ANC3D Discussion on Foxhall Elementary / Old Hardy

[Anonymous]

Anyone else call into the meeting last night? That discussion . . . my goodness . . .

[Anonymous]

Do tell...

[Anonymous]

Yes please share! I couldn’t call in due to chauffeuring requirements.

[Anonymous]

I couldn't make it and would love a read-out.

[Anonymous]

The Foxhall Community Citizens Association (FCCA) are very animated about having three schools (Foxhall ES, Lab @ Old Hardy, new MS at GDS) within a one-mile radius. They claim there has been a lack of transparency from the city in developing the plans - and, in particular, the location - for the Foxhall ES. That claim proved to be very controversial as apparently FCCA members belong to the DCPS working group and have been very well-informed of the plans.

[Anonymous]

Interestingly, there seems to be no love lost between the FCCA and the Palisades Community Association.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Interestingly, there seems to be no love lost between the FCCA and the Palisades Community Association.

PCA Rules!

[Anonymous]

In 2018, the FCCA tried to push through a resolution “on behalf of the community” asking the mayor to renew LAB’s lease of the Old Hardy building. They claimed that unless the lease was extended, the city would repurpose the building as a homeless shelter or a public high school, both of which they apparently did not want in their neighborhood. The community they were purportedly speaking on behalf of showed out in force to tell them what they thought of them so they dropped the resolution. The FCCA then successfully applied to NPS to have the building designated as a “historic place” (https://planning.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/op/publication/attachments/Rose%20Hardy%20School%20Nomination_0.pdf), knowing that this would complicate the repurposing of the building to a public school. So now that the city is restricted from using the building for other purposes, the LAB School lease is almost certain to be extended. But because Ward 3 desperately needs another elementary school and because there is no land elsewhere, the city has decided to use part of the park next to Old Hardy as the site for the new elementary school. And so now the FCCA is complaining bitterly about the loss of their park and all the traffic that will be created by having three schools in close proximity. Of course, this situation that FCCA is now bemoaning is one they very much helped to create.

[Anonymous]

Of course, the FCCA’s stance has nothing to do with traffic. That is, I’m sure that they’re collectively smart enough to figure out that the traffic footprint of a neighborhood ES on a x-city bus line is going to pale in comparison to the hordes of SUVs that descend upon an expensive private school serving kids from MD and VA. Yet they’ll bend over backwards to make sure the latter stays yet gesticulate wildly about the traffic chaos that the former will bring to their precious Foxhall Rd.

[Anonymous]

I live in Burleith and I’m about to be sandwiched on three side by a major university/hospital (Georgetown Univ) and TWO high schools (Duke Ellington and the new Hardy HS) within a 0.5 mile radius.

Foxhall folks can SUCK IT and accept that there will be nearby schools.

[Anonymous]

So FCCA doesn't want car traffic? Is that their basic starting assumption and overriding concern?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So FCCA doesn't want car traffic? Is that their basic starting assumption and overriding concern?

It is an article of faith with the FCCA that the park isn't really public property, but is instead private property owned by the immediate neighbors, the 20 or so households who abut the park. They oppose any use of the space that those neighbors object to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live in Burleith and I’m about to be sandwiched on three side by a major university/hospital (Georgetown Univ) and TWO high schools (Duke Ellington and the new Hardy HS) within a 0.5 mile radius.

Foxhall folks can SUCK IT and accept that there will be nearby schools.

The FCCA believes that they are uniquely put-upon by the public use of that space. That is a view that is completely detached from reality. The reality is that compared to public spaces elsewhere in the ward and in the city that space has been very, very lightly used.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interestingly, there seems to be no love lost between the FCCA and the Palisades Community Association.

PCA Rules!

PCA has sane and balanced leadership and makes an effort to listen to their community. FCCA is a very insular group and is detached from reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Foxhall Community Citizens Association (FCCA) are very animated about having three schools (Foxhall ES, Lab @ Old Hardy, new MS at GDS) within a one-mile radius. They claim there has been a lack of transparency from the city in developing the plans - and, in particular, the location - for the Foxhall ES. That claim proved to be very controversial as apparently FCCA members belong to the DCPS working group and have been very well-informed of the plans.

Both the FCCA president and the ANC rep who represents the area -- who introduced the motion -- are members of the working group. Yet they persist in spreading the notion that things are happening out of public view. No, they just don't like the outcome so they complain about the process.

In the Foxhall News newsletter, an article by Ann Haas in July 2020 asked readers, "Do you want to serve on a committee that would help guide the project [referred to as "an 80,000 square foot elementary school"] proposed by Mayor Muriel Bowser?" That committee includes multiple members of Foxhall Village, including the FCCA president and the ANC commissioner representing Foxhall Village.