Anonymous
Post 02/13/2016 21:51     Subject: Lee Montessori locations: at the open house they said Brookland or Woodridge
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:So who had the PCSB promised it to? Really to bad they didn't speak with the Montessori leadership to coordinate a lease for 2 or all three .


Maybe they did. But it has been clear for weeks if not months that they were going to close Potomac. To talk about taking care of the landlord in that press statement is telling.


Right, so let's put two and two together and note the timing of Lee's announcement to parents that there is a building in Brookland they are considering and the vote by the charter board to revoke the charter. And then let's wait and see. This isn't pie in the sky, people.
Anonymous
Post 02/13/2016 21:46     Subject: Re:Lee Montessori locations: at the open house they said Brookland or Woodridge
Anonymous wrote:Potomac is indeed 100k square feet and I don't know if that includes the finished basement. It's huge. See pic and it goes back a lot further than ITS building. ITS fit in the basement alone when they were about same or a little larger than Lee now.



I'm very aware of how big that building is and it certainly does not LOOK significantly bigger than ITS, which is 15k per floor x 4 for the main part of the school, plus the part with the ITS entrance.

Also PP took figures from tax assessments which are notoriously wrong. The Shaed assessed value is certainly wrong.
Anonymous
Post 02/13/2016 21:41     Subject: Lee Montessori locations: at the open house they said Brookland or Woodridge
Anonymous wrote:So who had the PCSB promised it to? Really to bad they didn't speak with the Montessori leadership to coordinate a lease for 2 or all three .


They did. Just wait and see.
Anonymous
Post 02/13/2016 21:39     Subject: Re:Lee Montessori locations: at the open house they said Brookland or Woodridge
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Potomac prep is 100,000 square feet (ITS is 70k MV I think 40k). The average elementary charter school is 114 square feet per student. Even if Lee grew to 250, that would be 400 square foot per student. The taxes alone on Potomac prep is $160k per year. If Lee can afford the potential cost on a building that large more power to them. I'd be concerned that budget wouldn't last and other thing would be sacrificed. Even if they leased out the basement. Next year, with under 100 kids, there would be a major defector for many years to come, if not forever.


Taxes are not $160k per year. You are looking at the bill from 2010 for six months. That's not what a 501c3 school pays. (Which is nothing)


The building's owner pays property taxes on it. This building was leased by Potomac, not owned. They paid property taxes as part of their rent.


No they did not. They are exempt from property taxes.
Anonymous
Post 02/13/2016 21:30     Subject: Lee Montessori locations: at the open house they said Brookland or Woodridge
Anonymous wrote:So who had the PCSB promised it to? Really to bad they didn't speak with the Montessori leadership to coordinate a lease for 2 or all three .


Maybe they did. But it has been clear for weeks if not months that they were going to close Potomac. To talk about taking care of the landlord in that press statement is telling.
Anonymous
Post 02/13/2016 21:26     Subject: Lee Montessori locations: at the open house they said Brookland or Woodridge
So who had the PCSB promised it to? Really to bad they didn't speak with the Montessori leadership to coordinate a lease for 2 or all three .
Anonymous
Post 02/13/2016 21:12     Subject: Re:Lee Montessori locations: at the open house they said Brookland or Woodridge
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:wow the building is worth 20 million dollars? who owns it Potamic? a landlord?



The statement from the PCSB specifically mentioned working with the building's landlord to find a new charter school tenant.


I would imagine it would be similar to CAPCS. Someone like KIPP will come in and take the kids that are already there. Lee, even with middle school (not approved) could not afford that space or fill it up. Never going to happen. They may lease the basement like ITS and YY did in prior years.


You are wrong. Very wrong.


