Reply to Gray Proposes Reallocation of $100MM of DCPS Capital Modernization Funds

Forum Index » DC Public and Public Charter Schools

Reply to "Gray Proposes Reallocation of $100MM of DCPS Capital Modernization Funds"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=GarrisonPTA]there is no explanation as to WHY the choices were made - no strategic reasons, no "OK folks, we need to do this but we guarantee you'll be in the next fiscal year and you'll get a full modernization so you are guaranteed that future renovations will not be rescheduled like this one has."  (Of course, it has been proven over and over again that we cannot trust what is said anyway, so why would we believe that?)  There is NO plan.

[/quote]

Exactly.  It's kind of amazing how there have been all of these feasibility studies, and reviews of facilities, and yet there is no rational system to decide how these buildings are renovated, how they are surplused, etc.  There needs to be at least some predictability in the process, with the understanding that sometimes things change based on unusual circumstances.  Something like this:

1.  If a school is determined to have renovation needs more than x% of the DC average, it will get renovated
2.  If a school has significantly rising enrollment beyond the capacity of x%, it will get expanded
3.  If a school has had declining enrollment for x years and is below xx% capacity it will be closed

There are ways to figure out how much money you have to spend on your capital budget, how much it is going to cost to renovate/expand each school, and start to make priorities based all of this.  This is how the professionals inside the government are supposed to be able to do their jobs.  One benefit for the politicians is that it actually gives them cover when there are unpopular decisions- "Hey, here's how we allocate our funds.  I can't be going out willy-nilly breaking that system because it is fair and impartial, etc."  Now it's just a mish-mash of neighborhoods and schools and alumni "advocating" for their upgrades, when really they should be able to concentrate solely on education.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics