Reply to DCPS students shafted again - sign petition to keep Jelleff field public

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]This was just posted to the Palisades listserv:

"I wanted to respond to Councilmember Cheh's depiction of the situation regarding the Jelleff Field and Recreation Center in its agreement with the Maret School.  To clarify, DPR hasn’t "leased away" Jelleff for the next ten years.  Jelleff remains a DPR facility that is used by dozens of schools and community groups.  The agreement extension between DPR and Maret was also not made under the cover of darkness - or under the cover of summer, as the Councilmember suggests - but rather went through a transparent and regulated process, including public hearings, consultation with neighbors and the community. Also to clarify, Maret does not use the field on weekends except for a couple of weekend days in spring.  Maret recognizes that lack of field space is an issue for many fellow schools and has opened its field and two gyms to a number of outside groups.  The school actually rescheduled games and practices, so that the Hardy Middle School is able to use the field on Wednesday afternoons from 4:00-5:30.

Maret has, since the initial agreement with they city in 2009, provided $2.4 million to upgrade the field, redo the swimming pool for community use, and add fencing and lights. The school continues to maintain the property and assure its upkeep.  For all of this, Maret has preferred permitting for 10% of operational field time in the fall and spring.  The extension would see Maret investing an additional $700,000 to redo the turf and improve fencing, and committing up to an additional $250,000 toward renovating the Recreation Center.

Rather than nullifying this partnership, a better solution is to make more fields available, like Duke Ellington field, which was just transferred to DPR.  There is also enough space at Hardy to build a middle school sized field.  If the current partnership were revoked, it would not solve the field shortage problem but would instead just lead to more schools requesting permits for time at Jelleff.  No amount of permitting would solve any one school’s field demands.  Better to develop new fields, like Duke Ellington.  Finally, it would be a mistake and set a bad precedent for the Council to revoke an agreement already signed by DPR and Maret.  In Play DC, the 10 year strategic plan for recreational facilities in DC released in 2015, public-private partnerships are hailed as an effective way to leverage resources to meet the demands of citizens for more parks and recreation facilities.  Based on budgetary projections, Play DC concluded that that demand could not be met without these partnerships.  Rather than revoke a deal that has been good for the city and good for taxpayers, why not let Maret and Hardy negotiate a solution, while the Council spends its time identifying underutilized fields and pay for renovations with the money Maret is saving the city at Jelleff!

I hope that councilmembers and the community will appreciate the resources and benefit that Maret has and continues to provide to the Jelleff Field and Rec Center and will support the continuation of this partnership."[/quote]

What crap.  “There’s not enough field space to satisfy everyone, so you might as well give it to us.”

And since Duke Ellington is now being flogged as the savior field, why doesn’t Maret apply (through normal channels) for use of it and let the schools and groups immediately surrounding Jelleff have priority there?  [/quote]

When the original deal happened I remember part of the justification was that Maret would build the field, use it for ten years, and then the District would have it forever. Arguably, a fair renewal would be to pick another field and let Maret repeat the original deal there. What the city is doing now at Jelleff isn't a renewal.

Of course the reality is that unlike ten years ago, the city has plenty of money to build its own fields, it doesn't need to give anything away.[/quote]

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