The PCSB addressed this too. They are hiring enrollment specialists to help Potomac families enter the lottery or return to their neighborhood schools.
Anonymous
Post 02/13/2016 21:11     Subject: Re:Lee Montessori locations: at the open house they said Brookland or Woodridge
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Potomac prep is 100,000 square feet (ITS is 70k MV I think 40k). The average elementary charter school is 114 square feet per student. Even if Lee grew to 250, that would be 400 square foot per student. The taxes alone on Potomac prep is $160k per year. If Lee can afford the potential cost on a building that large more power to them. I'd be concerned that budget wouldn't last and other thing would be sacrificed. Even if they leased out the basement. Next year, with under 100 kids, there would be a major defector for many years to come, if not forever.


Taxes are not $160k per year. You are looking at the bill from 2010 for six months. That's not what a 501c3 school pays. (Which is nothing)


The building's owner pays property taxes on it. This building was leased by Potomac, not owned. They paid property taxes as part of their rent.
Anonymous
Post 02/13/2016 21:10     Subject: Lee Montessori locations: at the open house they said Brookland or Woodridge
The PCSB already knows where that building is going. Maybe one of the theories is correct - maybe not. But I don't think for a minute that it hadn't already been decided.
Anonymous
Post 02/13/2016 20:59     Subject: Lee Montessori locations: at the open house they said Brookland or Woodridge
We've read that Lee and Breakthrough are partners. Have the approached Shining Stars.
Anonymous
Post 02/13/2016 20:55     Subject: Lee Montessori locations: at the open house they said Brookland or Woodridge
Let's just put Shining Stars, Lee and Breakthrough together.
Anonymous
Post 02/13/2016 20:18     Subject: Re:Lee Montessori locations: at the open house they said Brookland or Woodridge
Potomac is indeed 100k square feet and I don't know if that includes the finished basement. It's huge. See pic and it goes back a lot further than ITS building. ITS fit in the basement alone when they were about same or a little larger than Lee now.

Anonymous
Post 02/13/2016 20:14     Subject: Lee Montessori locations: at the open house they said Brookland or Woodridge
Anonymous wrote:Conservatively what would a sqfoot building's occupancy fee be? What kind of occupancy allotment budget will Lee have for 130 students? My guess it's too large and too costly for a small school at this point in time - unless they can share the building with a larger school.


Yea, Lee parent here feeling increasingly pessimistic about this possibility. It would have been grand, but we are a small school growing slowly (it's one of the things I love about Lee). I think at our largest, before a middle school, we'd top out at 300-360. And that's if we can sustain 3-4 elementary classrooms at both the 1-3 and 4-6 grade level, and 2-3 at each level is more likely

So unless we share . . . what other schools are looking for a home?
Anonymous
Post 02/13/2016 20:07     Subject: Re:Lee Montessori locations: at the open house they said Brookland or Woodridge
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Potomac prep is 100,000 square feet (ITS is 70k MV I think 40k). The average elementary charter school is 114 square feet per student. Even if Lee grew to 250, that would be 400 square foot per student. The taxes alone on Potomac prep is $160k per year. If Lee can afford the potential cost on a building that large more power to them. I'd be concerned that budget wouldn't last and other thing would be sacrificed. Even if they leased out the basement. Next year, with under 100 kids, there would be a major defector for many years to come, if not forever.


Where are you getting these numbers from? How do you know the size of the building? Lee currently has about 105 students. Will have about 130 next year and grow by approx 30 or so each year after that.

The Potomac Prep building certainly looks smaller than both MV and Shaed. I can't believe it's 2.5 times bigger than MV.


Potomac prep is larger than ITS and MV. It's huge. Lee could not afford it alone. That's a fact.
Anonymous
Post 02/13/2016 20:06     Subject: Re:Lee Montessori locations: at the open house they said Brookland or Woodridge
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Friendship/KIPP aside (I think that was an off the cuff response) I think the question of whether Lee can even fill/afford a building of that size is valid. Potomac has an assessed value of $20M more than double of ITS building (a PK-8). Potomac had almost 500 kids. I don't think Lee is going to be even half that size fully occupied.


Where do you get this from?


Potomac size can be found on charter board. Assessment of buildings can be found on DC real property website.