Anonymous wrote:So the Hill is more dense than where in DC?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always get annoyed by this "3 blocks apart" language. These are long diagonal blocks. It's significantly downhill and there's 5 intersections for kids to get through, one of which is unsafe because there's no stop sign (15th). If you're walking on East Capitol, .5 miles is like 9-10 blocks (which are easier to travel because it's level). It's more accurate to say that the schools are .5 miles apart. That's the same distance as it is from Maury to Payne and Peabody. I'm not saying that they are super far apart, but I think that the "3 blocks" language creates the perception that they are exceptionally close together. That's just not true.

It's not the same distance as Maury to Payne or Peabody (both of which are .6 or .7 miles away, depending on route). Maury and Miner are closer.

I do agree "three blocks" is not accurate. It's more like four. And it does involve a couple tricky intersections that I think would have to be addressed, but I also think some of the changes recently made on Maryland Ave are instructive on how to make a diagonal street like this more pedestrian friendly while eliminating certain crossings. Basically if you close 14th between D Street and Duncan, it becomes much safer.

The crossing at 15th should get a stop sign and a crossing guard, but also 15th is a one-way street -- one-way streets are much safer generally and it's much easier to address minor safety issues without cross traffic.

But to argue that these schools are not proximate to each other... I don't know. I live in the neighborhood. They are very close. I just think that sounds like BS. There are issues that would have to be addressed, but they are all pretty minor.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always get annoyed by this "3 blocks apart" language. These are long diagonal blocks. It's significantly downhill and there's 5 intersections for kids to get through, one of which is unsafe because there's no stop sign (15th). If you're walking on East Capitol, .5 miles is like 9-10 blocks (which are easier to travel because it's level). It's more accurate to say that the schools are .5 miles apart. That's the same distance as it is from Maury to Payne and Peabody. I'm not saying that they are super far apart, but I think that the "3 blocks" language creates the perception that they are exceptionally close together. That's just not true.

Agree with this. Pushing this "3 blocks apart" language makes the plan look better to people who buy into the thesis that disparities in at-risk enrollment are more important the closer the schools are, and it makes the logistical concerns sound less important. DME isn't interested in fairly assessing this, just in pushing it forward.

Strong agree with this. Maury and Miner are located .5 miles from one another, which is a typical distance for elementary schools on Capitol Hill. The "3 blocks" language is a pro-Cluster framing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always get annoyed by this "3 blocks apart" language. These are long diagonal blocks. It's significantly downhill and there's 5 intersections for kids to get through, one of which is unsafe because there's no stop sign (15th). If you're walking on East Capitol, .5 miles is like 9-10 blocks (which are easier to travel because it's level). It's more accurate to say that the schools are .5 miles apart. That's the same distance as it is from Maury to Payne and Peabody. I'm not saying that they are super far apart, but I think that the "3 blocks" language creates the perception that they are exceptionally close together. That's just not true.

Agree with this. Pushing this "3 blocks apart" language makes the plan look better to people who buy into the thesis that disparities in at-risk enrollment are more important the closer the schools are, and it makes the logistical concerns sound less important. DME isn't interested in fairly assessing this, just in pushing it forward.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always get annoyed by this "3 blocks apart" language. These are long diagonal blocks. It's significantly downhill and there's 5 intersections for kids to get through, one of which is unsafe because there's no stop sign (15th). If you're walking on East Capitol, .5 miles is like 9-10 blocks (which are easier to travel because it's level). It's more accurate to say that the schools are .5 miles apart. That's the same distance as it is from Maury to Payne and Peabody. I'm not saying that they are super far apart, but I think that the "3 blocks" language creates the perception that they are exceptionally close together. That's just not true.

It's not the same distance as Maury to Payne or Peabody (both of which are .6 or .7 miles away, depending on route). Maury and Miner are closer.

I do agree "three blocks" is not accurate. It's more like four. And it does involve a couple tricky intersections that I think would have to be addressed, but I also think some of the changes recently made on Maryland Ave are instructive on how to make a diagonal street like this more pedestrian friendly while eliminating certain crossings. Basically if you close 14th between D Street and Duncan, it becomes much safer.

The crossing at 15th should get a stop sign and a crossing guard, but also 15th is a one-way street -- one-way streets are much safer generally and it's much easier to address minor safety issues without cross traffic.

But to argue that these schools are not proximate to each other... I don't know. I live in the neighborhood. They are very close. I just think that sounds like BS. There are issues that would have to be addressed, but they are all pretty minor.

