) and more than the expected cost of the brand new AU Law School building (http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/2014/08/20/why-did-american-universitys-law-school-plunge-in-the-rankings/), although I'm sure the costs for the latter ballooned.

Even if it's finished on time, the students will have been out of the building for THREE YEARS. Check out the video on the Duke Ellington site (http://www.ellingtonschool.org/news/ellington-modernization-design/) to see how out of synch this building is with other school renovations in the city. Again, I'm NOT saying Ellington didn't deserve renovation. It most certainly did, and it does have special needs for studio and performance space that will make it more expensive than most normal school renovations. But the costs for this project are absolutely insane, and someone should be held to account.

This is nuts. The Debartolo Performing Arts Center at Notre Dame, built from scratch to be one the top technologically perfect performance spaces in the country including a three story $1 million dollar organ and specially created foundations to prevent sound vibrations from traveling between performance space, et., etc., only cost $63 million.

Is there an investigation? Someone needs to serve time. No way in hell this is a legitimate cost.

Building from scratch is always cheaper than renovating....in Georgetown!

That doesn't explain it. And all DE seems to be saving of the old structure are the front walls. I suspect it is mismanagement, and hopefully not corruption. Either way, the cost overruns are really unconscionable.

And it certainly doesn't explain it to the tune of over $100 million dollars!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has Grosso commented on this at all? I know it's capital but he's the chair of the education committee. Where does he stand and how does he respond to these sorts of demand for inquiry/accountability?

Good point. Anyone know of this needs to go through the council?

Chairman Phil Mendelson is usually in the weeds on budgets and mis-spending. However, his kid attends Ellington so he might be more inclined to give them a pass.

[Anonymous]

does anyone know the capacity of the new Duke Ellington and how many kids are actually enrolled?

I continue to not understand why the curriculum cannot be open to other students who then choose to not take part in the extra school time arts activities. It is ridiculous to have this new facility open to only a few, including to Virginia and MD students. If Peggy wants to open a school then she can open one and give scholarships. As a DC tax payer I should not have to fund this renovation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:does anyone know the capacity of the new Duke Ellington and how many kids are actually enrolled?

I continue to not understand why the curriculum cannot be open to other students who then choose to not take part in the extra school time arts activities. It is ridiculous to have this new facility open to only a few, including to Virginia and MD students. If Peggy wants to open a school then she can open one and give scholarships. As a DC tax payer I should not have to fund this renovation.

Numbers from 2014-15 are on Myschooldc.org

Duke Ellington 541

For comparison - enrollment at other DCPS application-only DCPS high schools was:

Banneker 430
SWW 585
McKinley 674
CHEC 1266
Phelps 319

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has Grosso commented on this at all? I know it's capital but he's the chair of the education committee. Where does he stand and how does he respond to these sorts of demand for inquiry/accountability?

Good point. Anyone know of this needs to go through the council?

Chairman Phil Mendelson is usually in the weeds on budgets and mis-spending. However, his kid attends Ellington so he might be more inclined to give them a pass.

Uh yeah, this is a HUGE conflict of interest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has Grosso commented on this at all? I know it's capital but he's the chair of the education committee. Where does he stand and how does he respond to these sorts of demand for inquiry/accountability?

Good point. Anyone know of this needs to go through the council?

Chairman Phil Mendelson is usually in the weeds on budgets and mis-spending. However, his kid attends Ellington so he might be more inclined to give them a pass.

Uh yeah, this is a HUGE conflict of interest.

Maybe not - I think his daughter is a sophomore. She may end up spending one year in the new building (assuming no more delays). The current Ellington students are shuttling daily between two different campuses and the construction delays hurt them more than anyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:does anyone know the capacity of the new Duke Ellington and how many kids are actually enrolled?

I continue to not understand why the curriculum cannot be open to other students who then choose to not take part in the extra school time arts activities. It is ridiculous to have this new facility open to only a few, including to Virginia and MD students. If Peggy wants to open a school then she can open one and give scholarships. As a DC tax payer I should not have to fund this renovation.

I like this idea but it's not practical given the way schedules are set up now. The arts block at Ellington run from something like 2:00-5:00, so DCPS students dismissed at 3:15 and then commuting there would miss most of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has Grosso commented on this at all? I know it's capital but he's the chair of the education committee. Where does he stand and how does he respond to these sorts of demand for inquiry/accountability?

Good point. Anyone know of this needs to go through the council?

Chairman Phil Mendelson is usually in the weeds on budgets and mis-spending. However, his kid attends Ellington so he might be more inclined to give them a pass.

Uh yeah, this is a HUGE conflict of interest.

Maybe not - I think his daughter is a sophomore. She may end up spending one year in the new building (assuming no more delays). The current Ellington students are shuttling daily between two different campuses and the construction delays hurt them more than anyone.

