Explain the Murch renovation saga to me please.

[Anonymous]

There is no valid explanation for this saga.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:if i were them i would renovate in phases, get your foot in the door before promised funds are lost.

but, ugh to be at a school under construction for all of elementary...

Exactly, I think everyone would rather have it done all at once. I just don't understand why the NPS and the Historic Society are being so difficult. I probably don't understand the issue well though.

That's a canard. Wilson proceeded with historic preservation input and so do many private schools. DCPS may be trying to do something on the quick and cheap and stumbled, but it is easily fixed with proper focus. Meanwhile Janney is proceeding with renovation no 2? no. 3?

Doesn't seem fair. Half of the kids at Murch are now in portable buildings. Everyone involved in this project just needs to step it up and get the reno done already.

This really highlights the fact that Janney gets a disproportionate share of resources even compared to other Ward 3 schools.

Janney has certain advantages. It's students come almost exclusively from its neighborhood and its parents tend to be active in their kids education and demand quality. Together, they get the attention of the council-member and others downtown and in DCPS. Diverse schools with a mixture of IB and OOB students may offer more diversity and achieve other social goods, but political cohesiveness and vocal lobbying. Janney parents speak with a louder voice because they are concentrated in one ward, one area really, and there are a lot of them.

You write this as though it is neutral or a benefit to the Janney community so who cares about the effects. ONLY in the district would this type of pattern occur, where one school and one vocal community dominate. Really odd, actually. Does Whitman high school manage to get multiple renovations over other local schools?

PP spoke the honest truth. Montgomery County has the same issue with its "W" schools.

[Anonymous]

The "honest truth" does not make it okay. It is really sad to see how Murch is struggling to get any sort of renovation while Janney plows ahead.

[Anonymous]

Mayor Bowser said she would "tweak" the boundary proposal. The disappointed Murch parents might want to visit with her to see if they can get rezoned into Hearst (as the original proposal from the Mayor Gray did). Hearst will have sparkling new, state of the art facilities in just a few weeks. Totally understand why you fought the original proposal, but given this change in renovation circumstances you should think about it. No reason your children should spend 5 years in a trailer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mayor Bowser said she would "tweak" the boundary proposal. The disappointed Murch parents might want to visit with her to see if they can get rezoned into Hearst (as the original proposal from the Mayor Gray did). Hearst will have sparkling new, state of the art facilities in just a few weeks. Totally understand why you fought the original proposal, but given this change in renovation circumstances you should think about it. No reason your children should spend 5 years in a trailer.

Some of us didn't fight the original proposal and our kids have already been in trailers for years. So your snideness and smugness is hard to take. Residents all over the city should be frustrated that schools are falling apart while the District builds a soccer stadium and makes a pitch for the Olympics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mayor Bowser said she would "tweak" the boundary proposal. The disappointed Murch parents might want to visit with her to see if they can get rezoned into Hearst (as the original proposal from the Mayor Gray did). Hearst will have sparkling new, state of the art facilities in just a few weeks. Totally understand why you fought the original proposal, but given this change in renovation circumstances you should think about it. No reason your children should spend 5 years in a trailer.

Some of us didn't fight the original proposal and our kids have already been in trailers for years. So your snideness and smugness is hard to take. Residents all over the city should be frustrated that schools are falling apart while the District builds a soccer stadium and makes a pitch for the Olympics.

The PP's whole argument is a red herring. THe boundary review process was never going to address Murch's overcrowding issues. Version 1 wouldn't have reduced Murch's projected enrollment to under 500. And there is no boundary change that would magically solve the fact that Murch is an 85-year-old school THAT HAS NEVER BEEN RENOVATED.

So, please, stop with this silliness.

[Anonymous]

I believe that the city can overrule the Historic Preservation Board eventually, but it cannot overrule the NPS. Does anyone know how much scope getting past the historic concerns will buy the school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

It's still on DCPS. The public school system has had to run historic preservation traps on previous renovations, including Wilson's. This isn't some novel, out of the blue issue, particularly when NPS owns part of "Murch's school yard." While it may add to cost, the result of working through historic preservation review has usually been very good from the perspective of all stakeholders. Again, consider Wilson. That DCPS underbudged or didn't consider HP review at all in this case suggestes that they've tried to do it on the cheap and/or have inexperienced or incompetent project managers on this renovation.

[Anonymous]

It sounds like Murch is in a no-win situation. How can DCPS spend 70 million on a small elementary school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mayor Bowser said she would "tweak" the boundary proposal. The disappointed Murch parents might want to visit with her to see if they can get rezoned into Hearst (as the original proposal from the Mayor Gray did). Hearst will have sparkling new, state of the art facilities in just a few weeks. Totally understand why you fought the original proposal, but given this change in renovation circumstances you should think about it. No reason your children should spend 5 years in a trailer.

Some of us didn't fight the original proposal and our kids have already been in trailers for years. So your snideness and smugness is hard to take. Residents all over the city should be frustrated that schools are falling apart while the District builds a soccer stadium and makes a pitch for the Olympics.

If you took a poll of DC voters, a majority would favor spending public money to bring the Redskins back into town before they would support more dollars for Ward 3 school renovations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like Murch is in a no-win situation. How can DCPS spend 70 million on a small elementary school?

700 kids is a small ES? In what universe?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mayor Bowser said she would "tweak" the boundary proposal. The disappointed Murch parents might want to visit with her to see if they can get rezoned into Hearst (as the original proposal from the Mayor Gray did). Hearst will have sparkling new, state of the art facilities in just a few weeks. Totally understand why you fought the original proposal, but given this change in renovation circumstances you should think about it. No reason your children should spend 5 years in a trailer.

Some of us didn't fight the original proposal and our kids have already been in trailers for years. So your snideness and smugness is hard to take. Residents all over the city should be frustrated that schools are falling apart while the District builds a soccer stadium and makes a pitch for the Olympics.

If you took a poll of DC voters, a majority would favor spending public money to bring the Redskins back into town before they would support more dollars for Ward 3 school renovations.

Which just shows how uninformed and uneducated most of them are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like Murch is in a no-win situation. How can DCPS spend 70 million on a small elementary school?

700 kids is a small ES? In what universe?

They're spending a lot more to renovate Duke Ellington with less than half this number of students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like Murch is in a no-win situation. How can DCPS spend 70 million on a small elementary school?

700 kids is a small ES? In what universe?

I thought it was 500.

Okay, so spend 70 million on an elementary??

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like Murch is in a no-win situation. How can DCPS spend 70 million on a small elementary school?

700 kids is a small ES? In what universe?

They're spending a lot more to renovate Duke Ellington with less than half this number of students.

Ellington has 541 students according to profiles.dcps.dc.gov.