Anonymous wrote:I always get annoyed by this "3 blocks apart" language. These are long diagonal blocks. It's significantly downhill and there's 5 intersections for kids to get through, one of which is unsafe because there's no stop sign (15th). If you're walking on East Capitol, .5 miles is like 9-10 blocks (which are easier to travel because it's level). It's more accurate to say that the schools are .5 miles apart. That's the same distance as it is from Maury to Payne and Peabody. I'm not saying that they are super far apart, but I think that the "3 blocks" language creates the perception that they are exceptionally close together. That's just not true.

Anonymous wrote:I always get annoyed by this "3 blocks apart" language. These are long diagonal blocks. It's significantly downhill and there's 5 intersections for kids to get through, one of which is unsafe because there's no stop sign (15th). If you're walking on East Capitol, .5 miles is like 9-10 blocks (which are easier to travel because it's level). It's more accurate to say that the schools are .5 miles apart. That's the same distance as it is from Maury to Payne and Peabody. I'm not saying that they are super far apart, but I think that the "3 blocks" language creates the perception that they are exceptionally close together. That's just not true.

Anonymous wrote:so it's like .4 miles-actually instead of .3?

FRAUDSTERS

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Advisory Committee's current draft recommendation has moved the "earliest" date up to 2026.

"DCPS shall explore the feasibility of this [pairing] policy for Maury ES and Miner ES, that has a 52-percentage point different in at risk enrollment while located three blocks of one another. Pairing the schools could provide additional PK classrooms for Maury (where in boundary demand exceeds available seats) and improve the utilization at Miner ES in addition to the socioeconomic benefits. Community feedback has been mixed, and universally families want implementation information to understand the potential impact on each of the schools, including staffing, leadership, funding and Title 1 status, and extracurricular offerings. DCPS should launch a Maury-Miner Community Working Group consisting of a diverse body of PTO, LSAT, and community members no earlier than SY2026-27 to help facilitate whether it is feasible to implement this policy at these two schools and, if so, determine the logistics to do so. This timeline takes into account two school years of consistent leadership at both schools."

As someone who has followed this closely for months, the text above is what’s going to be in the final recommendation. The deck presented at the beginning of this thread is out of date- it’s from Feb 6, not tonight. And, if you’ve been following the trajectory of this plan, you would know that the DME never seriously considered any boundary changes to Maury or Miner. The “options” in the Feb 6 slide deck were inserted in response to community feedback criticizing DME for not showing the community that they even tried boundary revisions. DME gave short shrift to those boundary revisions when they were presented for the first time on Feb 6 - they basically just ran through them quickly and told the community why none of them were good options.

It’s going to be a working group starting no earlier than 26-27 to study feasibility. The battle against the pairing just gets kicked down the road by 2-3 years.

So if the working group starts in 2026 - 2027 at the earliest, what is the earliest the paired model can be started? Assuming SY 2027 - 2028, but they would have to make that official before the lottery in March 2027, right? Who is the ultimate deciding authority on this issue? The mayor?

2027 is surely way too early, right? I thought everyone agreed this thing is DOA if it doesn't have community support, and it will take years to build up community buy-in if they ever do decide to do this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Advisory Committee's current draft recommendation has moved the "earliest" date up to 2026.

"DCPS shall explore the feasibility of this [pairing] policy for Maury ES and Miner ES, that has a 52-percentage point different in at risk enrollment while located three blocks of one another. Pairing the schools could provide additional PK classrooms for Maury (where in boundary demand exceeds available seats) and improve the utilization at Miner ES in addition to the socioeconomic benefits. Community feedback has been mixed, and universally families want implementation information to understand the potential impact on each of the schools, including staffing, leadership, funding and Title 1 status, and extracurricular offerings. DCPS should launch a Maury-Miner Community Working Group consisting of a diverse body of PTO, LSAT, and community members no earlier than SY2026-27 to help facilitate whether it is feasible to implement this policy at these two schools and, if so, determine the logistics to do so. This timeline takes into account two school years of consistent leadership at both schools."

As someone who has followed this closely for months, the text above is what’s going to be in the final recommendation. The deck presented at the beginning of this thread is out of date- it’s from Feb 6, not tonight. And, if you’ve been following the trajectory of this plan, you would know that the DME never seriously considered any boundary changes to Maury or Miner. The “options” in the Feb 6 slide deck were inserted in response to community feedback criticizing DME for not showing the community that they even tried boundary revisions. DME gave short shrift to those boundary revisions when they were presented for the first time on Feb 6 - they basically just ran through them quickly and told the community why none of them were good options.

It’s going to be a working group starting no earlier than 26-27 to study feasibility. The battle against the pairing just gets kicked down the road by 2-3 years.

So if the working group starts in 2026 - 2027 at the earliest, what is the earliest the paired model can be started? Assuming SY 2027 - 2028, but they would have to make that official before the lottery in March 2027, right? Who is the ultimate deciding authority on this issue? The mayor?