Well, I can also understand why he allows the DC gov't to keep throwing money at the problem. Anything that speeds up construction is good for his daughter. It puts him in a bind - he can't say "no."
Like I said, this is a big conflict of interest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:does anyone know the capacity of the new Duke Ellington and how many kids are actually enrolled?

I continue to not understand why the curriculum cannot be open to other students who then choose to not take part in the extra school time arts activities. It is ridiculous to have this new facility open to only a few, including to Virginia and MD students. If Peggy wants to open a school then she can open one and give scholarships. As a DC tax payer I should not have to fund this renovation.

I like this idea but it's not practical given the way schedules are set up now. The arts block at Ellington run from something like 2:00-5:00, so DCPS students dismissed at 3:15 and then commuting there would miss most of it.

PP meant that other kids should be able to do the non-Arts part of the curriculum and, i suppose, be done for the day at 2:00.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has Grosso commented on this at all? I know it's capital but he's the chair of the education committee. Where does he stand and how does he respond to these sorts of demand for inquiry/accountability?

Good point. Anyone know of this needs to go through the council?

Chairman Phil Mendelson is usually in the weeds on budgets and mis-spending. However, his kid attends Ellington so he might be more inclined to give them a pass.

Uh yeah, this is a HUGE conflict of interest.

Maybe not - I think his daughter is a sophomore. She may end up spending one year in the new building (assuming no more delays). The current Ellington students are shuttling daily between two different campuses and the construction delays hurt them more than anyone.

Well, I can also understand why he allows the DC gov't to keep throwing money at the problem. Anything that speeds up construction is good for his daughter. It puts him in a bind - he can't say "no."
Like I said, this is a big conflict of interest.

The reality is that neither he nor the other members of the council have much to say about this, except at a very macro level of the DC budget. And that's the problem. Neither the council nor the mayor gets to appoint any members of the Duke Ellington board. The board largely nominates and elects itself, so they have virtually no accountability to the political process and the taxpayers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has Grosso commented on this at all? I know it's capital but he's the chair of the education committee. Where does he stand and how does he respond to these sorts of demand for inquiry/accountability?

Good point. Anyone know of this needs to go through the council?

Chairman Phil Mendelson is usually in the weeds on budgets and mis-spending. However, his kid attends Ellington so he might be more inclined to give them a pass.

Uh yeah, this is a HUGE conflict of interest.

Maybe not - I think his daughter is a sophomore. She may end up spending one year in the new building (assuming no more delays). The current Ellington students are shuttling daily between two different campuses and the construction delays hurt them more than anyone.

Well, I can also understand why he allows the DC gov't to keep throwing money at the problem. Anything that speeds up construction is good for his daughter. It puts him in a bind - he can't say "no."
Like I said, this is a big conflict of interest.

The reality is that neither he nor the other members of the council have much to say about this, except at a very macro level of the DC budget. And that's the problem. Neither the council nor the mayor gets to appoint any members of the Duke Ellington board. The board largely nominates and elects itself, so they have virtually no accountability to the political process and the taxpayers.

But then how the hell are they allocated funds from the DC government budget? Does the DCPS just transfer a part of their annual budget and says "enjoy, we won't audit you"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has Grosso commented on this at all? I know it's capital but he's the chair of the education committee. Where does he stand and how does he respond to these sorts of demand for inquiry/accountability?

Good point. Anyone know of this needs to go through the council?

Chairman Phil Mendelson is usually in the weeds on budgets and mis-spending. However, his kid attends Ellington so he might be more inclined to give them a pass.

Uh yeah, this is a HUGE conflict of interest.

Maybe not - I think his daughter is a sophomore. She may end up spending one year in the new building (assuming no more delays). The current Ellington students are shuttling daily between two different campuses and the construction delays hurt them more than anyone.

Well, I can also understand why he allows the DC gov't to keep throwing money at the problem. Anything that speeds up construction is good for his daughter. It puts him in a bind - he can't say "no."
Like I said, this is a big conflict of interest.

The reality is that neither he nor the other members of the council have much to say about this, except at a very macro level of the DC budget. And that's the problem. Neither the council nor the mayor gets to appoint any members of the Duke Ellington board. The board largely nominates and elects itself, so they have virtually no accountability to the political process and the taxpayers.

But then how the hell are they allocated funds from the DC government budget? Does the DCPS just transfer a part of their annual budget and says "enjoy, we won't audit you"?

This seems to have been a reallocation directly by Bowser, of "surplus" money. What I want to know is why Ellington has such special status and gets allocation after allocation on top budget overruns that are almost mind-boggling in magnitude. And then other DC schools have seen their renovation budgets cut. (And they're the lucky ones, as some others are in an infinite queue, with their target dates pushed out year to year.)