Reply to Merging Deal and Hardy

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Reply to "Merging Deal and Hardy"

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[quote=Anonymous]Okay.  I also posted in the "what happened at the W3EdNet overcrowding meeting last night" thread (http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/640148.page).  So if you want some even broader context for what I am about to say you can read my posts there.

The short version of the broader context: Families and staff in Wilson feeder schools are concerned about overcrowding and have tried to both brainstorm about possible solutions and engage with DCPS.  We had a meeting with DCPS earlier this week where we reviewed the data and talked about possible solutions.  DCPS is convening a "community working group" on overcrowding to consider the issue, which will meet for the next 5-6 months.

Okay so what about this idea of "combining" Deal and Hardy?  Where did it come from?

I will confess.  It came from me.

One of the ideas that DCPS presented at the meeting -- and I should add that DCPS was trying to get all ideas on the table, not suggest that this was the solution -- was the old idea from the boundary and student assignment process, the "choice set".  Namely students in the Deal and Hardy feeders would not have a right to either school, but would rather be assigned to one or the other school based on some process -- random lottery, preferences, whatever.  This could relieve some of the overcrowding at Deal because Hardy's building is not at capacity, and Deal's is over.

I responded that I wasn't wild about the idea of a choice set (and some noted that no one was too keen on the idea during the boundary process either).  But an alternative that might be more palatable if you were going that route, would be to route all kids in the feeder through the two schools with say 6 grade at Hardy and 7+8 at Deal (I actually said 6+7 at Deal and 8 at Hardy, but some people have pointed out to me that it might make more sense the other way around).  You would make more use of the capacity of both schools, relieve the pressure at Deal a bit, and could implement it relatively quickly.  It would also simplify administration.  As some have noted, you could have shuttle buses (Metro bus provides them now for some schools) between the two schools so that kids could walk to the nearest school and get transferred.

Now some folks might still HATE this idea.  That is fine.  I wasn't proposing it as the magic solution, but rather responding to another specific proposal.  But it is one creative (I think at least) way of addressing the problem in the short run, and one that is likely to be preferable to a large group of people when compared to a bunch of other ideas to relieve overcrowding.  Given that Deal is now around 1,500 children, something does have to give.  As you can read from the other thread, a large number of ideas are on the table, including the usual ones offered here.

Brian Doyle
Co-Chair
Ward 3 - Wilson Feeder Education Network[/quote]

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