Summary report from DCPS to Wilson Feeder Pattern Working Group
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
|
https://dcpsplanning.wordpress.com/category/wilson-feeder-pattern/
Looks like a good summary of a variety of options, acknowledgement that no one would solve the issue on its own. But no recommendations. "Next Steps The Wilson High School Feeder Pattern Community Working Group looks forward to sharing this report with District leadership for consideration, in particular with DCPS Chancellor and the Deputy Mayor for Education, as well as members of the broader Wilson High School feeder pattern community. The group recognizes that, while they have represented their perspectives and those of their communities to the best of their ability, they do not represent all community stakeholders and that others may have additional feedback, ideas, or perspectives to contribute. The hope is that this report will help inform future school planning efforts, including the implementation of the Master Facilities Plan, the Capital Budget, and Comprehensive Student Assignment and School Boundary Review processes. Master Facilities Plan The Office of the Deputy Mayor for Education recently released an update of the city’s Master Facilities Plan (MFP). The MFP reviews population forecasts, enrollment projections, utilization analyses, and facility data to better understand the current landscape of the District's public school facilities, as well as the public education facilities needs over the next decade. The group hopes that this document will be considered as the MFP is utilized for future planning, particularly as it relates to issues of overcapacity in the Wilson feeder pattern. 2022 Comprehensive Student Assignment and School Boundary Review DCPS is scheduled to conduct a citywide comprehensive review of its student assignment policies and school boundaries in 2022. During this process, DCPS will review enrollment, capacity, population data, student access policies, and other information to identify potential changes to policies and boundaries. " |
Anonymous
|
So the group could not consider ending OOB feeder rights, boundary changes, lottery preference changes, or feeder patterns.
In light of that, their only suggestions were * build new schools * renovate schools to add capacity/use portables * use Old Hardy (which DCPS refused to engage) * use space at Duke Ellington (I like this--extending DESA down to 6th grade makes a ton of sense to me) * shift schedules so some kids come in earlier and others later in the day (it seems they're mostly thinking of middle and high school here, but I wonder if offering a few sections of half-day PK would also be considered) * wait for the 2022 boundary reassignment process to do all the things this report wasn't allowed to do. I foresee this report leading to exactly no changes. |
Anonymous
| Quick summary: crowding exists, we're not going to do anything about it. |
Anonymous
| This makes sense to me, DC has enough money/buildings to make this happens. Changing the boundaries will not be a permanent solutions either. I am sure those who think changing boundaries is the only solution are those who think they have the right to fee to Wilson and no one else. |
Anonymous
Yup. As long as scores stay high, DCPS will keep kicking the can down Wisconsin Ave. How is any of this supposed to get sorted when the DME and chancellor aren't confirmed,b principals are on 1 year contracts, charters are separately authorized, OSSE isn't independent aaaaaand the next mayor could change all the players. Has mayoral control run its course? |
Anonymous
So will people be grandfathered in if they are already in those elementary schools? |
Anonymous
FWIW Ferebee is on the record w/the Post saying that there is a culture of fear in schools. His observations seem pretty spot on to me. Whether he can address these and other challenges is, of course, a whole different issue. An excerpt from today's WaPo story https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/can-the-acting-chancellor-of-dc-public-schools-earn-your-trust-hes-going-to-try/2019/02/10/b1d2b244-2579-11e9-90cd-dedb0c92dc17_story.html?utm_term=.35b450880807 "...Ferebee, who is slated to earn $280,000 a year, insists he would be a champion for neighborhood schools in the city and that he has no intention of replicating in the District what he did in Indianapolis. Sure, he said, he has thoughts and observations about the District. It’s just that he’s not ready to say how they will translate into concrete ideas. He noticed that some schools have significant enrollment of special-education students, while others have few. He thinks there could be a policy solution to remedy inequities this may cause. He knows he needs to address aging technology in schools and wants to think about effectively integrating it into classrooms. He has sensed from teachers and principals that a culture of fear exists — fear that with one misstep, they could lose their jobs. So he wants to reevaluate the practice of awarding principals one-year contracts, and he plans to examine the city’s IMPACT evaluation system for educators — one of the first in the country to tie teacher bonuses and job security to annual evaluation scores. But Ferebee is cautious to stop short of saying exactly what he thinks about IMPACT. When pressed by a teacher at a recent community meeting, he said he is “committed to an evaluation process that is fair.” “It could be a scenario where IMPACT is not broken, it’s just how it’s being implemented,” he later said in an interview. “And I think that is still to be determined.” So instead of offering concrete policy ideas, Ferebee said he is first trying to build trust in a school system that’s lacking in it. “You can only move at the rate of trust,” he said. |
Anonymous
|
We will squeeze as many students into Deal and Wilson as physically possible regardless of the detrimental effect on the academic success of the students and emotional well-being of students, faculty and staff.
Well done, team. Well done. |
Anonymous
You are free to lottery into some of the other schools that aren't as crowded. Coolidge has a test in program. |
Anonymous
If you don't like it, support the Independent Mayoral candidate next time, instead of the corrupt Dem one. |
Anonymous
Sure, but Deal and Wilson will still not be infinitely expandable as some seem to think. What’s your solution? |
Anonymous
DCPS is discussing a test-in middle that would go in the current Banneker building (renovated first). Bard, Coolidge early college, SWW, Mckinley are options for Wilson. They want to create carrots to pull people out of Wilson, rather than sticks. |
Anonymous
I have a 6th grader at Deal now. We have not had any issues due to its size. They run a great program and the teams make it smaller. DCPS isn't going to do anything if other schools are under-enrolled. DCPS is likely thinking that one day there will be parents whose fear of a big school that is packed to the gills will be more than the fear of poor kids. |
Anonymous
| All the information is see here shows that the crowding is fixable by ending out of boundary enrollments. Either kill boundary-based rights and go to lottery (fairer than residential segregation but politically unrealistic) or end the out-of Lyndsey rights and put these kids into other neighborhood schools where their families’ presences can be transformative. People who want good schools need to be in our neighborhood schools and pushing for their success, not fighting for the last seat in Tenleytown. |
Anonymous
| Out of boundary. Not out of Lyndsey. Autocomplete can be ridiculous. |