Reply to New DCPS school on former Georgetown Day site will be a high school

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Ward 3 candidates are starting to come out with positions on this. What are people's takes?[/quote]

Here's Frumin on Foxhall and MacArthur:

https://fruminforward3.com/food-for-thought-new-schools/

He thinks we should pause planning for the Foxhall ES to see if that money might be better spent elsewhere in Ward 3 DCPS and says the idea of a 50/50 boundary/lottery HS for 1,000 kids on MacArthur is idealistically sound but logistically unsound because a.) the school is not in a central location, making it difficult to reach for many; and b.) building a new half-lottery school in Ward 3 will only draw kids away from already-underutilized high schools elsewhere in the city. He envisions a high school on the MacArthur site for 700, but doesn't say where those 700 should come from (Hardy plus kids moved from Wilson? Redrawn W3 boundaries? Hardy plus fewer lottery seats?)

He also says "the way to increase access to Ward 3 schools is to build more affordable housing in the area, a project to which I am deeply committed."

Well, good luck with that. Ward 3 is definitely getting more housing, but almost none of it will be affordable because developers can't make money off such housing.

[/quote]

Having read his page and being very familiar with this issue, the alternative options, and the arguments for and against the new schools, his position seems more nuanced than you are giving him credit for. But it is also a classic example of a candidate carefully crafting a position to be all things to all people (with special attention to the vocal NIMBYs in Foxhall) while putting forth ideas that are superficially appealing but completely unrealistic (buying back LAB's lease; asking them to move to the River School campus). It's taken so long to get movement on the school overcrowding problem in Ward 3 and finally we have traction. Any candidate who can say with a straight-face that they support public education and yet want to put a "pause" on that movement should be viewed with some suspicion. [/quote]

The elementary school being built next to old Hardy makes ZERO sense. They city should have taken back the Lab School lease and let Lab buy River or old GDS. It is a stupid waste of money to build a new DCPS next to an old DCPS.[/quote]

Since this silly season ahead of the primaries is making for some strange  bedfellows, it’s probably helpful to review how the Old Hardy renewal came about.

The renewal of the Old Hardy lease was supported by three groups - LAB itself, Mayor Bowser, and the Foxhall Community Citizens Association (FCCA). The FCCA not just supported the renewal of the lease in a letter to the Mayor, but sought - and obtained - historic designation of the Old Hardy building. According to DME Kihn, the historic designation was a key factor in the Mayor’s decision to renew the lease.

The renewal was opposed by Mary Cheh and by a grassroots campaign of Palisades families, “Keep Old Hardy Public”. Meetings were held between various members of that campaign and LAB to try to forge a compromise such as LAB moving to the River School. FCCA has never endorsed such efforts or sought to facilitate any such compromises and, in a letter to the mayor, claimed that “Keep Old Hardy Public” was trying to throw LAB out of Old Hardy “for no good purpose” (apparently creation of public school seats for families in the neighborhood doesn’t constitute a good purpose for the FCCA).

The FCCA is now steadfastly opposing the building of a new elementary school next to Old Hardy, threatening lawsuits and whatnot. It’s a bit sad that some are candidates are groveling for FCCA votes by floating compromises that were once perhaps feasible but which the FCCA thoroughly undermined in their long-running efforts to keep a public school out of their neighborhood.[/quote]

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