Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it possible to determine how many seats are available per grade for OOB kids in the upcoming lottery? Can't seem to find it on My School DC. Thanks.

My understanding is that Murch asked DCPS not to open any new OOB slots for 2016-18 to keep numbers manageable during the swing years. Someone from the SIT/HSA probably has better info on this, though.

Anonymous wrote:

Giving teachers free RPP permits to park in residential areas near schools sounds appealing, but it raises questions: First, it encourages more driving when other public policies are to encourage transit use, ride sharing, etc. Granted some teachers may have no choice but to drive, but handing out free RPP passes will just encourage more car use. Second, if teachers get free RPPs, who else "deserves" them? The school custodians? Why not. Cops? Sure. Fire fighters? Absolutely. Sanitation workers? Uh, well. DMV bureaucrats? Maybe not. And for residents who live in the vicinity of a school, etc. where employees have free street parking will find that the RPP program no longer works for them as they have to park blocks from their homes. So the best solution is to provide on-site (underground if possible) parking and then control (or require a needs based showing) for employees who get the parking. And charge them something for using it.

And quotes like this are why I can always talk about DC education policies with my friends in other cities and laugh at you all. (And I guess me, since we are here.)

Let's go over that logic again!

Giving out FREE parking only encourages MORE parking! But building an underground parking garage, like Janney has. (All schools must have what Janney has, because. Reasons.) But spending millions of dollars for UNDERGROUND parking, would not create an incentive for people to drive!

And, if you are mean and won't give us the underground parking, then obviously, you should not whine when we pave over your preK play area.

--Crazy Shepherd poster, who will at this time, mention again that Shepherd's renovation put a second floor kiln on a 50s building (actually I think they just finished driving in the steel support beams necessary), and built an atrium. And cost 30 million dollars, did no work over the summer because... I think someone forgot to put in the permits? And also did not manage to build a cafeteria. That is without the underground parking though.

Apparently cafeterias are a lot more expensive than atriums, kilns, and parking lots.

Seriously, I only worked as an auditor for a brief period of time, and I have no experience with government contracts, but I really don't know how people who defend this crap can sleep at night.

Anonymous wrote:This reeks of a manufactured crisis that will allow the mayor to swoop in and save the day. Thus endearing herself to a neighborhood population where she did poorly in the general election. And potentially insulating herself from a challenge by the former mayor in two years. Stay tuned....

Anonymous wrote:Is it possible to determine how many seats are available per grade for OOB kids in the upcoming lottery? Can't seem to find it on My School DC. Thanks.

Anonymous wrote:Maybe putting some charter schools in ward 3 would ease some of the overcrowding. It is probably easier (and cheaper) to open a charter than it would be to build another DCPS school.

Anonymous wrote:Maybe putting some charter schools in ward 3 would ease some of the overcrowding. It is probably easier (and cheaper) to open a charter than it would be to build another DCPS school.

Anonymous wrote:Maybe putting some charter schools in ward 3 would ease some of the overcrowding. It is probably easier (and cheaper) to open a charter than it would be to build another DCPS school.

Anonymous wrote:Maybe the need to right size the number of kids at the school for the space has to be revisited. It would mean tough choices for boundaries.

Anonymous wrote:Maybe the need to right size the number of kids at the school for the space has to be revisited. It would mean tough choices for boundaries.

Giving teachers free RPP permits to park in residential areas near schools sounds appealing, but it raises questions: First, it encourages more driving when other public policies are to encourage transit use, ride sharing, etc. Granted some teachers may have no choice but to drive, but handing out free RPP passes will just encourage more car use. Second, if teachers get free RPPs, who else "deserves" them? The school custodians? Why not. Cops? Sure. Fire fighters? Absolutely. Sanitation workers? Uh, well. DMV bureaucrats? Maybe not. And for residents who live in the vicinity of a school, etc. where employees have free street parking will find that the RPP program no longer works for them as they have to park blocks from their homes. So the best solution is to provide on-site (underground if possible) parking and then control (or require a needs based showing) for employees who get the parking. And charge them something for using it.

Anonymous wrote:Is it possible to determine how many seats are available per grade for OOB kids in the upcoming lottery? Can't seem to find it on My School DC. Thanks.

Anonymous wrote:Is it possible to determine how many seats are available per grade for OOB kids in the upcoming lottery? Can't seem to find it on My School DC. Thanks.

Anonymous wrote:Murch should look to Mann for guidance. Mann doesn't have a separate gym and cafeteria; it is one small space. Mann's parking lot is also very, very small. They ask neighbors -- annually -- to donate parking spaces. It works quite well.

I know Murch is more than twice the size of Mann. I know this. I'm just saying that instead of playing the reactionary Chicken Little, think seriously about how to navigate around DC's roadblocks. Everything is constrained optimization; this is no different.

Anonymous wrote:Maybe the need to right size the number of kids at the school for the space has to be revisited. It would mean tough choices for boundaries.